Since the vmware virtual machine drivers are pretty standard I don't see any technical reason for a preinstalled image not to be portable.
Although the above situation is obvious, I didn't find any preinstalled vmware image for Ubuntu.
Is there a trusted free vmware image or an OVF image with Ubuntu preinstalled?
Note: OVF image works with most of the players!
There is an official place where ubuntu distributes it's cloud images (including ovf format):
https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/
Ex, for 14.04 (scroll to page bottom): https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/trusty/current/
Seems the same question's already been asked on SuperUser - Where can I find Ubuntu Desktop releases on a vmdk
The following is the accepted answer:
but the highest-voted answer is as follows:
Note: The VMware's site also seems to have Ubuntu 12.04, both desktop and server versions but it's the VMWare store and you have to buy it.
The OP also adds:
Hyper V has some Ubuntu presets see Run Ubuntu virtual machines made even easier with Hyper-V Quick Create
The VMWare tools for Fusion-5 doesn't work on Ubuntu 14.04LTS. VMware is recommending using Fusion-6 to build a Ubuntu 14.04 image and using it on Fusion-5. Hence finding a pre-built image with VMware tools installed would be great.
I found one, which seems to be working: http://www.trendsigma.net/vmware/ubuntu1404t.html I'm just not sure of the source.
If you determine that a ready-made image is not available, installing either the server or desktop iso in VMWare Player is exceptionally easy, at least from my limited experience. On a Win7 Pro, 32-bit, laptop the Easy Install (most likely a part of VMWare tools) made the installation happen with minimal keyboard work on my part. About all I needed to supply was my username and password.
Your mileage may vary.
Good luck