VMware

Pre-install requirements for upgrade to VMware vCenter 4.1 server

Posted by Brian on Jul 15, 2010 in VMware, vCenter Server, vSphere | View Comments

With this weeks release of vSphere 4.1 from VMware the operating system requirements have been raised to 64 bit. What this means is that all management consoles and related tools have moved or will be moving soon to 64 bit only systems. Most importantly is that vCenter server 4.1 is now dependent on a 64 bit OS to run. This means that before you rush to upgrade you will need to make sure if your running on a physical server that it is 64 bit capable. If not then you will require a new server or you could elect to move it to a 64 bit virtual machine.

Currently only the operating systems listed below are the only 64 bit options support by the new vCenter 4.1 server.

Something new with this release is the vCenter Server Data Migration Tool. This new tool will help to migrate some of your data and settings over to a new server depending on what your configuration was. There are some very rigid rules on what it will and wont move across. The list below is the only options that it will migrate. Judging from that list every production setup I’ve ever seen is going to require the usual manual steps to be done. Since I don’t think anyone out there is using SQL express as their DB in anything other than maybe a small lab environment. Your gonna need to configure 64 bit DSN’s for your vCenter and Update Manger Databases on the new server yourself.

You can use the vCenter Data Migration Tool to automatically migrate the following to a new server:

• vCenter Server Software and its configuration
• vCenter Update Manager Software and its configuration
• VMware Orchestrator Software and its configuration
• The default SQL Express 2005 database that comes installed with vCenter Server.

To see the full details from VMware on this process refer to this article.

Different ways to enable Tech Support Mode TSM on ESXi 4.1

Posted by Brian on Jul 14, 2010 in VMware, vSphere | View Comments

For anyone that has been running or played with ESXi in the previous versions you should have a good idea of what Tech Support Mode is. The Tech Support Mode or TSM is a sort of simple version of the system console that was available on the classic versions of ESX. Except that the TSM mode is not Linux based and does not have all the capabilities that the old COS had. But you can now access Tech Support Mode locally or via SSH if you follow the instructions below to enable them. I have become very comfortable with the old console access and that’s probably my biggest complaint about having to use ESXi. I’ve been playing around with the vMA or virtual management appliance that can be used to remotely manage ESXi hosts in the lab but its just not the same. I guess it will become second nature the more that I use it since classic ESX will no longer be offered in ESX 5.0 when it is released in the future.

1. At the DCUI of the ESXi host, press F2 and provide credentials when prompted.
2. Scroll to Troubleshooting Options, and press Enter.
3. If you want to enable local TSM, select Local Tech Support and press Enter once. This allows users to login on the virtual console of the ESXi host.

   If you want to enable remote TSM, select Remote Tech Support (SSH) and press Enter once. This allows users to login via SSH on the virtual console of the ESXi host.

4. Optionally, if you want to configure the timeout for TSM:
5. 1. Select Modify Tech Support timeout and press Enter.
   2. Enter the desired timeout value in minutes and press Enter.
6. Press Esc three times to return to the main DCUI screen.

1. Select the host and click the Configuration tab.
2. Click Security profile > Properties.
3. Click Local Tech Support or Remote Tech Support (SSH) and click Options.
4. Choose the desired startup policy and click Start, then click OK.
5. Verify that the daemon selected in step 3 shows as running in the Services Properties window.

1. Select the host and click the Configuration tab.
2. Click Advanced Settings.
3. Change the UserVars.TSMTimeOut field to the desired value in minutes.
4. Click OK.

1. At the main DCUI screen, press ALT+F1 simultaneously. This opens a virtual console window to the host.
2. Provide credentials when prompted.

   Note: When typing the password, characters are not displayed on the console.

1. Open an SSH client.
2. Specify the IP address or domain name of the ESX host.

   Notes:

3. • Directions may vary depending on what SSH client you are using. For more information, consult vendor documentation and support.
   • By default, SSH works on TCP port 22.
4. Provide credentials when prompted.

Chicago VMUG meeting on July 28th 2010 are you coming

Posted by Brian on Jul 13, 2010 in VMUG, VMware | View Comments

If you are in the Chicago area or will be visiting on July 28th you should visit the Chicago VMUG meeting. This meeting will be held in downtown Chicago and open to all that register. I have included the agenda below and a link to register. You can also post any questions to the Chicago VMUG forum page here. This meeting will be focused on the transition to ESXi which is the focus of VMware for future releases.

Free lunch will be provided.

10:00 a.m. Welcome
10:15 a.m. VMware Updates
10:45 a.m. Storage Virtualization and VMware
11:30 a.m. Lunch and Discussion Groups
12:15 p.m. Migrating to ESXi
1:00 p.m. ESXi Q/A and Tips/Tricks
1:45 p.m. Raffle Prizes and Closing

Location:
TechNexus
ECC Floor 15
200 South Wacker
Chicago, IL 60606

Register here:Chicago VMUG

VMware pushing its management tools into 64bit arena

Posted by Brian on Jul 13, 2010 in VMware, vCenter Server | View Comments

With the release updates last night its clear that VMware continues to move its management applications into the 64bit area. With vCenter 4.1 and SRM 4.1 updates now requiring 64bit operating systems its clear that VMware is moving in this direction for everything. While this is a good move for the enterprise there are going to be a lot of Home Labs that will need to be upgraded before they can run these new releases. I know that its time for me to get some upgraded servers for my home lab as most will run vSphere but do not allow me to run 64bit virtual machines.

A quote from the SRM 4.1 release notes

SRM 4.1 server software can be installed only on 64-bit host platforms. The SRM 4.1 server is incompatible with 32-bit hosts. The SRM 4.1 client plug-in remains compatible with 32-bit hosts. Regardless of the database server you are using, you must install a 32-bit database client (ODBC driver) on the SRM server host. The SRM server is not compatible with 64-bit database clients.

New features in vSphere ESX 4.1

Posted by Brian on Jul 13, 2010 in VMware, vCenter Server, vSphere | View Comments

With the Big news that broke late last night and early this morning that vSphere 4.1 was released and available for down. Many of my fellow bloggers have written articles about the great new features that are included with this release. I am going to just offer a summary of some of the high points of the release that I find as the biggest impact. I was not part of the Beta testing for this release so I am just not getting to play with this version. The group of Beta testers have been enjoying and playing with the latest features for sometime now and thats why there has been a sudden explosion of articles that people have been holding until the official realease of the product.

• Scripted Install for ESXi. Scripted installation of ESXi to local and remote disks allows rapid deployment of ESXi to many machines. You can start the scripted installation with a CD-ROM drive or over the network by using PXE booting. You cannot use scripted installation to install ESXi to a USB device.
• vSphere Client Removal from ESX/ESXi Builds. For ESX and ESXi, the vSphere Client is available for download from the VMware Web site. It is no longer packaged with builds of ESX and ESXi. After installing ESX and ESXi, users are directed to the download page on the VMware Web site to get the compatible vSphere Client for that release. The vSphere Client is still packaged with builds of vCenter Server.

• Boot from SAN. vSphere 4.1 enables ESXi boot from SAN (BFN). iSCSI, FCoE, and Fibre Channel boot are supported. Refer to the Hardware Compatibility Guide for the latest list of NICs and Converged Adapters that are supported with iSCSI boot.
• Hardware Acceleration with vStorage APIs for Array Integration (VAAI). ESX can offload specific storage operations to compliant storage hardware. With storage hardware assistance, ESX performs these operations faster and consumes less CPU, memory, and storage fabric bandwidth.
• Storage Performance Statistics. vSphere 4.1 offers enhanced visibility into storage throughput and latency of hosts and virtual machines, and aids in troubleshooting storage performance issues. NFS statistics are now available in vCenter Server performance charts, as well as esxtop. New VMDK and datastore statistics are included. All statistics are available through the vSphere SDK.
• Storage I/O Control. This feature provides quality-of-service capabilities for storage I/O in the form of I/O shares and limits that are enforced across all virtual machines accessing a datastore, regardless of which host they are running on. Using Storage I/O Control, vSphere administrators can ensure that the most important virtual machines get adequate I/O resources even in times of congestion.
• Network I/O Control. Traffic-management controls allow flexible partitioning of physical NIC bandwidth between different traffic types, including virtual machine, vMotion, FT, and IP storage traffic (vNetwork Distributed Switch only).
• Lockdown Mode Enhancements. VMware ESXi 4.1 lockdown mode allows the administrator to tightly restrict access to the ESXi Direct Console User Interface (DCUI) and Tech Support Mode (TSM). When lockdown mode is enabled, DCUI access is restricted to the root user, while access to Tech Support Mode is completely disabled for all users. With lockdown mode enabled, access to the host for management or monitoring using CIM is possible only through vCenter Server. Direct access to the host using the vSphere Client is not permitted.
• Improved Support for Handling Recalled Patches in vCenter Update Manager. Update Manager 4.1 immediately sends critical notifications about recalled ESX and related patches. In addition, Update Manager prevents you from installing a recalled patch that you might have already downloaded. This feature also helps you identify hosts where recalled patches might already be installed.
• ESX/ESXi Active Directory Integration. Integration with Microsoft Active Directory allows seamless user authentication for ESX/ESXi. You can maintain users and groups in Active Directory for centralized user management and you can assign privileges to users or groups on ESX/ESXi hosts. In vSphere 4.1, integration with Active Directory allows you to roll out permission rules to hosts by using Host Profiles.
• Memory Compression. Compressed memory is a new level of the memory hierarchy, between RAM and disk. Slower than memory, but much faster than disk, compressed memory improves the performance of virtual machines when memory is under contention, because less virtual memory is swapped to disk.

You can see the full feature list on the VMware page, the list is pretty long.

Let’s talk EVA!

Posted by mike on Jul 12, 2010 in VMware | View Comments

I’d like to start discussing the storage I have at my work. I’ve had some good experiences in learning and working with it, and I’d like to share! I haven’t found alot specifically regarding working with the EVAs like I do daily, so I hope some folks find this useful!

So, as an overview for the environment, we currently have 3 8100 series and one 4400 series. EVAs arrays use two controllers, and our models are active/active. Our VMware environment at work is currently a VI3 schmorgesborg and we are planning an update (well migration) to vSphere. For SAN switches, we have older Mcdata’s that are workhorses! We manage them using EFCM software (also java, sigh).

HP provides Command View for EVA as the management tool for the EVAs. This installs and runs on Windows, and is now supported running in a VM as of the current release (9.2). Replication is handled with Business Copy and Continuous Access (separately licensed features). Automation of replication is handled using Replication Solutions Manager, which is a java-based App. :-/

For my next post, I’ll be giving a walkthrough of Command View and discuss how the EVAs we have are configured. Lots of screenshots too!