I ran into a really annoying error recently while trying to upload a host upgrade to VMware Update Manager. The upload kept failing with the error message "Failed to login. Error was: A web exception has occured during file upload". (Yes, I know that word isn’t spelled right. /Sigh @ VMware QA)
If you Google for that phrase, you’ll find a VMware KB article that suggests you try disabling any anti-virus software that could be blocking the download of the .zip or .iso file. In my case, this wasn’t helpful. I googled further and found a communities post that suggested stopping the VMware Update Manager service, terminating any Java processes that were lingering, then starting the service up again.
That will work out great, but you want to make sure you’re not stopping another process’ java.exe (or java.exe*32 on Windows x64). You can easily do this with Windows 2008 by right-clicking the Java processes in Windows Task Manager, selecting Open File Location and killing any processes that point to Update Manager’s bin folder.
Here are the steps to resolve the issue in a clear order:
- Login to your VMware Update Manager server
- Stop the VMware vCenter Update Manager Service
- Open Windows Task Manager, sort by process name and identify any java.exe or java.exe*32 processes that have a file location in Update Manager’s bin directory. Right-click them and End Process Tree
- Once you’ve killed all the zombie Java processes, restart the Update Manager Service
- Complete your file upload successfully
Alternatively, if your environment is one where you can reboot the Update Manager (or vCenter Server, if it’s installed there) without causing too much trouble, you can do that too.
Kalmer Mike says
Worked like a charm. Thanks!
Jarrad says
Great stuff.
Worked like a charm.
Saved me loads of time
jason says
Wish it was that easy for me… I have tried what you list and their KB… no go.
Damian Karlson says
Hmm…I know this could be pretty disruptive depending on what this cluster supports, but have you tried removing the datastores and re-adding them using the same addressing, IP or FQDN.
Mike says
Confirmed working. Thanks a lot, VMware, for making your flagship product inoperable right out of the box. Running vSphere 5 and ESXi 5 hosts, all fresh installs. What a joke.
Michael Pitogo says
worked great for me as well~!
Simon Shaw says
Awesome, this worked for me too. Thanks!
Justin Hart says
Thx man, this worked. The KB failed me as well.
-JGH
Christoph says
Dude, you just saved me a lot of frustration. I have a few ESX 3.5 hosts to upgrade and wanted to use update manager when I ran into this error message. I found 2 VMWare KB articles making things overly complicated. Then found your instructions and bang – the iso is uploading.
Thanks.
Michael says
Thanks a lot. This solved my issue!