Introduction
There are several good documents on how to update VMware tools on a Citrix PVS master image when we use either PXE or Option 66/67. Here is the link to one of the documents my good friend Reubin Huckle wrote HowTo: Upgrade VMware Tools on a Windows PVS Image Without Reverse Imaging (ferroquesystems.com) which is applicable to PVS environments that network boot, not for BDM boot scenarios.
In this blog, I want to share how to update VMware tools when you are using BDM as a boot method that will get around the need to reverse image a vDisk. Let’s make sure to mention a couple of issues that I have experienced while doing this process.
- If you attach VMXNET3 and E1000 NIC the BDM is ignored and the VM is trying to boot from the PXE. I still did not find why, but if you do have to NICs attached the boot sequence will fail.
- When you add/remove NICs from a VM, leave the MAC address automatic as if you set it to manual you may experience a blue screen once a NIC is changed. So, change the NIC, and update the VM in the PVS console with the proper MAC address.
Steps
So, let’s start with the steps.
1 | Create a PVS maintenance version or copy a vDisk and place it into private mode. Boot the VM with the VMXNet3 NIC driver. |
2 | While VM s running, go to the VMware console and attach E1000 NIC. I left it not connected, as at one point the addition of the NIC as connected resulted in a bluescreen. |
3 | Let Windows install the E1000 driver. You can check it in your device manager if enabling “Show hidden devices”. |
4 | Shut down the VM. |
5 | Remove the VMXNET3 NIC from the VM.
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6 | Click on E1000 NIC and Click on Connected (make sure that Connected At Power On is also checked). |
7 | Go to the PVS console and update the MAC address for the VM using the MAC address of the E1000 NIC.
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8 | Boot the VM. |
9 | Attach VMware tools ISO, then install. You can choose “Complete” or “Custom” option, but if you choose the Custom option make sure the VMXNET3 driver is selected. |
10 | Let the install finish, and when it asks you to shut down the VM, select NO. |
11 | Go to the VMware vSphere client and attach VMXNet3 NIC (again, I left it as not connected for the same reason). |
12 | Open your Device Manager and make sure the new driver is shown, you will need to enable “Show hidden devices”. |
13 | Shut down the VM. |
14 | At this point, I have removed ALL NICs from the VM, hit OK, and then added just VMXNET3. |
15 | On the PVS console, update the MAC for the maintenance VM.
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16 | Boot the VM. |
17 | Once logged in, go to the device manager, enable “Show hidden devices” and remove E1000 NIC (it will show as ghosted NIC). |
18 | Run any sealing scripts (if you have them), then shut down the VM. |
19 | In the PVS console, promote the version to test or production, or if using a vDisk, make sure it is in Standard mode. |
Conclusion
Hope this helps your VMware tools update on your vDisk.
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Awesome write up followed the steps everything worked as expected.