Vmware Tools could cause high CPU usage (4306301)

In version 8.0.318 of the KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA), when viewing the output of the TOP command from the console or from Settings | Support | Diagnostic Utilities, it may be noted that vmtoolsd is utilizing more than expected amounts of CPU.

The ouput may look similar to the following:

 PID USERNAME      THR PRI NICE   SIZE    RES STATE   C   TIME    WCPU COMMAND

1931 root            6  20    0 39624K  9804K select  0 450.3H 148.29% vmtoolsd

 

This situation may also cause host alerts as to the high CPU usage of the appliance.  It is possible to verify that this is the situation by reviewing TOP from the console or diagnostic utilities.

This issue does NOT apply to the KACE Systems Deployment Appliance (SDA) and no action is necessary for the SDA.

Note: Applying the hotfix located in the attachments of this article will FORCE A REBOOT on the SMA.

Note: Applying the hotfix located in the attachments of this article will FORCE A REBOOT on the SMA.

It is also possible to use this instead of updating VM Tools if the SMA is on version 8.0.318.  This hotfix is only available for version 8.0.318 and will cause the SMA to change to version 8.0.319.

Note: Prior to this hotfix or any major change, KACE recommends that a full backup is completed and transferred off of the SMA.

To apply the hotfix that will remove VM Tools and install Open VM Tools:

1. Download the attachment from the bottom of this article titled: k1_patch_K1-19720_VMwareTools_20180209.kbin
2. Go to Settings | Appliance Updates
3. Use the Choose Action in the Manually Update section and navigate to the file downloaded in step 1
4. Click Update

After the reboot, to confirm that the process completed as expected, please view Settings | Logs and change the drop-down to Updates.  The logs should resemble the logs below. If there are any errors or concerns, please contact support.