Customization Specifications are not applying when deploying VM's after upgrade to VirtualCenter 2.5

[Box293]

It would appear that since upgrading to VC 2.5 the Customization Specifications are not applying when deploying VM's.

I have tried deploying different VM's but all have the same problem. They deploy ok but when I turn them on it never automates the process. I am prompted with the Windows Welcome screen and I have to go through each step and enter in the required information (these machines are syspreped BEFORE creating templates of them).

Not sure where to start looking.

[jparnell]

We're having problems with templates since upgrading to 2.5

At first it looked like the customisation specification wasn't being applied to the virtual machines as they weren't joining the domain or having their network settings changed. I've finally narrowed it down to a problem with the NIC during the deployment - it seems that Windows wants to use the latest version of the NIC driver (vmxnet 2.0.0.9) but this doesnt have the 'windows logo' so won't install it. This in turn means that the new virtual machine doesnt have a NIC and therefore no network settings etc etc. These templates were working fine before upgrading to 2.5.

[dwchan]

we have updated our master template with the lateset version of vmtools on our esx 3.5. When we try to deploy its under vc2.5, we still can not have the template to autologon and join the domain. Did you do anything else special with your fix?

dwc

[jparnell]

I haven't managed to fix it yet. I can see why its not joining the domain, but not sure how I can fix it - it may need a fix from VMware. Reassuring its not just us with this problem though.

[ctfoster]

The sysprep installation has changed with VC 2.5.

Its documented in the Admin Guide (page 352)

You now need the correct sysprep files for each guest OS (XP, 2000 & 2003) and they must be installed in the appropriate sub-directory under c:\documents and settings\all users\application data\vmware\virtualcentre\sysprep\

Have you checked this out first?

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[dwchan]

I did make sure the sysprep for xp and w2k3 is install in the proper location. I have also recreate the xml customization files. Still it will not join the domain.

[dwchan]

As a side note, what is the difference between folder 1.1 and 2k? I though 1.1 is windows 2000? Also, which folder you use for win9x and winnt guest?

[Box293]

Thanks for the links on the changes with VC 2.5. I have however been using this since 2.0.2 Update 2 as this is when I could do x64 VM's.

I did also try deploying an x64 VM and had the same problem. I have tried creating a new customization specification however this did not work either.

Just to make it clear, none of my deployed template includes any of the customizations.

[AndyWu]

i am having the same issues as well. Anyone figure out what the problem is? Non of my customization settings gets applied after cloning from template to VM.

[Box293]

I have currently logged a case with VMware and will report back once I have a fix.

[todd_shawcross]

Some thing to try:

Once you have the sysprep and deploy file in the correct locations, you may want to re-enter the passwords in the customisation templates.

If you have replaced your VirtualCenter certificates then the stored passwords will no longer work. You need to re-enter them.

[Box293]

We did try to replace our VirtualCenter certificates but ran into issues so we reverted back to the original ones. I cannot confirm or deny if an image deployment with customizations was successful between the period of upgrading to 2.5 and trying to replace the certificates.

We use blank passwords in our templates however I created a new customization template and the same problem occurred.

[todd_shawcross]

If you have replaced your certificates you might want to try exporting you customisation templates to .xml and open the with a text editor like Wordpad. 

Scroll down to you see the

I have raised this issue with VMWare and they have escalated this to Engineering.  For now however we have to store the passwords in plan text.

[Box293]

I know what the problem is.

With our existing templates they were all machines that had the sysprep process run on them before they were cloned to a template.

With the test I just did, I did the following:

1) Created new machine

2) Installed 2003

3) Installed VMware tools

4) Powered off machine and created a template

Then after deploying an image of this template the sysprep process worked correctly. This is because the machine powers on first, and after 5 seconds at the control alt delete screen it auto logs on, runs sysprep, reboots and automatically enters in all the automation information.

So what has changed since moving to VC 2.5 / ESX 3.5 is that the customization wizard works differently. It no longer works with a machine that had sysprep run on it (ie reseal it) BEFORE being turned into a template. If you deploy a template in VC 2.5 that was created this way (and want to use the customization wizard) then you need to run through all the manual steps the first time around and then once it gets to the control alt delete screen it will auto log on, run sysprep, reboot and automatically enters in all the automation information.

So basically to recap. Before VC 2.5 / ESX 3.5 we were able to use templates that were already syspreped before being turned into a template. Now our existing templates do not work.

I am still working with VMware on this, will post any updates as I get them.

[KazO]

I haven't investigated it as far, but I suspect I'm having the same issue. The RunOnce stuff in mine does run after first login without any of the customizations. If I try to apply the customization template from VC2.0, after first reboot, it gets stuck at the login screen; it accepts the password, but dumps back to ctrl-alt-del and doesn't actually process the login. Would be nice to fix this instead of making new templates.

Kazuto Okayasu

Administrative Computing Services

University of California, Irvine

[Freefall13]

We're having the same issue in our environment; any templates created before VC2.5 are no longer customizable. We've tried creating new templates but had mixed success, some work and some not. Box293, your analysis looks spot on. I created a new template straight off the Windows 2003 CDs and it works. A colleague created a template using the HP Rapid Deployment Pack, which uses sysprep, and it doesn't work with customization.

I've got an open SR, SR#1101092051, but my engineer can't replicate the problem and won't escalate it. Does anyone else have SR numbers for this problem so that I can pass them onto my engineer in the hopes that he'll see that it's a larger problem than just my environment?

[Box293]

Unfortunately I don't have a VMware case number as we need to go through Dell for support however I've received this email today (from VMware via Dell) with some positive news.

I had found an internal document that mentions about this issue, however it's not released to public. To confirm if the functionality is been broken or modified, we just need to do one more test and then will need to file a PR with engineering. I will keep you posted on the progress.

So the good news is that it's on the books as being a bug and hopefully a fix should follow soon.

[Freefall13]

Here's the reply I got from my support engineer:

"I have verified the issue as per your steps mentioned and found that hostname and SID of the VM is not changing when you deploy a VM from template. I have also consulted with my seniors on this issue and as per the information received unfortunately there is no way that you can use that template with VC 2.5.

The reason for this is, while fixing the bugs with VC 2.5,which are seen in VC 2.0.x, the complete source code for sysprep is changed in Vc 2.5. so the templates which are created with old versions of VC will not work with VC 2.5 since the code is changed.This is by design and expected behavior with VC2.5.

As you already know if you create a new template with Vc 2.5, it works perfectly with VC 2.5. So, unfortunately, you need to create a new template with Vc 2.5 and use that template to deploy a VM from that template."

Mind you, the template I sent the engineer was created under VC2.5, though built using HP RDP (which also uses sysprep, which is probably what's breaking it under VC2.5). I think it's pretty poor that the official stance from VMware is that you have to recreate all of your templates and that they're not going to fix the problem.

[rossb2b]

I upgraded from 2.0.2 to 2.5 and besides replacing the sysprep files on the VC server and making sure they were in the right place it worked fine. I have converted my templates to VMs and updated patches and the VMware tools and converted back to templates so that may have made a difference in my environment but that is something I do every so often anyway.

-rick

[Koopie]

It is nice to know that I am not alone with this problem. There are so amny threads that seem to cover many aspects of the custimization scripts not running after an upgrade. I would like to share something that I have happening. I have created a new XPsp3 VM with only XP installed & updates applied and then converted it to a template. I have created a new "customization specification" with the basic info included like pick name of new vm to random, XP key, join domain, etc. etc. and told it to automatically startup after vm creation. Once the creation is complete the vm goes to start an the normal windows logo appears and then the VMware cusomization (sysyprep) starts for a few seconds then windows XP boots to the normal desktop without running the sysprep process. I shut down the vm & restart it & the process repeatss its self, windows logo, customization starts again for a few seconds and then normal destop appears. It would appear that the VM knows it need to complete sysprep but never seems to stop long enough to let it happen.

Has anyone seen a similar problem and have you any idea why? Sorry for lots of blurb but I hope it cuts down on the questions.

ChrisK (Koopie)