Installing vmware tools manually

hikauz · Nov 29, 2011, 4:55 AM

Hello people!

I have Vmware ESXi 4.1 U1. Install 3 VM PfSense 2.0 release onto it. During create I've choosen FreeBSD x32 platform. All VMs don't have access to Internet.

I am interested in those files and packages that I need to install prior to vmware tools.
Please point me where to download them and order of installing ones. I want to download all and install it off-line.

How the vmware tools affect perfomance of VM? Maybe I don't really need it?

Can I install from http://sourceforge.net/projects/open-vm-tools/files/open-vm-tools/stable-8.8.x/ or http://sourceforge.net/projects/open-vm-tools/files/open-vm-tools/stable-8.6.x/
Is it the same as Open VM Tools package?

I've already read http://www.howtoforge.com/how-to-install-vmware-tools-on-pfsense-freebsd and following it I download manually compat6x-i386-6.4.604000.200810_3.tbz + perl-5.14.1_3.tbz, copy it via scp (by the way root pswd is pfsense. Is it ok to change it?) and install both packages.
But when I try to install it gives an error
/libexec/ld-elf.so.1: Shared object "libutil.so.9" not found, required by "perl"

gerdesj · Dec 4, 2011, 12:21 AM

You don't really state your purpose behind your DIY (Do It Yourself) approach.

In my experience VM guest tools don't make a vast amount of difference to performance - PFS is plenty fast enough on its own with minimal CPU and RAM requirements - 512Mb + 2 vCPUs can move data as fast as your SAN or NICs can possibly manage.

You do get to see its IP addresses in the vSphere client though 8)

Cheers
Jon

skywise · Jan 16, 2012, 9:20 PM

I think it also allows powering off the pfsense VM politely through the client as well, yes?

biggsy · Jan 18, 2012, 4:36 AM

@skywise:

I think it also allows powering off the pfsense VM politely through the client as well, yes?

The pfSense 2.0 packaged VMware tools on ESXi 5.0 will do the graceful shutdown. It never worked for me with 1.2.3 on 4.1 though.

cylent · Feb 22, 2012, 7:54 PM

i stumbled on this and i am now curious.. i am running 2.0.1 on esxi5. do i really need to install the vmtools?

CDeLorme · Feb 22, 2012, 8:08 PM

Why not create a snapshot and compare?

I am quite certain you need perl to install the tools:
pkg_add -v -r perl

While I did not use it with vSphere, I was using them with VMWare Workstation 8.

cylent · Feb 22, 2012, 8:15 PM

@CDeLorme:

Why not create a snapshot and compare?

I am quite certain you need perl to install the tools:
pkg_add -v -r perl

While I did not use it with vSphere, I was using them with VMWare Workstation 8.

is this answer for me? because i already have perl installed.

CDeLorme · Feb 22, 2012, 9:04 PM

Yes, on two counts.

I was asking if you had a specific reason to not install VMWare Tools? You didn't specify any constraints such as available space, and I was wondering if there were negative performance concerns which I would like to know of as well.

As for Perl, you installed it manually, aka the "Batteries not included" approach. What I mean to say is, it does not add any dependencies, which may well be the cause of the error you encountered.

I was simply suggesting an approach I had success with, but I was using Workstation 8, so I don't know if there is any significant differences in the ESXi tools package.

dave99 · Feb 27, 2012, 5:11 AM

I was able to get tools installed on 2.1 (on esxi 5), and it runs the first time, but after a reboot it gives me an error saying tools aren't configured, and prompting to run vmware-config-tools (or whatever it the name is). Doing that tells me I don't have the proper compat6x libs installed (which they are). Uninstall the compat libs, reinstall them, config vmware tools and it runs. Till the next reboot. Kind of a pain.