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2007 Canada Daylight Saving Time (DST) Extension

Details

Extended Daylight Saving Time (DST) for the following time zones in Canada will begin in March 2007:
  • Atlantic
  • Mountain
  • Pacific
  • Yukon
  • Central
  • Eastern
  • Newfoundland

Solution

VMware has produced an update for the following products affected by the new DST change:
  • VMware ESX Server 2.5.x
  • VMware ESX Server 3.0.x

The update has been incorporated into the following product releases:

  • VMware ESX Server 2.5.4 Upgrade Patch 4 or later (build 38650)
  • Patch bundle ESX-9716732 for VMware ESX Server 3.0.0
  • Patch bundle ESX-3996003 for VMware ESX Server 3.0.1

The ESX Server downloads pages are at:

VMware recommends upgrading to a supported version of ESX Server. Patches are available from the respective download pages.
 
 
Checking an ESX Server host for installed updates:
 
ESX Server 2.x patches are cumulative and are referenced by the build number. The current build number is listed in the management interface (MUI), or in the display using VirtualCenter 1.x. Optionally log on to the service console and use the command vmware –v. For example:

[root@esxhost]# vmware -v
VMware ESX Server 2.5.4 build-38650

 
To check for installed bundles on an ESX Server 3.x host, use the following command on the service console:
 
[root@esxhost]# esxupdate query
 
The output should contain the corresponding bundle for your specific version of ESX Server 3.0.x.
 
 
Confirming timezone updates contain new DST data:
 
After the system has been upgraded to a patch with timezone changes, make sure /etc/localtime reflects the changes using the following steps:
  1. Check that the zoneinfo file for the ESX Server host location has the correct changes reflecting the new DST dates:

    [root@esxhost]# zdump -v /usr/share/zoneinfo/<specific zoneinfo file> | grep 2007

  2. Compare the output from step 1 with what is currently in /etc/localtime:

    [root@esxhost]# zdump -v /etc/localtime | grep 2007

  3. If the output from /etc/localtime is not correct, copy the specific zoneinfo file from /usr/share/zoneinfo to /etc/localtime.

    [root@esxhost]# cp /usr/share/zoneinfo/<specific zoneinfo file> /etc/localtime

    If prompted to overwrite /etc/localtime, type yes.

    Note: It is not necessary to reboot

  4. Check that /etc/localtime has the correct DST timezone dates.

    [root@ esxhost]# zdump -v /etc/localtime | grep 2007
Workaround for ESX Server 2.x only (2.0.2, 2.1.3, 2.5.0, 2.5.1, 2.5.2, 2.5.3 and 2.5.4):
 
VMware has made update packages available that will update the time zone files only. These update packages are designed as a workaround to give customers additional time to upgrade their ESX Server hosts to the latest patch. This patch should be installed only by customers who are not able to install the ESX Server 2.5.4 Upgrade Patch 4 by March 11. The update package contains new timezone data files with the new DST settings, which will be copied to /usr/share/zoneinfo.

Important: You must reboot the ESX Server host after applying the update so the system logger services will use the new date and time.
 
The update package is available here:
http://ftpsite.vmware.com/download/DST/tzdata-new.gz
 
To install the package, follow the steps below:
  1. Download the tar file and place it in the /tmp directory on the service console.


  2. Extract the tar file in /tmp:

    [root@esxhost]# cd /tmp
    [root@esxhost]# tar zxvf tzdata-new.gz


  3. Check /etc/sysconfig/clock to ensure the ESX Server host is configured for the correct timezone location:

    [root@esxhost]# cat /etc/sysconfig/clock

    Sample output:

    ZONE="Canada/NewFoundLand"
    UTC=true
    ARC=false

    If the line for ZONE= is not correct, edit /etc/sysconfig/clock to replace the string with the correct zone from /usr/share/zoneinfo.


  4. Execute the perl script to install the time zone files:

    [root@esxhost]# /tmp/time-zone/tz-update.pl


  5. Follow the steps in Confirming timezone updates contain new DST data (above) to verify /etc/localtime reflects the changes.


  6. Shut down or suspend any running virtual machines, and then reboot the ESX Server host so the system logger services will be refreshed to use the correct date and time in log output files.

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Actions
  • KB Article: 6737634
  • Updated: Aug 14, 2009
  • Products:
    VMware ESX
  • Product Versions:
    VMware ESX 2.5.x
    VMware ESX 3.0.x