VmwareTools - potrzeba instalacji

Krytyczną rzeczą po instalacji OS na maszynie wirtualnej jest instalacja VmTools na Guest OS-ie.
Brak zainstalowamych VmTools-ów nie pozwala przykładowo z poziomu esx-a na wyłączenie Guest OSa w przypadku natychmiastowej potrzeby.

źródło: http://vmetc.com/2008/08/30/why-do-i-need-to-install-vmware-tools/


It happens more frequently than I would ever imagine, but from time to time I find clients have not installed the VMware tools in their virtual machine’s (VM) operating system. I find it more often in Linux VMs than Windows, but I’ve discovered it for both types of guests none-the-less. Some times the tools install is overlooked or forgotten, but every once in a while I am told something like “Does Linux needed VMware tools?” or “what do the VMware tools do for me anyways?”.

Well, I do not have any unique insight or clever commentary to add, but I am providing the following cut and pastes from the VMware .pdf Basic System Administration Guide as a easy reference. At the very least this post will save me some time because I won’t have to dig this info out of the .pdf again when I am asked.

The following sections provide info on what you install when you install VMware tools as well as steps for installing the tools for both Windows and Linux VMs. The rest of this post is not my material but comes straight from the linked guide above - although not necessarily in the order it appears in the original document, however. Download and read the current version for yourself!

I will add one point that is not covered in the following information. VirtualCenter requires the VMware Tools in the guest in order to be able to monitor and send alerts on the VMs, and to also populate various information like the VM’s ip address in the VI Client session.

Installing and Upgrading VMware Tools

VMware Tools is a suite of utilities that enhances the performance of the virtual machine’s guest operating system and improves management of the virtual machine. Installing VMware Tools in the guest operating system is vital. Although the guest operating system can run without VMware Tools, you lose important functionality and convenience.

When you install VMware Tools, you install:

* The VMware Tools service (VMwareService.exe on Windows guests or vmware-guestd on Linux and Solaris guests). This service synchronizes the time in the guest operating system with the time in the host operating system. On Windows guests, it also controls grabbing and releasing the mouse cursor.

* A set of VMware device drivers, including an SVGA display driver, the vmxnet networking driver for some guest operating systems, the BusLogic SCSI driver for some guest operating systems, the memory control driver for efficient memory allocation between virtual machines, the sync driver to quiesce I/O for Consolidated Backup, and the VMware mouse driver.

* The VMware Tools control panel, which lets you modify settings, shrink virtual disks, and connect and disconnect virtual devices.

* A set of scripts that helps you to automate guest operating system operations. The scripts run when the virtual machine’s power state changes if you configure them to do so.

* The VMware user process (VMwareUser.exe on Windows guests or vmware-user on Linux and Solaris guests), which enables you to copy and paste text between the guest and managed host operating systems.
o On Linux and Solaris guests, this process controls grabbing and releaseing the mouse cursor when the SVGA driver is not installed.

o The VMware Tools user process is not installed on NetWare operating systems. Instead, the vmwtool program is installed. It controls the grabbing and releasing of the mouse cursor. It also allows you copy and paste text.

NOTE If you do not have VMware Tools installed in your virtual machine, you cannot
use the shutdown or restart options. You can use only the Power options. If you want
to shut down the guest operating system, shut it down from within the virtual machine
console before you power off the virtual machine.

To install or upgrade VMware Tools on a Windows Guest

1. Open a console to the virtual machine.

2. Power on the virtual machine.

3. After the guest operating system starts, right?click the virtual machine and choose Install VMware Tools.

4. From inside the virtual machine, click OK to confirm that you want to install VMware Tools and launch the InstallShield wizard.
* If you have autorun enabled in your guest operating system (the default setting for Windows operating systems), a dialog box appears.

* If autorun is not enabled, run the VMware Tools installer. Click Start > Run and enter D:\setup.exe, where D: is your first virtual CD?ROM drive.

5. Follow the onscreen instructions.

6. On Windows Server 2003, the SVGA driver is installed automatically, and the guest operating system uses it after it reboots.

7. After you install VMware Tools, Windows 2000 and Windows XP guest operating systems must be rebooted to use the new driver.

To install or upgrade VMware Tools on a Linux guest with the tar installer or
RPM installer

1. Open a console to the virtual machine.

2. Power on the virtual machine.

3. After the guest operating system starts, right?click the virtual machine and choose Install VMware Tools.

* The remaining steps take place inside the virtual machine.

1. As root (su -), mount the VMware Tools virtual CD?ROM image and change to a working directory (for example, /tmp), as follows.

2. Some Linux distributions use different device names or organize the /dev directory differently. Modify the following commands to reflect the conventions used by your distribution:
* mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom

* cd /tmp

* NOTE Some Linux distributions automatically mount CD?ROMs. If your distribution uses automounting, do not use the mount and umount commands described in this procedure. You still must untar the VMware Tools installer to /tmp.

* NOTE If you have a previous installation, delete the previous vmware-tools-distrib directory before installing. The default location of this directory is: /tmp/vmware-tools-distrib

3. Uncompress the installer and unmount the CD?ROM image.

4. Depending on whether you are using the tar installer or the RPM installer, do one of the following:
* For the tar installer, at the command prompt, enter:

*
o tar zxpf /mnt/cdrom/VMwareTools-5.0.0-.tar.gz

o umount /dev/cdrom

o Where is the build/revision number of the tools release.

* For the RPM installer, at the command prompt, enter:

*
o rpm -Uhv /mnt/cdrom/VMwareTools-5.0.0-.i386.rpm

o umount /dev/cdrom

o Where is the build/revision number of the tools release.

5. Depending on whether you are using the tar installer or the RPM installer, do one of the following:
* For the tar installer, run the VMware Tools tar installer:

*
o cd vmware-tools-distrib

o ./vmware-install.pl

o Respond to the configuration questions on the screen. Press Enter to accept the default value.

* For the RPM installer, configure VMware Tools:

*
o vmware-config-tools.pl

o Respond to the questions the installer displays on the screen. Press Enter to accept the default value.

6. Log off the root account. #exit

7. Start your graphical environment.

8. In an X terminal, open the VMware Tools Properties dialog box: #vmware-toolbox &

NOTE If you attempt to install an rpm installation over a tar installation—or the
reverse—the installer detects the previous installation and must convert the
installer database format before continuing.