In VMware vSphere 6.5, missing functions in speedy HTML5 Web UI leaves us saddled with vSphere Web Client (Flash), C# Client still connects to hosts, but not to vSphere
Did you notice what the VMware vSphere 6.5 Release Notes mention, at this spot? Those are the (finalized?) client UI names! Yep, get ready for this:
Components of VMware vSphere 6.5, including vCenter Server, ESXi, the vSphere Web Client, the vSphere Client, and the vSphere Host Client do not accept non-ASCII input.
Let's reformat that:
- vCenter Server
- ESXi
- vSphere Web Client
- vSphere Client
- vSphere Host Client
Yeah, we're stuck with vSphere Web Client for a while longer, since the vSphere Client functionality is not all there yet, details here:
- Functionality Updates for the vSphere Client
Updated on: 15 November 2016
vSphere Client 6.5 | 15 NOVEMBER 2016 | ISO Build 4564106
The Unsupported Functionality table documents the vSphere Web Client workflow functionality not available in the vSphere Client at the release of VMware vSphere 6.5. Any vSphere Web Client functionality not documented in this table is supported in the vSphere Client at release. Check periodically for updates to the Unsupported Functionality table.
#rant start
Interested in my original piece about this transitional state we're still stuck in? See:
# rant end
Going forward, I continue to try to avoid any videos that feature the relatively sluggish vSphere Web client, to reduce obsolescence, and because the HTML5 UIs are much more pleasant and faster to use. Sure wish VMware development dollars were directed at dumping Adobe Flash/Flex earlier.
We'll get there, fewer better UIs, but we're just not quite there yet.
vSphere Client for Windows still works, sort of...
Oh yeah, didn't VMware say this about vSphere 6.5:
...the C# client (AKA Desktop Client/thick client/vSphere Client for Windows) will not be available for the next version of vSphere?
True, no 6.5 version of it exists for download at the usual Download URLs for VMware vSphere Client [KB2089791]. But guess what? The VMware vSphere Client 6.0 Update 2 still works! That doesn't mean it is supported, or that you should use it, given a lot of the newest and most innovative features can't be configured with it. But at least VMware doesn't block you from logging in and using it, I suppose to appease customers with mixed environments, at least for a while longer. It only works connected to ESXi 6.5, won't connect to VCSA, seen below.
Nov 17 2016 Update
Have you noticed what happens when you point your browser to the VCSA appliance? Yeah, multiple options, with the cling to Flash disclosed in that first link for the still-needed vSphere Web Client. At least they explained it, and made it easy to launch from there.
The big news is that the vSphere HTML5 Web Client is now baked right into the VCSA 6.5 appliance, seen as the second link below. This is MUCH less clumsy than the standalone appliance you had to configure for the 6.0 compatible version.
So fingers crossed that VMware rips off this bandaid as soon as possible and gets the HTML5 UI fully equipped to handle all vSphere functions as quickly as possible, without making us wait for the next major release (vSphere 7.0?). I say this because of the 20-months-between-major-releases cadence of late. Probably wishful thinking, but one can always hope.
Comments
Share your feelings about this transitional state we're in below! Don't miss reading about the UI purgatory that Reuben Farrelly is stuck in with his Nexus 1000V issue.
See also at TinkerTry
...and two very popular articles that came out within a few hours of the download's availability:
-
How to easily update your VMware vCenter Server Appliance to VCSA 6.0 Update 2
Mar 16 2016 - How to easily update your VMware Hypervisor to ESXi 6.0 Update 2
Mar 16 2016
See also
-
C# Client is officially dead…
May 19 2016 by Duncan Epping at Yellow-Bricks - Goodbye vSphere Client for Windows (C#) – Hello HTML5
May 18 2016 by Dennis Lu at VMware Blogs
