VMware Tools

VMware Tools at a glance

VMware Tools is the bundle of drivers and services installed inside virtual machines running on ESXi, Workstation and Fusion. It provides optimised graphics, network and storage drivers, allows clean shutdown and restart initiated from the hypervisor, handles time synchronisation, supplies heartbeat and guest information to the management interface, and enables quiesced snapshots and backups through the volume shadow copy service.

Releases are published independently of the hypervisor several times a year and are distributed by Broadcom as ISO images and package repositories. Linux guests are usually served by the open source open-vm-tools, whose version numbering tracks the overall package. Alongside functional improvements, releases regularly carry driver fixes and security corrections announced in separate advisories.

When updating, check the compatibility matrix: newer editions drop support for older guest operating systems, which means a frozen previous line has to be maintained for them. Installation replaces drivers and normally requires a guest reboot, so a snapshot beforehand is advisable on Windows. On Linux, pick one path and do not mix distribution packages with the ISO.