Deploying an OVF fails on vCenter Server 5.1 when VMware tools are installed (2034422)

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Deploying an OVF fails on vCenter Server 5.1 when VMware tools are installed (2034422)

Symptoms

• Deploying an OVF fails on vCenter Server 5.1 when VMware Tools are installed
• When deploying an OVF from a virtual machine that has VMware Tools installed, you see the error:
  
  OVF Deployment Failed: File ds:///vmfs/volumes/uuid/_deviceImage-0.iso was not found
  
  Where uuidis the datastore ID where the OVF is being deployed

Cause

This error occurs when the VMware Tools installation task is not finished. The guest operating system may already have the Tools successfully installed and running, but the ESX task for installing the tools has not finished.

 

In vSphere 5.0 and earlier, device backings (what the device is connected to) were not exported. OVF files generated on ESX 5.0 and earlier do not contain the device backing information and therefore do not encounter this issue when importing on ESX 5.1

 

In vSphere 5.1, virtual machines device backing information is exported. When the Tools install task has not finished it leaves the virtual machine's CD-ROM device connected to a datastore ISO image that cannot be accessed upon re-deployment of the OVF to a new virtual machine, which causes the error.

Resolution

To resolve this issue:

1. Right-click the virtual machine and clickGuest >End VMware Tools Install.
2. Export the virtual machine to a new OVF file.
3. Confirm in the newly exported OVF that the CD-ROMResourceSubTypereads like this:
   
   <Item ovf:required="false">
       <rasd:AddressOnParent>0</rasd:AddressOnParent>
       <rasd:AutomaticAllocation>false</rasd:AutomaticAllocation>
       <rasd:ElementName>CD-ROM 1</rasd:ElementName>
       <rasd:InstanceID>9</rasd:InstanceID>
       <rasd:Parent>4</rasd:Parent>
       <rasd:ResourceSubType>vmware.cdrom.remotepassthrough</rasd:ResourceSubType>
       <rasd:ResourceType>15</rasd:ResourceType>
       <vmw:Config ovf:required="false" vmw:key="backing.exclusive" vmw:value="false" />
       <vmw:Config ovf:required="false" vmw:key="connectable.allowGuestControl" vmw:value="true" />
     </Item>

Note: When the ResourceSubTypevalue is set tovmware.cdrom.iso , deploying the OVF fails and you see the error.