Struggling with packer building VM image for metasploitable 3

Using Packer version 1.4.3.

I am trying to setup metasploitable 3 by following the instructions provided in the link below.

Everything supposed to be handled by this power-shell script but the process failed as shown in the script output below.

PS C:\repos\metasploitable3> packer build --only=vmware-iso ./packer/templates/windows_2008_r2.json

vmware-iso output will be in this color.

Warnings for build ‘vmware-iso’:

** Your vmx data contains the following variable(s), which Packer normally sets when it generates its own default vmx template. This may cause your build to fail or behave unpredictably: numvcpus, memsize, scsi0.virtualDev*

==> vmware-iso: Retrieving ISO

==> vmware-iso: Trying http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/5/E/75EC4E54-5B02-42D6-8879-D8D3A25FBEF7/7601.17514.101119-1850_x64fre_server_eval_en-us-GRMSXEVAL_EN_DVD.iso
==> vmware-iso: Trying http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/5/E/75EC4E54-5B02-42D6-8879-D8D3A25FBEF7/7601.17514.101119-1850_x64fre_server_eval_en-us-GRMSXEVAL_EN_DVD.iso?checksum=md5%3A4263be2cf3c59177c45085c0a7bc6ca5
==> vmware-iso: http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/5/E/75EC4E54-5B02-42D6-8879-D8D3A25FBEF7/7601.17514.101119-1850_x64fre_server_eval_en-us-GRMSXEVAL_EN_DVD.iso?checksum=md5%3A4263be2cf3c59177c45085c0a7bc6ca5 => C:\repos\metasploitable3\packer_cache\c969d0a251f6f1d43e47e146749928fecb7568ab.iso
==> vmware-iso: Creating floppy disk…
vmware-iso: Copying files flatly from floppy_files
vmware-iso: Copying file: C:\repos\metasploitable3\packer\templates/…/answer_files/2008_r2/Autounattend.xml
vmware-iso: Copying file: C:\repos\metasploitable3\packer\templates/…/…/scripts/configs/microsoft-updates.bat
vmware-iso: Copying file: C:\repos\metasploitable3\packer\templates/…/…/scripts/configs/win-updates.ps1
vmware-iso: Copying file: C:\repos\metasploitable3\packer\templates/…/…/scripts/installs/openssh.ps1
vmware-iso: Copying file: C:\repos\metasploitable3\packer\templates/…/…/scripts/installs/install_dotnet45.ps1
vmware-iso: Copying file: C:\repos\metasploitable3\packer\templates/…/…/scripts/installs/install_wmf.ps1
vmware-iso: Copying file: C:\repos\metasploitable3\packer\templates/…/…/resources/certs/oracle-cert.cer
vmware-iso: Copying file: C:\repos\metasploitable3\packer\templates/…/…/resources/certs/gdig2.crt
vmware-iso: Copying file: C:\repos\metasploitable3\packer\templates/…/…/resources/certs/comodorsadomainvalidationsecureserverca.crt
vmware-iso: Copying file: C:\repos\metasploitable3\packer\templates/…/…/resources/certs/comodorsacertificationauthority.crt
vmware-iso: Copying file: C:\repos\metasploitable3\packer\templates/…/…/resources/certs/addtrust_external_ca.cer
vmware-iso: Copying file: C:\repos\metasploitable3\packer\templates/…/…/resources/certs/baltimore_ca.cer
vmware-iso: Copying file: C:\repos\metasploitable3\packer\templates/…/…/resources/certs/digicert.cer
vmware-iso: Copying file: C:\repos\metasploitable3\packer\templates/…/…/resources/certs/equifax.cer
vmware-iso: Copying file: C:\repos\metasploitable3\packer\templates/…/…/resources/certs/globalsign.cer
vmware-iso: Copying file: C:\repos\metasploitable3\packer\templates/…/…/resources/certs/gte_cybertrust.cer
vmware-iso: Copying file: C:\repos\metasploitable3\packer\templates/…/…/resources/certs/microsoft_root_2011.cer
vmware-iso: Copying file: C:\repos\metasploitable3\packer\templates/…/…/resources/certs/thawte_primary_root.cer
vmware-iso: Copying file: C:\repos\metasploitable3\packer\templates/…/…/resources/certs/utn-userfirst.cer
vmware-iso: Done copying files from floppy_files
vmware-iso: Collecting paths from floppy_dirs
vmware-iso: Resulting paths from floppy_dirs : []
vmware-iso: Done copying paths from floppy_dirs

==> vmware-iso: Creating required virtual machine disks
==> vmware-iso: Building and writing VMX file
==> vmware-iso: Starting virtual machine…
==> vmware-iso: Waiting 10m0s for boot…
==> vmware-iso: Connecting to VM via VNC (127.0.0.1:5943)

==> vmware-iso: Error connecting to VNC: dial tcp 127.0.0.1:5943: connectex: No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it.

==> vmware-iso: Deleting output directory…

Build ‘vmware-iso’ errored: Error connecting to VNC: dial tcp 127.0.0.1:5943: connectex: No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it.

==> Some builds didn’t complete successfully and had errors:

–> vmware-iso: Error connecting to VNC: dial tcp 127.0.0.1:5943: connectex: No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it.

==> Builds finished but no artifacts were created.

Any ideas what’s going wrong in the setup and how to troubleshoot/fix it?