In the Windows Event Viewer or VMware Tools log vmsvc:guestinfo warnings appear

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• In Summary tab in the vSphere Client, the virtual machines IP address and DNS are blank
• The VMware Tools log or the Application log within the Windows Event Viewer contains entries similar to:
  
  [ warning] [vmsvc:guestinfo] Error sending rpc message: Unknown command
  [ warning] [vmsvc:guestinfo] Failed to update VMDB
  [ warning] [vmsvc:guestinfo] Failed to update key/value pair for type 7.
  [ warning] [vmsvc:guestinfo] Failed to update key/value pair for type 6.
  [ warning] [vmsvc:guestinfo] Failed to update key/value pair for type 5.
  [ warning] [vmsvc:guestinfo] Failed to update key/value pair for type 4.
  [ warning] [vmsvc:guestinfo] Failed to update key/value pair for type 1.
  [ warning] [vmsvc:guestinfo] Failed to update VMDB with tools version.
  [ warning] [vmsvc:guestinfo] Failed to send vmstats.
  [ warning] [vmsvc:guestinfo] Error sending GuestMemInfo.
  [ warning] [vmsvc:guestinfo] Failed to update disk information.
  
  Note: For more information on the location of log files, see Location of log files for VMware products (1021806).

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1

Cause

This issue occurs because setinfo communications from VMware Tools to the ESXi host are blocked.

Resolution

To work around this issue, re-establish a connection to the host.

To re-establish a connection to the host:

1. Open the.vmx file in a text editor.
2. Set the value to false in this line:
   
   isolation.tools.setinfo.disable = "false"
   
   Note: For more information on modifying the.vmx file, see Tips for editing a .vmx file (1714).
   
3. Save and close the .vmx file.

Additional Information

.vmx file, if you want to continue blocking setinfo communication avoiding these warnings in your Event Viewer, you can modify the tools.conf file within the guest to adjust the level of tools logging to vmsvc.level=error.

For more information on modifying the tools.conf file, see Enabling debug logging for VMware Tools within a guest operating system (1007873).Enabling debug logging for VMware Tools within a guest operating system
Location of log files for VMware products
Tips for editing a .vmx file