Installed vcenter 5.1.0a build number didn't change

[kurtd]

From the iso, I upgraded Vcenter from 5.1.0 to 5.1.0a.  Simple install wouldn't work so I installed all the components separatly.  Upgrade went find and I rebooted.  Now when I check the build number in Vsphere client it still says 5.1.0 build 880146.

So I try to install it again but now I only get remove\uninstall options.  Is the build number wrong?  Can anyone verify their build number after installing 5.1.0a?  It should be 880471.

[kurtd]

Support is telling me that I need uninstall 5.1.0 and then install 5.1.0a.  In the past the upgrade always worked fine.  If I uninstall and reinstall, will I lose settings?  Should I do this with one component at a time or uninstall all then reinstall all?

When I first installed 5.1.0a it seemed to work fine so none of this makes sense.

Thanks

[kurtd]

Well I uninstalled and reinstalled 5.1.0a and the build number didn't change.  Help > About is still showing 5.1.0 880146.  Not sure why it's not saying 880471.  Is anyone seeing the same?

[Argyle · Accepted solution]

We did an in-place upgrade from 5.1.0 to 5.1.0.a. The build number doesn't seem to change when you click "Help -> About" (we also have 5.1.0 880146) but if you look in install logs and file versions you will see that the file versions have changed even if the build number property hasn't.

Example from C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\Logs\vim-vcs-install.log

---------------------

5.1.0 install:

Company: VMware, Inc.

Product name: VMware vCenter Server

Product version: 5.1.0.32743

5.1.0a install:

Company: VMware, Inc.

Product name: VMware vCenter Server

Product version: 5.1.0.33762

Example from C:\Users\myuser\AppData\Local\Temp\vim-vcs-msi.log

--------------------------

MSI (c) (18:18) [19:26:56:171]: Product: VMware vCenter Server -- Configuration completed successfully.

MSI (c) (18:18) [19:26:56:171]: Windows Installer reconfigured the product.

Product Name: VMware vCenter Server. Product Version: 5.1.0.33762.

Product Language: 1033. Manufacturer: VMware, Inc.. Reconfiguration success or error status: 0.

The actual vcenter vpxd.exe change from 5.1.0.32743 to 5.1.0.33762, see attached image.

So it looks like it was upgraded sucessfully but they just didn't update the build number property of vCenter. Other hints of success is that if you surf to the new vCenter and download the vSphere client, it will be install files for a new client with build number 860230.

[kurtd]

That was very helpful.  It's too bad support didn't have that info.  They basically told me it has to say 880471 and I need to reinstall it.  Such a waste of time.  Thanks for your help.

[ConstantinLotz]

I can confirm this. I've made a test upgrade from 5.0.0 to 5.1.0a and for me either the build number and the version number has not changed.
Checking the install logs proofed that we installed 5.1.0a.