As part of the vExpert community I was let in on a little secret recently — as of the next vSphere release the C# client will NO LONGER BE AVAILABLE. Read on to learn more!
It’s Official
Now this news should not come as that much of a surprise as VMware has made it clear that the C# client was no longer being invested in. All new features since the initial deprecation announcement in vSphere 5.1 (yup that was back in 2012) have only been made available in the Flash web client. Long story short, hopefully you have been thinking about this transition for some time. Of course, while everyone knew this was coming, a variety of issues along the way have kept the C# client around. Well per VMware — no more! Now we have an official announcement. Period no going back. Definitive statement. Are you ready? Here is the post.
Flash Web Client?
So does that mean Flash web client all the way? No. As you may have noticed, VMware now ships an embedded host client (i.e. HTML5 web client) as of 6.0U2. In addition, toward the end of March a Fling was released showcasing a HTML5 web client. I think it is safe to say, the HTML5 web client is the future, but also still a work in progress (Fling != Supported). In either case, VMware stated that all issues currently requiring the C# client will be fixed by the new release.
Next Release
So when is the next major release? VMware did not say. What a tease huh?
Other Information
Before opening up for questions, VMware did make one more important point: vSphere 5.0 and 5.1 will be going out of support in August! This means soon only 5.5 and 6.0 will be supported with the C# client.
vExpert First Impressions
As for the vExpert questions, many like the vision, but expressed concerns about not everything working in the web client today (again VMware stated this would be fixed). People also want consistency — either C#, Flash, or HTML5 — even with the C# client going away, the Flash client is still around and it is unclear when the HTML5 client will be supported and have feature parity with the Flash web client. Finally a concern was raised about VC plugins and we were told work was actively underway with partners to ensure all are HTML5 ready.
My Two Cents
- It is about time — this state of limbo has dragged on for too long
- I am concerned about Flash vs. HTML5 — for those that have already transitioned over to Flash you now will eventually need to switch to HTML5, for those still on C# you hope HTML5 is supported and at feature parity at the next release or else potential skip the next release?
Your Opinion?
So what do you think of the news? Do you still use the C# client? Are you on the Flash client? Have you tried to HTML5 client?
© 2016, Steve Flanders. All rights reserved.
Will the ESXi hosts still support the C# client? I distinctly remember someone posting a concern about high availability and the web client being a single point of failure for environment management.
Can you think of a situation where you run into the classic “chicken and egg” scenario with needing the web client to manage the environment but not having a way to manage the vCenter server to bring the web services/function online?
My understanding is it will NOT work. With that said, with the embedded host client already shipping and the use of Fusion/Workstation possible there are alternatives that I believe will work.