Help Center/ Migration Center/ FAQs/ Resource Discovery/ How Do I Install VMware Tools on a VMware VM?
Updated on 2025-11-12 GMT+08:00
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How Do I Install VMware Tools on a VMware VM?

Installing VMware Tools on a VMware VM can improve the VM performance and functionality, including higher display resolution, seamless mouse movement, and file sharing. If VMware Tools is not installed on your source VMs, MgC cannot collect their IP address information.

This section describes how to install VMware Tools on a Windows or Linux VM.

Installing VMware Tools on a Windows VM

  1. Log in to the source Windows VM.
  2. On the VMware menu bar, choose VM > Install VMware Tools. If you are using the VMware ESXi interface, right-click the desired VM and choose Guest OS > Install VMware Tools.

    The system will automatically load a virtual CD-ROM drive. Generally, the installation wizard will launch automatically. If it does not, open This PC, locate the VMware Tools virtual CD-ROM drive (typically labeled as D: or E:), double-click setup.exe, and complete the installation by following the instructions.

  3. After the installation is complete, restart the VM.

Installing VMware Tools on a Linux VM

  1. Log in to the source Linux VM.
  2. On the VMware menu bar, choose VM > Install VMware Tools. If you are using the VMware ESXi interface, right-click the desired VM and choose Guest OS > Install VMware Tools.
  3. After a virtual CD-ROM drive is automatically mounted, open the file manager and locate the mounted CD-ROM drive. Copy the VMwareTools-xxx.tar.gz file to the /tmp directory.
  4. Open a terminal and run the following commands: 

    cd /tmp
tar -zxvf VMwareTools-*.tar.gz
cd vmware-tools-distrib
sudo ./vmware-install.pl

  5. During the installation, press Enter to accept all default settings when prompted.
  6. After the installation is complete, restart the VM.
Parent Topic: Resource Discovery