Installing and upgrading VMware Tools in vSphere

Products

VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article provides the steps to install and upgrade VMware Tools in vSphere.

VMware Tools is a suite of utilities that enhances the performance of the virtual machine’s guest operating system and improves management of the virtual machine.

Although the guest operating system can run without VMware Tools, many VMware features are not available until VMware Tools is installed. For example, without VMware Tools installed on a virtual machine, shutdown or restart options from the toolbar are not available.

Note: This article references the correct procedures for installing or upgrading the VMware Tools in Windows based virtual machines. For all other supported operating systems, see VMware Compatibility Guide - Guest/Host Search

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi

Resolution

ESXi hosts provide tools installers which need to be updated periodically.
Optionally, they can be configured to point to a single shared repository of Tools installers. For more information see VMware Tools for hosts provisioned with Auto Deploy.

Manually installing or Upgrading VMware Tools in a single Windows virtual machine

Note: All supported Windows guest operating systems support VMware Tools.

Install the latest version of VMware Tools to enhance the performance of the virtual machine's guest operating system and improve virtual machine management. When powering on a virtual machine, if a new version of VMware Tools is available, a notification in the status bar of the guest operating system appears.

For Windows 2000 and later, VMware Tools installs a virtual machine upgrade helper tool. This tool restores the network configuration if upgrading from virtual hardware version 4 to version 7 or later.

Prerequisites

Power on the virtual machine.
Verify that the guest operating system is running.
Determine if the latest version of VMware Tools is installed by viewing the status of the virtual machine.
User must have administrative privileges.

Installing VMware Tools:

Mount the VMware Tools virtual disc on the guest operating system by selecting the virtual machine:

In vSphere Client – Hosts and Clusters view > right-click the Virtual Machine > Guest OS > Install VMware Tools.
In vSphere Web Client – Click All Actions icon > Configuration > Install/Upgrade VMware Tools.
In vSphere Host Client - Click Actions > Guest OS from the drop-down menu, and select Install VMware Tools.
Depending on Guest OS settings the installer may start automatically:
- If auto run is enabled for the CD-ROM drive in the guest operating system, the VMware Tools installation wizard appears.
- If auto run is not enabled, launch the wizard manually:
  - Click Start > Run.
  - Type D:\setup.exe.
    Where, D: is where the first virtual CD-ROM drive
  - Click OK.
Follow the on-screen instructions. To install non default components, select the Custom setup.
If the New Hardware wizard appears, go through the wizard and accept the defaults.
When prompted, reboot the virtual machine.

After the installation is completed, the VMware Tools in vCenter Server > Summary tab changes to OK.

Upgrading VMware Tools:

Mount the VMware Tools virtual disc on the guest operating system by selecting the virtual machine:

In vSphere Client – Hosts and Clusters view > right-click the Virtual Machine > Guest OS > Upgrade VMware Tools.
In vSphere Web Client – Click All Actions icon > Configuration > Install/Upgrade VMware Tools.
In vSphere Host Client - Click Actions > Guest OS from the drop-down menu, and select Upgrade VMware Tools.
If using vCenter Server and are performing an upgrade or reinstallation:
In the Install/Upgrade VMware Tools dialog, select Interactive Tools Installation or Interactive Tools Upgrade and click OK.
The process starts by mounting the VMware Tools virtual disc on the guest operating system. Depending on Guest OS settings the installer may start automatically:
- If auto run is enabled for the CD-ROM drive in the guest operating system, the VMware Tools installation wizard appears.
- If auto run is not enabled, launch the wizard manually:
  - Click Start > Run.
  - Type D:\setup.exe.
    Where, D: is the first virtual CD-ROM drive
  - Click OK.
Follow the on-screen instructions.
When prompted, reboot the virtual machine.

Upgrade VMware Tools

VMware recommends that if upgrading VMware Tools as part of a vSphere upgrade, upgrade to the latest virtual hardware version available for the virtual machine. For more information, see Upgrading hardware of a virtual machine to the latest version .

After ESXi hosts are updated with new tools, vSphere displays a message:

VMware Tools is outdated on this virtual machine.

This is not necessarily an unsupported condition. For more information, see Interoperability Matrix. Generally, Tools are forward and backwards compatible by several versions.

Automate the Installation of VMware Tools in a Windows virtual machine

If installing VMware Tools in many Windows virtual machines, installation automation is available.

When using vCenter Server, use the Virtual Machines tab for a host or cluster and select the virtual machines on which to install or upgrade VMware Tools.

Prerequisites

Power on the virtual machine.
Log in to the guest operating system as an administrator.
If planning to use setup.exe at the command line to run the VMware Tools installation, edit the virtual machine settings to connect the virtual CD/DVD drive to the VMware Tools ISO image.
If wanting to use MSI arguments to specify options regarding the silent installation, go to the Windows Installer page on the MSDN Web site to familiarize with the syntax. Use these arguments with the setup.exe command or place them in the vCenter Server dialog box for automatic installations and upgrades.
If wanting to prevent some VMware Tools components from being installed, familiarize with the VMware Tools component names to specify which components to exclude.
For more information, see the Names of VMware Tools Components Used in Silent Installations section in https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Tools/11.0.0/vmware-tools-user-guide.pdf
For General VMware Tools installation instructions see: Install VMware Tools

Procedure

To automate the upgrade in Windows virtual machine:

In the Inventory > Hosts and Clusters view, select the host, cluster, or datacenter and click the Virtual Machines tab.
Control-click or Shift-click to select the virtual machines.
Right-click the selected virtual machines and click Guest > Install/Upgrade VMware Tools.
Complete the wizard.

Note: To specify any MSI arguments or to specify which VMware Tools components to exclude, add the same arguments and options for the setup.exe program in the Advanced text box.

Automate the upgrade of VMware Tools in multiple Windows virtual machines

VMware Tools can be upgraded using vSphere PowerCLI, vSphere API and other methods. For optimum performance, upgrade VMware Tools in not more than five virtual machines simultaneously.

To automate the upgrade, use one of these options:

PowerCLI update-tools cmdlets. For more information, see the vSphere PowerCLI Documentation guide.

This updates the VMware Tools on the specified virtual machine.

C:\PS> Update-Tools 'myVM'

Note: The virtual machine must be powered on.
Update Manager can be used to provide VMware Tools and virtual hardware upgrade baselines that can be applied to multiple virtual machines. For more information, see the vSphere Update Manager Administration Guide
Virtual Machine check/upgrade tools during power cycle.

Note: