Previous, Next, Table of Contents.
VMware Tools
VMware Workstation installs unmodified operating systems directly from
floppy and/or CD-ROM
devices. This installation process is the first and only necessary step
in building a virtual machine.
VMware highly recommends that you install the VMware Tools suite within
each virtual machine as soon as it is installed. The suite consists of
two components:
- A graphics driver
that is optimized for the VMware virtual graphics
card. For Linux guest operating systems, this consists of our own version
of the XFree86 X-server. The graphics driver is installed by the wizard. Once
installed, it will be used for subsequent reboots.
- A small background application
that allows users to change
configuration settings within the virtual machine. The VMware Tools
application controls the cursor settings and the connection state
of removable devices (such as floppy and CD-ROM drives).
The cursor settings allow users to transition the mouse cursor
smoothly between the virtual machine and the host graphical user
interface. The miscellaneous settings allow users to copy and
paste text buffers between virtual
machines and the host. Note that these enhancements are available only
when the application is running.
An installation wizard will automatically install all the VMware
Workstation software
that needs to run within a virtual machine.
VMware Tools for Linux and VMware Tools for Windows are included with the
product as floppy images. Choosing the VMware Tools Install... option from the
Settings menu will automatically configure your virtual machine to use the
appropriate floppy image for the guest operating system you are running.
Note that while you are
installing the VMware Tools, you should not attempt to change the
configuration settings of your floppy drive, as these changes will be lost when
the VMware Tools installation completes.
To install VMware Tools in a Linux guest operating system:
- Power on the virtual machine.
- Prepare your virtual machine to install the VMware Tools.
This will reconfigure the first floppy drive in your virtual
machine.
Choose Settings > VMware Tools Install...
If you decide not to proceed with the installation of the
VMware Tools, you may cancel the operation.
Choose Settings > Cancel VMware Tools Install
- As root, mount the VMware Tools floppy, copy the
contents of the floppy to /tmp, and unmount the floppy.
cd /
mount -t vfat /dev/fd0 /mnt
cp /mnt/vmware-linux-tools.tar.gz /tmp
umount /dev/fd0
- Untar the VMware Tools tar file in /tmp,
and install it.
cd /tmp
tar zxf vmware-linux-tools.tar.gz
cd vmware-linux-tools
./install.pl
- Start X and your graphical environment if they are not started yet.
- In an X terminal, launch the VMware Tools background application.
vmware-toolbox &
The VMware Tools background application may be run as root or
as a normal user. The application will have additional
capabilities if run as root.
To install VMware Tools in a Windows guest operating system:
- Power on the virtual machine.
- Prepare your virtual machine to install the VMware Tools.
This will reconfigure the first floppy drive in your virtual
machine.
Choose Settings > VMware Tools Install...
If you decide not to proceed with the installation of the
VMware Tools, you may cancel the operation.
Choose Settings > Cancel VMware Tools Install
- Double-click the My Computer icon on your desktop.
- Double-click the A: device.
- Double-click VMwareTools.exe and follow the instructions.
- The VMware Tools background application will be
launched automatically when you reboot the virtual machine.