Where can I find the .iso for vmware guest tools for Ubuntu ARM 64?

[32bits]

I've been searching for hours now and I cannot find any information on vmware guest tools for Ubuntu ARM 64 guests. I found a page with links to windows, mac, and something called "VIB" but nothing for Ubuntu. They are most definitely not available as part of the core fusion pro software package (menu item is grey'ed out).

[RDPetruska]

You can't - they don't exist as a separate download.

Modern Linux OS's all use the open-vm-tools - install open-vm-tools and open-vm-tools-desktop using your package manager.

[Technogeezer]

The legacy VMware Tools are frozen at version 10.3.0 and are only still available to support old Linux x86/x64 versions that don't have open-vm-tools provided by the distribution. There's no need for VMware to port the legacy tools for ARM Linux because they aren't needed.

VMware intentionally grays out the "Install VMware Tools" menu item for Linux VMs that have open-vm-tools available.

[ColoradoMarmot]

Highly recommend reading the 'unofficial guide' if you're running Linux VM's on ARM - it's in the documents section of the forum.

[32bits]

But the open tools don't support shared folders? Does VmWare just not support shared folders anymore?

[Technogeezer]

The open tools absolutely do support shared folders for Linux on both Intel and ARM. Where are you seeing that they don't?

It's only on Windows 11 ARM that shared folders are not supported. 

There *is* an issue where shared folders don't mount at boot on Linux. That's a documented issue for VMs across the board (on Fusion on both Intel and ARM, and on Workstation). It has two fairly straightforward workarounds which are found in either the VMware Tools release notes or the Unofficial Companion Guide https://communities.vmware.com/t5/VMware-Fusion-Documents/The-Unofficial-Fusion-for-Apple-Silicon-Co...

(although come on VMware, this has been a problem for years now. Can we get a fix for this???)

[32bits]

I just get the old yellow-triangle-of-frustration when I try to get the shared folders to work. Yes, I've rebooted several times and tried adding and removing.

[Technogeezer]

That triangle is there because Fusion is not being told by the guest that the "legacy" VMware Tools are installed. That's apparently by design, because open-vm-tools do not indicate that they are installed back to the host The reason for that is that open-vm-tools are not managed by the host. They are managed by the package manager in the guest. 

Because Fusion isn't told that the "legacy" VMware Tools are installed, it throws that warning triangle. It can be ignored if you have open-vm-tools installed in the guest.  I wish they'd fix that, but it's an annoyance that I can lived with once its understood what's going on.

The shared folders mount point should be visible in the VM on /mnt/hgfs, with your shared folders being subfolders of /mnt/hgfs. Dropping into a shell prompt and issuing a 'mount' or 'df -k' command should show the shared folders are mounted. If there's no mount on /mnt/hgfs in the VM once the folders are enabled on Fusion's side, disable, then re-enable the shared folders in Fusion. They should then appear. That's where the more persistent workaround that's in the release notes and/or the Unofficial Guide are helpful.

(By the way, most Linux file managers don't recognize the folders are mounted,. You have to manually navigate to the /mnt/hgfs folder.and perhaps set up a sidebar shortcut to get there).