afokkema VMware

ESX 3i: host in HA Cluster must have userworld swap enabled


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After adding my first HP ML 110 ESX3i to my brand new HA cluster I got the following error:

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The host who gives the error, did not have the ScratchConfig.ConfiguredSwapState option enabled.

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This is how you enable this option:

1. In VirtualCenter, select the ESX 3i server with the error.
2. Click the "Configuration" tab page and click "Advanced Settings"
3. Select "ScratchConfig"
4. Set the data store for ScratchConfig.ConfiguredScratchLocation to a valid directory with more than 1GB to hold the swapfile. This location can be local or shared storage.
5. Select the ScratchConfig.ConfiguredSwapState option.
6. Click OK.
7. reboot the 3i server to apply the changes.

Source: http://www.virtualvcp.com/content/view/33/43/

VMware KB: KB1004177

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afokkema VMware

How To: Create an ESXi USB Key


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In this short tutorial you’ll learn how to create an ESXi USB Key.

Before we start you need the following tools:

  • 7-Zip
  • Winimage
  • VMware ESX 3i installer CD

After installing the tools we need to extract the *.dd file. Open the VMware-VMvisor-InstallerCD-3.5.0_UpdateX-XXXXXX.i386.iso with 7-Zip. Right click on install.tar and press Open Inside. Remember the Ctrl+PgDn shortcut.

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Open usr\lib\vmware\installer. Select VMware-VMvisor-big-3.5.0_Update_4-153875.i386.dd.bz2 and press Ctrl+PgDn again.

Extract the VMware-VMvisor-big-3.5.0_Update_4-153875.i386.dd file.

 

Now we have the *.dd file and we can write it back to an USB Key.

Open WinImage and pres Disk followed by Restore Virtual Hard Disk image on physical drive…

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Select the USB Key. In my case it’s a SanDisk Cruzer.

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Open de *.dd file and answer Yes on the LAST WARNING.

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When the wizard completes without an error. The USB Key is ready to use.

 

Update:

if you’re running Windows Vista or Windows 7 x64 you might get an error like this:

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If someone knows a solution for this problem please leave a comment. If you run this tutorial on a Windows XP machine, it will work as expected.

afokkema VMware

How to: Update ESX3i (USB) Without VUM


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In this post you’ll find the information you need, to update your ESX3 i host without the VMware Update Manager.

In this whitepaper  vi3_35_25_3i_i_setup.pdf (page 115), you’ll find the following information about the Infrastructure Update tool:

When you install the VI Client, the software installs Infrastructure Update. Infrastructure Update lets you learn about, download, and install maintenance and patch releases, which provide security, stability, and feature enhancements for VMware Infrastructure.

Infrastructure Update downloads available updates. The downloads are background tasks and do not disrupt normal operation. The update service does not install updates for you. Instead, the update service displays a list of available updates that you can choose to install.
When new updates are available, the system tray icon for Infrastructure Update displays a notification. The notifications appear only if you keep automatic update notifications enabled.

This is how it works:

Open the VI Client. Logon to your ESX 3i server. Close the VI Client. Go to Start –> Programs –> VMware and open VMware Infrastructure Update.

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To update an ESX3i host via VMware Infrastructure Update tool. You will need to follow these three steps:

Continue reading “How to: Update ESX3i (USB) Without VUM” →

afokkema Virtualization, VMware

VMware: Search the Hardware Compatibility Guide


Jeej, we hoeven niet meer in de pdf’s te zoeken. Sinds kort heeft VMware een zoekfunctie op de site geplaatst.

The new online compatibility guide provides a single point of access for all VMware hardware compatibility guides. The new search tool streamlines the HCL posting process and offers advanced search capabilities and the ability to save the guide(s) or search results in a .PDF or csv format.

The new hardware compatibility guide replaces the following legacy PDF-format HCLs:

    * VMware ESX 3.0.x and above version Systems Compatibility Guide
    * VMware ESX 3.0.x and above version SAN (storage) Compatibility Guide
    * VMware ESX 3.0.x and above version I/O Compatibility Guide
    * VMware View Client Compatibility Guide

 

De Compatibility guide vind je hier:

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afokkema Virtualization, VMware

VMware: ESX35(i) Update 3 released


I guess you all got the e-mail from VMware, but for those who didn’t get the e-mail ESX 3.5 U3 is final.

This new release of ESX/ESXi 3.5 comes with the following enhancements:

  • Increase number of vCPUs per Core Limit (from 8 to 20)
  • New supported servers, NICs and storage IO controllers
  • New supported Guest Operating Systems

… and many more improvements and bug fixes.

 

Download the iso’s  here: http://www.vmware.com/download/vi/

More info about this release can be found on Duncan’s Blog: http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2008/11/07/vmware-esx-35-update-3/

afokkema Hyper-V, Virtualization, VMware

VMware: Hyper-V on Server Core vs ESXi


VMware heeft een vergelijking gemaakt tussen Hyper-V op Server Core vs ESXi. Hieronder zie je de uitkomst van deze test. Verder vind je twee videos met meer informatie over de installatie van beide Hypervisors en een video over het configureren van iSCSI op beide Hypervisors.

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Video 1: http://www.vmware.com/technology/whyvmware/resources/esxi-hyper-v-installation.html

This first video shows every step required to install Hyper-V and ESXi on a fresh machine.  We kept count of the elapsed time, reboots, mouse clicks and keystrokes each product needed and it clearly shows the huge advantage the truly thin and OS-free ESXi architecture has in installation speed and simplicity.  ESXi goes from bare-metal to fully installed in one-third the time, half the mouse clicks, hundreds fewer keystrokes and just one reboot vs. seven compared to Hyper-V.  The simplicity of the ESXi wizard-driven installation is striking compared to the arduous process needed to first get the Server Core OS installed and then configure Hyper-V in a command line environment.

Video 2: http://www.vmware.com/technology/whyvmware/resources/hyper-v-side-by-side-esxi.html

Our second video starts where the first left off and takes Hyper-V and ESXi through the steps needed to configure two iSCSI datastores for VM use.  iSCSI setup is a standard task for any virtualization user that wants to take advantage of shared storage for VM migration and high availability.  ESXi’s Windows-based Virtual Infrastructure client makes the iSCSI setup quick and easy.  For Hyper-V, the "Windows you know" is nowhere to be seen.  Instead, working with Server Core requires you to key in a long sequence of obscure commands to configure iSCSI initiators and targets, partitions and file systems.  We generously showed the Hyper-V setup executed with no delays, although it took us hours of digging through Microsoft documents and knowledgebase articles to find the right commands to use when configuring iSCSI in Server Core.

Bron: http://blogs.vmware.com/virtualreality/2008/09/esxi-vs-hyper-v.html

afokkema Virtualization, VMware

VKernel: SearchMyVM


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Zoals de meeste Bloggers heb ik ook een e-mail gehad van VKernel met de aankondiging van hun nieuwe appliance SearchMyVM.

SearchMyVM instantly deploys exactly like each one of VKernel’s virtual appliances. With a “Google-like” search interface, you can find virtual machines, hosts, clusters, storage, resource pools, files, snapshots, VMware tools, applications and configuration information. Over 75 different types of attributes are fully indexed and available for you to search.

Please download the SearchMyVM Beta today and give it a try. I’m personally looking forward to your feedback.

In de rest van deze post lees je hoe je de appliance importeerd via de geweldige OVF standaard.

Log in op je VirtualCenter server. Ga naar File – Virtual Appliance – Import.

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Voer in het volgende scherm de URL in van de OVF. Daarna loop je de wizard verder door.

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Zodra je de wizard hebt doorgelopen word de OVF file ingelezen.

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Nadat de import klaar is start je de VM op. Nu moet je alleen nog de NTP server configureren, de timezone goedzetten en het ip-adres wat van je DHCP server komt onthouden.

Open daarna je browser en voer het ip-adres van de appliance in.

De volgende stap is het toevoegen van je VirtualCenter Server of je ESX Server. Ik probeerde dit op naam (FQDN) te doen maar dat werkte nog niet goed. Toen ik het op ip-adres deed ging het prima.

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Nadat de VC of ESX server is toegevoegd, word de inhoud ingelezen in de appliance.

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Zodra alle data is ingelezen kun je een query starten. Dit kun je doen via de Query builder:

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Of je doet het als volgt: VM:<VMNaam>

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Ik denk dat deze appliance zeker wel nuttig kan zijn in een omgeving met honderden VM’s. Zo kun je d.m.v. een snelle query snel zien waar de VM staat.

afokkema Microsoft, Powershell, VI Toolkit, Virtualization, VMware

VMware: esx-configure Powershell script


As part of a larger project I’ve been working on a set of scripts which configure a freshly-installed ESX (or ESXi) system into Virtual Center (after first attempting to remove previous VC state and clean state from the host). Currently they follow a typical post-boot configuration pattern:

  1. Set ESX password
  2. Add to Virtual Center cluster
  3. Configure Virtual Switches
  4. Configure Port Groups
  5. Add NFS partitions
  6. Add iSCSI partitions
  7. Configure NTP
  8. Configure VMotion

Before trying, modify esx-master.ps1 and esx-profile.ps1 to local conditions (or your password will be set to “CHANGEME”).
Command: esx-autoconfigure.ps1 “hostname|ip-address”

 

check out zijn post op http://communities.vmware.com/thread/161304

 

Bron: http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2008/09/02/esx-vs-esxi/