Install VMware Tools in Fedora Core

1. Install software needed by VMware Tools

1. Install packages to build the kernel modules
   

   yum install gcc kernel-devel

2. Check the running kernel matches the kernel headers
   

   uname -r             # running kernel
   rpm -q kernel-devel  # installed kernel headers
   

3. If the two versions do not match, run
   

   yum -y upgrade kernel kernel-devel
   reboot

4. Find out where the kernel headers are (you may need this later)
   

   ls -d /usr/src/kernels/$(uname -r)*/include

2. Prepare VMware Tools

Choose one of a), b), c) or d).

a) If you are running the VM inside VMware Workstation 5.5

1. From VMware Workstation: go to VM> Install VMware Tools
2. From the VM: mount the virtual cd drive
   

   mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/

3. Extract VMware Tools to /tmp/
   

   tar -C /tmp -zxvf /mnt/VMwareTools-5.5.1-19175.tar.gz

4. Unmount the virtual cd drive
   

   umount /mnt

5. Now run the installer
   

   cd /tmp/vmware-tools-distrib
   ./vmware-install.pl

6. When asked Do you want to run vmware-config-tools.pl?, answer "No", and follow on from 3. Install VMware Tools below.

b) If you have VMware-workstation-5.5.1-19175.tar.gz on disk

1. Make sure VMware-workstation-5.5.1-19175.tar.gz is on disk inside the VM.
2. Extract the VMware Tools iso
   

   tar --strip-components=3 -zxvf VMware-workstation-5.5.1-19175.tar.gz \
   vmware-distrib/lib/isoimages/linux.iso

3. Create a temporary mount point
   

   mkdir /mnt/vmtools-temp

4. Mount the iso image
   

   mount -o loop linux.iso /mnt/vmtools-temp

5. Copy VMware Tools from the mount
   

   cp /mnt/vmtools-temp/VMwareTools-5.5.1-19175.tar.gz /tmp/

6. Extract VMware Tools to /tmp/
   

   tar -C /tmp -zxvf /mnt/vmtools-temp/VMwareTools-5.5.1-19175.tar.gz

7. Tidy up
   

   umount /mnt/vmtools-temp
   rmdir /mnt/vmtools-temp
   rm linux.iso

8. Now run the installer
   

   cd /tmp/vmware-tools-distrib
   ./vmware-install.pl

9. When asked Do you want to run vmware-config-tools.pl?, answer "No", and follow on from 3. Install VMware Tools below.

c) If you have VMwareTools-5.5.1-19175.tar.gz on disk

1. Extract VMware Tools to /tmp/
   

   tar -C /tmp -zxvf VMwareTools-5.5.1-19175.tar.gz

2. Now run the installer
   

   cd /tmp/vmware-tools-distrib
   ./vmware-install.pl

3. When asked Do you want to run vmware-config-tools.pl?, answer "No", and follow on from 3. Install VMware Tools below.

d) If you cannot do any of these

1. Download VMware Workstation Trial (free) from
   
2. Go to If you have VMwareTools-5.5.1-19175.tar.gz on disk, above.

3. Install VMware Tools

Note: Version 5.5.1 of VMware Tools requires a patch, shown below. If you are using a later version of VMware Tools, this is not be required. Try running /usr/bin/vmware-config-tools.pl first without the patch, and only if it fails follow this section.

1. Backup your existing file
   

   cp /usr/bin/vmware-config-tools.pl /usr/bin/vmware-config-tools.pl.orig

2. Patch the file (see note above)
   

   cd /tmp/
   wget 
   tar zxvf vmware-tools-any-update2.tar.gz
   cd vmware-tools-any-update2/
   ./runme.pl
   

3. When asked Do you want to run vmware-config-tools.pl?, answer "Yes".

4. Fixes

a) Your mouse is stuck inside your VM

1. Edit the X config file
   

   vi /etc/X11/xorg.conf

2. Look for the section Secton "InputDevice"
3. Change the Driver "mouse" to Driver "vmmouse"
4. Create a link to the driver
   

   ln -s /usr/lib/vmware-tools/configurator/XOrg/6.8.x/vmmouse_drv.o /usr/lib/xorg/modules/input/
   

5. Restart X.