Guest customization runs repeatedly on virtual machines deployed to ESXi 5.1 host build 1743533

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• This issue occurs when a virtual machine is running on an ESXi 5.1 host build 1743533.
• The VMware guest customization runs each time the virtual machine is power cycled and may remove previously configured settings.
• The VMware guest customization runs if virtual machine hardware is modified and may result in an unexpected virtual machine reboot.
• The guestcust.log file (located at C:\windows\temp\vmware-imc\ on the virtual machine) contains this error:

Unable to set customization status in vmx.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1

Resolution

This issue is resolved in ESXi 5.1 Express Patch 5. For more information, see VMware ESXi 5.1, Patch Release ESXi510-201406001 (2077640).

Note: This workaround may need to be applied to virtual machines that were created prior to the patch.

To workaround this issue if you are already affected, delete the value in the tools.deployPkg.fileName line from the virtual machine configuration file after the initial customization has completed.

To delete the value in the tools.deployPkg.fileName line from the virtual machine configuration file, use one of these options:

From vSphere PowerCLI:

Note: This is the recommended workaround as the virtual machine does not need to be powered down.

1. Open vSphere PowerCLI.
2. Connect to the vCenter Server or ESXi by running the command:
   
   Connect-VIServer FQDN_or_IP_of_VC_or_ESXi
   
   
3. Find the virtual machine name by running the command:
   
   Get-VM | select-string Partial_virtual_machine_name
   
   
4. Using the virtual machine name found in step 3, delete the tools.deployPkg.fileName parameter by running the command:
   
   Note: The two single quotes in this command delete the value.
   
   Get-VM virtual_machine_name | Get-AdvancedSetting -Name tools.deployPkg.fileName | Set-AdvancedSetting -Value '' -Confirm:$false

Notes:

• Run this command to make changes in each affected virtual machine on vCenter Server that you are connected to:
  
  Get-VM | Get-AdvancedSetting -Name tools.deployPkg.fileName | Set-AdvancedSetting -Value '' -Confirm:$false
  
  
• Run this command to make changes in each virtual machine in a given cluster:
  
  Get-cluster -name ClusterName | Get-VM | Get-AdvancedSetting -Name tools.deployPkg.fileName | Set-AdvancedSetting -Value '' -Confirm:$false
  
  
• Run this command to make changes on all virtual machines on a certain host:
  
  Get-vmhost -name host.domain.local | Get-VM | Get-AdvancedSetting -Name tools.deployPkg.fileName | Set-AdvancedSetting -Value '' -Confirm:$false

From the vSphere Client running on a Windows virtual machine:

1. Power down the virtual machine.
2. Right-click the virtual machine and click Edit Settings.
3. Click the Options tab > Advanced (General) > Configuration Parameters.
4. Locate the tools.deployPkg.fileName parameter, double-click its value and delete it.
5. Click OK and OK again to save the change.
6. Power on the virtual machine.
   
   

From vSphere Web Client:

1. Power down the virtual machine.
2. Right-click the virtual machine and click Edit Settings.
3. Click the Options tab > Advanced (Configuration Parameters) > Edit Configuration.
4. Find the tools.deployPkg.fileName parameter, double-click its value and delete it.
5. Click OK and OK again to save the change.
6. Power on the virtual machine.
   

Additional Information

When vmtools crashes, and operating system is rebooted, tools.deployPkg.fileName parameter is loaded on vmx boot. In this case, the original value is still available for vmtools even though it was modified via PowerCLI prior to reboot.
In this scenario, to work around, manually remove imcXXXX.tmp file from virtual machine directory on the datastore.
Editing configuration files in VMware ESXi and ESX
Virtual machines repeatedly display the message: VMware Image Customization in progress
Using ESXi Shell in ESXi 5.x and 6.x
VMware ESXi 5.1, Patch Release ESXi510-201406001
ESXi 5.1 ホスト ビルド 1743533 にデプロイされた仮想マシンでゲスト カスタマイズが繰り返し実行される
客户机自定义在部署到 ESXi 5.1 主机内部版本 1743533 的虚拟机上重复运行