Windows 7 and the new vSphere Client and Host Update Utility
27 June 2009 
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This post was published 2 years 10 months 24 days ago, so if it contains anything technology-related, keep in mind that this information may have since been superseded or become irrelevant.VMware has bumped it’s ESXi to version 4, and although I’m not familiar with all of the improvements over the previous 3.5 release, I am happy to hear that version 4 requires a 64-bit system. However, in my ventures to upgrade my ESXi server, I have learned that both vSphere Client (formerly Infrastructure Client) and Host Update Utility (formerly Infrastructure update) will run not correctly on Windows 7, confirmed by the following nasty message:
“The type initializer for ‘VirtualInfrastructure.Utils.HttpWebRequestProxy’ threw an exception.”
Fortunately for those of us who’re evaluating Windows 7 and don’t have access to a Windows Vista or XP machine, there is a fix. Of course, this information is only practical while Windows 7 is a release candidate and before VMware fixes their tools. My version of Windows 7 is 64-bit, so if you are using the 32-bit version, don’t forget to adjust the paths below accordingly.
1. Open the following folder:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Vmware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher
2. Edit the VpxClient.exe.config file and make it look like the following:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <configuration> <system.net> <connectionManagement> <clear/> <add address="*" maxconnection="8" /> </connectionManagement> </system.net> <appSettings> <add key = "protocolports" value = "https:443"/> </appSettings> <runtime> <developmentMode developerInstallation="true"/> </runtime> </configuration> |
3. Create a new folder in the same location called Lib, and then place the System.dll (attached to this post) inside.
4. Edit your system environment variables and create a new one, DEVPATH, and set it to:
C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\Lib
Now, vSphere Client is ready to roll! But the Host Update Utility still won’t work, so there’s just one additional steps to get that working:
5. Copy VpxClient.exe.config file (from above) to the following location, re-naming it VIUApp.exe.config:
C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\Infrastructure\VIUpdate 4.0\
And now the Host Update Utility will work, also.
Oh, and one last tip: if you connect to your ESXi host over a SSH tunnel, you will find that attempting to connect to “localhost” or “127.0.0.1″ wont work, either. It appears that vSphere Client and Host Update Utility treat these names special. The workaround for this is to either enter your computer’s name, or add a line to your hosts file.
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Hello,I test microsoft windows 7 64 bits official. I try to find the dll (3. Create a new folder in the same location called Lib, and then place the System.dll (attached to this post) inside.) Where is the dll ? Thanks,iannick
dll link is no longer valid. Can you add it to a zip and re post it?
I’ve noticed the System.dll that was attached keeps disappearing, and I’m not sure why. Anyway, this time I’ve ZIPed it and re-attached, and perhaps it will stay. My apologies for the inconvenience — I know how frustrating it can be to arrive at a solution, only to be missing a chunk.
Obtain a copy of %SystemRoot%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.dll from a non-Windows 7 machine that has .NET 3.5 SP1 installed. Copy this file into the folder created in Step 1. element and a element within the element. Save the file.
In the vSphere client launcher directory, open the VpxClient.exe.config file in a text editor and add a
< ?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
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