I am running a Windows Server 2012 R2 on a VMWare VSphere 6 host. When I try to install the VMWare tools, I get an error message (translated):
Install or upgrade VMware Tools was initiated: the required ISO Image for VMware Tools is not available or can not be accessed.
vix-error code = 21000
I would be surprised if the VMware tools were not available for a 3-years old system. But to be precise:
Nov 16, 2016 - Download the VMware vCenter Server and Modules for Windows ISO. Mount the ISO and right click autorun.exe, select Run as administrator. How to install vCenter Server 6.5 on Windows Server 2012 R2 with an Embedded Platform Service Controller 1 By Videesh Babu on November 21, 2016 VMware vSphere, vSphere 6.5.
Download Windows Server 2012 Iso
Are the VMware tools available for Windows Server 2012 R2 and vSphere 6?
How do I install them?
1 Answer
Yes, the VMware Tools for Server 2012 R2 are available, and have been released for vSphere 6.
The way a VMware Tools install works when the guest OS is running is by mounting an ISO image containing the VMWare Tools installer, and then executing the appropriate setup executable. Most often, when this fails, it's because there's a problem mounting the appropriate ISO, and typically, in my experience, the problem resolves itself by rebooting or removing and re-adding a CD/DVD drive device. I've also seen a number of weird issues when trying to mount an ISO through the vSphere client, where the mount operation simply hangs at Connecting..., and the resolution is closing out the vSphere client window and opening a new one (or mounting from the PowerCLI command line).
Download Windows Server 2012 Trial
Failing that, verify that the VMware Tools ISO is present, and not corrupt or locked. It can be found on the host at: /usr/lib/vmware/isoimages/