Deploying an OVF fails on vCenter Server 5.1/5.5 when VMware tools are installed

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Deploying an OVF fails on vCenter Server 5.1/5.5 when VMware Tools are installed.
• When deploying an OVF from a virtual machine that has VMware Tools installed, you see the error:
  
  OVF Deployment Failed: File ds:///vmfs/volumes/uuid/_deviceImage-0.iso was not found
  
  Where uuid is the datastore ID where the OVF is being deployed.

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 5.5.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.1.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1

Cause

This issue occurs when the VMware Tools installation task is not finished. The guest operating system may already have the Tools successfully installed and running, but the ESX task for installing the tools has not finished.

In vSphere 5.0 and earlier, device backings (what the device is connected to) were not exported. OVF files generated on ESX 5.0 and earlier do not contain the device backing information and therefore do not encounter this issue when importing on ESX 5.1/5.5.

In vSphere 5.1/5.5, virtual machines device backing information is exported. When the Tools install task has not finished it leaves the virtual machine's CD-ROM device connected to a datastore ISO image that cannot be accessed upon re-deployment of the OVF to a new virtual machine, which causes the error.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, modify the SHA1 checksum value in the MyVM.mf file to match the SHA1 checksum value in the MyVM.ovf file.

To modify the SHA1 checksum value in the MyVM.mf file to match the SHA1 checksum value in the MyVM.ovf file:

1. Right-click the virtual machine and click Guest > End VMware Tools Install.
2. Export the virtual machine to a new OVF file.
3. Open the OVF file in a text editor and confirm that the CD-ROM ResourceSubType entry is set to vmware.cdrom.remotepassthrough.
   
   For example:
   
   <Item ovf:required="false">
   <rasd:AddressOnParent>0</rasd:AddressOnParent>
   <rasd:AutomaticAllocation>false</rasd:AutomaticAllocation>
   <rasd:ElementName>CD-ROM 1</rasd:ElementName>
   <rasd:InstanceID>9</rasd:InstanceID>
   <rasd:Parent>4</rasd:Parent>
   <rasd:ResourceSubType>vmware.cdrom.remotepassthrough</rasd:ResourceSubType>
   <rasd:ResourceType>15</rasd:ResourceType>
   <vmw:Config ovf:required="false" vmw:key="backing.exclusive" vmw:value="false" />
   <vmw:Config ovf:required="false" vmw:key="connectable.allowGuestControl" vmw:value="true" />
   </Item>
   
   Note: When the ResourceSubType value is set to vmware.cdrom.iso, deploying the OVF fails and you see the error. Also, verify that the CD-ROM device is disconnected under the virtual machine settings.
   
   
4. To view the SHA1 checksum value in the MyVM.ovf file, run the command:
   
   sha1sum MyVM.ovf
   
   
5. Modify the SHA1 checksum value in the MyVM.mf file to match the SHA1 checksum value in the MyVM.ovf file.

Additional Information

VMware Tools のインストール時に vCenter Server 5.1/5.5 での OVF のデプロイに失敗する
安装 VMware Tools 后在 vCenter Server 5.1/5.5 上部署 OVF 失败