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fsociety3765
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Are the Official VMware Tools still supported on Linux?

Hi all,

Are the official tools (VMware Tools), still supported on Linux. The tools that are bundled with the Fusion app...

I can't get copy/paste and file drag/drop to work even though it is enabled. And I also can't get Bluetooth devices through to the VM. Again, it is enabled.

Thanks,

FS

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fsociety3765
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OK, I seem to have found the solution and gotten it working.

Solution at the link below.

https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/74650 

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wila
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Hi,

On Linux you should use what is supplied by the Linux distribution.

Pretty much all of them nowadays supply open-vm-tools.

Note that -for example- on ubuntu you would install open-vm-tools-desktop to get it all.

Only use the VMware Tools that are bundled with VMware Fusion if it is a very old Linux distribution.

edit: fixed typo in package name

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Wil

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva
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fsociety3765
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Hi,

Thanks. I'm aware of open-vm-tools. But open-vm-tools lacks certain functionality that I need. Shared folders for example, which I why I need to use the official tools.

I have the official tools installed and for the most part they work but I am having slight problems with things like copy/paste which don't seem to work and Bluetooth passthrough.  

 

 

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wila
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Shared folders are supported... and open-vm-tools ARE the official tools.
The bundled tools are considered deprecated.

Btw, there's a LOT of linux variants and it is neigh to impossible to give advice without giving any details.

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Wil

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva
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fsociety3765
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Oh... Sorry.

I'm using a mixture currently of Manjaro and Pop_OS. But mainly Manjaro now.

When I had open-vm-tools installed, the Fusion settings for the VM was giving me warning that certain things wouldn't be available without the "Official VMware Tools"

I will re-install open-vm-tools and give it another look. Maybe I was overlooking something? The shared folder functionality was definately one of the things there were warnings about in the settings for the VM. There was a couple of other too but since installed the bundled "Official" tools the warning went away so I will have to check again.

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fsociety3765
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OK, so I have uninstalled the "Official" bundled tools and installed the open-vm-tools from the Manjaro repo.

Shared folders has now stopped working and in the settings for the VM under shared folders, I now see this...

Screenshot 2021-09-07 at 22.53.20.png

On a plus side, copy/paste and file drag/drop are now working though. 

What do I need to do to make shared folders work?

Thanks,

FS

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fsociety3765
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Screenshot 2021-09-07 at 22.58.56.pngScreenshot 2021-09-07 at 22.59.20.png

Manjaro version info ^^^

Screenshot 2021-09-07 at 23.01.32.png

VMware Fusion version info ^^^

Screenshot 2021-09-07 at 23.01.54.png

macOS version info ^^^

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wila
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Hi,

This was true for older versions of VMware Tools I believe (around 2016).

As Manjaro is based on Arch and thus on a rolling release schedule I would expect that you're on the latest version.

A current version of open-vm-tools would have the  features that are listed here:
https://github.com/vmware/open-vm-tools

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Wil

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva
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fsociety3765
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OK, I seem to have found the solution and gotten it working.

Solution at the link below.

https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/74650 

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wila
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Hi,

Ok, that's good info.

Huh, I'm a little surprised you had to write systemd config file(s) by hand.
Not seeing this issue on debian based VMs.

Glad to hear you found the solution.

--
Wil

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva
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wila
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Hi FWIW... as another data point:

Here's the steps I normally need to do for open-vm-tools and shared folders...

Taken from:

https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Tools/11.3/rn/VMware-Tools-1130-Release-Notes.html#vmware-tools-is...

VMware Tools Issues in VMware Workstation or Fusion

Shared Folders mount is unavailable on Linux VM.
If the Shared Folders feature is enabled on a Linux VM while it is powered off, the shared folders mount is not available on restart.

Note: This issue is applicable to VMware Tools running on Workstation and Fusion.

Workaround:

If the VM is powered on, disable and enable the Shared Folders feature from the interface. For resolving the issue permanently, edit /etc/fstab and add an entry to mount the Shared Folders automatically on boot.

For example, add the line:

vmhgfs-fuse /mnt/hgfs fuse defaults,allow_other 0 0
| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva
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