How to install VMware Tools

Products

VMware VMware Desktop Hypervisor VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article provides general steps to install VMware Tools in most VMware products.

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. Links to more detailed steps for different operating systems are included in this article. Ensure to review the VMware Documentation for the product you are using.

To install VMware Tools in most VMware products:

Power on the virtual machine.
Log in to the virtual machine using an account with Administrator or root privileges.
Wait for the desktop to load and be ready.
In the user interface for the VMware product, locate the Install VMware Tools menu item, which is typically found under a Virtual Machine or Guest Operating System menu.
Based on the operating system you specified when creating the virtual machine, the correct ISO CD-ROM image containing VMware Tools is mounted to the virtual CD-ROM of the virtual machine.
To view or modify the operating system you have selected, edit the settings of the virtual machine using the appropriate menu command, which varies by VMware product.

Install VMware Tools from the CD-ROM inside of your guest operating system:

Packages for Linux Guest Operating Systems

In addition to the above procedures, most Linux distributions may also optionally install VMware Tools through a package manager. This allows VMware Tools to be installed or updated alongside other Linux components and the process is handled entirely within the guest OS.

Older releases of common Linux distributions can be configured to use Operating System Specific Packages (OSPs) and newer versions of Linux are provided with Open VM Tools natively.

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 the VMware Tools installation. For a list of supported guest operating systems, see the VMware Compatibility Guide.

Minimum version of VMware Tools that is supported on a particular guest operating system is the version that is bundled with the oldest version of the VMware product supporting that particular guest operating system.

Note:
To download the VMware tools for your guest operating system, visit the package repository at packages.vmware.com

With VMware Workstation 7, you have the option of downloading updated VMware Tools by navigating to Help > Check for Updates on the Web.

If the VMware Tools were never downloaded for VMware Workstation 7, when you click Install/Upgrade VMware Tools, you are prompted to download VMware Tools.

If you experience issues when installing VMware Tools, see these articles for troubleshooting information:

Additional Information

Note: More information on VMware Tools is available at:

Product-specific installation Information:

Installing VMware Tools in vSphere (2004754).
Installing VMware Tools Manually in a Fusion Virtual Machine running Windows (1003417).
Installing VMware Tools in VMware Player (1035392).

Note: VMware Player 2.x and earlier versions are designed to only play back pre-built virtual machines. The user who created the pre-built virtual machine must install VMware Tools if it is needed.

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