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corrupter
Contributor
Contributor

ESXi Virtual Infrastructure Client link getting webpage not found 404 when trying to download

I have just installed ESXi on a HP Proliant DL380, configed the static IP, connected to the main Welcome page by using the box' IP. However, when I click on the link to download the VIC I am getting a 404. Anyone have any ideas what is causing this and how to fix it?

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corrupter
Contributor
Contributor

I just tried the repair option on the install disk, and then reconfigured the IP settings. I then connected from another machine to manage this one using a brower and the IP and got the main page. Still getting the "webpage not found" error when I click the link to download the virtual infrastructure client. The URL created in the address bar is the https://10.1.1.9/client/VMware-viclient.exe ; where 10.1.1.9 is the correct IP for this server.

I am getting a certificate error when I first get the initial welcome page in the browser, but I am clicking on continue to the page of course.

I would really appreciate any ideas anyone has on this.

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corrupter
Contributor
Contributor

Does anyone know if there is another way to access the VIC on the vmware server? I tried browsing the datastore but it is empty.

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jungsberg
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

It's almost impossible to find the VI-client inside the ISO-image, it's packed twice, but after the install, the file are located at /usr/lib/vmware/hostd/docroot/client/VMware-viclient.exe.

You can get this file a number of ways, the easiest one beeing winscp, that can download it.

Anyhow, another option is to get it off the CD from the real esx, it's available at http://www.vmware.com/download/vi/eval.html.

ofcourse you can also click here: http://uploaded.to/?id=cubh4j

Kind Regards

Torben Jungsberg

Kind Regards Torben Jungsberg
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jaybarr
Contributor
Contributor

I found a fix, and it also addresses a problem installing the VMWare Tools. There is a misconfigured symbolic link on ESXi (at least some versions), and if you fix the link with a simple command, all is well. The relevant links are as follows:

  • /productLocker points to /locker/packages/3.5.0/

  • /locker points to/vmfs/volumes/49ba1f83-00e73961-07c7-0010182d3b9c/

Problem is, there is no 3.5.0 under /locker/packages. However, there is another volume that does have a packages/3.5.0/ directory. On my system it was /vmfs/volumes/3abb47ef-875ea67c-c948-7bf6ff8d3c38/. Because there were other links referencing /locker, at least some of which appeared valid, I opted to fix the /productLocker link only, and left /locker alone. Here's how:

From the unsupported console (type Alt-F1 on server, then type "unsupported", then login with root password), type "rm /productLocker" and then "ln -s /vmfs/volumes/3abb47ef-875ea67c-c948-7bf6ff8d3c38/packages/3.5.0/ /productLocker". Once you do this, you can install VMWare Tools and the VMWare Infrastructure Client. When typing the "ln" command, use the tab key for command completion to make sure you type the path correctly (and to make it MUCH faster to do so).

If your install does not have that same directory, look in each of the /vmfs/volumes/ subdirectories for the one with the following subdirectories (conf, db, packages).

Good luck!

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VictorSudakov
Contributor
Contributor

You may find this thread relevant:

Do you have additional storages?

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mexicotom
Contributor
Contributor

jaybarr -- THANK YOU! I was banging my head on this issue as well. For some reason I wasn't able to find your post based on other search criteria, so let me post the error phrase I had been searching for earlier, which is the error that was popping up when trying to install VMware tools:

"A general system error occurred: Internal error"

As I discovered with some help from windbg, the actual error was a failure to complete a WebRequest for a file on the web server of the ESXi machine... and here we are, it's working after I fixed the symbolic link. (Yeah mine was a different directory name than the one you used, as expected.)

Thanks,

mexicotom

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tpneal
Contributor
Contributor

I'm encountering the same issue of not being able to download the Infrastructure Client from my ESXi server's website or to Install/Upgrade the VMWare Tools on a virtual machine using the Infrastructure Client. In my case the symlinks are pointing to directories that are empty and there are no subdirectories under /vmfs/volumes/... that contain conf, db, or packages directories.

~ # ls -l /productLocker

l----


0 root root 1984 Jan 1 1970 /productLocker -> /locker/packages/3.5.0

~ # ls -l /locker/packages

ls: /locker/packages: No such file or directory

~#

~ # ls -l /vmfs

l----


0 root root 1984 Jan 1 1970 devices -> /dev

drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 512 Jun 19 00:52 volumes

~ # ls -l /vmfs/volumes

drwxr-xr-t 1 root root 1960 Jun 18 18:16 4a005b9d-093bcf1e-57b8-0

01a64dc6f6a

l----


0 root root 1984 Jan 1 1970 DataStore1 -> 4a005b9d-0

93bcf1e-57b8-001a64dc6f6a

~ # ls -l /vmfs/volumes/4a005b9d-093bcf1e-57b8-001a64dc6f6a/

drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 1540 Jun 9 17:29 RPTKERB1

drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 1540 Jun 9 18:43 RPTKERB3

drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 1540 Jun 8 22:16 RPTKERB4

drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 1400 Jun 9 01:11 RPTKERB5

drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 1540 Jun 11 13:30 RPTKERB6

drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 700 Jun 18 18:14 iso_images

drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 1680 Jun 18 19:24 rptkerbtest1

~ #

The directories under 4a005b9d-093bcf1e-57b8-001a64dc6f6a are my virtual machines and a directory to hold my ISO images, but no directories holding the VMware Tools or Infrastructure Client download.

Any ideas where I can get the VMware Tools or Infrastructure Client components to populate my ESXi server's filesystem?

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VictorSudakov
Contributor
Contributor

tpneal,

You may find this thread relevant:

Do you have additional storages?

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tpneal
Contributor
Contributor

Victor,

Thank you for the suggestion, I had already read that thread. I only have one storage area (DataStore1). As you can see below, the contents of the directory that DataStore1 points to only contain my virtual machine directories and one additional directory containing ISO images I uploaded with the DataStore Browser.

~ # ls -l /vmfs/

l----


0 root root 1984 Jan 1 1970 devices -> /dev

drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 512 Jun 19 10:52 volumes

~ # ls -l /vmfs/volumes

drwxr-xr-t 1 root root 1960 Jun 18 18:16 4a005b9d-093bcf1e-57b8-001a64dc6f6a

l----


0 root root 1984 Jan 1 1970 DataStore1 -> 4a005b9d-093bcf1e-57b8-001a64dc6f6a

~ # ls -l /vmfs/volumes/4a005b9d-093bcf1e-57b8-001a64dc6f6a/

drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 1540 Jun 9 17:29 RPTKERB1

drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 1540 Jun 9 18:43 RPTKERB3

drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 1540 Jun 8 22:16 RPTKERB4

drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 1400 Jun 9 01:11 RPTKERB5

drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 1400 Jun 19 01:25 RPTKERB6

drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 700 Jun 18 18:14 iso_images

drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 1680 Jun 18 19:24 rptkerbtest1

~ #

If I decide to reinstall, what is the best way to preserve the virtual machines that reside in DataStore1? Can I simply shut down the virtual machines and then copy them off to another location using the DataStore Browser? I only have the one ESXi host machine, so copying them to another ESXi host using the standalone vCenter Converter is not an option.

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