VMware Tools uses a configuration file called tools.conf to configure different operations such as logging, upgrade, guest info, and so on.

Configuration File Location

Administrators can configure VMware Tools by editing this tools.conf file.

For example: Right click Start > All Programs > Accessories > Notepad and select Run as administrator.

Note:
  • If the configuration file does not exist, you can create it.
  • The Application Data folder is hidden.
  • The Program Data folder is hidden.
  • There is no need to restart the tools service when the file is edited. The tools service will check this file every 5 seconds (by default) for changes and apply them.
The table provides the location of configuration file for various Guest OSs:
Guest OS Path [1]
Windows XP, Windows Server 2000, and Windows Server 2003 C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\VMware\VMware Tools\tools.conf [2]
Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 [3] C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware Tools\tools.conf [4]
Linux, Solaris and FreeBSD /etc/vmware-tools/tools.conf
FreeBSD with open-vm-tools 10.1.x or later /usr/local/share/vmware-tools/tools.conf
Mac OS X /Library/Application Support/VMware Tools/tools.conf

Example Configuration File

VMware Tools installs an example configuration file in the same directory as the location for tools.conf. This file lists the available options with possible values but commented out (with a leading '#' character), together with a description. If you want to change the options, uncomment them and copy this file to tools.conf, or copy parts of it into the tools.conf file.