I'm always "googling" this task whenever I have to install or upgrade the VMware Tools on a Linux VM guest. I figure I would make a post for future reference.
Ingredients used for the recipe:
1. Use the vSphere Client to connect to a vCenter Server or directly to an ESX host.
2. Right-click the virtual machine and select Open Console.
3. Log into Ubuntu with an administrative user account.
4. From the Virtual Machines tab, right-click the Linux VM -> Guest -> Install/Upgrade VMware Tools
5. Create a root login shell.
6. Update and install prerequisite packages.
7. Mount the CD drive and change to the directory.
8. Extract the compressed file to the /tmp directory and then cd to it.
9. Execute the vmware-install.pl Perl script with the defaults option.
10. Remove the temporary installation.
11. Unmount the CD drive.
Note: You will need to reinitialize the VMware toolset after a kernel upgrade.
Ingredients used for the recipe:
- Host: VMware ESX Server 4.0
- Guest: Ubuntu Server 9.10
1. Use the vSphere Client to connect to a vCenter Server or directly to an ESX host.
2. Right-click the virtual machine and select Open Console.
3. Log into Ubuntu with an administrative user account.
4. From the Virtual Machines tab, right-click the Linux VM -> Guest -> Install/Upgrade VMware Tools
5. Create a root login shell.
$ sudo -i
6. Update and install prerequisite packages.
# apt-get update
# apt-get install build-essential linux-headers-$(uname -r) psmisc
7. Mount the CD drive and change to the directory.
# mount /media/cdrom; cd $_
8. Extract the compressed file to the /tmp directory and then cd to it.
# tar xf VMwareTools-*.tar.gz -C /tmp
# cd /tmp/vmware-tools-distrib
9. Execute the vmware-install.pl Perl script with the defaults option.
# ./vmware-install.pl -d
10. Remove the temporary installation.
# rm -rf /tmp/vmware-tools-distrib
11. Unmount the CD drive.
# umount /media/cdrom
Note: You will need to reinitialize the VMware toolset after a kernel upgrade.
# /usr/bin/vmware-config-tools.pl
