Window Server 2019 in VMware Workstation 17 errors on wrong drive for VMware Tools

[SurinameClubcard]

Version

Main branch as of February 8th 2023.

Environment

Host operating system: Windows 11 version 10.0.22000.1455 x64. Vagrant for Windows version 2.3.4. Packer for Windows version 1.8.5. VMware Workstation Pro 17.0.1.

Scenario

Creating a VMware based installation of Windows Server 2019.

Steps to Reproduce

packer init -upgrade ./packer_templates
packer build -only=vmware-iso.vm -var-file=os_pkrvars\windows\windows-2019-x86_64.pkrvars.hcl ./packer_templates

Expected Result

A VM containing Windows Server 2019.

Actual Result

==> vmware-iso.vm: https://software-static.download.prss.microsoft.com/pr/download/17763.737.190906-2324.rs5_release_svc_refresh_SERVER_EVAL_x64FRE_en-us_1.iso?checksum=sha256%3A549bca46c055157291be6c22a3aaaed8330e78ef4382c99ee82c896426a1cee1 => C:\Users\Mea\Downloads\bento-main\packer_cache\e713134d34c0e6b17c2bb255d974420ddabd776d.iso
==> vmware-iso.vm: Configuring output and export directories...
==> vmware-iso.vm: Creating floppy disk...
    vmware-iso.vm: Copying files flatly from floppy_files
    vmware-iso.vm: Copying file: ./packer_templates/win_answer_files/2019/Autounattend.xml
    vmware-iso.vm: Copying file: ./packer_templates/scripts/windows/base_setup.ps1
    vmware-iso.vm: Done copying files from floppy_files
    vmware-iso.vm: Collecting paths from floppy_dirs
    vmware-iso.vm: Resulting paths from floppy_dirs : []
    vmware-iso.vm: Done copying paths from floppy_dirs
    vmware-iso.vm: Copying files from floppy_content
    vmware-iso.vm: Done copying files from floppy_content
==> vmware-iso.vm: Creating required virtual machine disks
==> vmware-iso.vm: Building and writing VMX file
==> vmware-iso.vm: Starting HTTP server on port 8544
==> vmware-iso.vm: Starting virtual machine...
    vmware-iso.vm: The VM will be run headless, without a GUI. If you want to
    vmware-iso.vm: view the screen of the VM, connect via VNC with the password "wHJJBXks" to
    vmware-iso.vm: vnc://127.0.0.1:5975
==> vmware-iso.vm: Connecting to VNC...
==> vmware-iso.vm: Waiting 1m0s for boot...
==> vmware-iso.vm: Typing the boot command over VNC...
==> vmware-iso.vm: Waiting for WinRM to become available...
    vmware-iso.vm: WinRM connected.
==> vmware-iso.vm: Connected to WinRM!
==> vmware-iso.vm: Uploading the 'windows' VMware Tools
==> vmware-iso.vm: Provisioning with Powershell...
==> vmware-iso.vm: Provisioning with powershell script: ./packer_templates/scripts/windows/disable-windows-updates.ps1
==> vmware-iso.vm: Provisioning with powershell script: ./packer_templates/scripts/windows/disable-windows-defender.ps1
    vmware-iso.vm:
    vmware-iso.vm: Success Restart Needed Exit Code      Feature Result
    vmware-iso.vm: ------- -------------- ---------      --------------
    vmware-iso.vm: True    Yes            SuccessRest... {Windows Defender Antivirus}
    vmware-iso.vm: WARNING: You must restart this server to finish the removal process.
==> vmware-iso.vm: Provisioning with powershell script: ./packer_templates/scripts/windows/remove-one-drive.ps1
==> vmware-iso.vm: Provisioning with powershell script: ./packer_templates/scripts/windows/virtualbox-prevent-vboxsrv-resolution-delay.ps1
==> vmware-iso.vm: Provisioning with powershell script: ./packer_templates/scripts/windows/provision-guest-tools-qemu-kvm.ps1
    vmware-iso.vm: Not QEMU machine exiting
==> vmware-iso.vm: Provisioning with powershell script: ./packer_templates/scripts/windows/provision-vmwaretools.ps1
    vmware-iso.vm: Installing VMware Tools...
    vmware-iso.vm:
    vmware-iso.vm: ERROR: The term 'E:\setup64.exe' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.
    vmware-iso.vm: ERROR: at <ScriptBlock>, C:\Windows\Temp\script-63e39975-876f-ef0d-75fd-aaf882b3d423.ps1: line 39
    vmware-iso.vm: ERROR: at <ScriptBlock>, <No file>: line 1
    vmware-iso.vm: ERROR: at <ScriptBlock>, <No file>: line 1
    vmware-iso.vm: Sleeping for 60m to give you time to look around the virtual machine before self-destruction...

I looked into the VM and the VMware Tools were available from drive D:, not drive E:. So E:\setup64.exe needs to be D:\setup64.exe.

[Stromweld]

I do plan to get to this, but have a lot of build issues for several boxes to figure out. Suggest using the old json templates in the old branch until this is fixed.

[SurinameClubcard]

Thanks. I removed the installation of the VMware Tools from the config and re-ran it, which succeeded. Afterwards, I manually added the VMware Tools. Not a real solution, but nevertheless, good enuf for me.

[Stromweld]

Yes that's a known issue, I haven't had the chance to diagnose and fix it yet but will get to it eventually.