VMWare tools is installed but vCenter states VMware tools is not installed after upgrading tools to 13.0.1

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms: 

• After upgrading VMware Tools to version 13.0.1, the vCenter inventory continues to show the status as Not Installed.
• Guest heartbeat and management information (such as IP address) are missing from the vCenter summary tab.
• Within the guest OS, services appear to be present, but cannot be started

Environment

VMware ESXi 

Cause

This issue occurs because VMware Tools 13.0.1 and higher requires specific runtime libraries that may not be present on the guest operating system. Specifically, this version has a mandatory prerequisite for Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2022 Redistributable version 14.40.33816 or later. If these dependencies are missing, the VMware Tools service (vmtoolsd.exe) may fail to start or communicate correctly.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, you must ensure all prerequisites are met and perform a clean installation of the tools.

1. Install Prerequisites: Download and install both the x86 and x64 versions of the Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2022 Redistributable.
   • Refer to KB 313276 (Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Requirement for VMware Tools) for specific version mapping and download links.
2. Reboot: Restart the virtual machine to ensure the new system libraries are fully initialized.
3. Perform Forced Clean Install:
   1. Mount the VMware Tools ISO of 13.0.1 or higher to the VM.
   2. Open an Command Prompt as Administrator within the guest OS.
   3. Run the installer with the cleanup switch: setup64.exe /c (or setup.exe /c). This forces the removal of all registry entries and legacy file remnants.
4. Complete Installation: After the cleanup process finishes, run the installer normally to complete the installation of VMware Tools.
5. Final Reboot: Reboot the virtual machine once more to start the services.

Additional Information

Verification

Once the VM has rebooted, log in and verify that the VMware Tools service is running. In vCenter, the VM summary should now correctly display Running, version:(Tools version installed in step 3 above) (Guest Managed) and show the guest IP address.

For example: 13.0.1