Using VMware SDK Support

I predict this post will get a single hit over its lifetime, but if it helps at least one person desperately trying to find out how to open a VMware SDK support request, that’s good enough for me.

Quick Overview

Not everyone knows, but VMware, along with support for vSphere, NSX and all the other software products, also provides SDK and API support. If you are a partner developing a solution that integrates with a VMware product or even a customer writing your own vSphere plug-in using vSphere Management SDK, you can reach out to VMware for help.

It’s a paid service. You can find detailed description of it on its landing page here: VMware SDK and API Support

How to open SRs

One thing that is not very obvious about the SDK support is how to open support requests if you’re a customer. The goal of this short post is to demonstrate where to find it on VMware support portal:

1. Log in to My VMware portal using your account credentials
2. Under the Support section click Get Support
3. On the opened page, under “Technical” category, choose your issue type, such as “Fault/Crash”
4. In the provided list of Supported Products expand SDK Support Services
5. Select VMware SDK Support
6. Click Continue and proceed with describing your issue and opening the ticket, as usual

This is a screenshot of what it will look like, if your account has been entitled to SDK support:

If you’re working with SpringSource, there is also a range of support option under the SprinSource Open Source Support sub-category.

Conclusion

I’ve had only brief interaction with SDK Support team, but can only say good things about them. One of the examples was a question I had on parameter specifications of a particular vSphere Web Management SDK function and I not only got an answer to my question, but I was also provided with code snippets, which I didn’t even ask for. So if you are serious about using VMware SDKs and think you may require technical support, I can certainly recommend this service.

Advertisement

vSphere Installation Error 1603

When installing vSphere client from ESXi server you can encounter an error:

The Microsoft .NET Framework  3.0 SP1 installer return code ‘1603’.

That’s what VMware site tells about that:

vSphere Client installation might fail with Error 1603 if you do not have an active Internet connection:

You can install the vSphere Client in two ways: from the vCenter Server media or by clicking a link on the ESX, ESXi, or vCenter Server Welcome screen. The installer on the vCenter Server media (.iso file or .zip file) is self-contained, including a full .NET installer in addition to the vSphere Client installer. The installer called through the Welcome screen includes a vSphere Client installer that makes a call to the Web to get .NET installer components.

If you do not have an Internet connection, the second vSphere Client installation method will fail with Error 1603 unless you already have .NET 3.0 SP1 installed on your system.

Workaround: Establish an Internet connection before attempting the download, install the vSphere Client from the vCenter Server media, or install .NET 3.0 SP1 before clicking the link on the Welcome screen.

In my case I had restricting rule on proxy server which didn’t allow me to access Microsoft site for automatic .NET download. But loosening restrictions didn’t solve the issue. I installed Framework .NET manually version 3.5 SP1.