diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
index e3657fd4afd..f4358ed6eed 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yml
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@ jobs:
           - variant: aws-dev
             arch: x86_64
             supported: false
+          - variant: vmware-dev
+            arch: x86_64
+            supported: false
       fail-fast: false
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v2
diff --git a/packages/containerd/containerd-config-toml_vmware-dev b/packages/containerd/containerd-config-toml_vmware-dev
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..dbd68745aed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/containerd/containerd-config-toml_vmware-dev
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+version = 2
+root = "/var/lib/containerd"
+state = "/run/containerd"
+disabled_plugins = [
+    "io.containerd.internal.v1.opt",
+    "io.containerd.snapshotter.v1.aufs",
+    "io.containerd.snapshotter.v1.devmapper",
+    "io.containerd.snapshotter.v1.native",
+    "io.containerd.snapshotter.v1.zfs",
+    "io.containerd.grpc.v1.cri",
+]
+
+[grpc]
+address = "/run/containerd/containerd.sock"
diff --git a/packages/containerd/containerd.spec b/packages/containerd/containerd.spec
index 1a6caf08e70..9accdbdac60 100644
--- a/packages/containerd/containerd.spec
+++ b/packages/containerd/containerd.spec
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ Source2: containerd-config-toml_aws-k8s
 Source3: containerd-config-toml_aws-dev
 Source4: containerd-config-toml_aws-ecs-1
 Source5: containerd-tmpfiles.conf
+Source6: containerd-config-toml_vmware-dev
 Source1000: clarify.toml
 
 # Upstream patch; can drop when we move to v1.4.0.
@@ -100,7 +101,7 @@ install -p -m 0644 %{S:1} %{buildroot}%{_cross_unitdir}/containerd.service
 
 install -d %{buildroot}%{_cross_templatedir}
 install -d %{buildroot}%{_cross_factorydir}%{_cross_sysconfdir}/containerd
-install -p -m 0644 %{S:2} %{S:3} %{S:4} %{buildroot}%{_cross_templatedir}
+install -p -m 0644 %{S:2} %{S:3} %{S:4} %{S:6} %{buildroot}%{_cross_templatedir}
 
 install -d %{buildroot}%{_cross_tmpfilesdir}
 install -p -m 0644 %{S:5} %{buildroot}%{_cross_tmpfilesdir}/containerd.conf
diff --git a/sources/api/host-containers/src/main.rs b/sources/api/host-containers/src/main.rs
index c054ff6d573..22cd7b0a945 100644
--- a/sources/api/host-containers/src/main.rs
+++ b/sources/api/host-containers/src/main.rs
@@ -76,9 +76,6 @@ mod error {
             source: serde_json::Error,
         },
 
-        #[snafu(display("settings.host_containers missing in API response"))]
-        MissingSettings {},
-
         #[snafu(display("Host containers '{}' missing field '{}'", name, field))]
         MissingField { name: String, field: String },
 
@@ -157,7 +154,8 @@ where
     let settings: model::Settings =
         serde_json::from_str(&response_body).context(error::ResponseJson { method, uri })?;
 
-    settings.host_containers.context(error::MissingSettings)
+    // If host containers aren't defined, return an empty map
+    Ok(settings.host_containers.unwrap_or_default())
 }
 
 /// SystemdUnit stores the systemd unit being manipulated
diff --git a/sources/logdog/conf/logdog.vmware-dev.conf b/sources/logdog/conf/logdog.vmware-dev.conf
new file mode 120000
index 00000000000..e7157eae1ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sources/logdog/conf/logdog.vmware-dev.conf
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+logdog.aws-dev.conf
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/sources/models/README.md b/sources/models/README.md
index e4849e72125..6a0b29e134c 100644
--- a/sources/models/README.md
+++ b/sources/models/README.md
@@ -52,11 +52,16 @@ The `#[model]` attribute on Settings and its sub-structs reduces duplication and
 * [Model](src/aws-ecs-1/mod.rs)
 * [Default settings](src/aws-ecs-1/defaults.d/)
 
-### aws-dev: Development build
+### aws-dev: AWS development build
 
 * [Model](src/aws-dev/mod.rs)
 * [Default settings](src/aws-dev/defaults.d/)
 
+### vmware-dev: VMWare development build
+
+* [Model](src/vmware-dev/mod.rs)
+* [Default settings](src/vmware-dev/defaults.d/)
+
 ## This directory
 
 We use `build.rs` to symlink the proper API model source code for Cargo to build.
diff --git a/sources/models/src/lib.rs b/sources/models/src/lib.rs
index d30b45f2a4b..84bdcda8f4c 100644
--- a/sources/models/src/lib.rs
+++ b/sources/models/src/lib.rs
@@ -49,11 +49,16 @@ The `#[model]` attribute on Settings and its sub-structs reduces duplication and
 * [Model](src/aws-ecs-1/mod.rs)
 * [Default settings](src/aws-ecs-1/defaults.d/)
 
-## aws-dev: Development build
+## aws-dev: AWS development build
 
 * [Model](src/aws-dev/mod.rs)
 * [Default settings](src/aws-dev/defaults.d/)
 
+## vmware-dev: VMWare development build
+
+* [Model](src/vmware-dev/mod.rs)
+* [Default settings](src/vmware-dev/defaults.d/)
+
 # This directory
 
 We use `build.rs` to symlink the proper API model source code for Cargo to build.
diff --git a/sources/models/src/vmware-dev/defaults.d/10-defaults.toml b/sources/models/src/vmware-dev/defaults.d/10-defaults.toml
new file mode 120000
index 00000000000..a202ba61a4c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sources/models/src/vmware-dev/defaults.d/10-defaults.toml
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../../../shared-defaults/defaults.toml
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/sources/models/src/vmware-dev/defaults.d/50-vmware-dev.toml b/sources/models/src/vmware-dev/defaults.d/50-vmware-dev.toml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9c29adcb3cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sources/models/src/vmware-dev/defaults.d/50-vmware-dev.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+[configuration-files.containerd-config-toml]
+# No override to path
+template-path = "/usr/share/templates/containerd-config-toml_vmware-dev"
+
+# Docker
+[services.docker]
+restart-commands = ["/bin/systemctl try-restart docker.service"]
+configuration-files = ["proxy-env"]
+
+# Network
+[metadata.settings.network]
+affected-services = ["containerd", "docker", "host-containerd"]
+
+# NTP
+# Use a public endpoint, don't assume any local ones.
+[settings.ntp]
+time-servers = ["2.amazon.pool.ntp.org"]
+
diff --git a/sources/models/src/vmware-dev/mod.rs b/sources/models/src/vmware-dev/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6b472cb086a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sources/models/src/vmware-dev/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+use model_derive::model;
+use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+use std::collections::HashMap;
+
+use crate::modeled_types::Identifier;
+use crate::{ContainerImage, KernelSettings, NetworkSettings, NtpSettings, UpdatesSettings};
+
+// Note: we have to use 'rename' here because the top-level Settings structure is the only one
+// that uses its name in serialization; internal structures use the field name that points to it
+#[model(rename = "settings", impl_default = true)]
+struct Settings {
+    motd: String,
+    updates: UpdatesSettings,
+    host_containers: HashMap<Identifier, ContainerImage>,
+    ntp: NtpSettings,
+    network: NetworkSettings,
+    kernel: KernelSettings,
+}
diff --git a/variants/README.md b/variants/README.md
index f0ffd2bd1a6..7540f28396e 100644
--- a/variants/README.md
+++ b/variants/README.md
@@ -64,10 +64,17 @@ This variant is compatible with Kubernetes 1.19, 1.20, and 1.21 clusters.
 The [aws-ecs-1](aws-ecs-1/Cargo.toml) variant includes the packages needed to run an [Amazon ECS](https://ecs.aws)
 container instance in AWS.
 
-### aws-dev: Development build
+### aws-dev: AWS development build
 
 The [aws-dev](aws-dev/Cargo.toml) variant has useful packages for local development of the OS.
 It includes tools for troubleshooting as well as Docker for running containers.
+User data will be read from IMDS.
+
+### vmware-dev: VMWare development build
+
+The [vmware-dev](vmware-dev/Cargo.toml) variant has useful packages for local development of the OS, and is intended to run as a VMWare guest.
+It includes tools for troubleshooting as well as Docker for running containers.
+User data will be read from a mounted CD-ROM, either from a file named "user-data" or from an OVF file.
 
 ## Development
 
diff --git a/variants/vmware-dev/Cargo.lock b/variants/vmware-dev/Cargo.lock
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1406da3d9f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/variants/vmware-dev/Cargo.lock
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# This file is automatically @generated by Cargo.
+# It is not intended for manual editing.
+[[package]]
+name = "vmware-dev"
+version = "0.1.0"
diff --git a/variants/vmware-dev/Cargo.toml b/variants/vmware-dev/Cargo.toml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3ceb7f92350
--- /dev/null
+++ b/variants/vmware-dev/Cargo.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+[package]
+name = "vmware-dev"
+version = "0.1.0"
+edition = "2018"
+publish = false
+build = "build.rs"
+# Don't rebuild crate just because of changes to README.
+exclude = ["README.md"]
+
+[package.metadata.build-variant]
+included-packages = [
+# core
+    "release",
+# docker
+    "docker-cli",
+    "docker-engine",
+    "docker-init",
+    "docker-proxy",
+# tools
+    "findutils",
+    "login",
+    "iputils",
+    "procps",
+    "strace",
+    "tcpdump",
+    "chrony-tools",
+]
+
+[lib]
+path = "lib.rs"
diff --git a/variants/vmware-dev/build.rs b/variants/vmware-dev/build.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d6a90e4df44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/variants/vmware-dev/build.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+use std::process::{exit, Command};
+
+fn main() -> Result<(), std::io::Error> {
+    let ret = Command::new("buildsys").arg("build-variant").status()?;
+    if !ret.success() {
+        exit(1);
+    }
+    Ok(())
+}
diff --git a/variants/vmware-dev/lib.rs b/variants/vmware-dev/lib.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d799fb2d44c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/variants/vmware-dev/lib.rs
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+// not used