How to Install VMware Tools using yum on

CentOS, RHEL, and other Red Hat-based

Systems

VMware Tools is a suite of utilities that enhances the performance and management
of VMware virtual machines. Installing VMware Tools on your guest Linux operating
system can improve performance, enable features such as shared folders and
clipboard sharing, and simplify virtual machine management. In this guide, we will
show you how to install VMware Tools using yum on CentOS, RHEL, and other Red
Hat-based systems.

Step 1: Prepare the Virtual Machine

Before installing VMware Tools, ensure that your virtual machine is running and that
you are logged in as a user with sudo privileges.

Step 2: Install Required Packages

Some packages are required for the installation of VMware Tools. Open a terminal
and run the following command to install them:

sudo yum install -y perl gcc make kernel-headers kernel-devel

This command installs Perl, GCC, Make, kernel headers, and kernel development
packages, which are necessary for building and installing VMware Tools.

Step 3: Attach the VMware Tools ISO to the Virtual

Machine
In the VMware Workstation or vSphere Client, perform the following steps:
 1. Select your virtual machine.
2. Click on “VM” in the menu bar (or right-click the virtual machine), then choose
“Install VMware Tools” or “Guest > Install/Upgrade VMware Tools.”

This action will mount the VMware Tools ISO file as a virtual CD-ROM drive inside the
virtual machine.

Step 4: Mount the VMware Tools ISO

Create a directory to mount the VMware Tools ISO in the Linux guest operating
system:

sudo mkdir -p /mnt/cdrom

Next, mount the ISO to the directory you created:

sudo mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom

Step 5: Extract and Install VMware Tools

Copy the VMware Tools installer to a temporary directory:

cp /mnt/cdrom/VMwareTools-*.tar.gz /tmp/
Go to the temporary directory:

cd /tmp
Extract the VMware Tools installer:

tar xzvf VMwareTools-*.tar.gz

Go to the extracted VMware Tools directory:

cd vmware-tools-distrib
Run the installer:

sudo ./vmware-install.pl -d
The -d flag sets the installer to use default settings. You can omit the -d flag if you
want to customize the installation options.
Installing Open VM Tools on CentOS/RHEL 8:
Open VM Tools is currently the official VMware recommended way to install VMware Tools on
CentOS/RHEL 8. Open VM Tools is open source and it is available in the official package repository of
CentOS/RHEL 8. So, it is heavily tested to work on CentOS/RHEL 8.

There is a high chance that Open VM Tools will be automatically installed on your CentOS/RHEL 8
VMware virtual machine when you installed CentOS/RHEL 8 on your virtual machine.

But if by any chance, it is not installed on your CentOS/RHEL 8 virtual machine, you can easily install
it form the official package repository of CentOS/RHEL 8.

First, update the DNF package repository cache with the following command:

$ sudo dnf makecache

If you’re using the server version (without any graphical user interface) of CentOS/RHEL 8 operating
system on the virtual machine, then install Open VM Tools with the following command:

$ sudo dnf install open-vm-tools

If you’re using the desktop version or server with graphical user interface version of CentOS/RHEL 8
operating system on the virtual machine, then install Open VM Tools with the following command:

$ sudo dnf install open-vm-tools open-vm-tools-desktop

To confirm the installation, press Y and then press <Enter>.

You may be asked to accept the GPG key of the CentOS/RHEL 8 package repository. Press Y and then
press <Enter> to continue.

Open VM Tools should be installed.

Installing VMware X11 Display Drivers on CentOS/RHEL 8:

For auto screen resizing, full screen display and multiple monitors features of VMware to work on
CentOS/RHEL 8 virtual machines, VMware X11 display driver must be installed.

VMware X11 display driver won’t get installed automatically when you installed Open VM Tools. So,
you have to install it separately after you’ve installed Open VM Tools.

VMware X11 display driver is available in the official package repository of CentOS/RHEL 8. You can
install it with the following command:

$ sudo dnf install xorg-x11-drv-vmware

To confirm the installation, press Y and then press <Enter>.

VMware X11 display driver should be installed.

Now, restart your virtual machine for the changes to take effect with the following command:

$ sudo reboot

Once your virtual machine starts, all the advance features of VMware should work.