ESX 3.5 – Remove a PortGroup
During the graphical installation of ESX 3.5 there is a single checkbox that states “Create Network for Virtual Machines” Usually I uncheck this box and create a new vSwitch for VM’s
However, if you don’t uncheck this box it will create the portgroup “VM Network” on the same vSwitch as the “Service Console” port group. If you run vCenter Server it’s easy enough to repair, however here is how it’s done from the console level…
Here is how you remove it from command line…
Esxcfg-vswtich –l –Show all the vSwitches and associated portgroups
Esxcfg-vswtich vSwitch0 –D “VM Network” – Actually Removes it
Here is the actual output…
ESX 3.5 – Change a VLAN Tag on a PortGroup
I setup 4 ESX servers the other day and the wrong vlan tag was entered. MyLAN admin is out of the office, so I have two choices… One Bug him like crazy (Calls and Emails) or two wait till he returns to change the VLAN tag
I like Option 3 – Change the VLAN tag myself…
I found this here and it work perfectly…
http://www.geekshangout.com/?q=node/17
Check which vSwitch the Service Console is on (and the name of the Service Console) with esxcfg-vswitch -l
To remove the vlan id completely, just set it to 0 (in case you have set it by accident on an access port)
esxcfg-vswitch vSwitch0 -v 0 -p “Service Console”
To set a vlan id on the service console (in case you forgot to define this during the installation)
esxcfg-vswitch vSwitch0 -v X -p “Service Console” (enter the vlan number where X is)
Here is my actual output (VLAN tags have been changed to protect the innocent!)
ESX 3.5 – NTP Time Server Restart
I found the following commands to work really well when you need to restart your NTP sevice on your ESX server.
Logon to the console level..
Commands >> Effect
# service ntpd restart >> Restart the service.
# chkconfig –level 345 ntpd on >> Enable the NTP daemon to autostart when the server is rebooted.
# hwclock –systohc >> Set the local hardware clock to the NTP synchronized local system time.
#hwclock –show {Press Enter} << Shows you the current clock
Fri 23 Apr 2010 08:17:41 AM MST -0.989683 seconds
Home Lab – iomega nas for esx
Io mega has some cool NAS devices on the cheap… they look like they’d be good for a small business or a home lab!
Here is a cool review on it…
Iomega’s ix4-200d: A Killer Desktop Storage Array
Here is the one I’m looking at for my home lab..
ESX 3.5 – Partitions
I get asked this question many times… what are the best practices for partitions with ESX 3.5.
Here are the settings that I use…
Setting primary partitions
Best practices state that the following partitions should be made “Primary” partitions:
Table 3 – Primary Partitions
Mount Point Partition Type Size in MB
/boot ext3 100 MB
/ ext3 2048 MB
N/A swap 1600 MB
This can be accomplished by selecting each of the aforementioned partitions (one at a time) and clicking the “Edit” button. The configuration options for that partition/file system will be brought up. Select (turn on) the checkbox option near the bottom of the box labeled “Force to be a primary partition”. Do this for each of 3 file systems listed above, clicking “OK” after fixing each file system.
Configuring partitions
The following table adheres to VMware best practices:
Extended Partitions
Mount Point Partition Type Size in MB
/var ext3 4096 MB
/tmp ext3 1024 MB
/opt ext3 2048 MB
/home ext3 1024 MB
vmkcore 100 MB
N/A vmfs Remaining space
VMware KB: Enhanced VMotion Compatibility (EVC) processor support
Check out this great article on EVC… lots of great information and links!
VMware KB: Enhanced VMotion Compatibility (EVC) processor support: “Enhanced VMotion Compatibility (EVC) processor support
Details
Enhanced VMotion Compatibility (EVC) simplifies VMotion compatibility issues across CPU generations. EVC automatically configures server CPUs with Intel FlexMigration or AMD-V Extended Migration technologies to be compatible with older servers. After EVC is enabled for a cluster in the VirtualCenter inventory, all hosts in that cluster are configured to present identical CPU features and ensure CPU compatibility for VMotion. The features presented by each host are determined by selecting a predefined EVC baseline. VirtualCenter does not permit the addition of hosts that cannot be automatically configured to be compatible with the EVC baseline.”
TalkShoe – Call – VMware Communities Roundtable
I found this really cool little community today thanks to a fellow VMUG User (Vlad N)
They have some really cool stuff..
TalkShoe – Call – VMware Communities Roundtable: “VMware Communities Roundtable”
ESX / ESXi 4.0 Whitebox HCL
I found this cool link to whitebox with your ESX servers.. check it out!
Thanks to a fellow VMUG User (Vlad N)
ESX / ESXi 4.0 Whitebox HCL: “Motherboards and unsupported servers that work with ESX 4.0 and / or ESXi 4.0 Installable
Lasted updated – 2010.02.02″
IPSentry Network Monitoring Software | Systems Monitor | RGE, Inc.
Need a cheap tool to do network monitoring… Check out IPSentry..
Fast, Cheap, and once you have it dialed in it works pretty well…
“IPSentry Network Monitoring Suite v5
When you need the right tool for the job
Download your free trial now. (click here)
Current Version: 5.12.3 NEW: – IPSentry LITE – Free Edition (click here)
IPSentry is the monitoring software you have been looking for. For over 10 years, we have provided centralized, Windows based, network monitoring software to thousands of IT specialists, administrators, support staff, and solution providers around the world.
With IPSentry, you will have constant monitoring of your network infrastructure and be able to receive notifications and alerts should there be a problem detected based on your own specific thresholds. Your down-time will be minimized by making sure that if a problem is detected, you are made aware of the issue for immediate correction thereby reducing your costs due to inevitable network problems.
When you purchase IPSentry, you are investing in a powerful network administration tool which will continuously monitor your internet and intranet servers, routers, modems, databases, services, event logs, performance data and more, 24 hours per day; insuring that your network and devices are functioning properly. If a problem is detected, various alerts and notifications can be triggered to make sure you are aware of the problem as soon as possible.
Whether you are monitoring one server or five hundred, performing complex network tests or simple simple ping requests, IPSentry is designed to provide a simple interface with the power and complexities sitting behind the scenes allowing you to concentrate on what you do best – keep your networks up and running and all of your users and customers satisfied.”
Shadow Protect IT Edition for P2V
As a VM admin I had challenges in how to P2V (Physical to Virtual) my environment into VMware hosts. I had about 900 Physical servers that needed P2V and I found just one P2V tool didn’t always do the job. Since P2Vs would commonly fail I found having multiple options were needed. I used 1) VMware Converter 2) PlateSpin, and my 3 option was Shadow Protect IT Edition. It is a product that I love to use, especially for P2V conversions.
VMware Converter generally worked well, but sometimes would fail and it took a lot of time to troubleshoot why it wasn’t working correctly. Its benefit was live conversations and compatibility with VMware.
PlateSpin was a great product and worked well. However, we had a per use license so using it for 900+ servers wasn’t very cost effective.
Using Shadow Protect IT Edition for P2V worked really well. It allowed me to backup a source system and then restore it to a target.
When using it for P2V I found the following benefits:
- The way you use Storage Craft is by making a image file of the source device then restoring it to a target device. This process has several benefits:
- You can restore the image file to just about any target. It adjusts the OS Hardware drivers to match the target device.
- This enables me to keep a point in time image file. I keep is as a backup just incase I later need it.
- If needed I can restore this image file to any hardware I choose.
- Having an image file enables easy hardware restores as sometimes the applications owner want to compare their physical system to the VM. This P2V could have been months ago so I simply get a new host, push the image, and let them compare it to the VM.
- Lastly, sometimes the Application owner questions if all files have been migrated. To solve this, I simply mount the image file and give them file level access to review and compare.
Check them out at http://www.storagecraft.com/shadow_protect_IT_edition.php
- ← Previous
- 1
- …
- 33
- 34
vmexplorer 