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VMware Tools general installation steps
Purpose
This article provides general steps to install VMware Tools in most VMware products.
Note: For an overview of VMware Tools and a list of product documentation that contains information about installing VMware Tools on VMware products, see Installing VMware Tools (340).
Resolution
Installing VMware Tools
The following are general steps used to start the VMware Tools installation in most VMware products. Certain guest operating systems may require different steps, but these steps work for most operating systems.
For detailed instructions on installing VMware Tools on a specific VMware product, see the documentation for the product.
To install VMware Tools in most VMware products:
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Power on the virtual machine.
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Log on to the virtual machine using an account with Administrator or root privileges.
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Wait for the desktop to load and be ready.
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Click Install VMware Tools. There are two places to find this option:
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Right-click on the running virtual machine and choose Install VMware Tools.
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Right-click on the running virtual machine and click Open Console. In the Console menu click VM and click Install VMware Tools.
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The VMware Tools installation wizard appears inside of the virtual machine's console. Follow the prompt in the wizard to complete the VMware Tools installation. Choose the Typical installation option.
Notes:-
If you are installing VMware Tools on Linux, the above steps generally work. A non GUI installation script is available if no GUI is installed. For more information, see the documentation for your VMware product.
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If you are installing VMware Tools on Netware, follow the instructions contained in the documentation for your VMware product. Additional steps are necessary to start the VMware Tools installation on this operating system.
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When the VMware Tools installation has finished, restart the virtual machine to complete installation.
Note: VMware Player is designed to only play back pre-built virtual machines. The user who created the pre-built virtual machine must use VMware Tools if it is needed. VMware Player cannot be used to install VMware Tools.
Supported Guest Operating Systems
Guest operating system support varies by product and version. VMware Tools is designed to install smoothly on supported guests. Unsupported guests may require further steps to complete VMware Tools installation. For a list of supported guest operating systems, see the VMware Compatibility Guide.
Certain guest operating systems have specific installation requirements. For information on installing VMware Tools in Linux virtual machine on an ESX 3.x host, see How do I install VMware Tools in a Linux virtual machine on ESX Server 3.x? (5242329).
Additional Information
If you experience issues when installing VMware Tools, see the following articles for troubleshooting information:
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- KB Article: 1014294
- Updated: Oct 6, 2009
- Products:
VMware ACE
VMware ESX
VMware ESXi
VMware Fusion
VMware GSX Server
VMware Player
VMware Server
VMware Workstation