17 May 2013 Howto enter VMware ESXi license key after it has expired

vmware-esxi-5-license-has-expired “Disable VMware ESX” is the warning message that is displayed when you open your VMware vSphere Client after the 60-day evaluation period has expired without typing in a new license key for your free VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5 install. You cannot type in the license key in the vSphere Client after the evaluation period has expired. If you do not type in the key before it expires you will not be able to power on VMs after they have been powered down.

This is a short howto describing how you can type in the license key for you free VMware Hypervisor after it has expired, since you cannot use the vSphere Client.
This requires that you have enabled the SSH service on your host before it expired and you can access it using your favourite SSH client to your ESXi host.
The file should look something like this if you have not entered any license information 00000-00000-00000-00000-00000.
This key should be replaced with the key you have gotten from VMware http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere-hypervisor/ when you downloaded the installer file.

This is a step by step description of how you can update the license file

Start a SSH session to your ESXi host using your favourite SSH client like Putty
Log in with the username root (unless you have changed it to something else)
Open the file /etc/vmware/vmware.lic using the vi editor
~# vi /etc/vmware/vmware.lic
Delete the old license key with the dd command
Insert a new license key by with the i command
Save the file using the write command w
Now you can open a new vSphere Client window and see if the license warning windows appears again. If it does not, then you have successfully updated the license key. If not, then you need to check if the license key is typed in correctly.

All this can be done without a reboot of the ESXi host.

Tags: esxi5, howto, license, ssh, vi, VMware, vSphere Client, vsphere hypervisor

Posted by Hans-Henry Jakobsen

Filed in Virtualization with 0 Comments

26 Apr 2012 Manual download and install of VMware Tools in linux

This post describes how you can download and install the latest version of VMware Tools to a linux guest from a ESXi 5.0 host. You need SSH access rights to a VMware host to follow this guide.

Allow SSH access to the VMware host you are about to access.
- This can be done in the vSphere Client: Choose the VMware host you would like to access.
- Go to the Configuration tab and select Security Profile under Software. Edit Services Properties and start the SSH daemon.
- Verify that the firewall allows SSH traffic
All the VMware Tools are located in the /vmimages/tools-isoimages/ folder on the host. Download the ISO-image with the tools you need
- Issue this command from a machine that has access to the VMware host.
```
 sftp username@vmhost.tld:/vmimages/tools-isoimages/linux.iso
```
  Type in your password and the download will start

Mount the ISO-file and copy the VMware Tools installer file to the desired VMware linux guest using SSH

# mount linux.iso /media/cdrom/ -t iso9660 -o loop
# scp /media/cdrom/VMwareTools-8.6.5-652272.tar.gz username@vmguest.tld:

Manual install of VMware Tools on a vmguest as a privileged user
- ```
# tar xfz VMwareTools-8.6.5-652272.tar.gz
# cd vmware-tools-distrib
# ./vmware-install.pl
```
  Follow the instructions and finish the installer. A reboot may be required to load the necessary kernel modules.

Your VMware Tools are now installed and should work as it would on a normal VMware Tools installation.

This procedure can also be used on other operating systems. This is a list of all the VMware Tools ISO-images available in the /vmimages/tools-isoimages/ folder on a ESXi 5.0 host

sftp> ls -l
-rwx------    1 root     root     12576768 Apr 13 09:17 darwin.iso
-rwx------    1 root     root          256 Apr 13 09:17 darwin.iso.sig
-rwx------    1 root     root     16021504 Apr 13 09:16 freebsd.iso
-rwx------    1 root     root          256 Apr 13 09:18 freebsd.iso.sig
-rwx------    1 root     root     65200128 Apr 13 09:15 linux.iso
-rwx------    1 root     root          256 Apr 13 09:17 linux.iso.sig
-rwx------    1 root     root         1738 Apr 13 09:17 linux_avr_manifest.txt
-rwx------    1 root     root       540672 Apr 13 09:17 netware.iso
-rwx------    1 root     root          256 Apr 13 09:16 netware.iso.sig
-rwx------    1 root     root     13006848 Apr 13 09:17 solaris.iso
-rwx------    1 root     root          256 Apr 13 09:16 solaris.iso.sig
-rwx------    1 root     root          451 Apr 13 09:17 tools-key.pub
-rwx------    1 root     root     13664256 Apr 13 09:18 winPre2k.iso
-rwx------    1 root     root          256 Apr 13 09:17 winPre2k.iso.sig
-rwx------    1 root     root           49 Apr 13 09:18 winPre2k_avr_manifest.txt
-rwx------    1 root     root     62128128 Apr 13 09:17 windows.iso
-rwx------    1 root     root          256 Apr 13 09:18 windows.iso.sig
-rwx------    1 root     root         1069 Apr 13 09:17 windows_avr_manifest.txt

Tags: esxi5, firewall, sftp, VMware, VMware Tools, vSphere Client

Posted by Hans-Henry Jakobsen

Filed in Linux, Virtualization with 0 Comments

14 Aug 2009 Getting VMware vSphere Client to run on Windows 7 RTM

This post describes how you can get your VMware vSphere Client version 4 running on a 32-bit Windows 7 (RTM) installation until VMware makes an update to fix this Microsoft .Net problem. Be aware that this method of getting the client to run is not recommended in a production environment since you are running the client in development mode.

First you need to edit the VpxClient.exe.config file located in your C:\Program Files\Vmware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher folder and make it look like the code below

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration>
<system.net>
<connectionManagement>
<clear/>
<add address="*" maxconnection="8" />
</connectionManagement>
</system.net>
<appSettings>
<add key = "protocolports" value = "https:443"/>
</appSettings>
<runtime>
<developmentMode developerInstallation="true"/>
</runtime>
</configuration>

Next we have to ensure that you we the .Net system.dll from a non Windows 7 machine.

It’s possible to download the config file and the DLL filer from here.

Place the modified config file in your C:\Program Files\Vmware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher folder.

Then we create a new folder called Lib in the folder noted above and place the downloaded DLL file in the folder.

windows-7-environment-settings
Reboot your PC and VMware vSphere Client should now work without any error messages.

Edit your system properties and create a new ‘Environment Variable” Name it “Devpath” with the value of C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\Lib. You can locate these variables under Control Panel –> System and Security –> System –> Advanced system settings

This post came to life after reading this thread on the VMware Communties discussion forum. The thread also describes how to make VMware vSphere Client to work on 64-bit Windows 7 but I’m not going to describe that in this post.

Tags: VMware, vSphere Client, Windows 7

Posted by Hans-Henry Jakobsen

Filed in Misc, Windows with 0 Comments

17 May 2013 Howto enter VMware ESXi license key after it has expired

26 Apr 2012 Manual download and install of VMware Tools in linux

14 Aug 2009 Getting VMware vSphere Client to run on Windows 7 RTM

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