As I expected installing but not configuring/triggering sdmp does nothing than loading the .so.

ubuntu@node-1:~$ sudo lsof +fg | grep vmsvc
vmtoolsd  14567                             root  mem       REG                                      8,1    44048    1444886 /usr/lib/open-vm-tools/plugins/vmsvc/libvmbackup.so
vmtoolsd  14567                             root  mem       REG                                      8,1    23112    1444885 /usr/lib/open-vm-tools/plugins/vmsvc/libtimeSync.so
vmtoolsd  14567                             root  mem       REG                                      8,1    23152    1441835 /usr/lib/open-vm-tools/plugins/vmsvc/libserviceDiscovery.so
vmtoolsd  14567                             root  mem       REG                                      8,1    57800    1444882 /usr/lib/open-vm-tools/plugins/vmsvc/libguestInfo.so
vmtoolsd  14567                             root  mem       REG                                      8,1    15024    1444883 /usr/lib/open-vm-tools/plugins/vmsvc/libpowerOps.so
vmtoolsd  14567                             root  mem       REG                                      8,1    23272    1444881 /usr/lib/open-vm-tools/plugins/vmsvc/libdeployPkgPlugin.so
vmtoolsd  14567                             root  mem       REG                                      8,1    19272    1444880 /usr/lib/open-vm-tools/plugins/vmsvc/libappInfo.so
vmtoolsd  14567                             root    3w      REG                  W,LG                8,1     2913     524311 /var/log/vmware-vmsvc-root.log
vmtoolsd  14567 14581 HangDetec             root  mem       REG                                      8,1    44048    1444886 /usr/lib/open-vm-tools/plugins/vmsvc/libvmbackup.so
vmtoolsd  14567 14581 HangDetec             root  mem       REG                                      8,1    23112    1444885 /usr/lib/open-vm-tools/plugins/vmsvc/libtimeSync.so
vmtoolsd  14567 14581 HangDetec             root  mem       REG                                      8,1    23152    1441835 /usr/lib/open-vm-tools/plugins/vmsvc/libserviceDiscovery.so
vmtoolsd  14567 14581 HangDetec             root  mem       REG                                      8,1    57800    1444882 /usr/lib/open-vm-tools/plugins/vmsvc/libguestInfo.so
vmtoolsd  14567 14581 HangDetec             root  mem       REG                                      8,1    15024    1444883 /usr/lib/open-vm-tools/plugins/vmsvc/libpowerOps.so
vmtoolsd  14567 14581 HangDetec             root  mem       REG                                      8,1    23272    1444881 /usr/lib/open-vm-tools/plugins/vmsvc/libdeployPkgPlugin.so
vmtoolsd  14567 14581 HangDetec             root  mem       REG                                      8,1    19272    1444880 /usr/lib/open-vm-tools/plugins/vmsvc/libappInfo.so
vmtoolsd  14567 14581 HangDetec             root    3w      REG                  W,LG                8,1     2913     524311 /var/log/vmware-vmsvc-root.log
ubuntu@node-1:~$ systemctl status open-vm-tools
● open-vm-tools.service - Service for virtual machines hosted on VMware
     Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/open-vm-tools.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running) since Mon 2020-06-22 09:02:37 UTC; 10min ago
       Docs: http://open-vm-tools.sourceforge.net/about.php
   Main PID: 14567 (vmtoolsd)
      Tasks: 2 (limit: 4915)
     Memory: 1.6M
     CGroup: /system.slice/open-vm-tools.service
             └─14567 /usr/bin/vmtoolsd

Jun 22 09:02:37 node-1 systemd[1]: Started Service for virtual machines hosted on VMware.


That makes it even more safe to not regress users that don't use it.