Installing VMware Tools Using OSPs on an Ubuntu Virtual Machine

The implementation is specific to each supported guest operating system, but the steps are similar for each method.
Generally, to configure a guest operating system with a package manager involves:

1. Import the VMware Packaging Public GPG Key.
2. (Optional) Edit the proxy.
3. Create the VMware repository.
   
   

Download OSPs for the Ubuntu Guest OS

To download Ubuntu for VMware Tools:

1. Obtain and import the VMware Packaging Public GPG Key.
   
   
   1. If it does not exist, create the directory on your virtual machine to store the key:
      /<key-path>/
      
      
   2. Using a Web browser, copy the file from:
      http:/<key-path>/packages.vmware.com/tools/VMWARE-PACKAGING-GPG-KEY.pub
      
      
   3. Save the file to the directory you created:
      /<key-path>/VMWARE-PACKAGING-GPG-KEY.pub
      
      
   4. Import the key. Run the command appropriate for your guest OS, for example:
      # apt-key add /<key-path>/VMWARE-PACKAGING-GPG-KEY.pub
      /<key-path>/ is the path you created to the directory on your virtual machine to store the key.
      
      
2. Configure the proxy, as needed. From the guest operating system of the virtual machine where the VMware Tools will be installed:
   
   Add the following contents to the /etc/apt/apt-get configuration file. Create the file if needed.
   ACQUIRE {http::proxy "http://[[user][:pass]@]host[:port]/"}
   For example:ACQUIRE {http::proxy "http://proxyuser:proxypass@proxy.proxyprovider.com:3128"}
3. Create and edit the VMware repository directory and file.
   1. If it does not exist, create the directory and repository file on your virtual machine. This file can have any name, but it must end with .list, for example: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vmware-tools.list
      
      
   2. Open the repository file to edit.
   3. Add the following contents to the file and save the file.
      deb http://packages.vmware.com/tools/esx//ubuntu hardy main restricted
      This is specific to each operating system version.
      is replaced with either 3.5u2, 3.5u3, 3.5u4, 4.0, or 4.0u1 depending upon your ESX/ESXi version.
   4. Update your local repository cache.
      # apt-get update
      This command lists the packages available for downloading and update on http://packages.vmware.com.

Ubuntu 8.10 OSP Installation Exception

Starting with the Ubuntu 8.10 is offering open-vm-tools packages as part of its multiverse repository.
VMware does not support the use of these packages in VMware virtual machines. The version of tools available in the Ubuntu 8.10 multiverse repository is based on a development snapshot of the open‐vm‐tools project hosted on http://sourceforge.net. These packages are not official VMware Tools releases. VMware Global Support Services might require customers using the Ubuntu packages to remove these packages and install the official VMware Tools release as part of any support request related to Ubuntu 8.10.

If the unsupported tools kernel modules are installed in a virtual machine that already contains the official VMware Tools release, the VMware modules are overwritten. The Ubuntu packages have the same name as one of the VMware Tools OSPs, and this results in a package‐name collision.This name collision might cause issues with the Ubuntuʹs packaging system when it attempts to install the supported VMware Tools OSP.

The Ubuntu packaging system installs the incompatible Ubuntu‐provided package instead of the appropriate VMware Tools OSP. Due to this collision you might be unable to install the OSPs on Ubuntu 8.10 from the repositories if the multiverse repository is enabled. Care must also be taken to avoid installing these packages if VMware Tools is already installed through the tar installation method. 

This issue affects you under these circumstances:

• You have the multiverse repository enabled for software updates.
• You have the open-vm-tools package from Ubuntuʹs multiverse repository installed on their system.
  If you suspect you might have this conflict, perform the following tasks as needed, to replace the conflicting 
  open-vm-tool package with supported versions of VMware Tools.
• “Uninstall Existing Ubuntu open‐vm‐tools Packages”
• “Disable Ubuntu Package Management System” 
• “Silence the Update Manager Warnings”
• “Use the Regular VMware Tools Installer (Optional)”

Uninstall Existing Ubuntu open-vm-tools Packages

This task checks to see if you have Ubuntu installed, removes it, if it is installed, and verifies that it is uninstalled.
To uninstall Conflicting Versions of Ubuntu 

1. Determine whether you have the Ubuntu open-vm-tools package installed, by running the following command.
   # dpkg -s open-vm-tools | grep ^Maint
   If the result states that the open-vm-tools package is not installed, or if the maintainer field, in the results output, lists the VMware Build Team, then you do not have the Ubuntu open-vm-tools package installed and can safely install or upgrade your OSPs.
   If the maintainer field, in the results output, lists the Ubuntu MOTU Develop, then you have the Ubuntu package installed and must remove it before you update the OSPs.
   
   
2. Remove the Ubuntu package, by running the following command:
   # sudo apt-get remove open-vm-tools
   
   
3. Verify that you do not have any versions of open-vm-tools installed on your system, by running the following command:
   # sudo dpkg-query -s open-vm-tools
   The confirming response indicates that the package open-vm-tools is not installed and no information is available.
   
   

Disable Ubuntu Package Management System

To successfully install VMwareʹs OSPs through the apt‐get program, you must disable the multiverse repository in the Ubuntuʹs package management system so it does not see the Ubuntu‐provided package that conflicts with the VMware packages.
To disable the multiverse repository, from your Ubuntu virtual machine 

1. Open System > Administration > Software Sources application.
   
   
2. In the Ubuntu Software tab, deselect the box Software restricted by copyright or legal issues (multiverse).
   
   
3. Click Close.
   
   
4. When prompted to update software information, click Reload.
   
   
5. When multiverse is successfully disabled, proceed to install OSPs normally using apt-get.
   If you enable the multiverse repository at any point in the future, you run the risk of the original problem where open-vm-tools packages are available from two different sources. Using the multiverse repository prevents you from updating your OSPs when newer versions are available and causes Update Manager to warn that not all packages could be installed, each time you open Update Manager.

Silence the Update Manager Warnings

If you must have the multiverse repository enabled, you can silence the Update Manager warning, by running the following command:
# echo 'open-vm-tools hold' | sudo dpkg --set-selections
This command instructs the package manager to never upgrade the open-vm-tools package.
If you want to upgrade the open-vm-tools package when newer versions of the OSPs are available, perform the following:

1. Re‐enable updates, by running the following command:
   # echo 'open-vm-tools install' | sudo dpkg --set-selection
   
   
2. Disable the multiverse repository. 
   
   
3. Upgrade the open-vm-tools package through the apt-get program.
   Use the Regular VMware Tools Installer (Optional)
   If you choose, you can use the tar installation method that is described in the manual for your VMware product. Check the knowledge base article 340, Installing VMware Tools for an overview of VMware Tools and for a list of product documentation that includes instructions for installing VMware Tools for your VMware product. The advantage of this approach is that it avoids the Ubuntu package management system entirely, side‐stepping the problem introduced by the fact that an unsupported Ubuntu package and a VMware‐supported OSP have the same package name. The disadvantage is that the package management system does not recognize any of the files that have been installed. It cannot prevent unsupported packages from being installed. This might cause an overwrite of important files by the VMware Tools installation.

To use the tar installation method

1. Ensure that the Ubuntu open-vm-tools package is not installed. See the section, “Uninstall Existing Ubuntu open‐vm‐tools Packages” on page 25.
   
   
2. Follow the VMware Tools installation instructions from your product manual.
   
   
3. Manually ensure that you do not later install the Ubuntu open-vm-tools package.

The package manager cannot prevent overwriting VMware Tools files with additional installations. There is no method to prevent accidental installation of the unsupported Ubuntu packages. Disabling the multiverse repository helps.

Install VMware Tools for Ubuntu Guest OS

Installing VMware Tools on a Ubuntu virtual machine uses the package management tool, apt-get. Specify the package and apt‐get installs the additional required VMware Tools packages.

To Install VMware Tools in Ubuntu

1. Identify the kernel module for your Ubuntu OS, for example, from the command line of the guest operating system virtual machine:
   $ uname -r
   The command returns kernel type and version. Following are the type options:
   1. generic
   2. server
   3. virtual
      
      
2. Install the kernel modules for the kernel type and version, for example:
   For ESX/ESXi 3.5
   # apt-get install open-vm-tools-kmod- vmware-tools-kmod-
   is the value returned in Step 1.
   For ESX/ESXi 4.0
   Installing the kernel modules separately is no longer needed.
   
   
3. Install the remaining components:
   # apt-get install vmware-tools
   When this command is run, all the other packages are automatically installed in the correct order.

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