For the first time i have had a hard time installing vCenter Update Manager (VUM) version 5.1 (not U1 or U1a). The vCenter Server upgrade, from version 5.0, did complete without any errors. VUM was not used before meaning no upgrade was available.
The installation failed in the end, when register VUM to vCenter Server, with error “25085”.
The error code refers to different VMware KB articles e.g. 1024795, 1032709 and 1036055.
When investigating the installation log file, vminst.log file located in the %temp% directory of the user running the installation (in my case C:Usersre23yt12AppDataLocalTemp), i found:
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VMware Update Manager-build-782803: 05/31/13 14:44:37 INFO: Reg/UnReg extn command: [“-v a.b.c.d -p 80 -U “user_name” -P *** -S “E:Program Files (x86)VMwareInfrastructureUpdate Managerextension.xml” -C “E:Program Files (x86)VMwareInfrastructureUpdate Manager\” -L “xG`=wM’E-sWbu/(f!’8sf0&(nIa{uEYq#9” -O extupdate”]
VMware Update Manager-build-782803: 05/31/13 14:44:37 AppendPath::done Path: E:Program Files (x86)VMwareInfrastructureUpdate ManagervciInstallUtils.exe
VMware Update Manager-build-782803: 05/31/13 14:44:37 Found “E:Program Files (x86)VMwareInfrastructureUpdate ManagervciInstallUtils.exe”
VMware Update Manager-build-782803: 05/31/13 14:44:43 Process returned 255
VMware Update Manager-build-782803: 05/31/13 14:44:43 Error:: Other runtime error
VMware Update Manager-build-782803: 05/31/13 14:44:43 ERROR: VUM registeration with VC failed
VMware Update Manager-build-782803: 05/22/13 14:44:43 Posting error message 25085
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Pay attention to the red part in the above log. The command “vciInstallUtils.exe” is used when the installation or upgrade process register VUM to vCenter Server. The following options are available for the “vciInstallUtils.exe” command:
- -v [ –vc ] arg (=localhost) VC server or proxy server or new vum ip
- -p [ –port ] arg (=80) VC server port or proxy server port
- -U [ –user ] arg vc, db or proxy server user name
- -P [ –password ] arg vc, db or proxy server password
- -S [ –spec ] arg VUM extension spec file
- -O [ –op ] arg Specify operations. values are: vccred, vcversion, dbcreate, dbupgrade, dbcheck, dbdelete,xmlquery, xmlgen, proxycheck, extadd, extupdate,extdelete,umdscompatcheck, dbencrypt, proxyencrypt,anupgrades,updateextensionxml
- -D [ –dbsource ] arg Specify ODBC data source name
- -T [ –dbtype ] arg Specify db type, Oracle or SQL Server
- -g [ –utility ] arg Specify if utility is calling, so configurations can be updated
- -y [ –useproxy ] arg Specify if proxy is being used
- -C [ –configDir ] arg Specify vciInstallUtils config directory and db scripts directory to use
- -L [ –logDir ] arg Specify vciInstallUtils log directory to use
- -F [ –commFileName ] arg Specify communication file file name, for xml operation only
- -I [ –installDir ] arg Specify update manager install directory, for xml operation only if not given, it will try to get from registry
- -s [ –patchStore ] arg Specify update manager patchstore directory, for host upgrade cleanup only
The -L option specifies the log directory and verifying my command string next to the “-L” option shows “xG`=wM’E-sWbu/(f!’8sf0&(nIa{uEYq#9”.
The string “xG`=wM’E-sWbu/(f!’8sf0&(nIa{uEYq#9” is actually a part of the password, my customer has an internal policy that requires a strong password including 64.
I have seen problems before when using a 64 character password, e.g. VMware View Composer 4.5 and 4.6 didn’t manage more than 57 characters based on the SUN JRE limitation. For more information see the VMware KB 1035626.
Investigating the password shows the semi-colon “;” before the sting “xG`=wM’E-sWbu/(f!’8sf0&(nIa{uEYq#9″ used for the -L option in the vciInstallUtils.exe command.
This means the semi-colon “;” is used as an separator when processed by the “vciInstallUtils.exe” command. Works perfectly in the ODBC connection string for VUM.
We changed the the semi-colon “;” in the password to an exclamation mark “!” and run the installation successfully.
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