Virtual machine does not detect newer VMware Tools version after updating VMware Tools on ESXi host using vSphere Lifecycle Manager

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

After installing or updating VMware Tools on ESXi host, VMware Tools version status of virtual machines does not indicate that a newer version of VMware Tools is available for installation or upgrade.

Environment

VMware ESXi 8.x
VMware ESXi 7.x

Cause

VMware Tools image file is installed to /locker/packages/vmtoolsRepo on ESXi host via VMware Tools installer or vSphere Lifecycle Manager. 
Virtual machine verifies ProductLocker to determine the VMware Tools version status. However, this issue may occur if the ProductLocker path is configured to a location other than the default (/locker/packages/vmtoolsRepo), such as a directory on a datastore.

Resolution

Configure ProductLocker to point to /locker/packages/vmtoolsRepo, or place the VMware Tools images into the directory.
For more information, see Manually Installing and upgrading VMware Tools on existing hosts.