VMware Update Manager 4.1 install

Once we were comfortable with the install of vCenter 4.1, the install of VMware Update Manager 4.1 (VUM) seemed like a quick next step. A new database instance was created on red-bank, an x32 ODBC DSN was created on Alpine, and the install of VUM 4.1 was completed.

The VUM plugin still needs to be installed and activated, but the code is in place. This will be for fixes and probably will not be used for ESXi 4.1 migration (more RTFM on that needed).

ODBC DSN fun
An interesting thing happened on the way to installing VMware Update Manager 4.1 (VUM). Since the VUM 4.1 code installed on Alpine is x32, the ODBC data source DSN for talking to the database needs to be x32! The warning in VMware documentation goes like this:

IMPORTANT: Although you can install the Update Manager server only on 64-bit machines, Update Manager is a 32-bit application and requires a 32-bit DSN.

If you open up the standard ODBC DSN interface on Win2k8 x64, it will only create an x64 DSN.

A few forums highlighted this point, although we did not see the procedure create an x32 ODBC DSN in the admin guide (must have missed a meeting....).

From the forums: On your 64-bit server, create a 32-bit ODBC DSN with odbc32.exe under:

C:\Windows\System32\odbcad32.exe

This brings up the same GUI but it allows you to create a 32 bit DSN.

Once this was created, the VUM install went smoothly.