Introducing VMware Tools

VMware Tools is a suite of utilities that enhances the performance of the virtual machine’s guest operating system and improves management of the virtual machine by your VMware product. Although a guest operating system can run without VMware Tools, you lose important functionality and convenience.

When you install VMware Tools, you install:

•	The VMware Tools service, which is called vmware-guestd on Linux, FreeBSD, and Solaris guests, or VMwareService.exe on Windows. It runs in the background of your virtual machine. For more information, see About the VMware Tools Service.

•	A set of VMware device drivers that smooth operations such as sharing folders and using the mouse. For more information, see About the VMware Device Drivers.

•	The VMware user process, which is called vmware-user on Linux and Solaris guests or VMwareUser.exe on Windows. For more information, see About the VMware User Process.

•	The VMware Tools control panel that lets you modify settings, shrink virtual disks, and connect and disconnect virtual devices. For more information, see Using the VMware Tools Control Panel.

•	A set of scripts that help automate guest operating system operations. The scripts run when the virtual machine’s power state changes. For more information, see Using Scripts.

Installation files for VMware Tools for all supported Windows, Linux, NetWare, FreeBSD, and Solaris guest operating systems are built into your VMware product.

About the VMware Device Drivers

The following device drivers are included with VMware Tools:

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SVGA driver – With the VMware SVGA driver installed, the virtual machine can utilize up to 32-bit displays and high display resolution, with significantly faster overall graphics performance. If you run a guest operating system without VMware Tools, the graphics environment within the virtual machine is limited to VGA mode graphics (640x480, 16-color) and display performance might be unsatisfactory.

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SCSI driver – This driver is for the virtual BusLogic SCSI adapter. Note that some recent guest operating systems contain LSI Logic drivers and can take advantage of the virtual LSI Logic adapter for better device performance. Windows Server 2008 defaults to LSI Logic SAS. You specify whether to use the BusLogic, LSI Logic SCSI, or LSI Logic SAS adapter when you create a virtual machine.

•	Paravirtual SCSI driver – This driver is for PVSCSI adapters, which enhance the performance of some virtualized applications.

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VMXNet NIC drivers – The vmxnet and vmxnet3 networking drivers improve network performance. Which driver gets used depends on how you configure the device settings for the virtual machine. Search the VMware Knowledge Base for information on which guest operating systems are supported with these drivers.

When you create a virtual machine, by default the vlance driver is installed. Then when you install VMware Tools, a VMXNet driver is installed.

•	Mouse driver – The VMware mouse driver improves mouse performance in some guest operating systems. It is necessary for use with third-party tools such as Microsoft’s Terminal Services.

•	Audio driver – The VMware audio driver is required for all 64-bit Windows guests and 32-bit Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Vista guests if you use the virtual machine with VMware Server, Workstation, or Fusion.

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Kernel module for sharing folders – This module, called hgfs.sys on Windows or vmhgfs on Linux and Solaris, is recommended if you plan to use this virtual machine with Workstation or Fusion. Excluding this module prevents you from sharing a folder between your virtual machine and a Workstation or Fusion host.

•	Memory driver – The VMware memory control driver is recommended if you plan to use this virtual machine with ESX Server. Excluding this driver hinders the memory management capabilities of the virtual machine running on an ESX Server system.

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Drivers for making automatic backups – If the guest is running Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, or Windows Server 2008, a Volume Shadow Copy Services (VSS) module is installed. For other, older Windows operating systems, the Filesystem Sync driver is installed. These modules enable backup applications to create application-consistent snapshots. When taking these snapshots, certain processes are paused and the virtual machine disks are quiesced.

•	VMCI and VMCI Sockets drivers – The Virtual Machine Communication Interface driver allows for fast and efficient communication between virtual machines. Developers can write client-server applications to the VMCI Socket (vsock) interface to make use of the VMCI virtual device.

 

About the VMware Tools Service

The VMware Tools service performs the following tasks within the guest operating system:

•	Passes messages from the host operating system or ESX Server to the guest operating system.

•	Passes information between the guest operating system and a VMware API script.

•	Sends a heartbeat to the VMware product so that it knows the guest operating system is running. When the virtual machine is running under ESX Server, GSX Server, or VMware Server, a gauge for this heartbeat appears in the VMware Management Interface.

•	Synchronizes the time in the guest operating system with the time in the host operating system.

•	Running scripts in a virtual machine when the power state changes. See Using Scripts.

•	Executes commands in the virtual machine when you shut down or restart a Linux, Solaris, or FreeBSD guest operating system.

The VMware Tools service starts automatically when the guest operating system boots. For more information about the service, see your VMware product documentation.

Note: The VMware Tools service is not installed on NetWare operating systems. Instead, the vmwtool program is installed. It synchronizes time and allows you to turn the CPU idler on or off.

About the VMware User Process

The VMware Tools user process performs the following tasks in the guest operating system:

•	Enables you to copy and paste text between the guest and host operating systems. For virtual machines run under Workstation or Fusion, it enables you to copy and paste files between the host operating system and Windows, Linux, and Solaris guest operating systems.

•	(For virtual machines run under Workstation or Fusion) Enables you to drag and drop files between the host operating system and Windows, Linux, and Solaris guest operating systems.

•	On Linux and Solaris guests, grabs and releases the mouse cursor when the SVGA driver is not installed.

•	On Linux and Solaris guests, fits the guest’s screen resolution to the host’s.

Note: The VMware Tools user process is not installed on NetWare operating systems. Instead, the vmwtool program is installed. It controls the grabbing and releasing of the mouse cursor. It also allows you to copy and paste text. You cannot drag and drop or copy and paste files between hosts and NetWare guest operating systems.