How to install VMware Tools in a Linux virtual machine using RPM

To install VMware Tools in a Linux guest operating system using RPM:

1. Ensure that your Linux virtual machine is powered on.
2. If you are running a GUI interface, open a command shell.
3. Click VM in the virtual machine menu, then click Guest -> Install/Upgrade VMware Tools and click OK.
4. To create a mount point, run: mkdir /mnt/cdrom
5. To mount the CDROM, run: mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
6. To install VMware Tools using RPM, run: rpm -ivh /mnt/cdrom/VMwareTools-.rpm where is the version of VMware Tools you want to install. Notes: You can only perform the install as a root user or by using the sudo command.
7. To configure VMware Tools for your running kernel, run: /usr/bin/vmware-config-tools.pl
8. To unmount the CDROM, run: umount /mnt/cdrom
9. To end the VMware Tools install, click VM in the virtual machine menu, then click Guest - End VMware Tools Install.
   
   Here's a good video that demonstrates the installation process:

This information came from VMware KB article 1018392.