Although a VM can run without VMware Tools, VMware highly recommends installing the latest version to enable advanced features (graphic, networking, mouse, storage, and so on). If a VM doesn't have VMware Tools installed, a warning message is displayed in the VM Summary tab.

Again, if a VM doesn't have VMware Tools, it's strongly recommended you install it to take advantage of the added features to improve performance and global functionality:

The installation of VMware Tools can be performed in three ways:

• Using vSphere Client: You can install or upgrade VMware Tools on a single VM at a time
• Using VUM: If more VMs need to install or upgrade VMware Tools, you can automate the process using VUM (VUM will be covered in Chapter 11, Lifecycle Management, Patching, and Upgrade)
• Using other tools: You can also use tools such as a Linux repository or a standalone version of VMware Tools, downloadable from the Driver and Utilities tab

To install the VMware Tools, the steps are the following:

1. From vSphere Client, right-click the running VM to process and select Guest OS | Install VMware Tools to mount the disk image in the virtual CD/DVD of the VM
2. Access the guest OS and proceed with the installation

The installation takes a few seconds and may require the reboot of the VM.

VMware Tools is included in the ESXi distribution and the bundled tools ISO image files are located in the /locker/packages/ directory. If you want a central repository on a shared datastore, look at VMware KB 2129825—Installing and upgrading the latest version of VMware Tools on existing hosts (https://kb.vmware.com/kb/2129825).