Update Manager 4.1 - proxy connections blocked

[irobot88]

Hi all,

Just installed a new vCenter Server 4.1 U1 on Windows 2008 R2.  I'm slowly moving my hosts to this (our old vCenter Server is Windows 2003 32-bit).

I have an issue after installing Update Manager on the vCenter Server.  

In the client > Update Manager > Configuration tab, I'm entering the proxy authentication details, but the 'Test Connection' button is returning that both http://www.vmware.com and http://www.microsoft.com are are inaccessible.

The Windows Security logs (Event Viewer) are showing 'The Windows Filtering Platform has blocked a connection', Event ID 5157 after I click on the 'Download Now' button (see full log below).

The 'Windows Filtering Platform' bit would suggest it's Windows Firewall that's doing the blocking.

However, the new vCenter Server has the Windows Firewall disabled.

The Windows Firewall service on the proxy server is still running, although it's turned off in the GUI.  I tried stopping the service, but testing and downloading in Update Manager failed with the same 'Windows Filtering Platform' security log failures.

Has anyone experienced this issue, or is there any way of ascertaining what is blocking the connection without resorting to turning of the Windows firewall on the proxy server and restarting?

Many thanks,

IR88

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Windows Filtering Platform has blocked a connection.

Application Information:

Process ID: 1436

Application Name: \device\harddiskvolume2\program files (x86)\vmware\infrastructure\update manager\vmware-updatemgr.exe

Network Information:

Direction: Outbound

Source Address: 192.168.204.48 [the new vCenter Server]

Source Port: 49534

Destination Address: 192.168.204.33 [the proxy server]

Destination Port: 8080

Protocol: 6

Filter Information:

Filter Run-Time ID: 0

Layer Name: Connect

Layer Run-Time ID: 48

[AndreTheGiant]

Windows firewall can be disable in different network profiles.

To check if the problem is there, try to stop the service.

And also check if the antivirus has an active firewall.

Andre

[irobot88]

Thanks Andre.  The Windows Firewall service has been disabled for some time.  When you mention network profiles, do you mean the 'default', 'public' and 'private' profiles?  If so, do you know if there's any way if any of these profiles have the firewall enabled?  The 'Windows Firewall with Advanced Security' snap-in doesn't show anything, as the service is disabled.

We use Trend OfficeScan for A/V, which doesn't include a firewall.  I disabled all OfficeScan services to test, and restarted the vCenter Server, but still no luck - and still getting the 'Windows Filtering Platform has blocked a connection' audit failure logs.

Do you think it has anything to do with the Windows Firewall on the proxy server?  Would we get the audit failures re: Windows Filtering Platform on the vCenter Server - referring to the proxy firewall?

Any other thoughts you have on this would be welcomed.