Install VMTools on a Linux Guest

I was recently asked how to install the VMTools on a Linux Guest. Below are excerpts from the latest Basic System Administration Guide:

http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35u2/vi3_35_25_u2_admin_guide.pdf


To install or upgrade VMware Tools on a Linux guest from X with the RPM
installer
1 Open a console to the virtual machine.
2 Power on the virtual machine.
3 After the guest operating system starts, right‐click the virtual machine and choose
Install VMware Tools.
The remaining steps take place inside the virtual machine.
4 Do one of the following:
􀂄 If you see a VMware Tools CD icon on the desktop, double‐click it, and after
it opens, double‐click the RPM installer in the root of the CD‐ROM.
􀂄 If you see a file manager window, double‐click the RPM installer file.
In some Linux distributions, the VMware Tools CD icon might fail to appear.
In this case, continue install VMware Tools from the command line.
5 When prompted, enter the root password and click OK.
The installer prepares the packages.
6 Click Continue when the installer presents a dialog box that shows
Completed System Preparation.
A dialog box appears with a progress bar. When the installer is done, VMware
Tools is installed. There is no confirmation or finish button.
7 In an X terminal, as root (su -), run the following file to configure VMware Tools:
vmware-config-tools.pl
Respond to the questions the installer displays on the screen. Press Enter to accept
the default value.
8 When done, exit from the root account:
exit
9 In an X terminal, open the VMware Tools Properties dialog box:
vmware-toolbox &



To install or upgrade VMware Tools on a Linux guest with the tar installer or
RPM installer
1 Open a console to the virtual machine.
2 Power on the virtual machine.
3 After the guest operating system starts, right‐click the virtual machine and choose
Install VMware Tools.
The remaining steps take place inside the virtual machine.
4 As root (su -), mount the VMware Tools virtual CD‐ROM image and change to a
working directory (for example, /tmp), as follows.
Some Linux distributions use different device names or organize the /dev
directory differently. Modify the following commands to reflect the conventions
used by your distribution:
mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
cd /tmp
NOTE Some Linux distributions automatically mount CD‐ROMs. If your
distribution uses automounting, do not use the mount and umount commands
described in this procedure. You still must untar the VMware Tools installer to
/tmp.
NOTE If you have a previous installation, delete the previous
vmware-tools-distrib directory before installing. The default location of this
directory is:
/tmp/vmware-tools-distrib

5 Uncompress the installer and unmount the CD‐ROM image.
Depending on whether you are using the tar installer or the RPM installer, do one
of the following:
􀂄 For the tar installer, at the command prompt, enter:
tar zxpf /mnt/cdrom/VMwareTools-5.0.0-.tar.gz
umount /dev/cdrom
Where is the build/revision number of the Workstation release.
􀂄 For the RPM installer, at the command prompt, enter:
rpm -Uhv /mnt/cdrom/VMwareTools-5.0.0-.i386.rpm
umount /dev/cdrom
Where is the build/revision number of the Workstation release.
6 Depending on whether you are using the tar installer or the RPM installer, do one
of the following:
􀂄 For the tar installer, run the VMware Tools tar installer:
cd vmware-tools-distrib
./vmware-install.pl
Respond to the configuration questions on the screen. Press Enter to accept the
default value.
􀂄 For the RPM installer, configure VMware Tools:
vmware-config-tools.pl
Respond to the questions the installer displays on the screen. Press Enter to
accept the default value.
7 Log off the root account.
exit
8 Start your graphical environment.
9 In an X terminal, open the VMware Tools Properties dialog box:
vmware-toolbox &
NOTE If you attempt to install an rpm installation over a tar installation—or the
reverse—the installer detects the previous installation and must convert the
installer database format before continuing.