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MUCHAJ
Contributor
Contributor

UMDS is redownloading all host updates

Hi there, I am hoping someone might have experienced or knows why UMDS might be downloading all host updates every time I run "vmware-umds.exe -D" Its a pain because it takes ages to download them and it keeps blowing my internet download limit! The PC is a Dell workstation with Windows XP SP3. It is directly connected to the internet (no proxy etc) and I have installed the latest release of UMDS from the vCentre 2.5 update 4 download. I am using the local install of SQL Express 2005. If anyone can offer some suggestions of what to look for it would be very much appreciated. Thanks
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fejf
Expert
Expert

vmware-umds -R --start-date 2009-05-01T00:00:00 --end-date 2009-05-08T23:59:59

This is what you want - but you shouldn't be too happy... I opened a Bug-Report some days ago because even if the man-page says that -R can use dates it doesn't work (at least for me Smiley Wink Haven't heart back from VMware yet...

--

There are 10 types of people. Those who understand binary and the rest. And those who understand gray-code.

-- There are 10 types of people. Those who understand binary and the rest. And those who understand gray-code.
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pcomo
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Hi,

I already make a FT to VMware concerning this problem with UMDS without response.

I also ask for have a GUI for UMDS to select what i want to download, why? because when you launched UMDS all patch for all ESX version are downloaded instead of you used only esxi for example.

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MUCHAJ
Contributor
Contributor

I have used this command with the export and it exports based on the date of the file. Not the date of the update Smiley Sad Its a bit annoying to say the least. Maybe this is the reason it doesn't work for you.

Thanks for your reply and keep us in the loop if you can.

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MUCHAJ
Contributor
Contributor

Well lets hope you get a response. I hate it that the host updates are for 3.03 upto esxi. Seems like a waste and the host udpate command could be expanded to include just what you want. It wouldn't need a GUI just for that but say some command line options to limit the download.

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pcomo
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Hi,

Yes, but a GUI will be more friendly and i think that isnot a big worksto do that.

Thanks.

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MUCHAJ
Contributor
Contributor

Well I finally decided to wait on the phone for product support.

The guy I got was not very helpful, first off he kept wanting me to go the the VC box and I explained at least three times I am not using the update manager of the VC but the UMDS program!

Once he understood that there was a standalone download tool he then told me that this product by design downloads all the updates each and every time! Not happy.....

He sent me links to the product documentation which I re-read and I sent them back to him telling him to read them because it clearly is not designed to download everything each and every time you initiate a upate download as you are encouraged to use windows task scheduler to automate the task!

The documentation basically says the first time you download it will take a long time (which is about 4-6hrs) and then it says to use the task scheduler for future updates. If you want to re-download any files then you can issue the --re-download command as in "vmware-umds.exe --re-download" and specify the date of the files you want. Whereas "vmware-umds.exe -D" should only get new updates from the last time you download.

My email was read yesterday a few minutes after I sent it but still no response.

I will try to call again and hopefully get someone else.

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pcomo
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Hi,

For a small workaround, I covered the tables in the SQL database of Update Manager to delete all that did not correspond to my version.

And after that i re-launched the download, so i take less time because i download only the patches for my ESX version.

Sure, his is not supported by VMware but take less time and less disk space.

if you found this or any other answer useful please consider allocating points for helpful or correct answers

fejf
Expert
Expert

VMware Support came back to me and told me that this is a bug and it should be fixed in the next version. At the moment I'm not sure if this means a 3.5.0u5 or 4.0.0+ version, because I already tried the 4.0.0 UMDS, but as there are no real updates yet I can't comment on this Smiley Wink

--

There are 10 types of people. Those who understand binary and the rest. And those who understand gray-code.

-- There are 10 types of people. Those who understand binary and the rest. And those who understand gray-code.
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MUCHAJ
Contributor
Contributor

The only response I have had from my VMWARE support guy is that he is still working on it.

I will have to wait or possibly install the older version from say update 2 or update 3.

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MUCHAJ
Contributor
Contributor

As an update VMWARE support contacted me on Friday 29th May 09 and confirmed that this is a bug with the vCentre version 2.5 update 3 and update 4.

They are working on a bug fix and will keep me updated.

In the interim I have uninstalled UMDS from vCentre v2.5 update 4 and re-installed UMDS from vCentre 2.5 update 2. This doesn't have the problem. I did the first download on Friday which picked up all updates. Then I ran the "-D" download command today, twice and both times it reported 0 updates. Previously this would have downloaded 2 x 6.7gb worth of updates!

The only one loving this has been my ISP as we have blown the limit a few times.

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