VMware Tools fails to install during migration of ESX Server 2.5 to ESX Server 3.0

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

VMware Tools fails to install in a virtual machine that was migrated from ESX Server 2.5.x to ESX Server 3.0.x as it cannot remove the old version of tools.

The following error message is displayed when trying to install tools:

The file VMware Tools.msi is not a valid installation package for the product VMware Tools.
Try to find the installation package 'VMware Tools.msi' in a folder from which you can install VMware Tools.
Error 1714: The older version of VMware Tools cannot be removed. Contact your technical support group.

Environment

VMware ESX Server 2.5.x
VMware ESX Server 3.0.x
VMware ESX Server 2.1.x

Resolution

There are different methods of resolving this problem, the solutions below are ordered in the most appropriate sequence to resolve the problem:

Removing the previous version of VMware Tools:

1. Open a console to a virtual machine running on a ESX 2.5.X Server host.
2. Initiate the installation of VMware Tools.
3. Cancel the installation.
4. Open My Computer and double-click the CD ROM.
5. Copy the files from the CD ROM to the local disk.
6. Copy the files to the virtual machine seeing this issue (Error 1714).
7. Initiate the ESX Server 2.5.x Tools installer to uninstall the previous version tools.
8. Attempt to install VMware Tools for ESX Server 3.0.x

Removing the previous version of VMware Tools using the rpm

To remove the previous version of VMware Tools using the rpm:

Note: This process may vary if you have installed updates. If updates are installed, use the ESX Server update ISO image rather than the base ESX Server ISO image.

To check the current version on the ESX Server 2.5.x host, change the directory to /usr/lib/vmware/isoimages/.

1. Run ls from the ESX Server service console. The output is similar to the following:
   [root@esxServer isoimages]# ls
   freebsd.iso linux.iso netware.iso windows.iso
2. Run rpm -qf windows.iso from the ESX Server service console to return the version number.
   The output is similar to: VMware-esx-2.5.4-32233
   Note: This also indicates which particular installation package owns the VMware Tools iso images.
   This package is located on the ESX Server install (update) CD ROM under E:\VMware\RPMS\VMware-esx-2.5.4-32233.i386.rpm
3. Place the ESX Server installation CD containing the older version of the VMware Tools rpm into the ESX Server 3.0.x Server host, now hosting the virtual machine.
   Alternatively, mount the ISO image.
4. Copy the VMware Tools rpm from the CD (ISO) to /tmp on the ESX Server 3.0.x host.
5. Change directory to /tmp .
6. Run rpm2cpio VMware-esx-2.5.4-32233.i386.rpm | cpio -id from the ESX Sever service console.
   This extracts the rpm to the /tmp .
7. Mount this ISO image (windows.iso ) to the virtual machine and uninstall the VMware Tools.
8. Install the ESX Server 3.0.x version of VMware Tools.