For above issue, maybe it caused by the failure to exec command "/usr/bin/lsb_release". So I do the following testing in ubuntu-19.04-live-server:
1) apt-get update
2) rm -rf /usr/bin/lsb_release
3) install open-vm-tools with command "apt-get install open-vm-tools"
4) check services: vmtoolsd service VGAuth service are both running
5) reboot VM and check services again: vmtoolsd service VGAuth service are both running
6) uninstall open-vm-tools with command "apt-get purge open-vm-tools"
For step 4) and 5), the services are running but not crash
> https:/ /github. com/vmware/ open-vm- tools/issues/ 390
For above issue, maybe it caused by the failure to exec command "/usr/bin/ lsb_release" . So I do the following testing in ubuntu- 19.04-live- server:
1) apt-get update lsb_release
2) rm -rf /usr/bin/
3) install open-vm-tools with command "apt-get install open-vm-tools"
4) check services: vmtoolsd service VGAuth service are both running
5) reboot VM and check services again: vmtoolsd service VGAuth service are both running
6) uninstall open-vm-tools with command "apt-get purge open-vm-tools"
For step 4) and 5), the services are running but not crash