Open-vm-tools is a free and open source implementation of VMware Tools. It provides a comprehensive set of features and functionalities for managing virtual machines and optimizing their performance.
Open Virtual Machine Tools, also known as open-vm-tools, is the free and open source version of VMware Tools. These virtualization components work within guest operating systems to improve performance and user experience in virtual machines. As virtualization continues to gain popularity, each provider has their own set of tools and utilities for their specific platform. However, most of these tools are proprietary and only work within that platform. The Open Virtual Machine Tools project aims to change this by providing an open source solution to these problems.
The tools themselves are a combination of kernel modules for Linux and user-space programs for any Unix-like guest operating system that VMware supports. They offer several useful functions including file transfer between host and guest, improved memory management, and better network performance under virtualization. They also provide protocols for communication between guests and from guest to host. With this open source project, there are many opportunities to explore and use these tools.
The source code for Open Virtual Machine Tools is readily available to anyone interested. Users of VMware products and other virtualization platforms can get these tools through their distribution-specific package managers. This creates a seamless installation and upgrade experience that should ease the burden on sysadmins. Additionally, the source code can be used as a reference for creating virtualization-enabled applications. If users want to port the tools to other operating systems or hypervisors, the developers welcome their ideas and input to help develop these tools even further.
The current release of Open Virtual Machine Tools has been tested on a variety of guest operating systems, including Fedora, Suse, Redhat, FreeBSD, OpenSolaris, and Ubuntu. Finally, this release includes several bug fixes to improve the functionality of the tools. Overall, Open Virtual Machine Tools is a fantastic open source solution for anyone using virtual machines today.
The tools themselves are a combination of kernel modules for Linux and user-space programs for any Unix-like guest operating system that VMware supports. They offer several useful functions including file transfer between host and guest, improved memory management, and better network performance under virtualization. They also provide protocols for communication between guests and from guest to host. With this open source project, there are many opportunities to explore and use these tools.
The source code for Open Virtual Machine Tools is readily available to anyone interested. Users of VMware products and other virtualization platforms can get these tools through their distribution-specific package managers. This creates a seamless installation and upgrade experience that should ease the burden on sysadmins. Additionally, the source code can be used as a reference for creating virtualization-enabled applications. If users want to port the tools to other operating systems or hypervisors, the developers welcome their ideas and input to help develop these tools even further.
The current release of Open Virtual Machine Tools has been tested on a variety of guest operating systems, including Fedora, Suse, Redhat, FreeBSD, OpenSolaris, and Ubuntu. Finally, this release includes several bug fixes to improve the functionality of the tools. Overall, Open Virtual Machine Tools is a fantastic open source solution for anyone using virtual machines today.
What's New
Version 2008.02.13: N/A