Updated: 30 September 2026 · Applies to: open-vm-tools 13 on AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux 9 and 10, RHEL 9 and 10, Ubuntu 24.04 and 26.04, Debian 13 (VMware ESXi and Workstation guests)
Virtual machines on VMware (ESXi, vSphere, Workstation, Fusion) run best with the VMware guest tools. On Linux these are the open-source open-vm-tools, which the distributions package and VMware recommends over its old installer. They let the host shut down or reboot the VM cleanly, show its IP address and host name in vSphere, and take application-consistent snapshots. On AlmaLinux 9 and 10 and Ubuntu 24.04 the package was version 13.0 when we checked.
Install
dnf install open-vm-tools # AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux, RHEL apt install open-vm-tools # Ubuntu, Debian
For a VM with a desktop, also install open-vm-tools-desktop, which adds copy and paste, drag and drop, and automatic screen resizing.
Start and check
systemctl enable --now vmtoolsd systemctl status vmtoolsd vmware-toolbox-cmd -v
In the vSphere Client, the VM's summary should now show "VMware Tools: Running" and the guest's IP address and host name. Many installations already include open-vm-tools when the installer detects VMware; rpm -q open-vm-tools or dpkg -l open-vm-tools shows whether it is there.
Useful commands
vmware-toolbox-cmd stat speed # host CPU speed as seen by the guest vmware-toolbox-cmd timesync status # whether VMware time sync is on
Keep chrony running for time synchronisation and leave VMware's periodic time sync off (the default), so the two do not work against each other.
Remove the old VMware Tools
If a VM still has the old tarball-based VMware Tools (installed with vmware-install.pl), remove them first with vmware-uninstall-tools.pl, then install open-vm-tools.
Official documentation: open-vm-tools on GitHub.
