How do I force VMware virtual machine to enter the BIOS setup

To force the machine to enter the BIOS setup once (but continue booting normally on subsequent start-ups), add bios.forceSetupOnce = "TRUE" to VM's .vmx file.

Alternatively, quickly press F2 while booting. To make this easier, set bios.bootDelay = "xxxx" in the .vmx file, where xxxx is the number of milliseconds during which the VM will wait for the F2 signal.

See http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1004129