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Workaround: VMware GRE – DP 7.03/8.1X – vCenter 5.1 U2

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After updating to vCenter 5.1 update 2 and with Data Protector 7.03 or 8.1X a blank page might be displayed when using VMware GRE. The reason might be a change in Tomcat of vCenter. When looking into the log files (i.e. C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\Logs\localhost.YYYY-MM-DD.log) the error VMwareGRE: runCGI (stderr):Can't open perl script "C:\Program": No such file or directory might be displayed. As a workaround the config file web.xml of the VMware GRE plugin can be modified. When using a standard installation the file is located in C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\tomcat\webapps\VMwareGRE\WEB-INF\. The workaround will change how the parameters are handled.

Change the block:

<init -param>
<param -name/>executable
<param -value/>”C:\Program Files\OmniBack\bin\perl.exe” -I “C:\Program Files\OmniBack\lib\perl”
</init>

Changed block:

<init -param>
<param -name/>executable
<param -value/>C:\Program Files\OmniBack\bin\perl.exe
</init>
<init -param>
<param -name/>executable-arg-1
<param -value/>-I
</init>
<init -param>
<param -name/>executable-arg-2
<param -value/>C:\Program Files\OmniBack\lib\perl
</init>

8 thoughts on “Workaround: VMware GRE – DP 7.03/8.1X – vCenter 5.1 U2”

  1. Dear Daniel,

    Unfortunatelly it did not work, it disabled the complete plugin in VMWare vCenter. The plugin cannot be found anymore.

    Regards

    Dennis

    • Hi Dennis, I apologize for the problems this may have caused. The workaround was used in a current case and solved the problem. You may need to open a support case to see if in your environment a different workaround can be applied.

      Best regards
      Daniel

  2. Hello Dennis,

    The most probable reason for the plugin to completely disappear from vCenter after modifying web.xml is a syntax error. Please check that the lines were modified correctly and that the other lines were kept intact.

    Kind Regards,
    Ventzislav

  4. Hi Ventzislav,

    With all respect, why is this in the XML and why do you open the line with instead of closing it?

    I allways thought opening with and closing with .

    Kind Regards,

    Dennis

  5. It works, but only like this:

    Original Script:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> 
<web-app xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee" 
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" 
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee/web-app_2_5.xsd" 
    version="2.5"> 

    <display-name>VMware GRE</display-name> 
    <description> 
                VMware GRE web plugin 
    </description> 
  
    <servlet> 
        <servlet-name>VMwareGRE</servlet-name> 
        <servlet-class>org.apache.catalina.servlets.CGIServlet</servlet-class> 
        <init-param> 
            <param-name>debug</param-name> 
            <param-value>0</param-value> 
        </init-param> 
        <init-param> 
            <param-name>cgiPathPrefix</param-name> 
            <param-value>WEB-INF/cgi</param-value> 
        </init-param> 
        <init-param> 
            <param-name>executable</param-name> 
            <param-value>"E:\Program Files\OmniBack\bin\perl.exe" -I "E:\Program Files\OmniBack\lib\perl"</param-value> 
        </init-param> 
                                <init-param> 
                                                <param-name>passShellEnvironment</param-name> 
                                                <param-value>true</param-value> 
                                </init-param> 
 
        <load-on-startup>5</load-on-startup> 
    </servlet> 

    <servlet-mapping> 
        <servlet-name>VMwareGRE</servlet-name> 
        <url-pattern>/cgi-bin/*</url-pattern> 
    </servlet-mapping> 
</web-app>

    Changed Script:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> 
<web-app xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee" 
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" 
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee/web-app_2_5.xsd" 
    version="2.5"> 

    <display-name>VMware GRE</display-name> 
    <description> 
                VMware GRE web plugin 
    </description> 

    <servlet> 
        <servlet-name>VMwareGRE</servlet-name> 
        <servlet-class>org.apache.catalina.servlets.CGIServlet</servlet-class> 
        <init-param>  
            <param-name>debug</param-name> 
            <param-value>0</param-value> 
        </init-param> 
        <init-param> 
            <param-name>cgiPathPrefix</param-name> 
            <param-value>WEB-INF/cgi</param-value> 
        </init-param> 
        <init-param> 
            <param-name>executable</param-name> 
            <param-value>"E:\Program Files\OmniBack\bin\perl.exe"</param-value> 
         </init-param> 
                <init-param> 
                    <param-name>executable-arg-1</param-name>         
                    <param-value>-I</param-value> 
                </init-param>    
                <init-param> 
                    <param-name>executable-arg-2</param-name> 
                    <param-value>"E:\Program Files\OmniBack\lib\perl"</param-value> 
                </init-param> 
                                <init-param> 
                                                <param-name>passShellEnvironment</param-name> 
                                                <param-value>true</param-value> 
                                </init-param> 

        <load-on-startup>5</load-on-startup> 
    </servlet> 
     
    <servlet-mapping> 
        <servlet-name>VMwareGRE</servlet-name> 
        <url-pattern>/cgi-bin/*</url-pattern> 
    </servlet-mapping> 
</web-app>

    • Hi Dennis,

      thanks for the feedback and sorry that you have to test yourself… However, I got the Information from HP, so I assumed that it will work.
      I modified you post, as it was not readable…

      Best regards
      Daniel

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