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Security Patch Breaks VMware Users' Windows Desktops
jbrodkin writes "VMware is telling customers that two Windows 7 security patches have left VMware View users incapable of accessing their Windows desktops. Security updates issued on Patch Tuesday fixed Windows but broke the VMware View connection between users' PCs and remotely hosted Windows 7 desktops. Users will have to upgrade VMware View or uninstall the Microsoft patches in order to regain access to their desktops."
VMware view is way to access remotely hosted virtual machines.
VMWare workstation and server are not affected.
VMWare view clients just need to be updated.
At some point the responsibility shifts from Microsoft to VMWare. Where the responsibility for alerting customers lies is maybe not clear yet.
The update has broken a few things for me. Half my desktop gadgets are not functioning properly. There are some other glitches that I noticed with my AV software, though I'm still confirming on other PCs.
One would think that Microsoft would beta-release their patches to the really big software partners, so that at least some sort of testing could happen.
Then again, the conspiracy theorist side of me keeps saying that maybe Microsoft doesn't mind if the biggest competitor to Hyper-V suffers a few PR flubs once in awhile...
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
Its a good thing we are so slow at integrating new software. We only have 3 Windows 7 machines in VMWare the rest are all Windows XP!
Why wasn't Slashdot's Microsoft icon completely scrapped with the re-design?
That thing looks so incredibly dated and anachronistic...(snip)
Sort of like Microsoft...
They have an updated build of the View Client available for download that fixes the problem.
Good yes?
Not really. The updated client has a new build number but the SAME version number in the MSI! Why does this matter? It matters because the MSI will not UPDATE an existing install. It looks like the same version so you have to uninstall and then reinstall. /FA option to try and force a reinstall of the same versions, that is next on my list.)
(No I have not tried MSIEXEC
They had the fixed build quick enough that I am guessing that this issue was known prior to today. It is just crazy that they did not change the version number so that the tools for managing applications (SCCM et al) can detect that a new version is available and install it.
Even their own View Connection Servers which check the version of your View Client when you talk to them will not detect that a new version is available.
Crazy!
Jorgie
They already fixed it according to the summary, so where's the story? Operating system updated, breaks software. Software gets updated.
-]Phreak Out[-
I still think MY idea for a new /. MSFT icon is best...Picture Ballmer's head with his tongue sticking out wearing an "I Heart Apple!" beanie. Considering how "me too!" MSFT has been since Ballmer took over from old Bill I think it would fit the company direction perfectly. Besides it would be karma for the way we MSFT users and admins made fun of Apple when the Pepsi guy was running it into the ground. Now the shoe is on the other foot as they got the visionary back and MSFT got taken over by another Pepsi guy.
As for TFA, don't VMWare View customers get upgrades? I thought that was pretty much SOP for companies like VMWare, you buy the product you get updates and upgrades. Hell of a lot better than Quickbooks whose standard answer is "Buy the new version!" at several hundred a pop when they can't bother to provide updates to fix their bad code.
That is why one of my most popular setups right now is dual boots, as it is cheaper to buy XP Home licenses and set up dual boots on the new Win 7 machines than it is to upgrade to the latest Quickbooks, especially if they have one of the pro packages. It is a PITA but I can see why SMBs are hooked on QB like crack, as you can run a small business and have the whole thing automated and taken care of by a single "Quickbooks girl" (for some reason it is ALWAYS a girl) and it eliminates a TON of paperwork. At least the VMWare View users can just go get the upgrade and be done with it.
As for blaming MSFT that really ain't fair. Did anybody here look at the leaked Win2K source code? MSFT already jumps through crazy hoops trying to keep some of the badly coded third party stuff working and lets face it, Windows wasn't made to be VMed in the first place. I'm sure it probably came down to leave a gaping security hole or fix it and let VMWare issue a patch/upgrade. After all it is backwards compatibility that keeps people on Windows in the first place.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
Microsoft's soul is Bill Gates soul. They still carry-on the "embrace; extend; extinguish' philosophy he created in the late 80s and into the 90s. In fact - I dare say they've gotten a little worse. Also the Borg reference is appropriate given that Microsoft assimilates everything it touches. AOL instant messaging, WordPerfect, IBM DOS, Netscape, Mosaic, and so on. I'd like to be able to say I don't use any MS product but windows, but that would be a lie. MS has identified my workplace computer as something they can consume, and now control virtually all the software. (At home I have more options, like Firefox and LibreOffice, but not at work.)
FREE magazine : http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/prior/
Ballmer hates VMware more than he does Linux - and View 4.x is the new "DR-DOS".
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
"At that point all the legacy unportable corporate applications that need IE6 will run in some kind of frozen in time universe"
That point is here already. There are companies effectively frozen in time, from the IT point of view.
The current Microsoft icon needs to be replaced by an animated GIF of Steve Ballmer doing the monkey dance.
I haven't used Windows since 2006. People actually still use it? By God, what for?
I guess you're not a gamer. There's still no better gaming platform out there than Windows.
I also use Windows for Visual Studio, although when I'm developing something cross-platform I tend to write it in Xcode and just use Visual Studio to make Windows builds.
This "my software is better than yours" sentiment with people arguing how evil Apple and MS are is annoying enough, does slashdot really have to propagate this with that icon?
Yes. Slashdot serves ads while we fanboy-fight.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
They're a lot more secure that way!
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
WTF? The old Borg icon is much better. Did the creator of this new one not even watch Star Trek and realize borg skin is pale white/blue?
jeez
There are toasters and knives that run VMware view? Cool. Where can I get one?
Atlas stands on the earth and carries the celestial sphere on his shoulders.
Seconded.
Either that, or replace one obsolete reference with a slightly less obsolete reference by replacing the Borg icon with a flying chair.
Good, inexpensive web hosting
Actually it sounds like some of the new virtualization enhancements in SP1 are also in this latest security patch. So it's a case of VMWare theoretically working better--they just didn't expect it yet.
Forgot to mention, I was running the latest Oracle Virtual box 4.0.2 r69518. Apparently, the impact was not restricted to as as the OP implied to just VM-Ware
The upgrade is free. You're encouraging piracy of software that is free.
Yes, the base package is commercial, but the upgrade is free. And since you're complaining about being unable to fix broken software free of charge, I'm assuming you purchased the base package already. Otherwise, what right do you have to complain?
Either way, I am not going to be the one paying for this.
I'm going out on a limb here and guess that's you're attitude towards ALL commercial software you use.
Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
"At some point the responsibility shifts from Microsoft to VMWare. Where the responsibility for alerting customers lies is maybe not clear yet"
At what point did VMware, invent a time machine, go back in time, inflitrate Microsoft and hack out a Windows 7 security patch that broke VMware.
"VMware is telling customers that two Windows 7 security patches have left VMware View users incapable of accessing their Windows desktops"
Recent patches seemed to have buggered a Win7 VM I had running in VirtualBox. It wasn't a total buggering but the old configuration of the VM was fine (well, fine enough) until recent patches made it unusable. It bogged down and ground to a halt until I went into safe mode and disabled just about everything that was running.
Sound like it's not just a vmware problem. Wonder if bare metal users were impacted too.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
This is one of these threads where I miss the most my yesterday's moderator points...
Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
They do, most of the patches are in the hands of their larger partners for a month before release. Not sure if VMWare is not considered a partner, or if they just didn't do extensive enough testing. That they already have a fix for View suggests that they knew there was going to be a problem but didn't want to push it out into the real world until they had confirmed that it was an issue outside the lab.
"Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
You install Window 7 patches on your Mac? Can I watch?
"Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
You did an update just before you had to do a presentation? WHAT were you thinking? I don't even open email attachments if I have to do a presentation. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but the idea of having my operating system or apps do something unexpected while in front of an audience, especially one that expects us to do all their tech work for them, scares the snot out of me. No thanks.
"Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
I should have been a slight bit more informative RSA is from Feb 14 to the 18th.
This was just a dry run prep. Kind of a sound test and the audience I mentioned was composed of a half dozen geeks I've known for years. A small audience and it was appropriate to be on line and get patches applied, the demo requires it.
At presentation time, I'll be host only.
I'd guess it's more an effect of us all screaming that it takes them way too long to release fixes as it is. Introducing more lag time for marginal benefit to most of us is a no-win, I'd guess.