Open the debugger VM's .vmx file. delete the existing serial0 lines (used for printing, not needed) add these lines:
serial0.present = "TRUE"
serial0.pipe.endPoint = "client"
serial0.fileType = "pipe"
serial0.yieldOnMsrRead = "TRUE"
serial0.tryNoRxLoss = "FALSE"
serial0.startConnected = "TRUE"