Roger Lund

Virtu-Al http://teckinfo.blogspot.com/ has a blog entry on Microsoft NLB Error when trying to Cluster Cloned VM’s Full Post : http://teckinfo.blogspot.com/2008/12/microsoft-nlb-error-when-trying-to.html

“

After configuring a few NLB VM’s recently on VMware I was intrigued when one of the people I follow on twitter was having issues with cloned NLB’s, SimonLong_ kindly agreed to document the details so I could blog about it and share his experience……

My Job; Cluster 2 VM’s using Microsoft NLB, a simple 2 minute job right? Wrong!

Why? Because my 2^nd VM was a clone of the 1^st.

Once I had my newly created VM’s configured I proceeded to fire up the NLB Manager tool and began to create my new cluster. Cluster configured…first VM added to the cluster, no problems.

Then I tried to add the 2^nd VM… I was confronted with this Error:

“No interfaces are available for installing a new cluster”

“

“

There are two ways I found to fix this;

1. The Lazy way (which I first used)
2. My Recommend solution found here (which I now use, when I realised that I was being a Cowboy).

Solution 1

• Add a second NIC to either VM that your trying to cluster
• Remove the configuration and Disable the primary NIC
• Configure the second NIC

You should now be able to add both VM’s to the NLB Cluster.

Solution 2

• On either VM enter “Device Manager”
• Expand “Network Adapters” and right mouse click on the Network adapter that you are trying to add to the NLB configuration.
• Select ‘Uninstall’. NIC has now been uninstalled.
• Next you want to re-add the network card which in turn will create a new GUID for it. Do this by right mouse clicking your servers name at the top of the ‘Device Manager’ list and select ‘Scan for hardware changes’. This will now re-detect the NIC and give it a new GUID.
• Now exit out of “Device Manager”
• Re-configure the NIC

You should now be able to add both VM’s to the NLB Cluster.

Now that I was able to add the VM into the cluster I did receive the following errors;

· Could not read configuration of interface “{DF52417D-E337-4543-A223-8D17514E02BC}”: error 0x800706ba

· Update 2 failed with error 0x800706ba

Ignore it the VM still seems to converge fine into the cluster.

“

I saw this and wanted to post it, as it is always better to know about this stuff ahead of time.

Full Post http://teckinfo.blogspot.com/2008/12/microsoft-nlb-error-when-trying-to.html

New VMware KB : VMware ESX Server 3.5, Patch ESX350-200802408-SG: Security Updates to the Python Package (1003451)

“

Summaries and Symptoms

This patch provides service console updates for the Python package. The patch fixes the following security issues:

• An integer overflow issue with the way Python’s Perl Compatible Regular Expression (PCRE) module handles certain regular expressions. If a Python application uses the PCRE module to compile and execute untrusted regular expressions, it might be possible to cause the application to crash, or to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the Python interpreter.

  The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2006-7228 to this issue.

• A flaw in Python’s locale module where strings generated by the strxfrm() function are not properly NULL-terminated. This might result in disclosure of data stored in the memory of a Python application using the strxfrm() function.

  The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2007-2052 to this issue.

• Multiple integer overflow flaws in Python’s imageop module that can allow an attacker to cause the application to crash, enter an infinite loop, or possibly execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the Python interpreter.

  The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has assigned the name CVE-2007-4965 to this issue.

“

Full KB http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1003451

http://www.yellow-bricks.com posted this blog post titled : EnableResignature and/or DisallowSnapshotLUN Full Blog Post ( site : http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2008/12/11/enableresignature-andor-disallowsnapshotlun/ )

“

I’ve spend a lot of time in the past trying to understand the settings for EnableResignature and DisallowSnapshotLUN. It had me confused and dazzled a couple of times. Every now and then I still seem to have trouble to actually understand these settings, after a quick scan through the VCDX Enterprise Study Guide by Peter I decided to write this post and I took the time to get to the bottom of it. I needed this settled once and for all, especially now I start to focus more on BC/DR.

According to the San Config Guide(vi3_35_25_san_cfg.pdf) there are three states:

1. EnableResignature=0, DisallowSnapshotLUN=1 (default)
   In this state, you cannot bring snapshots or replicas of VMFS volumes by the array into the ESX Server host regardless of whether or not the ESX Server has access to the original LUN. LUNs formatted with VMFS must have the same ID for each ESX Server host.
2. EnableResignature=1, (DisallowSnapshotLUN is not relevant)
   In this state, you can safely bring snapshots or replicas of VMFS volumes into the same servers as the original and they are automatically resignatured.
3. EnableResignature=0, DisallowSnapshotLUN=0 (This is similar to ESX Server 2.x behavior.)
   In this state, the ESX Server assumes that it sees only one replica or snapshot of a given LUN and never tries to resignature. This is ideal in a DR scenario where you are bringing a replica of a LUN to a new cluster of ESX Servers, possibly on another site that does not have access to the source LUN. In such a case, the ESX Server uses the replica as if it is the original.

“

Please read the full post on this, as it is a complicated topic.
I ran in to this, when I was unplugged and replugging in multiple sata drives into different ports on my unsupported ESXi box. The test box would see the drive but not the datatstore, therefore I had to enable Resignature to get it to see it again.

Thanks to Duncan for this.

You could think I am crazy to link this, but I thought this would be somthing to try at home, so here I am linking it.

http://www.yellow-bricks.com posted this blog post on ESX in Workstation ( site : http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2008/12/10/esx-in-workstation/ )

“

Lately I’ve been testing scripted builds of ESX hosts and several other tools like RDA. Because of this I had to reinstall my ESX hosts several times. Sometimes I actually had to completely delete them before I could start over again. You can consider this blog posting as a note to myself, this way I can do a simple search on my own blog when everything is screwed up again:

1. Create Virtual Machine, Custom
2. WS 6.5 Compatibility
3. Linux Kernel, other
4. Number of processors: 2
5. Memory: 1024
6. Bridged Networking (change to team later on)
7. LSI Logic
8. New disc, SCSI
9. 6GB, pre-allocated, single file
10. Customize hardware, remove: soundcard, usb, floppy
    set execution mode to: Intel VT-x
11. Edit .vmx and add the following:
    ethernet0.virtualDev = "e1000"
monitor_control.restrict_backdoor = "true"
12. Install ESX
13. Add VM to Team and select “LAN 1″ for networking(keep the test vm’s completely isolated)

“

I hope to try this as stated above.

Thanks Duncan.

I repied this to this VMware Communities post titled : Which is a Best Host Operating System

Site : http://communities.vmware.com/message/1121964

The OP asked this question.
“
Hi everybody and greetings.
I need this answer from all you power users out here, and I need a definite answer and i do not want this to be an open ended debate.

I have a Pentium Dual Core Computer with 3 Gigs of RAM running Windows XP (SP3) and a dual boot with Linux (Debian and Fedora Core 10)

2 SATA Hard Drives 320 GB Each

I intend to run a few virtual guest operating systems using VMWARE Work Station latest version such as Solaris, Open Solaris, Win2K3. The question and doubt that i have in mind is —

Which is a good HOST Operating System to run these guests- WINDOWS XP or LINUX.

Please give me your answer, your advice is asked for.

Thanks & Regards
AC
“

and even though I wasn’t the 1st to answer, I did with the following rant, lol.

“

I have been working with the RCLI appliance, in a attempt to get -g and -p working.
vifs -g and vifs -p

However, I am lacking the correct command augments, so it will be trial and error.

Unless anyone knows the correct command.
‘

UPDATE:

Getting closer, to list I found this command.

HERE http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35u2/vi3_35_25_u2_rcli.pdf

From the guide

“
Examples for vifs
This section gives some examples for vifs. Executing vifs works only when you are
connected directly to an ESX Server 3i host. The command does not work when you
connect to a VirtualCenter Server and attempt to connect to the ESX Server 3i host
through the VirtualCenter Server.

You can execute the commands listed below on a Linux system. For corresponding
commands on a Windows system, use double quotes instead of single quotes.
The following examples for vifs require connection options. See “Specifying Options
for Remote CLI Commands” on page 19.

vifs.pl –copy ‘[myvmfs] dir_1/my_text’ ‘[myvmfs] dir_3/text’
Copies the my_text file from dir_1 to dir_3.

vifs.pl –dir ‘[myvmfs] dir_3’
Lists the contents of directory dir_3.

vifs.pl –copy ‘[myvmfs] dir_1/my_text’ ‘[myvmfs] dir_3/my_text’
–force
Copies the my_text file into dir_3. If you use this command, and a file named my_text
already exists in dir_3, the command overwrites the existing file because of the
–force option.

vifs.pl –mkdir ‘[myvmfs] new_dir’
Creates the directory called new_dir.

vifs.pl –put /root/test_put ‘[myvmfs] new_dir/test_put’
Places a copy of the local test_put file into the specified server’s new_dir directory.

vifs.pl –rm ‘[myvmfs] new_dir/test_put’
Removes the test_put file from the new_dir folder.

vifs.pl –rmdir ‘[myvmfs] new_dir’
Removes the new_dir folder.

vifs.pl –get ‘[myvmfs] dir_1/my_text’ /root/my_text
Retrieves the file my_text from the ESX Server 3i host and places it in the local
machine’s root folder.

vifs.pl –move ‘[myvmfs] dir_1/my_text’ ‘[myvmfs] dir_3/my_text’
Moves the my_text file from dir_1 to dir_3.

vifs.pl –listds
Lists the names of all datastores on the server specified in the configuration file. You can
use each name that has been returned to refer to datastore paths using square bracket
notation, as follows:
‘[my_datastore] dir/subdir/file’
“

C:Program Files (x86)VMwareVMware VI Remote CLIbin>vifs.pl –server ipaddress -D “[datastore]” lists the datastore

The command

C:Program Files (x86)VMwareVMware VI Remote CLIbin>vifs.pl –server ipaddress -g “[datastore] nst-1.8.0.iso” C:
‘chcp’ is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
Use of uninitialized value in numeric eq (==) at C:/Program Files (x86)/VMware/V
Mware VI Remote CLI/Perl/lib/VMware/VILib.pm line 392.
Use of uninitialized value in numeric eq (==) at C:/Program Files (x86)/VMware/V
Mware VI Remote CLI/Perl/lib/VMware/VILib.pm line 393.
Use of uninitialized value in numeric eq (==) at C:/Program Files (x86)/VMware/V
Mware VI Remote CLI/Perl/lib/VMware/VILib.pm line 394.
Enter username: root
Enter password:
Downloaded file nst-1.8.0.iso to C:/nst-1.8.0.iso successfully.

By no means was this overly fast, as it took me a few minutes to copy this from the server to my workstation, the file was a 500mb iso.

However, it did work.

Alright, how to do I delete?

I try

C:Program Files (x86)VMwareVMware VI Remote CLIbin>vifs.pl –server ipdaddress -rm “[datastore] nst-1.8.0.iso”
‘chcp’ is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
Use of uninitialized value in numeric eq (==) at C:/Program Files (x86)/VMware/V
Mware VI Remote CLI/Perl/lib/VMware/VILib.pm line 392.
Use of uninitialized value in numeric eq (==) at C:/Program Files (x86)/VMware/V
Mware VI Remote CLI/Perl/lib/VMware/VILib.pm line 393.
Use of uninitialized value in numeric eq (==) at C:/Program Files (x86)/VMware/V
Mware VI Remote CLI/Perl/lib/VMware/VILib.pm line 394.
Enter username: root
Enter password:
Remove ‘nst-1.8.0.iso’? (y/n) : yes
Deleted file [datastore] nst-1.8.0.iso successfully.

and it worked!

Next, can I put a file on my ESXi Server?

C:Program Files (x86)VMwareVMware VI Remote CLIbin>vifs.pl –server ipaddress -p C:33.iso “[datastore] 33.iso”
‘chcp’ is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
Use of uninitialized value in numeric eq (==) at C:/Program Files (x86)/VMware/V
Mware VI Remote CLI/Perl/lib/VMware/VILib.pm line 392.
Use of uninitialized value in numeric eq (==) at C:/Program Files (x86)/VMware/V
Mware VI Remote CLI/Perl/lib/VMware/VILib.pm line 393.
Use of uninitialized value in numeric eq (==) at C:/Program Files (x86)/VMware/V
Mware VI Remote CLI/Perl/lib/VMware/VILib.pm line 394.
Enter username: root
Enter password:
Uploaded file C:33.iso to 33.iso successfully.

Looks ok, but when I browse there, no good. whats up? A close look at the guide says it all
“
–put
-p


Uploads a file from the machine on
which you run the Remote CLI to the
ESX Server 3i host. This operation
uses HTTP PUT.
This command can replace existing
host files but cannot create new files.
Datastore
Host,
Temp
put src_local_file_path
dst_file_path
put src_local_file_path
dst_directory_path
“

So I can replace a existing file, but not upload a new file.

Now my only question is, is their newer documentation?

Roger

I recently posted directions and pictures of my iSCSI setup for someone on the VMware VMware Communities Forum. I referred to my earlier post, See
http://rogerlunditblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/vmware-esxi-adding-iscsi-target.html

Here is the VMware Communities Forum Post, Here http://communities.vmware.com/message/1121743 His problem was titled : ESXi not connecting to MSA1510i via iSCSI

Remember also to setup two Vswitches, both with a port group, and a Vkernel for both your production network, and iSCSI network, and leave the gateway blank.

His deduction was that he had a bad nic, so remember, Always check your hardware!

I thought for those of you looking to setup a iSCSI network on ESXi or having Troubles, it could help.

Post your thoughts.