Software Update: VMware ESX Server 3.0.2

In recent years, virtualization has been increasingly used in business. Well-known names include Xen and VMware. The latter has conquered a solid position in the market with its VMware Infrastructure 3 setup. An important part of VMware Infrastructure 3 is of course VMware ESX Server. This is the operating system that is installed on a bare machine and then used to run virtual machines. For more information, please refer to Julie this one and this one pages. The developers recently released version 3.0.2 of VMware ESX Server with the following changes:

What’s New in the ESX Server 3.0.2 Release:

This release of VMware ESX Server offers the following improvements:

• Wyse Multimedia Support can now be installed into compatible guest operating systems using the VMware Tools Installer. Installing Multimedia Support enables supported devices to receive encoded video streams via RDP/ICA. Only Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 guest operating systems are supported when using Wyse Multimedia Support and ESX Server 3.0.2. Please refer to the KB 1001699 for information on installing Wyse Multimedia Support in a supported guest operating system.
• Support for additional backup software from third-party vendors including:
  • CA BrightStor ArcServe 11.5 SP1
  • CommVault Galaxy version 6.1 SP4
  • IBM TSM Storage Agent version 5.3.3
  • Legato NetWorker 7.3.2 Jumbo Update 1
  • Symantec Backup Exec version 11d
  • Veritas NetBackup version 6.0
• Support for several new guest operating systems including Microsoft Windows Server 2003 SP2, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5 (without paravirtualization), Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 4.5, Novell Netware 6.5 SP6 and Sun Solaris 10 Update 3.
• Support for new versions of management agents including:
  • Dell OpenManage 5.2
  • HP Insight Manager Agent 7.8
• Driver updates for the bnx2, cciss, e1000, and mptscsi drivers. Support for the forcedeth driver for the nVidia NForce Network Controller.
• The new vmkerrcode utility allows you to display a table of all VMkernel errors, a brief description, and the corresponding error codes in both decimal and hexadecimal format. Please refer to KB 1000084 for more information.
• When used with ESX Server 3.0.2, VMware Consolidate Backup 1.0.3 supports iSCSI storage in addition to Fiber Channel storage. Virtual machines residing on any iSCSI arrays listed in the Storage/SAN Compatibility Guide for ESX Server 3.x may now be backed up through the VMware Consolidate Backup framework.
• Support for new server hardware, including the Dell Poweredge 2970 (with BIOS version 1.0.0).
• Support for the HP P800 SA controller.

Issues Resolved in ESX Server 3.0.2:

The following are known issues in ESX Server 3.0.1, which have been resolved in the ESX Server 3.0.2 release:

API:

• Issues Upgrading from ESX Server 2.5.x to ESX Server 3.0 or ESX Server 3.0.1 VmPerl Scripting API (KB 10130)
• Statistics Returned by the VmPerl Scripting API Might be Wrong (KB 10131)

backup:

• Error in Configuration File Causes Communication Failure Between Veritas NetBackup and Service Console (KB 9480977)

Service Console:

• VMware ESX Server Service Console Upgraded RPMs and Security Fixes (PDF)
• OpenIPMI Driver Update (KB 1271657)
• Security Update for gzip Vulnerability (KB 5885387)
• Error Message, “EXT2-fs warning: maximum mount count reached, running e2fsck is recommended” (KB 6822209)

Logging:

• The Warning “WARNING: VSCSI: ResetWatchdog: Retry 0 on handle 260 still in progress after xxx seconds” is Changed to a Log Entry (KB 10177)
• Repetitive Log Entries After Installation of Management Agents (KB 10168)
• Powering on a 64-bit Guest OS with VT Disabled in BIOS Results in Repeated Logging or Error Message (KB 10147)
• Warning “UNSUPPORTED flags (0x1) -> EINVAL” Sent to Log During Virtual Machine Initialization (KB 1000085)
• Benign Logging for System Peripheral Devices (PCI Class Code 0x0880) on IBM x3550 Servers (KB 10141)

User Administration:

• Adding a New User to the Existing Group Does Not Inherit the User to the Same Group (KB 10143)

Installation and Upgrade Issues:

• Service Console Networking Stops Working When Using the vmxnet_console Network Driver and Upgrading From ESX Server 2.x to 3 (KB 2202)
• CPU Hyperthreading Appears Disabled after Upgrading from ESX Server 2.5.3 to 3.0.1 (KB 8451742)
• ESX Server 3.0.1 Installer Does Not Detect Device Information Provided In the Driver CD (KB 10145)

Virtual Machine Networking:

• pcnet32 Loads Instead of vmxnet (KB 1001685)
• Performance of Outgoing UDP Packets Is Poor (KB 10172)

Monitor:

• WRMSR (TSC) Instruction Loses High 32 Bits When Executed by Virtual Machines on Intel Core CPU (KB 10146)

Networking:

• Update for the e1000 Driver (KB 1006511)
• Load Sharing of Network Traffic Might Not be Optimized for Flexible Virtual Network Adapter in a Teamed Configuration (KB 10164)
• Warning For Duplicate IP Address for VMware VMotion Portgroup (KB 10165)
• 64-bit Windows Guest Security Issues, VMware Tools Memory Leak, and Linux Boot-from-network with PXE. see KB 5095559 and KB 6704314 for more information.
• Duplicate IP packet and Failover Issues with Beacon Monitoring (KB 10167)
• Update to ESX Server Service Console Operating System Network Interface (vswif) (KB 4825991)
• Performance Optimization For Service Console Network Interface (KB 10173)

Resource Management:

• CPU Affinity Violation on Hyperthreaded Systems(KB 10175)

Storage:

• Storage Array Update, Raise LVM Maximum Heap Size (KB 9865995)
• Exceeding Host Bus Adapter Limit While Loading Driver Causes ESX Server Crash (KB 10182)

Tools:

• Auto-Upgrading Tools in NetWare Virtual Machines Produces Errors (KB 3431060)
• VMware Tools Shrink Option on ESX Server Virtual Machine Guest OS File System Disks Does Not Work (KB 10185)

vMotion:

• Migration with VMotion Fails When Destination Host Cannot Find Swap File (KB 1000082)

Guest Operating System Issues:

• Guest Operating System Information is Incorrect on the Virtual Machine Summary Page (KB 1000651)

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