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VM Sockets allows communication between virtual machines and the hypervisor.
User level applications both in a virtual machine and on the host can use the
VM Sockets API, which facilitates fast and efficient communication between
guest virtual machines and their host.  A socket address family, designed to be
compatible with UDP and TCP at the interface level, is provided.

Today, VM Sockets is used by various VMware Tools components inside the guest
for zero-config, network-less access to VMware host services.  In addition to
this, VMware's users are using VM Sockets for various applications, where
network access of the virtual machine is restricted or non-existent.  Examples
of this are VMs communicating with device proxies for proprietary hardware
running as host applications and automated testing of applications running
within virtual machines.

The VMware VM Sockets are similar to other socket types, like Berkeley UNIX
socket interface.  The VM Sockets module supports both ...