Heads Up Do Not Upgrade VMware Tools on Hosts with ESXi 6. U1b. Heads Up If youve updated to ESXi 6. U1b, build 3. 38. VMware Tools to the latest version. I just upgraded my environments to the latest VMware patches ESXi 6. How To Install Esxi Patches' title='How To Install Esxi Patches' />Updated on 14 November 2017. ESXi 6. 5 ISO Build 4564106. Center Server 6. 5 ISO Build 4602587. Center Server Appliance 6. NOV. ESXi Free vs Paid things to know. The free version of VMware ESXi is no longer locked and limited to run on hardware with up to 32Gb of RAM. This selfpaced digtial training course features intensive training that focuses on installing, configuring, and managing VMware vSphere 6. VMware. Login to My VMware to download products, manage product license keys, get support and file support request. Deployment Guide for the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure using Citrix XenDesktop 7. Cisco UCS Mini with Cisco Nexus 9372 Switches on NetApp FAS2552 Storage. U1b build 3. 38. As you do usually when there is a new hypervisor build you upgrade VMware Tools. Well that proved to be a big problem for my VM templates that I use to provision new systems. But Ive got a workaround. As soon as VMware Tools is updated on any templates you will no longer be able to clone those templates. If youve updated any templates with the version of VMware Tools that comes with ESXi 6. U1b then you need to uninstall it and reinstall the prior version that came with ESXi 6. After the couple of reboots that you have to go through with an uninstall and reinstall of VMware Tools you will find that you can now clone VMs and have them automatically customized. I ran into this problem on Windows 2. R2 Server. So I know it will impact this guest OS. I havent tested other OSs yet, but others could be impacted. Ive logged a support call with VMware to address this problem. In the meantime, the workaround is fine. The Official VMware KB Article 2. Updated 1. 40. 12. After further testing I have narrowed down the problem area to new installs where the complete option is selected, and any upgrades where the complete options was previously selected, or where the VMCI NSX Guest Introspection Driver is included. Upgrade Deliverables. Supported Upgrade Tools. Supported Upgrade Paths to ESXi 5. Update 3b. ESXESXi 4. Includes ESXESXi 4. Update 1 ESXESXi 4. Update 2. VMware vCenter Update Manager Administration Guide vCenter Update Manager 4. This document supports the version of each product listed and supports all subsequent. VMware ESXi is the industryleading, purposebuilt baremetal hypervisor. ESXi installs directly onto your physical server enabling it to be partitioned into multiple. VMware-ESXi-ConwayESX1.conway.local_.png' alt='How To Install Esxi Patches' title='How To Install Esxi Patches' />I have been able to successfully clone from a new VM Image that has had a fresh install of Windows 2. Unable To Install Adobe Flash Player 11. R2 and VMware Tools without the VMCI NSX Guest Introspection Driver, or where VMware Tools was installed twice installed and repaired on the same VM, when the complete option was previously selected. This seems to be similar to what other of you have also reported. I have completed the Upgrade Scenario testing as well and confirmed that after an upgrade, if the complete install option was previously selected the VM will not clone due to the same VMCI driver problem. If VMCI driver is removed by running VMware Tools Install again and selecting Modify and unselecting VMCI, then you will be able to close the VM. This update just in from VMware Support VMware Engineering have confirmed that the issue is dependent on the installupgrade sequence. Specifically, the issue is aligned to the version of deploypkg. GSS and Engineering are mapping the ESX and vmtools update versions to the deploypkg. A KB article will be published once this information is finalised. Thanks to VMware Support for getting to this stage very quickly. The VMware KB Article 2. Final Word. I guess someone has to take the risk and patch their systems to the latest versions first, especially as these were security patches with a critical severity. Fortunately like all good IT environments I only did my test systems first. This is the whole point of having infrastructure test systems. You can test infrastructure hardware and infrastructure software changes first before putting them into production. The old saying goes that software eventually works and hardware eventually fails, but these days a lot of your hardware is also software, especially in a virtualized software defined datacenter. It pays to have appropriate test systems and test plans to mitigate the risks associated with software updates and changes of all types, including infrastructure software. Thanks to all of you in the community that contributed to this effort and commented on this blog post. I have been relaying your feedback during my discussions with VMware Support. This post first appeared on the Long White Virtual Clouds blog at longwhiteclouds. By Michael Webster. Copyright 2. IT Solutions 2. Ltd and Michael Webster. All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced for commercial purposes without written permission.