Upgrading VMTools on a Linux OS isn’t as convenient as the Auto-Upgrade for Windows. Each flavor of Linux has their own CLI commands for upgrading VMTools. I have listed a few Distros along with their corresponding CLI Commands.
One note to remember- Most Appliance based VMs have VMTools baked in, and are usually out of date. Upgrading VMTools (or Virtual Hardware for that matter) on these appliances may “break” the VM. I recommend checking with your appliance vendor to see if they have any updates for the appliance, or to verify that VMTools can infact be upgraded.

SUSE LINUX 11

1. Mount VMTools installer on VM (Right Click VM and choose Guest – Install VMware Tools)
2. Launch YaST | Software | Software Management
3. Change Filter to Patterns, and make sure c++ compiler is installed.
   • If the c++ compiler pattern is not available, add the SLES DVD/ISO as a repository
     http://www.novell.com/support/kb/doc.php?id=7014489
   • If the c++ pattern is not installed, select it in the list of available patterns and install c++ compiler
4. Right-click the VMWare guest in the VMWare client, and click Install VMWare tools
   • This may also be under a Guest tab after right-clicking on the guest VMWare
5. Close YaST
6. Type mount /dev/cdrom /media
7. Type cp /media/*.tar.gz /tmp
8. Type cd /tmp
9. Type tar -zxvf VM*.tar.gz
10. Type /tmp/vmware-tools-distrib/vmware-install.pl –default
11. Type init 6 to restart the server
12. Type /etc/init.d/vmware-tools status to make sure it is running
13. 1. Right Click VM – Guest – End VMware Tools Install

REDHAT/CentOS

1. Mount VMTools installer on VM (Right Click VM and choose Guest – Install VMware Tools)
2. $ yum -y install kernel-devel gcc dracut make perl eject
3. $ mount /dev/cdrom /media
4. $ tar -zxf /media/VMwareTools-*.tar.gz -C /tmp
5. $ /tmp/vmware-tools-distrib/vmware-install.pl –default
6. $ rm -rf /tmp/vmware-tools-distrib
7. Right Click VM – Guest – End VMware Tools Install

Ubuntu

1. Mount VMTools installer on VM (Right Click VM and choose Guest – Install VMware Tools)
2. sudo mkdir /mnt/cdrom
3. sudo mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom or sudo mount /dev/sr0 /mnt/cdrom
4. ls /mnt/cdrom
5. tar xzvf /mnt/cdrom/VMwareTools-x.x.x-xxxx.tar.gz -C /tmp/
6. cd /tmp/vmware-tools-distrib/
7. sudo ./vmware-install.pl -d
8. sudo reboot
9. Right Click VM – Guest – End VMware Tools Install