Virtual machine tools is a set of utilities installed on the guest OS that improves the overall performance and provides better control of the VM, making administration easier. Virtual machine tools is not installed by default.
Although a guest OS can run without virtual machine tools, the management of power controls and other features is not available unless you install virtual machine tools. Shutdown or restart options, for example, are not available without virtual machine tools. An improved graphics interface, better mouse control, and the ability to copy and paste files are some of the main benefits you will notice after installation.
There are three types of virtual machine tools that you can install:
- ISOs (containing installers)
- Operating System Specific Packages (OSPs)
- open-vm-tools (OVT)
You can find more information at https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Tools/10.2.0/com.vmware.vsphere.vmwaretools.doc/GUID-5D9177F3-A098-42F7-B87F-551F61BA434E.html.
The following list includes some of the features of virtual machine tools:
- Integration with the vSphere suite as a DNS and IP propagation
- Improved network adapter performance (VMXNET driver)
- Improved storage controller performance (PVSCSI driver)
- Smooth mouse experience
- Copying, pasting, and dragging and dropping files
- Improved video resolution
- Improved sound
- The ability to take quiesced snapshots of the guest OS
The IP Addresses and DNS Name propagated to the vCenter client is shown in the following screenshot:
Virtual machine tools include the following components:
- VMware device drivers: This gives you drivers for virtual hardware, including network adapters. Drivers provide smooth mouse operations and improved sound, graphics, and performance.
- VMware user process: This gives you the ability to copy and paste text between the VMware Remote console and the host operating system.
- VMware services: This handles communication between the guest and host operating system.
A recommended practice is to upgrade to the latest Virtual Machine Tools version included in your ESXi. VMware vSphere 6.7 includes Virtual Machine Tools version 10.2.0.