One of the changes with vSphere 6.5 Update 1 is how VMware Tools are bundled. This will primarily affect those who have older Windows systems, or are running operating systems outside of Windows or Linux.
Quick Review
Each build of ESXi contains ISO images for the current VMware tools installer for guest operating systems that run on top of it. When an administrator tells the vSphere Client to update VMware Tools, the hypervisor mounts the appropriate ISO image from the ESXi filesystem to the virtual machine and presents it as a CD-Rom. The guest OS can then be updated.
When you upgrade an ESXi host to a newer version or apply patches, those ISO images will be updated with the newest version of VMware Tools.
What Changes in 6.5 Update 1
vSphere 6.5 Update 1 only contains a subset of the VMware Tools ISO images for the supported guest operating systems. These appear to support the latest variants in the Windows and Linux worlds. Continue reading “Changes in VMware Tools Bundling for vSphere 6.5 Update 1”