Procedure:
1. Open a command window in the guest operating system, obtain and import the VMware Packaging Public Keys.
# mkdir /opt/vmtools-key ; cd /opt/vmtools-key
# wget http://packages.vmware.com/tools/keys/VMWARE-PACKAGING-GPG-RSA-KEY.pub
# wget http://packages.vmware.com/tools/keys/VMWARE-PACKAGING-GPG-DSA-KEY.pub
# rpm --import VMWARE-PACKAGING-GPG-RSA-KEY.pub
# rpm --import VMWARE-PACKAGING-GPG-DSA-KEY.pub
2. (Optional) Set up the proxy server information in /etc/yum.conf.
For example:
proxy=http://squid.example.com:3128
proxy_username=proxyuser
proxy_password=proxypass
3. Create or edit the VMware repository directory and file.
# vi /etc/yum.repos.d/vmware-tools.repo
[vmware-tools]
name=VMware Tools
baseurl=http://packages.vmware.com/tools/esx/5.1/rhel6/x86_64
enabled=0
gpgcheck=1
Install VMware Tools for RHEL 6, RHEL 5, CentOS 6, and CentOS 5 Guest Operating Systems
1. Open a command window in the guest operating system.
2. Run the ‘uname -r‘ command to identify the type of kernel that is installed on the virtual machine.
For example, the ‘uname -r‘ command might display 2.6.18-53.el5-PAE, where 2.6.18-53.el5 is the kernel and PAE is the kernel type. Kernel types can be PAE or pae. In RHEL kernels, if the default type is installed, no type is displayed.
Example:
[root@cumi ~]# uname -r
2.6.32-279.22.1.el6.x86_64
[root@cumi ~]#
3. Run this yum command: yum install vmware-tools-esx-kmods-kernel_type vmware-tools-esx
Example:
# yum --enablerepo=vmware-tools -y install vmware-tools-esx-kmods vmware-tools-esx
Done! Reboot the machine..
Verify VMware Tools Installation
After you install OSPs and reboot the virtual machine, verify that VMware Tools are installed and functioning properly.
Procedure:
1. Verify that the VMware Tools daemon,vmtoolsd is running.
$ pgrep -fl vmtoolsd
2. Verify that the required kernel modules load properly.
$ /sbin/lsmod
The vmmemctl kernel module is always loaded. The vmxnet,vmxnet3, and pvscsi modules are loaded only when the virtual machine is configured with the corresponding device.
NOTE: If the distribution has a vmxnet3,pvscsi, or vmmemctl kernel driver, the drivers are not updated when you install operating system-specific packages.
Status of VMware Tools in vSphere Client
After VMware Tools OSPs are installed on a guest, the VMware vSphere Client reports the status of VMware Tools for that guest as 3rd-party/Independent. This status indicates that OSPs are installed. In this situation,do not attempt to install the standard VMware Tools through the VMware vSphere Client.
Reference:
http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vmware-tools-installation-configuration.pdf
http://www.vmware.com/download/packages.html
http://packages.vmware.com/tools/docs/manuals/osp-esxi-51-install-guide.pdf page 20-21