Linux CentOS 5 On VMWare Server: Installing VMWare Tools

A few weeks ago I’ve made a few posts on installing Linux CentOS 5 on a VMware Server. Well today I realized I didn’t post the part about installing the VMware Tools. These tools allow you to increase your virtual machine’s performance and capabilities.

Prior to installing the VMware Tools, there are a few things you want to do. The first step would be to install the kernel header files and a C compiler:

# yum install gcc gcc-c++ kernel-devel

The second thing would be to create a symbolic link pointing to your kernel header files:

# ln –s /usr/src/kernels/[your kernel version] /usr/src/linux

Now you’re ready to install the VMware Tools. From the VMware Server Console (with your virtual machine running), click on “VM => Install VMware Tools…”. Nothing is supposed to be happening at this point, it’s just like you inserted a virtual CD. From the command line, mount the cdrom drive, copy the installation files to a directory on your virtual hard drive and untar them:

# mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
# cd /mnt/cdrom
# cp VMwareTools-[version].tar.gz /tmp
# cd /tmp
# umount /mnt/cdrom
# tar zxf VMwareTools-[version].tar.gz

Execute the VMware Tools installation script:

# cd /tmp/vmware-tools-distrib
# ./vmware-install.pl

Go through the installation and answer all the questions. I’ve left every settings to its default value.

When you’re done, simply reboot your virtual machine. I’ve had a little problem with X as it wouldn’t start upon reboot. I just used the X configuration wizard (which launched automatically) to make some adjustments, rebooted the VM again and everything worked fine.