PowerShell command to list VMware Tools feature names and install status

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

This article provides a way to find out VMware Tools feature names and install status on Windows

Resolution

To list VMware Tools feature names and install status

C:\Windows\system32> Get-WmiObject -Class win32_softwarefeature | Where-Object {$_.ProductName -eq 'VMware Tools'} | Select-Object Name, InstallState

Here is the output after installing VMware Tools version 12.1.x by selecting Typical setup type on UI:

Name                 InstallState
----                 ------------
ServiceDiscovery                3
SaltMinion                      3
Perfmon                         3
CBHelper                        3
TrayIcon                        3
VGAuth                          3
Common                          3
Drivers                         3
MemCtl                          3
Mouse                           3
MouseUsb                        3
PVSCSI                          3
EFIFW                           3
SVGA                            3
VMCI                            3
DeviceHelper                    3
VMXNet3                         3
VSS                             3
Toolbox                         3
Plugins                         3
Unity                           3
BootCamp                        2
Hgfs                            2
FileIntrospection               2
NetworkIntrospection            2
VmwTimeProvider                 2

Based on Microsoft document , Win32_SoftwareFeature class

InstallState 2 means Absent, feature not installed
InstallState 3 means Local, feature installed

Note:

1. Feature names are case sensitive.
2. The list of features may change among different VMware Tools versions. Only valid feature names of a version can be referenced in the version's installer command line.

For Example:
AppDefense feature is removed from VMware Tools 12.0.0 version onwards. This installer command line does not work:
VMware-tools-12.1.0-20219665-x86_64.exe /s /v "/qn REBOOT=R ADDLOCAL=ALL REMOVE=Perfmon,AppDefense,FileIntrospection,NetworkIntrospection,Hgfs,SaltMinion"
Remove AppDefense from the command line, then it works:
VMware-tools-12.1.0-20219665-x86_64.exe /s /v "/qn REBOOT=R ADDLOCAL=ALL REMOVE=Perfmon,FileIntrospection,NetworkIntrospection,Hgfs,SaltMinion"

To remove an installed feature

For Example:
C:\> msiexec.exe /qn /i (Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product | Where-Object {$_.Name -eq 'VMware Tools'}).LocalPackage REMOVE="CBHelper"

To add features

For Example:
C:\> msiexec.exe /qn /i (Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product | Where-Object {$_.Name -eq 'VMware Tools'}).LocalPackage ADDLOCAL="FileIntrospection,NetworkIntrospection"

To install/upgrade VMware Tools with specific list of features

VMware does not guarantee the following setup command line work in future VMware Tools releases since essential driver feature VMCI is not installed.

C:\> setup64.exe /s /v"/qn REBOOT=R ADDLOCAL=Toolbox,Plugins,Common,VGAuth"

VMware recommend that a custom install feature list should at least include the following features:

C:\> setup64.exe /s /v"/qn REBOOT=R ADDLOCAL=Toolbox,Plugins,Common,VGAuth,TrayIcon,VSS,Drivers,VMCI,MemCtl,Mouse,MouseUsb,PVSCSI,EFIFW,VMXNet3,SVGA"

Note: Windows Server GOSes could opt out SVGA driver feature.