The procedure should also apply to most recent Dell Servers running ESX 3.5, but your mileage may vary

Get your hands on the Software Update Utility DVD ISO and Burn it.

In terms of time, this is pretty much half the job, believe it or not. You’ll need to goto support.dell.com, find your Dell Server, and get the Dell Updates DVD ISO. For the PowerVault 1950 III, go here and then look under Systems Management for “Dell – DVD iso Images” “applies to: DVD ISO – Dell Server Updates”.

Patching the Dell Server

1. Be sure to VMotion off any Guest OSs that you need to keep running. Shut down everything else, and then put the target server into Maintenance Mode.
2. Insert the Updates DVD into the Server
3. Bring up a command prompt, as root, on the Server and run the following to mount the CD-ROM: mount /mnt/cdrom
4. Now navigate to the CD-ROM: cd /mnt/cdrom
5. Check what’s upgradeable on your system: sh suu -c
6. If you’re happy, then run the upgrade: sh suu -u
7. That’s it, you’re done

Message from esxserver.yourdomain.com: This product has expired. Be sure that your host machine’s date and time are set correctly. There is a more recent version available at the VMware Web site: “http://www.vmware.com/info?id=4″.

Then you can find the solution at this blog.

Thanks Todd, you just saved me from pulling an all-nighter. I thought I was going crazy!

Update: The first signs of this problem occuring are that, when you try to Power On a virtual machine, you get the error message: “A General System error occurred: Internal error”. After checking the Events log, you’ll see the more verbose error message earlier on in the post.

Here’s how to do it:

Launch the Virtual Infrastructure Client. If you don’t have it, just http:// to your VMware ESX host and grab it from the front page.

Go to the Configuration tab of your ESX Server, then click on Virtual Machine Startup/Shutdown.

By default (I’m pretty sure) automatic startup is disabled. To enable it, click on “Properties…” on the far upper right of the window.

You’ll now see this window:

Check/Tick “Allow virtual machines to start and stop automatically with the system”.

Now, this is the bit where I nearly cried…

You know you want to “enable” your Guest OSes to automatically boot, but how? I tried clicking and dragging, right clicking for a context menu to enable “Automatic start up” and gave up.

Turns out, you need to click on the Guest OS you’d like to enable, and then click “Move Up” until it sits underneath the “Automatic startup” title. Argh!

I really hope this helps someone out!

1. Shut down the Guest OS.
2. Open up the .vmx file.
3. Delete the following lines (that begin with…):

   ethernet0.addressType
   uuid.location =
   uuid.bios =
   ethernet0.generatedAddress =
   ethernet0.generatedAddressOffset =

    

4. Boot up the Guest OS again, and it should generate new details in the vmx file (I’d check afterwards to be doubly sure).

The most common scenario for wanting to do this is if you’ve used a “template” Guest OS and copied it to multiple PCs, but accidentally clicked “I moved this Virtual Machine” rather than “I copied this Virtual Machine” when first booting the Guest OS in something like VMware Player.

If you tell VMware that the Guest OS was copied, it automatically generates new UUID info and MAC addresses. If you tell VMware that you moved the Guest OS, all unique identifiers are left alone (including the MAC address). By performing the steps above, you can get VMware to generate you some new, unique identifiers, and stop weirdness on your network

Screenshot below, showing system through VMware Infrastructure Client.