Can't update to Workstation 17.0.1

[RU5]

How do I resolve this chicken/egg situation? I launch the updater from the Help menu, the installer wants me to close vmware.exe but all controls on the original window are locked out.

[Kinnison]

Hi,

Go to the bottom right and expand the icons, choose the one related to VMware Workstation and then select exit, in that way you should be able to close it, otherwise, even if it is "less elegant", end the process from the task manager. I had to do this less than a couple of hours ago. I had to do so less than a couple of hours ago after a certain moment of discomfort.

Regards,
Ferdinando

[RU5]

By bottom right, do you mean the system tray? I don't have the system tray icon enabled for Vmware.

Killing in task manager is all well and good if you have no VMs running, but I did when the updater first popped up, so what then? There's a serious risk of data loss then.

For the record, I too killed it via Task Manager in the end. But not very user friendly.

[Kinnison]

Comment removed...

[PGalbraith]

I had the same problem, and killed it via task manager.  Thankfully I didn't have any VMs open.  It's nice to know I wasn't the only one with this problem, at least.

[jm7]

Testing. Just. Once. Would have caught that before it shipped.

[gregVM]

An alternative (that I followed) is to download 17.0.1 directly from the links in the CVE announcement:

https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2023-0003.html

You'll need to check the checksums manually but it does work that way without having the shutdown VMWare awkwardly.

[formosabc]

Yes, how difficult is it to try the upgrade out before GA? If you expect every one to terminate vmware.exe process from task manager (Note that there is the option for single process and ALL process. If you terminate ALL vmware.exe processes, even the upgrade process is terminated) then you might want to declare that in big bold letters next time BEFORE the update is downloaded to everyone's system?  Idiots.

[vmware_usr7]

I'm seeing the same issue upgrading to 17.0.2. I resolved with the workaround @PGalbraith outlined, by terminating the vmware.exe process from task manager.

Obviously, for a high-bar product like VMware Workstations Pro, terminating as such is a little tacky, if not potentially risky if VMs are running.

Maybe I'm missing something but what @jm7 mentions, "... Testing. Just. Once. ..." before shipping would have caught this. 

I'm betting it's already a reported bug but this thread started with 17.0.1 and I am upgrading to 17.0.2 and still seeing it.  Great product... this kind of thing does not belong, is out of place.

Thanks to OP and others providing workarounds.

[RU5]

I notice in the release notes this has been fixed going forward:

Cannot close Workstation Pro while upgrading Workstation Pro

If you try to upgrade Workstation Pro from version 17.0.0 or 17.0.1, you cannot close the Workstation application after the upgrade installer appears. The issue is expected to appear when you upgrade Workstation Pro from version 17.0.0 or 17.0.1 to 17.0.2.

This issue is resolved now in this release and is not expected to appear when you upgrade Workstation Pro from version 17.0.2 to a higher version.

[munrobasher]

Yes same here with 17.0.2. That said, I think Workstation has had this problem for years. I had to kill vmware.exe manually after making sure all VMs (inc. auto start one) was shutdown. Surely they just need to spawn a separate process to do the update which would allow you to close the console?

[Patrix87]

Still an issue with 17.0.2

How on earth did that go through QA 🤣

[RDPetruska]

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@Patrix87 wrote:

Still an issue with 17.0.2

How on earth did that go through QA 🤣

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If you read above, you would see that it is fixed with 17.0.2 going forward for future updates.

[Kinnison]

Hi,

Thanks for the "Kudos" received today for my old comment in this old thread but it wasn't necessary. If I could, I would delete that comment and in any case I will empty it of its contents as soon as I find the time.

Regards,
Ferdinando

[Vaishnavi0307]

In your taskbar, enter Task Manager and then you can end the task VMWare by right click on it. Then you can proceed with the Installation Setup.

[RitchieDalto]

They've said this before. This has been happening for years and I'm really tired of it. I pay pretty good money for this product.