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cstuettgen
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

June 2010 Microsoft Update KB980773 Breaks Vsphere Client

I installed the Microsoft June 2010 security updates this morning and after the required reboot I was unable to login to the vsphere client this morning.

I got two errors.

The first one was "Error Parsing the server "xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx" clients.xml file. - This is the same error the Windows 7 users were getting last year.

The second error message reads. "The type initializer for VirtualInfrastructure.utils.httpWebRequestProxy threw an exception.

After Uninstalling the KB 980773 update to Dotnet 3.5 SP1 and Dotnet 20. SP2 - I was able to start the Vsphere client.

The update affects both Windows XP 32 and 64 Bit, and all versions of Windows 2003 server.

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19 Replies
ski-vt
Contributor
Contributor

Just saw the same thing, uninstalling 980773 now...

edit: vShpere connects fine after uninstalling.

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eggibba
Contributor
Contributor

Exactly the same problem here. Removing KB980773 resolved my problem as well. THANKS!!

Text errors for search indexing:

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Could Not Connect

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Error parsing the server "xxxxxxx" "clients.xml" file.Login will continue, contact your system administrator.

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OK

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Error

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The type initializer for 'VirtualInfrastructure.Utils.HttpWebRequestProxy' threw an exception.

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OK

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eggibba
Contributor
Contributor

When installing updates, KB980773 is not the one listed. The update to not install (at least on XP) is:

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 Update for Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP x86 (KB982168)

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4k
Contributor
Contributor

look under .net framework 2.0 SP1

Can you find it?

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eggibba
Contributor
Contributor

Sorry for the confusion, 4k. I'm all set here - removed the update, and

it works fine for now.

I was just trying to clarify that when the updates come back around, the

update that shows in the "Updates to install" list is not KB980773. I

thought it was a different update and re-installed it... Woops!! Trying

to save someone else the hassle. That's all....

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lhcrnetadmin
Contributor
Contributor

I had this happen to me as well. It was not the same update but I did have several updates that were installed. After installing client version 4.0 build 208111 the problem was fixed.

Let me say that I was running an earliar version of the client that came with ESX 4.0. The new version that comes with ESX 4.0 U1 fix my issues.

update: more info Here

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kmduitch
Contributor
Contributor

How do I uninstall KB980773?

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eggibba
Contributor
Contributor

You can find it in Add/Remove Programs, probably under .NET Framework

2.0

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lhcrnetadmin
Contributor
Contributor

Login and dowload vsphere client 4.0 u1 to fix

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kmduitch
Contributor
Contributor

This is the page that has the link for the updated VSphere client.

https://www.vmware.com/tryvmware/p/activate.php?p=free-esxi&lp=1

But I get an error message when I try to download it. The link address is

https://www.vmware.com/tryvmware/p/activate.php?p=free-esxi&lp=1&a=DOWNLOAD_FILE&baseurl=http://down...

Looks like a bad link.

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lhcrnetadmin
Contributor
Contributor

Login and download vsphere client 4.0 Update 1. I tried to post a link to it but i guess that wont work.

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golddiggie
Champion
Champion

Which, specific, update do I need to watch for on Windows 7? For now, I'm just not applying the .NET updates that are listed for Windows 7, or any other Windows systems that need to connect up to our vCenter Server (or directly to hosts).

I am interested to see if VMware comes out with a patch/update to resolve this that can be applied through Update Manager.

Network Administrator

VMware VCP4

Consider awarding points for "helpful" and/or "correct" answers.

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lhcrnetadmin
Contributor
Contributor

Golddiggie,

Prior to these updates for Windows XP the vsphere client wouldn't work on a Windows 7 OS. I believe its because of the new security in the code that was applied to the .net framework package included in Windows 7. If you read about this particular parsing error all of the results will be based on Windows 7. All of the results I could find about this error are dated back to 2009. Since then it has been said that the vsphere client 4.0 update 1 now resolves the issues of running the vsphere client on Windows 7.

The updates that were released this past tuesday were security updates for the .NET Framework. I'm not clear on exactly who it affects but in my situataion it broke my client. I was running the default client that came with ESX 4.0, it was on a WinXP machine with SP3 installed. It appears that there were several patches pushed out for all flavors of the Windows OS.

I know alot of people are stressing about this problem, please do not tinker with your servers or do unnecessary updates on your vcenter server. This is purely a client side issue.

If you are certian you are running the latest version of vsphere client 4.0 Update 1 then Microsoft is to blame.

below is the info on the update that has broken you:

Full Article Here

This security update resolves a publicly disclosed vulnerability in Microsoft .NET Framework. The vulnerability could allow data tampering of signed XML content without being detected. In custom applications, the security impact depends on how the signed content is used in the specific application. Scenarios in which signed XML messages are transmitted over a secure channel (such as SSL) are not affected by this vulnerability.

This security update is rated Important for all affected releases of Microsoft .NET Framework for Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 R2. For more information, see the subsection, Affected and Non-Affected Software, in this section.

The security update addresses the vulnerability by changing the way in which the XMLDsig recommendation has been implemented in the Microsoft .NET Framework. For more information about the vulnerability, see the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) subsection for the specific vulnerability entry under the next section, Vulnerability Information.

Recommendation. The majority of customers have automatic updating enabled and will not need to take any action because this security update will be downloaded and installed automatically. Customers who have not enabled automatic updating need to check for updates and install this update manually. For information about specific configuration options in automatic updating, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 294871.

For administrators and enterprise installations, or end users who want to install this security update manually, Microsoft recommends that customers apply the update at the earliest opportunity using update management software, or by checking for updates using the Microsoft Update service.

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mortetnma
Contributor
Contributor

installing VMware-viclient-all-4.0.0-208111.exe worked for me on my windows xp pro - thanks

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cstuettgen
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Installing VMware-viclient-all-4.0.0-208111.exe fixed the issue on Windows XP 64Bit as well.

Thanks to everyone

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

Important Knowledgebase article regarding vSphere Client and latest .Net patch from Microsoft

vSphere Client does not open on any Windows operating systems with the error: parsing the server "&l...

Rick Blythe

Social Media Specialist

VMware Inc.

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petedr
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

Thanks for posting the KB article. I just ran across this issue today on an XP machine.

www.phdvirtual.com, makers of esXpress

www.thevirtualheadline.com www.liquidwarelabs.com
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sbhic
Contributor
Contributor

Our issue was slightly different with KB980773, we have a mail server on VSphere 4.0 and utilized sendmail (smtpclient.mail(mailmessage)) in our programming through .NET. After applying this KB, the smtpclient.mail portion no longer worked, however, when we remove the kb patch, the smtpclient.mail worked.

As a recommendation, I would remove the KB 980773 if you are experiencing any programmatic mail client issues also after application of the patch.

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ealaqqad
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Hi rickblythe,

Thanks for posting the KB. I have just updated my post by adding the KB to it http://www.virtualizationteam.com/virtualization-vmware/vsphere-virtualization-vmware/vsphere-client...

I was wondering how did that windows update miss up the client. Is it changing some security settings in the dotnet that was not expected in the client?

I hope this help some one, if it does please reward points.

Enjoy,

Eiad Al-Aqqad

System X & Storage Technical Specialist

Founder of http://www.VirtualizationTeam.com

Regards, Eiad Al-Aqqad Technology Consultant @ VMware b: http://www.VirtualizationTeam.com b: http://www.TSMGuru.com
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