Ubuntu isn't just for running on physical hardware. If you're a more advanced user of this great Linux distribution, you might want to virtualize it separately from your main Windows (or other) operating system. VMware offers different products for this, including Fusion, Workstation, and Player, but for the best experience between your main OS and the guest Ubuntu OS, you'll want to install VMware Tools.
When you use VMware Tools on your virtual machine, you'll be able to copy and paste from the clipboard and share files between your main operating system (known as the host) and the guest operating system — in this case, Ubuntu. You can also leverage other tasks, like running scripts, syncing the time, and even using the guest OS fullscreen. If you're using VMware Tools with Ubuntu 14.04 or newer, the Easy Installer that's a part of VMware Player will include VMware Tools for you.
How to install VMware Tools on Ubuntu
When you install Ubuntu on VMware Player, it may also install open-vm-tools, which will automate the process. As you can see at the bottom of the above screenshot, VMware is handling the installation process. This includes setting the username and password, and with an internet connection, it will install VMware Tools for you as well.
If VMware Tools is not automatically pulled in, you'll need to do the following to install open-vm-tools. Open-vm-tools is an open-source implementation of VMware Tools, and that's what we recommend using. All you have to do is to enter a few lines of text:
- Launch a terminal by using the Ctrl+Alt+T keyboard shortcut.
- Update your package information with sudo apt-get update.
- Hit Enter.
- Install the package with sudo apt-get install open-vm-tools.
- If prompted, enter your password.
- Once you're done, reboot your virtual machine by running the sudo reboot command.
That's it! You've now successfully installed VMware Tools on your Ubuntu machine.
Using the graphical user interface (GUI)
If you want to do this through the GUI, VMware Player has a built-in option. Click Player at the top, select Manage, and click Install VMware Tools. If the option appears dimmed, that means VMware Tools is already installed.
There are other options
VMware is one way to virtualize Ubuntu, but it's not for commercial use. However, there are several other options. Oracle VM Virtual Box has a fairly seamless setup experience, for example. If you're using Windows 11, the operating system has its own virtual machine software, known as Hyper-V. Or you might want to check out NVM for using Node.js and even Apache for managing web servers. Whichever one you choose, we're confident you'll get a solid experience, since Ubuntu is a pretty efficient and lightweight operating system.