How to install VMware Tools (ESX, ESXi, VMware Server) on CentOS 5 (linux)

1. In VMware select the option to Install/Upgrade Vmware Tools (in ESXi, you can do this by right clicking on the VM -> Guest -> Install/Upgrade Vmware Tools. This will insert the CD into the drive on your VM.

2. On the VM, do the following to install kernel source:

yum install gcc gcc-c++ kernel-devel -y
ln –s /usr/src/kernels/[your kernel version] /usr/src/linux

3. Mount the CD, and copy the Vmware Tools installation file:

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

4. Install VMware Tools:

cd /root/vmware-tools-distrib
./vmware-install.pl

5. For a standard install, just say yes to all the options.

Filed under: Uncategorized by — aaron @ 6:10 pm