VMware Tools – Turnkey Linux install
- Install VMware tools on core appliance
For VMWare ESX server you need to do (sys=ssh prompt, VM=ESX console):
sys : apt-get install build-essential gcc gnupg
sys : apt-get install linux-headers-`uname -r`
VM : Guest -> install vmtools cd
sys : mount /dev/cdrom /mnt
sys : cp /mnt/VM*tar.gz /tmp
sys : cd /tmp; tar -xzf VM*tar.gz; rm VM*tar.gz; cd vm*distrib ; ./vmware-install.pl
use for all questions the default.
VM: deinstall vmtools cd
sys : reboot
On the console you will see the vmware tools being started.
- Add VMwareTools to Debian-based VMs using apt
If you run a Debian-based VM (such the JeOS TK VMs here), here is an easy
way to install VMwareTools.
VMware has VMwareTools in a apt repo that you can add to the /etc/apt/sources.list and install using a simple ‘apt-get install [vmware-tools|vmware-tools-nox]. The repo is at http://packages.vmware.com/tools
Here is what I did:
Get their GPG key
wget http://packages.vmware.com/tools/VMWARE-PACKAGING-GPG-KEY.pub
Add VMware’s repo to your sources so apt can find it. It’s easiest to create a new file for it.
vi /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vmware.list
Add the following lines. Make sure to match the correct ESX version you have. I don’t know what happens if this does not match!
deb http://packages.vmware.com/tools/esx/3.5u4/ubuntu hardy main
deb http://packages.vmware.com/tools/esx/3.5u4/ubuntu hardy restricted
Next add the GPG key which should be in the directory where you downloaded it.
apt-key add VMWARE-PACKAGING-GPG-KEY.pub
Update apt and install the VMware Tools. Use vmware-tools-nox to skip any X11/X.org related things, which you are probably not even using in your VM.
apt-get update
apt-get install [vmware-tools|vmware-tools-nox]
