Guide to Installing VMware Tools in VMware

Overview

VMware Tools is a suite of utilities provided by VMware to enhance the performance and user experience of guest operating systems within virtual machines. By installing these tools, you can improve mouse pointer integration, video support, network adapter performance, and more. Below are the steps to install VMware Tools on a Linux system.

Installation Steps

1. Initiating the Installation Process

Open VMware Workstation and ensure your virtual machine is powered on.
Click on “VM” from the top menu bar, then select “Install VMware Tools…”. This action will mount the VMware Tools ISO image into the virtual machine’s CD/DVD drive.

2. Mounting the ISO Image File

To access the installation files of VMware Tools, you need to mount the ISO image inside the virtual machine. Use the following command:

mount -t iso9660 /dev/cdrom /mnt

This command mounts the CD-ROM device (usually the VMware Tools ISO) to the /mnt directory.

3. Copying the Installation Files

Next, copy the VMware Tools compressed package to a temporary location such as the /tmp directory so it can be extracted and installed.

cd /mnt
cp VMwareTools*.tar.gz /tmp

This ensures that the installation files remain accessible locally even after unmounting the ISO image.

4. Extracting the Compressed Package

Now navigate to the /tmp directory and extract the copied VMware Tools compressed package.

cd /tmp
tar xzvf VMwareTools*.tar.gz

After extraction, you’ll find a new folder containing all the installation files for VMware Tools.

5. Starting the Installation

The final step is to run the installation script. Navigate into the extracted folder and execute the installer:

cd /tmp/vmware-tools-distrib
./vmware-install.pl

During installation, you may be prompted to answer some configuration questions. Follow the on-screen prompts; typically, accepting the default options will suffice.

Conclusion

After completing the installation, it’s recommended to restart the virtual machine to apply all changes. You should now have VMware Tools successfully installed on your virtual machine, providing an enhanced virtualized environment.

Note: The above steps are intended for Linux-based virtual machines. If you’re using a Windows virtual machine, the installation process will differ, usually involving running an installation wizard directly within the VM.