Installing and Configuring
Table Of Contents
- Installing and Configuring VMware Tools
- Contents
- About Installing and Configuring VMware Tools
- Components of VMware Tools
- Installing and Upgrading VMware Tools
- Installing VMware Tools
- Upgrading VMware Tools
- Manually Install or Upgrade VMware Tools in a Windows Virtual Machine
- Automate the Installation of VMware Tools in a Windows Virtual Machine
- Manually Install or Upgrade VMware Tools in a Linux Virtual Machine
- Manually Install or Upgrade VMware Tools in a Solaris Virtual Machine
- Manually Install or Upgrade VMware Tools in a FreeBSD Virtual Machine
- Manually Install or Upgrade VMware Tools in a NetWare Virtual Machine
- Manually Install or Upgrade VMware Tools in a Mac OS X Virtual Machine
- Repairing, Changing, and Uninstalling VMware Tools Components
- Using the VMware Tools Configuration Utility
- Using Other Methods to Configure VMware Tools
- Security Considerations for Configuring VMware Tools
- Index
Components of VMware Tools 1
VMware Tools is a suite of utilities that enhances the performance of a virtual machine. Although a guest
operating system can run without VMware Tools, many VMware features are not available until you install
VMware Tools.
NOTE The graphical user interface for VMware Tools, which is sometimes called the VMware Tools control
panel and which is available from the notification area in the guest operating system, has been deprecated and
will be removed from the product in a future release. The preferred method of configuring VMware Tools is
to use the settings available from within your VMware product or to use the command-line VMware Tools
configuration utility.
This chapter includes the following topics:
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“VMware Tools Service,” on page 7
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“VMware Tools Device Drivers,” on page 8
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“VMware User Process,” on page 9
VMware Tools Service
The VMware Tools service starts when the guest operating system boots. The service passes information
between host and guest operating systems.
This program, which runs in the background, is called vmtoolsd.exe in Windows guest operating systems,
vmware-tools-daemon in Mac OS X guest operating systems, and vmtoolsd in Linux, FreeBSD, and Solaris guest
operating systems. The VMware Tools service performs the following tasks:
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Passes messages from the host to the guest operating system, except in Mac OS X guest operating systems.
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Runs scripts that help automate guest operating system operations. The scripts run when the power state
of the virtual machine changes.
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Synchronizes the time in the guest operating system with the time on the host, except in Mac OS X guest
operating systems.
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In Windows guest operating systems, allows the pointer to move freely between the guest and the vSphere
client or the Workstation, Fusion, or Player host operating system.
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In Windows and Mac OS X guest operating systems, fits the screen display resolution of the guest to the
screen resolution of the vSphere client or the Workstation, Fusion, or Player host, if running in full screen
mode. If running in windowed mode, fits the screen resolution of the guest to the size of the window on
the client or host.
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In Windows guest operating systems, helps create the quiesced snapshots used by certain backup
applications. This feature applies to vSphere and VMware Server.
VMware, Inc.
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