VMware Workstation 12 Pro - Error updating VMware Tools on Ubuntu 14.10

Question

Workstation 12 Pro - 12.1.0 build-3272444 Individual license Guest OS : Ubuntu 14.10 64-bit VMware Tools: 9.6.2.31837 (build-1688356)

VM works fine except... Updating VMware Tools, download stage issues a message and aborts:

Error: There was a problem updating a software component. Try again later and if the problem persists, contact VMware support or your system administrator.

I cannot find a useful resolution to this issue online. Perhaps this community can help work out a solution? I wonder if there's a VMware Tools install log file somewhere that could give me a clue as to the "problem" mentioned in the error message.

By the way, I also have an Ubuntu 15.10 64-bit VM which successfully runs VMware Tools 10.0.1.357 (build-3160059). I need to run the two versions of Ubuntu for software compatibility reasons.

Solution

Steps to recover from this error:

1. On your host computer, browse to CDS Repository - /var/www/public/stage/session-59/cds/vmw-desktop/ws/12.1.0/3272444/windows/packages

2. Download the file tools-linux.tar

3. Unzip the file (I used 7zip, but any unzip tool should work). This will extract the file VMware-tools-linux-10.0.5-3228253.iso

4. On VMware Workstation, mount the extracted file to the Ubuntu VM: a) Ensure the VM is running b) On the Workstation menu, select VM > Removable Devices > CD/DVD (SATA) > Settings... c) Click Browse, and find the file you extracted in step 3 above. Click OK. d) Select VM > Removable Devices > CD/DVD (SATA) > Connect

5. The iso file will mount and open as a folder on the Ubuntu machine. On that machine, right-click the file that ends in .tar.gz, and select "Extract to...". Select Desktop and click "Extract"

6. Open the Terminal app (Search > Terminal). Type this command: cd Desktop/vmware-tools-distrib

7. Uninstall any older version of Tools with this command: sudo bin/vmware-uninstall-tools.pl

8. Install the new tools: sudo ./vmware-install.pl -d

9. Restart Ubuntu

That should be it!

Comments

[mic84]

The question wanted to update the tools not installing them, maybe you could reword and add to answer

[GMaster]

Step 1. For the new VMware Workstation Pro 12.5 the link is softwareupdate.vmware.com/cds/vmw-desktop/ws/12.5.0/4352439/‌​…