This tutorial present you how to install the VMware Tools on a virtual machine.
Présentation
Jaguar Network recommends you to install and maintain update the VMware Tools on your virtual machines.
This package developed by VMware regroups a lot of features and improve your virtual machine performances.
An operating System can work without this suite but a lot of functions aren’t available such as :
– The use of VMXnet3 network card (highly recommended next to the E1000 network card)
– Shrinking virtual disks
– Connecting or disconnecting virtual devices while the virtual machine is running
– Shutdown/Reboot the operating system directly from the tools bar
– Etc
The procedure for the installation of the VMware Tools depends of the Operating System of your virtual machine
Windows
From the vCenter console, do a right click on the virtual machine, select “Guest OS” and clic on “Install VMware Tools…”
A windows pop-up will appear, select “Interactive Upgrade” and click on “Upgrade”
This action will mount an ISO file on the virtual drive of your virtual machine.
Once it’s done, connect to your virtual machine and go to “My Computer”
Double click on the drive to launch the install :
Is is recommended to make a “Complete” installation and to reboot the operating system to have a safe install.
NB : The ISO file mounted on the virtual drive will be automatically unmounted at the end of the install.
Linux
On Linux, since a few years, the VMware Tools can be install through the package manager (apt or yum).
# Debian 7.x and greater # Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and greater apt-get install open-vm-tools # Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.0 and greater # CentOS 7.0 and greater yum install open-vm-tools
NB : it’s not necessary to reboot the operating system once the install is complete.
Mise à jour automatique des VMware Tools
It’s possible to automatically update the VMware Tools at the boot of the virtual machine.
It’s a optional function located on the parameters of the virtual machine.
To active it, do a right click on the virtual machine and select “Edit Settings..”
Go to the “VM Options” tab, click on “VMware Tools” and select “Check and upgrade VMware Tools before each power on”
NB : this option can be modified while the virtual machine is power on.
