VMware Workbench Integrated Suite Release Notes

VMware Workbench Integrated Suite 3.5.7 | August 16, 2016

These release notes cover the following topics:

What's New In 3.5.7?

  • Support for Eclipse on-line updating for installation of Workbench IS and associated development kits.

  • Improvements to connectivity to remote systems using TLS/SSL.

  • Debuggers used by VMware SDKs have been updated to work with vSphere 2016 and some usability improvements have been made.

Important Notes

Java JRE/JDK requirements (READ THIS!)

Workbench IS runs in the context of your existing Eclipse installation, which means that it uses whatever Java run-time environment that you have installed. Workbench IS connectivity to remote systems using TLS/SSL is dependent on the configuration of the underlying JRE. For vSphere 6.5, VMware has eliminated usage of insecure cipher suites that were used with older versions of Java. If you intend to connect to these systems, you must:

  1. Update to Java 1.8.0_72 or later

  2. Configure your Java to use TLS 1.2 by default. The easiest way to do this is to edit the “eclipse.ini” file in the root of your Eclipse installation to specify an additional option to the JVM when Eclipse is started. The option is '-Dhttps.protocols=TLSv1.2,TLSv1.1,TLSv1' and should be located after “-vmargs” flag so that the option is directed to the JVM. This option specifies to use TLS 1.2 first when negotiating cipher suites in a TLS/SSL connection.

Install from the VMware Eclipse update site

For 3.5.7 support has been added for installing Workbench IS and associated tools using the native Eclipse on-line update installation mechanism. This is the fastest and most convenient way to install and is advised. See the “Obtaining the Software” section below.

New VMware Workbench Support Bundle

If you encounter an issue with Workbench and you want to report it to VMware, you can create a ZIP file which includes information about Workbench and the environment that you are using. This may expedite your VMware Support Request Ticket because the support engineer will already have some of the information needed to start working on the issue. You can use this new feature by clicking:

  • VMware > Create Workbench Support Bundle

Please include the created ZIP file in your initial request for support.

Change in Behavior When Installing Open SDKs
In the Workbench Dashboard, when you click on the download link for an Open SDK that requires you to accept a EULA, you see a dialog stating the following:

This SDK can only be downloaded from an external web site. A new browser window will open to let you select and download the SDK. Once the download is complete, the install wizard will open to let you install the SDK.

When you continue, the MyVMware page opens inside an Eclipse window (before it would open an external browser).
Log in with your MyVMware account credentials, then select Download, and accept the EULA. The download starts and after the file has been downloaded, the install wizard automatically opens.

Obtaining the Software

For 3.5.7 support has been added for installing Workbench IS and associated tools using the native Eclipse on-line update installation mechanism. This is the fastest and most convenient way to install and is advised.

To install:

  1. In Eclipse, click "Help" > "Install new Software"

  2. Click the "Add" button on the right.

  3. In the "Name" edit box type "VMware Workbench IS". In the "Location" edit box paste the following URL:

    https://vdc-download.vmware.com/v2/update/vmwbpkg/wbis-comp/3.5.7

    (note that this URL is for the Eclipse IDE and not viewable in a browser)

  4. Click "OK", and Eclipse will query the on-line update site for available features to install.

  5. Check the 'VMware Workbench Integrated Suite” box to install all Workbench IS features. Note that other available VMware Tools and development kits may be listed and available for selection. Click through the wizard, accepting the EULA. Any warnings about unsigned plug-ins can be safely ignored. Restart Eclipse to apply the changes.

After this installation, you should see the "Workbench Dashboard" from which you can explore and install available VMware APIs, SDKs, as well as Certifications.

Supported Host Operating Systems and Eclipse Environments

Workbench Integrated Suite was tested in the following environments:

  • Windows 7 64-bit

  • Windows 8.1 64-bit

  • Mac OS X 10.9.5 Mavericks 64-bit

  • Linux SLES 11 SP3 64-bit

  • Ubuntu 12.04 LTS 64-bit

It is likely to work on other 64 bit Windows, Linux, or Mac environments provided that the Eclipse version mentioned below is used along with a compatible Java 1.8 (build 72 or later) JRE, but only the environments above are officially supported.



The following eclipse distribution is officially supported. You can obtain it from www.eclipse.org:

In order to install Workbench IS, the Eclipse installation must be using Java 1.7 or later.

Note that various SDKs installed into Workbench IS have additional requirements such as the Eclipse Java Development Tools.

Known Issues

The following issues exist in this release of VMware Workbench IS 3.5.7:

  • PR 1407933: Unable to update Eclipse from 4.4.x to 4.4.2 after Workbench IS is installed
    Problem: If Workbench IS has been installed into an existing 4.4.0 or 4.4.1 installation of Eclipse, then if you attempt to update to Eclipse 4.4.2 (released on 2/27/2015), the installation fails.
    On Windows you may see a pop-up message that says Invalid registry object. An error has occurred. See error log for more details. Task List Save Job..
    On Mac, you may see An internal error occurred during: "Task List Save Job. java.lang.NullPointerException.
    Workaround: Download a new copy of Eclipse 4.4.2 from eclipse.org and install Workbench IS into it.

  • PR 1407842: Unable to install WBIS if Eclipse has been updated from 4.4.x to 4.4.2
    Problem: If Eclipse 4.4.0 or 4.4.1 was previously installed, and this installation was updated to Eclipse 4.4.2 (released 2/27/2015) by clicking on Help > "Check for Updates", a subsequent installation of WBIS may result in a non-working installation of WBIS. This condition is marked by a pop-up dialog that says 'Initialize RSE' has encountered a problem. An internal error has occurred during 'Initialize RSE'..
    Workaround: One of two options:

    1. Open a console/command window and run the "eclipse" executable with the -clean switch, "eclipse -clean". This causes Eclipse to reload all of its available plugins, working around the issue.

    2. Download a new copy of Eclipse 4.4.2 from eclipse.org and install Workbench IS into it.

  • PR 1048195: Error while installing Workbench IS.
    Problem: When installing Workbench IS, intermittently the following error is shown: 'Computing size' has encountered a problem. An internal error occurred during: "Computing size". Profile epp.package.jee is marked as changed.
    Workaround: Repeat the Workbench IS installation. The error is not shown and the software packages are installed.

  • PR 1470970 and 1490139 Unable to logout after closing and reopening the dashboard.
    Problem: If you are signed in, and exit the Dashboard, and then restart it, and then click on the "Sign Out" link, you will be asked to sign in (rather than sign out).
    Workaround: If you do sign yourself in again, you can then sign out normally. Or, you can restart Workbench, and then "Sign Out" will work normally.

  • PR 671874:
    Problem: During installation of some plug-ins, a warning message displays related to unsigned content.
    Workaround: These installation messages are safe to ignore.

  • PR 1290569: Error when checking for updates.
    Problem: When installing generic software updates through the Help > Check for Updates menu, one of several error messages can appear, for example "an internal error occurred during computing size". This seems to be caused by timing issues when resolving dependencies in the Eclipse code.
    Workaround: Repeat the Check for Updates operation. The error eventually is not shown and the software packages are installed.

  • PR 1252421: When using RSE, the following error is encountered: java.rmi.RemoteException: VI SDK invoke exception:java.io.IOException: Unable to tunnel through proxy.
    Problem: Trying to establish a connection in RSE or Installation Helper while using a hostname that is not fully qualified, results in a java exception..
    Workaround: When establishing a connection through RSE or IH, the user should provide either the IP address or the fully qualified domain name (FQDN). The hostname alone will not work. For example use abcmachine.eng.example.com instead of abcmachine only.

  • PR 1118056: Intermittent misleading message that Workbench is unable to maintain a connection to an ESXi host.
    Problem: Occasionally an exception is shown when VMware Workbench tries to connect to an ESXi. The user sees "Connection to the ESXi ipaddress was cancelled". This exception is raised by RSE on the first connection after a boot of the virtual appliance. The first connection could be triggered by Test Manager, Installation Helper, or Log Browser.
    Workaround: This message can be misleading. Before taking action, check to see if the connection is still valid by performing the following steps:

    1. Click OK on the dialog window.

    2. In the RSE view, right-click the machine in question (with the same IP address listed in the message).

    3. If the machine status is Connected, the message was false and you can ignore it. If the status is Disconnected, then reconnect to it.

  • PR 1327832 and 1328339: Workbench Log Browser does not process Horizon View logs correctly.
    Problem: When trying to display a log from the VMware Horizon View Client, only 1 line is displayed even though the log file has more than 1 line. When trying to display a log from the VMware Horizon Agent Debug log file, no lines are displayed.
    Workaround: None.

  • PR 1317837: LogBrowser does not support zip files created using the Export System Logs feature from vSphere Web Client.
    Problem: LogBrowser does not support the .zip files created using the Export System Logs feature from vSphere Web Client because it contains bundles for VC and ESXi. An example of this is (a) starting from the vSphere Web Client (b) after logging in to the vCenter Server system, under Inventory Lists, selected vCenter Servers (c) clicking the vCenter Server that contained the ESX/ESXi hosts from which you wished to export logs (d) clicking the Monitor tab and clicked System Logs (e) from there you clicked Export System Logs.
    Workaround: Generate a Windows log bundle from the VC itself. For example:
    Start > All Programs > VMware > vCenter Server > Generate vCenter Server log bundle.
    Generate a VMsupport bundle by navigating to the host or vCenter Server that contains the logs you want to retrieve. then select the View tab and click the Select Object button. Select the VC. Select Action, then select Export and select VMsupport bundle. Click Export and save the file.

  • PR 971784: Log Browser cannot download remote Windows log bundles.
    Problem: LogBrowser does not support the zip files created using the Export System Logs feature in the vSphere Web Client.
    Workaround: Generate a Windows log bundle from the VC itself. For example, Start > All Programs > VMware > vCenter Server > Generate vCenter Server log bundle.
    Generate a VMsupport bundle by navigating to the host or vCenter Server that contains the logs you want to retrieve. then select the View tab and click the Select Object button. Select the VC. Select Action, then select Export and select VM support bundle. Click Export and save the file.

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Last updated: 11 August 2016