Posted by Brian on Jun 16, 2010 in VMware, vCenter Server, vSphere | View Comments
In working with a client recently I noticed that they are cloning virtual machines and it’s causing issues with their tool set. This really came to light when working with their XenApp servers. The Citrix team was building servers loaded with apps to create a template that could be cloned to create the other servers in a application pool. The issue with this is that the team was using existing servers already in production that already had the tools installed on them. The problem came to light with issues from the tools used to protect and monitor the virtual machines. This would not be an issue with standard OS templates already created that would have the tools added after the cloning process.
When cloning the virtual machine there are still a lot of registry entries left over with the old server name for tools like Opsware, McAfee and an asset mgmt application. These old registry entries would cause the new VM to knock the old VM out of the tools console and cause issues with reporting and management of the source server. For example Opsware would start talking to the newly cloned server thinking it was the source server and this would leave the source machine not in the patching scheduled.
To clean this up it was necessary to uninstall these tools from the new virtual machine then go back through the registry and clean up any entries that referenced the old server name. Then reboot the server and reinstall the tools. This will clean up the issues and allow everything to work without conflicting with the source server.
So for future requests of this type they have agreed to either use a base OS build and load applications on by hand or create their Citrix template with applications and clone prior to installing any monitoring applications. This will eliminate the issues that they had been experiencing.
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Posted by Brian on Apr 30, 2010 in Tools, VMware | View Comments
I have written about RV Tools in the past and what a great free tool Rob has created. He has recently updates to version 2.9 with some new features. I recommend that you have a look and I know it’s a staple in my toolkit. Here are some of the updates in this new version. You can download the tool from Rob’s site here.
- On vHost tab new fields: Vendor and model.
- On vHost tab new fields: Bios version and Bios release date.
- On vInfo tab new field: VM overall size in bytes (visible when using VI API 4.0)
- On vSnapshot tab new fields: Snapshot filename and size in bytes (visible when using VI API 4.0)
- New vNic tab. The vNic tab displays for each physival nic on the host the following fields: Host, datacenter, cluster name, network device, driver, speed, duplex setting, mac address, PCI and wakeon switch.
- Layout change on vHost, vSwitch and vPort tabpages. They now all start with host name, datacenter and cluster name.
- The commandline function ExportAll extended with an extra optional parameter. It’s now possible to specify the directory where the export files are written.
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Posted by Brian on Mar 29, 2010 in Tools, VMware, vCenter Server | View Comments
Today at the HP Storage Day blogger event HP announced the integration of HP Insight Control with VMware vCenter. This raises the bar with whats been available to this point via CIM agents provided by hardware manufacturers. I have listed some of the main bullet points from HP below. My biggest question will be can I manage the RAID adapters inside the hosts with this new plugin?
The HP Insight Control extension for VMware vCenter Server delivers powerful HP hardware management capabilities to virtualization administrators, enabling comprehensive monitoring, remote control and power optimization directly from the vCenter console. In addition, Insight Control delivers robust deployment capabilities and is an integration point for the broader portfolio of infrastructure management, service automation and IT operations solutions available from HP. Key capabilities integrated into the vCenter console include:
- Combined physical and virtual view: From a single pane of glass, monitor status and performance of virtual machines and the underlying host systems that support them.
- Integrated troubleshooting: Receive prefailure and failure alerts on HP server components and invoke HP management tools, such as Systems Insight Manager and Onboard Administrator, in-context, directly from the vCenter console
- Powerful Remote Control: Remotely manage and troubleshoot HP ProLiant and BladeSystem servers using HP Integrated Lights Out Advanced capabilities directly from the vCenter console.
- Proactive power management: Get the most out of your existing power envelope by comprehending and proactively managing power for hosts and pools of virtual machines across hosts
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