Updated on: 26 September 2016 ESXi 6.0 12 MARCH 2015 ISO Build 2494585 vCenter Server 6.0 12 MARCH 2015 ISO Build 2562643 vCenter Server Appliance 6.0 12 MARCH 2015 Build 2562643 vCenter Server 6.0 on Windows Build 2559268 vCenter Server 6.0 on vCenter Server Appliance Build 2559267 Check for additions and updates to these release notes. |
What's in the Release NotesThe release notes cover the following topics: What's NewThis release of vSphere 6.0 includes ESXi 6.0 and vCenter Server 6.0. Read about the new and enhanced features in this release in What's New in the VMware vSphere 6.0 Platform. InternationalizationVMware vSphere 6.0 is available in the following languages: - English
- French
- German
- Japanese
- Korean
- Simplified Chinese
- Traditional Chinese
Components of VMware vSphere 6.0, including vCenter Server, ESXi, the vSphere Web Client, and the vSphere Client do not accept non-ASCII input. CompatibilityESXi, vCenter Server, and vSphere Web Client Version CompatibilityThe VMware Product Interoperability Matrix provides details about the compatibility of current and earlier versions of VMware vSphere components, including ESXi, VMware vCenter Server, the vSphere Web Client, and optional VMware products. Check the VMware Product Interoperability Matrix also for information about supported management and backup agents before you install ESXi or vCenter Server. The vSphere Web Client is packaged with the vCenter Server. You can install the vSphere Client from the VMware vCenter autorun menu that is part of the modules ISO file. Hardware Compatibility for ESXiTo view a list of processors, storage devices, SAN arrays, and I/O devices that are compatible with vSphere 6.0, use the ESXi 6.0 information in the VMware Compatibility Guide. Device Compatibility for ESXiTo determine which devices are compatible with ESXi 6.0, use the ESXi 6.0 information in the VMware Compatibility Guide. Some devices are deprecated and no longer supported on ESXi 6.0. During the upgrade process, the device driver is installed on the ESXi 6.0 host. The device driver might still function on ESXi 6.0, but the device is not supported on ESXi 6.0. For a list of devices that are deprecated and no longer supported on ESXi 6.0, see KB 2087970. Third-Party Switch Compatibility for ESXiVMware now supports Cisco Nexus 1000V with vSphere 6.0. vSphere requires a minimum NX-OS release of 5.2(1)SV3(1.4). For more information about Cisco Nexus 1000V, see the Cisco Release Notes. As in previous vSphere releases, Ciscso Nexus 1000V AVS mode is not supported. Guest Operating System Compatibility for ESXiTo determine which guest operating systems are compatible with vSphere 6.0, use the ESXi 6.0 information in the VMware Compatibility Guide. Virtual Machine Compatibility for ESXiVirtual machines that are compatible with ESX 3.x and later (hardware version 4) are supported with ESXi 6.0. Virtual machines that are compatible with ESX 2.x and later (hardware version 3) are not supported. To use such virtual machines on ESXi 6.0, upgrade the virtual machine compatibility. See the vSphere Upgrade documentation. Installation and Upgrades for This ReleaseInstallation Notes for This ReleaseRead the vSphere Installation and Setup documentation for guidance about installing and configuring ESXi and vCenter Server. Although the installations are straightforward, several subsequent configuration steps are essential. Read the following documentation: 'License Management and Reporting' in the vCenter Server and Host Management documentaton 'Networking' in the vSphere Networking documentation 'Security' in the vSphere Security documentation for information on firewall ports
vSphere 6.0 Recommended Deployment ModelsVMware recommends only two deployment models: vCenter Server with embedded Platform Services Controller. This model is recommended if one or more standalone vCenter Server instances are required to be deployed in a data center. Replication between these vCenter Server with embedded Platform Services Controller models are not recommended. vCenter Server with external Platform Services Controller. This model is recommended only if multiple vCenter Server instances need to be linked or want to have reduced footprint of Platform Services Controller in the data center. Replication between these vCenter Server with external Platform Services Controller models are supported.
Read the vSphere Installation and Setup documentation for guidance on installing and configuring vCenter Server. Also, read KB 2108548 for guidance on installing and configuring vCenter Server. vCenter Host OS InformationRead the Knowledge Base article KB 2091273. Backup and Restore for vCenter Server and the vCenter Server Appliance Deployments that Use an External Platform Services ControllerAlthough statements in the vSphere Installation and Setup documentation restrict you from attempting to backup and restore vCenter Server and vCenter Server Appliance deployments that use an external Platform Services Controller, you can perform this task by following the steps in KB 2110294. Migration from Embedded Platform Services Controller to External Platform Services ControllervCenter Server with embedded Platform Services Controller cannot be migrated automatically to vCenter Server with external Platform Services Controller. Testing of this migration utility is not complete. Before installing vCenter Server, determine your desired deployment option. If more than one vCenter Servers are required for replication setup, always deploy vCenter with external Platform Services Controller. Migrating Third-Party SolutionsFor information about upgrading with third-party customizations, see the vSphere Upgrade documentation. For information about using Image Builder to make a custom ISO, see the vSphere Installation and Setup documentation. Upgrades and Installations Disallowed for Unsupported CPUsvSphere 6.0 supports only processors available after June (third quarter) 2006. Comparing the processors supported by vSphere 5.x, vSphere 6.0 no longer supports the following processors: - AMD Opteron 12xx Series
- AMD Opteron 22xx Series
- AMD Operton 82xx Series
During an installation or upgrade, the installer checks the compatibility of the host CPU with vSphere 6.0. If your host hardware is not compatible, a purple screen appears with an incompatibility information message, and the vSphere 6.0 installation process stops. Upgrade Notes for This ReleaseFor instructions about upgrading vCenter Server and ESX/ESXi hosts, see the vSphere Upgrade documentation. Open Source Components for VMware vSphere 6.0The copyright statements and licenses applicable to the open source software components distributed in vSphere 6.0 are available at http://www.vmware.com. You need to log in to your My VMware account. Then, from the Downloads menu, select vSphere. On the Open Source tab, you can also download the source files for any GPL, LGPL, or other similar licenses that require the source code or modifications to source code to be made available for the most recent available release of vSphere. Product Support NoticesvCenter Server database. The vSphere 6.0 release is the last major release in which VMware supports Oracle 11g and 12c as an external database for vCenter Server Appliance. VMware will drop support for Oracle 11g and 12c as an external database for vCenter Server Appliance in a future major release. vSphere Web Client. The Storage Reports selection from an object's Monitor tab is no longer available in the vSphere 6.0 Web Client. vSphere Client. The Storage Views tab is no longer available in the vSphere 6.0 Client.
Known IssuesThe known issues are grouped as follows. Installation IssuesvCenter Server for Windows Installation Issues The Windows Installer for vCenter Server stops if the password for the administrator account of the Platform Services Controller contains either non-ASCII or high-ASCII characters
During installation, you cannot specify a Platform Services Controller administrator password that includes non-ASCII or high-ASCII characters, but you can change the password after installation. If you then install a vCenter Server system, and connect that system to the Platform Services Controller, the installation fails. Workaround: Configure the Platform Services Controller to use a password that meets the following requirements: At least 8 characters but not more than 20 characters At least 1 uppercase character At least 1 lowercase character At least 1 numeric digit At least 1 special character, that is any character not 0-9, a-z, or A-Z Only visible ASCII characters (for example, do not use space)
If you uninstall vCenter Server, the embedded PostgreSQL database is removed
If you uninstall vCenter Server from a Microsoft Windows virtual machine or physical host, the embedded PostgreSQL database is also uninstalled and all the data stored in it is lost. Workaround: To prevent losing the data from your database, back up the PostgreSQL database and then restore it. When you use a database server alias name to create a DSN, the installation of vCenter Server fails
When you use a database server alias name to create a DSN, the installation of vCenter Server with an external Microsoft SQL database fails. The following error appears during the installation of the inventory service: An error occured while starting invsvc. Workaround: Use the IP address or the host name of the database server to create a DSN. You might not be able to start Telnet by using the syntax command after you install VMware Tools on Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012
After you install VMware Tools on Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012 guest operating systems, the default host application is set to VMware Tools. You cannot open Telnet by using the start telnet://xx.xx.xx.xx command. The following error message is displayed: Make sure the virtual machine's configuration allows the guest to open host applications. Workaround: In the Windows command prompt, run cmd->telnet to open the Telnet interactive prompt and then start Telnet sessions. If you use a user name that contains high-ASCII or non-ASCII characters, you cannot install vCenter Server using SQL Server with Windows integrated authentication
When you use a user name that contains native high-ASCII or non-ASCII characters, the installation of vCenter Server using SQL Server with Windows integrated authentication fails. An error appears while a security operation is performed. Workaround: Use a user name with ASCII characters only. If you use a password that contains high-ASCII or non-ASCII characters, you cannot install vCenter Server using SQL Server with Windows integrated authentication
When you use a password that contains native high-ASCII or non-ASCII characters, the installation of vCenter Server using SQL Server with Windows integrated authentication fails. An error appears while starting service invsvc. Workaround: Use password with ASCII characters only. When you set up vCenter Server to use an external database from the vCenter Server installer, you might not be able to select a system DSN
When you configure vCenter Server to use an external SQL database from the vCenter Server installer, the system DSNs configured by using a SQL server driver are not displayed in the list of available DSNs. Workaround: When you configure a system DSN for the external SQL server database, use SQL Server Native Client. If you have uninstalled the IPv4 stack, VMware vCenter Server 6.0.0 installation might fail
If you have uninstalled the IPv4 stack, the installation of VMware vCenter Server 6.0.0 might fail while trying to start the VMwareAfdService. The error messages that appear are: An error occurred while starting service 'VMwareAfdService'
Failed to clean up VKS binaries, Error: 2
Please search these symptoms in the VMware Knowledge Base for any known issues and possible workarounds.
If none can be found, please collect a support bundle and open a support request.
Installation of component VCSServiceManager failed with error code '1603'. Check the logs for more details.
Workaround: Before you install VMware vCenter Server 6.0.0, make sure the IPv4 stack is installed. If the command netsh interface ipv4 show interfaces results in a message: The request is not supported., the IPv4 stack has been uninstalled and should be reinstalled. To reinstall the IPv4 stack, run the netsh interface ipv4 install command and reboot the machine. The vCenter Server installation or uninstallation process might fail or stop responding on Windows Server 2008 R1 SP2
The Windows Installer on Windows Server 2008 R1 SP2 has issues with handling multiple packages. Because of these issues the vCenter Server installation might stop responding, or if you attempt to install and uninstall vCenter Server a few times, the process might fail. Workaround: Apply the patch from Microsoft KB 981669 which addresses the Windows Installer issue. Attempts to uninstall the Platform Services Controller might fail
If you attempt to uninstall a Platform Services Controller that has one or more active associated vCenter Server instances, the operation might fail with an error message Setup Interrupted. There is no clear message stating that the issue occurs because of vCenter Server instances registered with the Platform Services Controller. Workaround: Uninstall all vCenter Server instances associated with the Platform Services Controller before you uninstall the Platform Services Controller. Installation of vCenter Server might fail if the time skew between the machine on which you install vCenter Server and the Platform Services Controller is three minutes or more
vCenter Server installation might fail if there is no time synchronization between the Platform Services Controller and the machine on which you install vCenter Server. Time difference of more than 3 seconds, the wizard displays the time difference in seconds.
If the time skew is between 3 seconds and 2 minutes, a message informing you about the time difference is displayed. You can close the information dialog box and continue the installation. If the time skew is between 2 and 4 minutes, a message warning you about the wide margin time difference is displayed. If the time difference is more than 4 minutes, you cannot proceed with the installation. Workaround: If you see the warning message that the time difference is between 2 and 4 minutes, stop the vCenter Server installation and synchronize the clock of the machine on which you install vCenter Server with the clock of the Platform Services Controller. Run the vCenter Server installer again. vCenter Server installation fails if the system name input (FQDN or IP address) does not exactly match the Platform Services Controller input as FQDN/FQDN or IP/IP
If you use an FQDN or IP address when you install the Platform Services Controller, the vCenter Server input should match with the Platform Services Controller input. If you provided a FQDN during the Platform Services Controller installation, when you register vCenter Server with that Platform Services Controller, you must provide the FQDN of the Platform Services Controller. If you provided an IP address during the Platform Services Controller installation, when you register vCenter Server with that Platform Services Controller, you must provide the IP address of the Platform Services Controller. Otherwise, the vCenter Server installation fails on first boot. Workaround: Make sure that the vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller inputs always match. Installation of vCenter Server in pure IPv6 environment might fail if you do not have full DNS support
Attempts to install vCenter Server in a pure IPv6 environment might fail if you do not have full DNS support. This is because the Platform Services Controller installer does a reverse lookup to get the machine name. Workaround: If you do not have full DNS support, you must ensure that both forward and reverse lookup works in vCenter Server with embedded Platform Services Controller deployment. You cannot uninstall vCenter Server for Windows by right-clicking the Windows installer package and selecting Uninstall
You can uninstall vCenter Server for Windows by using either Windows Add/Remove Programs, or the vCenter Server for Windows installer package. However, when you right-click the vCenter Server for Windows installer package and select Uninstall, no message is displayed. If you right-click the vCenter Server for Windows installer package and select Uninstall again, you receive a message stating that the product is already uninstalled. Workaround: Use Windows Add/Remove Programs to uninstall vCenter Server for Windows. vCenter Server for Windows does not support user data source name (DSN) for external databases
Only system DSNs are supported for vCenter Server for Windows installations. If you add a user DSN, it is not displayed in the Database Configuration page of vCenter Server for Windows. Workaround: When you install vCenter Server for Windows, add a system DSN for the external database. You cannot install vCenter Server for Windows if you use a custom user name service account containing non-ASCII or high-ASCII characters
vCenter Server for Windows installation fails to configure the vCenter Server service account if you log in to the Operating System as a user defined by a custom account policy, and the user name contains non-ASCII or high-ASCII characters. Workaround: The custom user account you log in with must consist only of ASCII characters. Uninstalling or cancelling an install of vCenter Server for Windows might not always clean up all directories and files in the user data directory or installation directory
If you attempt to uninstall or cancel an install of vCenter Server for Windows, before the services start, the user data directory under C:ProgramDataVMwarevCenterServer or the installation directory under C:Program FilesVMwarevCenterServer might not be deleted completely from your system. This might affect a subsequent attempt to install vCenter Server for Windows. Workaround: Reboot the machine before attempting a fresh install again. No logs are generated after running vc-support.bat
When you attempt to generate logs by running the C:Program FilesVMwarevCenter Serverbinvc-support.bat command, an error occurs and the logs are not generated if the Operating System login user name contains high-ASCII or non-ASCII characters. Workaround: Run the C:Program FilesVMwarevCenter Serverbinvc-support.bat command after logging in to the Operating System with a user name containing only ASCII characters. vCenter Server installation fails if you add a service account with special characters @ or
While installing vCenter Server, you can specify a service account instead of using the default Windows Local System account. If the account name you select has special characters @ or Workaround: During the installation of vCenter Server, create a service account without special characters @ or A first boot script fails during the deployment of vCenter Server with an external Platform Services Controller
When you attempt to deploy vCenter Server with an external Platform Services Controller, the first boot fails during the deployment when you enter the IP address or host name of the Platform Services Controller. Workaround: Enter the same system network name that you used during the deployment of the Platform Services Controller.
vCenter Server Appliance Deployment Issues New Starting the vSphere Web Client by clicking the URL on the last page of the vCenter Server Appliance deployment wizard might fail
If you deployed a vCenter Server Appliance with an external Platform Services Controller and the Platform Services Controller is configured behind an F5 Load Balancer, after you click the URL on the last page of the vCenter Server Appliance deployment wizard, the vSphere Web Client interface does not appear and the following exception is generated:
HTTP Status 400 - BadRequest, Not able to respond to the request posted to /SAML2/SSOSSL/ Workaround: Refresh the Web page. You cannot deploy the vCenter Server Appliance with an external Oracle database, if the database was used in a previous deployment attempt
The vCenter Server Appliance installer prevents deployment of the vCenter Server Appliance with an external Oracle database that has been used in a previous vCenter Server Appliance deployment and does not provide you with the option to reuse or delete the database. You receive an error message The vCenter Server database is locked. Another vCenter Server service is using this database and must be stopped. This issue occurs even if the vCenter Server Appliance that uses the database is powered off or removed from the ESXi host. Workaround: Use a new instance of an Oracle database or select to use the embedded database. The vCenter Server Appliance installation fails when connecting to an External Platform Services Controller
The vCenter Server Appliance installation with an external Platform Services Controller might fail if the time between the existing Platform Services Controller and the ESXi host or NTP server, depending on the vCenter Server Appliance time configuration settings, is not synchronized. No warning messages are displayed during the vCenter Server Appliance installation to report the time skew. Workaround: Synchronize the clock of the deployed Platform Services Controller and the ESXi host on which the vCenter Server Appliance is to be deployed or the NTP server the vCenter Server Appliance is to use after installation. If you restart the guest operating system of the vCenter Server Appliance, the vpxd service might fail to start
When you deploy the vCenter Server Appliance, you can decide whether to use VMware Tools-based or NTP server-based time synchronization. If you set up the vCenter Server Appliance to use NTP server-based time synchronization, the guest operating system of the vCenter Server Appliance is synchronized with an NTP server. If the host on which you deploy the vCenter Server Appliance is not configured to use the same NTP server or if the time on the ESXi host is different from the time on the guest OS of the vCenter Server Appliance, when you restart the vCenter Server Appliance, the NTP daemon starts early and sets the correct time. However, the VMware Tools service starts later than the NTP daemon, and sets the vCenter Server Appliance system time to the host system time. By the time the NTP daemon corrects the time again, the vpxd service already attempts to start and fails. Workaround: Set up the ESXi host to use the same NTP server for time synchronization as the vCenter Server Appliance and then deploy the vCenter Server Appliance. You cannot enter an IPv6 address of the ESXi host in the vCenter Server Appliance deployment wizard
The vCenter Server Appliance deployment wizard does not accept an IPv6 address to connect to the ESXi host for deploying the vCenter Server Appliance. Workaround: Connect to the ESXi host by using an FQDN. The vCenter Server Appliance scripted installer fails if more DNS servers are provided simultaneously
The scripted installation of vCenter Server Appliance fails if you provide more than one DNS server during the installation process. Workaround: You should use only one DNS server at a time, and after the installation has finished, you can add more DNS servers. There is no pre-check function available for the network settings entered by you in the network configuration page and this could result in a firstboot error
There is no pre-check function available, to ensure that the values entered by you for text boxes such as static options (network address, subnet mask, network gateway, network DNS Servers, system name (FQDN or IP)) are valid. So if you enter a wrong value in any of these fields, a firstboot error might occur. Also, there is no pre-check function to ensure that the current FQDN, for the DHCP option, is already in use. Workaround: Ensure that the values provided for the different network settings are valid. These settings are static options (network address, subnet mask, network gateway, network DNS servers, system name (FQDN or IP)) and the DHCP option: FQDN (Optional). The user interface installer of the vCenter Server Appliance might require the Client Integration plug-in to run, depending on browser type, this prompt may vary
When launching the vCenter Server Appliance installer, the tool may request an application to be launched. Workaround: If a prompt appears when opening the vCenter Server Appliance scripted installer, follow the instructions for each type of browser: Google Chrome. Allow the installer to launch the application. Mozilla Firefox. Select csd.exe and click OK. Internet Explorer. Click Allow.
The vCenter Server Appliance scripted installer does not support custom HTTPS port number for interacting with vCenter Server instance
vCenter Server 6.0 supports customization of the HTTPS port. When connecting the vCenter Server Appliance to vCenter Server, this port is necessary to connect to vCenter Server. Currently, this port cannot be customized in the vCenter Server Appliance scripted installer. Workaround: To use a custom HTTPS port, use the HTML5 user interface installer to install vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller. The vCenter Server Appliance scripted installer allows you to proceed with the installation with less than 15 GB of available disk space, which is below the minimum requirement
When installing vCenter Server Appliance using the scripted installer, the tool proceeds to install the software on hosts with less than 15 GB space available on the datastore. The installer proceeds, but vCenter Server Appliance might fail to power on the virtual machine. Workaround: You should ensure that the ESXi host has at least 15 GB available space. Help is not working for help.war file installation
The file help.war is downloaded as a root file that causes the permission error when you attempt to install it. The files under /pickup have owner vsphere-client and group users that are used by the Java Virtual Machine. Workaround: Perform the following steps: Download help.war to the /usr/lib/vmware-virgo folder of your vCenter Server Appliance. Change it to the following: owner vsphere-client and group users:
chown vsphere-client help.war
chgrp users help.war Change your account to vsphere-client.
If you stay root the copy operation changes the owner to root again.
su vsphere-client Verify that the server is already running and copy help.war to /usr/lib/vmware-virgo/server/pickup. help.war to /pickup, the help does not work because /pickup is emptied each time.
On any Windows OS, if vcsa-setup.html is refreshed on Firefox browser, a blank banner message might appear after allowing the Client Integration Plugin to run
Refreshing the vcsa-setup.html file might result in a blank banner on top in the Firefox browser. This is an intermittent issue. The blank banner appears after allowing the Client Integration Plugin to run on the browser. For example, allowing the vmware-csd process to run on Firefox. Workaround: While allowing vmware-csd process to run on Firefox for the first time, select the Remember my Choice option for vmware-csd links and refresh the vcsa-setup.html file. This should prevent the blank banner on refresh of the vcsa-setup.html file.
Alternatively, close Firefox browser and reopen vcsa-setup.html. The Install and Upgrade buttons might not appear in the vCenter Server Appliance installer if you run it in Mozilla Firefox on a Windows 2008 Server OS, if the proxy settings are not configured properly
After you install the Client Integration Plug-in and open vcsa-setup.html in Mozilla Firefox on a Windows 2008 Server OS, you must allow the Client Support Daemon plug-in to run. After you select vmware-csd and click OK, the Install and Upgrade buttons might still not appear. The countdown for detecting the Client Integration Plug-in goes down to zero but nothing happens. This issue is related to the browser proxy settings. Workaround: Fix the Mozilla Firefox proxy settings: Navigate to the Firefox Options menu. Click Advanced, and click the Network tab. Click Settings. If Use system proxy settings is selected, click the Auto-detect proxy settings for this network radio button. If the Use manual proxy configuration is selected, set the proxy server for your network.
The vmware-csd process sometimes crashes if Windows updates are not installed, or if you do not have permission for the Client Integration Plugin log location
After launching vcsa-setup.html, the browser prompts you to allow the Client Integration plugin. For example, allow the vmware-csd process. After allowing the plugin to run, the vmware-csd process may crash. This issue could be produced if Windows updates are not installed or if you, as a Windows user, do not have permission to write in the Client Integration Log location. The log location is Users%USER%AppDataLocalVMware. Workaround: You need to install all Windows updates. Also you need to obtain permission to write in the Client Integration Plugin log location, which is Users%USER%AppDataLocalVMware. Dynamic DNS is not supported when installing vCenter Server Appliance in an IPv6 environment
When you install vCenter Server Appliance in an IPv4 environment, you can use Dynamic DNS by entering a value in the FQDN Optional text box. When you install vCenter Server Appliance in an IPv6 environment, the FQDN Optional text box is available, but if you enter a value, the installation will fail. Workaround: Leave the FQDN Optional text box empty when you install vCenter Server Appliance in an IPv6 environment. The command line deployment option --sso-ssl-thumbprint does not work for Platform Service Controller and vCenter Server Appliance
The command line deployment tool for vCenter Server Appliance provides the option --sso-ssl-thumbprint to verify the certificate of Platform Service Controller through a SHA1 checksum. Currently the option does not work. Workaround: Manually verify the SHA1 checksum before you deploy vCenter Server Appliance.
vCenter Server for Windows and vCenter Server Appliance Deployment Issues vCenter Server for Windows and vCenter Server Appliance installations fail when using non-ASCII or high ASCII characters in text boxes
Entering non-ASCII or high ASCII characters such as (é,è, ä, ö) in text boxes during vCenter Server for Windows or vCenter Server Appliance installation causes the install process to fail. Workaround: When deploying vCenter Server for Windows or vCenter Server Appliance, use only regular ASCII characters in the text boxes, with the exception of the following characters: brackets, slash (/), backslash (), caret (^), colon (:), semicolon (;), angle brackets (< and >), single quotation mark ('), double quotation mark ('), dollar sign ($), and ampersand (&). When you deploy Platform Services Controller or vCenter Server in an IPv6 environment, or you connect it to an external database, provide only fully qualified domain names (FQDNs)
The installation of the Platform Services Controller or vCenter Server does not support the use of IPv6 addresses. In addition, to configure the Platform Services Controller or vCenter Server with an external database, provide the FQDN of the target database server. Workaround: None. vCenter Server for Windows and vCenter Server Appliance installations fail when using an external database with manually customized database objects
If you attempt to use an external database with manually created database objects, the installation fails. The installer displays the error messages: install.vdcs.db.version.check.error and Installation of component VCSService Manager Failed with error code 1603. Workaround: Do not use an external database with manually customized database objects or when prompted by the wizard choose to erase the custom schema and create a new schema.
Client Integration Plug-In Installation Issues - NewVMware-ClientIntegrationPlugin-6.0.0 cannot be installed using Window System Account credentials
InstallCertificate method does not create the CIP directory in C:ProgramDataVMware folder when vmware-csd.exe runs with --install parameter using the Windows system account.
This results in installation failure of VMware-ClientIntegrationPlugin.
Workaround: None
Installation and uninstallation of the VMware Client Integration Plug-in might fail if some antivirus software is running
When you try to install or uninstall the VMWare Client Integration Plug-in while some antivirus software, for example, Avira Antivirus is running, the operation might fail. The antivirus software might block access to the Windows host files. An error message might be displayed: Error overwriting hosts file: boost::filesystem::copy_file: Access is denied: C:WindowsSystem32driversetchosts.new, C:WindowsSystem32driversetchosts. Workaround: Disable the antivirus software before you install or uninstall the VMware Client Integration Plug-in. vSphere Web Client login page might not detect correct version of Client Integration Plug-in
Although an earlier version of the Client Integration Plug-in might be installed on your system, the login page for the vSphere Web Client does not prompt you to upgrade the Client Integration Plug-in. After you log in to the vSphere Web Client, and select Help > About VMware vSphere, the dialog displays a link to upgrade the Client Integration Plug-in. Workaround: Log in to the vSphere Web Client, and select Help > About VMware vSphere. Click the Upgrade Client Integration Plug-in link to install the latest version of the plug-in.
VMware vSphere Authentication Proxy Installation Issues VMware vSphere Authentication Proxy installation fails with error
When you log in with Active Directory domain administrator credentials to perform the installation, the VMware vSphere Authentication Proxy installation fails with the following error: Error 1920. Service VMware vSphere Authentication Proxy Adapter (vmware-cam-adapter) failed to start...
Workaround: None.
Upgrade IssuesReview also the Installation Issues section of the release notes. Many installation issues can also impact your upgrade process. New Database configuration firstboot fails during upgrade Upgrade failed when starting ESXi dump collector with an error message: Error in accessing windows registry entry during DSN analysis: Error in accessing registry entry for DSN 'YOUR DSN NAME '. Please make sure the DSN is set up properly.' Workaround: Before restarting the upgrade: Remove the trailing white space from the DSN name. Restore the environment to state prior to the failed upgrade.
New Policy tag and category merge during vCenter Server upgrade from 5.5 to 6.0 can cause a Rule-Set1 alert When you upgrade vCenter Server 5.5 to 6.0, policy tags and categories with case-insensitive names are merged incorrectly. For example, if a vCenter Server database has two tags in two categories with different cases before upgrade, such as 'One' and 'one,' with each tag belonging to a separate storage profile before the upgrade, the upgrade process merges the tags into a single tag and a single category, such as'One.' As a result of the case-insensitive tag and category merge, the storage profile which has the tag that was removed, such as 'one' in the example above, has a Rule-Set1 alert. Workaround: None. New Fibre Channel host bus adapter device number might change after ESXi upgrade from 5.5.x to 6.0
During ESXi upgrade from 5.5.x to 6.0, the Fibre Channel host bus adapter device number changes occasionally. The device number might change to another number if you use the esxcli storage core adapter list command. For example, the device numbers for a Fibre Channel host bus adapter might look similar to the following before ESXi upgrade: HBA Name
––––––––
vmhba3
vmhba4
vmhba5
vmhba66
The device numbers from the Fibre Channel host bus adapter might look similar to the following after an ESXi upgrade 6.0: HBA Name
––––––––
vmhba64
vmhba65
vmhba5
vmhba6
The example illustrates the random change that might occur if you use the esxcli storage core adapter list command: the device alias numbers vmhba2 and vmhba3 change to vmhba64 and vmhba65, while device numbers vmhba5 and vmhba6 are not changed. However, if you used the esxcli hardware pci list command, the device numbers do not change after upgrade. This problem is external to VMware and may not affect you. ESXi displays device alias names but it does not use them for any operations. You can use the host profile to reset the device alias name. Consult VMware product documentation and knowledge base articles. Workaround: None. New Internal error during firstboot phase of upgrade to vCenter Server with External Platform Service Controller When you upgrade a vSphere 5.5.x environment that has been set up for High Availability to vSphere 6.0, an internal error might occur during firstboot phase in rare cases during upgrade of the first management node. Workaround: Retry the management node upgrade. No support for upgrading vCenter Server replicated configurations in the release
When upgrading a vCenter Server configuration with replication between two Single Sign-On infrastructure nodes, if the primary infrastructure node becomes inaccessible, the replicated infrastructure node does not fail over. Workaround: None. Do not upgrade replicated vCenter Server configurations. Linked Mode is not supported after upgrade of vCenter Server 5.x with embedded vCenter Single Sign-On if the vCenter Sign-On is not replicated before the upgrade
When upgrading vCenter Server 5.x instances with an embedded vCenter Single Sign-On, the installer automatically upgrades the configuration to the embedded 6.0 deployment model: vCenter Server with an embedded Platform Services Controller. VMware supports linking between vCenter Server 6.0 instances only when using the external Platform Services Controller deployment model. Since the upgrade does not change the Platform Services Controller's replication configuration, it will not preserve the Linked Mode relationship of the vCenter Server instances if their embedded vCenter Single Sign-On is not replicated. Workaround: None. Active Directory settings are not retained post-upgrade
The Active Directory settings configured in the ESXi host before upgrade are not retained when the host is upgraded to ESXi 6.0. Workaround: Add the host to the Active Directory Domain after upgrade if the pre-upgrade ESXi version is 5.1 or later. Do not add the host to the Active Directory Domain after upgrade if the pre-upgrade ESXi version is ESXi 5.0.x. vCenter Server for Windows installer does not detect products that are past their end of life
During upgrade to vCenter Server for Windows 6.0, the installer does not detect products such as the VMware Converter application if its running on a VM or integrated with legacy vCenter Server. This might prevent a successful upgrade to vCenter Server for Windows 6.0. Workaround: Before starting the vCenter Server upgrade, remove VMware Converter or any other products on the vCenter Server machine that are past their end of life date. vCenter Server Appliance upgrade fails when using a static IP address which is not DNS resolvable
Upgrading vCenter Server Appliance fails when the static IP address for latest vCenter Server Appliance in the Setup Temporary Network wizard is not DNS resolvable. Workaround: Use a static IP address which is DNS resolvable for vCenter Server Appliance in the Setup temporary Network wizard. vCenter Server Appliance upgrade fails with an internal error during data export
vCenter Server Appliance upgrade fails at the data export phase with one of the following errors: Workaround for Internal error occurs during export: Check whether the static IP address and DNS you entered in the Setup Temporary Network wizard of the vCenter Server Appliance upgrade interface are valid and belong to the same VLAN. Workaround for Cannot upload UpgradeRunner via ssh tunnel: Check whether the static IP address entered in the Setup Temporary Network wizard of the vCenter Server Appliance upgrade interface is the same as the source 5.x vCenter Server IP address. vCenter Server Appliance upgrade process does not preserve the /etc/hosts file
The vCenter Server Appliance upgrade process does not migrate the source /etc/hosts file to the newly deployed vCenter Server Appliance. Workaround: Make a backup of the /etc/hosts file on another machine before the upgrade process and apply it to the newly deployed vCenter Server Appliance after the upgrade. vCenter Server authentication error during upgrade
If your legacy vCenter Server SSL certificates are expired, the installer provides a general error message instead of a specific one: There is a problem authenticating in to the legacy vCenter Server using the credentials provided by the user. Resolution: Check if vCenter server is up and running. Double check provided vCenter Server credentials.
Workaround: If you encounter an authentication error, you can check the vpxd.log at C:ProgramDataVMwareVMware VirtualCenterLogs to discover the exact reason for the upgrade error message. Before upgrading, check for SSL certificate validity. Replace any expired SSL certificates for vCenter Single Sign-On, vCenter Inventory Services, vCenter Server, vSphere Web Client, or any other solution. vSphere Web Client does not display Single Sign-On group members from trusted domains after install or upgrade of vCenter Server
During deployment, if you add a domain to vCenter Single Sign-On as an identity source, you can then add users from the domain and the users from the trusted domains to groups in vCenter Single Sign-On. For example, you add the domain myDomain1.com as an identity source and it has a forest level trust with myDomain2.com, then you add the users from the trusted domain user1@myDomain2.com. After a user from myDomain2.com becomes a member of the Single Sign-On group, that user has the corresponding privileges. However, that user is not displayed in vSphere Web Client. Workaround: Use tools for managing standard Directory Services (OpenLDAP or Active Directory) to examine the Single Sign-On domain and verify users are in the appropriate groups. Unable to open vSphere Web Client from a server outside the domain of vCenter Server using the IP address
After upgrading vCenter Server, vSphere Web Client does not open from a server outside the domain of vCenter Server. Workaround: Make the hostname (fully qualified domain name) resolvable from outside network. Add the fully qualified domain name ipaddress mapping in %WINDIR%System32driversetchostsfile. vCenter Server Inventory 5.1.x appears empty after upgrading vCenter Single Sign-On to 6.0 and before upgrading vCenter Server
When logging in to the vSphere 5.1.x Web Client using Administrator@vsphere.local or admin@System-Domain after upgrading only the Single Sign-On service to 6.0, the vCenter Server count and inventory display appear empty if you have a 5.1.x environment with vCenter Server 5.1.x installed on one system and a 5.1.x Single Sign-On service installed on another system, and you upgrade only the Single Sign-On service. Using a 6.0 Single Sign-On service with 5.1.x vCenter Server, vSphere Web Client, and Inventory Services is not supported. Workaround: Before logging in to the Administrator@vsphere.local account or admin@System-Domain account, upgrade vCenter Server to 6.0. The vSphere Web Client and Inventory Services are upgraded to version 6.0 during the vCenter Server upgrade. vSphere Web Client displays an empty inventory after upgrade
The vSphere Web Client sometimes shows the inventory as empty when you log in using the domain user account after upgrade. This can happen when you re-install vCenter Server on the same machine with the same IP address or fully qualified domain name. Workaround: Unregister the service using the Invoke Method link. Access the CM Managed Object Browser using the following URL: https://VC_HOSTNAME/cm/mob. In the Methods table, select Search. In the CmSearchCriteria text box, enter the information for your vCenter Server to list the vCenter Server 5.5 instances.
<searchCriteria>
<serviceType>
<productId>com.vmware.cis</productId>
<typeId>urn:vc</typeId>
</serviceType>
</searchCriteria> Record each vCenter Server serviceId. Select UnregisterService. To delete the services, enter the corresponding serviceIDs from step 4 and click the Invoke Method link.
vSphere Web Client displays an empty inventory after upgrade of vCenter Single Sign-On and vCenter Server 5.1.x in Multisite mode
The vSphere Web Client sometimes shows the Inventory as empty when logging in to vSphere Web Client after a sequential upgrade of vCenter Single Sign-On and vCenter Server in Multisite mode from 5.1.x to 6.0. You might receive the error: No matching LinkedVcGroup found
This issue occurs if there are duplicate vCenter Server registration entries in the lookup service prior to upgrading to 6.0, and if Component Manager does not remove the stalled 5.1 vCenter Server end points during the upgrade. Workaround: You can remove the duplicate entries by connecting to the Managed Object Browser. Log in into CM MOB: https://ip_addr/cm/mob using the Administrator@vsphere.local. In the Methods table, use Search. Find all service end points by entering empty searchCriteria as follows:
<searchCriteria>
</searchCriteria> Record each serviceId for the 5.1 instance. Select UnregisterService. Unregister the 5.1.x instance by the serviceid.
UpgradeRunner fails to launch
When a 5.x vCenter Server uses an unsupported database and you attempt to upgrade it to vCenter Server 6.0, the Upgrade Wizard fails with an error: Failed to launch UpgradeRunner. Please check the vminst.log and vcsUpgradeUpgradeRunner.log files in the temp folder for more details.
Workaround: Upgrade the database to a supported database version. If you are using Microsoft SQL, upgrade to Microsoft SQL Server 2012 or Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 SP2. If you are using Oracle, upgrade to Oracle12g. Virtual SAN host alarm after vCenter Server 5.5 to vCenter Server Upgrade 6.0
A virtual SAN host vendor provider registration alarm appears after upgrading a vCenter Server 5.5 instance with vSAN clusters: Default alarm that is triggered when Virtual SAN host vendor provider registration or deregistration is unsuccessful
Virtual SAN host vendor registration is successful by this time and the alarm is not meaningful. Workaround: Ignore the alarm message. After ESXi upgrade to 6.0 hosts that were previously added to the domain are no longer joined to the domain
When upgrading to from vSphere 5.5 to vSphere 6.0 for the first time, the Active Directory configuration is not retained. Workaround: After upgrade, rejoin the hosts to the vCenter Server domain: Add the hosts to vCenter Server. Join the hosts to domain (for example, example.com) Upgrade all the hosts to ESXi 6.0. Manually join one recently upgraded host to domain. Extract the host profile and disabled all other profiles except Authentication. Apply the manually joined host profile to the other recently upgraded hosts.
Previously running VMware ESXi Dump Collector service resets to default Disabled setting after upgrade of vCenter Server for Windows
The upgrade process installs VMware Vsphere ESXi Dump Collector 6.0 as part of a group of optional services for vCenter Server. You must manually enable the VMware vSphere ESXi Dump Collector service to use it as part of vCenter Server 6.0 for Windows. Workaround: Read the VMware documentation or search the VMware Knowledge Base for information on how to enable and run optional services in vCenter Server 6.0 for Windows. Enable the VMware vSphere ESXi Dump Collector service in the operating system: In the Control Panel menu, select Administrative Tools and double-click on Services. Right click VMware vSphere ESXi Dump Collector and Edit Startup Type. Set the Start-up Type to Automatic. Right Click VMware vSphere ESXi Dump Collector and Start.
The Service Start-up Type is set to automatic and the service is in a running state. Relocation of hardware 3 VM from legacy ESX hosts to ESXi 6.0 fails
Registering and upgrading a virtual hardware version 3 VM is supported on the ESXi 6.0 release. Migrating a hardware version 3 VM from or to ESXi 6.0 is not supported. Attempts to migrate a hardware version 3 VM fail with an error message: The virtual machine version is not compatible with the version of the host x
Workaround: Upgrade the hardware 3 VM to virtual hardware version 4 or later before performing a migration. Log in to vCenter Server through the vSphere Web Client. Register the hardware version 3 VM on the legacy ESXi server or ESXi 6.0 server. Right-click the VM and select All vCenter Actions. Select Compatibility. Select Upgrade VM Compatibility. Click Yes. Select Compatible with ESX 3.5 and later and click OK.
After upgrading the VM, you can perform power operations and VM migrations.
Licensing IssuesYou might view licensing related alarms that are not relevant to vSphere 6.0
In the Alarm Definitions list for a vCenter Server system, you might view the following licensing alarms that are not applicable for the vSphere 6.0 release. License error License user threshold monitoring License capacity monitoring Host flash capacity exceeds the licensed limit for Virtual SAN
Workaround: Ignore the licensing alarms that are not applicable for vSphere 6.0.
vCenter Single Sign-On and Certificate Management IssuesvSphere Certificate Manager error when using chained signing certificate.
You run the vSphere Certificate Manager utility and select Option 1 to replace the machine SSL certificate with a custom certificate or Option 5 to replace solution user certificates with custom certificates.
In response to the prompts, you supply a chained signing certificate. The certificate replacement fails. This is an issue only with Option 1 and with Option 5. Workaround: Publish the full chained signing certificate to the TRUSTED_ROOTS store using the following command:
C:Program FilesVMwarevCenter Servervmafdd>dir-cli trustedcert publish --cert --chain Open the signing certificate file and edit it to leave only the top certificate in the file, which is the leaf of the chain. Save that file to a new file name, such as myleaf.crt. Run Certificate Manager again, use Option 1 and then Option 2, and supply the leaf of the chain (myleaf.crt in the example above) when prompted for the signing certificate, not the full signing certificate.
The operation succeeds. Invalid Arguments Found error when running certool --gencsr.
When you run certool --gencsr in a Windows environment, an Invalid Arguments Found error occurs. Workaround: Run certool --initcsr instead.
When your run certool --initcsr, you can ignore the message This is deprecated. Use gencsr instead.
Multiple roles for a user with Global Permissions on permissions page
An administrator gives Global Permissions to a user, and assigns a specific role to that user. If the administrator assigns another role on a specific object, both roles are shown in the vSphere Web Client if you select the object, click Manage, and click Permissions. The user has the correct set of privileges on the object, but both the inherited and the local privileges are shown, which is confusing. Workaround: None
Cannot connect to VM console after SSL certificate upgrade of ESXi host
A certificate validation error might result if you upgrade the SSL certificate that is used by an ESXi host, and you then attempt to connect to the VM console of any VM running when the certificate was replaced. This is because the old certificate is cached, and any new console connection is rejected due to the mismatch.
The console connection might still succeed, for example, if the old certificate can be validated through other means, but is not guaranteed to succeed. Existing virtual machine console connections are not affected, but you might see the problem if the console was running during the certificate replacement, was stopped, and was restarted. Workaround: Place the host in maintenance mode or suspend or power off all VMs. Only running VMs are affected. As a best practice, perform all SSL certificate upgrades after placing the host in maintenance mode.
Networking Issues Certain vSphere functionality does not support IPv6
You can enable IPv6 for all nodes and components except for the following features: IPv6 addresses for ESXi hosts and vCenter Server that are not mapped to fully qualified domain names (FQDNs) on the DNS server.
Workaround: Use FQDNs or make sure the IPv6 addresses are mapped to FQDNs on the DNS servers for reverse name lookup. Virtual volumes PXE booting as a part of Auto Deploy and Host Profiles
Workaround: PXE boot an ESXi host over IPv4 and configure the host for IPv6 by using Host Profiles. Connection of ESXi hosts and the vCenter Server Appliance to Active Directory
Workaround: Use Active Directory over LDAP as an identity source in vCenter Single Sign-On. NFS 4.1 storage with Kerberos
Workaround: Use NFS 4.1 with AUTH_SYS. Authentication Proxy Connection of the vSphere Management Assistant and vSphere Command-Line Interface to Active Directory.
Workaround: Connect to Active Directory over LDAP. Use of the vSphere Client to enable IPv6 on vSphere features
Workaround: Use the vSphere Web Client to enable IPv6 for vSphere features.
Recursive panic might occur when using ESXi Dump Collector
Recursive kernel panic might occur when the host is in panic state while it displays the purple diagnostic screen and write the core dump over the network to the ESXi Dump Collector. A VMkernel zdump file might not be available for troubleshooting on the ESXi Dump Collector in vCenter Server. In the case of a recursive kernel panic, the purple diagnostic screen on the host displays the following message:
2014-09-06T01:59:13.972Z cpu6:38776)Starting network coredump from host_ip_address to esxi_dump_collector_ip_address.
[7m2014-09-06T01:59:13.980Z cpu6:38776)WARNING: Net: 1677: Check what type of stack we are running on [0m
Recursive panic on same CPU (cpu 6, world 38776, depth 1): ip=0x418000876a27 randomOff=0x800000:
#GP Exception 13 in world 38776:vsish @ 0x418000f0eeec
Secondary panic trap frame registers:
RAX:0x0002000001230121 RCX:0x000043917bc1af80 RDX:0x00004180009d5fb8 RBX:0x000043917bc1aef0
RSP:0x000043917bc1aee8 RBP:0x000043917bc1af70 RSI:0x0002000001230119 RDI:0x0002000001230121
R8: 0x0000000000000038 R9: 0x0000000000000040 R10:0x0000000000010000 R11:0x0000000000000000
R12:0x00004304f36b0260 R13:0x00004304f36add28 R14:0x000043917bc1af20 R15:0x000043917bc1afd0
CS: 0x4010 SS: 0x0000 FS: 0x4018 GS: 0x4018 IP: 0x0000418000f0eeec RFG:0x0000000000010006
2014-09-06T01:59:14.047Z cpu6:38776)Backtrace for current CPU #6, worldID=38776, rbp=0x43917bc1af70
2014-09-06T01:59:14.056Z cpu6:38776)0x43917bc1aee8:[0x418000f0eeec]do_free_skb@com.vmware.driverAPI#9.2+0x4 stack: 0x0, 0x43a18b4a5880,
2014-09-06T01:59:14.068Z cpu6:38776)Recursive panic on same CPU (cpu 6, world 38776): ip=0x418000876a27 randomOff=0x800000:
#GP Exception 13 in world 38776:vsish @ 0x418000f0eeec
Halt$Si0n5g# PbC8PU 7. Recursive kernel panic might occur when the VMkernel panics while heavy traffic is passing through the physical network adapter that is also configured to send the core dumps to the collector on vCenter Server. Workaround: Perform either of the following workarounds: Dedicate a physical network adapter to core dump transmission only to reduce the impact from system and virtual machine traffic. Disable the ESXi Dump Collector on the host by running the following ESXCLI console command:
esxcli system coredump network set --enable false
In the vSphere Web Client, the direction of the traffic filtering and marking rules is inverted compared with vSphere Web Client 5.5
The direction of a traffic rule appears inverted in the vSphere Web Client in the following cases: After you upgrade vSphere Web Client 5.5 to vSphere Web Client 6.0, the direction of existing traffic rules on a distributed switch is inverted. If you manually redefine traffic rules from a vSphere 5.5 environment into a vSphere 6.0 environment, the traffic rules are applied to traffic in the opposite direction.
In vSphere Web Client 5.5, the meaning of 'ingress' and 'egress' in traffic marking rules is reversed compared with 'ingress' and 'egress' in the other features of distributed switches, such as traffic shaping, where the direction is determined with regard to the switch. For example, 'ingress' in traffic rules stands for traffic leaving the switch while for the other features it stands for traffic entering the switch. The vSphere Web Client 6.0 inverts ingress and egress directions so that they match the meaning in the other distributed switch features. Workaround: If you manually redefine traffic rules from a vSphere 5.5 environment in a vSphere 6.0 environment, reverse the traffic direction of the rules. - When you hot-add a virtual network adapter that has network resources overcommitted, the virtual machine might be powered off
On a vSphere Distributed Switch that has Network I/O Control enabled, a powered on virtual machine is configured with a bandwidth reservation according to the reservation for virtual machine system traffic on the physical network adapter on the host. You hot-add a network adapter to the virtual machine setting network bandwidth reservation that is over the bandwidth available on the physical network adapters on the host. When you hot-add the network adapter, the VMkernel starts a Fast Suspend and Resume (FSR) process. Because the virtual machine requests more network resources than available, the VMkernel exercises the failure path of the FSR process. A fault in this failure path causes the virtual machine to power off. Workaround: Do not configure bandwidth reservation when you add a network adapter to a powered on virtual machine.
Storage Issues
NFS Version 4.1 Issues Virtual machines on an NFS 4.1 datastore fail after the NFS 4.1 share recovers from an all paths down (APD) state
When the NFS 4.1 storage enters an APD state and then exits it after a grace period, powered on virtual machines that run on the NFS 4.1 datastore fail. The grace period depends on the array vendor.
After the NFS 4.1 share recovers from APD, you see the following message on the virtual machine summary page in the vSphere Web Client:
The lock protecting VM.vmdk has been lost, possibly due to underlying storage issues. If this virtual machine is configured to be highly available, ensure that the virtual machine is running on some other host before clicking OK.
After you click OK, crash files are generated and the virtual machine powers off. Workaround: None. NFS 4.1 client loses synchronization with server when trying to create new sessions
After a period of interrupted connectivity with the server, the NFS 4.1 client might lose synchronization with the server when trying to create new sessions. When this occurs, the vmkernel.log file contains a throttled series of warning messages noting that an NFS41 CREATE_SESSION request failed with NFS4ERR_SEQ_MISORDERED. Workaround: Perform the following sequence of steps. Attempt to unmount the affected file systems. If no files are open when you unmount, this operation succeeds and the NFS client module cleans up its internal state. You can then remount the file systems that were unmounted and resume normal operation. Take down the NICs connecting to the mounts' IP addresses and leave them down long enough for several server lease times to expire. Five minutes should be sufficient. You can then bring the NICs back up. Normal operation should resume. If the preceding steps fail, reboot the ESXi host.
NFS 4.1 client loses synchronization with an NFS server and connection cannot be recovered even when session is reset
After a period of interrupted connectivity with the server, the NFS 4.1 client might lose synchronization with the server and the synchronized connection with the server cannot be recovered even if the session is reset. This problem is caused by an EMC VNX server issue. When this occurs, the vmkernel.log file contains a throttled series of warning messages noting that NFS41: NFS41ProcessSessionUp:2111: resetting session with mismatched clientID; probable server bug Workaround: To end the session, unmount all datastores and then remount them. ONTAP Kerberos volumes become inaccessible or experience VM I/O failures
A NetApp server does not respond when it receives RPCSEC_GSS requests that arrive out of sequence. As a result, the corresponding I/O operation stalls unless it is terminated and the guest OS can stall or encounter I/O errors. Additionally, according to RFC 2203, the client can only have a number of outstanding requests equal to seq_window (32 in case of ONTAP) according to RPCSEC_GSS context and it must wait until the lowest of these outstanding requests is completed by the server. Therefore, the server never replies to the out-of-sequence RPCSEC_GSS request, and the client stops sending requests to the server after it reaches the maximum seq_window number of outstanding requests. This causes the volume to become inaccessible. Workaround: None. Check the latest Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) to find a supported ONTAP server that has resolved this problem. You cannot create a larger than 1 TB virtual disk on NFS 4.1 datastore from EMC VNX
NFS version 4.1 storage from EMC VNX with firmware version 7.x supports only 32-bit file formats. This prevents you from creating virtual machine files that are larger than 1 TB on the NFS 4.1 datastore. Workaround: Update the EMC VNX array to version 8.x. NFS 4.1 datastores backed by EMC VNX storage become inaccessible during firmware upgrades
When you upgrade EMC VNX storage to a new firmware, NFS 4.1 datastores mounted on the ESXi host become inaccessible. This occurs because the VNX server changes its major device number after the firmware upgrade. The NFS 4.1 client on the host does not expect the major number to change after it has established connectivity with the server, and causes the datastores to be permanently inaccessible. Workaround: Unmount all NFS 4.1 datastores exported by the VNX server before upgrading the firmware. When ESXi hosts use different security mechanisms to mount the same NFS 4.1 datastore, virtual machine failures might occur
If different ESXi hosts mount the same NFS 4.1 datastore using different security mechanisms, AUTH_SYS and Kerberos, virtual machines placed on this datastore might experience problems and failure. For example, your attempts to migrate the virtual machines from host1 to host2 might fail with permission denied errors. You might also observe these errors when you attempt to access a host1 virtual machine from host2. Workaround: Make sure that all hosts that mount an NFS 4.1 volume use the same security type. Attempts to copy read-only files to NFS 4.1 datastore with Kerberos fail
The failure might occur when you attempt to copy data from a source file to a target file. The target file remains empty. Workaround: None. When you create a datastore cluster, uniformity of NFS 4.1 security types is not guaranteed
While creating a datastore cluster, vSphere does not verify and enforce the uniformity of NFS 4.1 security types. As a result, datastores that use different security types, AUTH_SYS and Kerberos, might be a part of the same cluster. If you migrate a virtual machine from a datastore with Kerberos to a datastore with AUTH_SYS, the security level for the virtual machine becomes lower.
This issue applies to such functionalities as vMotion, Storage vMotion, DRS, and Storage DRS. Workaround: If Kerberos security is required for your virtual machines, make sure that all NFS 4.1 volumes that compose the same cluster use only the Kerberos security type. Do not include NFS 3 datastores, because NFS 3 supports only AUTH_SYS. On NFS 4.1 datastores, virtual machine replication does not proceed
vSphere Replication does not support NFS 4.1 datastores. As a result, the replication process does not proceed. The task progress remains at 0%. Workaround: None.
Virtual Volumes Issues Attempts to upload files directly to a virtual datastore fail
When you use the Upload the File to the Datastore option of the vSphere Web Client, the upload operation fails for a virtual datastore. Workaround: Virtual Volumes do not support uploading files directly to the virtual datastores. You must first create a folder on the virtual datastore, and then upload the files into the folder. Failure to create virtual datastores due to incorrect certificate used by Virtual Volumes VASA provider
Occasionally, a self-signed certificate used by the Virtual Volumes VASA provider might incorrectly define the KeyUsage extension as critical without setting the keyCertSign bit. In this case, the provider registration succeeds. However, you are not able to create a virtual datastore from storage containers reported by the VASA provider. Workaround: Self-signed certificate used by the VASA provider at the time of provider registration should not define KeyUsage extension as critical without setting the keyCertSign bit. If you use VIM APIs to create a virtual disk on Virtual Volumes storage and do not to specify a value for the VirtualDisk.FlatVer2BackingInfo.thinProvisoned parameter, a thick provisioned disk is created
The default value for the VirtualDisk.FlatVer2BackingInfo.thinProvisoned parameter is false. If you leave this parameter unspecified, a thick provisioned virtual disk is created.
However, certain Virtual Volumes arrays might support only the thin provisioned disk type. On these arrays, virtual disk creation through VIM APIs might fail if you do not set the parameter to true. Workaround: Perform the applicable workaround: If you use VIM APIs to create virtual disks on Virtual Volumes storage, make sure to explicitly set the VirtualDisk.FlatVer2BackingInfo.thinProvisoned parameter to true. Use the vSphere Web Client to create virtual machines on virtual datastores. By default, the vSphere Web Client creates thin provisioned virtual disks.
Attempts to create a virtual machine might fail if you place a VM configuration file and virtual disk on different datastores, Virtual SAN and Virtual Volumes, and attach different storage policies
This problem might occur if you use the following datastore combinations for your VM configuration file and virtual disk placement at the VM creation time: Virtual SAN and Virtual Volumes, Virtual Volumes and Virtual SAN, Virtual Volumes and Virtual Volumes (with different storage policy support).
You might also experience problems when migrating a single virtual disk out of Virtual SAN VM onto Virtual Volumes datastore. Workaround:
Create a virtual machine on one datastore, for example, Virtual SAN. Use the Edit Settings wizard of the vSphere Web Client to add a new virtual disk and place it to another datastore, for example, Virtual Volumes.
Virtual Volumes do not support Storage DRS
In this vSphere 6.0 release, Storage DRS ignores virtual datastores. Workaround: None.
General Storage Issues Attempts to create a VMFS datastore on Dell EqualLogic LUNs fail when QLogic iSCSI adapters are used
You cannot create a VMFS datastore on a Dell EqualLogic storage device that is discovered through QLogic iSCSI adapters.
When your attempts fail, the following error message appears on vCenter Server: Unable to create Filesystem, please see VMkernel log for more details: Connection timed out. The VMkernel log contains continuous iscsi session blocked and iscsi session unblocked messages. On the Dell EqualLogic storage array, monitoring logs show a protocol error in packet received from the initiator message for the QLogic initiator IQN names. This issue is observed when you use the following components: Dell EqualLogic array firmware : V6.0.7 QLogic iSCSI adapter firmware versions : 3.00.01.75 Driver version : 5.01.03.2-7vmw-debug
Workaround: Enable the iSCSI ImmediateData adapter parameter on QLogic iSCSI adapter. By default, the parameter is turned off. You cannot change this parameter from the vSphere Web Client or by using esxcli commands. To change this parameter, use the vendor provided software, such as QConvergeConsole CLI. ESXi host with Emulex OneConnect HBA fails to boot
When an ESXi host has the Emulex OneConnect HBA installed, the host might fail to boot. This failure occurs due to a problem with the Emulex firmware. Workaround: To correct this problem, contact Emulex to get the latest firmware for your HBA. If you continue to use the old firmware, follow these steps to avoid the boot failure: When ESXi is loading, press Shift+O before booting the ESXi kernel. Leave the existing boot option as is, and add a space followed by dmaMapperPolicy=false.
Renamed tags appear as missing in the Edit VM Storage Policy wizard
A storage policy can include rules based on datastore tags. If you rename a tag, the storage policy that references this tag does not update the tag automatically, and shows it as missing. Workaround: Remove the tag marked as missing from the storage policy and then add the renamed tag. Reapply the storage policy to all out of date entities. Flash Read Cache does not accelerate I/Os during APD
When the flash disk configured as a virtual flash resource for Flash Read Cache is faulty or inaccessible, or the disk storage is unreachable from the host, the Flash Read Cache instances on that host are invalid and do not work to accelerate I/Os. As a result, the caches do not serve stale data after connectivity is re-established between the host and storage. The connectivity outage might be temporary, all paths down (APD) condition, or permanent, permanent device loss (PDL). This condition persists until the virtual machine is power-cycled. Workaround: The virtual machine can be power-cycled to restore I/O acceleration using Flash Read Cache. When a virtual disk is shared across different virtual machines, changes to the disk's storage policy on an individual virtual machine might not be reflected on other virtual machines
Consider the following example. In vSphere, create a virtual disk that is shared across different virtual machines, VM1 and VM2. Edit VM1 settings and assign a storage policy, for example SP1, to the shared virtual disk. You can then switch to VM2 and change the disk's storage policy from SP1 to SP2. However, though the change is shown for VM2, it might not be seen through VM1 settings. For VM1, the disk's storage policy incorrectly continues to be SP1. Workaround: If you need to change a VM storage policy for a virtual disk that is shared across different virtual machines, make sure to make your changes for all virtual machines through the VM Storage Policies interface. All Paths Down (APD) or path-failovers might cause system failure
In a shared SAS environment, APD or path-failover situations might cause system failure if the disks are claimed by the lsi_msgpt3 driver and they are experiencing heavy I/O activity. Workaround: None Frequent use of SCSI abort commands can cause system failure
With heavy I/O activity, frequent SCSI abort commands can cause a very slow response from the MegaRAID controller. If an unexpected interrupt occurs with resource references that were already released in a previous context, system failure might result. Workaround: None iSCSI connections fail and datastores become inaccessible when IQN changes
This problem might occur if you change the IQN of an iSCSI adapter while iSCSI sessions on the adapter are still active. Workaround: When you change the IQN of an iSCSI adapter, no session should be active on that adapter. Remove all iSCSI sessions and all targets on the adapter before changing the IQN. Storage arrays present in the vSphere environment disappear from the database after you restart vCenter Server
After a restart, vCenter Server might take longer to rebuild its inventory. This delay might cause miscommunication between the Storage Monitoring Service (SMS) and VASA providers that represent storage arrays. As a result, VASA providers fail to report that arrays are available. Workaround: Restart the vSphere Profile-Driven Storage service. You cannot install legacy vCenter Server plug-ins and extensions on vCenter Server 6.0
Due to a security-related change in vCenter Server 6.0, your attempts to install legacy extensions on vCenter Server 6.0 might fail. The extensions include those that were implemented by a third party against older versions of vCenter Server, such as version 5.5, 5.0, and so on. Workaround: vCenter Server does not maintain backward compatibility between major releases. Third parties must upgrade their vCenter Server plug-ins and extensions to a later version compatible with vCenter Server 6.0. Disk dump fails if NVMe flash disk is used as diagnostic partition
If you format an NVMe flash disk as an active diagnostic partition, disk dump during system problems might fail with the messages similar to the following: DiskDump failed : Could not dump header 0xbad001 Workaround: Avoid configuring a diagnostic partition on an NVMe flash disk. If the partition already exists on the NVMe disk, perform the following steps:
Disable the existing disk dump partition:
~ # esxcli system coredump partition set -u Configure the disk dump partition on another partition:
~ # esxcli system coredump partition set -p mpx.vmhba2:C0:T0:L0:7
Newly assigned LUN is not recognized by storage rescan
When a new LUN is assigned to an ESXi host by a storage array tool, the host does not discover the LUN connected through the controller that is claimed by the lsi_msgpt3 driver. Performing a storage rescan does not resolve the problem. Workaround: Reboot the ESXi host. nvmecli online and offline operations might not always take effect
When you perform the nvmecli device online -A vmhba* operation to bring a NVMe device online, the operation appears to be successful. However, the device might still remain in offline state. Workaround: Check the status of NVMe devices by running the nvmecli device list command. The vSphere Web Client does not display the Physical Location property of storage devices connected to ESXi hosts through LSI controllers
Storage devices connected through any type of LSI controllers do no display their location in the vSphere Web Client. Workaround: Determine the type of a storage device by running the following command:
esxcli storage core device list -d device_name
The Drive Type field in the output indicates whether the device is logical or physical. Obtain the location of the device by running the appropriate command:
Icon that marks storage devices as flash or HDD is not updated in the Storage Devices view of the vSphere Web Client
You can navigate to ESXi host > Manage > Storage > Storage Devices view, and use an appropriate icon to mark a storage device as flash or HDD. When the task completes successfully, the icon is expected to change to its opposite. However, the icon is not updated correctly even when the task is successful. Workaround: Click Global Refresh button to update the icon.
Server Configuration IssuesRemediation fails when applying a host profile from a stateful host to a host provisioned with Auto Deploy
When applying a host profile from a statefully deployed host to a host provisioned with Auto Deploy (stateless host) with no local storage, the remediation attempt fails with one of the following error messages: The vmhba device at PCI bus address sxxxxxxxx.xx is not present on your host. You must shut down and then insert a card into PCI slot yy. The type of card should exactly match the one in the reference host.
No valid coredump partition found.
Workaround: Disable the plug-in that is causing the issue (for example, the Device Alias Configuration or Core Dump Configuration) from the host profile, and then remediate the host profile. Applying host profile with static IP to a host results in compliance error
If you extract a host profile from a host with a DHCP network configuration, and then edit the host profile to have a static IP address, a compliance error occurs with the following message when you apply it to another host: Number of IPv4 routes did not match.
Workaround: Before extracting the host profile from the DHCP host, configure the host so that it has a static IP address.
vCenter Server, vSphere Web Client, and vSphere Client Issues
New Tag operations allowed for users without assigned permission
In the vSphere Web Client, you can manage user privileges for tags and categories. For example, you can deny permission for common tag operations for tag objects and for specific users. However, the user who was denied permission continues to see the tag and can perform various operation, including deleting the object. Workaround: None. Not all services restart after you stop multiple services in vCenter Server for Window
After you stop multiple services in vCenter Server for Windows, some services do not restart after 20 minutes. The services that do not restart might include PostgreSQL, invsvc, and vpxd. Workaround: Run the service-control command to start the services. IIAD generates log bundles in different locations
Interprocess Interrogation and Activation Daemon (IIAD) generates the log bundles for vCenter Server during service remediation if the service does not respond to API calls. These log bundles can be found in the following locations: For CloudVM: /storage/core For vCenter Server for Windows: VMWARE_DATA_DIR/core (for example, C:ProgramDataVMwarevCenterServerdatacore)
Workaround: None. The Alarm Definition list contain deprecated alarm definitions
In the vSphere Web Client, if you click on a vCenter Server instance, then click the Manage tab, and click Alarm Definitions. You can see the Host service console swap rates alarm in the Alarms Definition list. The alarm is deprecated, because vSphere 6.0 supports ESXi and not the service console. Workaround: none. When you export customized performance charts in .jpeg or .png format, part of the legend is missing
When you work with multiple counters in the advanced performance charts, if a scroll bar appears, the exported image is truncated. As a result, you cannot see all counters in the legend. Workaround: Scroll manually and export the diagram when you can see the counters you need on the screen. Some anti-virus software detect an executable from the vCenter Client Integrations Plug-in as a threat
When you attempt to install the vCenter Client Integrations Plug-in, your anti-virus software might display a warning about a Trojan Horse threat. This occurs because one of the Client Integration Plug-in executable components has the same name as a Trojan Horse. The name of the component is Bifrost.
This issue only occurs if you access vSphere Web Client from a Windows system. Workaround: Get the Bifrost component of the Client Integration Plug-in back into its original location. Depending on the behavior of your antivirus software, you can do that by performing one of the listed workarounds: Ignore the warning of your anti-virus software and proceed with installing the Client Integration Plug-in. On the Windows system, navigate to the directory where your anti-virus software places quarantined files and copy the bifrost.exe to its former location C:Program Files (x86)VMwareClient Integration Plug-in 6.0bifrost
Attempts to assign a tag to vCenter Server objects fail after you install or upgrade to vCenter Server 6.0
After you install or upgrade to vCenter Server 6.0, you cannot assign tags to an object if you are logged in as a domain user. Workaround: Log in to vSphere Web Client as administrator@vsphere.local to assign tags on vCenter Server objects. The hyperlinks of target objects of a task are inactive in the Recent Tasks pane at the bottom of the vSphere Web Client
When you perform tasks in vSphere Web Client, the target object of the task is displayed in the Recent Tasks pane with a hyperlink, which you can use to directly navigate to the target object after the task completes. In case you use Recent Tasks pane at the bottom of the page of vSphere Web Client, the hyperlinks are inactive and you cannot navigate to the target object of the task. Workaround: Use the Recent Tasks as a side-pane, or manually navigate to the target object from the object navigator. You cannot isolate a vCenter Server system from a Linked Mode group
After you join vCenter Server systems to form a Linked Mode group, you cannot isolate a vCenter Server system from the Linked Mode group. All of the vCenter Server systems appear as linked in the vSphere Web Client. Workaround: None. You cannot update and reset the data for the hardware sensors and reset the system event logs for an ESXi host in the vSphere Web Client
When you navigate to an ESXi host in the vSphere Web Client, click the Hardware status tab, and under CIM data select Sensors or Alerts and warnings. When you try to update the displayed information or clear the collected sensors data, the operations fail. When you select System event log and attempt to clear the listed event logs or update the pane with the latest logged events for the host hardware sensors, the operations fail too. Workaround: None. You cannot upload sysprep files in the vCenter Server Appliance by using the vSphere Web Client
In earlier vSphere releases, you could upload a sysprep file to the vCenter Server Appliance by using the vCenter Server Appliance Web console. With vSphere 6.0 the vCenter Server Appliance Web console is deprecated and you cannot upload the sysprep files. Workaround: To manually upload sysprep files, enable the Bash shell of the vCenter Server Appliance and upload the files manually. For information about enabling the vCenter Server Appliance Bash shell, see the vCenter Server Appliance Configuration documentation. On an OS X client computer, attempts to connect USB devices to a virtual machine in the vSphere Web Client by using Mozilla Firefox version 23.0 or later fail with an error message
After installing the Client Integration Plug-in on your OS X client computer, log in to the vSphere Web Client by using Mozilla Firefox version 23.0 or later. Add a USB Controller to a powered on virtual machine and connect a USB device to the client computer. The attempt to add the USB passthrough device from the OS X client computer to the virtual machine results in the error message:
An internal error has occurred. Error #1132. Reloading the client is recommended...
The Mixed Active Content preference of Mozilla Firefox 23.0 and later is enabled by default, which blocks the communication between the vSphere Web Client and the browser. Workaround: Change the default settings of the security.mixed_content.block_active_content preference from the configuration editor of Mozilla Firefox. In the address bar of Mozilla Firefox version 23.0 or later on your OS X client computer, type about:config and press Enter. On the warning dialog that appears, click I'll be careful, I promise. In the Search text box, enter security.mixed_content.block_active_content to filter the list of the available browser preferences. Double-click on the security.mixed_content.block_active_content preference to change its value to false. Log in to the vSphere Web Client by using Mozilla Firefox 23.0 or later and add the connected USB device from the OS X client computer to the powered on virtual machine.
Attempts to edit the settings, restart, and stop a node with vCenter Server hosted on a Windows machine from the System Configuration page of the vSphere Web Client fail with an error message
Log in to a vCenter Server instance on a Windows host machine by using the vSphere Web Client. From the vSphere Web Client Home page, click System Configuration and click Nodes. Select a node with vCenter Server hosted on a Windows machine, and from the Actions drop-down menu, click Edit Settings, Reboot, or Power Off. The operations fail with an error message similar to the following: An internal error has occurred - Error #1009. To close the error message, click Cancel. You must use the System Configuration page to edit the settings, restart, and power off only vCenter Server in the vCenter Server Appliance. Workaround: You are not allowed to configure, restart, and power off a node with vCenter Server hosted on a Windows machine from the System Configuration page of the vSphere Web Client. For a vCenter Server system on a Windows host machine, use the Windows interface. Attempts to configure and view information about the vCenter Server Appliance by using the System Configuration page in the vSphere Web Client fail with errors
Log in to the vCenter Server instance in the vCenter Server Appliance with a user who is in a custom-named (different from the default vsphere.local) Single Sign-On domain by using the vSphere Web Client. On the vSphere Web Client Home page, click System Configuration and under System Configuration select Nodes. If you attempt to edit the settings, restart or power off a node of the vCenter Server Appliance, the operation fails with one of the following errors: An internal error has occurred - Error # 1009 and Not authorized to use this API. If you click the Summary, Monitor, or Manage tabs, some information about the appliance might not be displayed. Workaround: Deploy the vCenter Server Appliance only by using the default Single Sign-On domain: vsphere.local. In a mixed environment that consists of vCenter Server 5.5.x and 6.0 systems, you cannot use the System Configuration page of the vSphere Web Client to view, manage, and configure vCenter Server 5.5.x instances
If you have a mixed environment that consists of vCenter Server 5.5.x and 6.0 instances, log in to your system by using the vSphere Web Client. On the vSphere Web Client Home page, click System Configuration and select the Objects tab. You can view, configure, and manage only vCenter Server 6.0.
To configure and manage the vCenter Server Appliance version 5.5.x, you can use the VMware vCenter Server Appliance Web Console. To configure and manage the vCenter Server 5.5.x instances that run on a Windows host machine, you can use the Windows interface. Workaround: None. Adding or removing datastores might fail with an error during host configuration after vCenter Server installation or upgrade
When attempting to add or remove datastores on a host, the operation might fail with an error. This is due to a problem with retrieving host configuration information. Workaround: Remove and restore the affected host from the inventory before proceeding to configure the datastore. Health status messages for some services might not be displayed in the vSphere Web Client
Log in to vCenter Server by using the vSphere Web Client, and on the vSphere Web Client Home page, click System Configuration. Under System Configuration, click Services and select a service from the list. On the Summary tab in the Health Messages pane, the health status message might be missing or might be uninformative for some services. Workaround: None. After you log in to the vSphere Web Client by using Google Chrome in incognito mode, error messages appear every few seconds until the browser window is blocked
If you log in to the vSphere Web Client by using the incognito mode of Google Chrome, error messages cause the browser window to stop responding.
The incognito mode of Google Chrome might prevent vSphere Web Client from writing data to some objects. Workaround: In Google Chrome, use the https://vcenter-server-hostname:9443/vsphere-client/?debug=true&logLevel=ERROR URL to access the vSphere Web Client. The icon of the Dell Virtual Storage Manager (VSM) appliance is not displayed on the vSphere Web Client Home page
Deploy the Dell VSM appliance in your vSphere environment and power it on. If you register your VSM appliance with vCenter Server first and then log out and log in vCenter Server, the VSM appliance icon is not displayed on the Home page of the vSphere Web Client. As a result you cannot access and use the Dell Virtual Storage Manager by using the vSphere Web Client. Workaround: Restart the vCenter Server system and log in to vCenter Server by using the vSphere Web Client. When you launch a virtual machine Web console in full screen mode by using the vSphere Web Client, mouse operations inside the console do not work
In the vSphere Web Client, select a virtual machine, and on the Summary tab, click Launch console. In the new tab that opens in your Web browser, click Full Screen to view the Web console in full screen mode. Attempts to right-click inside the virtual machine Web console and select any option fail, because the mouse operations are not detected. Workaround: Perform one of the following tasks: On the virtual machine Web console tab in your browser, press Esc to exit the full screen mode. Use keystroke combinations to run commands inside the guest operating system when you view the virtual machine Web console in full screen mode.
On Microsoft Windows 8, you might be unable to access the vSphere Web Client by using Microsoft Internet Explorer 10 with the integrated Adobe Flash Player
The Adobe Flash Player version 11.5 that is integrated in Microsoft Internet Explorer 10 does not meet the software requirements for vSphere Web Client. Workaround: On Microsoft Windows 8, use a browser that has support for Adobe Flash Player version 11.9 or later to access the vSphere Web Client. You cannot view the Solution tab of the EAM Sample Solution in the vSphere Web Client
When you click the Solution tab from the EAM Sample Solution in the vSphere Web Client, its content is not displayed. The default settings of your Web browser block Mixed Content, which prevents the Solution page from loading. Workaround: Change your browser settings so that viewing blocked content is displayed: In Microsoft Internet Explorer, go to the bottom of the browser and click Show all content. In Mozilla Firefox, click the shield icon that appears on the left of the address bar and select the Disable Protection on This Page option from the drop-down menu. In Google Chrome, click the shield icon on the right side of the address bar and click Load anyway.
The vSphere Web Client might be inaccessible if you use Internet Explorer
When you try to log in to vCenter Server by using the vSphere Web Client on the same host Windows machine and you use Internet Explorer, the proxy settings of your Internet Explorer browser might prevent the communication between the vSphere Web Client and vCenter Server. Workaround: Use Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox as your default browser or access the vSphere Web Client from a remote machine. You can also disable the Internet Explorer enhanced security configuration on the Windows host machine: Log in to the machine on which vCenter Server and the vSphere Web Client are installed. Open the Server Manager by navigating to Start > Administrative Tools > Server Manager. In the Security Information pane, click Configure IE ESC. In the Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration window, select the Off radio buttons for both administrators and user groups. Click OK.
When you use vSphere Web Client to install a vCenter Server extension, all visible information it provides is displayed in a non-human readable format
If you install a vCenter Server extension for the first time by using the vSphere Web Client, all visible information it provides is not human readable. Workaround: After installing a vCenter Server extension, log out of your vSphere Web Client and log back in. Updated You cannot view the real-time performance data or use the advanced performance charts for an inventory object in the vSphere Web Client
Log in to vCenter Server by using the vSphere Web Client and navigate to an inventory object. Click the Monitor tab and click Performance. When you try to collect real-time statistical data for the inventory object from the Overview performance charts view, the operation fails with an error and no data is displayed. The operation also fails with an error when you attempt to use the Advanced performance charts view. These operations involve sending queries to the vCenter Server instance, but the queries cannot run because you do not have the required privileges on vCenter Server. Workaround: Assign the Read-Only role access without propogation to the user on the vCenter Server. You cannot import OVF files from your local file system if you are logged in to vSphere Web Client with a user name that contains non-ASCII or high-ASCII characters
If you use non-ASCII or high-ASCII characters in your user name to log in to vSphere Web Client, you cannot select the option to import OVF files from your local storage system. Workaround: Log in to vSphere Web Client by using a different user name that does not contain non- ASCII or high- ASCII characters. When you migrate the storage of a virtual machine, the vSphere Web Client allows you to select an unsupported format for pRDM disk conversion
You migrate the storage of a virtual machine that has a raw device mapping disk in physical compatibility mode (pRDM) by using the Migration wizard of the vSphere Web Client. In the Advanced view of the Select storage page, for the pRDM disk you can configure a target disk format that is different from Same format as source without any compatibility warnings if you do not change the target datastore.
Converting a pRDM disk to a format different from the source is not supported. The migration is misleadingly shown as successful. The pRDM disk is not converted to the selected target format. Workaround: None. Unable to log in to the vSphere Web Client
If you do not use vSphere Web Client for an hour or longer, your session times out and the following popup message is displayed: vSphere Web Client session is no longer authenticated. Click OK to attempt a new login. When you click OK in the dialog, either the same dialog redisplays or an error message such as the following appears: The vSphere Web Client cannot connect to the vCenter Single Sign-On server. Workaround: Perform one of the following tasks: Open vSphere Web Client in a different browser. On the browser you use, delete your browser cookies associated with the vSphere Web Client session. The browser session can be identifies by the IP address of the vCenter Server instance.
Creating a new user fails if the description field contains certain special characters
When creating a new user with the Add New User dialog box in the vSphere Web Client, if you use the characters-- caret (^), less than (<), greater than (>), ampersand (&), percent (%), back quote (‘), or at sign (@), the operation might fail with the following message A vCenter Single Sign-On service error occurred. Workaround: Avoid using the specified symbols. Logging in to vSphere Web Client using earlier versions of Internet Explorer 10 or 11 redirects to a link with no information
After logging in to the vSphere Web Client using older versions of IE 10 or 11 on a Windows OS, you are redirected to an incorrect vSphere Web Client link containing no information. On a Windows OS that does not have Microsoft security patch MS14-065 (https://support.microsoft.com/kb/3003057) or is not running the latest versions of IE 10 or 11, the login process fails with a blank screen. Workaround: Install the security patch from Microsoft or update IE 10 11 to the latest version. Right-click menus are not usable in the vSphere Web Client on Mac OS with the Firefox browser
When using the vSphere Web Client on a Mac OS with the Firefox browser (versions 34 or later), the right-click menus are not usable because they disappear. A recent upgrade of Firefox results in issue with Flash player, and right-click menus are affected. Workaround: Perform one of the following workarounds: Use Ctrl+left-click to access a right-click menu. Instead of using the right-click menu for an object, select the object and use the Actions drop-down menu. This is located in the top title area of the center workspace, next to the selected object's name. Use another supported browser or an earlier version of Firefox.
Administrative actions fail with permissions error when you are not a member of the Administrators or Users group
Any user of a subgroup that is a member of the Administrators or Users group has read-only access to administrative views and actions. If the user attempts administrative actions, they fail with an empty screen or one of the following error messages: Workaround: Add the user name to the Administrators or Users group to perform administrative actions. Refreshing the Web browser when you are connected to the vSphere Web Client results in a blank display
When using the vSphere Web Client, refreshing the Web browser might result in a persistent blank screen with a spinning gear. Workaround: Perform one of the following workarounds: The vCloud Air vSphere Client plug-in is not available in the vSphere Web Client Home page in vSphere 6.0
The vCloud Air vSphere Client plug-in is not available for install or upgrade in vSphere 6.0. vSphere environments that have a previous vCloud Air vSphere Client plug-in installation cannot access the plug-in when they upgrade to vSphere 6.0. Workaround: vSphere 6.0 users can manage vCloud Air workloads using the vCloud Air portal at http://vchs.vmware.com. Launch console fails when the virtual machine name contains non-ASCII or high-ASCII characters
When you click Launch console on a virtual machine with non-ASCII or high-ASCII characters in its name, the console fails to launch and you get the error message: The console has been disconnected. Close this window and re-launch the console to reconnect.
Workaround: Use the Standalone VMware Remote Console or name virtual machines using ASCII characters during virtual machine creation. If Network I/O Control is disabled on a vSphere Distributed Switch, attempts to migrate virtual machines that have bandwidth reservation configured by using vMotion fail
Attempts to migrate a virtual machine that is connected to a distributed switch with disabled Network I/O Control and has bandwidth reservation configured fail. Network I/O Control is disabled on all hosts on the switch and none of them can satisfy the bandwidth reservation of the virtual machine. In addition, you cannot change the network resource settings of the virtual machine in the vSphere Web Client if Network I/O Control is disabled. Workaround: Perform one of the following workarounds : If Network I/O Control is still enabled, remove the network bandwidth reservation on all virtual machines that are connected to the switch before you disable Network I/O Control. If Network I/O Control is already disabled, enable it again, remove the reservation on the virtual machines, and disable it.
Powered on vApps might appear as powered off in wizards
In wizards where you can select an object, vApps appear powered off even if the vApps are powered on. Workaround: Find the actual status of a vApp: Minimize the wizard to the Work in Progress area. Navigate to any view containing the vApp to view the vApp's status. Resume the wizard from the Work in Progress area.
Connecting a USB device to a virtual machine fails without error when using the vSphere Web Client on Mac OS X Mavericks 10.9.5 and later
When you connect a USB device to a virtual machine using the vSphere Web Client on Mac OS X Mavericks 10.9.5 and later, the vSphere Web Client displays the device as attached even if the device fails to connect to the virtual machine. Connecting USB devices such as mass storage devices and USB smart card readers using the vSphere Web Client on any Web browser in Mac OS X Mavericks 10.9.5 or later fail. Workaround: None. The Use Windows session authentication check box is disabled in the vSphere Web Client when using Internet Explorer 11 on Windows 7 Enterprise
When you use Internet Explorer 11 on Windows 7 Enterprise to connect to the vSphere Web Client, the Use Windows session authentication check box is disabled. The check box is disabled with and without the Client Integration plug-in. Workaround: Use the fully qualified domain name to connect to the vSphere Web Client: In Internet Explorer, select Tools and then click Internet options. In the Internet Options window, select the Security tab and click Local intranet. Click Sites to open the Local intranet window. In the Local intranet window, click Advanced. Enter the fully qualified domain name of your vCenter Server into the Add this website to the zone text box and click Add. Refresh the Web browser to reload the vSphere Web Client.
Clicking Launch Remote Console in the virtual machine Summary tab in the vSphere Web Client opens a blank browser window
When the VMware Remote Console is not installed and you click Launch Remote Console in the virtual machine Summary tab, a blank browser window opens. Workaround: Perform one of the following workarounds: Download and install the Virtual Machine Remote Console. Right-click the virtual machine and select Open Console to use the HTML5 Web console. On the virtual machine Summary tab, click on the virtual machine's preview window located above Launch Remote Console.
After completing a task, the vSphere Web Client does not refresh to display the results
When you create, edit, or delete an entity in the vSphere Web Client, the current view does not refresh after the task completes. This might occur in the VMkernel Adapters Networking view, TCP/IP configuration Networking view, and the Virtual SAN Fault Domains view. Workaround: Perform one of the following workarounds: Refresh the vSphere Web Client by clicking the refresh icon. Edit the large.inventory.mode setting in the webclient.properties file and restart the vSphere Web Client service. For large vSphere environments, changing the large.inventory.mode setting might impact performance. Locate the webclient.properties file. For the vCenter Server Appliance, the file is located in the /etc/vmware/vsphere-client/webclient.properties directory. For vCenter Server on Windows, the file is located in the C:ProgramDataVMwarevCenterServercfgvsphere-clientwebclient.properties directory.
Edit the file using a text editor and change large.inventory.mode=true to large.inventory.mode=false. Restart the vSphere Web Client service. For the vCenter Server Appliance, connect to the appliance and run server vsphere-client restart. For vCenter Server on Windows, restart the vsphere-webclient service using the Microsoft Service manager.
When you connect to the vSphere Web Client using Firefox on Windows, you are asked to download the Client Integration Plugin even after the Client Integration Plugin has been installed
After installing the Client Integration Plugin on Windows, the plug-in is not recognized when you connect to the vSphere Web Client using Firefox. You cannot use any Client Integration Plugin functions including Use Windows session authentication to connect to the vSphere Web Client. Workaround: To resolve this issue, you can try the following: Uninstall Firefox, restart the machine, and install Firefox and the Client Integration Plugin. If the issue occurs after you reinstall Firefox and the Client Integration Plugin, edit Firefox options to import the vmware-localhost certificate: Launch the Options window in Firefox and in the Advanced tab, select Certificates. On the Certificates tab, click View Certificates, and on the Authorities tab, click Import. Navigate to and select the cacert.pem file located at the C:ProgramDataVMwareCIPssdssl directory. Select Trust this CA to identify websites and verify that vmware-localhost is listed in the Authorities tab.
If the issue occurs after you import the certificate into Firefox, create a new user profile using the instructions at https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profile-manager-create-and-remove-firefox-profiles#w_creating-a-profile and re-install the Client Integration Plugin. If the issue occurs after a new user profile is created, use Microsoft Internet Explorer or Google Chrome to connect to the vSphere Web Client.
Clicking All Users' Tasks in the vSphere Web Client results in a warning dialogue
When you click All Users' Tasks in the vSphere Web Client Recent Tasks panel, a warning dialogue appears: The All Users' Tasks view for Recent Tasks is currently disabled. To view tasks for all users, click More Tasks.
Administrators can enable All Users' Tasks for Recent Tasks in the webclient.properties file for vSphere Web Client. It is only recommended for small to medium sized inventories and a limited number of concurrent users.
Workaround: Perform one of the following workarounds: Click More Tasks in the Recent Tasks panel to view all users' tasks. Edit the show.allusers.tasks setting in the webclient.properties file. For large vSphere environments, changing the webclient.properties file might impact performance. Locate the webclient.properties file. For the vCenter Server Appliance, the file is located in the /etc/vmware/vsphere-client/webclient.properties directory. For vCenter Server on Windows, the file is located in the C:ProgramDataVMwarevCenterServercfgvsphere-clientwebclient.properties directory.
Edit the file using a text editor and change show.allusers.tasks=false to show.allusers.tasks=true. Connect to the vSphere Web Client and select All Users' Tasks. If this view is not available, perform one of the following to restart the vSphere Web Client. Refresh the Web browser. Close the Web browser, open a new Web browser and connect to the vSphere Web Client. Log out of the vSphere Web Client and then log in again.
Deploy OVF Template to a host using a vApp template results in an error message
After you launch the Deploy OVF Template wizard on a host and select a vApp template, when you click Next, an error message appears: An internal error has occurred - Error #1006.
Reloading the client is recommended, so as to clear any problems left by this error.
Click Yes to reload the vSphere Web Client?
Workaround: Click No and complete the Deploy OVF Template wizard to deploy the vApp. After a user initiated task has completed, the associated system tasks that are running might fail without updating the task status
The vSphere Web Client Recent Tasks panel might display a user initiated task as completed before system tasks associated with the task are completed. If the associated system tasks fail, the user initiated task fails and the task status in the Recent Tasks panel is not updated. Workaround: Perform one of the following workarounds: Refresh the vSphere Web Client. Click More Tasks in the Recent Tasks panel to view all users' tasks in the Task Console. Click All Users' Tasks in the vSphere Web Client Recent Tasks panel if All Users' Tasks are enabled.
The Deploy OVF Template wizard in the vSphere Web Client 6.0 cannot proceed further from the Select a resource wizard screen
When you use the vSphere Web Client 6.0 to deploy an OVF template to vCenter Server 5.5 in an environment with both vCenter Server 5.5 and vCenter Server 6.0, the Deploy OVF Template wizard cannot proceed further from the Select a resource wizard screen. Workaround: Perform one of the following workarounds: Use the OVF Tool to deploy the OVF template on vCenter Server 5.5 using the vCenter Server 5.5 endpoint. Use the vSphere Web Client 5.5 to deploy OVF templates to vCenter Server 5.5. Use the vSphere Client to deploy OVF templates to vCenter Server 5.5.
If the waiting period is more than 180 seconds when you connect or disconnect from the vSphere Web Client, an error message appears
The default load balancer timeout period is 180 seconds. When you connect to the vSphere Web Client, if the waiting period is more than 180 seconds, an error message appears: A server error occurred, [400] while processing the authentication from SSO.
When you disconnect from the vSphere Web Client, if the waiting period is more than 180 seconds, an error message appears: This page cannot be displayed.
Workaround: To resolve this issue, enable session persistence on the load balancer. For information about enabling session persistence on the load balancer, see the VMware vCenter Server 6.0 Deployment documentation. When a user's permissions are changed from Administrator to No Access while using the VMware Remote Console, a error message appears
If a user with Administrator permissions has their permissions changed to No Access while using the VMware Remote Console, an error message appears: Fatal Application Error: Null pointer dereference(class cui::NullPointerError).
Workaround: Do not change a user's permissions while the VMware Remote Console is running. After you deploy the vSphere Web Client application server with a custom port, an error message appears when you launch the virtual machine console
When you launch the virtual machine console after deploying the vSphere Web Client application server with a custom port, an error message appears: The connection has timed out
The server at server_ip is taking too long to respond.
The site could be temporarily unavailable or too busy. Try again in a few moments.
If you are unable to load any pages, check your computer's network connection.
If your computer or network is protected by a firewall or proxy, make sure that Firefox is permitted to access the Web.
Try Again
You have to configure additional settings on vCenter Server, the vSphere Web Client application server, and the firewall when you deploy the vSphere Web Client application server with a custom port. The HTML5 virtual machine console requires these settings to route traffic to the custom port. Workaround: Edit the vSphere webclient.properties file and restart the vSphere Web Client application server: Locate the webclient.properties file. For the vCenter Server Appliance, the file is located in the /etc/vmware/vsphere-client/webclient.properties directory. For vCenter Server on Windows, the file is located in the C:ProgramDataVMwarevCenterServercfgvsphere-clientwebclient.properties directory.
Edit the file using a text editor and set show.allusers.tasks equal to the custom port number. Restart the vSphere Web Client application server. For the vCenter Server Appliance, connect to the appliance and run the service vsphere-client restart command. For vCenter Server on Windows, open the Services console and right click on the vsphere-webclient entry, then select Restart.
Configure your firewall to allow outbound TCP connections on the custom port. For the vCenter Server Appliance, connect to the appliance and run the sudo iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport custom_port_number -j ACCEPT command. For vCenter Server on Windows, configure your Windows firewall to allow traffic on the custom port.
The vSphere Web Client displays English when you connect using Internet Explorer configured for Simplified Chinese or Traditional Chinese on Windows
When you connect to the vSphere Web Client using Internet Explorer 10 or 11 configured for Simplified Chinese or Traditional Chinese on Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012, the vSphere Web Client displays English. Workaround: Perform one of the following workarounds: Use Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox to connect to the vSphere Web Client. Reinstall Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012 with only Simplified Chinese or Traditional Chinese configured. Other languages should not be configured.
The default gateway IP address for VMkernel adapters not using the default ESXi TCP/IP stack is incorrect when you connect to a host using the vSphere Client
When you connect to an ESXi host using the vSphere Client 6.0, you cannot view or edit DNS and Routing settings for system or custom TCP/IP stacks. The vSphere Client 6.0 only supports the default TCP/IP stack on ESXi hosts. If you choose a custom or system TCP/IP stack other than the default ESXi TCP/IP stack, when you navigate to Configuration > Networking > Properties > Ports, the IP Settings section will still display the address of the default ESXi TCP/IP stack. Similarly, when you navigate to Configuration > DNS and Routing, the Default Gateways displays the address of the default ESXi TCP/IP stack. Workaround: Use the vSphere Web Client to view and edit DNS and Routing settings for other system and custom TCP/IP stacks. - Removing vCenter Host Gateway without unregistering it from the Platform Service Controller, leaves an invalid vCenter Host Gateway endpoint in the Platform Service Controller.
vCenter Host Gateway endpoints are selected at random. If you have an invalid endpoint in the Platform Infrastructure Controller, some of the operations with third-party hosts will fail. Workaround: Unregister all vCenter Host Gateway endpoints which are invalid. Frequency: Always, when Platform Controller Service has invalid vCenter Host Gateway endpoint. - Attempts to add a third-party host to a cluster that has enabled Enhanced vMotion Compatibility(EVC) or VSAN fail with the following error message: The requested operation is not implemented by the server.
vCenter Host Gateway 6.0 does not support adding a third-party host as part of a cluster, because EVC, VSAN, DRS and HA are not supported on third-party hosts. Attempts to add a third-party host to a cluster fail without any impact on the infrastructure. Workaround: none. Frequency: Always, if EVC or VSAN are enabled on the cluster. If none of DRS, HA, EVC, or VSAN is enabled, you can add a third-party host to a cluster. - Attempts to run third-party hosts in maintenance mode fail and return an error message.
When you try to run a third-party host in maintenance mode you see the following message: The requested operation is not implemented by the server. vCenter Host Gateway does not support maintenance mode for third-party hosts. Workaround: none. - Updated You cannot change the vCenter Host Gateway certificate through the appliance configuration UI.
vCenter Host Gateway supports only PEM certificates. To replace the automatically generated vCenter Host Gateway server certificate, you must access the vCenter Host Gateway appliance command line directly. Workaround: Verify that SSH is enabled for the vCenter Host Gateway appliance In a Web browser, log in to the Web interface of the vCenter Host Gateway appliance. Click the Admin tab. Select Enable SSH login and click Submit.
Upload the new certificate and the key pair to a temporary folder by using a SSH client.
Filenames must be server.crt and server.key. You can name the folder /tmp. Use a SSH client and log in to the vCenter Host Gateway appliance with administrative credentials.
ssh <appliance admin>@<appliance address> Copy the files to the correct directory:
sudo cp /tmp/<filename> /usr/lib/vmware-vchg/wrapper/bin Restart the vCenter Host Gateway server by running the command:
service vmware-vchg restart. Restart the vCenter Host Gateway web interface by running the command
service vmware-vchg-wsetup restart. In a web browser log in to the vCenter Host Gateway appliance. Unregister the appliance and register it again.
- Attempts to connect to a Hyper-V host with missing port definition result in error.
If you attempt to connect to a Hyper-V on port that is different from the default one, and you did not specify the port, you'll get this message:
Gateway server 'hyperv:' cannot connect to New Quiesced snapshot causes guest OS to become unresponsive on ESXi 5.5 after upgrading VMware Tools
The guest operating system becomes unresponsive when a user performs a quiesced snapshot operation on a Linux virtual machine running on an ESXi 5.5 host that was upgraded from VMware Tools version 9.4.x to version 9.10.0. The quiesced snapshot operation is primarily used for backup solutions. Note that VMware Tools 9.4.x is shipped with ESXi 5.5.x, and VMWare Tools 9.10.0 is shipped with ESXi 6.0. Workaround: To prevent this issue from occurring, perform the following: Upgrade your host from ESXi 5.5.x to ESXi 6.0. Upgrade to VMware Tools 9.10.0. Power off and on the affected virtual machine once, then perform a quiesced snapshot operation.
Attempts to power on virtual machines with disks configured for IoFilter might fail on hosts without compatible filter installed
When you register a virtual machine with disks configured for IoFilter on a host without compatible filter, the registration succeeds. However, when you attempt to power on the virtual machine, the process might fail. Workaround: Migrate your virtual machine to a host that has a compatible IoFilter installed. Unable to edit the 3D Memory field using the vSphere Client.
If your virtual machines are using the Hardware version 11 and you want to edit the video card setting, note that there is no option on the vSphere Client for editing the 3D settings. Workaround: Use the vSphere Web Client to edit the 3D settings on your virtual machine. Perform the following steps: In the vSphere web client inventory, right-click the virtual machine and select Edit Settings. On the Virtual Hardware tab, expand Video Card, and you will find that the 3D Memory field is editable.
OVA files exported from virtual machines with a SATA hard disk type by VirtualBox change the hard disk type to IDE when imported to Workstation
You create a virtual machine with a SATA hard disk by VirtualBox, and then export an OVA from it. When trying to import the OVA to Workstation, the ovftool fails to recognize the SATA hard disk controller of the virtual machine and changes it to IDE controller. Workaround: To work around this issue perform any of following tasks: In the .ovf file, modify the ResourceSubType AHCI to vmware.sata.ahci In the .vmx file, rename the prefix ideX:X to sataX:X, where X stands for the number for corresponding order at hardware controller.
Exporting a VM template to OVF does not save all the information for the devices and settings of the VM Template
After successful completion of a task to export a VM Template to an OVF, you might discover that some information about devices and settings of the VM Template is missing from the OVF descriptor.
The following information might be lost during the export operation: Keyboard, pointing devices PS2 controller PCI controller SIO controller VMCI device Serial or parallel ports Share level in CPU/memory MPT support setting in video card Default number of displays setting in video card
Workaround: When you deploy a virtual machine from the OVF file, manually configure the new virtual machine to use the settings that are missing from the OVF file. Attempts to clone a virtual machine with a digest file might cause unpredictable results
In Horizon View environment, when VMware View Storage Accelerator is enabled, View creates a digest file for each virtual machine VMDK disk. The file stores hash information about logical blocks in VMDK disks. If you use the vSphere Web Client to clone Windows Server 2008 R2 virtual machines from one host to another, the digest files fail to be copied. This failure prevents the cloned virtual machines from using the View Storage Accelerator feature. Workaround: Do not use the vSphere Web Client to clone Windows Server 2008 R2 virtual machines with digest files. Instead, use the snapshot tool. vMotion and other virtual machine operations fail when JVM query service becomes unresponsive
When the JVM query service becomes unresponsive in vCenter Server, virtual machine operations such as vMotion fail. The following error message is received in vCenter Server: A general system error occurred: Unknown exception occurred while querying associated profiles on VM () : Operation timed out This occurs when the VMware vSphere Profile-Driven Storage Service (vmware-sps service) is unable to execute virtual machine-related queries. Workaround: Perform one of these steps, as appropriate: If you are working in the vCenter Server Appliance, log into the vCenter Server Appliance and restart the vmware-sps service. If you are working in a Windows environment, log into the Windows environment where the affected vCenter Server is installed and restart the VMware vSphere Profile-Driven Storage Service.
When you customize the IPv6 settings of a guest operating system, the guest operating system might not be able to connect to the IPv6 network
As part of a guest operating system customization process when you deploy a virtual machine or apply a customization specification, you configure the IPv6 address settings for the guest operating system. After the customization completes, the guest operating system might not have connectivity to the IPv6 network because certain settings are not applied. The connectivity issues depend on the operating system version. Workaround: See VMware knowledge base article http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2105648.
Content Libraries Issues New Importing an OVF template to content library from URL over HTTPS protocol fails
Attempts to import an OVF template to a content library from an URL through HTTPS connection, fail. The imported OVF file appears in status Ready but is inaccessible and you cannot use it for deploying a virtual machine to a host or a cluster. Workaround: Import an OVF template into content library over HTTP protocol or from the local file system of your machine. If you cancel an operation related to creating a new VM or vApp from a template in a library a misleading task appears in the Recent Tasks pane
If you attempt to create a new virtual machine or a vApp from a template in a content library, but decide to cancel the operation, an Import OVF task appears in the Recent Tasks pane. The Import OVF task eventually times out. Workaround: None. Deleting a library does not delete the content from the datastore if the datastore is currently not accessible
You create a content library and select to use datastore as a storage option. If the datastore is removed from the vSphere inventory and later added again, attempts to delete the library succeed, but the library contents remain on the datastore. vSphere Web Client does not display any warning that the library contents remain on the datastore. The same issue occurs if the datastore is inaccessible at the time you delete the content library. Workaround: Delete the contents of the library manually from the datastore. Tasks related to uploading files to a content library fail with an error about the file name being too long
If you import a file to a content library, the task might fail with the following error: File open failed: The file name is too long.
Workaround: Rename the source file you want to import so it uses fewer than 90 alphanumeric characters. If you are uploading an OVF file, rename both .ovf and the .vmdk files to use fewer than 90 alphanumeric characters each. Non-informative system error is displayed when a task to export a library item fails
When you attempt to export a library item, the export task might fail with a general system error. The error message is very generic and does not reveal the cause of the task failure. A possible reason for the failure is that you might not have sufficient permissions to use the destination storage location where you attempted to export the item. Workaround: None. Attempts to import items with special characters in the file name from local file system to a library might fail
When you import an item from local file system to a library, if the file name contains special characters (for example: space, percent, non-ASCII characters, and so on), the task fails with a general system error. The error message might contain a reason for the failed task similar to the following: The source or destination may be slow or not responding.
Workaround: Rename the item to contain only alphanumeric characters, and import it to the library again. If you import an OVF file, remove any special characters in the name of the OVF file and all the files that are associated with it (such as the .vmdk file). Attempts to deploy virtual machines from VM templates in a library might fail if either the VM template or the resulting virtual machine contains special characters in its name
If the name of a VM template contains special characters, deploying a virtual machine from that template might fail.
If you deploy a virtual machine from a VM template in a library, and use special characters for the virtual machine name, the deployment might fail.
The same behavior occurs if you use vApp templates in a library to deploy vApps in the vSphere inventory. Workaround: Avoid using special characters, such as #, /, _, &, ^, and %, in the names of templates in a library, or when deploying a virtual machine or vApps from a template, which resides in a library. Synchronizing a library in the vSphere Web Client that is subscribed to a catalog from vCloud Director 5.5 fails
You want to create a new library in the vSphere Web Client by subscribing to a catalog from vCloud Director 5.5. While you create the library in the vSphere Web Client, if you select the option to download content only when needed, the creation of the library succeeds, but later, any attempts to synchronize the subscribed library in the vSphere Web Client, or to deploy a template from that library, fail. Workaround: Edit the settings for the subscribed library so that it downloads content immediately instead of downloading content only when needed. Tasks related to uploading or exporting items to a content library might fail with an error message that is not human readable
When you attempt to upload or export an item to a content library, if the task fails, the vSphere Web Client might display an error message similar to the following: file.not.exists
Workaround: None. Attempts to import eager-zeroed thick or stream optimized VMDK disk file from a disk storage URL to a library backed by datastore fail
When you import an eager-zeroed thick VMDK disk file or a stream-optimized VMDK disk file from a disk storage URL (ds:///vmfs/<path>/<name>.vmdk) to a library backed by a datastore, the task fails. The import task fails, when you attempt it from the VMware vCloud Suite API or from the vSphere Web Client. The issue affects importing a VMDK file, or importing an OVF file with an eager-zeroed thick or stream optimized VMDK file. Workaround: Convert the VMDK disk file to the thin provisioned disk format, and import the disk file again. If the VMDK disk was imported as part of OVF file, rename the converted disk file to match the name referenced in the OVF descriptor. Timeout errors when importing or exporting items to library
When the server is busy with content transfers, if you are importing multiple items to a library, the items might get queued. If the queued item does not start to upload to the library before the session times out and expires, which is 5 minutes by default, the task fails with a timeout error. The same behavior occurs with tasks related to exporting items from a library. Workaround: To work around such tasks failures, perform one of the following tasks: Creating a content library backed by storage using UNC path fails if the UNC server and the vCenter Server running on Windows are not in the same windows domain
The Content Library service running on a Windows server cannot access remote Windows network shares (UNC path) if they are not in the same Windows domain. If you try to create a library and associate it with storage in a UNC path but the UNC server is not in the same Windows domain, the task fails with an error message similar to the following: A specified parameter was not correct:
The provided storage backing <unc-server><share-path> for library <library-name> does not exist, the storage backing might be removed, disconnected, or no longer accessible via <unc-server><share-path>.
Workaround: Configure the UNC server and the vCenter Server instance that is running on Windows to join the same Windows domain, and attempt to create a library backed by storage in UNC path served by the UNC server. Error #1009 appears when you attempt to export an item from a library to local file system
On a Windows machine, you log in to the vSphere Web Client and attempt to export an item from a library to the local file system. While browsing to select a destination folder, if you select any of the predefined Windows folders, after you click the OK button to confirm your selection, the following error appears: TypeError: Error #1009: Cannot access a property or method of a null object reference.
For example, some predefined Windows folders are: Libraries, LibrariesVideo, LibrariesMusic, and Favorites. Workaround: Attempt to export the item again, and select a destination folder different than the Windows predefined folders. Assigning tags to content libraries or library items in deployment with multiple vCenter Server systems might fail
You are using a deployment with multiple vCenter Server systems, which are registered to one vCenter Single Sign-On domain. By using the vSphere Web Client, you log in to one of the vCenter Server instances in the deployment, and attempt to assign a tag to a library that belongs to the vCenter Server instance you have currently logged in to. The task succeeds. If you attempt to assign a tag to a library that belongs to another vCenter Server instance that you are not logged in to, the task fails. The same behavior occurs with tasks to assign a tag to a library item. Workaround: To successfully assign a tag to a content library or an library item, log in to the vCenter Server instance to which the library belongs. Import and export operations of a library item from a vSphere Web Client that you access over IPv6 by using a static DNS fail
You access a vCenter Server instance through the vSphere Web Client over IPv6 from a machine where the DNS name of the vCenter Server is statically resolved by using the hosts file (C:WindowsSystem32driversetchosts). If you attempt to import or export an item from a library in that vSphere environment, the task fails with a general system error. Workaround: Request a system administrator to add an entry on the DNS server for vCenter Server that you use. On the vCenter Server Appliance, you might be unable to upload content to a content library from an IPv6 HTTP server with host name in the HTTP URL
If you try to upload content from an HTTP URL that contains a host name of an HTTP server that supports both IPv6 and IPv4, the vCenter Server Appliance might fail to identify the URL with a network unreachable error: Unable to connect to the source. It may be unavailable, there might a network issue, or the vCenter network configuration might prevent access.
This problem might occur only on a pure IPv6 environment with the vCenter Server Appliance. Workaround: In the upload URL, use the IP address of the IPv6 server instead of its host name. For example, use http://[fc00:10:147:39::34]/data/xyz/test.ovf as an upload URL instead of http://hostname.companyname.com/data/xyz/test.ovf. vSphere Web Client displays vApp and VM templates as Unknown when you delete their content from a subscribed library
For a subscribed library, if you have enabled the option for downloading library content only when needed, when you delete the content of a VM template, the vSphere Web Client displays the VM template as Unknown, and the item becomes unusable.
The same behavior occurs for vApp templates in the subscribed library. Workaround: Synchronize the subscribed library. Users with high-ASCII or non-ASCII characters in their usernames cannot import or export items from content libraries
If your username has high-ASCII or non-ASCII characters, you cannot import or export items from content libraries. Workaround: Log in with a user name that contains only ASCII characters, or request that your administrator rename your user name to contain only ASCII characters. Deploying VM Template from content library to a third-party host fails with an error in a non-human readable format
If you use vCenter Server with vCenter Host Gateway to manage an environment with third-party hosts, when you attempt to deploy a virtual machine from a VM template in a content library to a third-party host, the operation fails with an error such as the following: A general system error occurred: Invalid fault. For example, a third-party host can be Microsoft Hypervisor.
The error message is not in human readable format amd does not provide information what caused the task to fail. Workaround: None.
VMware HA and Fault Tolerance IssuesVirtual Machine Fault Tolerance vLockStep interval Status Changed alarm is triggered when you power on a secondary VM in a symmetric multiprocessor (SMP) Fault Tolerance pair
When you power on a secondary virtual machine, you might see the following alarm in the Alarms Definitions list:
Virtual Machine Fault Tolerance vLockStep interval Status Changed Workaround: Ignore the alarm. It is irrelevant to vSphere 6.0. For a VM with thin-provisioned disks that is protected by legacy Fault Tolerance, storage migration from an NFS datastore to a VMFS datastore disables the FT protection.
Storage migration for an FT-protected VM is supported only if legacy FT is used and the VM is powered off. The storage migration operation disables FT protection, migrates the disks, and then re-enables FT. Normally, a VM protected by legacy FT must have eager-zeroed thick-provisioned virtual disks but this requirement is not strictly enforced if the VM is running on an NFS datastore. However, when such a VM undergoes a storage migration to a VMFS datastore, the thick provisioning requirement is enforced on the destination. As a result, the operation fails to re-enable FT protection after migrating the disks and the VM is no longer FT-protected. Storage migrations from one NFS datastore to another or from one VMFS datastore to another do not encounter this issue. Workaround: Perform one of the following workarounds:
When you submit the storage migration operation, select the Thick Provision Eager Zeroed option for the destination virtual disk format to ensure that the thick provisioning legacy FT requirement is met. Manually disable FT protection on the VM, perform a storage migration without powering off the VM, and then manually re-enable legacy FT protection. Doing so not only allows live storage migration of the VM, but also ensures that the virtual disks are converted to the eager-zeroed thick-provisioned format automatically during the legacy FT re-enablement.
Turning on Fault Tolerance in the vSphere Client results in a configuration error
When you turn on Fault Tolerance in the vSphere Client for a virtual machine with more than one virtual CPU, a configuration error occurs. For example, if the virtual machine has two virtual CPUs, you get the following configuration error: The virtual machine has 2 virtual CPUs and is not supported for Fault Tolerance. Workaround: Use the vSphere Web Client to turn on Fault Tolerance for a virtual machine with multiple virtual CPUs.
The Start Secondary Fault Tolerance VM task is not shown in the My Tasks panel
The Start FT secondary VM task is not shown in My Tasks in the following situations: Workaround: Change the flag 'show.allusers.tasks' in the webclient.properties file to true. The file is located at: - vCenter Server for Windows:
C:ProgramDataVMwarevCenterServercfgvsphere-clientwebclient.properties - vCenter Server Appliance:
/etc/vmware/vsphere-client/webclient.properties
Alternatively, view the More Tasks panel where you can see the task and its progress.
Datastores affected by PDL are not present in the Datastore under APD or PDL grid in vSphere Web Client
When a host experiences a Permanent Device Loss (PDL) condition, the faulty datastore is not shown in the 'Datastore under APD or PDL' grid available in the vSphere Web Client from Cluster >Monitor > vSphere HA. Workaround: Go to Cluster >Monitor >Events. Search the events list for Permanent. The list displays an event that refers to all PDL conditions for hosts in the cluster.
A host previously selected as a dedicated failover host cannot be moved out of the cluster
In the vSphere Web Client, if you remove a host from the 'Use dedicated failover hosts' list and then change the admission control policy from 'Use dedicated failover hosts' to 'Do not reserve failover capacity', the removed failover host is still visible in the list and cannot be moved out of the cluster. This issue does not affect the functionality of the vSphere HA feature. Workaround: Change the cluster's admission control policy to 'Define failover capacity by reserving a percentage of the cluster resources'. This clears the failover hosts list. You can then move the host out of the cluster, and change the admission control policy back to 'Do not reserve failover capacity' if required.
After suspending Fault Tolerance and resetting the 'Virtual machine Fault Tolerance state changed' alarm to green, the Primary VM icon does not reflect this change
After suspending Fault Tolerance and resetting the 'Virtual machine Fault Tolerance state changed' alarm to green, the Primary VM icon does not show that the virtual machine is no longer protected. The Fault Tolerance panel on the Summary page of the Primary VM does show the VM as Not Protected, which is the correct Fault Tolerance protection state. Also, in the Related Objects tab of the HA cluster, the Secondary VM is present with the expected warning icon and warning status. Workaround: None. The correct Fault Tolerance protection state is shown on the Fault Tolerance portlet on the Primary VM's Summary page.
When turning Fault Tolerance on an inaccurate warning is present on the 'Choose host' page
When turning Fault Tolerance on, if you select the same shared datastore for the Primary VM and the Secondary VM files, the following warning message is displayed on the 'Select host' page, after you select a host for the Secondary VM: Datastore [Datastore name] is being used for both primary and secondary VM's disks, which is not recommended. Even after you go back to the 'Select datastores' page and select different shared datastores for the Secondary VM's files, the 'Select host' page displays the warning message after you select a host. Workaround: None.
An incorrect 'VM Monitoring Sensitivity' value for vSphere HA is displayed in the vSphere Web Client when 'VM Monitoring' is set to 'Use Cluster Settings'
If you set 'VM Monitoring' to 'Use Cluster Settings', you see an incorrect value '--' in both the 'VM monitoring sensitivity' drop-down menu and in the 'VM monitoring sensitivity' column of the 'VM Overrides' settings grid, instead of the appropriate cluster setting. This is only a UI presentation issue. vSphere HA uses the correct cluster default settings. Workaround: None.
Guest Operating System Issues
Guest OS customization specification created during cloning does not appear in the list of available Guest OS customization specification in the VM provisioning wizard
Description: Typically, while cloning a virtual machine or deploying a virtual machine from template, you have the option to create a new customization specification and apply the newly created Guest OS settings to the virtual machine that you want to provision. However, in some cases, you cannot apply the newly created Guest OS customization specification because it is not displayed in the list of available customization specifications in the guest customization page of the VM provisioning wizard. Workaround: Perform the following steps: Minimize the VM provisioning wizard. Click the Global Refresh button to update the list of available customization specification in the VM provisioning wizard. Restore the VM provisioning wizard.
Attempts to enable passthrough mode on NVMe PCIe SSD devices might fail after hot plug
Description: To enable passthrough mode on an SSD device from the vSphere Web Client, you select a host, click the Manage tab, click Settings, navigate to the Hardware section, click PCI Devices > Edit, select a device from a list of active devices that can be enabled for passthrough, and click OK. However, when you hot plug a new NVMe device to an ESXi 6.0 host that does not have a PCIe NVMe drive, the new NVMe PCIe SSD device cannot be enabled for passthrough mode and does not appear in the list of available passthrough devices. Workaround: Restart your host. You can also run the command on your ESXi host. Log in as a root user. Run the command
/etc/init.d/hostd start
ESXi is shown as Guest OS option when you create a new virtual machine
When you create a new virtual machine, the Guest OS Version drop-down menu displays the options VMware ESXi 6.x, VMware ESXi 5.x, and VMware ESX 4.x. Running ESXi as a Guest OS and using these OS selections is unsupported. Consult KB 2009916 for a discussion of the constraints and risks. Refer to the VMware Compatibility Guide for the list of supported VMware guest operating systems. Workaround: Do not select these any of these options.
Supported Hardware IssuesSensor state is not displayed on Windows
The sensor state is not displayed under the Hardware Health tab on the Windows platform. The refresh button does not update the status. Workaround: None. NewWhen you run esxcli to get the disk location, the result is not correct for Avago controllers on HP servers
When you run esxcli storage core device physical get, against an Avago controller on an HP server, the result is not correct. For example, if you run:
esxcli storage core device physical get -d naa.5000c5004d1a0e76
The system returns:
Physical Location: enclosure 0, slot 0 The actual label of that slot on the physical server is 1. Workaround: Check the slot on your HP server carefully. Because the slot numbers on the HP server start at 1, you have to increase the slot number that the command returns for the correct result.
Auto Deploy and Image BuilderCustom certificates for Auto Deploy are not retained after Auto Deploy upgrade
After you upgrade a vCenter Server instance from version 5.x to version 6.0, you also upgrade Auto Deploy. When the upgrade completes, previous custom Certificate Authority certificates for Auto Deploy are not retained because the VMware Certificate Authority issues new certificates for Auto Deploy. Workaround: Configure the custom certificates to the VMware Certificate Authority for Auto Deploy after the Auto Deploy upgrade. The vSphere Client Auto Deploy plug-in might not work
When you click the Auto Deploy plug-in icon on the Home page of the vSphere Client, an error message such as the following appears: The web page cannot be found.
Workaround: None
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