Upgrading VMware Tools on Linux virtual machines fails with the error: Error upgrading VMware Tools

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Cannot upgrade VMware Tools on Linux virtual machines
• Auto upgrade of VMware Tools on Linux virtual machines fails
• Upgrading VMware Tools on Linux virtual machines fails
• In Recent Tasks, you see the error:
  
  Error upgrading VMware Tools
  
  
• In the /var/log/vmware/hostd.log file, you see the error:
  
  failed to do tools upgrade: error 21009 Unknown Error
  
  
• In the vmware.log file of the virtual machine, you see entries similar to:
  
  <YYYY-MM-DD>T<time>: vmx| TOOLS INSTALL Launching auto-upgrader with args "--default".
  <YYYY-MM-DD>T<time>: vmx| TOOLS autoupgrading old tools.
  <YYYY-MM-DD>T<time>: vmx| TOOLS INSTALL Copying upgrader files from /usr/lib/vmware/tools-upgraders into guest at /tmp/vmware-root
  <YYYY-MM-DD>T<time>: vcpu-0| TOOLS INSTALL Error copying upgrader binary into guest. success = 0, HgfsStatus = 1.
  <YYYY-MM-DD>T<time>: vcpu-0| TOOLS INSTALL entering IDLE state.
  <YYYY-MM-DD>T<time>: vcpu-0| Vix: [104945 vmxCommands.c:1403]: VMAutomationOnFinishToolInstall: Tools install finished unsuccessfully (tools err 11, vix err 21009).</time></time></time></time></time></time>

Environment

VMware vCenter Update Manager 4.1.x
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Installable
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Embedded
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable
VMware vCenter Server 5.0.x
VMware ESX 4.1.x
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Embedded
VMware ESX 4.0.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0
VMware vCenter Update Manager 4.0.x

Cause

This issue occurs when the /tmp/vmware-root directory does not exist in the guest operating system.

For example, in /etc/cron.daily, there is a tmpwatch file that includes a command to delete most files in /tmp if they are over 10 days old. If the date is set to more than 10 days ahead and then manually executed, this causes vmware-root to be deleted and auto-upgrade attempts to fail.

Resolution

This issue is resolved in ESX/ESXi 4.1 Update 2, available at VMware VMware Downloads.

To resolve this issue, if you cannot upgrade to ESX/ESXi 4.1 Update 2, ensure that the /tmp/vmware-root directory exists in the guest operating system.

To create this directory, try one of these options:

• Restart the VMware Tools service using the command:
  
  /etc/init.d/vmware-tools restart
  
  
• Manually create the folder using the command:
  
  mkdir /tmp/vmware-root
  
  
• Run these commands to invoke Tools Upgrader within the virtual machine:
  
  cd /usr/lib/vmware-tools/sbin
  ./ vmware-tools-upgrader
  
  Note: This script requires you to answer the questions that are prompted during the VMware Tools installation. You can answer these questions manually or create a script to answer the questions.
  
  
• Restart the virtual machine before auto-upgrading VMware Tools. This creates the /tmp/vmware-root directory during startup.

Additional Information

Linux 仮想マシンでの VMware Tools のアップグレードが失敗し、次のエラーが表示される: VMware Tools のアップグレード エラー
在 Linux 虚拟机上升级 VMware Tools 失败，并出现以下错误“升级 VMware Tools 时出错”