Specifications

Table Of Contents
VMware Server Virtual Machine Guide
68 VMware, Inc.
About the VMware Tools Service
When!you!install!VMware!Tools!in!a!virtual!machine,!the!VMware!Tools!service!is!one!
of!the!primary!components!installed.!The!service!does!the!following:!
! Synchronizes!the!time!of!the!guest!operating!system!with!the!time!in!the!host!
operating!system.
! Runs!scripts!in!a!virtual!machine!when!the!power!state!changes.!See!“Executing!
Scripts!When!the!Virtual!Machine’s!Power!State!Changes”!on!page 55.
! Executes!commands!in!the!virtual!machine!when!you!shut!down!or!restart!a!Linux!
or!Solaris!guest!operating!system.
! Sends!a!heartbeat!to!VMware!Server!so!that!it!knows!the!guest!operating!system!is!
running.!A!gauge!for!this!heartbeat!appears!in!the!VMware!Management!Interface.!
For!more!information,!see!“Using!the!Status!Monitor.
! Passes!messages!from!the!host!operating!system!to!the!guest!operating!system.
! Passes!information!between!the!guest!operating!system!and!a!VMware!Scripting!
API!script.
The!service!starts!when!you!boot!the!guest!operating!system.!
synctime [on|off] Lets!you!enable!or!disable!time!synchronization!
between!the!guest!operating!system!and!the!host!
operating!system.!By!default,!time!synchronization!is!
disabled.!
Use!this!command!without!any!options!to!view!the!
current!time!synchronization!status.
You!can!synchronize!the!time!in!the!guest!operating!
system!with!time!on!the!host
!operating!system!only!
when!the!time!in!the!guest!operating!system!is!earlier!
than!the!time!set!in!the!host.
idle [on|off] Lets!you!enable!or!disable!the!CPU!idler.!By!default,!the!
idler!is!turned!on.!The!CPU!idler!program!is!included!in!
VMware!Tools!for!NetWare!guests.
The!idler!program!is
!needed!because!NetWare!servers!
do!not!idle!the!processor!when!the!operating!system!is!
idle.!As!a!result,!a!virtual!machine!takes!processor!time!
from!the!host!regardless!of!whether!the!NetWare!server!
software!is!idle!or!busy.!
Table 3-3.
vmwtool Command Definition