How To Install VMWare Tools On Kali Linux (VMWare Workstation 12)
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Essential Upgrade: How to Install VMware Tools on Kali Linux for Maximum Performance
Hello tech enthusiasts and welcome back to Darren’s Tech Tutorials!
If you’ve set up a Kali Linux virtual machine (VM) in VMware, you know how powerful it is. But if you’ve been fighting with the small screen, manually releasing your cursor, or struggling to copy a penetration test command from your host machine into the VM, you’re missing out on a crucial component: VMware Tools.
VMware Tools is an indispensable suite of utilities that transforms your VM experience from clunky and frustrating to smooth and seamless. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk through the simple, modern process of installing these tools on your Kali Linux environment, ensuring you achieve maximum usability and performance. Let’s dive in!
Why VMware Tools Are Non-Negotiable for Kali Linux
You might be asking, “Why bother installing another utility?” The benefits are immediate and dramatically improve your workflow, especially when using a demanding operating system like Kali Linux.
Seamless Cursor Control
Tired of having to press the Host key (usually Ctrl + Alt) every time you want to move your mouse out of the virtual machine window? VMware Tools solves this instantly. Once installed, your mouse will move fluidly between your host system and Kali Linux, making your VM feel like just another window on your desktop.
Bidirectional Copy and Paste
This is arguably the biggest productivity booster. Imagine finding a crucial exploit script or a long command online and being able to copy it instantly into your Kali terminal—and vice versa. VMware Tools enables reliable, bidirectional copy and paste between your host machine (Windows, macOS, or Linux) and your Kali VM.
True Full-Screen Experience
Say goodbye to tiny windows! VMware Tools allows your Kali Linux display resolution to automatically adjust to your screen size, providing a proper, crisp, full-screen experience without distortion or manual configuration.
The Step-by-Step Installation Guide
For modern Kali Linux distributions, we don’t need to mess with mounting ISO files or compiling source code. We can use the simple, highly reliable open-vm-tools-desktop package, which is recommended for Debian-based systems like Kali.
IMPORTANT: You must run all these commands as the root user or prefix them with sudo. Since many Kali users run initial configuration as root, we will provide the commands directly.
Step 1: Prepare and Update Your System
Before installing new packages, it’s crucial to ensure your Kali Linux system is completely up-to-date. This prevents dependency conflicts and ensures you pull the latest package versions.
Open your terminal and execute the following two commands:
apt-get update
This command refreshes the list of available packages.
apt-get upgrade
This command installs all available upgrades for your existing software. This process may take several minutes depending on how long it has been since your last update.
Step 2: Reboot to Apply Kernel Changes
If your system installed kernel or critical system updates in Step 1, you must reboot your virtual machine to ensure these changes are active before proceeding with the tools installation.
Use the following command to gracefully reboot your system:
init 6
Wait for Kali Linux to completely restart and log back in.
Step 3: Install the Open-VM-Tools Desktop Package
Now we install the specific package that contains all the desktop environment utilities we need for seamless integration (full screen, copy/paste, etc.). We include fuse as it is often needed for file sharing functionality.
Execute the installation command:
apt-get install open-vm-tools-desktop fuse -y
The -y flag tells the package manager to automatically agree to the installation and all required dependencies, speeding up the process.
Step 4: Final Reboot and Verification
Once the installation completes, the new services need to be initialized correctly within your desktop environment. The best way to ensure everything starts smoothly is one final reboot.
init 6
When Kali Linux boots back up, you should instantly notice the difference!
- Test the Full Screen: Maximize the VM window, and the Kali display should instantly snap to the correct resolution.
- Test Copy/Paste: Try copying text from this blog post on your host computer and pasting it into the Kali terminal.
If the copy/paste and resolution scaling work perfectly, congratulations—you have successfully installed VMware Tools!
Conclusion: Transform Your Hacking Lab Today!
That’s all there is to it! By spending just a few minutes installing open-vm-tools-desktop, you have fundamentally transformed your Kali Linux experience. Your virtual hacking lab is now faster, smoother, and much more intuitive to use.
Stop fighting your VM and start focusing on your work! We highly encourage you to apply these steps immediately to unlock the full potential of your virtualization environment.
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Happy virtualizing!