vmware

vSwitch and vSwif Problems

What happens when you cannot connect to the service console anymore, and even if you had a backup service console and it wasn’t working either, well i happened to me. When I attempted to attach a vmnic to a vSwitch, I got an error message, no matter what I tried I could not get it reconnected. Last ditch effort is to recreate the vswif interface. Below are the steps I took. I had to do the first 4 steps twice, as i had to vSwitches.

Note: On your system the vswif, vmnic, vSwitch numbers and network settings are different.

1.Run the following command to list the name of the vswif adapter:

esxcfg-vswif -l

2.Run the following command to delete the vswif adapter:

esxcfg-vswif –del vswif0

3.Run the following command to list the name of the vSwitch:

esxcfg-vswitch -l

4.Run the following command to delete the vSwitch:

esxcfg-vswitch -d vSwitch0

5.Run the following command to create the vSwitch:

esxcfg-vswitch -a vSwitch0

6.Run the following commands to create default port groups for vSwitch:

esxcfg-vswitch -A “VM Network” vSwitch0
esxcfg-vswitch -A “Service Console” vSwitch0

7.Run the following command to create the vswif adapter:

esxcfg-vswif –add –portgroup “Service Console” –ip=nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn –netmask=255.255.255.0 vswif0

8.Run the following command to verify that the settings in the network file are correct:

cat /etc/sysconfig/network

NETWORKING=yes
GATEWAYDEV=vswif0
HOSTNAME=host.domain.com
GATEWAY=nnn.nnn.nnn.nnn

9.Run the following commands to list all of the network adapters and associate a vmnic which has a link status of up:

esxcfg-nics -l
esxcfg-vswitch -L vmnic1 vSwitch0

10.Run the following command to verify that the vmnic is associated with the vSwitch:

esxcfg-vswitch -l

11.Ping an IP address to check for network connectivity. If the ping fails remove the previous vmnic from the vSwitch and try another adapter that has a link status of up.

12.Once you have verified connectivity, you can then connect to Virtual Infrastructure client of the affected ESX Server, you may or may not have a bit a work ahead of you at this point, depending on iSCSI, etc…

Good Luck

-NS

How to Properly kill a VM

We all know that you can use the command “ps -ef |grep (vmconfig filename.vmx)” to find the PID for a VM, but I get confused as to which number that comes up is actually the PID… I found a new command that works much better. See below.

The Definitive way to Kill a PID process

The steps below are based on the fact that you already tried to use “vmware-cmd vmname.vmx stop; stop hard”

1.)    A final solution is to kill the PID (process ID). Issue the following command: “ps auxfww | grep <vmname>” to locate the correct PID (BTW: this cannot be done via *ESXTOP*). The first number to appear in the output is your PID. The PID can be used to terminate the process by issuing kill -9 PID.

2.)    Run vmware-cmd <vmname>.vmx getstate to see if it is now “off”, as it should be.

3.)    You can now go back into Virtual Infrastructure Client and start the machine.

-NS

vSphere and Datastore Monitoring

I just wanted to point out an article that I found while searching about vSphere and Datastore management and monitoring.

What would be better than being warned that your datastore is reaching a critical point, wouldn’t it be nice to intercept before the VMs crash?! Of course it would. Check out this pdf “Storage with VMware vSphere“, I have included an insert below.

“vSphere enables many new features for the management of virtualization storage resources. These capabilities provide vSphere administrators with new ways to increase efficiency for disk utilization and CPU cycles. With automated proactive alerts and alarms, vCenter provides more visibility and control of storage resource allocations, deployment, and monitoring. Also, new levels of reporting, topology maps, and datastore status and details screens provide an easy way to manage access and limit storage sprawl in VMware deployments. Storage VMotion has been enhanced to enable more choices for migrating VM homes from one type of storage to another. And finally, new choices exist for optimizing I/O traffic for I/O intensive Virtual Machines.”

This next link gives you a quick insight into what vSphere Offers in terms of Data Management overall, including “Responsible Thin Provisioning”.

Of course if you just cant get your hands on vSphere 4, then you can purchase Veeam Monitoring, which can monitor datastores and alert you when the datastores are almost full… see insert and check out the Veeam Monitor Homepage

“Veeam Monitor 4.0 provides full storage monitoring capabilities, including disk space, disk issues and datastore monitoring. The latter allows for viewing datastore load information aggregated from disk utilization statistics of all VMs and hosts using the specific datastore. This allows you to see the actual cumulative load on a particular datastore, and set up an alarm that fires off when the datastore load is above a specified threshold. Datastore I/O monitoring is a unique Veeam Monitor feature not available from other VMware monitoring applications.”
-NS

Understanding VMware Snapshots.

I wanted to clear the air on snapshots, everyone is always asking, how much space does it take to remove a snapshot, but no one has a real answer…  whatever the answer may be this information inserted from the Basic System Administration PDF, which is readily available from VMware and can be downloaded from this link here, will help to explain how they work, and what can be done if you run out of space and cannot commit a snapshot. Please take your time and read through the below information and you will get a much better understanding of snapshots. The information below is a copyright of VMware. I have in no way altered its content.

“The Understanding Snapshots section does not include information on delta disks. The section should contain the following content:

To take a snapshot, the state of the virtual disk at the time of taking the snapshot must be preserved. When this occurs, the guest operating system cannot write to the VMDK file. The delta disk is an additional VMDK file where the guest is given write access. The delta disk represents the difference between the current state of the virtual disk and the state at the time of the previous snapshot. If more than one snapshots exist, delta disks might represent the difference (or delta) between each snapshot. Also, the guest can write to every single block of the virtual disk causing the delta disk to grow as large as the base VMDK of the virtual machine.

NOTE To consolidate all snapshots into the base virtual machine, you might need extra disk space, as large as the base VMDK.

When a snapshot is deleted, if a user chooses to merge the changes between the snapshots to the previous disk‐state, all the data from the delta disk that contains the information about the deleted snapshot is written to the parent disk. This might involve a large amount of disk I/O and might reduce the virtual machine performance until consolidation is complete.

If the user chooses to ignore the delta disks, delta consolidation is not required.

See VMware Knowledge Base system for more information on the iterative snapshot deletion behaviour. I’ve Included the details of the (KB article 1003302).

Details

If you try to initiate a Delete All snapshot for a virtual machine using Snapshot Manager, and if that virtual machine is on a datastore that does not have sufficient space for the snapshot, the following message displays in VMware Infrastructure (VI) Client:

msg.hbacommon.outofspace: there is no more space for the redo log of <VMname>-0000xx.vmdk.

You are given the option to abort or retry.

• If you choose Abort, the virtual machine is powered off, the snapshot is aborted, and a Consolidate Helper snapshot is created. The Snapshot Manager UI displays that Consolidate Helper snapshot. You can delete the Consolidate Helper snapshot after you have made space available.
• If you click Retry, the Snapshot Manager returns to Consolidate Helper snapshot mode unless you have made more disk space available.

Solution

Free up disk space if possible, or extend the VMFS volume using VI Client.

To extend the VMFS volume:

1. Select the host on which the virtual machine resides and click the Configuration tab.
2. Select the datastore on which the virtual machine resides and click Properties.Note: If there is no available storage, a new LUN must be presented to every ESX host that can see the LUN.

3. In the dialog that appears, click Add Extent and follow the prompts in the Add Extend wizard to add an extent.
4. Perform a rescan on every ESX host that is being presented the new LUN so that the addition of the extent is detected.
5. After you have extended the VMFS volume, you can check the Retry option of the Redo log pop-up.

Caution: When using Delete All in the Snapshot Manager, the snapshot furthest from the base disk is committed to its parent, causing that parent snapshot to grow. When that commit is complete, that snapshot is removed and the process starts over on the newly updated snapshot to its parent. This continues until every snapshot has been committed. This can lead to an aggressive use of additional disk space if the snapshots are large. Use care when exercising this option if there is not much space available on the datastore.”

Veeam Monitor 4.5 + Veeam Business View

… Are now  is now available!

For the first time ever, you can see the impact of virtual infrastructure performance on individual business units…and take immediate action! Veeam’s newest release now allows you to bridge the gap between IT and business:

- Group, view, and manage virtual machines based on business criteria such as business unit, location, application (e.g. all Exchange servers), service level agreement (SLA), owner, etc.

- Create flexible alerts based on server or application type (e.g all Exchange servers) and business impact (e.g. all high SLA VMs)

- Identify the business impact of the virtual infrastructure’s performance

- Fight VM sprawl

- Discover how easy it is to see your business in a brand new way with Veeam Monitor 4.5 plus Veeam Business View.

Go Here to download Veeam Monitor and Veeam Business View

Virtualization in General

Hey there folks, well I know 80% of the worlds population have an idea of what virtualization is, what it does, and why we all should get on the bandwagon… but there are some out there that still do not have a clue what VMware, Microsoft, and Citrix are doing with virtualization. Since there are those with questions, I thought I would provide some links for those people.

The first link I am providing is from one of my favorite resources in the world. Petri IT Knowledgebase by Daniel Petri, I wont get into why this is an important resource as many of my readers will already know. The link is for an article that David Davis wrote about Server Virtualization, here’s an insert from the beginning of the article…

“There are many types of virtualization- server, network, storage, and more. In this article, we will demystify these complex terms, explain what they can do for you, and name specific products that provide these functions. So prepare for the smoke to be cleared…” read the rest here.

The second link is a to a video that might be helpful to some readers, and maybe a waste of 3 minutes for some, hey at least its only 3 minutes! “Information Technology Explained in 3 Minutes of Less : What is Virtualization” check it out here.

Anyways, if I help shed some light on virtualization for at least a couple people I’ll be happy!

NS

Veeam Backup and Fast SCP Error

You get an error after attempting to backup a vm, which is similar to the following…

opening `/vmfs/volumes/48ef3738-77af8bc0-d6aa-0022190bdb5f/vm_name/vm_name.vmdk’: Permission denied

The issue is that the “Service Console Agent Mode” is being used, and there is a permission problem preventing a proper backup.

The work-around is as follows… Uncheck “Use Service Console Connection” check box on the page where you specified credentials, this will make Veeam fall back to agentless mode and use SOAP Credentials.

NS

VCDX - VMware Certified Design Expert

Feeling VCP Smart?

The VMware Certified Design Expert (VCDX) on VMware Infrastructure 3 is an advanced certification developed for design architects of VMware enterprise deployments. There are four core validation components to achieve VCDX.

1.) Must be certified as a VMware Certified Professional (VCP) on VMware Infrastructure 3.

2.) Pass the Enterprise-Level Systems Administration Exam. Includes live labs and tests a higher level of skill set than the exam for VCP on VMware Infrastructure 3.

3.) Pass the VMware Design Exam. This exam focuses on actual design scenarios and contains simulations and situational questions.

4.) Submit, present and defend a successful VMware Infrastructure design and implementation plan.

To read more go here.

“vSphere” is Officially Launched

Well it wasn’t release as in go install it, 30 days from now, you should see a download available. But you can check out the official VMware website for more information.

You can also check out the official Simulcast featuring VMware CEO Paul Maritz here.

A must read is the VMware vSphere Upgrade Center if your looking to upgrade asap. Check it out here.

If you would like to get a quick comparison of the different licensed features with each edition check out the VMware vSphere Editions Comparison Chart here.

ThinApp was also featured today and it looks pretty cool. The packaging process and deployment of applications were made to look a breeze. Check it out here. Or download and test it for yourself, go here.

Lots of things to look forward to with the release of vSphere(ESX 4.0)

NS

ESX 4 and ESX 4i

Rumors abound, ESX 4 and 4i are soon to be released. A couple notable items are that VMWare is going to allow more then 4vCPU per VM. Also Administrators will be able to hot upgrade memory using the VI Toolkit 1.5. Hot adding memory can only be done in a Server 2008 VM. With the ability to build PowerShell cmdlets, the new VI Toolkit will allow administrators to automate many tasks.

VMWare will be stopping by EPIC Information Solutions to talk about vSphere(ESX 4) April 21st is apparently the launch date for the new version of ESX. Guess what else is on April 21st? Epic Tech Day! So expect some posts from me revolving around Tech Day and VMWare.

NS