Today I was playing with automatic installation of VMware Tools by using Active Directory Group Policy and Security Groups on my Windows 2008 test environment.

What did I do to realize the automated installation:

- Create a Security Group in AD called: “SW_VMware Tools 64-Bit”

- Create in Group Policy Management a new GPO called “SW_VMware Tools 64-Bit”

- Computer Configuration > Software Settings > Software Installation> New > package

- Select from shared location (in my case: \\VMPROS-DC01\Software Deployment\ ) “VMware Tools64.msi”

- In the security tab: VMware Tools 64-Bit need read rights

Read more…

Carlo Costanzo from VMwareInfo.com has posted the following helpful article:

The SVGA II driver installed by VMware Tools doesn’t work with 2008 R2 or Windows 7.  Console sessions will randomly lockup.

http://communities.vmware.com/thread/218244?start=105&tstart=0

According to the thread there is a WDDM driver in U1 that you can install manually to fix the problem by browsing to -

“C:\Program Files\Common Files\VMware\Drivers\wddm_video“

A good one

Details:

If you plan to use Windows 7 or Windows 2008 R2 as a guest operating system, do not use the SVGA drivers included with VMware Tools. Use the standard SVGA driver instead.

Symptoms:

Freeze

Hanging Console

High CPU

Reboots

Solution:

To deselect the SVGA drivers installed with VMware Tools:

1. When you install VMware Tools, select VMware Tools Custom Install and deselect the SVGA driver.

Alternatively, remove the SVGA driver from the Device Manager after installing VMware Tools

Product Versions:

VMware ESX 4.0.x

VMware ESXi 4.0.x Installable

Source: KB 1011709

• VMware Tools installation fails
• You see the error:

The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed. This can occur if you are running Windows in safe mode or if the Windows Installer is not correctly installed.

This issue may occur if the Windows Installer is corrupt or if it is not configured properly.To resolve this issue, see the following Microsoft article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324516.

Source: VMware

his article provides information about and steps for automating the VMware Tools upgrade in vCenter Server 4.0.

The following are required for automatic upgrades:

• Virtual machines must have a version of VMware Tools shipped with ESX Server 3.0.1 or greater installed.
• Virtual machines must be hosted on an ESX Server 3.0.1 or greater, and the vCenter Server must be version 2.0.1 or greater.
• Virtual machines must be running a Linux or Windows guest operating system that is supported by ESX Server 3.0.1 or greater and vCenter 2.0.1 or greater.
• Virtual machines must be powered on.

To configure virtual machines to automatically upgrade VMware Tools:

1. Power off the virtual machine.
2. Right-click the virtual machine and click Edit Settings.
3. On the Options tab, click VMware Tools.
4. In the Advanced pane, select Check and upgrade Tools before each power-on and click OK.

Note: The next time the virtual machine is powered on, it checks the ESX/ESXi host for a newer version of VMware Tools. If one is available, it is installed and the guest operating system is restarted (if required).

For more information, see Upgrading an ESX 3.x virtual machine to ESX 4.0 (1010675).

Het stelt vrijwel niets voor, maar het kan toch in de weg zitten. Door de volgende register aanpassing te doen is VMware Tools uit te schakelen in Systemtray. Dit kan nog wel eens van toepassing zijn op een Terminal server.

Register sleutel:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VMware, Inc.\VMware
Tools]
"ShowTray"=dword:00000000