When trying to manage your vSphere environment using the web client (or forced to in 6.5+), the Web Client Integration plugin is required to make use of many features the web client has to offer, like remote console, enhanced authentication, and deploying OVF appliances.

If you have downloaded and installed the plugin, but IE, Chrome, or Firefox do not activate the plugin, it can most likely be resolved by doing one of the following:

Add the vCenter FQDN to the trusted site list:
For vSphere 6.0-6.5: https://vCenter_FQDN
For vSphere 5.5: https://vCenter_FQDN:9443
Add the vCenter FQDN to the Local Intranet list (IE & Chrome)
Uninstall Plugin, Clear Cache/Cookies, Reinstall Plugin, and Repeat option 1

My last post had a link to a VMware Fling for the HTML5 Web Client for vSphere, but I thought I would follow-up with a step-by-step guide on deploying it (since it is an appliance). These guides seem to get the most traffic, so I assume they are the most helpful. Here we go.

First lets grab the HTML5 Appliance .OVA file and we will also need a .bat file (assuming you are using vCenter on Windows). You can grab those here.

Always use the regular Web Client to deploy and configure your VMs. More and more features are being removed from the thick client. If you try to deploy this appliance using the thick client, you will need to setup and IP pool. (This is not required if you are using the web client).
vSphere HTML5 Web Client IP Pools

Appliance Deployment

Through the existing Web Client, deploy a new OVF Template. Select the downloaded .ova file, accept the agreements, choose your storage, networks, and deploy.

Configure vSphere HTML5 appliance with vCenter for Windows

Open Command Prompt as Administrator and Run the “Server-Configure.bat” script we downloaded from VMware’s fling page earlier on the Windows server where vCenter is installed. This must be ran as Administrator, and must be run from Command Prompt, and not just RIght-Clicked and Ran from Explorer
(The script assumes vCenter was installed using the default path. If it was not, you will need to modify the script).
SSH into the HTML5 appliance (username = root , password = demova) and create the following directories for the config files.
– mkdir /etc/vmware/vsphere-client/
– mkdir /etc/vmware/vsphere-client/config/
– mkdir /etc/vmware/vsphere-client/vsphere-client/
Using WinSCP or another file transfer method, copy the generated files from the “Server-Configure.bat” script to the directories we just created on the appliance. See below:
– /etc/vmware/vsphere-client/store.jks
– /etc/vmware/vsphere-client/config/ds.properties
– /etc/vmware/vsphere-client/vsphere-client/webclient.properties
Keeping time sync between the HTML5 Web Client and vCenter is critical. You should add an NTP entry to the appliance. This can be done by going to https://appliance_ip:5480 and login with root – demova , or add an NTP server via CLI in the appliance:
– /etc/init.d/vsphere-client configure ntp_servers <IP address of NTP Server(s)>
Start the Web Client services
– /etc/init.d/vsphere-client start