The update server could not be resolved.

[Freddy Benzeev]

When I try to check for software updates I'm getting an error that the update server could not be resolved. See attached image.

[ryantmckay]

I have the same problem.  Just got through the "locked" account, downloaded the latest version but it's still saying unresolved.

[Michael Hill]

Same here, glad im not the only one. maybe the update server itself is down.. not an issue on our end.. 

[Virgo77]

Hi, it's a "normal" issue as Broadcom has disabled the SOFTWAREUPDATE CDS auto-updater link... they make lots of mistakes since they bought VMware and are messing a lot with all the users...

Take a look here: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/software/vmware-workstation-auto-updates-broken-after-broadcom-url-redirect/

or here: https://community.broadcom.com/vmware-cloud-foundation/question/certificate-error-is-occured-during-connecting-update-server

There's no solution but logging in to the Broadcom Website, then check if a new version exists... so download it and install it.

Thanks Broadcom!

[Hairil Johan]

Yeah I am experiencing the same problem. Could be the update server that is having a problem. Hopefully they fix this.

[Oleksandr Yevdokymov]

I have the same problem but with WMWare Fusion for Mac.

[raselkhan]

Experiencing the same problem.

[Ahmed Bakr]

I was able to solve the issue by manually downloading **VMware Tools** from the official VMware repository:

🔗 https://packages.vmware.com/tools/releases/latest/

After downloading the appropriate package for my guest OS, I transferred it to the virtual machine using a USB device. Then, I installed it manually inside the VM.

Everything is working perfectly now.  

[Freddy Benzeev]

The problem (in this post) is NOT inside the VM, it's in attempting to update the host.

[Myung Jae Kim]

Thank you Ahmed Bakr, i downloaded manually and installed. now it works!

[James Lin]

As explained in https://community.broadcom.com/vmware-cloud-foundation/question/fusion-update-not-working , this is expected.  Automatic updates are no longer available.

[Aleksei Bului]

No, James, it's not expected, you guys shoot yourself in the foot. Today I was spinning up the local VM in VMWare Workstation and upon attempt to install VMWare Tools on it was presented with nice error "Update server is not available".

Checked it out and found that it seems like built-in VMWare Workstation menu item to install VMWare Tools on VM is trying to reach softwareupdate.broadcom.com to pull the ISO image with VMWare Tools from it. And guess what? Well, this host is not delegated anymore. So VMWare Workstation can't pull the VMWare Tools ISO from it anymore. Critical functionality in VMWare Workstation is broken now. VMWare Tools are not an update, it is a part of critical functionality for VMWare Workstation and it's not working anymore as it had the bad luck to be on the same host.

You now need to search for VMWare Tools ISO on other mirrors and download it manually to install, when previously it was installable via menu link in VMWare Workstation itself. And this issue persists in the most recent VMWare Workstation version. You guys now need to fix it by including offline ISOs with VMWare Tools in the VMWare Workstation distribution package like it was before some years ago.

[James Lin]

By "expected", I mean it was an intentional change.  And, to be clear, that change was not my intention nor the intention of anyone who works on VMware Workstation or Fusion.

The Workstation installer available from the Broadcom website is the full installer (not the lite installer) and therefore already includes ISO images for supported versions of Tools (which means x86 and x64 Tools for Windows 7 or later).  For Linux guests, you should use open-vm-tools.  For older versions of Tools, you will need to download them from https://packages-prod.broadcom.com/tools/ .  But also note that this was the case even before the update server was decomissioned; for Workstation 17.6 or later, it provided only downloads for Tools for Windows 7 or later.

[Technogeezer]

The frustration that I'm seeing in both the Fusion and Workstation communities stems from the sudden removal of in-product updates with no notice. Whether this was the intention of anyone working on Fusion or Workstation or not, it was forced upon us.

The other damage done is that there's no ability for users to determine if updates even exist. That's a severe problem for users. Unless of course they happen to diligently monitor release notes - which is not a very good solution to the problem. 

It appears that the desktop hypervisor team had little or no say in the decision to shut down public access to product upgrades.  And if they did know in advance, they took no action to notify users of the desktop hypervisor products that things were about to change.  That doesn't speak well to Broadcom management's commitment to the product. Broadcom's actions don't match with what we've been told here about important the desktop hypervisor products are to Broadcom. 

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- Paul (technogeezer)
vExpert 2025
------------------------------

[James Lin]

Given that VMware Workstation 17.6.3 and Fusion 13.6.3 were released shortly before this happened and did nothing to avoid this problem, I think it should be safe to conclude that the removal of the update servers was done with little-to-no notice.  However, that doesn't mean that Broadcom is not committed to Workstation and Fusion; it just means that Broadcom is unwilling to make exceptions to some policies (in this case, unauthenticated downloads).  Those policies apply to the VCF/ESX side too, and I think there's no argument that Broadcom is committed to that.

The other damage done is that there's no ability for users to determine if updates even exist.

Yes, we are acutely aware of that problem and are trying to find a solution that is acceptable to internal and external parties.

[Technogeezer]

Thank you James for that information.  I certainly hope that a solution is found sooner rather than later to help the user community. 

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- Paul (technogeezer)
vExpert 2025
------------------------------

[ERIC BUZZELL]

Unfortunately, it really doesn't make sense.  Why would Broadcom re-release the free Community Edition of Workstation and then block updates for the product?  It would not be difficult to have it point to a separate repository if there was concern about getting access to pay only features. 

[James Lin]

As explained, Broadcom has a policy against allowing unauthenticated downloads.  That model is incompatible with the existing automatic update infrastructure that VMware was using for Workstation and Fusion.  It does not matter whether those downloads are for free or paid products.

[Maurizio Focareta]

So if it's a Broadcom policy, and as you updated more than once the product from the day you took from VMWare, why don't you simply remove the "Product updates" menu ? It's only confusing people with a message like "check your internet settings". No, you don't have to check anything... you have to start browsing the web to find this article.

Remove the menu till you find a smart way to "at least" notify a user that there is a new version on the web, or also this is against your policy ? Then after the notification you can continue to apply your policy to permit only authenticated download... but leaving the update check to the memory of users is quite a failure in a world of "0-days vulnerabilities" and so on... in my humble opinion.

[James Lin]

See my other post: https://community.broadcom.com/vmware-cloud-foundation/discussion/vmsa-2025-0013-vmware-workstation-1764-and-fusion-1364-released#bm746dc07b-5955-4bd8-81b4-01981f5a5d99

[Technogeezer]

The big point is that Broadcom made a corporate-wide decision to limit in-product updates for all of their products only to those customers that have an active subscription. That makes sense when you are selling your products on.a subscription basis -- no subscription, no updates. But It looks to me like the decision was made without taking into consideration the needs of the desktop hypervisor product users. 

There is not and never was a "community edition" of Workstation. Workstation is it's still a Broadcom proprietary product (it does not have a open source license) and they make Workstation Pro available at no charge. You're still agreeing to a proprietary Broadcom click-through license when downloading and installing it.

There is no longer a "paid version" of the product either - the features you get with the free Workstation Pro are the same ones that the former "paid edition" had. Doesn't matter if you had a paid license or a free version - neither is getting in-product updates because of the new policy.

As I've said before, they're aware of the situation, but have not said what they're going to to about it. For now we rely on each other for a heads-up on available updates and manual download of new versions to update our products. 

------------------------------
- Paul (technogeezer)
vExpert 2025
------------------------------

[Fred Allen]

If Broadcom has decided to no longer allow "automatic updates", why keep the "Help / Software Updates" menu item?  Just to cause confusion?

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[James Lin]

Fred, see my other comments (specifically https://community.broadcom.com/vmware-cloud-foundation/discussion/the-update-server-could-not-be-resolved#MainCopy_ctl06_ucMessageList_rptMessageList_pnlRowItem_36) in this very thread where I've already explained that we expect software update notifications to be restored.

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[David Mancini]

This is STILL a problem, months later.

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[Technogeezer]

That's because nothing has changed . As painful as it is, I would not expect to see  in-product updates to return to the desktop hypervisor products (Workstation and Fusion) based on what Broadcom has said. They made a corporate wide business decision on restricting in-product updates without taking into account the needs of the desktop hypervisor customers. 

I would hope that they could at least provide in-product notification when a new version is available. They've still not said if or when that's going to happen though.

------------------------------
- Paul (technogeezer)
vExpert 2025
------------------------------

[goldeneye_007]

I would, however, expect to see 'Software Updates' disappear from the interface.

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[James Lin]

I already explained above why we haven't removed Software Updates from the UI yet.  We still hoping to get approval to restore the update notification service.   The whole process is rather bureaucratic and is infuriating slow.

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[goldeneye_007]

Well it seems to me if you wanted to address it you could simply link 'Software Updates' to an authenticated web page that likely already exists. Problem solved on a global scale.

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[James Lin]

No, it wouldn't.  None of the existing VMware Workstation and Fusion installations expect to authenticate when checking for software updates.

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[goldeneye_007]

You misunderstand the functionality I am speaking of.

If I click 'Software Updates', and it links to a web page that requires

me to input my Broadcom website credentials then I am authenticated and can download

the update. It would be a more manual process but it would work and could be easily deployed,

-------------------------------------------

[James Lin]

Again, that would require changing how the existing Software Updates mechanism works (it currently does NOT open a browser to a web page) and would not work with any of the existing VMware Workstation and Fusion installations.

-------------------------------------------

[goldeneye_007]

That is true but a future point release could work in that manner as a stop gap until

Broadcom decides to produce a truly workable solution. I have been a customer of many

many vendors over my 30 years in IT and have never seen one take so long to address something

as fundamental as software patches and updates. If the menu item continues to do nothing,

it needs to leave in the next release, even if temporarily. You are just inviting confusion.

-------------------------------------------

[James Lin]

Again, the internal bureaucracy is much slower than anticipated.  We expected to reach a resolution much sooner.

We are well aware that it is confusing.  We are not happy about the situation either.

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[RaSystemlord]

You can call it whatever and require whatever you like.

With complicated software (don't want to name any here), I have seen happening that any Update/Upgrade functionality has been removed. Now we see only Uninstall and Install procedures. This update is just asking for trouble, technology-wise. Windows does not have infrastructure that would fully support it.

Personally, I have opted to do uninstall/install for EVERY larger software package. I understand, that Notepad++ update works - hardly the same thing as with complicated software.

Furthermore, VMware Update has never given any real benefit over uninstall/install. The time saving is minimum and it is not really software that is used in one hundred computers, where time saving would multiply. Also, even Update DOES ruin the address spaces of NAT (and Host-only) and you need to get those fixed anyway (if you are dependent on them being something specific).

So, there was no problem in the first place. To have a non-working "update-button" is of course very **** - but which us-based software wouldn't be **** in details.

[Joe Korton]

I am also encountering the same issue. Every time I try to check for software updates, I get the same error message saying that the update server could not be resolved. I've already tried a few basic troubleshooting steps like restarting the device, checking my internet connection, and even switching networks, but the problem still persists.

It seems like the server address isn't being recognized or maybe there's a DNS issue happening in the background. I even tried checking if the update server is reachable using other devices, but no luck there either. If anyone has figured out a solution like adjusting DNS settings, clearing cache, or manually updating-please share your steps. You can click here to check my website. It's frustrating not being able to get the latest updates, and I'd really like to fix this as soon as possible.

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[Technogeezer]

There's nothing you can do to get in-product updates back. As noted in this thread and others in this community, the removal was intentional due to changes in Broadcom policies. See https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article/395172/important-update-change-in-product-updat.html for the official announcement. 

We are hoping that Broadcom can at least get some kind of notification of new releases retuned to the desktop hypervisor products. You'll still have to download new versions and install them, though. 

------------------------------
- Paul (technogeezer)
vExpert 2025
------------------------------

[James Lin]

Before someone complains: Workstation 25H2 and Fusion 25H2 are out. (We switched to calendar versioning; perhaps more on that later.) Software updates are still broken and the UI for them is still present.  The same reasons I explained in https://community.broadcom.com/vmware-cloud-foundation/discussion/vmsa-2025-0013-vmware-workstation-1764-and-fusion-1364-released#bm746dc07b-5955-4bd8-81b4-01981f5a5d99 still apply.

We are in the process of trying to restore software update notifications and have good reason to believe that they should work again in the near future.  As speculated, this would be just for notifications; downloading and installing would still need to be done manually.

[Joe Korton]

Thanks for clarifying that - that actually makes a lot of sense now. I was starting to think it was just a local issue on my end, but it's good to know it's something being worked on globally. I'll stick to manual updates for now and keep an eye out for when the notification system gets restored. Really appreciate the update and the link to the earlier discussion - it helped clear things up!

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