Use Cisco vWLC in VMWare Workstation

Cisco offers WLC virtual machine. Here are a few good online resources to get you started:
http://jeensern.blogspot.com/2012/09/cisco-virtual-wireless-lan-controller.html
http://www.labminutes.com/wlc0001_vwlc_7_3_vmware_installation
http://www.labminutes.com/blog0003_vwlc_7.3_installation_caveats
And here is the Cisco's deployment guide:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps12723/products_tech_note09186a0080bd2d04.shtml

If you are using VMWare Workstation, you will need to download the latest VMWare OVF Tool and convert the ova file to virtual machine files.

Once you fire up the vWLC in VMware Workstation, you will see "Press any key to use this terminal as the default terminal.". If you have not configured other way to ssh or telnet to the VM, press any key here.

If you see screen "freeze" with "kernel direct mapping tables up to 100000000 @ 8000-d000", it is OK. The WLC is running fine and you can still access it though CLI or HTTPS.
Alternatively, you can

•  press any key at above stage, 
• press ESC key at following screen to get more booting options
• Or let it boot to primary image by default

You will see log in prompt soon:

Update:

Played with newer version of the vWLC and here is an update on the setup:

Device/Software List:

• PC with dual NICs
• WMware Workstation 11
• vWLC 8.0 and 8.3
• Cisco 3560 PoE Switch
• Cisco Thin AP

NIC configuration:

• The 01BottemTP is the first NIC, which has internet connection.
• The Local Area Connection 2 (Realtek PCIe GBE) is the second NIC and it supports VLANs.
• I created 3 VLANs using the second NIC's utility program and renamed them as VLAN11, 12 and 1 for easy identification purpose from original name Realtek Virtual Adapter 1, 2, & 3 in Windows 7. 

VMware Workstation Setup:

• In WMware Workstation Virtual Network, assign VMnet0 to Realtak Virtual Adapter 3.
• Assign VMnet1 to the second physical NIC.

Once the OVA file was imported to WMware, assign the first Network Adapter to VMnet0 and the second Network Adapter to VMNet1.

vWLC Setup:

The key point to initially configure the vWLC is highlight below:

• Select default for Service interface IP Address configuration
• Management Interface VLAN ID is 0

Switch Configuration:

Connect the PC's second NIC to a trunk port - Gi0/1