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VMware GSX Server 2.5.2


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Installing VMware Tools in a Linux Virtual Machine

Installing VMware Tools in a Linux Virtual Machine

  1. Power on the virtual machine.

  2. After the guest operating system has started, prepare your virtual machine to install VMware Tools.

    Choose Settings > VMware Tools Install.

    The remaining steps take place inside the virtual machine.

  3. As root, open a terminal, mount the VMware Tools virtual CD-ROM image, copy its contents to /tmp, then unmount it.

    Note: You do not use an actual CD-ROM to install VMware Tools, nor do you need to download the CD-ROM image or burn a physical CD-ROM of this image file. The GSX Server software contains an ISO image that looks like a CD-ROM to your guest operating system. This image contains all the files needed to install VMware Tools in your guest operating system.

    Note: Some Linux distributions use different device names or organize the /dev directory differently. If your CD-ROM drive is not /dev/cdrom, modify the following commands to reflect the conventions used by your distribution.

    Note: Some Linux distributions automatically mount CD-ROMs. If your distribution uses automounting, do not use the mount and umount commands below. You still must copy the VMware Tools installer.

    mount -t iso9660 /dev/cdrom /mnt
    cp /mnt/vmware-linux-tools.tar.gz /tmp
    umount /dev/cdrom

  4. 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

  5. Start X and your graphical environment if they are not started yet.

  6. In an X terminal, launch the VMware Tools background application.

    vmware-toolbox &

    You may run VMware Tools as root or as a normal user. To shrink virtual disks, you should run VMware Tools as root (su -).

Starting VMware Tools Automatically

Starting VMware Tools Automatically

You may find it helpful to configure your guest operating system so VMware Tools starts when you start your X server. The steps for doing so vary depending on your Linux distribution and the desktop environment you are running. Check your operating system documentation for the appropriate steps to take.

For example, in a Red Hat Linux 7.1 guest using GNOME, follow these steps.

  1. Open the Startup Programs panel in the GNOME Control Center.

    Main Menu (the foot icon in the lower left corner of the screen) > Programs > Settings > Session > Startup Programs

  2. Click Add.

  3. In the Startup Command field, enter vmware-toolbox.

  4. Click OK, click OK again, then close the GNOME Control Center.

The next time you start X, VMware Tools starts automatically.

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