Ubuntu 24.04 LTS is receiving a major backport of open-vm-tools, jumping from version 12.3.5 to 3.0.10 (matching Ubuntu 26.04 LTS) to fix issues running on newer VMware hypervisors. The update, requested by Canonical's Lena Voytek, brings systemctl-based reboot handling in DeployPkg instead of legacy init commands, better handling of transient cloud-init errors, security fixes, new developer controls, and improved logging. Users can get it via standard apt update and dist-upgrade commands.
Questions this post answers
What version of open-vm-tools is being backported to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS?
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS is getting open-vm-tools version 3.0.10, up from the previous 12.3.5, matching the version shipped in Ubuntu 26.04 LTS. Canonical backported it after a bug report noted that without the newer version, users experience issues running on more recent VMware hypervisors. Install it via sudo apt update && sudo apt dist-upgrade. Track LTS backports like this one on daily.dev before they surprise you mid-upgrade.
What changed in the open-vm-tools 3.0.10 backport for Ubuntu 24.04?
The update switches DeployPkg to use systemctl reboot directly instead of legacy init commands, improves handling of transient cloud-init errors, adds security fixes, introduces a couple of new developer controls, and improves logging. It targets stability for headless and GUI virtualization workloads rather than adding flashy features. Sysadmins managing VM fleets follow package changelogs like this through daily.dev.