In order to install VMware Tools on an Ubuntu server with a GUI, follow the below steps:
1) Mount the VMware Tools ISO on the server, select VM > Guest > Install/Upgrade VMware Tools.
2) Extract VMwareTools-x-x-x-x.tar.gz to the desktop (where x.x.x.x is the VMware Tools version).
3) Open Terminal and browse to the extracted folder in Step 2 and invoke the following command with elevated privelages:
sudo /.vmare-install.pl -d
4) Once installation is complete restart the server.