VMware Tools does not start after
updating the kernel in RHEL 6
Issue:
VMware Tools does not start after updating the kernel with boot log
messages:
Checking acpi
hot plug [
OK ]
Starting VMware
Tools services in the virtual machine:
Switching to
guest configuration:
[ OK ]
VM communication
interface:
[FAILED]
VM communication
interface socket family:
[FAILED]
Guest operating
system daemon: [
OK ]
·
Vmware tools not running after
kernel patches are installed
·
VMTool not working
·
After latest OS patch set
installed VM coming up without NIC interfaces
·
After upgrading the kernel some
of my devices no longer work
Environment
- Red
Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5 Virtual Machine
- Red
Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6 Virtual Machine
- VMware
ESX Hypervisor
Resolution
- After
updating the kernel, VMware tools just needs to be reconfigured -- not
reinstalled
Run the vmware-config-tools.pl script (from inside the RHEL guest) to update the initramfs/initrd
#
vmware-config-tools.pl
NOTE: There
is a high possibility that running this script will interupt network services
on the server; run it from the console during regularly-scheduled downtime to
prevent problems with applications and users
Root Cause
- In
order for VMware-specific virtual hardware (e.g.: VMXNET3 ethernet
controller) to work with a new kernel, initial ramdisk (initramfs in RHEL
6 and initrd in RHEL 5 & earlier) needs to be rebuilt to include the
appropriate VMware-specific kernel modules (drivers)
Diagnostic Steps
- Check
for VMware specific hardware in the output of an lspci command
