1. Allow SSH access to the VMware host you are about to access.
   • This can be done in the vSphere Client: Choose the VMware host you would like to access.
   • Go to the Configuration tab and select Security Profile under Software. Edit Services Properties and start the SSH daemon.
   • Verify that the firewall allows SSH traffic
2. All the VMware Tools are located in the /vmimages/tools-isoimages/ folder on the host. Download the ISO-image with the tools you need
   • Issue this command from a machine that has access to the VMware host.

      sftp username@vmhost.tld:/vmimages/tools-isoimages/linux.iso

     Type in your password and the download will start

3. Mount the ISO-file and copy the VMware Tools installer file to the desired VMware linux guest using SSH

   • # mount linux.iso /media/cdrom/ -t iso9660 -o loop
     # scp /media/cdrom/VMwareTools-8.6.5-652272.tar.gz username@vmguest.tld:

4. Manual install of VMware Tools on a vmguest as a privileged user

   • # tar xfz VMwareTools-8.6.5-652272.tar.gz
     # cd vmware-tools-distrib
     # ./vmware-install.pl

     Follow the instructions and finish the installer. A reboot may be required to load the necessary kernel modules.

Your VMware Tools are now installed and should work as it would on a normal VMware Tools installation.

This procedure can also be used on other operating systems. This is a list of all the VMware Tools ISO-images available in the /vmimages/tools-isoimages/ folder on a ESXi 5.0 host

sftp> ls -l
-rwx------    1 root     root     12576768 Apr 13 09:17 darwin.iso
-rwx------    1 root     root          256 Apr 13 09:17 darwin.iso.sig
-rwx------    1 root     root     16021504 Apr 13 09:16 freebsd.iso
-rwx------    1 root     root          256 Apr 13 09:18 freebsd.iso.sig
-rwx------    1 root     root     65200128 Apr 13 09:15 linux.iso
-rwx------    1 root     root          256 Apr 13 09:17 linux.iso.sig
-rwx------    1 root     root         1738 Apr 13 09:17 linux_avr_manifest.txt
-rwx------    1 root     root       540672 Apr 13 09:17 netware.iso
-rwx------    1 root     root          256 Apr 13 09:16 netware.iso.sig
-rwx------    1 root     root     13006848 Apr 13 09:17 solaris.iso
-rwx------    1 root     root          256 Apr 13 09:16 solaris.iso.sig
-rwx------    1 root     root          451 Apr 13 09:17 tools-key.pub
-rwx------    1 root     root     13664256 Apr 13 09:18 winPre2k.iso
-rwx------    1 root     root          256 Apr 13 09:17 winPre2k.iso.sig
-rwx------    1 root     root           49 Apr 13 09:18 winPre2k_avr_manifest.txt
-rwx------    1 root     root     62128128 Apr 13 09:17 windows.iso
-rwx------    1 root     root          256 Apr 13 09:18 windows.iso.sig
-rwx------    1 root     root         1069 Apr 13 09:17 windows_avr_manifest.txt

Basic usage

• lftp sftp://[domain name]
• lftp sftp://example.com

Use a different user name than the one you are currently using

• lftp sftp://[user name]@[domain name]
• lftp sftp://username@example.com

Use a different port and different user name

• lftp sftp://[user name]@[domain name]:[port number]
• lftp sftp://userName@example.com:2222

Recursive download/upload

lftp> mirror directory_to_download
lftp> mirror -R directory_to_upload

For more lftp options type the following command in a console window

# man lftp

#!/bin/bash

# Zimbra Backup Script
# Requires sftp to run
# This script is intended to run from the crontab as root
# Free to use and free of any warranty!  Daniel W. Martin, 9 Sept 2007

# Live sync before stopping Zimbra to minimize sync time with the services down
# Comment out the following line if you want to try single cold-sync only
rsync -avHK --delete /opt/zimbra/ /backup/zimbra

# which is the same as: /opt/zimbra /backup
# Including --delete option gets rid of files in the dest folder that don't exist at the src
# this prevents logfile/extraneous bloat from building up overtime.

# Stop Zimbra Services
sudo -u zimbra /opt/zimbra/bin/zmcontrol stop
sleep 40

# Sync to backup directory
rsync -avHK --delete /opt/zimbra/ /backup/zimbra

# Restart Zimbra Services
sudo -u zimbra /opt/zimbra/bin/zmcontrol start

# Create a txt file in the backup directory that'll contain the current Zimbra
# server version. Handy for knowing what version of Zimbra a backup can be restored to.
sudo -u zimbra zmcontrol -v > /backup/zimbra/conf/zimbra_version.txt
# or examine your /opt/zimbra/.install_history

# Create archive of backed-up directory for offsite transfer
# cd /backup/zimbra
ZimbraVersion=zimbraBackup-zcs-5.0.1_GA_1902.DEBIAN4.0.20080109200914

tar -zcf /backup/$ZimbraVersion-$(date +"%Y-%m-%d").tgz -C /backup/zimbra .

# Transfer file to backup server using passwordless sftp
scp zimbraBackup-zcs-5.0.1_GA_1902.DEBIAN4.0.20080109200914-$(date +"%Y-%m-%d").tgz username@example.com:/path/to/backupfolder/

I’ve described passwordless ssh/sftp session in a earlier post so I won’t describe the last line of the backup script.

Create a file named myCommands.sftp that contains the commands you want to run. My file looks like this

# Change to your desired directory locally
lcd /data/Hattori
# Change to the desired directory on the remote server
cd /backup
# Transfer all remote files locally
get *
# We're done with this session
bye

Next you run the sftp session

sftp -b myCommands.sftp example.com

That should be all that is necessary to download your files from the remote server.

This example could easily have been extended with a crontab entry.

Edit your /etc/sshd_config file and change your settings like this

Match User username
AllowTcpForwarding no
X11Forwarding no
ForceCommand /usr/libexec/sftp-server -l INFO

Replace username with the user name you would limit the SSH access for.