There are currently issues with running Minerva in VMware. Please refer to the open issue for a list of currently known issues. Anything that doesn't currently work will be noted in this document.
Before creating a disk image that will work in VMware, you will need to create a GRUB image as described in the Minerva installation guide. Please skip the final step of that section, as that is only relevant for putting the image onto a real drive. You cannot use the same disk image created for QEMU. Using that image will halt immediately with the message FATAL: No bootable medium found! System halted.
The easiest way to convert the disk image is with QEMU:
qemu-img convert -O vmdk /path/to/grub_disk_image /path/to/output/minerva.vmdk
Creating a Minerva virtual machine is similar to any other virtual machine. The main difference is using the already created VMDK disk image.
Please note that these instructions were written with VMware Player 15 in mind. Therefore, these instructions may not match exactly for past and future versions or VMware Workstation.
Please note that at the time of writing, audio and networking do not work in VMware.
That is all you need to boot Minerva in VMware!