afokkema Microsoft, Virtualization, VMware, Whitepaper

VMware: Virtualize SQL Server?


Op deze vraag heeft VMware een antwoord namelijk de volgende whitepaper: SQLServerWorkloads.pdf.

De bovenstaande whitepaper is een performance study van VMware en HP over hoe je een  SQL server wel of niet moet Virtualiseren.

Dit is de conclusie van de performance study:

The performance results we describe in this paper support the conclusion that running Microsoft SQL Server 2005 inside VMware virtual machines can provide an effective production-ready platform for running transaction-processing workloads.
Your IT organization can leverage the sizing data we present in this white paper to deploy Microsoft SQL Server successfully using VMware Infrastructure 3. By comparing effective workload throughput and resource utilization for your datacenter with the results presented in this paper, you can design and size your virtualized environment to meet your SLA targets.
The number of actual users and transactions you can support in a production environment will, of course, depend on the specific applications used and the intensity of user activity. The results of
Conclusions 12 VMware SQL Server Performance in a VMware Infrastructure 3 Environment
our tests clearly demonstrate that in a VMware Infrastructure 3 environment, the transaction throughput scales almost linearly even as the number of clients increases, for every configuration we tested. Our results show that the throughput rate of UP virtual machine is comparable for 32-bit and 64-bit environments. However, for SMP virtual machines, the throughput rate is slightly higher in a 64-bit environment compared to a 32-bit environment. Further, SMP virtual machines can service a higher number of users. One disadvantage of SMP virtual machines is that they have higher CPU costs per transaction than UP virtual machines. From a performance perspective, we recommend using SMP virtual machines rather than UP virtual machines for Microsoft SQL Server, and if possible, a 64-bit environment if your application stack supports it.

afokkema Linux, VMware

VMware: How to determine the Linux build of VMware ESX


Dit kun je zien via het volgende commando: cat /etc/redhat-release

Het volgende komt er uit:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES release 3 (Taroon)

Bedankt gvriens voor het antwoord. Het antwoord vind je overigens hier: http://www.vmug.nl/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=1752

afokkema Microsoft, VMware, Windows, Workstation

Error Joining Domain: The Endpoint format is invalid.


Ik had een VM binnen VMware Workstation opgebouwd. Deze heb ik daarna via de VMware Converter overgezet naar mijn ESX omgeving met het vinkje: Install VMware Tools.

Door deze optie treed er een fout op binnen de VMWare Tools waardoor ik de volgende foutmelding kreeg bij het Joinen van het domein.

joindomain error

De oplossing vond ik op de blog van david hochstaetter. Het is vrij simpel. De VMWare Tools deïnstalleren. De VM opnieuw opstarten. Toevoegen aan het domein. Vervolgens de VM weer opnieuw opstarten. En als laatste installeer je de VMware Tools weer.

afokkema Virtualization, VMware

How to: Install VMware ESX 3.0.2 update 1


In deze post lees je hoe je de nieuwe update voor ESX kunt installeren.

Vanaf het console via esxupdate:

  1. Upload het esx-upgrade-from-esx3-3.0.2-61618.tar.gz bestand via Win of FastSCP naar de /tmp folder op je ESX host.
  2. Kijk of de MD5SUM klopt. Dit doe je met het volgende commando: md5sum esx-upgrade-from-esx3-3.0.2-61618.tar.gz de volgende md5sum moet er uit komen: 43b3617c401e71622c72b10cfcdbc5fe esx-upgrade-from-esx3-3.0.2-61618.tar.gz.
  3. Zodra de md5sum overeenkomt kun je het bestand uitpakken. Dit doe je met het volgende commando: tar zxvf esx-upgrade-from-esx3-3.0.2-61618.tar.gz
  4. Open nu de nieuwe directory CD /61618
  5. Voer het volgende commando uit om de upgrade te starten: esxupdate -n update (blz: 164 vi3_installation_guide.pdf)
  6. Het upgrade process is gestart:
    [root@esx3srv1 61618]# esxupdate -n update
    INFO: No repository URL specified, going with file:/tmp/61618
    INFO: Configuring…
    INFO: Preparing to install VMware ESX Server 3.0.2-61618…

    Aan het einde zie je als het goed is de volgende melding verschijnen:

    INFO: — TOTALS: 9 packages installed, 0 pending or failed, 0 removed, 0 excluded —
    INFO: Install succeeded – please come again.

  7. Reboot de server via het commando: reboot -n

Meer informatie over het installeren / upgraden en patchen van VMware ESX vindt je in deze manual: http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_installation_guide.pdf

Via de ISO (CD-Rom)

  1. Download het ISO bestand
  2. Bekijk of de md5sum overeen komt md5sum upgrade-esx-3.0.2-61618.iso
  3. Het volgende zou eruit moeten komen: b532310bfd1a785a4a7e9b4bb20b703f upgrade-esx-3.0.2-61618.iso
  4. Als de md5sum klopt, brand je de iso en start je de server op vanaf de iso.
  5. Meer informatie vind je op blz: 164 van vi3_installation_guide.pdf

Bron: http://www.vmware.com/support/vi3/doc/releasenotes_esx302_update1.html#whatsnew

afokkema Microsoft, VMware, Windows

VMWare: Install VMWare Tools on Windows Server 2008 Core


 

Ik zag de volgende post op de blog van Mike Laverick: http://www.rtfm-ed.co.uk/?p=451. In deze post word door Michael Maher word uitgelegd hoe je de VMware Tools kunt installeren in een Windows Server 2008 Core VM.

“For those unfamiliar with Server Core it is a command line only version of Windows Server 2008 (formerly Longhorn). I have been trying to install this on ESX 3.0. On the GUI version of Windows 2008 server, VMWare tools must be installed to get the NIC working. Server Core however is command line only. VMWareTools is a GUI installation so this is not an option for Server Core. The workaround is to transfer VMWareTools (contained in a file called windows.iso) from your ESX server to a local drive. This can be done using Winscp. Use Virtual Center to mount the windows.iso file as a CDROM drive in the Server Core VM. The driver files are located in \Program Files\VMWare\VMWare Tools\Drivers\VMXNet\w2k of the windows.iso file. The command used to install the drivers is

C:\Windows\System32>pnputil -i -a vmxnet.inf
Microsoft PnP Utility
Processing inf : vmxnet.inf
Successfully installed the driver on a device on the system.
Driver package added successfully.
Published name : oem2.inf

Next check the installation of the driver. Vmxnet should be displayed near the end of the list.

C:\Windows\System32>driverquery
ws2ifsl Winsock IFS driver Kernel 18/04/2007 04:52:40
vmxnet VMware Ethernet Adapte Kernel 22/04/2006 23:13:11

You can then enable remote access of Server Core with the command.


netsh advfirewall set allprofiles settings remotemanagement enable

To disable the firewall.
netsh advfirewall set allprofiles firewallpolicy allowinbound,allowoutbound”

In post word ook nog verwezen naar een ander blog van Justin Campbell. Daar vind je nog meer info over Server 2008 Core: http://cmsjustin.blogspot.com/2007/09/windows-server-2008-core-not-what-i-had.html

afokkema Virtualization, VMware

VMware: How to Secure your VMware ESX Server


Daniel Petri van de website http://www.petri.co.il/ heeft een artikel geschreven over de beveiliging van VMware ESX Server.

On a traditional server, you are only concerned with locking down the server OS. That OS could be Linux or Windows. Windows has, of course, been the favorite for security attacks so much of our time is spent securing it. So what if you put VMware ESX into this picture?

With VMware ESX being loaded on top of the server hardware, there are a few points of immediate concern:

  1. the VMKernel & its virtualization layer
  2. the VMware ESX Service console (based on Red Hat Linux Enterprise)

These two pieces are two very distinct parts of VMware ESX. VMware has periodically released patches for both of these different components although you probably just thought of them as “ESX patches”.

Concerning #1, the VMKernel and its virtualization layer is extremely secure. The Guest machines have hardware isolation in place and it seems impossible that a guest VM could somehow compromise the security of the host virtualization layer.

As for #2, with the services console being based on Linux, it will be affected by most of the Red Hat Linux vulnerabilities. Because the service console is a Linux OS with a direct link to the VMKernel, I will focus on securing the service console.

But first, what many admin’s forget about once they have virtualization software in place, is the underlying virtual guest operating systems. Because it is so easy to add a new server (in just seconds), it is easy to forget to add those servers to your patch distribution system (like SMS or WSUS), add anti-virus software, install the latest service packs, and or tweak security settings. In my opinion, the insecurity of those underlying virtual guest operating systems is the single largest source of concern for the security of your ESX servers. Fortunately, because ESX separates the guests from the host, if a guest is compromised it is unlikely it could affect the host except to perhaps take up more network bandwidth or server resources. My point being, don’t forget to secure your underlying Windows and Linux virtual guest operating systems!

With that, let’s get to securing your ESX Server service console… 

Lees de rest van het artikel hier: http://www.petri.co.il/secure-vmware-esx-server.htm

afokkema Hardware, Virtualization, VMware

VMware: USB-Harddisk within the Service Console


In deze post lees je hoe je een USB-Harddisk kun aansluiten en gebruiken binnen het VMware ESX Service Console. Binnen het Service Console kun je geen gebruik maken van NTFS partities. Gelukkig kwam ik deze oplossing tegen op de blog van Mike Laverick (http://www.rtfm-ed.co.uk/)

Firstly, NTFS drives don’t appear to be mountable at Service Console. Despite the fact that normally Redhat Linux has a R/O driver for NTFS no matter what I did I couldn’t get the Service Console to recognise the partition.

1. Delete any partitions from the removable drive using Disk Management in Windows
2. Right-click the disk and select “New Partition” and follow these steps, clicking “Next” to get move on at each stage.
3. Select Primary Partition
4. Enter the maximum size for the Partition Size
6. Choose assign a drive letter. In my case I used F:
7. Select “Do not Format this partition”
8. There will be a dialog box, summarising all the previous stuff.
9. Click Finish

Rather using M$ format command or tools which limit the format to 32GB, I found a format tool on the internet that allow you to break through the 32GB barrier. It’s called fat32format.exe and it can be downloaded from here:

http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm?fat32format.htm

The syntax of the fat32format command is very simple – as its the same as the standard format command namely:

fat32format

Mounting the drive at the console is very easy. Login to the Service Console as root and make a mounting point with something like mkdir /mnt/usbdisk. Plug-in the drive and read the info on the screen to see the device name for the drive such as /dev/sdk. Then mount it to the usbdisk with mount /dev/sdk1 /usbdisk.

Thanks Mike for digging this out.

Bron: http://www.rtfm-ed.co.uk/