VMware Tools for ESXi
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VMware Tools for ESXi

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Article ID: 314241

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Updated On:

Products

VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

VMware Tools on ESXi is in technical preview and this article lists the supported features and exceptions for VMware Tools running on ESXi VM. This is a stripped down version of the Linux Tools daemon. ESXi has no desktop, user-mode tools process or any related plug-ins. VMware Tools is bundled with the OS image. There is no separate installation or upgrade support.


Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 6.5

Resolution

Features

  • /etc/init.d/vmtoolsd provides service start, stop, and restart status.
  • Configuration can be done in /etc/vmware-tools/tools.conf
  • Default logging goes to /var/log/vmware-vmsvc*. The vm-suport script will capture this along with the rest of the ESXi support bundle.
  • powerOps plugin, providing soft power operations from the vSphere API
  • vix plugin, supporting vSphere guest operations.
  • hgfsServer plug-in, supporting file transfer guest operations
  • guestInfo plugin, providing vSphere vim.vm.GuestInfo
  • deployPkg plugin, for guest customization
  • timeSync plugin, for clock management

toolbox-cmd is included. The listed subcommands are not supported:

  • device - This subcommand is functional, it might not be useful.
  • disk - This subcommand is not supported in the current release and might not be supported later.
  • logging - This subcommand is functional
  • script - This subcommand is functional
  • stat - This subcommand is functional
  • timesync - This subcommand is functional
  • info - This subcommand is functional
  • upgrade - This subcommand is not supported. It is an interface to the VMware Tools upgrade scenario which does not apply to ESXi.

Localization is not supported.

Exceptions

  • VGAuth, providing SAML-based authentication for guest operations
  • rabbitmqproxy, guest message bus proxy, supporting Common Agent Framework
  • The per-user vmtoolsd, run as part of the desktop on Windows and Linux, and its associated plugins:
    • resolutionSet plugin
    • dndcp plugin
    • unity plugin
    • desktopEvents plugin
  • vmbackup plugin
  • autoUpgrade; ESX Tools upgrade and install is done as part of the operating system, and uses its mechanisms.
  • vmware-alias-import and vmware-vgauth-cli
  • vmware-rpctool
  • vmware-namespace-cmd
  • vmware-checkvm
  • vmware-guestproxycerttool
  • vmware-hgfsclient
  • vmware-xferlogs
  • Common Agent Framework
  • Guest SDK
  • Shared folders between guest operating system and the host
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