> ls: VMware Shared Folders: Input/output error
> I tried to google this error, and the only thing I can find is a reference to VMware Fusion and a bug in VMware Utilities. I actually installed VMware Utilities from the vSphere's Client into this OS X VM. So, it appears this actually could be the same issue, but my question is about the message itself. There's no concept of "Shared Folders" in ESXi because there's no host OS, correct? So, why is this error even displayed? Is this an example of VMware Utilities for OS X being ported from Fusion to ESXi?
There is no such thing as "VMware Tools for Fusion" or "VMware Tools for ESXi". You should think of the VMware Tools as a seperate product (i.e. seperate from Fusion or ESXi), that you just happen to always install inside a VM instead of outside on the physical box.
So what happens here is that on ESXi, because as you explained they make no sense, Shared Folders are disabled. So you get this error inside the VM when you try to browse Shared Folders. You would get exactly the same error in Fusion if you disabled Share Folders in the Fusion UI.
Now IIRC this particular issue has been fixed in a later version of the VMware Tools for Mac OS X. For example, when you enable/disable Shared Folders on the host, the new version of VMware Tools automatically make the icon appear/disappear on your desktop. To get a more recent version of VMware Tools for Mac OS X, I recommend you use the VMware Tools for Mac OS X that are shipped with VMware Workstation 9.x or VMware Fusion 5.0.2.