Ubuntu – Cannot Install VMware Tools in 15.10 VM, due to Easy Install being in progress

14.04vmwarevmware-tools

Good evening.

I want to upgrade the VMware Tools on a Virtual Machine to be able to see full-screen Ubuntu 15.10. When I attempt to install the tools manually, however, I get the following error:

VMware Tools installation can not be started manually while Easy Install is in progress .

Does anyone know how to fix this?

Best Answer

The error is self explanatory. You're in the middle of Easy Install, which would install and/or update the VMware Tools anyways as part of the Easy Installation process (which is an automated process to make deployment of VMs simpler); as such, it won't permit you to run the installation manually.

  1. Install the OS first, and let VMware do its thing, including VMware Tools installtion.
  2. After installation completes, shut off the VM.
  3. Remove all CD and Floppy images from the VM's settings.
  4. Reboot the VM, then install the tools if they're not yet installed. You have a few ways to get the tools though:
    • VMware tools installer, from the VMware system itself, OR
    • sudo apt-get install open-vm-tools - open source version of the tools that does pretty well.

I caution you, though, this doesn't mean you'll be able to get 'full screen' functionality automatically - for the most part, I've only seen that as a Windows function, not a global-across-everything function.

Related Question