Updated fling: vSphere HTML5 Web Client

calendarSep 9, 2017 · 4 min read · fling VMware  ·
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Just before VMworld Europe starts, VMware releases an update of the vSphere HTML5 webclient.

Summary

We will continue delivering this Fling on a regular basis even with the released supported version of the vSphere Client, so we hope that most of you will continue to use the Fling and update it weekly so that we can get your feedback about our direction. You can find a summary of changes in all the clients available in vSphere 6.5 in this blog post – What's new in vSphere 6.5: vCenter management clients. In the blog, you can also find a link to all the features that are not available in the GA version of the vSphere Client and link to frequently asked questions on all the vSphere Clients. We would also like to thank all of you that have tried the Fling and have provided us feedback, we would not have achieved the progress we have without your engagement. For partners who want to extend the HTML Client, this Fling also includes a new HTML SDK and a tool to generate plug-ins. Please see the HTML Client SDK Fling Overview.pdf and download the html-client-sdk.zip and plugin-seed.zip. Known Issues

  • On occasion you may see the following error popup: “An error occurred……See more details in the browser’s javascript console”. This is to help us debug the UI. If this occurs repeatedly, please use the Feedback tool to send us any information you have, including your environment, object, and a description of what you did to reproduce the error.
  • Linux will show a warning on the login page about being unsupported, but the Fling should still work after login
  • Bug: Unpatched versions of IE can fail to login and end up at URL “vmware-csd://csd”: This is a known vCenter 6.0 bug that we cannot patch with this appliance. The KB and fix are located here: https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2109554
  • Bug: If the client page is visited before the server has fully started, sometimes the strings do not load and you will see things like “summaryView.guestFullName” in views or in action menus. Refreshing the page may fix this, but restarting the appliance server with: “/etc/init.d/vsphere-client restart” should definitely fix it.

NOTES

  • This client is designed for managing vCenter. If you are looking for the Host Client you can find it as “ESXi Embedded Host Client” (https://labs.vmware.com/flings/esxi-embedded-host-client).
  • The new visual theme is called “Clarity”, and is also still in development. We will be fixing UI bugs and subtly changing the look and feel to fit the new Clarity standard.
  • The appliance requirements are recommended settings. It should still work at lower settings, but performance may be impacted.
  • The root password on the appliance is ‘demova’ (without quotes). If you enter the wrong password too many times you will get locked out. The easiest way to fix this is to redeploy the appliance from the OVA.

Changelog

Fling 3.21 - Build 6555866

New Features

  • Create and edit VM customization specifications with custom network configurations
  • Edit/Clone Storage Policy Component
  • Datastore capability sets (Datastore > Configure > Capability sets)
  • Create, edit and delete Link Aggregation Groups on Distributed Switches

Improvements

  • Confirmation on logout when there is upload file task in progress
  • Quick filter is introduced in the network selection dialog at Edit VM Settings > Network Adapter > Browse. It replaces the per-column filtering.
  • Enable/disable IPv6 on ESXi hosts.
  • Shares information is now available on Resource Allocation views for clusters and resource pools.
  • ESXi hardware health: when deployed against 6.5 vCenter, timestamps for sensor readings are displayed.

Bug Fixes

  • Cluster > Monitor > vSphere HA > Heartbeat now displays the actual set of datastores used by HA (used to display only the user-configured datastores)

Known Issues

  • If you see error in the vSphere Client (HTML5) similar to this - ‘getHostIsAssignLicenseActionAvailable’, then you can resolve this error by following below steps:
    • If vSphere Client (HTML5) Fling appliance is pointed to a vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA), then you should reregister the fling appliance by logging in to FAMI UI (or by running the config-ui CLI). Refer the instructions document to follow the steps for configuring Fling appliance for VCSA.
    • If vSphere Client (HTML5) Fling appliance is pointed to a Windows vCenter Server, then reregister by downloading latest server-configure.bat from the Download section of this website. Refer the instructions document to follow the steps for configuring Fling appliance for Windows vCenter Server.