FreeBSD Virtual Machine: Update ESXi 6.0 U2 and reinstall VMware tools on FreeBSD

For ESXi host update, just followed the guide from TinkerTry.com:

# esxcli network firewall ruleset set -e true -r httpClient
# esxcli software profile update -p ESXi-6.0.0-20160302001-standard -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml

# esxcli network firewall ruleset set -e false -r httpClient

A reboot is required at the end of the update process.

Additionally, the vSphere Client must also be updated.

At the end of ESXi host update, the FreeBSD virtual machines complained about the VMWare tools being "unsupported".

First, uninstall the current VMWare tools:

# cd /usr/local/bin
# perl vmware-uninstall-tools.pl

Then, install the new version of VMWare tools by following this post. But note that if you try to run the tools with ./vmware-install.pl, you may get an error "command not found" . That's because the provided script is looking for perl under /usr/bin. As of FreeBSD 10.1, perl is no longer a system binary and after the install, the binary is under /usr/local/bin.
So, edit the following files and replace /usr/bin/perl with /usr/local/bin/perl in the following three files.

• vmware-install.real.pl
• /usr/local/bin/vmware-config-tools.pl
• /usr/local/bin/vmware-uninstall-tools.pl

References:
- https://tinkertry.com/easy-upgrade-to-esxi-60u2#download-and-apply-the-60-update-2-patch-directly-from-the-vmware-online-depot
- http://blog.iandreev.com/?p=2068

VMWare - Deploying the vCenter Server Appliance 6.0 halts with a blank warning

Potential errors during appliance deployment:

1. When deploying the vCenter Server 6.0 Appliance (...) you experience these symptoms:
After clicking Connect to target server, using a vCenter Server to deploy the new appliance, you see a blank error message at the top of the deployment wizard.
You are unable to move beyond the Connect to target server step when attempting to connect to a vCenter Server.

Solution: To resolve this issue, upgrade the Client Integration Plugin installed on your workstation. For informaiton on locating and installing the latest plugin, see the Install the Client Integration Plug-In section in the vSphere Installation and Setup guide.

2. When deploying the vCenter Server 6, on step 9. Network Settings, the FQDN and IP addresses entered here must be resolvable by the DNS server specified or the deployment will fail.


References:
- https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2131734
- https://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/techpaper/vmware-vcenter-server6-deployment-guide.pdf