VMware vSphere Web Client prompts to update VMware Tools even when the latest version is installed

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• The vSphere Web Client incorrectly prompts you to update VMware Tools, even when the latest version is installed.
• A yellow banner appears in the Summary tab for the virtual machine with the message:
  
  VMware Tools is out of date on this virtual machine.
  
  
• The vSphere Web Client may or may not give you the option to update VMware Tools.
• When attempting to update VMware Tools, the virtual machine reports that the version being installed is older than the version currently running.
• In the Hosts and Clusters view of the ESXi host, under the Related Objects tab, the affected virtual machine shows that the version of VMware Tools is Current.
• In the Summary tab of the VMs and Templates view for the affected virtual machine, the version of VMware Tools is listed as Current.

Cause

When VMware Tools is installed within a virtual machine and the virtual machine is then migrated to an older ESXi host, the vSphere Web Client properly detects that the version of VMware Tools installed is equal to or greater than the version provided by the ESXi host on which the virtual machine is residing. However, the yellow banner is designed to match the exact VMware Tools version provided by the host against the virtual machine.

Resolution

This issue is only cosmetic.

If the VMware Tools status is listed as Current, you can safely ignore this message.