Installing VMtools on Windows 2008 Server Core

Not having a full GUI to use, it can sometimes be difficult to install software on Windows 2008 Server Core machines. You need to get used to scripted installations, software distribution methods and / or silent installs.

If you've gone as far as initiating the tools installation for a VM you could be forgiven for wondering what the heck you're going to do next. The install doesn’t autorun (Windows Explorer does this normally but Windows Explorer isn’t there). Even if you run setup64.exe manually it won’t help.

If you run setup64.exe /? though you get a little bit of help.

A typical (and silent) install of VMtools can therefore be performed by running:

[text]setup64.exe /s /v /qn[/text]

The VM will automatically reboot though, just so you know…

Note: Jonathan Medd has a very similar (and excellent) post about installing VMtools on Windows Server 8 Beta.