Vmware tools not detecting new version in Shared Product Locker in version 6.7.u3

[scale21]

We have historically used the shared product locker in VMWare to automatically upgrade tools for all vms in our environment. In previous versions you just put the new vmware tools iso files in the shared product locker location you have configured on your hosts and vcenter then will show that their is an upgrade available. We can then "upgrade" vmware tools to this new version. It has worked perfectly until we upgraded to 6.7 it seems. Now it wont detect that we have put a new version of tools into the shared product locker location and continues to think whatever version that is installed on the virtual machine is the most current. 

Any idea why this is?

[berndweyand]

no - i have 50+ hosts running with 6.7u3 and its working. when i put the new tools in the shared folder it took only a few minutes until they are available.

can you check if the productlocker-symlink is set correctly and tha the folder structure is ok ?

[scale21]

hmm...ill check the symlink again. They folder structure is the same as its always been. No changes there. I just replaced the iso again to test but i get the same result. It thinks the currently installed version is "current" despite uploading a new iso with a newer version. I did check all my hosts to make sure they are still pointed to the sharedproductlocker and they are. Ive checked my vms to make sure they are set to automatically upgrade and i have re-scanned them. They all say they are "Up to Date" which isnt the case.

[berndweyand]

the folder to which the symlink points to must contain a folder named vmtools.

the vmtools-folder should contain the files visible in the attachment

[scale21]

Thanks. I did confirm the symlink is good. 

Historically we have only copied the new "windows.iso" into the vmtools folder on the productlocker and it has picked it up in minutes as needing an update (for the windows based vms). I Can try to copy out the other files (.sig etc) to see if that affects things. We havent had to do that in the past i guess. 

[berndweyand]

i always copy the complete foldercontent so i can not verify if only the iso works.

but i had copied 11.3.0 two weeks ago and they are available to all vms

[scale21]

Interesting. I have only historically renamed the existing windows.iso_old and uploaded the new one.  I did this to allow for quick rollback if we saw any issues. Uploading the full contents of the folder hinders the rollback process. Maybe that the answer though. 

I am working through the 11.3 upgrade here and i cant get it to detect. 

[berndweyand]

wait a moment - the hosts checks the folder every x minutes. dont know the exact value but less than 10

[scale21]

Still no luck. Strange. Ill probably have to open a case as this point. I have tried rebooting  host as well. I did SSH in and confirm the symlinks are good and when i browse what the host things is the symlink i can see my new files/iso. I tried copying all the .sig files as well as the iso but still nothing. 

[scale21]

https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2053663

That article seems to suggest the folder path locally should be /productlocker/vmtools

Every host i have checked so far that i have running has a /productLocker folder at the root (which redirects to the shared area...aka the symlink). 

The difference in the article and my path is all of mine have a capital L on locker on my hosts and linux is case sensitive. I wonder if thats why it doesnt work or if its a typo in the article. I even checked a few lab hosts we have and they are all capital L on locker so it must be a typo. 

[berndweyand]

no - the productLocker is the symlink.

in my environment it points to /vmfs/volumes/<datastorename>/vmtoolsRepo. the vmtoolsRepo-folder contains 2 subfolders vmtools and floppies

i had configured it with https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2129825