Express Patches released for VMware AUG 12 time bomb BUG
August 13th, 2008 | 
Author: Based on the email I received from VMware at 1:14 am EST last night, the express patches for the ESX 3.5 and ESXi 3.5 Update 2 product expiration bug have been released and are available for download. This availability would have been 10:14 pm PST and slightly later than the 9:00 pm promised deadline. This is still impressive customer response in my opinion as the ESX team is no doubt working around the clock to provide a fix around the world. VMware’s next deadline is 6 pm PST tonight (August 13) to provide the reissued upgrade media.
There are now 3 KB articles related to this bug:
- Fix of virtual machine power on failure issue, refer to KB 1006716
- For VI 3.5, refer to KB 1006721 for deployment consideration and instruction
- For VI3.5i, refer to KB 1006670 for deployment consideration and instruction
The whole email is copied at the end of this post, but here is the important information from the email about the express patches:
We have released the express patches for the product expiration issue. Please
go to http://www.vmware.com/go/esxexpresspatches for more information.1. What do the express patches do?
There are two express patches: one for ESX 3.5 Update 2 and one for ESXi 3.5
Update 2. They are specifically targeted for customers who have installed or
fully upgraded to ESX/ESXi 3.5 Update 2 or who have applied the
ESX350-200806201-UG patch to ESX/ESXi 3.5 or ESX/ESX 3.5 Update 1 hosts. For
customers who haven’t done either, these express patches should not be applied.To be noted is that these patches have been validated to work with esxupdate.
However, testing with the VMware Update Manager is still under way. In
subsequent communications, we will provide confirmation whether the patches work
with VMware Update Manger or if a re-spin is required.We are currently testing an option to apply the patch without requiring
VMotion or VM power-off and re-power-on at the point of patch application. To
immediately refresh vmx on the VM, one can VMotion off running VMs, apply the
patches and VMotion the VMs back. If VMotion capability is not available, VMs
can be powered off before the patches are applied and powered back on
afterwards.
The following is the email I received from VMware in it’s entirety.
Dear VMware Customers,
We have released the express patches for the product expiration issue. Please
go to http://www.vmware.com/go/esxexpresspatches
for more information.
Problem:
An issue has been discovered by many VMware customers and partners with
ESX/ESXi 3.5 Update 2 where Virtual Machines fail to power on or VMotion
successfully. This problem began to occur on August 12, 2008 for customers that
had upgraded to ESX 3.5 Update 2. The problem is caused by a build timeout that
was mistakenly left enabled for the release build.
The following message is displayed in the vmware.log file for the virtual
machine:
This product has expired. Be sure that your host machine’s date and time are
set correctly.
There is a more recent version available at the VMware web
site: http://www.vmware.com/info?id=4.
————–
Module
License Power on failed.
Affected Products:
- VMware ESX 3.5 Update 2 & ESXi 3.5 Update 2.
- The problem will be seen if ESX350-200806201-UG is applied to a system.
- No other VMware products are affected.
Resolution:
VMware Engineering has produced express patches for impacted customers to
resolve the issue.
FAQ:
1. What do the express patches do?
There are two express patches: one for ESX 3.5 Update 2 and one for ESXi 3.5
Update 2. They are specifically targeted for customers who have installed or
fully upgraded to ESX/ESXi 3.5 Update 2 or who have applied the
ESX350-200806201-UG patch to ESX/ESXi 3.5 or ESX/ESX 3.5 Update 1 hosts. For
customers who haven’t done either, these express patches should not be applied.
To be noted is that these patches have been validated to work with esxupdate.
However, testing with the VMware Update Manager is still under way. In
subsequent communications, we will provide confirmation whether the patches work
with VMware Update Manger or if a re-spin is required.
We are currently testing an option to apply the patch without requiring
VMotion or VM power-off and re-power-on at the point of patch application. To
immediately refresh vmx on the VM, one can VMotion off running VMs, apply the
patches and VMotion the VMs back. If VMotion capability is not available, VMs
can be powered off before the patches are applied and powered back on
afterwards.
2. When will VMware re-issue the upgrade media and patch bundles?
VMware plans to re-issue upgrade media by 6pm, August 13 PST and all update
patch bundles later in the week. We will provide an ETA for the update patch
bundles subsequently.
NOTE:
- An upgrade media refers to ESX 3.5 Update 2 ISO, ESXi 3.5 Update 2 ISO, ESX
3.5 Update 2 upgrade tar and zip files. They are for customers who haven’t
installed or upgraded to ESX/ESXi 3.5 Update 2 but wish to.
- The “patch bundles” here refer to those released at GA. They are for
customers who do not wish to do a full upgrade to ESX/ESXi 3.5 Update 2, but
apply patches that are deemed necessary to hosts running ESX/ESXi 3.5 or
ESX/ESXi 3.5 Update 1. They are not the same as the express patch which is
described above.
3. Why does VMware plan to re-issue the upgrade media before the patch
bundles?
Since we can complete building and testing of the upgrade media before the
patch bundles, we want to make that available to customers right away instead of
re-issuing all the binaries later in the week.
For the updated KB article on this issue check out the following link.
VMware Knowledge Base – View Document
Posted in 
Tags: 
