VMware Tools Automatic Upgrade fails with the error: vix error code = 21009
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Article ID: 341650
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Updated On:
Products
VMware vSphere ESXi
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Issue/Introduction
Symptoms:
When you are upgrading VMware Tools for a virtual machine running on VMware ESXi 5.5 or later, you experience these symptoms:
VMware Tools Automatic Upgrade fails with the error: vix error code = 21009 This file is present on the virtual machine: Microsoft Windows C:\Windows\\Temp\\vmware-SYSTEM\\VMwareToolsUpgrader.exe Red Hat Enterprise Linux /tmp/vmware-root In the vmware.log file, you see entries similar to: 2015-07-02T19:19:06.935Z| vcpu-0| I120: TOOLS INSTALL Error copying upgrader binary /usr/lib/vmware/isoimages/windows.iso::VMwareToolsUpgrader.exe (=> C:\Windows\TEMP\vmware-SYSTEM\VMwareToolsUpgrader.exe) into guest, HgfsStatus = 8. 2015-07-02T19:19:06.935Z| vcpu-0| I120: TOOLS INSTALL renaming old C:\Windows\TEMP\vmware-SYSTEM\VMwareToolsUpgrader.exe before retrying autoupgrade 2015-07-02T19:19:06.935Z| vcpu-0| I120: TOOLS INSTALL Having tried autoupgrade 5 times. Giving up Note : The preceding log excerpts are only examples. Date, time, and environmental variables may vary depending on your environment.
Environment
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.0 VMware vSphere ESXi 6.5 VMware vSphere ESXi 7.0.0 VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5
Cause
This issue occurs due to a stale upgrade file from a previous VMware Tools upgrade.
Resolution
This issue is resolved in:
VMware ESXi 6.0 Update 1
VMware ESXi 5.5 Update 3b
Workaround:
To work around this issue:
Reboot the VM
Manually upgrade VMware Tools within the Guest OS
Microsoft Windows
Log in to the virtual machine as an administrative user.
Open an elevated command prompt.
Run this command:attrib -R C:\Windows\Temp\vmware-SYSTEM\VMwareToolsUpgrader.exe
Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Log in to the virtual machine as an administrative user.
Using the terminal or graphical user interface, remove the file:/tmp/vmware-root
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