diff --git a/builder/vmware/step_create_disk.go b/builder/vmware/step_create_disk.go
index 8129f1cf9..529938003 100644
--- a/builder/vmware/step_create_disk.go
+++ b/builder/vmware/step_create_disk.go
@@ -8,6 +8,14 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 )
 
+// This step creates the virtual disks for the VM.
+//
+// Uses:
+//   config *config
+//   ui     packer.Ui
+//
+// Produces:
+//   <nothing>
 type stepCreateDisk struct{}
 
 func (stepCreateDisk) Run(state map[string]interface{}) multistep.StepAction {
diff --git a/builder/vmware/step_create_vmx.go b/builder/vmware/step_create_vmx.go
index eec05707d..7253aceee 100644
--- a/builder/vmware/step_create_vmx.go
+++ b/builder/vmware/step_create_vmx.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ type vmxTemplateData struct {
 //   ui     packer.Ui
 //
 // Produces:
+//   vmx_path string - The path to the VMX file.
 //   vnc_port uint - The port the VM is configured to listen on for VNC.
 type stepCreateVMX struct{}
 
@@ -51,6 +52,7 @@ func (stepCreateVMX) Run(state map[string]interface{}) multistep.StepAction {
 	t := template.Must(template.New("vmx").Parse(DefaultVMXTemplate))
 	t.Execute(f, tplData)
 
+	state["vmx_path"] = vmx_path
 	state["vnc_port"] = vncPort
 
 	return multistep.ActionContinue
diff --git a/builder/vmware/step_run.go b/builder/vmware/step_run.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..35eaa578a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/builder/vmware/step_run.go
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+package vmware
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"github.com/mitchellh/multistep"
+	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/packer"
+	"os/exec"
+)
+
+// This step runs the created virtual machine.
+//
+// Uses:
+//   ui     packer.Ui
+//   vmx_path string
+//
+// Produces:
+//   <nothing>
+type stepRun struct{
+	vmxPath string
+}
+
+func (s *stepRun) Run(state map[string]interface{}) multistep.StepAction {
+	ui := state["ui"].(packer.Ui)
+	vmxPath := state["vmx_path"].(string)
+
+	vmrun_path := "/Applications/VMware Fusion.app/Contents/Library/vmrun"
+
+	ui.Say("Starting virtual machine...")
+	cmd := exec.Command(vmrun_path, "-T", "fusion", "start", vmxPath, "gui")
+	if err := cmd.Run(); err != nil {
+		ui.Error(fmt.Sprintf("Error starting VM: %s", err))
+		return multistep.ActionHalt
+	}
+
+	// Set the VMX path so that we know we started the machine
+	s.vmxPath = vmxPath
+
+	return multistep.ActionContinue
+}
+
+func (s *stepRun) Cleanup(state map[string]interface{}) {
+	ui := state["ui"].(packer.Ui)
+
+	vmrun_path := "/Applications/VMware Fusion.app/Contents/Library/vmrun"
+
+	// If we started the machine... stop it.
+	if s.vmxPath != "" {
+		ui.Say("Stopping virtual machine...")
+		cmd := exec.Command(vmrun_path, "-T", "fusion", "start", s.vmxPath, "gui")
+		if err := cmd.Run(); err != nil {
+			ui.Error(fmt.Sprintf("Error stopping VM: %s", err))
+		}
+	}
+}