vSphere Client Displays VM Annotations Incorrectly

[jfmorales]

In the vSphere client, I clicked a VM and then clicked the Summary tab and added an annotation for that VM.  Then I clicked on a different VM, and the same annotation text appeared. As I click different VMs, it appears that the Annotation text doesn't get refreshed until I click either (a) a VM that is currently running or (b) a VM that has non-empty Annotation text of its own.  This was using vSphere Client 4.1.0, attached to a vCenter 4.1.0 server.

Is this a known problem? Or am I doing something stupid? Is there some way to get the vSphere Client to display the current, correct Annotation text for the VM that is currently selected?

Thanks.

[vmroyale]

Hello.

I too have experienced this phenomenon, but unfortunately I don't have a solution.

Good Luck!

[a_p_]

This is a known issue with vCenter Server 4.1 and has been resoled in 4.1 Update 1.

see http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1035329

André

[vmroyale]

Nice!

[jfmorales]

André, Thanks for the tip. But I think we're already on 4.1 update 1. The vCenter version is 4.1.0, 345043. This is the level mentioned in the release notes for 4.1 update 1 at http://www.vmware.com/support/vsphere4/doc/vsp_vc41_u1_rel_notes.html.

[a_p_ · Accepted solution]

For hosts, the Update 1 build is 348481, for vCenter Server and the vSphere Client it is 345043.

Basically I think the issue was, that in earlier version the annotation entry in the vmx file was not created by default. With newer versions the entry is  created with a blank value (""). So at least the workaround should fix the issue.

André

[jfmorales]

Yes, the workaround does fix the problem, though I have to apply it by hand to all existing VMs that do not have an annotation value. Rather than adding an annotation and deleting it, it seems to work just as well to add an annotation that contains only a blank character. So that is what I am doing now. Thanks again.

[LatinSuD]

This PowerCLI line should fix it.

get-vm | Where-Object{$_.notes -eq $null } | set-vm -notes " "

get-vm | Where-Object{$_.notes -eq " " } | set-vm -notes ""

It works by finding null annotations and replacing them by a blank space, then replacing again by an empty string. My previous version tried to directly set the empty string but didnt work permanently.