Error Parsing the server when using vSphere

When you attempt to run the VSphere client on Windows 7, the following errors are received and you are unable to proceed any further:

“Error parsing the server “<server name” “clients.xml” file.” – once you click OK, you get the following message:

“The type initializer for ‘VirtualInfrastructure.Utils.HttpWebRequestProxy’ threw an exception.”

As I am running Windows 7 x64 version I will use ‘x86’ after every Program Files line. If you’re using x86 bit version of Windows 7, remove the ‘x86’ part.You should first obtain a DLL, called system.dll from a non-Windows 7 machine with .NET v3.5 SP1 which resides in the following location:

%SystemRoot%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\  directory.

or you can download it from HERE. MD5: 86601F6A08C75A16D4D0509CB31EE318

Once downloaded, copy the file in “C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\lib” directory.  If the ‘lib’ directory doesn’t exist, create it and copy the file in it.

Now, you should edit the “VpxClient.exe.config” file which can be found in the “C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher” directory and add the following lines to it (right above the </configuration> line.

<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”utf-8″?>
<configuration>
…
<runtime>
<developmentMode developerInstallation=”true”/>
</runtime>
</configuration>

Open Windows 7 ‘System Properties’ click the ‘Advanced’ tab and then the ‘Environment Variables’ button . We will add a new system variable.
Create a new ‘System’ variable called ‘DEVPATH’ and assign the following variable value:
C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\Lib

You’re done! The VSphere client should be working now. If you still experience issues, try to run it as an administrator.