Install and upgrade VMware Tools

VMware Tools is a guest tool for VMware virtual machines.

What is VMware Tools?

VMware Tools is the in-guest integration that enables clean shutdowns and reboots, time sync, richer drivers, and performance tweaks. On most Linux distributions, this is provided as open-vm-tools, which is the open-source edition packaged by your Linux vendor. Keeping Tools current is important to avoid bugs and known security issues.

Recommended versions

As of 2025-10-14:

Windows:

VMware Tools 13.0.5 (internal version 13317) or newer.
VMware Tools 12.5.4 (internal version 12452) or newer. Use 12.x only if your OS requires it.

Linux:

Use the latest open-vm-tools from your distribution's repositories.

Install

From Glesys Cloud, click Manage on the VM
Go to the CD/DVD tab
Mount "windows.iso", which is located under VMware-tools
Run the setup inside the OS from the mounted drive
Unmount by either ejecting the drive inside the OS, or by choosing Active ISO: None and clicking Mount ISO inside Glesys Cloud.

Ubuntu / Debian

Start by updating the repository:

Command

sudo apt update

Then, install open-vm-tools. For a server with CLI only, run:

Command

sudo apt install -y open-vm-tools

For a GUI desktop, run this instead:

Command

sudo apt install -y open-vm-tools-desktop

Finally, verify that everything is installed and running:

Multiple command

vmware-toolbox-cmd -v
systemctl is-active --quiet vmtoolsd && echo 'vmtoolsd running'

AlmaLinux

Install open-vm-tools using:

Multiple commands

sudo dnf makecache
sudo dnf install -y open-vm-tools

Then, verify it's installed and running by executing:

Multiple commands

rpm -q open-vm-tools
systemctl is-active --quiet vmtoolsd && echo 'vmtoolsd running'

Talos Linux

Talos is immutable with no apt/dnf. Install VMware integration by enabling the vmtoolsd system extension in your Talos machine config, then roll out the updated extension; verify with talosctl that the extension is loaded and healthy.

Check the current version

Depending on your operating system, these are the ways to check which version you currently have installed.

From an elevated PowerShell or CMD:

Command

"C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Tools\VMwareToolboxCmd.exe" -v

This prints the version and build.

Show the Tools version:

Command

vmware-toolbox-cmd -v

Check the service status:

Command

systemctl status vmtoolsd

Query the package version (Debian/Ubuntu):

Command

dpkg -s open-vm-tools | grep -i '^Version'

Query the package version (AlmaLinux):

Command

rpm -q open-vm-tools

Upgrade

Upgrading VMware Tools on Windows requires a reboot (driver updates), while Linux updates typically only restart the vmtoolsd service.

From Glesys Cloud, click Manage on the VM
Go to the CD/DVD tab
Mount "windows.iso", which is located under VMware-tools
Run the setup inside the OS from the mounted drive to upgrade
Unmount by either ejecting the drive inside the OS, or by choosing Active ISO: None and clicking Mount ISO inside Glesys Cloud.

Please note that a reboot will likely occur during the upgrade process.

open-vm-tools is normally upgraded with regular OS updates. If upgrades are held/locked, see the notes below.

Ubuntu / Debian

Start by updating the repository:

Command

sudo apt update

Then, perform the upgrade by executing the command (replace open-vm-tools with open-vm-tools-desktop if you are using a desktop GUI):

Command

sudo apt install --only-upgrade -y open-vm-tools

Verify that the service is running:

Command

systemctl is-active --quiet vmtoolsd && echo 'vmtoolsd running'

If updates are held, check and fix with:

Multiple commands

sudo apt-mark showhold
sudo apt-mark unhold open-vm-tools open-vm-tools-desktop

AlmaLinux

Update open-vm-tools using:

Multiple commands

sudo dnf makecache
sudo dnf update -y open-vm-tools

Verify that the package is installed and the service is running:

Command

rpm -q open-vm-tools
systemctl is-active --quiet vmtoolsd && echo 'vmtoolsd running'

If you are on an older system that still uses yum, run these commands instead:

Multiple commands

sudo yum clean all
sudo yum update -y open-vm-tools

If updates are locked, check and fix with:

Multiple commands

sudo dnf versionlock list || true
sudo dnf versionlock delete open-vm-tools\*
grep -i '^exclude=' /etc/dnf/dnf.conf || true

Talos Linux

Talos is an immutable Kubernetes OS with no apt/dnf. VMware integration is provided by a vmtoolsd extension.

Enable the VMware Tools extension in your Talos machine configuration.
Update by applying a newer Talos system extension and performing a rolling node upgrade.
Verify with talosctl that the extension is loaded and the service is healthy.

Official documentation

Overview of VMware Tools: https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article/315382/overview-of-vmware-tools.html

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Last updated 6 months ago

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