Vmware hack - Fix the "You cannot use the vSphere Client to edit the settings of virtual machines of version 10 or higher"

I ran into this error message when importing a vm that was created on VMWare workstation to vSphere ESXi 5.5. I got this message:

To create a workaround for this, you'll need to modify the .vmx text file that is on the ESXi server.

First you'll need to turn on ssh access to the server.

Under Configuration -> Security Profile -> Properties

Check the SSH Server to allow incoming connections and start the service.

Next SSH to the ESXi server with your credentials.


cd to the datastore of your vms.

cd /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/

cd to the VM image. Use "Quotes" if there are spaces in your vm name.

cd "Win 2008 Serv (DB3)"

Next edit the .vmx file

vi "Win 2008 Serv (DB3)"

Look for virtualHW.version

.encoding = "UTF-8"
config.version = "8"
virtualHW.version = "10"
change the virtualHW.version from "10" to "8"

Save the changes.

Go back to the vSphere GUI.





Power off the VM image. Then right click and remove the VM from inventory.

Then go back to your SSH connection and reregister the image to bring it back online with the new changes.
Here's the command to reregister.

vim-cmd solo/registervm path-to-vm/VM.vmx





Example:
vim-cmd solo/registervm /vmfs/volumes/53bc3b04-5e592400-c6f3-f8bc124b4cea/Win 2008 Serv (DB3)/Win\ 2008\ Serv\ \(DB3\).vmx

It should editable after that.