Specifications

Table Of Contents
VMware, Inc. 69
Chapter 3 Using VMware Tools
In!a!Windows!guest,!the!VMware!Tools!service!program!file!is!called!
VMwareService.exe.!Help!is!available!by!rightclicking!the!VMware!Tools!icon!in!the!
system!tray!and!choosing!Help.!
In!a!Linux!or!Solaris!guest,!the!VMware!Tools!service!is!called!vmware-guestd.!To!
display!help!about!the!service,!
including!a!list!of!all!options,!use!the!following!
command:!
/usr/sbin/vmware-guestd --help
This!section!covers!the!following!topics:
! “Synchronizing!the!Time!in!the!Guest!OS!with!the!Host!OS”!on!page 69
! “Executing!Commands!After!You!Power!Off!or!Reset!a!Virtual!Machine”!on!
page 70
! “Passing!a!String!from!the!Host!OS!to!the!Guest!OS”!on!page 70
! “Passing!Information!Between!the!Guest!OS!and!a!VMware!API!Script”!on!page 73
Synchronizing the Time in the Guest OS with the Host OS
The!VMware!Tools!service!can!synchronize!the!date!and!time!in!the!guest!operating!
system!with!the!time!in!the!host!operating!system!once!every!minute.!To!enable!time!
synchronization! for!a!Windows!guest,!see!“Setting!Options!with!VMware!Tools”!on!
page 57.!To!enable!time!synchronization!for!a!Linux,!FreeBSD,!or
!Solaris!guest,!see!
“Setting!Options!with!VMware!Tools”!on!page 63.!To!enable!time!synchronization!for!
a!NetWare!guest,!see!“Setting!Options!with!VMware!Tools”!on!page 66.
Synchronizing Guest Time in Response to System Events
The!service!synchronizes!the!date!and!time!in!the!guest!with!the!time!in!the!host!in!
response!to!various!system!events.!These!events!include:!
! Taking!a!snapshot.!In!the!virtual!machine’s!configuration!file!(.vmx),!this!setting!is!
represented!by!the!time.synchronize.continue!option.
! Reverting!to!a!snapshot.!In!the!virtual!machine’s!configuration!file!(.vmx),!this!
setting!is!represented!by!the!time.synchronize.restore!option.
! Resuming!a!suspended!virtual!machine.!In!the!virtual!machine’s!configuration!file!
(.vmx),!this!setting!is!represented!by!the!time.synchronize.resume.disk!option.
! Shrinking!the!virtual!disk.!In!the!virtual!machine’s!configuration!file!(.vmx),!this!
setting!is!represented!by!the!time.synchronize.shrink!option.