Colleagues,
After a successful install of the ESXi 3.5.0 Update 3 I can open its main page in the browser but cannot download the VMware-viclient.exe from it. When I click the link "Download VMware Infrastructure Client", nothing happens. I have looked in the syslog and there is nothing relevant there. Other links like "Web-Based Datastore Browser" work fine. Why is that?
Thanks in advance for any input.
--
Victor Sudakov, VAS4-RIPE, VAS47-RIPN
You may have had a problem during the install. The file should located here on your install /store/packages/3.5.0/client/VMware-viclient.exe. You could enable SSH ( unsupported ) and then check that it's there and optionally download it.
You may have had a problem during the install.
It is very alarming. Do you mean to say I have a broken installation? There were no warnings during install. Should I expect other problems?
The file should located here on your install /store/packages/3.5.0/client/VMware-viclient.exe.You could enable SSH ( unsupported ) and then check that it's there and optionally download it.
It is all very strange:
~ # find / -name VMware-viclient.exe
/usr/lib/vmware/hostd/docroot/client/VMware-viclient.exe
/vmfs/volumes/3abb47ef-875ea67c-c948-7bf6ff8d3c38/packages/3.5.0/client/VMware-viclient.exe
~ # ls -al /usr/lib/vmware/hostd/docroot/client/VMware-viclient.exe
l----
0 root root 1984 Jan 1 1970 /usr/lib/vmware/hostd/docroot/client/VMware-viclient.exe -> /productLocker/client/VMware-viclient.exe
~ # ls -al /productLocker/client/VMware-viclient.exe
ls: /productLocker/client/VMware-viclient.exe: No such file or directory
~ #
So, "/usr/lib/vmware/hostd/docroot/client/VMware-viclient.exe" is a broken symlink and the directory "/productLocker" does not exist.
Update.
/productLocker does exist, but there is a mess of symbolic links eventually leading to an empty directory:
~ # ls -al /productLocker
l----
0 root root 1984 Jan 1 1970 /productLocker -> /locker/packages/3.5.0
~ # cd /productLocker
-ash: cd: can't cd to /productLocker
~ # ls -al /locker
l----
0 root root 1984 Jan 1 1970 /locker -> /vmfs/volumes/49ad143c-aa6aaa06-eb97-00215aeb8784
~ # cd /locker
/vmfs/volumes/49ad143c-aa6aaa06-eb97-00215aeb8784 # ls packages/
/vmfs/volumes/49ad143c-aa6aaa06-eb97-00215aeb8784 #
Is my installation screwed? Should I reinstall?
From my previous post it is clear that VMware-viclient.exe physically resides on /vmfs/volumes/3abb47ef-875ea67c-c948-7bf6ff8d3c38/
but the symlink for some reason points to /vmfs/volumes/49ad143c-aa6aaa06-eb97-00215aeb8784
I think I could just fix the symlink but I want to know the reason behing this error, and if this is the only error in my installation.
I'd reinstall. What sort of hardware are you using?
I'd reinstall.
OMG
What sort of hardware are you using?
HP ProLiant DL380 G5, 2x4 CPUs, 4 GB RAM
I think I have found the source of the problem.
I removed one of the HDDs used as additional storage, and the link to VMware-viclient.exe became functional again. What was wrong with that particular HDD? It contained an ESXi bootable (system) partition left over from the previous (trial) installation.
Conclusion. If a HDD contains an ESXi system partition, never mount it as additional storage on another ESXi installation. First destroy the data on it. I think wiping the HDD with zeroes is a good idea, it worked for me.
Why is a stray system partition so evil? I don't know. I think it is time for the VMWare team to comment.