Home News
Category:

News

News

Set Service Console Memory (Updated)

by Roger Lund
written by Roger Lund

Jonathan Marrott’s VM Scripting Blog has a interesting post titled: Set Service Console Memory (Updated) ( http://communities.vmware.com/blogs/froboy/2008/01/18/set-service-console-memory-updated )

“

The service console memory should be increased if you are running apps other than the default install. This includes management agents, backups, etc. Here is a simple command that I ran across to accomplish this. It requires a reboot to take effect. I incorporate this in my kickstart script. Don’t forget to set your swap partition to be 2x the Service Console memory.
“

I came across this when I was searching for service console and I thought it was worth blogging, as I plan to use HP agents in the future. Will I need to increase the default settings? Who knows, but I thought it was good to know the commands. See http://communities.vmware.com/blogs/froboy/2008/01/18/set-service-console-memory-updated for the full commands.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinRedditEmail
News

Enable ESX remote ssh root access

by Roger Lund
written by Roger Lund

Today I needed to login to my ESX Eval as root, so I ssh’d in, and got a access denied.

After a good search, I Found this Article on http://vmetc.com titled : Enable ESX remote ssh root access ( http://vmetc.com/2007/08/04/enable-esx-remote-ssh-root-access/ )

“
Enable ESX remote ssh root access

If you are getting an error trying to remotely connect to an ESX host via ssh it is because root ssh access is disabled by default. Therefore winscp, putty, or any other remote console tool will fail.

These steps are taken from the VMware Partner Plan and Design toolkit document tilted “VI Assembly and Configuration Guide” written by Pang Chen. Here are the steps necessary to enable root to have ssh remote access.

Step 1a – Enable remote ssh root access

Modify the PermitRootLogin flag to yes in the /etc/sshd/sshd_config file to allow root remote login.

# perl -spi -e ‘s|PermitRootLogin no|PermitRootLogin yes|’ /etc/ssh/sshd_config
Step 1b – Enable remote ssh root accessConfirm change.The value should illustrate yes, with no hash mark prior to the flag.

# grep ‘PermitRootLogin’ /etc/ssh/sshd_config

PermitRootLogin yes

#
Step 1c – Enable remote ssh root access

Restart the sshd service:

# service sshd restart
“

Taken From http://vmetc.com/2007/08/04/enable-esx-remote-ssh-root-access/

Now, what if I didn’t need or want to access the box as root, but I wanted to access it with root rights?

To do this, I logon to the Infrastructure Client, Click Users & Groups
Under users I right click, and click add
Type in a Login name and User name ( I left UID blank for the system to assign )
Enter a password
Check Grant Shell Access to this User, and click ok
Click groups
And double click on root
Under username type root, and click ok.

This allowed me to login as my new user name via ssh.

To get root access I typed su, and entered the root password.

UPDATE: you must do su -l to get the ability to use all of the console commands.

Comments? Let me know thoughts on which method is better, or if there is a better way.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinRedditEmail
DatacenterNewsStorage

Get VMware Disk Usage with Powershell

by Roger Lund
written by Roger Lund

http://www.peetersonline.nl/index.php has a posted titled Get VMware Disk Usage with Powershell( http://www.peetersonline.nl/index.php/vmware/get-vmware-disk-usage-with-powershell/ )

“
Using VMware seriously requires a lot of (shared) storage. This kind of storage (on a SAN for instance) is quite expensive. So you might want to check if you are wasting a lot of this space. When you look at the storage in VMware, it consists of multiple abstraction layers. A virtual machine has one or more Logical Disks, which are indicated by driveletters. You can use WMI to determine the amount of used and free space (Win32_LogicalDisk). One or more logical disks are contained in a partition. One or more partitions reside on a physical disk. That physical disk is really a virtual disk, a vmdk file to be precise. One or more vmdk files reside in a Datastore, which can be found on a LUN on your SAN.
The following script enumerates most of these layers (from logical disk to datastore) and calculates the used and free space. The final line exports the results to a csv file for use in Excel. And the script also helps you to calculate the average free space by showing the totals without the duplicates (don’t try to average the averages in excel, that’s not accurate because datastores contain duplicates and averages should be weighed).
“

This is something I want to try, and I will post results, I am currently trying a Eval of ESX 3.5 U3.

Post your comments if anyone uses this or something like it to monitor disk usage.

Refer to the Full Post to see the code

http://www.peetersonline.nl/index.php/vmware/get-vmware-disk-usage-with-powershell/

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinRedditEmail
News

Common Fault issues in VMware Infrastructure

by Roger Lund
written by Roger Lund

http://www.vmwarewolf.com posted a article titled Common Fault issues in VMware Infrastructure ( http://www.vmwarewolf.com/common-fault-issues-in-vmware-infrastructure/)

“

Continuing my Resolution Path series, here is another download for you all, this time in the Fault area of VI3. Download the zipfile here and keep it handy for the next time you run into any fault related issues.

What is a “fault” problem? Good question. It’s more of an internal term used at VMware for how they align their support teams. Fault cases include such things as Purple Screens of Death (PSOD), Linux faults on the console OS, Hung ESX Servers, and internal errors and panics.

Again, down the left column in yellow are common problems we get calls on. To the right of each problem are steps one would take to resolve the problem. I have included hyperlinks to help get you to the answers fast.

“

Worth downloading, and having around.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinRedditEmail
DatacenterNewsStorage

Roger’s VMware KB Articles worth reading

by Roger Lund
written by Roger Lund

I thought this were worth reading, as it is better to read and experience, than the later.

Creating a second root user account

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1005278

“

To create a second root user:
  1. Run the adduser -u 0 -o -g 0 -G 0,1,2,3,4,6,10 -M root2 command from the ESX server console.

    Omit the -M if you want a home directory created.

  2. Run the passwd root2 command to create a password.

“

Guidelines for Extending a VMFS Volume

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1884

“
An extended VMFS volume may contain from two to 32 physical extents. Each extent is either a primary partition, or a logical partition within an extended partition. These extents can be on one LUN or on multiple LUNs. In the latter case, some of these LUNs can have multiple extents on the volume.

To safely extend a VMFS volume:

  1. Perform a backup of the VMFS volume.
  2. Shut down all except one of your ESX Server machines.
  3. On this active ESX Server system, shut down all virtual machines that access the VMFS volume.
  4. Extend this volume. Keep in mind that this procedure reformats the volume you choose as the extent candidate, which overwrites any existing data on that volume.
  5. After the volume extension has successfully completed:
    • Restart the virtual machines that you shut down in step 3.
    • Restart your other ESX Server machines.
  6. Schedule regular backups for the extended VMFS volume.

    Warning: If one extent is corrupted or damaged, the entire volume becomes unusable.

“

Hardware and Firmware Requirements for 64-Bit Guest Operating Systems

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1901

“

VMware’s virtual machine monitor has traditionally used segmentation to provide isolation between the guest operating system and the virtual machine monitor. This is necessary because the guest operating system and virtual machine monitor share the linear address space.

AMD
Segmentation support is missing from the initial AMD64 processors (that is, revision C and earlier) while running in long mode. As a result, AMD64 processors prior to revision D do not have an efficient mechanism for isolating the virtual machine monitor from 64-bit guest operating systems.

A limited form of segmentation was reintroduced in long mode, in revision D AMD64 processors. As a result, AMD64 processors must be revision D or later to run 64-bit guest operating systems.

Note: Because AMD Opteron and Turion processors do not ship in revision D, AMD Opteron and Turion 64 processors must be revision E or later to run 64-bit guest operating systems.
Note: 64 bit guests are not supported for ESX versions 2.5.x and earlier.
For AMD Opteron‐based systems, the processors must be Opteron Rev E and later.
To ensure your processors support AMD64, please reference the following link – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_AMD_Opteron_microprocessors
Intel
Intel CPUs require EM64T and VT support in the chip and in the BIOS.
Intel EM64T CPUs do not have segmentation support in long mode. If the Intel EM64T CPU is VT-capable, it comes with hardware virtualization support (Intel’s Virtualization Technology). This hardware virtualization support allows Workstation and VMware Server to work around the lack of segmentation, making it possible to run 64-bit guest operating systems on Intel EM64T VT-capable CPUs.
Notes:
(1) Firmware/BIOS support is required to enable Intel Virtualization Technology. Some systems (particularly laptops) do not have the necessary firmware/BIOS support to enable Intel Virtualization Technology, and cannot run 64-bit guest operating systems.
(2) In multi-processor systems, all processors must support compatible VT implementations. At a minimum, all processors must implement the same VMCS revision ID. In multi-processor systems with mixed processor steppings, 64-bit guest operating systems may not be supported.
Note: 64 bit guests are not supported for ESX versions 2.5.x and earlier.
Many servers that include CPUs with VT support might ship with VT disabled by default, and VT must be enabled manually. If your CPUs support VT but
you do not see this option in the BIOS, contact your vendor to request a BIOS version that lets you enable VT support.
To ensure your processors support VT, please reference the following link – http://compare.intel.com/pcc/default.aspx?familyid=5&culture=en-US
VT should be listed under ‘Other Intel Technologies’ if it is a feature of the CPU.
32-Bit CPUs
Please note that Workstation and VMware Server require a 64-bit CPU to run a 64-bit guest operating system. While it is theoretically possible to emulate a 64-bit instruction set on 32-bit hardware, doing so most likely results in unacceptable performance degradation.

VMware distributes a free utility that can be used to determine whether or not your CPU is suitable for running 64-bit guest operating systems. You can download this utility from the VMware Web site at http://www.vmware.com/download/ws/drivers_tools.html (scroll down to Processor Check for 64-Bit Compatibility). VMware Server includes this utility in its product distribution, so you don’t need to download an additional tool.

Workstation 5.5 and higher and VMware Server (all versions) support virtual machines with 64-bit guest operating systems only on host machines that have one of the supported 64-bit processors:

  • AMD Athlon 64, revision D or later
  • AMD Opteron, revision E or later
  • AMD Turion 64, revision E or later
  • AMD Sempron, 64-bit-capable revision D or later (experimental support)
  • Intel EM64T VT-enabled processors (experimental support)

“
Is Running Older VMware Tools in ESX Server Guests Supported?

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1834

“When you install a patched version of ESX Server, VMware expects you to upgrade VMware Tools to the latest version, included with that release. If you report a problem with a virtual machine that has an older version of the VMware Tools installed in the guest operating system, VMware Technical Support may ask you to upgrade the VMware tools to the version included with the ESX Server Patch in the process of troubleshooting that problem.
“

Unable to boot after ESX upgrade

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1005078

“

To troubleshoot the inability to boot your ESX host after an upgrade:
  1. Determine if you can boot into Linux/Troubleshooting mode.
  2. If you can boot in to Linux/Troubleshooting, run the following commands:
    • esxcfg-boot -p
    • esxcfg-boot -b
    • esxcfg-boot -r

  4. If booting into Linux/Troubleshooting mode fails, ensure that the storage is disconnected and do a fresh installation. Ensure to select Keep Virtual Machines and VMFS Volumes intact.
  5. Reboot the ESX host.

“

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinRedditEmail
News

HGFS Service fails to start

by Roger Lund
written by Roger Lund

http://planetvm.net has a post titled : HGFS Service fails to start ( http://planetvm.net/blog/?p=91 )

“

once again the HGFS feature has caused problems for users,

see post HGFS Service fails to start ( http://communities.vmware.com/message/1118503#1118503)

why don’t VMware just change the default for silent install of VMtools for Guests running under ESX.

however the crux of the matter is do not install Vmware tools with the complete option on ESX guests. This installs the shared folders feature which is not available on ESX. This causes the VMware tools to keep a file (hgfs.dat) open and can cause errors when logging off a guest. To disable the shared folders feature, remove hgfs from the registry key ProviderOrder under KEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlNetworkProviderOrder.

See http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1317 for more information.

“

I wanted to post this, because it is one of those things that is better to read about before you have it happen.

Thanks to planetvm.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinRedditEmail
DatacenterNewsStorage

Continuing the FCoE Discussion

by Roger Lund
written by Roger Lund

blog.scottlowe.org has a nice post titled Continuing the FCoE Discussion

Lunk : http://blog.scottlowe.org/2008/12/09/continuing-the-fcoe-discussion/

”
Tonight, after reading a blog post by Dave Graham regarding FCoE vs. InfiniBand, I started thinking about FCoE again, and I came up with a question I want to ask. I’m not a storage expert, and I don’t have decades of experience in the storage arena like many others that write about storage. The question I’m about to ask, then, may just be the uneducated ranting of a fool. If so, you’re welcome to enlighten me in the comments.

Here’s the question: how is FCoE any better than iSCSI?
“

I tend to get slightly fired up about this and I did post a comment, which is awaiting moderation.

I will quote it here

“

slowe,

I tend to agree with you, additionally, it is very easy to scale iSCSI, where you are stuck with one controller on a EMC / Netapp FC array, each iSCSI array ( EQL) has it’s own controller.

Therefore, if you have three racks of EMC or Three Racks of EQL, ( 12 per rack ) the array each have two controller’s each ( or at least most that I have seen do ) where the , EQL iSCSI, would have something like 36 controllers, vs three EMC controllers for the same amount of storage.

Now Even if you had 8 GB FC, wouldn’t you be limited to 8GB X 4ports X 3 Controllers = 96 GB

To make it even, lets say you had iSCSI sans with 10 GB controllers, 10 GB X 2port X 36 Controllers = 720 GB

Hence, if you had a Six top end switches @ 10 GB, Connected to 36 10 GB Sans all on the same switch back plane, wouldn’t the EQL have better throughput than FC Over Ethernet?
“

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinRedditEmail
News

Observed IP Ranges

by Roger Lund
written by Roger Lund

I am not running ESX at this point, but I thought this was interesting, and worth posting, this is done via PowerShell.

Virtu-AL posted a post on Observed IP Ranges

“

Recently I needed to check a whole bunch of servers to see if we had a particular VLAN tagged on any of the ESX Hosts, after a quick post on the VI Toolkit forum and a little messing, the following script tells me quickly which observed IP ranges are on each of the nics in each of the hosts…
“

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinRedditEmail
News

SCP in VMware ESXi

by Roger Lund
written by Roger Lund

Remember, the scp command does work in ESXi, once you unlock the Console.

I found it works with the following command.

srp -r root@ipaddress:/pathofsource /pathtolocaldestination.

Make sure you do not have spaces, and if you do, rename the folder before you try to move the files.

For those of you that do not know scp, it lets you transfer files between two Linux hosts.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinRedditEmail
@2019 - All Right Reserved. Designed and Developed by PenciDesign