I just completed my install of Windows Server 2016 Core as a guest in my VMware Lab. Now that this has been completed the next step is for me to install the VMware tools so that I can take advantage of various features; specifically, template deployment with customization options
About:VMware:Tools: VMware software tools enhance the performance of the guest operating system and improve the management of the virtual machine guests operating systems.
How to install:
- Select your VM from vCenter and select ‘Guest OS > Install VMware Tools
This mounts the VMware CD Image containing the installation files - Inside the guest machine type ‘powershell’
This will drop you from the command shell to powershell prompt - Next type the command Get-PSDrive
This will return the drives attached to the system - Change to the drive that the VMware tools are currently mounted
In my case, this was drive letter “D” - Issue the command .\setup64.exe to start the install process
Note: issuing just setup.exe or setup64.exe will end in an error as Windows poweshell does not load commands such as this by default - Follow the steps of the VMware tools installer and restart when completed.
Ref: http://jermsmit.com/howto-install-vmware-tools-on-windows-server-2102-r2-server-core/