diff --git a/builder/vmware/iso/step_configure_vmx.go b/builder/vmware/common/step_configure_vmx.go
similarity index 99%
rename from builder/vmware/iso/step_configure_vmx.go
rename to builder/vmware/common/step_configure_vmx.go
index 3b467eeaf..0d53c44e9 100644
--- a/builder/vmware/iso/step_configure_vmx.go
+++ b/builder/vmware/common/step_configure_vmx.go
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-package iso
+package common
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
diff --git a/builder/vmware/iso/step_configure_vmx_test.go b/builder/vmware/common/step_configure_vmx_test.go
similarity index 99%
rename from builder/vmware/iso/step_configure_vmx_test.go
rename to builder/vmware/common/step_configure_vmx_test.go
index 851841311..293269e3f 100644
--- a/builder/vmware/iso/step_configure_vmx_test.go
+++ b/builder/vmware/common/step_configure_vmx_test.go
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-package iso
+package common
 
 import (
 	"io/ioutil"
diff --git a/builder/vmware/common/step_test.go b/builder/vmware/common/step_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..27c37495e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/builder/vmware/common/step_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+package common
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"github.com/mitchellh/multistep"
+	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/packer"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func testState(t *testing.T) multistep.StateBag {
+	state := new(multistep.BasicStateBag)
+	state.Put("ui", &packer.BasicUi{
+		Reader: new(bytes.Buffer),
+		Writer: new(bytes.Buffer),
+	})
+	return state
+}
diff --git a/builder/vmware/common/vmx.go b/builder/vmware/common/vmx.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..455da4cec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/builder/vmware/common/vmx.go
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+package common
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"log"
+	"os"
+	"regexp"
+	"sort"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// ParseVMX parses the keys and values from a VMX file and returns
+// them as a Go map.
+func ParseVMX(contents string) map[string]string {
+	results := make(map[string]string)
+
+	lineRe := regexp.MustCompile(`^(.+?)\s*=\s*"(.*?)"\s*$`)
+
+	for _, line := range strings.Split(contents, "\n") {
+		matches := lineRe.FindStringSubmatch(line)
+		if matches == nil {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		key := strings.ToLower(matches[1])
+		results[key] = matches[2]
+	}
+
+	return results
+}
+
+// EncodeVMX takes a map and turns it into valid VMX contents.
+func EncodeVMX(contents map[string]string) string {
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
+
+	i := 0
+	keys := make([]string, len(contents))
+	for k, _ := range contents {
+		keys[i] = k
+		i++
+	}
+
+	sort.Strings(keys)
+	for _, k := range keys {
+		buf.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("%s = \"%s\"\n", k, contents[k]))
+	}
+
+	return buf.String()
+}
+
+// WriteVMX takes a path to a VMX file and contents in the form of a
+// map and writes it out.
+func WriteVMX(path string, data map[string]string) (err error) {
+	log.Printf("Writing VMX to: %s", path)
+	f, err := os.Create(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+	defer f.Close()
+
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
+	buf.WriteString(EncodeVMX(data))
+	if _, err = io.Copy(f, &buf); err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+
+	return
+}
diff --git a/builder/vmware/common/vmx_test.go b/builder/vmware/common/vmx_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..da07b2a10
--- /dev/null
+++ b/builder/vmware/common/vmx_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+package common
+
+import "testing"
+
+func TestParseVMX(t *testing.T) {
+	contents := `
+.encoding = "UTF-8"
+config.version = "8"
+`
+
+	results := ParseVMX(contents)
+	if len(results) != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("not correct number of results: %d", len(results))
+	}
+
+	if results[".encoding"] != "UTF-8" {
+		t.Errorf("invalid .encoding: %s", results[".encoding"])
+	}
+
+	if results["config.version"] != "8" {
+		t.Errorf("invalid config.version: %s", results["config.version"])
+	}
+}
+
+func TestEncodeVMX(t *testing.T) {
+	contents := map[string]string{
+		".encoding":      "UTF-8",
+		"config.version": "8",
+	}
+
+	expected := `.encoding = "UTF-8"
+config.version = "8"
+`
+
+	result := EncodeVMX(contents)
+	if result != expected {
+		t.Errorf("invalid results: %s", result)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/builder/vmware/iso/builder.go b/builder/vmware/iso/builder.go
index a65176d2c..068a675dd 100644
--- a/builder/vmware/iso/builder.go
+++ b/builder/vmware/iso/builder.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"github.com/mitchellh/multistep"
+	vmwcommon "github.com/mitchellh/packer/builder/vmware/common"
 	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/common"
 	"github.com/mitchellh/packer/packer"
 	"io/ioutil"
@@ -405,7 +406,7 @@ func (b *Builder) Run(ui packer.Ui, hook packer.Hook, cache packer.Cache) (packe
 		},
 		&stepCreateDisk{},
 		&stepCreateVMX{},
-		&StepConfigureVMX{
+		&vmwcommon.StepConfigureVMX{
 			CustomData: b.config.VMXData,
 		},
 		&stepSuppressMessages{},