Upgrade VMtools gone horribly wrong on Manager causing loop I can not get out of

[saltnz]

Hi I tried to upgrade the VMware tools on my VShield Manager which has failed (I think that I need to delete and add another CDROM). However I am now in a really bad situation I can not end VMtools install

I get "The operation is not allowed in current state"

So it just continues to try and install for ever. How can I force it to end?

I can not shut down because it whinges about another "task is already in progress" (the VMWare tools install)

You can send CTRLALTDelete but it just fires up again, can not issue a delay in BIOS to try and get it to power off when down "task is already in progress"

You issue shutdown as enable and it won't power off. This probelm seems unsolvable in VCenter

We are running ESXi 4 and I can not see what what command I could use to force machine into a stopped state so I could delete and add CDROM

This is really screwed up how can I possibly kill it?

[saltnz]

Do a reboot of the host that it is on, either through ssh or one finger restart (you can not do it through VCenter). Obviously make sure all other guest are migrated off first. When the guest comes back up the vmtools willm be up tp date, this also works for the agents.

Sure I understand this is a rip, s!*& and bust solution, but unless someone else has a better idea..... it works so what the hey

[csauviat]

Hi,

I have frequently the same problem on some VM which don't want to upgrade VMtools in an automatic way. To counter this, I copy the vmtools CD on a network share and execute the setup manually. Once VM is reboot, it is OK.

[Texiwill]

Hello,

Moved to the vShield forum.

Best regards,

Edward L. Haletky

Communities Moderator, VMware vExpert,

Author: VMware vSphere and Virtual Infrastructure Security,VMware ESX and ESXi in the Enterprise 2nd Edition (do out mid January)

Podcast: The Virtualization Security Podcast Resources: The Virtualization Bookshelf