Ubuntu
open-vm-tools package

Version is Old

Asked by Frederick W. Roller

Why is the Ubuntu version of VMware Tools behind what is available elsewhere. For instance, as of today, on Ubuntu 22.04 the version is 11.3.5 but the version at https://github.com/vmware/open-vm-tools is 12.0.5. Version 12.0.6 at https://customerconnect.vmware.com/downloads/info/slug/datacenter_cloud_infrastructure/vmware_tools/12_x is even newer. I don't have the software development skills to contribute but would greatly appreciate the effort from those that do to keep VMware Tools more current. Thanks in advance.

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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#1

I suggest you report a bug. Ubuntu is not a rolling release distribution. Packages can be left in favour of ones with issues.

There are some PPAs here
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+ppas?name_filter=open-vm-tools

You should filter each one for your Ubuntu release. Not all PPAs support all releases of Ubuntu. Obviously these come with the usual caveats of a PPA.

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Manfred Hampl (m-hampl) said : 		#2

Manfred Hampl suggests this article as an answer to your question:
FAQ #3037: “no rolling release”.

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Manfred Hampl (m-hampl) said : 		#3

According to https://github.com/vmware/open-vm-tools/releases the publication of version 12.0.0 was in March 2022. This was too late for Ubuntu 22.04. In line with Ubuntu's release strategy, a higher version than the current one (11.3.5) will be introduced in Ubuntu 22.04 only if there is a strong need and certain criteria for an exception are met. See the information about SRU and backport in the FAQ document linked above.

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Manfred Hampl (m-hampl) said : 		#4

There is already a bug report with the request of a backport to the older Ubuntu releases, see Bug #1975767

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