Installing VMware Tools in a Solaris virtual machine

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article provides steps to install VMware Tools in a Solaris guest operating system.

Note:
For an overview of VMware Tools, see Overview of VMware Tools
For general VMware Tools installation information, see How to install VMware Tools
 

 

Resolution

To install VMware Tools in a Solaris guest operating system:

1. In the vSphere Client, ensure that your Solaris virtual machine is powered on.
2. If you are running a GUI interface on the Solaris virtual machine, open a command shell.
   
   Note: Log in as a root user, or use the sudo command to complete each of these steps.
    
3. In the vSphere Client, click VM in the virtual machine menu.
4. Click Guest > Install/Upgrade VMware Tools and click OK.
5. In the Solaris virtual machine, copy the vmware-solaris-tools.tar.gz file from /cdrom/vmwaretools to a temporary directory (/tmp/).
   
   Notes:
   • The /cdrom folder may need to be created before proceeding.
   • If the CD-ROM device is not mounted, run these commands and then attempt to copy the file:
     
     cd /var/svc/profile
     sudo svcadm enable -r volfs
      
6. Decompress the file using the gunzip command. For example:
   
   # gunzip vmware-solaris-tools.tar.gz
    
7. Extract the contents of the tar file using this command:
   
   # tar xvf vmware-solaris-tools.tar
    
8. Change directory using this command:
   
   # cd vmware-tools-distrib
    
9. To install the VMware Tools, run this command from the directory that you changed in step 7:
   
   # ./vmware-install.pl
    
10. Press Enter to accept all of the default values.
11. Reboot the virtual machine for the changes to take effect.
12. Check if VMware tools service is running using this command:
    
    # /etc/init.d/vmware-tools status
    
    You see output similar to:
    
    vmtoolsd is running
     
13. Add vmware-toolbox to the list of startup commands of your desktop.
    
    If you are using Java Desktop System, Release 3:
     
    1. Go to Launch > Preferences > Desktop Preferences > Sessions.
    2. Click Startup Programs tab and add these entries:
       
       /usr/bin/vmware-user
       /usr/bin/vmware-toolbox

Note:- Vmware Tools for Solaris available at  ProductFiles - Support Portal - Broadcom support portal
Note: VMware Tools 10.3.10 freezes support for Solaris guests. VMware Tools 10.3.10 Release Notes

Note: If your problem still exists after trying the steps in this article, file a support request with VMware Support and note this Knowledge Base article ID (328233) in the problem description. For more information, see Creating and managing Broadcom support cases

 

Additional Information

For more information on:

• VMware Tools versions, see Determining the version of VMware Tools running in a Solaris virtual machine.
• The versions of Solaris that are supported on which versions of ESX or ESXi, see the Broadcom Compatibility Guide.
• VMware Tools installation information, see How to install VMware Tools.