Category: VMWare

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vSphere Client Download – Direct Links

vSphere Client Download

In the past it has been a massive pain to download the vSphere client. Although the web UI has become far less clunky and much more streamlined – we still present the vSphere Client download links for ALL client versions to date! A fair chunk of standard day-to-day administration can be comfortably done with the standalone client.

vSphere Client VersionFile Link
vSphere Client v4.1 Update 1VMware-viclient-all-4.1.0-345043.exe
vSphere Client v4.1 Update 2VMware-viclient-all-4.1.0-491557.exe
vSphere Client v4.1 Update 3VMware-viclient-all-4.1.0-799345.exe
vSphere Client v5.0VMware-viclient-all-5.0.0-455964.exe
vSphere Client v5.0 Update 1VMware-viclient-all-5.0.0-623373.exe
vSphere Client v5.0 Update 2VMware-viclient-all-5.0.0-913577.exe
vSphere Client v5.0 Update 3VMware-viclient-all-5.0.0-1300600.exe
vSphere Client v5.1VMware-viclient-all-5.1.0-786111.exe
vSphere Client 5.1.0aVMware-viclient-all-5.1.0-860230.exe
vSphere Client 5.1.0bVMware-viclient-all-5.1.0-941893.exe
vSphere Client 5.1 Update 1VMware-viclient-all-5.1.0-1064113.exe
vSphere Client 5.1 Update 1bVMware-viclient-all-5.1.0-1235233.exe
vSphere Client 5.1 Update 2VMware-viclient-all-5.1.0-11471691.exe
vSphere Client 5.5VMware-viclient-all-5.5.0-1281650.exe
vSphere Client 5.5 Update 1VMware-viclient-all-5.5.0-1618071.exe
vSphere Client 5.5 Update 2VMware-viclient-all-5.5.0-1993072.exe
vSphere Client 5.5 Update 1bVMware-viclient-all-5.5.0-1880841.exe
vSphere Client 5.5 Update CVMware-viclient-all-5.5.0-1745234.exe
vSphere Client 5.5 Update 1aVMware-viclient-all-5.5.0-1746248.ex
vSphere Client 5.5 Update 3VMware-viclient-all-5.5.0-3024345.exe
vSphere Client 5.5 Update 3eVMware-viclient-all-5.5.0-4032365.exe
vSphere Client 6.0VMware-viclient-all-6.0.0-2502222.exe
vSphere Client 6.0 Update 1VMware-viclient-all-6.0.0-3016447.exe
vSphere Client 6.0 Update 2VMware-viclient-all-6.0.0-3562874.exe
vSphere Client 6.0 Update 2aVMware-viclient-all-6.0.0-4437566.exe
vSphere Client 6.0 Update 3VMware-viclient-all-6.0.0-5112508.exe
VMware vSphere Client Download Matrix

What is the vSphere Client?

The vSphere Client is the principal interface for administering vCenter Server and ESXi; vSphere client download links are all listed above – make sure you have downloaded the correct version for your ESXi release! There’s no problem having more than one installed – the launcher, i.e. the login window you see when you open the client, will connect to your ESXi server and choose the correct version to carry on with – or prompt you to download another version!

The vSphere Client user interface is configured based on the server to which it is connected:

  • When the server is a vCenter Server system, the vSphere Client displays all the options available to the vSphere environment, according to the licensing configuration and the user permissions
  • When the server is an ESXi host, the vSphere Client displays only the options appropriate to single host management.

When you first log in to the vSphere Client, it displays a Home page with icons that you select to access vSphere Client functions. When you log out of the vSphere Client, the client application retains the view that was displayed when it closed, and returns you to that view when you next log in.

You perform many management tasks from the Inventory view, which consists of a single window containing a menu bar, a navigation bar, a toolbar, a status bar, a panel section, and pop-up menus.

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Cannot Contact the Specified Host Error

Workaround for the Cannot contact the specified host” error

This article describes how to work around the “Cannot contact the specified host” error when connecting an ESXi host to a vCenter after upgrading it to 5.5 U3b.

” Cannot contact the specified host. The host may not be available on the network, a network configuration problem may exist, or the management service on this host is not responding “

This error comes about due to SSLv3 and its associated POODLE vulnerability being disabled in the latest update – 5.5 U3b. The vCenter tries to talk SSL v3 to the host which is dropped straight away with a FIN return packet from the host.

The ideal solution is to upgrade your vCenter to 5.5 U3b. Should this not be an option for whatever reason, you can enable SSL v3 on your ESXi host – be aware of the security implications though!

There are two parts where you need to enable SSLv3:

1. Enabling SSLv3 for Hostd – Port 443

1. Open a SSH to this ESXi host.
2. Browse to this location using the below command:

# cd /etc/vmware/rhttpproxy

3. Backup the config file:

# cp config.xml config.xml.bak

4. Edit the file using the below command (Press i to begin edit)

# vi config.xml

Locate the <vmacore>, then locate the <ssl> Under <ssl> add the following entry:

<sslOptions>16924672</sslOptions>

5.Save the file by pressing Esc and then typing :wq!

2. Enabling SSLv3 for Port 902 (Required to connect to vCenter)

1. From the same SSH of the host, run the below command:

# esxcli system settings advanced set -o /UserVars/VMAuthdDisabledProtocols -s ""

Restart the rhhtpproxy using the below command:

# /etc/init.d/rhttpproxy restart
That’s it, now you can connect this ESXi 5.5 U3b host to a lower version of vCenter. To reiterate: this is not a recommended practice as it will expose the host to the SSLv3 POODLE vulnerability.

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Purge and Shrink vCenter Database

How to Shrink vCenter Database

This articles describes how to purge old data from your vCenter DB and shrink vCenter database files in order to free up space; running out of disk space brings a whole host of potential problems with complete outage in a worst case scenario.

This example shows a Windows 2008 v5.5 vCenter server running a MSSQL database and is broken down into five  procedures:

  1. Stop the vCenter Server service – very important otherwise major corruption will occur!
  2. Set the retention policy on your vCenter server – optional
  3. Purge old data from your existing database using MS SQL Server Manager
  4. Shrink database using MS SQL Server Manager
  5. Restart the vCenter Server service

As with all operations of this nature, a full backup / snapshot of your database is advised before proceeding!

Stop vCenter Service

  • Open your services configuration pane in your favourite server management console snap-in, locate the VMware VirtualCenter Server service, right-click and choose “Stop” –  this may take a few minutes to complete.

stop vcenter service

Set Retention Policy

  • In the vSphere client, click “Administration” and then “Database Retention Policy” in the newly-opened window.

vcenter settings

  • Here you can select the length of time your logs will be kept for before an automatic purge is executed.

db retention policy settings

Purge Old Data

Once you have set your retention policy you can purge your old data.

  • Open a new query in MS SQL Server Manager and paste in the contents of the sql script on the link below.

open a new query

  • Click “Execute” to run the script. By default, the script will only count the rows of data which can  be deleted – do this as a first dry run before committing to deletion.

execute script

  • Once you have performed the above test, change the value of DELETE_DATA to 1 and then click “Execute” – the script may return a “non-updateable” error which can be safely ignored.
  • Download the script: VCDB_table_cleanup_MSSQL

 

Shrink vCenter Database

  • Open MS SQL Server Manager and locate the database (default: VIM_VCDB) in Object Explorer, right-click -> Tasks -> Shrink -> Database]

shrink vcenter database

Restart vCenter Service

  • In the services configuration pane, right-click “VMware VirtualCenter Server” and choose “Start” – again this may take a minute or two to complete. When done, test that you can log Back in with either the web gui or vSphere client.

start vcenter service

 

 

 

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