How To Install VMware Tools on Debian 12

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In this tutorial, we will show you how to install VMware Tools on Debian 12. VMware Tools is a suite of utilities designed to optimize the performance and user experience of virtual machines running on VMware products. It acts as a bridge between the guest operating system and the VMware virtualization software, enabling seamless integration and enhanced functionality.

This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you the step-by-step installation of the VMware Tools on a Debian 12 (Bookworm).

Prerequisites

Before proceeding with the installation of VMware Tools on Debian 12, ensure you meet the following requirements:

A server running one of the following operating systems: Debian 12 (Bookworm).
It’s recommended that you use a fresh OS install to prevent any potential issues.
SSH access to the server (or just open Terminal if you’re on a desktop).
An active internet connection. You’ll need an internet connection to download the necessary packages and dependencies for the VMware Tools.
A user account with sudo privileges to execute administrative commands.

Install VMware Tools on Debian 12 Bookworm

Step 1. To check if your Debian 12 system is up to date, open a terminal and run the following commands:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

Step 2. Installing Open VM Tools on Debian 12.

Method 1: Install VMware Tools from ISO.

One of the most common methods to install VMware Tools on a Debian 12 guest VM is by using the VMware Tools ISO image. This method involves mounting the virtual CD-ROM drive and running the installation script from the command line. Follow these step-by-step instructions:

In the VMware product interface, locate the “VM” menu or the virtual machine’s settings and Find the option to mount or connect the VMware Tools ISO image to the guest VM.

Next, create a mount point directory on the Debian 12 guest VM:

sudo mkdir /mnt/vmware

Mount the VMware Tools CDROM drive to the mount point:

sudo mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/vmware

Copy the installer files to the /tmp directory:

sudo cp /mnt/vmware/VMwareTools-*.tar.gz /tmp/

Navigate to the /tmp directory and uncompress the installer:

cd /tmp
sudo tar -xzf VMwareTools-*.tar.gz

Run the installer script as root:

sudo ./vmware-tools-distrib/vmware-install.pl

Follow the on-screen prompts and instructions provided by the installer.

Once the installation is complete, unmount the VMware Tools CDROM drive:

sudo umount /mnt/vmware

Method 2: Install Open VM Tools (Package)

An alternative method to install VMware Tools on Debian 12 is by using the Open VM Tools package. Open VM Tools is an open-source implementation of VMware Tools, providing similar functionality and integration with VMware products.

Now Install the open-vm-tools package using the following command:

sudo apt install open-vm-tools

If you plan to use a graphical user interface (GUI) on your Debian 12 guest VM, you should also install the open-vm-tools-desktop package:

sudo apt install open-vm-tools-desktop

After the installation is complete, reboot your Debian 12 guest VM for the changes to take effect:

reboot

Congratulations! You have successfully installed VMware Tools. Thanks for using this tutorial to install the latest version of the VMware Tools on Debian 12 Bookworm. For additional help or useful information, we recommend you check the official VMware website.

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