September 2012

Table 2-1. Virtual Machine Compatibility Options (Continued)
Compatibility Description
ESX/ESXi 3.5 and later This virtual machine (hardware version 4) is compatible with ESX/ESX 3.5. ESX/ESX 4.x,
and ESXi 5.1. It is also compatible with VMware Server 1.0 and later. You cannot create a
virtual machine with ESX/ESXi 3.5 compatibility on ESXi 5.0.
ESX Server 2.x and later This virtual machine (hardware version 3) is compatible with ESX Server 2.x, ESX/ESXi 3.5,
ESX/ESXi 4.x, and ESXi 5.0. You cannot create or edit virtual machines with ESX Server 2.x
compatibility. You can only start or upgrade them.
For more information, see the documentation for your specific VMware product.
Manually Install or Upgrade VMware Tools in a Windows Virtual Machine
All supported Windows guest operating systems support VMware Tools.
Install the latest version of VMware Tools to enhance the performance of the virtual machine's guest operating
system and improve virtual machine management. When you power on a virtual machine, if a new version of
VMware Tools is available, you see a notification in the status bar of the guest operating system.
For Windows 2000 and later, VMware Tools installs a virtual machine upgrade helper tool. This tool restores
the network configuration if you upgrade from virtual hardware version 4 to version 7 or higher. In vSphere,
virtual hardware version 4 corresponds to ESX/ESXi 3.5 compatibility. Virtual hardware version 7 corresponds
to ESX/ESXi 4.x compatibility.
Prerequisites
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Power on the virtual machine.
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Verify that the guest operating system is running.
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For vSphere virtual machines, to determine whether you have the latest version of VMware Tools, in the
vSphere Client inventory, select the virtual machine and click the Summary tab.
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For VMware Player, Fusion, and Workstation virtual machines, if you connected the virtual machine’s
virtual CD/DVD drive to an ISO image file when you installed the operating system, change the setting
so that the virtual CD/DVD drive is configured to autodetect a physical drive.
The autodetect setting enables the virtual machine's first virtual CD/DVD drive to detect and connect to
the VMware Tools ISO file for a VMware Tools installation. This ISO file looks like a physical CD to your
guest operating system. Use the virtual machine settings editor to set the CD/DVD drive to autodetect a
physical drive.
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Log in as an administrator unless you are using an older Windows operating system. Any user can install
VMware Tools in a Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me guest operating system. For operating
systems newer than these, you must log in as an administrator.
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If you use vSphere and plan to install the vShield Endpoint Thin Agent driver, see the system requirements
listed in the vShield Quick Start Guide. The vShield component is not installed by default. You must perform
a custom installation and include that component.
Chapter 2 Installing and Upgrading VMware Tools
VMware, Inc. 13