The VMware Tools Package is one of the features of
SCO OpenServer Release 5.0.7V. This package adds tools to
improve integration between SCO OpenServer 5.0.7V and the
host VMware system.
The version of VMware Tools included in SCO OpenServer 5.0.7V
Version 1.0.0 is:
vmtools 2009.06.18
This version is based on the 18-Jun-2009 release of the
open-vm-tools project version 2009.06.18-172495.
The VMware Tools package provides the following features
in SCO OpenServer 5.0.7V Version 1.0.0:
1) Time synchronization
2) The VMware Toolbox
3) Soft power operations
4) The VMware Tools daemon (vmtoolsd)
5) Guest OS data gather and transfer script (vm-support)
6) Virtual machine check utility (vmware-checkvm)
7) An interactive X11 session utility (vmware-user)
8) A log transfer utility (vmware-xferlogs)
9) An simple guest communication tool (vmware-rpctool)
These features are now described in more detail:
1) Time synchronization
This feature ensures that your SCO Openserver 5.0.7V
Virtual Machine does not suffer from System Clock
drift. This feature is pre-configured and does not
require user interaction.
This feature can be disabled using the VMware Toolbox.
If it is disabled then it is recommended to configure NTP on the
OSR507V installation to ensure time is synchronised.
By default, as it is enabled it is recommended to enable NTP on the
VMware server itself by going to Configuration -> Software ->
Time Configuration.
2) The VMware Toolbox
This feature is accessible:
- as an icon on the IXI Desktop for the root account
- from the command line as /usr/bin/vmware-toolbox-cmd
The Toolbox will allow you to:
a) Enable, disable or view status of Time synchronization
b) Connect, disconnect or view status of available devices
c) Enable, disable, run or view status of Suspend, Resume
Shutdown and Power-on scripts for your Virtual Machine
d) Shrink a virtual disk
Please note that this option is not enabled if the virtual
machine:
- Contains a snapshot
- Is a parent of a linked clone
- Is a linked clone
For further information on limitations and how to use this
feature please refer to your VMware documentation.
e) View the version and build of the VMware Tools you are
running.
f) In command line mode only, use stat option:
on Workstation and ESX(i) with sub-options:
hosttime: print the host time
memory: print the virtual machine memory in MBs
speed: print the CPU speed in MHz
on ESX(i) only with sub-options:
sessionid: print the current session id
memlimit: print memory limit information
Additional stat sub-options will be supported in future
releases of the VMware Tools for OpenServer 5.0.7V.
3) Soft Power Operations
The toolbox provides default scripts for the following soft
power operations:
Suspend Guest Operating System
Resume Guest Operating System
Shutdown Guest Operating System
Power On Guest Operating System
The toolbox will allow you to:
- Choose to use the script
- Choose to use the default script
- Choose a user created custom script
The default scripts are:
/etc/vmware-tools/suspend-vm-default
/etc/vmware-tools/resume-vm-default
/etc/vmware-tools/poweroff-vm-default
/etc/vmware-tools/poweron-vm-default
4) vmtoolsd daemon (/usr/bin/vmtoolsd)
This is a user-level daemon process. It is started, stopped,
enabled and disabled by:
/etc/rc2.d/S01vmtoolsd
vmtoolsd itself provides very little functionality, but is
extensible by using plugins. The plugins provided are
located under
/etc/vmware-tools/plugins
and provide services that are used by the other features
listed in the Technical Article.
5) Guest OS data gather and transfer script (vm-support)
/etc/vmware-tools/vm-support is a shell script that gathers
data about your Virtual Machine and transfers it to the
vmware.log in the folder on the datastore where your
Virtual Machine resides on your VMware platform.
6) Virtual machine check utility (vmware-checkvm)
/usr/bin/vmware-checkvm is a utility that user or applications
can run to confirm that they are running in a virtual environment.
When executed on a Virtual Machine this command returns:
VMware software version 6 (good)
7) An interactive X11 session utility (vmware-user)
/usr/bin/vmware-user is a utility that is started automatically
when a user logs into the XDesktop.
This utility does not require any user interaction. It provides
support for Cut and Paste on the SCO OpenServer 5.0.7V Graphical
console.
8) A log transfer utility (vmware-xferlogs)
This is a simple utility that can be used to transfer
the content of a file to the vmware.log in the folder
on the datastore where your Virtual Machine resides on
your VMware platform.
9) An simple guest communication tool (vmware-rpctool)
This utility can be used to:
1) Read guestinfo variables
vmware-rpctool can be used to read guestinfo variables that
have been added to the .vmx file belonging to your
SCO OpenServer 5.0.7V Virtual Machine.
For example:
Lets say you have created a Virtual Machine called:
osr507v_vmware_1.0.0Di
and you have added the guestinfo variable:
guestinfo.var1 = "VM1"
to the osr507v_vmware_1.0.0Di.vmx file on your VMware Host.
Running the command:
vmware-rpctool "info-get guestinfo.var1"
will return the value "VM1".
2) Setting guestinfo variables
vmware-rpctool can be used to set guestinfo variables
to specific values and to hold those values in
the memory of the Vmware Host. It cannot be used to
write variables to a .vmx file.
For example:
vmware-rpctool "info-set guestinfo.var2 hello"
will store the variable guestinfo.var2 ii the memory
of the VMware Host but will not write it to the .vmx file.
Also, if I run the command:
vmware-rpctool "info-set guestinfo.var1 VM2"
this will change guestinfo.var1 in the VMware Host's memory
but it will not write the value to the
osr507v_vmware_1.0.0Di.vmx file.
Please note that later versions of VMware Tools, including
additional features will be provided in future maintenance
releases.
| 
Print Article
E-mail Article
Back to Search Results
