How to install VMware Tools on Windows, macOS, and Linux

When it comes to working with virtual machines, if we focus on the Windows environment, we have two main options, although they are not the only ones: VirtualBox and VMware. The solution offered by Oracle with VirtualBox meets the needs of most users of this type of application, but not all. VMware is a much more complete solution, it is available in a free version and a paid version, versions that we can enhance using VMware Tools.

VMware Tools is a set of services running on virtual machines that are run to enhance interaction between the host and guest operating systems, enabling real-time interaction as if it were just another unit or application at a time. to copy files, copy and paste text, run configuration scripts, share folders among others.

install VMware Tools on Windows, macOS, and Linux

What are VMware Tools for?

After installing VMware Tools, the management and operations of turning on and off the guest virtual machines is much faster and more efficient, reducing the resource consumption of the host computer to what is strictly necessary.

It also allows to perform operators on the file system and to execute programs and commands to improve the automation of the guest virtual machine, it allows to collect information about network usage, resource consumption, memory management, hard disk.

One of the common problems that many users encounter when working with virtual machines is that the time is not correctly synchronized with the host computer, a problem that is solved by installing VMware Tools.

With VMware Tools we can customize what tasks we want to be carried out each time an operating system is started, enable the use of shared folders as if it were network drives, enable the function of copying and pasting texts and files between the guest operating system and host.

How much they cost

If you want to get the most out of VMware, you should install VMware Tools, as long as the version you’re using is supported. As I mentioned above, VMware Tools is available in different versions, all of which are paid except for the Fusion version, a version that we can use without any restrictions for home use.

VMware Tools is a completely free plugin that we must install from the application itself, a plugin that is available for all versions of VMware except for the Fusion version, this being the most negative point if we do not use the Pro version, a version that has a price of 180 euros.

Faced with this limitation, many users choose to use VirtualBox, a completely free tool that integrates the most interesting functions available in VMware when working with virtual machines, such as the ability to copy and paste files and texts.

Install VMware Tools on Windows

VMware Tools supports guest virtual machines running versions prior to Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2003 and later. The first thing we must do to install VMware on Windows is to run the virtual machine where we want to install it and log in as administrator , although in some versions the installation process can be carried out from a guest account.

VMWare Tools

Once the virtual machine is running, we go to the top VMware menu bar and click on Virtual Machine and then Install VMware Tools. If we already had a previous version installed, the application will take care of updating this set of services to the most recent version.

We follow the steps shown on the screen (they are practically the same as when we install any Windows application). Once it has finished, all we have to do is restart the virtual machine and start it again so that all the services associated with VMware Tools are activated.

VMware Tools on macOS

The first thing we need to do is run the virtual machine and wait for it to boot up completely. Next, from the top menu bar, click on Virtual Machine and then click on Install VMware Tools.

In the virtual machine, an installation window will be displayed inviting us to connect the installer CD. In that window, click on Install. Next, a VMware Tools dialog box will be displayed and click on the Install VMware Tools option.

VMware Tools macOS

Finally we select the Macintosh HD drive (drive where the computer’s operating system is installed) and click on Install.

Problems with macOS Big Sur onwards

If you are using a Mac running VMware and want to use virtual machines from other versions of macOS, you must first install the kernel plugins to enable VMware video driver and folder sharing using the following terminal commands.

com.vmware.kext.vmhgfs com.vmware.kext.VMwareGfx

We must carry out this process manually as long as our version of macOS is macOS Big Sur or later. With the release of macOS Big Sur, the Mac operating system no longer supports kext kernel plugins.

If during the installation process, macOS informs us that the installation of the application from the developer VMware, Inc has been blocked, we access Security Preferences > Security and privacy. In the Allow installing applications from section, click on the blocking message and select the Allow option.

If we want to make sure that the whole process has been carried out correctly, we use the following command from Terminal:

sudo kextstat –list-onlye | grep -i ware

Install VMware Tools on Linux distros

As in other operating systems, the first thing we must do to install VMware Tools in Linux is to start the virtual machine where we want to use these tools. Next, we go to the Virtual Machine menu and select Install VMware Tools.

Next, we open a terminal window in the version of Linux that we have installed and verify with the mount command that the VMware Tools image has been mounted correctly.

If not, inVmware Tools Ubuntu First of all, we need to create a directory to create a mount point using the command:

mkdir /mnt/cdrom

Next, we need to unzip the installer using the command

tar zxpf /mnt/cdrom/VMwareTools-xxx-yyyy-tar.gz

We need to locate the version number of the application (xxx) and the build number of the version (yyyy).

Once we have unzipped the application, we run the installer we use the following commands from the root of the system

cdo vmware-tools-distrib sudo ./vmware-installa-pl

Finally, we must follow the instructions on the screen to install VMware on Linux.