Vm Tools For Mac

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Updated on: 18 JUN 2020

VMware Tools | 18 JUN 2020 | Build 16303738

Check for additions and updates to these release notes.

VMware Fusion: Powerfully Simple Virtual Machines for Mac. VMware Fusion Pro and VMware Fusion Player Desktop Hypervisors give Mac users the power to run Windows on Mac along with hundreds of other operating systems, containers or Kubernetes clusters, side by side with Mac applications, without rebooting. Fusion products are simple enough for home users and powerful enough for IT. If you use VMware Fusion or ESXi on a computer with an Apple label, you can create Mac OS X Server (10.5 or later) virtual machines and install VMware Tools. Prerequisites Power on the virtual machine.

What's in the Release Notes

The release notes cover the following topics:

What's New

  • For issues fixed in this version, refer to Resolved Issues section.

Earlier Releases of VMware Tools

  • For earlier releases of VMware Tools, see the VMware Tools Documentation page.

Before You Begin

Vm Tools For MacTools
  • VMware Tools 11.1.1 supports the following guest operating systems:
    • windows.iso supports Windows 7 SP1 or Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1.
      • VMware Tools 11.1.1 depends on and ships Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015, 2017 and 2019. While preparing the system for VMware Tools 11.1.1 installation, Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015, 2017 and 2019 is installed on the system as a prerequisite. Installing or upgrading to VMware Tools 11.1.1 is not supported for Windows versions that do not meet the prerequisites and customers should continue to use VMware Tools 10.2.x or older until they can patch or update Windows OS to meet the prerequisites for VMware Tools 11.1.1. Refer to Microsoft's update KB2977003 for latest supported Visual C++ downloads.
      • Windows OS level prerequisites
        • Windows Server 2019
        • Windows Server 2016
        • Windows 10
        • Windows Server 2012 R2 with Microsoft update KB2919355
        • Windows 8.1 with Microsoft update KB2919355
        • Windows Server 2012
        • Windows 8
        • Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1)
        • Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1)
    • darwin.iso supports Mac OS X versions 10.11 and later.
    • For details on linux.iso, refer to VMware Tools 10.3.22 Release Notes.
    • For details on solaris.iso, refer to VMware Tools 10.3.10 Release Notes.
  • VMware Tools ISO images are frozen for some end of life guest operating systems. Some ISO images are not included with ESXi in the tools-light VIB. For more details, see the VMware Tools Documentation page. All VMware Tools ISO images are available for download from http://my.vmware.com.
  • VMware Tools for Windows: 32-bit and 64-bit installer executable (.exe) files are available for download. These files are provided for easier access and installation of VMware Tools in Windows guest operating systems.

Important note about upgrading to ESXi 6.5 or later

Resolution on incompatibility and general guidelines: While upgrading ESXi hosts to ESXi 6.5 or later, and using older versions of Horizon View Agent, refer to the knowledge base articles:

Vmware Tools Download

Internationalization

VMware Tools 11.1.1 is available in the following languages:

  • English
  • French
  • German
  • Spanish
  • Italian
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Simplified Chinese
  • Traditional Chinese

Product Support Notice

  • The Windows pre-Vista iso image for VMWare Tools is no longer packaged with ESXi. The Windows pre-Vista iso image is available for download by users who require it. For download information, see the Product Download page.

End of Feature Support Notice

  • Balloon driver has been removed from MacOS VMware Tools 11.1.0.
  • The tar tools (linux.iso) and OSPs shipped with VMware Tools 10.3.5 release will continue to be supported. However, releases after VMware Tools 10.3.5 will only include critical and security fixes and no new feature support in these types of VMware Tools (tar tools and OSP's). It is recommended that customers use open-vm-tools for those operating systems that support open-vm-tools. For more information on different types of VMware Tools, see https://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2016/02/understanding-the-three-types-of-vm-tools.html

Compatibility Notes

  • Starting with VMware Tools version 10.2.0, Perl script-based VMware Tools installation for FreeBSD has been discontinued. FreeBSD systems are supported only through the open-vm-tools packages directly available from FreeBSD package repositories. FreeBSD packages for open-vm-tools 10.1.0 and later are available from FreeBSD package repositories.

Guest Operating System Customization Support

The Guest OS Customization Support Matrix provides details about the guest operating systems supported for customization.

Interoperability Matrix

The VMware Product Interoperability Matrix provides details about the compatibility of current and earlier versions of VMware Products. The VMware Product Interoperability Matrix of VMware Tools 11.1.0 can be applied to VMware Tools 11.1.1.

Installation and Upgrades for this release

VMware Tools can be downloaded from the Product Download page.

The steps to install VMware Tools vary depending on your VMware product and the guest operating system you have installed. For general steps to install VMware Tools in most VMware products, see General VMware Tools installation instructions (1014294).To set up productLocker to point to the shared datastore, see KB 2004018.
For specific instructions to install, upgrade, and configure VMware Tools, see the VMware Tools Documentation page.

Windows guest drivers installed by VMware Tools

VMware Tools 11.1.1 supports the following driver versions on a Windows Guest Operating System.

DriversVMware Tools 11.1.1
Hardware Drivers
vmci

9.8.16.0

vsock

9.8.16.0

pvscsi

1.3.15.0

wddm

8.16.07.0008

vmxnet3

1.8.16.0

vmxnet2

2.2.0.0

vmmouse

12.5.10.0

vmusbmouse

12.5.10.0

vmaudio

5.10.0.3506

efifw1.0.0.0
Software Drivers
vmrawdsk.sys

1.1.5.0

vmmemctl.sys

7.5.5.0

vmhgfs.sys

11.0.42.0

vsepflt.sys

11.1.1.0

vnetWFP.sys

11.1.1.0

glgxi.sys

2.3.0.0

giappdef

2.3.1.0

Security DLL
vmwsu.dll

2.5.0.0

Resolved Issues

Mac
  • Intermittent BSOD is seen in guest VMs due to NSX Network Introspection driver (vnetWFP) in a NSX environment.

    NSX Network Introspection driver (vnetWFP) can cause OS crash during processing network connections, typically over loopback address. This behavior is seen in VMware Tools 11.0.0 and later versions.

    This issue is fixed in this release.

  • NSX Guest Introspection drivers (vsepflt and vnetWFP) can leak memory while processing network traffic for ICMP or UDP packets.

    Memory leak can be observed in NSX Guest Introspection drivers (vsepflt and vnetWFP) when installed in NSX environment. This can lead to customers reaching the memory limits on their respective systems after some time. This issue is seen in VMware Tools 11.0.0 and later versions.

    This issue is fixed in this release.

  • Denial-of-service vulnerability in the Host-Guest File System (HGFS) implementation of VMware Tools for macOS.

    VMware Tools for macOS contains a denial-of-service vulnerability in the Host-Guest File System (HGFS) implementation. The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the identifier CVE-2020-3972 to this issue. For more information, see VMSA-2020-0014.

    This issue is fixed in this release.

Tools

Known Issues

  • After upgrading to a new version VMware Tools with installer parameter to remove the NetworkIntrospection feature, old version of vnetflt or vnetWFP driver service still runs.

    After the upgrade, the NetworkIntrospection feature is not present in the system's VMware Tools MSI database, but the feature's vnetflt or vnetWFP driver service still exists.

    Workaround:

    Refer to KB 78016.

    Note: Future tools upgrade from version 11.1.0 to a newer tools version will not have the issue.

  • VMware Tools upgrade fails on Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 without SHA-2 code signing support.

    Microsoft has changed Windows driver signing to use SHA-2 algorithm exclusively starting December 3, 2019. Hence, legacy Windows systems without SHA-2 code signing support fails driver signature verification.

    Workaround:

    Refer to KB 78708.

  • VMware Tools 11.1.0 fails to install on a VM with VMware Horizon Agent 7.7 or earlier installed.

    VMware Tools installation setup fails with a popup message: 'Setup failed to install the SVGA driver automatically. This driver will have to be installed manually.'

    Workaround:

    To workaround this issue:

    1. Choose Custom Setup.
    2. Unselect the SVGA Driver
    3. Install VMware Tools.

    Setup will complete successfully and retain the existing installed SVGA Driver. To reinstall the SVGA driver on a failed VMware Tools install, refer to KB1016770.

  • Upgrade of VMware Tools hangs in a Windows Server 2008 Virtual Machine.

    VMware Tools upgrade process hangs in a Windows Server 2008 VM. This happens because the 'vcredist' bundled in the tools installer gets stuck and does not return.

    Workaround:

    If you have Windows remote management interface to the VM in the guest network, then kill the process when it hangs, like 'c:vcredist_x86.exe' /quiet /noRestart -burn.unelevated BurnPipe.{32940ADA-3765-4E48-8624-3DB276BB8083} {D6A63D73-EE4C-4698-8D19-C926D5E854A4} 1088'.

    You can also opt to kill the child process manually.

  • AppDefense driver glxgi logs an error in the event viewer.

    AppDefense driver glxgi logs an error in the event viewer similar to the following:

    'The glxgi service failed to start due to the following error: A device attached to the system is not functioning.'

    The events are observed when Guest Integrity is disabled.

    Workaround:

    These events do not impact the system and are safe to ignore.

  • Event Viewer driver warnings generated by VMware Tools boot start drivers glxgi, pvscsi, vsepflt, and vsock.

    When you have a secure boot VM with Microsoft Hyper-V and virtualization-based security enabled with Device Guard and Code Integrity policy set to enforced, then drivers, glxgi, pvscsi, vsepflt, and vsock might generate the event log warnings similar to the following.

    Log Name: Microsoft-Windows-CodeIntegrity/Operational
    Source: Microsoft-Windows-CodeIntegrity

    Operational Log:

    Warnings

    Event ID: 3083
    Level: Warning

    Description:
    Code Integrity determined kernel module system32DRIVERSvsock.sys that did not meet the WHQL requirements is loaded into the system.
    Check with the publisher to see if a WHQL compliant kernel module is available.

    Workaround:

    These warnings are safe to ignore. The drivers load and operate in the normal manner.

  • Installing or upgrading versions earlier than VMware Tools 10.3.0 to VMware Tools 11.1.0 might take longer and Windows OS might need a restart.

    Installation process might appear to be in progress and displays a message similar to the following:
    ​ 'Preparing 'VMware Tools' for installation...'

    During this process, the user might be prompted to restart the operating system.

    Workaround:

    For more information, see KB 55798.

  • Drag functionality fails to work in Ubuntu.

    Drag functionality fails to work in Ubuntu 16.04.4 32-bit virtual machine installed using easy install. Also, failure of copy and paste functionality is observed in the same system.

    Note: This issue is applicable for VMware Tools running on Workstation and Fusion.

    Workaround:

    • Add the modprobe.blacklist=vmwgfx linux kernel boot option.
    • To gain access to larger resolutions, remove svga.guestBackedPrimaryAware = 'TRUE' option from the VMX file.
  • Shared Folders mount is unavailable on Linux VM.

    If the Shared Folders feature is enabled on a Linux VM while it is powered off, shared folders mount is not available on restart.

    Note: This issue is applicable for VMware Tools running on Workstation and Fusion.

    Workaround:

    If the VM is powered on, disable and enable the Shared Folders feature from the interface.
    For resolving the issue permanently, edit /etc/fstab and add an entry to mount the Shared Folders automatically on boot.
    For example, add the line:
    vmhgfs-fuse /mnt/hgfs fuse defaults,allow_other 0 0

VMware Tools is a critical component in your virtual infrastructure. It provides drivers for virtual and paravirtual devices, security components, and capabilities such as guest file system quiesced snapshots. On that note, I am delighted to announce the general availability of VMware Tools 11.0.

What’s New for Windows?

A major version bump usually signals significant new features, and this release is no exception. We continue our efforts to minimize additional reboot requirements by making the VMCI driver available through the Windows Update channel for Windows Server 2016 and above. My colleague Eric Gray blogged about the initial launch of this back in August 2018 when we made the pvscsi driver available through Windows Update. In April this year, we launched VMware Tools 10.3.10. At the time we made the vmxnet3 driver through this channel. We’re working hard to give you the option of further drivers, so expect to see more of this kind of announcements as time goes on.

VMware Tools 11.0 now uses Visual Studio 2017 as the kernel space compiler.

From a security perspective, we have split out the monolithic AppDefense driver into 2 separate drivers. We have split the AppDefense driver (glxgi.sys) into glxgi.sys and giappdef.sys. Glxgi.sys continues to provide guest integrity functionality, and the new giappdef.sys provides process and network attestation. This splitting of the drivers means we can replace the user-mode components without requiring a reboot, and that has to be a good thing!

There are 2 new features from the perspective of the Guest Admin. First, you can now configure VMware Tools to prevent automatic upgrades. You can also prevent a vSphere Admin from adding or removing VMware Tools components. If you have strict change control or security requirements, this one is for you!

VMware Tools 11.0 for Mac OSX

This release isn’t just about Windows, either. There are a couple of changes for Mac OS X users too. As of VMware Tools 11.0 for Mac OSX, we have deprecated the ballon driver for memory management. In readiness for MacOSX 10.15 (Catalina), this release of VMware Tools for Mac OSX is notarized.

So what about Linux?

It’s no secret that the TAR and OSP (Operating System Specific Packages) for Linux are no longer under active development. 10.3.5 was the final release of these tools from a feature perspective. However, we continue to backport security fixes for legacy Linux distros. To distinguish the fact that there are no new features for these VMware Tools, we are releasing VMware Tools 10.3.20, which is only available as TAR and OSP. If you’re running a modern distro, you should be using open-vm-tools rather than the OSP or TAR tools. Once the OS vendors have completed their build and test of the code, the latest version of open-vm-tools will be available in your repo. If you need to upgrade before your vendor pushes open-vm-tools to their repo, you can download the code from Github and compile for your platform.

Cross-Platform Improvements

So that’s the platform-specific aspects covered. On top of those, we also have some other general improvements for you. As of VMware Tools 11.0, we now capture the installation log into the hypervisor logs. In the case of issues, we collect these logs in the VMware support bundle for GSS to troubleshoot.

Vm Tools For Mac Windows 10

We also have some performance goodness for you too: you’ll see an increase in memory and guest process introspection performance. Finally, we see some pretty hefty performance increases for the Host-Guest Filesystem (HGFS). This is around 20% for high volume, low size data transfers, and a 30% performance increase when moving larger files. All in all, those are some pretty significant gains!

Vm Tools For Mac Computers

Summary

That’s a bunch of new features, performance bumps, and security fixes. If you’re itching to get your hands on the latest version, you can download from https://www.vmware.com/go/tools.

Read more about this release with the release notes of VMware Tools 11.0 . We also have separate release notes for the OSP/TAR only VMware Tools 10.3.20.

Also released today are VMware Workstation 15.5 and Fusion 11.5, which come bundled with the latest versions of VMware Tools.

Download Vmware Tools For Macos Mojave

Try our vSphere 6.7 Hands-On Lab here!