1 VMware ToolsIndex

The VMware Tools software can be installed in your CentOS virtual machine to give improved performance and better time synchronization.

Without the VMware Tools, a suspended and resumed virtual machine resumes with its system date and time set incorrectly to the date and time it was suspended. It can take five or ten minutes for the Linux NTP daemon to reset the system clock to the correct date and time.

With VMware Tools installed, a vmtoolsd daemon is started that re-synchronizes the system clock when the virtual machine is resumed.

Note: This suspend/resume time synchronization does not appear to work for a host O/S of Windows 8 running VMware Workstation version 9. If you can figure out why, let us know.

2 Install in CentOS as rootIndex

Boot your CentOS machine.

Become the root user. (Log in as root or use su or sudo from a non-root account, if you have one.)

For all system administration work, I recommend using an SSH connection rather than trying to work directly on the VMware console.

3 Install the fuse-libs packageIndex

First, to allow VMware Tools to run its vmtoolsd daemon process, we need some software libraries. (Thanks to Todd Kelley who researched this.) If it isn’t already installed, install the fuse-libs library package:

# rpm -q fuse-libs
package fuse-libs is not installed

# yum -q list fuse-libs
Available Packages
fuse-libs.i686               2.8.3-4.el6         @base

# yum install fuse-libs
[...many lines print here; say Y to install...]

# yum -q list fuse-libs
Installed Packages
fuse-libs.i686               2.8.3-4.el6         @base

# rpm -q fuse-libs
fuse-libs-2.8.3-4.el6.i686

4 Connect the VMware Tools linux.isoIndex

We will use VMware to connect the VMware Tools ISO file to our virtual CD/DVD device:

1. In your host machine running VMware application select menu item VM | Install VMware Tools.

2. VMware will sometimes (not always) put up a Question box saying Click Install to connect the VMware Tools Installer CD to the virtual machine. Sometimes there is no Question box and some information appears in a small box on the bottom of your VMware window. Take a screen capture of what it says (or write it down) so you can follow the directions.

3. If there is a Question box, click Install. If, instead, there is a box at the bottom of your screen talking about the Tools, close it.

4. VMware will automatically find and connect a VMware Tools linux.iso file to your virtual CD/DVD device. (This ISO file is part of VMware. It is not the same as the CentOS ISO file you downloaded to install CentOS.)

5. Verify that VMware has connected the linux.iso file to your CD/DVD: Open the VM | Settings | Hardware tab for your CentOS VM and select the CD/DVD device. Confirm that the Device Status is Connected and Use ISO image: is selected and the selected ISO image file has a basename of linux.iso.

6. Close the VM | Settings box.

# ls -l /dev/cd*
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 3 Mar 10 02:44 /dev/cdrom -> sr0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 3 Mar 10 02:44 /dev/cdrw -> sr0

# ls -l /dev/ | fgrep 'sr0'
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root           3 Mar 10 02:44 cdrom -> sr0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root           3 Mar 10 02:44 cdrw -> sr0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root           3 Mar 10 02:44 dvd -> sr0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root           3 Mar 10 02:44 dvdrw -> sr0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root           3 Mar 10 02:44 scd0 -> sr0
brw-rw---- 1 root cdrom    11,   0 Mar 10 02:44 sr0

# file -s /dev/sr0
/dev/sr0: ISO 9660 CD-ROM filesystem data 'VMware Tools                   '

# file -s /dev/sr0
/dev/sr0: writable, no read permission     # THIS IS WRONG - TRY AGAIN

# fdisk -l /dev/sr0 | fgrep '/dev/'
Disk /dev/sr0: 62 MB, 62396416 bytes       # the size may vary slightly

5 Mount the ISO file on /mnt/cdromIndex

When the file command verifies that the VMware Tools ISO is connected to the virtual CD/DVD device /dev/sr0, follow the directions below to create an empty directory mount point under /mnt and mount the read-only VMware Tools ISO image on that empty directory:

# file -s /dev/sr0
/dev/sr0: ISO 9660 CD-ROM filesystem data 'VMware Tools                   '

# mkdir -p /mnt/cdrom              # create /mnt/cdrom not /dev/cdrom
# ls -lh /mnt/cdrom                # what is in the new directory (nothing)
total 0

# mount /dev/sr0 /mnt/cdrom        # mount the CD device onto the directory
mount: block device /dev/sr0 is write-protected, mounting read-only

# mount | grep /dev/sr0            # confirm that the mount worked
/dev/sr0 on /mnt/cdrom type iso9660 (ro)

# ls -lh /mnt/cdrom                # see what's in the directory now (lots)
total 60M
-r--r--r-- 1 root root  58M Oct 17 21:26 VMwareTools-9.6.1-1378637.tar.gz
-r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 2.0K Oct 17 21:26 manifest.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 1.9K Oct 17 21:25 run_upgrader.sh
-r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 674K Oct 17 21:25 vmware-tools-upgrader-32
-r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 687K Oct 17 21:25 vmware-tools-upgrader-64

Your sizes and version numbers above may differ, depending on the version of VMware you are running. Above, we see the 58MB compressed installer tar archive file (sometimes called a tarball) located under /mnt/cdrom, which is where the virtual CD is currently mounted. (The exact content and size of the VMware Tools directory will differ, depending on which version of VMware you run.)

6 Extract the VMware Tools installerIndex

The next instruction in your saved screen capture says: Uncompress the installer and then execute vmware-install.pl to install VMware Tools.

Let’s make sure we have space in the /tmp directory to uncompress the installer (we need about 200MB available), then uncompress the tar archive into /tmp directory:

Use the df command to make sure you have at least 200M free in the partition containing /tmp (exact Used/Avail sizes may vary):

# df -h /tmp
Filesystem            Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda1             1.5G  686M  717M  49% /

# cd /tmp
# pwd
/tmp

# tar zxf /mnt/cdrom/VMware*gz

# ls -ld vmware*
drwxr-xr-x 7 root root 4096 Oct 17 21:26 vmware-tools-distrib

# ls -l vmware*
total 472
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root   4096 Oct 17 21:26 bin
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root   4096 Oct 17 21:26 doc
drwxr-xr-x  5 root root   4096 Oct 17 21:26 etc
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 258515 Oct 17 21:26 FILES
-rw-r--r--  1 root root   2538 Oct 17 21:26 INSTALL
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root   4096 Oct 17 21:26 installer
drwxr-xr-x 15 root root   4096 Oct 17 21:26 lib
-rwxr-xr-x  1 root root 192871 Oct 17 21:26 vmware-install.pl

(The exact content and size of the VMware Tools directory will differ, depending on which version of VMware you run.)

We see the installer program vmware-install.pl is an executable file under the new directory vmware-tools-distrib. The screen capture we took earlier says we must execute this program.

7 Execute the installer file vmware-install.plIndex

Execute the installer file vmware-install.pl from inside its directory by typing its pathname, with a little GLOB help from the shell because we are lazy:

# echo vmware*/vmware*               # verify GLOB patterns before use
vmware-tools-distrib/vmware-install.pl

# vmware*/vmware*                    # shell GLOB patterns will expand

At this point, you might see one of two things, A or B:

A: Creating a new VMware Tools installer database using the tar4 format.
B: bash: vmware-tools-distrib/vmware-install.pl: /usr/bin/perl: bad interpreter: No such file or directory

A. If you see the output Creating a new VMware Tools installer database, then you already have Perl installed and should skip forward to the next section.

B. If you see an error message about the missing interpreter /usr/bin/perl, then you need to install the Perl package following the next instructions:

# rpm -q perl
package perl is not installed

# head -n 2 vmware*/vmware*      # you type this; the next two lines are the output
#!/usr/bin/perl -w
# If your copy of perl is not in /usr/bin, please adjust the line above.

# ls -l /usr/bin/perl
ls: cannot access /usr/bin/perl: No such file or directory

# yum -q list perl
Available Packages
perl.i686              4:5.10.1-131.el6_4        @updates

# rpm -q -a | grep 'perl'            # doesn't find anything
#

# yum install perl
[...many lines print here; say Y to install...]

# yum -q list perl
Installed Packages
perl.i686              4:5.10.1-131.el6_4        @updates

# ls -l /usr/bin/perl
-rwxr-xr-x 2 root root 5012 Apr 30 08:11 /usr/bin/perl

# rpm -q -a | grep 'perl'            # now it finds perl packages
perl-version-0.77-131.el6_4.i686
perl-Pod-Simple-3.13-131.el6_4.i686
perl-5.10.1-131.el6_4.i686
perl-Pod-Escapes-1.04-131.el6_4.i686
perl-libs-5.10.1-131.el6_4.i686
perl-Module-Pluggable-3.90-131.el6_4.i686

# rpm -q fuse-libs                   # make sure fulse-libs is installed
fuse-libs-2.8.3-4.el6.i686

# vmware*/vmware*                    # shell GLOB patterns will expand
Creating a new VMware Tools installer database using the tar4 format.
Installing VMware Tools.
In which directory do you want to install the binary files?
[/usr/bin]

The installation of VMware Tools 9.6.1 build-1378637 for Linux
completed successfully. You can decide to remove this software
from your system at any time by invoking the following command:
"/usr/bin/vmware-uninstall-tools.pl".

Before running VMware Tools for the first time, you
need to configure it by invoking the following command:
"/usr/bin/vmware-config-tools.pl". Do you want this program to invoke
the command for you now? [yes]

Found VMware Tools CDROM mounted at /mnt/cdrom. Ejecting device /dev/sr0 ...
No eject (or equivilant) command could be located.
Eject Failed:  If possible manually eject the Tools installer from the guest
cdrom mounted at /mnt/cdrom before canceling tools install on the host.

8 Unmount and Disconnect the VMware Tools ISO from the CD/DVD deviceIndex

The df and mount commands show what is mounted, so we will use them below to verify that we have successfully unmounted the CD. Use the umount command (and note the spelling) to do the actual unmounting:

# df
Filesystem           1K-blocks      Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda1              1511856   1023656    411400  72% /
tmpfs                   515340         0    515340   0% /dev/shm
/dev/sr0                 60934     60934         0 100% /mnt/cdrom

# mount | grep /dev/sr0
/dev/sr0 on /mnt/cdrom type iso9660 (ro)

# umount /mnt/cdrom

# df
Filesystem           1K-blocks      Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda1              1511856   1023660    411396  72% /
tmpfs                   515340         0    515340   0% /dev/shm

# mount | grep /dev/sr0                  # should not be found
#

The df and mount commands must confirm that /dev/sr0 is no longer mounted. The other numbers and sizes may be different from what is listed above; all that matters is that you confirm that /dev/sr0 is no longer mounted before you disconnect it from your CD/DVD device.

After you have unmounted the ISO file, go to your VMware VM | Settings | CD/DVD and make sure of these things:

1. Un-check Connected so that the CD is not connected now.
2. Un-check Connect at power on so that the CD is not connected on boot.
3. Switch the CD/DVD Connection back to Use a physical drive.
4. Select Save or OK.

VMware Tools has been installed. Let’s verify that it is working.

9 Verify the VMware Tools installationIndex

1. Confirm that the VMware Tools daemon is running: Use the pgrep command to find the running vmtoolsd program (process) and print its process number, then use the ps command with that printed process number to show more information about that process number (your process number may be different – use your own process number):

   # pgrep -l vmtoolsd
   12345 vmtoolsd                    # your process number 12345 will differ
   
   # ps uww 12345                    # use process number printed by pgrep
   USER    PID %CPU %MEM    VSZ   RSS TTY STAT START  TIME COMMAND
   root  12345  0.1  0.3  38616  3972 ?   Sl   11:47  0:01 /usr/sbin/vmtoolsd

   If you do not see vmtoolsd running, your installation of VMware Tools did not work. Restore your virtual machine from your last snapshot and try the installation again. It is the vmtoolsd program that makes better time updating possible. (Make sure you installed fuse-libs.)

2. Confirm that the system time in your VM is accurate and is restored across a VM suspend and resume: First, locate the name of an NTP time server from inside the NTP configuration file (note the use of a regular expression ^ character in the search string for grep):

   # grep '^server' /etc/ntp.conf
   server 0.centos.pool.ntp.org iburst
   server 1.centos.pool.ntp.org iburst
   server 2.centos.pool.ntp.org iburst
   server 3.centos.pool.ntp.org iburst

   The ^ regular expression character tells grep that it must match the server word only at the beginning of a line. We will cover regular expressions in CST8177.

3. Use one of the above time server names as an argument to the ntpdate command to query the current time and compare it with your system time:

   # ntpdate -q 0.centos.pool.ntp.org
   server 198.50.239.57, stratum 2, offset 0.000084, delay 0.04436
   server 142.137.247.109, stratum 2, offset -0.005645, delay 0.04707
   server 208.80.96.96, stratum 3, offset -0.000439, delay 0.04239
   server 216.234.161.11, stratum 2, offset -0.006661, delay 0.09264
   29 Oct 13:12:59 ntpdate[13651]: adjust time server 198.50.239.57 offset 0.000084 sec

4. Look at the offset value in the last line of ntpdate output containing the phrase adjust time server. The offset should be less than one second.

   NOTE: This doesn’t always work. It’s not working for VMware Workstation 10.0.1 under Ubuntu 12.04.4. A work-around is to go to VM | Settings | Options | VMware Tools and turn on “Synchronize guest time with host”. That pops the time back to the corret value every 60 seconds or so, but it can drift by several seconds before that happens.

5. In your host O/S go to VMware and suspend your CentOS guest VM for a minute or more and then resume it again. Re-run the above ntpdate command line again and verify that the time offset after the suspend/resume is still less than one second:

   # ntpdate -q 0.centos.pool.ntp.org | grep offset
   29 Oct 13:13:59 ntpdate[13661]: adjust time server 198.50.239.57 offset 0.006617 sec

Note: This suspend/resume time synchronization does not appear to work for a host O/S of Windows 8 running VMware Workstation version 9. If you can figure out why, let us know. Windows 8.1 is rumoured to work. Use the work-around in the NOTE above, if that helps.