Install VMWare including vmrun

Solution 1:

The vmrun utility is part of the open-vm-tools package. You can install it pretty painlessly:

  1. Connect to the server (if you're not already connected)
  2. Ensure apt is up to date:
    sudo apt update 
    
  3. Install the package:
    apt install open-vm-tools
    
    Note: If you need these tools on a Linux installation that has a GUI, you can use open-vm-tools-desktop.
  4. Restart/Boot the VMs

The services that need to run will be automatically started and continue to persist across reboots.