Tag: vSphere Hypervisor 5.5

Enable Copy and Paste within vSphere Client

To enable the copy and paste option for all virtual machines in the ESXi host:

  1. Log in to the ESX/ESXi host as a root user.
  2. Take a backup of the /etc/vmware/config file.
  3. Open the /etc/vmware/config file using a text editor.
  4. Add these entries to the file:

    vmx.fullpath = “/bin/vmx”
    isolation.tools.copy.disable="FALSE"
    isolation.tools.paste.disable="FALSE"

  5. Save and close the file.

The Copy and Paste options are only enabled when the virtual machines restarts, and you must have vmware tools installed.

Install VMware Tools for Linux Distros

icon-linuxWhen you goto install VMware Tools for Linux on a vSphere Hypervisor 5.5 virtual machine you receive this error:

vix error code = 21001
Unable to install VMware Tools. An error occurred while trying to access image file “/usr/lib/vmware/isoimages/linux.iso” needed to install VMware Tools

Here’s the fix:

Download the “VMware Tools CD image for Linux Guest Oses” from:  https://my.vmware.com/group/vmware/evalcenter?lp=default&p=free-esxi5
Rename this to linux.iso
Access your local-datastore via the Datastore Browser within vSphere Client and navigate to .locker/packages
Create directories /5.5.0/vmtools
Upload linux.iso into .locker/packages/5.5.0/vmtools
Retry thats it!

Background

symbolic link exists for /usr/lib/vmware/isoimages -> /productLocker/vmtools
symbolic link broken for /productLocker -> /locker/packages/5.5.0

References:

https://my.vmware.com/group/vmware/evalcenter?lp=default&p=free-esxi5
https://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vix-api/vix110_reference/errors/errors.html