VMWARE VSPHERE 8.

0
INSTALL, CONFIGURE, MANAGE

Lab 13: Installing VMware Tools

Document Version: 2023-03-08

Copyright © 2023 Network Development Group, Inc.

www.netdevgroup.com

NETLAB+ is a registered trademark of Network Development Group, Inc.

VMware is a registered trademark of VMware, Inc.

179BLab 13: Installing VMware Tools

Contents
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 3
Objective ................................................................................................................................................... 3
Lab Topology ............................................................................................................................................. 4
Lab Settings ............................................................................................................................................... 5
1 Prepare the Lab Environment ........................................................................................................... 6
2 Install a Guest Operating System .................................................................................................... 18
3 Install VMware Tools on a Linux Virtual Machine ........................................................................... 28
4 Uninstall VMware Tools .................................................................................................................. 34
5 Optional – Install VMware Tools on a Windows Virtual Machine ................................................... 38

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179BLab 13: Installing VMware Tools

Introduction

In this lab, you will install a Guest Operating System and install VMware Tools.

VMware Tools is a suite of utilities that enhances the performance and management of a Virtual
Machine (VM) running on a VMware vSphere platform. VMware Tools is designed to optimize the
performance of the VM by providing enhanced support for virtual hardware and by improving the
handling of network, storage, and graphics operations.

Some of the features and benefits of VMware Tools include:

• Improved performance: VMware Tools can optimize the performance of the VM by providing
enhanced support for virtual hardware and improving the handling of network, storage, and
graphics operations.
• Improved mouse and keyboard integration: VMware Tools can improve the mouse and
keyboard integration between the VM and the host, allowing for a more seamless and intuitive
experience when working with the VM.
• Improved time synchronization: VMware Tools can improve time synchronization between the
VM and the host, which can be important for maintaining accurate time on the guest operating
system.
• Improved power management: VMware Tools can improve power management on the VM,
allowing for more efficient use of resources and reducing power consumption.
• Improved display resolution: VMware Tools can improve the display resolution on the VM,
allowing for higher resolution and better graphics performance.
• Improved backup: VMware Tools can improve the backup of the VM, allowing you to use the
vSphere Data Protection (VDP) to back up the VM.
• Improved security: VMware Tools can improve the security of the VM by providing enhanced
support for security features such as encryption and lockdown modes.

It is important to note that installing VMware Tools is not always necessary, but it is highly
recommended as it provides better performance and improved functionality for the VM.

In summary, installing VMware Tools on a VM can improve performance, mouse and keyboard
integration, time synchronization, power management, display resolution, backup, and security of the
VM. It is highly recommended to install VMware tools for a better VM experience.

Objective

• Create a VM
• Install Guest Operating System on a VM
• Install VMware Tools on a Linux VM
• Uninstall VMware Tools on a Linux VM
• Optional – Install VMware Tools on a Windows VM

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179BLab 13: Installing VMware Tools

Lab Topology

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Lab Settings

The information in the table below will be needed to complete the lab. The task sections further below
provide details on the use of this information.

Virtual Machine IP Address Account Password

sa-student eth0: 172.20.10.80 sysadmin NDGlabpass123!

sa-vcsa eth0: 172.20.10.94 sysadmin@vclass.local NDGlabpass123!

sa-esxi-01 eth0: 172.20.10.51 root NDGlabpass123!

sa-esxi-02 eth0: 172.20.10.52 root NDGlabpass123!

sa-aio eth0: 172.20.10.10 sysadmin NDGlabpass123!

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179BLab 13: Installing VMware Tools

1 Prepare the Lab Environment

In this task, you will recreate a folder named Lab-VMs and recreate a VM.

1. Launch the sa-student VM to access the graphical login screen.

To launch the console window for a VM, either click on the machine’s
graphic image from the topology page, or click on the machine’s
respective tab from the Navigator.

2. Launch the Mozilla Firefox web browser by either clicking on the icon found in the bottom toolbar
or by navigating to Start Menu > Internet > Firefox Web Browser.

3. In Firefox, click LAUNCH VSPHERE CLIENT.

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If the VMware Getting Started webpage does not load, please wait an
additional 3 - 5 minutes, and refresh the page to continue. This is
because the vCenter Server Appliance is still booting up and requires
extra time to initialize.

4. To log in to the vCenter Server Appliance, enter sysadmin@vclass.local for the username and
NDGlabpass123! for the password. Click LOGIN.

You may ignore the “browser-OS combination” warning message

presented on the VMware vCenter Single Sign-On page and continue
moving forward with the lab.

5. In the Navigator, select the VMs and Templates tab, and expand sa-vcsa.vclass.local. Select and
right-click on ICM-Datacenter. Navigate to New Folder > New VM and Template Folder.

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6. In the New Folder window, enter Lab-VMs for the folder name, and click OK.

7. Expand ICM-Datacenter, and verify that the Lab-VMs folder appears in the Navigator.

8. In the Navigator, click the Hosts and Clusters tab, and select sa-vcsa.vclass.local. In the right pane,
select Datastores and right-click iSCSI-Datastore. In the Actions menu, click Increase Datastore
Capacity….

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179BLab 13: Installing VMware Tools

9. In the Increase Datastore Capacity window on the Select Device step, select LUN 3 and click NEXT.

10. On the Specify Configuration step, leave the defaults, and click NEXT.

11. On the Ready to Complete step, review the information, and click FINISH.

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12. In the Navigator, select the VMs and Templates tab. Right-click on Lab-VMs and select New Virtual
Machine.

13. In the New Virtual Machine window, Select a creation type step, click NEXT.

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14. On the Select a name and folder step, enter Linux-Empty for the Virtual machine name, and choose
Lab-VMs for the Virtual machine location. Click NEXT.

15. On the Select a compute resource step, select sa-esxi-02.vclass.local and click NEXT.

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179BLab 13: Installing VMware Tools

16. On the Select storage step, click iSCSI-Datastore and click NEXT.

17. On the Select compatibility step, keep the default, and click NEXT.

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179BLab 13: Installing VMware Tools

18. On the Select a guest OS step, select Linux from the Guest OS Family drop-down menu. Select
Ubuntu Linux (64-bit) from the Guest OS Version drop-down menu. Click NEXT.

19. On the Customize hardware page, configure the VM settings.

a. For CPU, select 1 from the drop-down menu

b. For Memory, enter 2 GB
c. For New Hard disk, enter 12 GB
d. Expand New Hard disk and select Thin Provision from the Disk Provisioning drop-down
menu

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179BLab 13: Installing VMware Tools

e. For New Network, verify that SAFETY NET is selected

f. Expand New CD/DVD Drive, and select Datastore ISO File from the drop-down menu.
You may ignore the warning icon. This will disappear once you have attached a
datastore ISO file.

g. In the Select File window, click iSCSI-Datastore.

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179BLab 13: Installing VMware Tools

h. Click the Class Files folder, and select lubuntu-22.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso. Click OK.

i. In the New CD/DVD Drive options, check the Connect At Power On box. Click NEXT.

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179BLab 13: Installing VMware Tools

20. On the Ready to complete page, review the information, and click FINISH.

21. In the Navigator, expand the Lab-VMs folder, and select Linux-Empty.

22. Leave vSphere Client open, and continue to the next task.

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179BLab 13: Installing VMware Tools

2 Install a Guest Operating System

In this task, you will install an operating system (OS).

An OS on a VM in VMware is software that acts as a bridge between the VM and the physical hardware
resources of the host. It controls and manages the virtual hardware, such as CPU, memory, storage,
and network, that are allocated to the VM, and provides a platform for running applications and
services. A VM can run any OS that is supported by VMware, such as Windows and Linux. The OS on a
VM in VMware functions in the same way as it would on a physical machine, with the main difference
being that it is running on a virtualized environment rather than directly on the host's hardware.

1. While in the vSphere Web Client, right-click on Linux-Empty in the Navigator, and select Power >
Power On.

2. Verify that Linux-Empty is selected. In the Linux-Empty pane, click LAUNCH REMOTE CONSOLE.

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179BLab 13: Installing VMware Tools

3. In the Allow this site to open the vmrc link with VMware Remote Console window, click Open Link.

Please use the VMware Remote Console to complete this task and allow a
window pop-up time of 2 - 4 minutes.

4. If the GNU GRUB version 2.06 window appears, verify that Try or Install Lubuntu is selected. Press
Enter.

5. Once the Linux-Empty VM boots up, double-click on the Install Lubuntu 22.04 LTS graphic.

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179BLab 13: Installing VMware Tools

6. In the Welcome to the Lubuntu Installer window, Welcome page, click Next.

7. In the Location page, verify that New York is the time zone field, and click Next.

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179BLab 13: Installing VMware Tools

For this lab example, we chose to use the New York time zone, but you
may choose to use any time zone.

8. On the Keyboard layout page, select English (US) > Default. Click Next.

For this lab example, we chose to use English(US), but you may choose
to use any keyboard type.

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179BLab 13: Installing VMware Tools

9. On the Partitions page, select Erase Disk. Click Next.

10. On the Users page, configure the users. Click Next.

a. Your Full Name: Lab-Student

b. Login: labstudent
c. Computer Name: labstudent-vmware201
d. Password: NDGlabpass123!

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179BLab 13: Installing VMware Tools

11. On the Summary page, click Install.

12. In the Continue with installation window, click Install now.

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179BLab 13: Installing VMware Tools

13. Monitor the install process, and allow 3 - 5 minutes for the installation to complete.

14. After the install is complete, eject the installation CD from the virtual disk drive by clicking on the
VM menu option and selecting Virtual Machine Settings or by pressing CTRL+D as a shortcut.

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179BLab 13: Installing VMware Tools

15. In the Virtual Machine Settings window, Hardware tab, select CD/DVD drive 1 from the Device
pane. Uncheck the Connected and Connect at power on boxes. Click Save.

16. In the Question window, click No.

17. In the Error window, click OK.

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179BLab 13: Installing VMware Tools

18. In the Virtual Machine Settings window, click the X icon in the upper right corner to close.

19. In the Finish page, confirm that Restart now is selected. Click Done.

20. When the Linux-Empty main screen appears, press Enter on your keyboard.

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179BLab 13: Installing VMware Tools

21. Allow the Linux-Empty VM to restart. On the login screen, enter NDGlabpass123! for the password
and press Enter.

22. Stay logged into the Linux-Empty VM, and continue to the next task.

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179BLab 13: Installing VMware Tools

3 Install VMware Tools on a Linux Virtual Machine

In this task, you will install VMware Tools via command line, which can be beneficial in several ways:

• Automation: Installing VMware Tools via command line allows for automation of the
installation process, which can be useful when deploying multiple VMs or when integrating with
other automated processes.
• Scripting: Installing VMware Tools via command line allows for scripting of the installation
process, which can be useful for automating the installation of VMware Tools on multiple VMs.
• Remote installation: Installing VMware Tools via command line allows for remote installation
of VMware Tools on VMs, which can be useful when managing VMs that are hosted on remote
servers or in the cloud.
• Troubleshooting: Installing VMware Tools via command line allows for more detailed
troubleshooting and logging of the installation process, which can be useful for identifying and
resolving installation issues.
• Unattended installation: Installing VMware Tools via command line allows for unattended
installation, which is useful when you are installing VMware Tools on a large number of VMs,
and you don't want to go through the interactive process of installation.

In summary, installing VMware Tools via command line can be beneficial for automation, scripting,
remote installation, troubleshooting, and unattended installation. It can be useful when deploying
multiple VMs or when integrating with other automated processes, and when you want a more
detailed troubleshooting and logging of the installation process.

1. To begin the official VMware Tools install, click on the Virtual Machine menu option and click
Install VMware Tools.

2. In the Question window, click Install to mount the virtual CD drive.

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179BLab 13: Installing VMware Tools

3. In the Removable medium is inserted window, click the X icon to close.

4. While consoled into to Linux_Empty, click on the Application Menu icon and select System Tools.
Click on QTerminal to launch it.

5. Elevate your privileges by becoming the superuser of the system. When prompted for the root
password, enter NDGlabpass123! and press Enter.

labstudent@labstudent-vmware201:~$ sudo su

6. In the Terminal window, create a mounting directory.

root@labstudent-vmware201:/home/labstudent# mkdir /mnt/cdrom

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7. Mount the CD to the directory.

root@labstudent-vmware201:/home/labstudent# mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom

8. View the contents of the mounted CD ROM.

root@labstudent-vmware201:/home/labstudent# ls /mnt/cdrom

9. Copy the tar.gz file to a temporary directory.

root@labstudent-vmware201:/home/labstudent# cp /mnt/cdrom/*.gz /tmp

10. Change your current working directory to /tmp.

root@labstudent-vmware201:/home/labstudent# cd /tmp

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179BLab 13: Installing VMware Tools

11. View the contents of the /tmp directory and verify that the VMwareTools-10.3.24.18733423.tar.gz
file is present.

root@labstudent-vmware201:/tmp# ls

12. Use TAR, the package manager, to unpack the VMwareTools-10.3.21-14772444.tar.gz file.

root@labstudent-vmware201:/tmp# tar -zxvf VMwareTools-10.3.21-14772444.tar.gz

13. Navigate to the vmware-tools-distrib directory.

root@labstudent-vmware201:/tmp# cd vmware-tools-distrib

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179BLab 13: Installing VMware Tools

14. View the contents of vmware-tools-distrib and verify that vmware-install.pl is listed.

root@labstudent-vmware201:/tmp/vmware-tools-distrib# ls

15. Execute the VMware Tools installation script.

root@labstudent-vmware201:/tmp/vmware-tools-distrib#./vmware-install.pl

16. For this step, there will be a series of questions. Follow the instructions below to properly install
the official supported version of VMware Tools.

a. Do you still want to proceed with this installation? Enter Yes and click Enter.
b. In which directory do you want to install the binary files? Click Enter.
c. What is the directory that contains the init directories (rc0.d to rc6.d/)? Click Enter.
d. What is the directory that contains the init scripts? Click Enter.
e. In which directory do you want to install the daemon files? Click Enter.
f. In which directory do you want to install the library files? Click Enter.
g. The path .usr/lib/vmware-tools does not exist currently. This program is going to create
it, including needed parent directories. Is this what you want? Enter Yes and click Enter.
h. In which directory do you want to install the documentation files? Click Enter.
i. The path usr/share/doc/vmware-tools does not exist currently. This program is going to
create it, including needed parent directories. Is this what you want? Enter Yes and click
Enter.
j. Before running VMware Tools for the first time, you need to configure it by invoking the
following command: usr/share/ vmware-config-tools.pl. Do you want this program to
invoke the command for you now? Enter Yes and click Enter.
k. The VMware Host-guest Filesystem allows for shared folders between the host OS and
the guest OS in a fusion or workstation virtual environment. Do you wish to enable this
feature? Enter No and click Enter.
l. The vmblock enables dragging or copying files between host and guest in a fusion or
workstation virtual environment. Do you wish to enable this feature? Enter No and click
Enter.
m. Do you want to enable Guest Authentication (vgauth)? Enter Yes and click Enter.

17. Notice the message Enjoy, --the VMware team. This verifies that the install of VMware Tools was
successful.

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179BLab 13: Installing VMware Tools

18. Go back to the vSphere Web Client. On the Summary pane of Linux-Empty, verify that the officially
supported version of VMware Tools is running. (10360)

Notice that the version of VMware Tools is 10360 (10.3.24), which is

officially supported. For lab purposes, if this pod had internet access,
versions of open-vm-tools 11.1.0.19887 and build-16036546 would
have been downloaded as alternatives to the officially supported
VMware Tools. Some OSs require the alternative if they are not
officially supported by VMware.

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179BLab 13: Installing VMware Tools

4 Uninstall VMware Tools

In this task, you will uninstall VMware Tools via command line.

Uninstalling VMware Tools on a VM can be beneficial in several ways:

• Upgrading: Uninstalling VMware Tools can be necessary when upgrading to a newer version of
VMware Tools or when upgrading the VM’s OS.
• Troubleshooting: Uninstalling VMware Tools can be useful for troubleshooting issues related to
the VM’s performance or functionality, as it allows you to isolate the problem and determine
whether it is related to VMware Tools or to some other component.
• Removing unnecessary components: Uninstalling VMware Tools can be useful for removing
unnecessary components that may be consuming resources or causing conflicts with other
software on the VM.
• Security: Uninstalling VMware Tools can be useful for removing potential security
vulnerabilities, as it can remove components that may have been compromised or that may
contain known security vulnerabilities.
• Compliance: In certain cases, organizations have compliance requirements that VMs have
VMware Tools uninstalled.

It is important to note that uninstalling VMware Tools may have an impact on the VM’s performance
and functionality, so it should only be done when necessary and after a proper evaluation of the
potential impact.

In summary, uninstalling VMware Tools on a VM can be beneficial for upgrading, troubleshooting,

removing unnecessary components, improving security, and ensuring compliance with regulations. It is
important to evaluate the potential impact on the VM’s performance and functionality before
uninstalling VMware Tools.

1. Go back to the Linux-Empty console. In the Terminal, type exit.

root@labstudent:/tmp/vmware-tools-distrib# exit

2. In the Terminal, you will identify the VMware Tools package that is currently installed. Enter the
command below, followed by pressing the Enter key.

labstudent@labstudent-vmware201:~$ vmware-toolbox-cmd -v

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179BLab 13: Installing VMware Tools

10.3.24.1132 is the official supported version of VMware Tools

installed in Task 3.

3. Elevate your privileges by becoming the superuser of the system. When prompted for the root
password, enter NDGlabpass123! and press Enter.

labstudent@labstudent-vmware201:~$ sudo su

4. Change your current working directory to /usr/bin.

root@labstudent-vmware201:/home/labstudent# cd /usr/bin

The /usr/bin directory is the location of the VMware Tools uninstaller

script.

5. View the contents of the bin directory by typing the command below, and press Enter. You will
need to scroll the /usr/bin directory to find the vmware-uninstall-tools.pl script.

root@labstudent-vmware201:/usr/bin# ls

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6. Run the VMware Tools uninstaller script by entering the command below, and press Enter.

root@labstudent-vmware201:/usr/bin# ./vmware-uninstall-tools.pl

7. Verify that the removal of VMware Tools 10.3.24 was successful.

8. Go back to the vSphere Client. Ensure that the Linux-Empty pane is showing. Click on the Summary
tab in the main workspace, and notice that VMware Tools is not running and not installed.

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The alarm VMware Tools is not installed on this VM is present. You can click
the Actions link, and go through the installation and removal process you just
completed.

9. Leave the vSphere Client open, and continue to the next task.

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179BLab 13: Installing VMware Tools

5 Optional – Install VMware Tools on a Windows Virtual Machine

In this task, you will install VMware Tools on a Windows VM.

1. From your local desktop, go to https://core-vmware.bravais.com/s/lWojWT317LTCzXre1hgG to

open the simulation.

2. The lab is now complete; you may end the reservation.

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