VMware Tools or open-vm-tools

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In 2007, VMware released large partitions of the VMware Tools as open-source software under the name, open-vm-tools (open virtual machine tools). They are now included in many Linux distributions, such as Debian, and can thus be obtained directly from the distribution repository.

VMware Server Systems

open-vm-tools

You can check your current installation of the open-vm-tools in the VM general settings.

As stated at the beginning of this article the open-vm-tools are present in the software repositories of several Linux distributions. Therefore you can use the package management to install them.

Using Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (Trusty) or Debian Wheezy apt-get/aptitude is the preferred way, the package name is open-vm-tools-lts-trusty or simply open-vm-tools.[1][2]

  • Ubuntu
    • sudo apt-get install open-vm-tools-lts-trusty
  • Debian
    • sudo apt-get install open-vm-tools

Currently there are no restrictions regarding support from VMware:[3]

Eliminates the need to separately install VMware Tools when open-vm-tools is bundled with the operating system because open-vm-tools is a fully-supported open source implementation of VMware Tools.

VMware Tools

The VMware Tools are usually bundled and provided via ISO files in VMware's products.:[4]

But currently there is even a hint on using the open-vm-tools when installing the VMware Tools:

Vmware-live-cd-14.png

Download options for VMware Tools:

References

  1. open-vm-tools-lts-trusty (packages.ubuntu.com)
  2. open-vm-tools (packages.debian.org)
  3. VMware support of open-vm-tools (kb.vmware.com)
  4. VMware Workstation 5.5 Installing VMware Tools (vmware.com)
  5. VMware Tools Installation Guide Operating System Specific Packages (ESX/ESXi 4.x and ESX/ESXi 3.5 Update 2 and later VMware Tools)
  6. Installing VMware Tools on Linux (searchvmware.techtarget.com)

Additional Information


Foto Werner Fischer.jpg

Author: Werner Fischer

Werner Fischer, working in the Knowledge Transfer team at Thomas-Krenn, completed his studies of Computer and Media Security at FH Hagenberg in Austria. He is a regular speaker at many conferences like LinuxTag, OSMC, OSDC, LinuxCon, and author for various IT magazines. In his spare time he enjoys playing the piano and training for a good result at the annual Linz marathon relay.


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