News

unix – linux – storage has a great write up on the Vmware 2.0 : CLI management utility

“
Prior to Vmware server 2.0, vmware-cmd was the command line tool for the managements of the virtual machines. In Vmware 2.0, vmware-vim-cmd is the tool that can be used for command line management and automation. Here are some of the example on how to use it.
“

A nice use of CLI.

http://vmware-land.com has a new updated Top 10 Blogs list,

“

Top 10 blogs that VMware administrators must read
1) http://www.yellow-bricks.com/
• Duncan Epping’s relatively new blog on VMware topics is another great source for technical tips and information. Duncan recently accepted a job working for VMware and we look forward to more great posts from him.
2) http://blog.scottlowe.org/
• Scott Lowe blogs on many technical areas that administrators will find extremely useful. Scott has a wealth of knowledge and experience and his posts are always worth reading.
3) http://mikedatl.typepad.com/mikedvirtualization/
• A relative newcomer to the VMware blog-o-sphere (well less then a year anyway) Mike DePetrillo is a systems engineer that works for VMware and has been posting some fabulous stuff lately. Mike’s knowledge and experience is evident in his very detailed posts that he writes and he is not afraid to tackle any sensitive issues and set the record straight.
4 ) http://www.ntpro.nl/blog/
• Eric Sloof is a VCI located in the Netherlands that has been blogging on Vmware for many years. His posts are always informative and are another great source for tips and news on VMware related topics.
5 ) http://servervirtualization.blogs.techtarget.com/
• One of Tech Target’s blogs that encompasses all virtualization platforms. In addition to Tech Target’s staff there are several regular contributors including: Rick Vanover, Eric Siebert and Andrew Kutz.
6) http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/virtualization-pro/
• Another Tech Target blog that focuses solely on VMware related topics. In addition to Tech Target’s staff there are several regular contributors including: Rick Vanover, Eric Siebert and Andrew Kutz.
7) http://vmetc.com/
• Richard Brambley’s blog has many good tips and news items for all virtualization products but with more focus on VMware. Many of his posts also detail his experiences working with VMware and are quite helpful.
8) http://www.rtfm-ed.co.uk/
• Mike Laverick’s RTFM Education blog is a great source for learning more about VMware. His free guides that he writes on a variety of material are a great source for learning more about VMware and going beyond the manual.
9) http://rationalsecurity.typepad.com/blog/virtualization/index.html
• You gotta love the Hoff, Christofer Hoff’s blog focuses on virtualization security. Hoff doesn’t pull any punches and is not afraid to say what’s on his mind when tackling sensitive security topics. His often witty and shrewd blog posts reflect his intimate knowledge and experience with security related topics.
10) http://virtualgeek.typepad.com/virtual_geek
• Chad Sakac who is a systems engineer that works for EMC, VMware’s parent company knows alot about storage as evidenced by his great posts. Chad’s blog has some very detailed and informative posts and is a must read for all virtual geeks out there.

“

As you can see, on my blog list, I have a few of the same blogs. But, since I am new in the blog field, I see a few that I need to check out.

Also, check out the other top 10 lists at http://vmware-land.com

I recently was playing around with ESXi and Removed my drives via the motherboard connections, tried another drive type and then tried to reconnect my orginal drive configuration. ( a non supported ICH9 controller, and Sata Drive )

I had no problem with the disk being detected upon a new rescan of LUN’s, but my data store did not show up.

Dave.Mishchenko pointed to page 117-118 of the ESX / ESXi iSCSI San Guide

“
VMFS Volume Resignaturing
ESX servers need to be able to differentiate between their VMFS volumes and use a
volume signature to do so. When a VMFS volume is replicated or a snapshot is taken,
the resulting LUN copy has the same signature as the source. When an ESX Server sees
two LUNs with the same signature, the ESX Server must handle the condition to
prevent downtime caused by confusion over which LUN it should be using to access
the registered virtual machines. Resignaturing is a feature introduced in ESX Server 3.0
to solve this problem.
Mounting Original, Snapshot, or Replica VMFS Volumes
You can mount original, snapshot, or replica VMFS volumes on the same ESX Server
host.
To mount original, snapshot, or replica VMFS volumes
1 Perform the required storage tasks:
a Make the storage system snapshot or replica.
b Configure access control to allow ESX Server to access the snapshot or replica.
2 In the VI Client, select the host in the inventory panel.
3 Click the Configuration tab and click Advanced Settings.
4 Select LVM in the left panel, then set the LVM.EnableResignature option to 1.
5 Rescan for any new LUNs or VMFS volumes.
After the rescan, the copied VMFS volume appears as
/vmfs/volumes/snap-–.
If the VMX file for any of the virtual machines or the VMSD file for virtual machine
snapshots contains /vmfs/volumes// paths, you must change
these items to reflect the resignatured volume path.
6 Set the LVM.EnableResignature option to 0 after resignaturing is complete.
“

This seemed to work great!

Thanks to Dave