The VMware Tools services start when the guest operating system starts. The service passes information between host and guest operating systems.

  • VMware Alias Manager and Ticket Service or VGAuthService: VGAuthService in taskmgr provides support for SAML based authentication for vSphere Guest Operations, see guest.SAMLTokenAuthentication and vim.vm.guest.GuestOperationsManager.
  • VMware Snapshot Provider Service: VMware Snapshot Provider Service provides support for freezing or thawing file systems for VSS (Volume Shadow Copy Service).
    Note: This is applicable for Windows guest operating systems only.

  • VMware Tools Daemon Service: This application runs in the background. It is called vmtoolsd.exe on Windows guest operating systems, vmware-tools-daemon on Mac OS X guest operating systems, and vmtoolsd on Linux, FreeBSD, and Solaris guest operating systems. The VMware Tools service performs the following tasks using the plug-ins:

    • autohidpi - Set guest screen resolution for Mac OS X guest operating systems.
    • autoLogon - Bypasses the guest operating system login when powering on a VM.
    • autoUpgrade - Handles VMware Tools upgrade operations.
    • bitMapper - Creates a bit map of disk blocks used by the guest operating system, used in vMotion.
    • deployPkg - Handles guest customization operations.
    • desktopEvents - Starting or stopping VMware Tools user service based on screen/X11 changes.
      Note: This is a VMware Tools user service plugin.
    • disableGuestHibernate - Disables option for hibernation in guest operating system.
    • diskWiper - Releases unused guest disk blocks so they can be reclaimed by the hypervisor.
    • dndcp - Drag and drop, copy and paste operations. Enables copying and pasting of text, graphics, and files between guest operating systems and hosts or client desktops. This is a VMware Tools user service plugin.
    • appInfo - Collects the information about running applications inside the guest and publishes the information to a guest variable.
    • guestInfo - Collects and reports guest information and statistics to hypervisor.
    • hgfsServer - HGFS server for transferring files, drag and drop and VMware Tools upgrade operations.
    • hgfsUsability - Handles mapping HGFS folders to special user folders, adds HGFS links to the desktop.
    • hwUpgradeHelper - Handles changes due to virtual hardware upgrade.
    • powerOps - Handles graceful shutdown and reboot of the guest, and execution of scripts for a power operation.
    • resolutionKMS - Handles communicating guest user interface topology to the vmwgfx drm (direct rendering manager) driver.
      Note: This plugin is for Linux only.
    • resolutionSet - Handles guest screen re-sizing when vmwgfx drm (direct rendering manager) driver is not available.

    • timeSync - Synchronizes guest clock with host clock at power on or resume.

    • vmbackup - Handles freezing and thawing file systems during a quiesced snapshot operation.
    • vmtray - Provides VMware Tools tray icon and pop-up menu.
      Note: This is a VMware Tools user service plugin.
    • vsep - Manages NSX file and network introspection.
    • vix - Handles guest operations related to files, processes and registry.