Open-VM-Tools on 2.1?

valnar

Is the Open-VM-Tools package still needed on 2.1, or recommended to install?

biggsy

Yes.

http://reformedmusings.wordpress.com/2008/08/15/what-does-vmware-tools-do/

EDIT: I hasten to add that this was just the first link Google gave me and it seemed to be a concise description. I have no interest in whatever other content might be there :)

mauirixxx

usually the vm tools can give better video performance, and depending on the virtual NIC, better network performance too, and other stuff, so generally yeah it's a good idea to install the tools.

On the new release of v2.1 I couldn't get the Open VM Tools v8.8.1 to work (it claims it installed just fine), so I installed the Open VM Tools v8.7.0.3046 (build-425873) and now I can do a clean shutdown from the vsphere client. Not sure if there's any performance increase, but it worked fine and fast before I installed the tools (I'm only on a 50/5 connection, so it's not like I'm maxing out a NIC or something), and continued to work fine and fast after the installation.

I say go for it, what have you got to lose?

asterix

v8.8.1 package is broken since last year.

valnar

@asterix:

v8.8.1 package is broken since last year.

Sigh…thanks.

This kind of stuff in inexcusable.

jimp

The 8.8 pkg was being done by a community member but never finished as far as I can tell. The 8.7 version is the only one that works properly from the GUI. You can install the actual VMware tools from the console if you wish to use vmxnet3 NICs and such. I just added a doc on installing them here: https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/VMware_Tools

joeshmoe

Worked perfectly. Thanks Jimp.

Tubs

@jimp:

You can install the actual VMware tools from the console if you wish to use vmxnet3 NICs and such.

Acc. your instruction I have installed the vm tools under pfsense 2.1 64bit running on ESXi 5.5. The vmxnet3 driver also is working. But somehow the ESXi client is telling me "not installed" and does not provide the option for shutdown the guest.

Did I forgot something?

jimp

@Tubs:

@jimp:

You can install the actual VMware tools from the console if you wish to use vmxnet3 NICs and such.

Acc. your instruction I have installed the vm tools under pfsense 2.1 64bit running on ESXi 5.5. The vmxnet3 driver also is working. But somehow the ESXi client is telling me "not installed" and does not provide the option for shutdown the guest.

Did I forgot something?

Make sure to do the script part of the instructions, and ensure that the vmtools daemon is running. If you didn't do the ldconfig script then the kernel modules would work but the daemon that reports the status to ESX wouldn't work.

valnar

It sounds like the 8.7 is perfectly fine to use then. I prefer the E1000 NIC, so is anything gained by the 8.8?

biggsy

@valnar:

It sounds like the 8.7 is perfectly fine to use then. I prefer the E1000 NIC, so is anything gained by the 8.8?

No. As asterix noted earlier, 8.8.1 has been broken for a long time.

8.7.0.3046 (build-425873) seems to be a long way behind the current stable release (open-vm-tools-9.4.0-1280544) but it works.

Tubs

@jimp:

Make sure to do the script part of the instructions, and ensure that the vmtools daemon is running. If you didn't do the ldconfig script then the kernel modules would work but the daemon that reports the status to ESX wouldn't work.

I did.
000-ldconfig.sh script and vmware-tools.sh script are running at startup. But ESXi 5.5 still is telling me that vmware tools are not installed.

jimp

Is vmtoolsd actually running though?

Check the output of:

ps uxawww | grep vmtoolsd

You should see something like:

root   69759  0.0  1.9 32976  9516  ??  I     2Oct13   7:30.60 /usr/local/lib/vmware-tools/sbin/vmtoolsd

Tubs

@jimp:

Is vmtoolsd actually running though?

Seems to be is running. But ESXi 5.5 does not detect it.

root   79537  0.0  0.2 26168  6236  ??  SN   Tue09PM   0:16.56 /usr/local/lib/vmware-tools/sbin/vmtoolsd
root   94328  0.0  0.0  9068  1468   0  S+    8:27PM   0:00.00 grep vmtoolsd

jimp

Not sure then, might be a 5.5 thing. The hosts I can hit to try it on are all 5.0 or 5.1.

johnpoz

Im running 5.5 – will try the doc instructions when I get home. Don't want to reboot my pfsense remotely since using it to access my network ;)

edit: ok very odd.. Tools is currently running as you can see from screenshots.. And I can send the command to restart the vm via the guest options and seems to reboot clean.. Just both esxi client and vserver not installed. Even though the client shows running as well??

vcenter shows running with version number even, but then says not installed? Odd..

edit: Ok I updated the tools on my ubuntu vm as well - and its showing the same thing running (not installed) so something not quite right with the 5.5 tools I think.

oddtools.png_thumb

vcentertools.png_thumb

biggsy

I just built a new ESXi 5.5 server and installed pfSense 2.1-RELEASE (amd64).

Installed Open-VM-Tools 8.7.0.3046 (build-425873) and it seems fine.

![2013-10-11 19-45-23.png](/public/imported_attachments/1/2013-10-11 19-45-23.png)
![2013-10-11 19-45-23.png_thumb](/public/imported_attachments/1/2013-10-11 19-45-23.png_thumb)

johnpoz

^ dude read the freaking thread!! before you post and make yourself look - too late ;)