Installing OpenAI Codex CLI on Ubuntu 22.04 (VMware on Windows 11)

Complete troubleshooting guide — from a broken VM with no network to a working Codex CLI install.

Environment

Host OS: Windows 11
Hypervisor: VMware Workstation Pro
Guest OS: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy)
Network Mode: NAT

Step 1 — Fix VMware Network Adapter (Host: Windows 11)

The VM's network adapter was disconnected. All commands run in PowerShell as Administrator.

1.1 Verify VMware services are running

Get-Service | Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -like "*VMware*"} | Select-Object DisplayName, Status, StartType

Ensure these are Running:

VMware Authorization Service
VMware DHCP Service
VMware NAT Service
VMware USB Arbitration Service

1.2 Restart NAT and DHCP services

Stop-Service "VMware NAT Service" -Force
Stop-Service "VMware DHCP Service" -Force
Start-Service "VMware DHCP Service"
Start-Service "VMware NAT Service"

1.3 Verify VMnet adapters are up

Get-NetAdapter | Where-Object {$_.InterfaceDescription -like "*VMware*"} | Select-Object Name, Status

Both VMnet1 and VMnet8 should show Up. If not, re-enable:

Get-NetAdapter | Where-Object {$_.InterfaceDescription -like "*VMware*"} | Enable-NetAdapter -Confirm:$false

1.4 Reset VMware virtual network (if adapter still broken)

Start-Process "C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Workstation\vmnetcfg.exe" -Verb RunAs

Inside the editor: Change Settings → Restore Defaults → OK

Step 2 — Fix Network Interface Inside Ubuntu (Guest)

2.1 Find the correct interface name

ip link show

Interface will be something like ens33 (not ens160 as expected).

2.2 Bring the interface up and get an IP

sudo ip link set ens33 up && sudo dhclient ens33

2.3 Fix DNS — unlock resolv.conf and set Google DNS

The file was made immutable earlier. Unlock and rewrite it:

sudo chattr -i /etc/resolv.conf
printf "nameserver 8.8.8.8\nnameserver 8.8.4.4\n" | sudo tee /etc/resolv.conf

2.4 Fix hostname resolution (sudo warnings)

echo "127.0.1.1 MyPC" | sudo tee -a /etc/hosts

2.5 Make DNS persistent across reboots

sudo tee /etc/systemd/resolved.conf > /dev/null <<EOF
[Resolve]
DNS=8.8.8.8 8.8.4.4
FallbackDNS=1.1.1.1
EOF
sudo systemctl restart systemd-resolved

2.6 Make network interface auto-connect on boot

printf "network:\n  version: 2\n  ethernets:\n    ens33:\n      dhcp4: true\n" | sudo tee /etc/netplan/99-ens33.yaml
sudo netplan apply

2.7 Verify internet is working

ping -c 3 google.com

Step 3 — Install curl and Node.js

3.1 Install curl

sudo apt update && sudo apt install curl -y

3.2 Install Node.js 22.x

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_22.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt install nodejs -y

3.3 Verify

node --version   # v22.x.x
npm --version    # 10.x.x

Step 4 — Install Codex CLI

4.1 Fix npm global permissions (avoid using sudo with npm)

mkdir -p ~/.npm-global
npm config set prefix '~/.npm-global'
echo 'export PATH=~/.npm-global/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

4.2 Install Codex CLI globally

npm install -g @openai/codex

4.3 Verify installation

codex --version

Step 5 — Launch Codex CLI

export OPENAI_API_KEY=your-api-key-here
codex

To make the API key permanent:

echo 'export OPENAI_API_KEY=your-api-key-here' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Summary of Root Causes

Problem	Root Cause	Fix
No internet in VM	VMware network adapter was disconnected	Enabled in VMware Settings + restored VMnet defaults
`ens160` not found	Interface renamed to `ens33` after VMware reset	Used `ip link show` to find correct name
DNS failure	`systemd-resolved` not configured with upstream DNS	Wrote Google DNS to `/etc/resolv.conf` + `resolved.conf`
`resolv.conf` kept reverting	File locked with `chattr +i`	Unlocked with `chattr -i`
`sudo` hostname warning	`MyPC` not in `/etc/hosts`	Added `127.0.1.1 MyPC` to `/etc/hosts`
npm EACCES error	Global npm dir owned by root	Redirected global prefix to `~/.npm-global`

Tested on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy) in VMware Workstation Pro on Windows 11, April 2026.

minanagehsalalma/codex-cli-ubuntu-vmware-guide.md

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