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Tom
Asked: 2012-05-05 01:50:10 +0800 CST

How to install vmware tools?

  • 772

I installed my Ubuntu in vmware, no I need install vmware tools, I got error:

Searching for a valid kernel header path...
The path "" is not valid.
Would you like to change it?[yes]

In CentOS, I run the following commands to resolve this issue:

yum install gcc-c++
yum install kernel-devel
yum install kernel-headers
yum -y update kernel

But I don't know how to do in Ubuntu.

I have tried the following commands but nothing changed

sudo apt-get update 
sudo-get install build-essential linux-header-$(uname -r)
sudo ./vmware-uninstall-tools.pl
sudo ./vmware-config-tools.pl
sudo ./vmware-install.pl

Issue Changed:

Ran

sudo ./vmware-uninstall-tools.pl

and deleted the folder of /etc/vmware-tools then I ran

 sudo ./vmware-install.pl

Now I can successfully install vmware-tools.

After restart, I can see the folder /mnt/hgfs, but can't see my shared folder.

software-installation vmware-tools

10 Answers

  1. I encountered this problem when upgrading from 12.10 to 13.04. No matter what I did, the VMware Tools installer couldn't seem to find the headers. For the record, here's how I installed the headers:

    sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install build-essential linux-headers-$(uname -r)

    Turns out, the installer is looking for the version.h file in under [kernelsource path]/include/linux/version.h, it's not there. The location of version.h is [kernelsource path]include/generated/uapi/linux/version.h

    The solution is a symlink:

    sudo ln -s /usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r)/include/generated/uapi/linux/version.h /usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r)/include/linux/version.h

    After creating this symlink, I was able to run the VMware Tools installer without a problem.

    • 42 
  2. sudo apt-get install build-essential linux-headers-$(uname -r)

    & then install VM-WARE-TOOLS

    Go to vmware "VM" tab to install vmware tools

    Plz Keep it in mind when you update Ubuntu ( & the kernel version is changed ) u need to run

    vmware-config-tools.pl

    every time only when kernel is changed

    • 29

  3. 1) Use Install VMWare Tools option in VMWare Client to attach media

    2) Update the server

    sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

    3) Create the mount point

    sudo mkdir -p /media/cdrom

    4) Mount the ISO

    sudo mount /dev/cdrom /media/cdrom

    5) Change Directory

    cd /media/cdrom

    6) Copy the tar file to your /tmp directory

    sudo cp VM*.tar.gz /tmp

    7) Install Build tools if necessary

    sudo apt-get install linux-headers-server build-essential
(for desktop is "sudo apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r) build-essential")

    8) Change Directory

    cd /tmp

    9) Unmount the ISO

    sudo umount /media/cdrom

    10) Expand the tar

    sudo tar xzvf VM*.tar.gz

    11) Change Directory

    cd vmware-tools-distrib

    12) Create a special directory

    sudo mkdir /usr/lib64

    13) Run the Install Script

    sudo ./vmware-install.pl -d

    14) Reboot

    sudo reboot

    source

    • 15

  4. Specify /lib/modules/3.2.0-24-virtual/build/include as the path after you installed kernel headers via One Zero's answer.

    • 8

  5. I've just done this on a VMware hosted Ubuntu Linux 12.04 (32-bit) machine and found I needed to do

    sudo apt-get install linux-headers-3.2.0-24-generic-pae

    As well as having the normal build-essential package installed.

    Your mileage will vary in terms of the exact linux-headers package to install I guess. But that worked fine for me.

    • 7

  6. The open source tools for VMWare should work just as well, if you want to try going down that route.

    For Ubuntu 12.04+

    sudo apt-get install open-vm-tools

    I believe it handles everything else for you. Just restart the virtual machine and VMWare Player should work without a hitch.

    • 4

  7. Try 

    sudo apt-cache search *package-name*

    and your package name Ex: 

    sudo apt-cache search kernel

    and you will be produced with all the available packages in the repository , find out the one you want and 

    sudo apt-get install *package-name*

    it . Before doing it update your repository with 

    sudo apt-get update
    • 2

  8. Feels like I found an answer (I used it for 17.10 ) and original answer is here

    In the terminal window execute this command to remove any previously installed tools:

    sudo apt-get autoremove open-vm-tools

    and after that execute this command to add tools:

    sudo apt-get install open-vm-tools-desktop

    and a final thing: do not forget to reboot.

    It worked very well for me!

    • 2

  9. Also make sure you select the OS correctly in VMWare settings. When the OS is "other", Install VMWare Tools menu is greyed out.

    • 1

  10. install the .bundle as usual

    download this file PATCH

    Extract it in the home directory and delete the old patch flag:

    sudo rm /usr/lib/vmware/modules/source/.patched

    Then run the patch as usual:

    sudo ./patch-modules_3.2.0.sh vmware3.2.0.patch

    Hope that helps. If it doesnt work try keepin the two patch files and the .bundle setup in home directory.

    PS: I found this on the forums of VMWare and it fixed the installation issue for me.

    • 0