ESXi 7.0, Windows 2012 R2, VMware Tools problems
One of my Windows 2012 VMs is having problems with the VMware Tools. Some observations:
- On the vCenter client, when I right-click the VM and click Power, the Shut Down Guest OS and Restart Guest OS options are disabled. The VM is up and running.
- When I select the VM and click Summary, I see VMware Tools: Not running, version:0 (Unsupported older version). On the Windows Server, when I click the VM Tools icon on the taskbar, the about panel shows Version 11.1.1, build-16303738 (the same as my other VMs which are current and work). The VM Tools icon on the taskbar has a yellow exclamation mark (!) and the mouseover text says VMware tools can be updated.
- When I click to update the tools, I bring up the VMWare CD and run Setup64.exe, I get the options Modify, Repair, or Remove. Modify doesn't seem to do anything, repair seems to work correctly but doesnt fix the problem, and Remove works (it removes the tools), but when I install the tools, same problem.
- The VMware Tools Service is running. In the Event Viewer, the only events for VMTools are informational, service starting and stopping messages. I tried turning on logging as debug, and looked at the logs but I didn't see anything that looked like an error. I am not good at reading VM logs though.
- The VM's network device is an E1000E adapter. I tried the VMXNET3 adapter, same problem and other, bigger problems. Some of the other 2012 VMs have the VMXNET3 adapter, others have the E1000E. Only this one VM has tools problems. The problem is the VM seems to not recognize the VMXNET3 adapter if the tools are not installed. It creates an Unknown controller and device in the Devices panel (view hidden) and the VM has no networking capability. If the tools are installed, I can get the adaptor to at least install (I still have to delete some unknown devices), but I have the same problem and a few more (the tools service seems to stop for no reason, and other issues.
- I completely deleted and then created a new VM (except the hard disks). Same problem.
- I uninstalled the tools and then reinstalled them, typical install and full install. Same problem.
- We are at vCenter 7.0.1 build 17005016, ESXi, 7.0.1, 16850804 (the latest), and Windows Server 2012 R2 with the all of the latest updates applied. The hardware is a new Dell PowerEdge T140 with a Xeon 2276 processor, latest firmware applied.
ASKER
Sorry, I do not know for sure. I didnt notice the problem right away and we've been up for about 2 months. I have an OVA of the machine from its 6.0.0 days, I can restore it tonight into a sandbox and see if it has tools problems. Can I uninstall the tools on the problem VM and install a previous version?
Sorry, I do not know for sure. I didnt notice the problem right away and we've been up for about 2 months. I have an OVA of the machine from its 6.0.0 days, I can restore it tonight into a sandbox and see if it has tools problems. Can I uninstall the tools on the problem VM and install a previous version?
That version of VMware Tools is a later versions which only ships with 7.0.1.
You can certainly try and uninstall and try a previous version although we've just seen issues,once newer versions have been installed they cause havoc with driver registrations.
ASKER
I deployed an old backup last night; the tools problem is there. I also manually created a new VM and installed a new Windows 2012 instance on it, no problem with the tools. This makes me think there is something corrupted on the Windows end.
Does the tools uninstall completely remove everything? I ask this because I remember having a problem with Norton Antivirus and the fix was to download and run their "deep uninstall" which deleted some registry entries and other stuff that the normal uninstall didn't remove, then to reinstall.
My other option is to transfer the apps (this is our exchange server) to a new, working server. This is a long undertaking and I could run into "snags", so I would rather not do it unless I have to.
Does the tools uninstall completely remove everything? I ask this because I remember having a problem with Norton Antivirus and the fix was to download and run their "deep uninstall" which deleted some registry entries and other stuff that the normal uninstall didn't remove, then to reinstall.
My other option is to transfer the apps (this is our exchange server) to a new, working server. This is a long undertaking and I could run into "snags", so I would rather not do it unless I have to.
and is the version of Tools, a newer version ? or older version ? e.g. has it been upgraded.
It's "the upgrade of tools which seems to be the issue"
With any Windows App, it can take some fiddling to completely de-mangle an application, and especially the updated drivers.
It's "the upgrade of tools which seems to be the issue"
With any Windows App, it can take some fiddling to completely de-mangle an application, and especially the updated drivers.
ASKER
The old vmtools version is 11.0.5 build 15389592. After deploying the VM it is failing.
Yes, that is a later VMware Tools version as well. (very recent) so no surprise there.
ASKER
I installed the tools version 10.1.15. More problems. For example the VMware Tools service does not start.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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ASKER
Thanks. I have defined a new VM, installed a new windows 2016, and am in the process of moving the app to the new vm.
Thank you for your help.
Thank you for your help.
That's a better idea, 2012 will be end of life at some point in the future!
BECAUSE, we've been seeing issues with VMs that have been updated with newer versions of VMware Tools ALTHOUGH VMware state that newer versions of VMware Tools should be compatible with the OS.
The reason we've seen many issues like this, is because VMware Admins seem to have OCD when it comes to vCenter Server stating VMware Tools is out of date, and then upgrade VMware Tools, and then the VM starts having issues.
We've many many open issues at present with later VMware Tools versions across the vSphere 6.5, 6.7 and 7.0, 7.0.1 platforms.
What can be demonstrated is, if the machine is restored to a backup, using the previous older version of VMware Tools, the issues are not detected.
So at present we are recommending Admins,do not get carried away ensuring VMware Tools is up to date, otherwsie issues with Guest OS occur.
This seems to be an issue with legacy OS, 2016/2019 seem fine.