Knowledge Base

The VMware Knowledge Base provides support solutions, error messages and troubleshooting guides
 
Search the VMware Knowledge Base (KB)   View by Article ID
 

Minimum requirements for installing the vSphere and vSphere Web 5.x Client (2005083)

Purpose

This article provides information about the requirements for installing the vSphere Client 5.x and accessing the vSphere Web Client.
 
Note: This is a not a comprehensive guide. For more information, see the vSphere 5.x documentation. The documentation contains definitive information. If there is a discrepancy between the documentation and this article, assume that the documentation is correct.

Resolution

vSphere Client 

Make sure that your operating system supports the vSphere Client. For a list of supported operating systems for the vSphere Client, see the vSphere Compatibility Matrixes.
 
Note: The vSphere Client requires the Microsoft .NET 3.5 SP1 Framework. If it is not installed on your system, the vSphere Client installer will install it. The Microsoft .NET 3.5 SP1 installation might require Internet connectivity to download and update files.
 
This table outlines the vSphere Client minimum hardware requirements:
 
Hardware Requirement
Processor 1 CPU, 500Mhz Intel or AMD (1GHz recommended)
Memory 1GB RAM
Disk storage
1.5GB free disk space for a complete installation which includes the components: Microsoft .NET 2.0 SP2, Microsoft .NET 3.0 SP2, Microsoft .NET 3.5 SP1, and Microsoft Visual J#

Note: Remove any previously installed versions of Microsoft Visual J# on the system where you are installing the vSphere Client.
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Express disk requirements
Up to 2GB free disk space to decompress the installation archive. Approximately 1.5GB of these files are deleted after the installation is complete.

Note: If you do not have any of these components already installed, you must have 400MB free on the drive that has the %temp% directory. If you have all of the components already installed, 300 MB is required on the drive that has the %temp% directory, and 450MB is required for vSphere Client.
Networking 1Gbit
 

vSphere Web Client

The vSphere Web Client has two components: A Java server and an Adobe Flex client application running in a browser.

This table outlines the Hardware Requirements for the vSphere Web Client Server Component and Software Requirements for vSphere Web Client: 

Hardware Requirement
Processor

2.00 GHz processor with 4 cores

Memory
At least 2GB: 1GB for the Java heap, and 1GB for
  • The resident code
  • The stack for Java threads
  • Global/bss segments for the Java process

Disk Storage

2GB free disk space

Networking 1Gbit
Operating system
The vSphere Web Client requires a 64-bit operating system for installation.
 
These operating systems are supported for the vSphere Web Client:
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard, Enterprise or Datacenter SP2 64bit
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard, Enterprise or Datacenter R2 SP2 64bit
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Standard, Enterprise or Datacenter SP2 64bit
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Standard, Enterprise or Datacenter R2 SP1 64bit
Web browser
These browsers are supported for the vSphere Web Client 5.0:
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 and 8
  • Mozilla Firefox 3.6
These browsers are supported for the vSphere Web Client 5.1:
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 7, 8, and 9.
  • Mozilla Firefox 3.6 and later.
  • Google Chrome 14 and later

Note: The vSphere Web Client 5.0 also requires Adobe Flash Player 10.1.0 or later to be installed in your browser. vSphere Web Client 5.1 requires Adobe Flash Player 11.1.0 or later to be installed with the appropriate plug-in for your browser.

Additional Information

For related information, see:

See Also

Update History

30/11/11 - Removed Mozilla Firefox 3.6 from web browser req as not listed in vSphere Installation and Setup Guide 5.0 09/10/2012 - Added information for vSphere 5.1 9/20/2012 - Added flash requirements for Web Client 5.1 3/22/2013 - Added hardware requirements for vSphere web client

Request a Product Feature

To request a new product feature or to provide feedback on a VMware product, please visit the Request a Product Feature page.

Feedback

  • 10 Ratings

Did this article help you?
This article resolved my issue.
This article did not resolve my issue.
This article helped but additional information was required to resolve my issue.
What can we do to improve this information? (4000 or fewer characters)
  • 10 Ratings
Actions
KB: