If you are installing a beta or RC version of VMware Tools in a Windows Vista or later guest operating system, you can add a VMware certificate to suppress prompts that interfere with automatic installation of VMware Tools.

The version of VMware Tools included in a beta or release candidate version of a VMware product usually has some drivers that are signed only by VMware. If you are installing one of these versions in many virtual machines that run Windows Vista or later guest operating systems, or if you plan to install VMware Tools from the command line, add a VMware security certificate to the trusted publishers group. If you do not add the VMware certificate, during a VMware Tools installation, a message box appears several times and prompts you to install device software from VMware.

Prerequisites

  • Power on the virtual machine.
  • Log in to the guest operating system as an administrator.
  • Obtain a copy of the certmgr.exe application and copy it to the guest operating system on which you plan to install VMware Tools. The certmgr.exe application is included in the Windows SDK
Note: This is applicable only for Beta or RC version of VMware Tools.

Procedure

  1. Use the certificate export wizard to create a VMware certificate file.
    1. Locate a signed VMware file, such as a VMware .exe or .sys file.
    2. Right-click the file and select Properties.
    3. Click the Digital Signatures tab and select View Certificate.
    4. Click the Details tab and click Copy to File.
    5. Follow the prompts and name the exported certificate vmware.cer.
  2. Copy the exported VMware certificate to the guest operating system on which you plan to install VMware Tools.
  3. In the guest operating system, run the certmgr.exe command to add the VMware certificate to the trusted publishers group. 
    certmgr.exe -add vmware.cer -c -s -r localMachine TrustedPublisher

Results

When you run the VMware Tools installer, no prompts appear in the guest operating system.

What to do next

Install VMware Tools.