Install VMWare Tools on Ubuntu Server

I don't often install Ubuntu server on a Virtual Machine (VM) so I've documented the process here. Usually you can just click "install VMWare tools" and VMWare will complete the process automatically.

Note: I have tested this on VMWare workstation 7.0 and Ubuntu 9.10 to 11.10 is also works on Lubuntu and Xubuntu. Once you have Ubuntu server installed run the following commands.

#Change to super user
sudo -i

#Update your sources
apt-get update

#Upgrade your installed packages and force kernel upgrade
apt-get dist-upgrade

###
#  Now reboot
###
reboot

#back to super user
sudo -i

#Update your kernel:
apt-get install linux-headers-server build-essential

###
#  Now you are ready to install VMWare tools.
###

#Mount the VMWare Tools CD ISO
mkdir /mnt/cdrom
mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom

#Copy VMware Tools
cp /mnt/cdrom/VmwareTools-x.x.x-xxxxx.tar.gz /tmp

#Go tmp
cd /tmp

#Extract
tar -zxf VmwareTools-x.x.x-xxxxx.tar.gz

#Change to extracted directory
cd vmware-tools-distrib

#Start the installer
./vmware-install.pl

The default settings have always worked for me (within a vm) so I hit enter a lot. Anyone know how to automatically choose all the default options for quicker install?

Using Shared folders

After a reboot you can use tools such as Shared folders. I like to sym link my shared folders to my home directory as I tend to forget the mount directory (hgfs) location.

#move to home dir
cd 

#sym link and name vmSharedFolder
ln -s /mnt/hgfs/ vmSharedFolder