Vsphere Client
Raingarda Krzynowek
I'm sure there are many people who have had to administer multiple versions of vSphere/ESX/ESXi. Although at this time, I have no plans to "upgrade" to vSphere5 in my work environment or the free v5 Hypervisor in my home/test environment due to the vMem licensing, I have it installed on a server to test. Both my work and home environments are running 4.1 u1 so thats the version of the client that's installed on my machines. I had to make a VM to install the v5 client on.
I'd like to be able to access both clients on the same PC. I did find the Thinapped vSphere client, but it seems that is dead as I don't believe it was updated to support 4.1u1. Is there an "undocumented" way to install multiple client versions on the same PC?
It would be nice if VMWare would build the clients to support previous versions, IE: v5 client be able to connect to v5, and all releases of 4.1, 4.0 & 3.5, allow you to install multiple versions of the client side by side, or have a free thinapp for each version. Personally, I'd be fine with just beiong able to install multiple clients on the same PC, which would probably be easiest for VMWare to accomplish.
When you launch the "client" on your PC it is really only a launcher. You actually need individual clients for each version of ESX(i) that you will be connecting to. When the launcher connects to an ESX(i) host it detects and launches the correct client version.
If you are administering multiple versions of ESX(i) then you will need to install all versions of the client on the workstation you administer from. If you connect to an ESX(i) host for which the corresponding client is not installed you will be prompted and the client will be downloaded from the host machine and installed.
That's interesting... I just tried installing both the latest 4.1 & 5 clients, and they both worked on the same machine. When I tried the same thing back in April with the v4.0 & 4.1 clients, when I installed the 4.0 client, I was no longer able to connect to my 4.1 environment. Basically, whichever version was installed last was the only version that would work. The other would always give the prompt indicating files were needed and to download the client.
Normally the prompt to download and acceptance would have started the download directly from the ESX(i) host. It should have installed the client alongside any existing ones. If that didn't happen there may have been some other issue involved. ??????
If you look at the shortcut for VMware vSphere Client, it points to "C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\VpxClient.exe" which, as someone else mentioned, is just a launcher. The launcher will choose the correct client version based on the vCenter/host version.
So, not sure what is going on, but I am trying to install the vsphere 5.0 client on a Windows 7 Pro workstation. It goes to the point in which it says "Installing vSphere Client Help" and then doesn't go any further. It just sits there, then after a few minutes, my machine gets bogged down and becomes unresponsive to anything.I have to end up hard booting my machine. I have tried to login as admin, same results, use 'run as' admin logged in as user, same results.
Welcome to the Community - I have not heard any problems installing the vSphere client - where are you downloading the osftware from - ESXI 5 server or vCenter? Have you tried installing form the installation media?
I get the attached error message when using the latest build of client 6.0 with a ESXi 6.7. I've read that client 6.0 should not work with ESXi after 6.0 but it works just fine with my 6.5...so not sure what is up and down here. Can someone clarify for me?
With ESXi 6.7 (and 6.5 after Update 1) it will not work AT ALL. And, before you ask, no, there is nothing you can do and no way to restore that functionality. You need to move on and use the HTML5-based embedded host client available at
Thanks for the info. Although I don't have any issues with the HMTL version it does lack much functionality that the client has. For example we have having issues with a virtual machine getting USB 2.0 drives to connect. We were always able to make it work with the client software...but a new USB DEVICE is always greyed out in the HTML version. Thoughts?
ESXi = Baremetal (type 1) hypervisor. Can be standalone or clustered, and can be the free version or any one of a paid license. Regardless of your license level, ESXi has built into it a client for the sole purpose of accessing ESXi. It has nothing to do with and no dependency upon vCenter. You access this one at This is called the ESXi embedded host client. Depending on the version of ESXi you have, this host client will be at one of several versions of the client because development is ongoing. If you're having difficulty performing something with this client, the first thing to do would be to update it with the version available on the Fling site here. Instructions on how to do so are posted on that page.
So if I'm understanding correctly the embedded host client will have an update coming soon with additional functionality and stability? I should add the real advantage I see with the current version I just put on a test box is the embed host client seems way more stable with my browsers with less error messages.
Each version of the HTML5 embedded host client brings with it functionality and stability, yes. Although at this point, they've basically implemented almost everything that's possible on a solo ESXi host (at least to my knowledge).
I can't access my server using the vSphere Client at present. (I am using the free version of ESXi 5). I enter my IP Address, User Name and Password, then click 'Login'. A box pops up prompting me to Update the client software, but when I click either, 'Run the installer' or 'Save the installer', I get another the response that 'Update Save Failed' and that 'The required client support files cannot be retrieved from the server "vsphereclient.vmware.com". The login process will now exit...'
When you enter the https://; in the browser, you will get a link to download vsphere client. Download the latest one and use it. Maybe be its because of internet connection issues. Check and make sure the machine is connected to internet and try again and see if it'll run the installer or do as I mentioned. Either ways u need internet connection.
I have already tried downloading the latest version from vmware and I still have the same problem. I also assumed this would have solved the problem as there would probably have been an update to the client software in the last 60 days (at the start of my trial period). I have an internet connection that works fine, so not sure why it fails to connect to vmware's server to make the download. If anybody knew of a link to the update that is trying to be downloaded, then that could solve my problem.
It seems a bit ridiculous that just because I can't update the software I can't access my server and do any work. I wonder what this update is, how important the update is and why it's critical before I can continue using the client. Is this update being asked for because I have just licensed the software (free version). It seems a bit of a coincidence that in the 60 day trial I didn't have to update the software once, but then after licensing it's now requiring it before I can continue.
Did u uninstall the previous client and install this or installed along with it? It's possible to run multiple clients there's also a possibility u tried accessing it again with older one. So delete all of them. And install the latest one. Let me know if it's still giving same problem
Hi Everyone there, I am also facing similar issues I am trying to connect to Esxi though management port directly with no internet access to the server. when I try to connect it through vsphere client it's showing same problem "run or save the installer" but when I try to continue it fails "cannot retrieve files from vmware.vsphereclient.com. Tried to install and reinstall the s/w but not working.
I downloaded ever version of the client one by one and tested it. VMware-viclient-all-5.1.0-1880906 seemed to be the one that worked for me. However you may just want to try each version one by one for your version of VMWare.
You must go to https:// and do a mouse-over the "Download vsphere client" link. When you do that, it will show you the required version. You have to write that down an then you can search and download it from vmware. It will work on the first try without needing to try all the versions until you find the good one.
I've been struggling for a while with a vmware lab installation environment. I have installed ESXi 5.1 on two separate hosts and installed vcenter on one of them. After finishing the installation I cannot log into the vCenter administration panel from the vSphere client. I installed the web client as well to add the domain that the lab servers are members of to the authorized domains.
I can now log into the vCenter administration from the web client with my domain credentials but when I try to log into vCenter server with the vSphere client I get the following error: " The vSphere client could not connect to "hostname". You do not have permission to log in to the server "hostname".
I have also tried with the admin@system-domain account that was created during the install, but I get the same message there. I can log into the web client with the admin@system-domain username as well.
But that is my problem , I cannot log int vCenter with any account at all even when running the vSphere client on the vCenter server. So even with the admin@system-domain I can't log in to the administration panel. Both my domain account and my admin@system-domain account work on the web client...
Thanks for the reply! I have tried logging into the vSphere client on the local machine using the both the local administrator username/password and the domain administrator username/password. Both accounts are members of the local Administrator group on the vCenter server.
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