But VMware Tools is more than just the driver part. Most paravirtualized device drivers are now included in Linux Kernels or even in Windows mainline driver updates. Is there any reason not to install VMware Tools? On Workstation, Player or Fusion there are other features like the possibility to share files with the host OS.

Ability to gracefully shut down or restart the VM.Customize guest operating systems as a part of the vCenter Server and other VMware products.Guest Introspection useful for antirust and/or NSX integration.Virtual machine monitoring: including new graph, VM heatbeat (used for example for vSphere HA VM), detailed guest information (including IP addresses, guest OS hostname, …).Memory management improvement: adding the memctl driver used by memory ballooning.Improved mouse (also in the HTML5 console) and video (with the SVGA driver).

New device drivers, also paravirtualized: VMXNet NIC drivers, Paravirtual SCSI driver, Audio driver.

Why Install VMware Tools?Īs mentioned, VMware Tools is very useful because it provides a lot of improvements and features: Note that other virtualization platforms have a similar concept: for example, Microsoft Hyper-V has the Integration Services, Nutanix AHV has the NGT (Nutanix Guest Tools). VMware Tools is the same for VMware ESXi, VMware Workstation, VMware Player, and VMware Fusion. For this reason, it is highly recommended by VMware to install it, usually after a fresh OS install for a master image. It is not mandatory to use it in order to run a VM, but it does provide notable improvements and extra features. VMware Tools is a software add-on inside the guest Operating System running in a Virtual Machine on a VMware based virtualization platform (vSphere, Workstation, Fusion).

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