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Sneeky_Geek
Contributor
Contributor
‎10-23-2008 05:52 PM

VI Toolkit for Windows - fault.RestrictedVersion.summary

Anytime we try to do anything but retrieve information (shutdown a guest, start a guest, etc) using the VI Toolkit for Windows we get the error "fault.restrictedversion.summary". According to the documentation this means that the system is unlicensed. But our system is definitely licensed. We paid $500 for ESXi right before it was free. Smiley Sad Shouldn;t we be able to manage our VM using the VI Toolkit? Are we really unlicensed or is ther a bug in our license key?

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6 Replies
admin
Immortal
Immortal
‎10-23-2008 06:13 PM

Yes, it is supposed to work. Unfortunately there is a lot of confusion here since the toolkit is restricted if you have the free version of ESXi. You should probably contact support to check out your key to make sure it's the right one.

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Sneeky_Geek
Contributor
Contributor
‎10-23-2008 06:32 PM

So you can't use the VI Toolkit to manage the free version of ESXi? We were planning on adding one more VM host. Is this forcing us to purchase Virtual Center? We are a small business and spending $3k on a management tool is out of the question.

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Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
Immortal
‎10-23-2008 06:52 PM

Have you tried using the RCLI for this?

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Craig_Baltzer
Expert
Expert
‎10-23-2008 11:15 PM

Looks like all of the remote tools (RCLI, VI Toolkit, etc.) are "read only" when running against the "free" ESXi. has some details.

I don't think you'd need to pony up $3K though; a "Foundation" license should get you going and its only $1500 retail including a year of support.

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Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
Immortal
‎10-24-2008 12:02 AM

I'd agree that the documentation says it shouldn't work, but it still seems to - http://communities.vmware.com/message/1060156#1060156.

Sneeky Geek, if you would like to see changes to the "read only" status of the vi-toolkit / RCLI for ESXi free, definitely put in a feature request (http://communities.vmware.com/community/vmtn/suggest/product) . The more people that mention it, the more likely it is to be changed.

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admin
Immortal
Immortal
‎10-24-2008 10:25 AM 

So you can't use the VI Toolkit to manage the free version of ESXi? We were planning on adding one more VM host. Is this forcing us to purchase Virtual Center? We are a small business and spending $3k on a management tool is out of the question.
The intent with free ESXi is that it could only be completely managed using VI Client. This is a server side restriction and not client side restriction. As Dave points out, this may not have been implemented properly (I still honestly don't know). Generally speaking I wouldn't rely on RCLI or VI Toolkit working against free ESXi until the policy is changed. Please do give your feedback on the matter.

					
				
			
			
				
			
			
			
			
			
			
			
		

		
		
	

	
	


	
				
		
			
		
			
		
			
					
			
		
				
		
			
					
		
	
				
		
			
					
		
	
				
		
			
					
		
	
				
		
			
					
		
	
				
		
			
					
		
	
				
		
	
	


		

	

		

			

	
		
			
					
				
		
			
		
			
					
		
		
	
				
		
			
					
				
		
			
					

	
			

				
		
			
		
			
				

					
						
	
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