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Download VMware Workstation for Windows without a Broadcom Account
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| <# | |
| .SYNOPSIS | |
| Download VMware Workstation Pro for Windows from Archive.org | |
| .DESCRIPTION | |
| This script downloads VMware Workstation installers directly from the archive.org VMware Workstation archive. | |
| It allows for interactive menu selection or direct version specification. | |
| .PARAMETER Version | |
| Specifies the version of VMware Workstation to download (e.g., "17.6.3"). | |
| .PARAMETER Help | |
| Displays the help information for the script and exits. | |
| .EXAMPLE | |
| .\download_workstation.ps1 | |
| Launches the interactive menu to select a version. | |
| .EXAMPLE | |
| .\download_workstation.ps1 -Version 17.6.4 | |
| Downloads VMware Workstation version 17.6.4 automatically. | |
| #> | |
| param( | |
| [string]$Version, | |
| [switch]$Help | |
| ) | |
| $ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop' | |
| if ($Help) { | |
| Get-Help -Name $PSCommandPath -Full | |
| exit 0 | |
| } | |
| $ArchiveBaseUrl = "https://archive.org/download/vmwareworkstationarchive" | |
| $OutDir = Join-Path -Path $env:USERPROFILE -ChildPath "Downloads" | |
| if (-not (Test-Path -Path $OutDir)) { | |
| New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $OutDir -Force | Out-Null | |
| } | |
| function Get-ArchiveOrgMajorVersions { | |
| Write-Host "Fetching major versions list..." -ForegroundColor DarkGray | |
| try { | |
| $response = Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $ArchiveBaseUrl -UseBasicParsing | |
| $html = $response.Content | |
| $majorVersions = [System.Collections.Generic.List[string]]::new() | |
| if ($html -match '<table class="directory-listing-table">[\s\S]*?</table>') { | |
| $tableContent = $matches[0] | |
| $links = [regex]::Matches($tableContent, '<a href="(\d+\.x/)"') | |
| foreach ($link in $links) { | |
| $verStr = $link.Groups[1].Value.TrimEnd('/') | |
| $majorVersions.Add($verStr) | |
| } | |
| } | |
| if ($majorVersions.Count -eq 0) { | |
| Write-Error "No versions found on archive.org." | |
| exit 1 | |
| } | |
| return $majorVersions | Sort-Object { [System.Version]($_ -replace 'x$', '0') } -Descending | |
| } | |
| catch { | |
| Write-Error "Failed to fetch or parse archive.org page: $_" | |
| exit 1 | |
| } | |
| } | |
| function Get-ArchiveOrgFullVersions($majorVersion) { | |
| Write-Host "Fetching installers for $majorVersion..." -ForegroundColor DarkGray | |
| try { | |
| $url = "$ArchiveBaseUrl/$majorVersion/" | |
| $response = Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $url -UseBasicParsing | |
| $html = $response.Content | |
| $fullVersions = [System.Collections.Generic.List[PSObject]]::new() | |
| if ($html -match '<table class="directory-listing-table">[\s\S]*?</table>') { | |
| $tableContent = $matches[0] | |
| $links = [regex]::Matches($tableContent, '<a href="([^"]+\.exe)">') | |
| foreach ($link in $links) { | |
| $filename = $link.Groups[1].Value | |
| if ($filename -match '-(\d+\.\d+\.\d+)(?:-\d+)?\.exe$') { | |
| $ver = $matches[1] | |
| $fullVersions.Add([PSCustomObject]@{ | |
| Version = $ver | |
| Filename = $filename | |
| }) | |
| } | |
| } | |
| } | |
| if ($fullVersions.Count -eq 0) { | |
| Write-Error "No full versions found for base version ${majorVersion}: $_" | |
| exit 1 | |
| } | |
| return $fullVersions | Sort-Object -Property @{Expression={[version]$_.Version}; Descending=$true} | |
| } | |
| catch { | |
| Write-Error "Failed to fetch or parse archive.org page for ${majorVersion}: $_" | |
| exit 1 | |
| } | |
| } | |
| function Download-File($majorVersion, $filename) { | |
| $downloadUrl = "$ArchiveBaseUrl/$majorVersion/$filename" | |
| $outPath = Join-Path -Path $OutDir -ChildPath $filename | |
| Write-Host "`nReady to download." | |
| Write-Host "Source: $downloadUrl" -ForegroundColor Gray | |
| Write-Host "Dest: $outPath" -ForegroundColor Gray | |
| $maxRetries = 3 | |
| $retryDelay = 5 | |
| $attempt = 1 | |
| while ($attempt -le $maxRetries) { | |
| try { | |
| $curlArgs = @( | |
| "--progress-bar", | |
| "--fail", | |
| "--location", | |
| "--output", $outPath, | |
| "--continue-at", "-", | |
| $downloadUrl | |
| ) | |
| if ($attempt -gt 1 -or (Test-Path -Path $outPath)) { | |
| Write-Host "Attempt $attempt of $maxRetries (resuming)..." -ForegroundColor Yellow | |
| } else { | |
| Write-Host "Downloading..." -ForegroundColor Cyan | |
| } | |
| $process = Start-Process curl.exe -ArgumentList $curlArgs -Wait -NoNewWindow -PassThru | |
| if ($process.ExitCode -eq 0) { | |
| Write-Host "`nDownload successful." -ForegroundColor Green | |
| return $outPath | |
| } else { | |
| Write-Warning "Attempt $attempt failed with curl exit code: $($process.ExitCode)" | |
| if ($attempt -lt $maxRetries) { | |
| Write-Host "Retrying in $retryDelay seconds..." | |
| Start-Sleep -Seconds $retryDelay | |
| } | |
| } | |
| } | |
| catch { | |
| Write-Warning "Attempt $attempt failed: $_" | |
| if ($attempt -lt $maxRetries) { | |
| Write-Host "Retrying in $retryDelay seconds..." | |
| Start-Sleep -Seconds $retryDelay | |
| } | |
| } | |
| $attempt++ | |
| } | |
| Write-Error "Download failed after $maxRetries attempts." | |
| exit 1 | |
| } | |
| $selectedMajorVersion = $null | |
| $selectedFilename = $null | |
| $finalVersion = $null | |
| if ($PSBoundParameters.ContainsKey('Version')) { | |
| $finalVersion = $Version | |
| if ($finalVersion -match "^(\d+)\.") { | |
| $majorNum = $matches[1] | |
| $guessedMajor = "$majorNum.x" | |
| Write-Host "Looking for version $finalVersion in folder $guessedMajor..." | |
| try { | |
| $versionsInFolder = Get-ArchiveOrgFullVersions $guessedMajor | |
| $match = $versionsInFolder | Where-Object { $_.Version -eq $finalVersion } | Select-Object -First 1 | |
| if ($match) { | |
| $selectedMajorVersion = $guessedMajor | |
| $selectedFilename = $match.Filename | |
| Write-Host "Found." -ForegroundColor Green | |
| } else { | |
| Write-Error "Version $finalVersion not found in the $guessedMajor folder on archive.org." | |
| exit 1 | |
| } | |
| } | |
| catch { | |
| Write-Error "Could not access folder $guessedMajor. The version might not exist or the site is unreachable." | |
| exit 1 | |
| } | |
| } | |
| else { | |
| Write-Error "Invalid version format provided. Expected format like '17.6.3'." | |
| exit 1 | |
| } | |
| } | |
| else { | |
| $majorVersions = Get-ArchiveOrgMajorVersions | |
| Write-Host "`nAvailable Base Versions:" -ForegroundColor Cyan | |
| for ($i = 0; $i -lt $majorVersions.Count; $i++) { | |
| Write-Host "$($i + 1). $($majorVersions[$i])" | |
| } | |
| do { | |
| $choice = Read-Host "Enter choice (default 1)" | |
| if ([string]::IsNullOrWhiteSpace($choice)) { $choice = "1" } | |
| } until ($choice -match '^\d+$' -and [int]$choice -ge 1 -and [int]$choice -le $majorVersions.Count) | |
| $selectedMajorVersion = $majorVersions[[int]$choice - 1] | |
| $fullVersions = Get-ArchiveOrgFullVersions $selectedMajorVersion | |
| Write-Host "`nAvailable Versions for $($selectedMajorVersion):" -ForegroundColor Cyan | |
| for ($i = 0; $i -lt $fullVersions.Count; $i++) { | |
| Write-Host "$($i + 1). $($fullVersions[$i].Version)" | |
| } | |
| do { | |
| $choice = Read-Host "Enter choice (default 1)" | |
| if ([string]::IsNullOrWhiteSpace($choice)) { $choice = "1" } | |
| } until ($choice -match '^\d+$' -and [int]$choice -ge 1 -and [int]$choice -le $fullVersions.Count) | |
| $selectedObj = $fullVersions[[int]$choice - 1] | |
| $finalVersion = $selectedObj.Version | |
| $selectedFilename = $selectedObj.Filename | |
| } | |
| $FinalExePath = Download-File $selectedMajorVersion $selectedFilename | |
| Write-Host "`nFinished." -ForegroundColor Cyan | |
| Write-Host "Installer location: $FinalExePath" -ForegroundColor Cyan |
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Using the script with
archive.org modeworks just fine. the cached cloudflare results have been removed for weeks now.but, yes, manually visiting archive.org links also works.