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Table Of Contents
VMware, Inc. 97
Chapter 5 Installing and Using VMware Tools
Customizing VMware Tools
Customizationsincludemodifyingorwritingscriptsthatrunwhenavirtualmachine’s
powerstatechanges,executingcommandswhenyoushutdownorrestartaUNIX
guest,andpassingcommandsinstringsthatruninstartupscripts.
How VMware Tools Scripts Affect Power States
WhenVMwareToolsisinstalled,ifyouconfigureavirtualmachine’spowercontrolsto
usetheguest,orsoft,poweroptions,oneormoredefaultscriptsrunintheguest
wheneveryouchangethepowerstateofthevirtualmachine.Youchangethepower
statebyusingmenucommandsorby
clickingtheSuspend,Resume,PowerOn,and
PowerOffbuttons.
Whatthedefaultscriptsdodependsinpartontheguestoperatingsystem:
OnmostMicrosoftWindowsguests,butnotwindowsNTandWindowsMe,the
defaultscriptexecutedwhenyoususpendavirtualmachinereleasestheIP
addressofthevirtualmachine.Thedefaultscriptexecutedwhenyouresumea
virtualmachinerenewstheIPaddressofthevirtualmachine(thisaffectsonly
virtualmachinesconfiguredtouseDHCP).ScriptscannotberunonWindows95
guests.
InWindowsguests,thedefaultscriptsarelocatedinthe
Program Files\VMware\VMware Toolsfolder.
synctime [on|off] Turnsthesynchronizationoftimeintheguestwith
timeonthehostonoroff.Bydefault,time
synchronizationisoff.
Usethiscommandwithoutanyoptionstoviewthe
currenttimesynchronizationstatus.
idle [on|off] TurnstheCPUidleronoroff.Bydefault,theidleris
on.TheCPU
idlerprogramisincludedinVMware
ToolsforNetWareguests.
TheidlerprogramisneededbecauseNetWare
serversdonotidletheCPUwhentheoperating
systemisidle.Asaresult,a virtualmachinetakes
CPUtimefromthehost,regardlessofwhetherthe
NetWareserversoftwareisidleor
busy.
Table 5-2. VMware Tools Commands for Netware Guests (Continued)
vmwtool Command Definition