VM guest OS reports "VMware Tools can be updated."

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article clarifies the behavior of VMware Tools update notifications following an ESXi host upgrade. It specifically addresses why notifications may appear and how to resolve it.

Symptoms

• The Guest OS reports the notification: "VMware Tools can be updated."
• Notifications appear despite no recent changes to the ESXi host version.
• VMware Tools status appears out-of-date after a VM reboot or power-on event, even if the host was upgraded months prior.

Environment

VMware vSphere 7.x

VMware vSphere 8.x

Cause

VMware Tools status checks are event-driven rather than constant. A VM does not check the host for version compatibility every second; instead, the status is verified during specific lifecycle events such as:

• After powering on
• After resuming
• Before suspending
• Before shutting down guest

Resolution

To ensure optimal performance and compatibility, it is recommended to keep VMware Tools aligned with the versions bundled with your ESXi release.