Vmware-umds.exe

vmware-umds.exe is a VMware Update Manager command line utility that doesn't receive much attention. Nonetheless, it's installed on the VUM server and may come in handy for you some day. A few of its uses are invoking the download of updates as well as exporting updates to an archive folder.

Another command line utility is vmware-updateDownloadCli.exe which can be used to import updates from an archive folder.
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VMotion CPU Compatibility

VMotion CPU Compatibility - Migrations Prevented Due to CPU Mismatch - How to Override Masks

This KB article provides information about overriding VMotion CPU compatibility restrictions between ESX hosts managed by VirtualCenter 2.x or vCenter Server 4.x. Warning: Unless indicated, VMware neither supports nor recommends modifying the VMotion constraints for CPU features used by applications.

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1993
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New in VMware vSphere 4.0

What's New in VMware vSphere 4.0
Guided Consolidation Enhancements — The Guided Consolidation service is now a modular plug-in to vCenter Server. Guided Consolidation can concurrently analyze and make consolidation recommendations for up to 100 physical machines at a given time. See vSphere Basic System Administration http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vsphere4/r40/vsp_40_admin_guide.pdf
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vCenter Server

VMware recommends allocating at least 1GB RAM to the vCenter Server. Lab Manager 3 generates more activity within the vCenter Server than the daily interaction between the vCenter Server and the Virtual Infrastructure Client
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"Rolling Failover"

Older versions of vCenter used the term "Rolling Failover" to describe the recovery behavior of bonded PNICs. The settings were confusing:
Yes - The failed adapter is left inactive even after recovery until another active adapter fails
No - The adapter is returned to active duty immediately upon recovery

In the current version of vCenter, VMware has changed the term to "Failback" which is much more meaningful.
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Configuration Maximums

Configuration Maximums Comparison

ESX(i) hosts manageable by a vCenter Server:
vCenter Server 4.0 32-bit: 200 ESX(i) hosts
vCenter Server 4.0 64-bit: 300 ESX(i) hosts
vCenter Server 2.5 Update 4: 200 ESX(i) hosts
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New in VMware vSphere 4.0

What's New in VMware vSphere 4.0
Storage VMotion Enhancements — Storage VMotion can now be administered through vCenter Server and works across NFS, Fibre Channel, and iSCSI storage networking protocols. Virtual disk formats can be converted during a Storage VMotion session. See vSphere Basic System Administration http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vsphere4/r40/vsp_40_admin_guide.pdf
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VMFS-3 Maximum File Sizes

VMFS-3 Maximum File Sizes
The maximum file size allowable on a VMFS-3 volume is determined by the block size when the VMFS volume was created. Since the block size cannot be changed without destroying the VMFS volume and all the data on it, plan accordingly.
Block Size Max File Size
1MB------------256GB
2MB------------512GB
4MB------------1024GB
8MB------------2048GB
ESX4 supports the same file sizes minus 512Bytes
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New in VMware vSphere 4.0

What's New in VMware vSphere 4.0
Increased NFS Datastore Support — ESX now supports up to 64 NFS shares as datastores in a cluster.
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Nested Hypervisors

Nested Hypervisors
This is not a supported configuration, however, with the right tweaks you can install ESX4 on ESX4 or ESX4 on ESX3.5.
Take a look at http://www.vcritical.com/2009/05/vmware-esx-4-can-even-virtualize-itself/
Be sure to read through the comments as well as they contain some vital information.

Xtravirt.com has the procedure for Workstation: http://xtravirt.com/node/177
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New in VMware vSphere 4.0

What's New in VMware vSphere 4.0
Software iSCSI and NFS Support with Jumbo Frames — vSphere 4.0 adds support for Jumbo Frames with both NFS and iSCSI on 1Gb and 10Gb NICs. See the iSCSI SAN Configuration Guide http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vsphere4/r40/vsp_40_iscsi_san_cfg.pdf
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Configuration Maximums for VI

Configuration Maximums for VI is my favorite VMware document. It answers many of the "How many", "How much" type questions about VI capabilities. This is one of the documents that will most often be updated as new releases of VMware VI are released so it's a good one to keep tabs on.

http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35u2/vi3_35_25_u2_config_max.pdf
http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vsphere4/r40/vsp_40_config_max.pdf
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VMware License Server

Beginning with VirtualCenter 2.0.1 Patch 2, VMware License Server (typically installed during VirtualCenter Server installation) no longer requires server-based licenses to be concatenated into a single file. Simply copy server-based licenses to the license directory. See KB 7252734, “ License Server Directory Support for Simplified License Management” for more information.

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/8996281
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Configuration Maximums Comparison

Configuration Maximums Comparison

Virtual Machines manageable by a vCenter Server:
vCenter Server 4.0 32-bit: 2,000 powered on virtual machines
vCenter Server 4.0 32-bit: 3,000 registered virtual machines
vCenter Server 4.0 64-bit: 3,000 powered on virtual machines
vCenter Server 4.0 64-bit: 4,500 registered virtual machines
vCenter Server 2.5 Update 4: 2,000 virtual machines
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File level backups

When performing file level backups using VCB, there is a limit of 60 concurrent .vmdk files that may be mounted at one time on the VCB proxy server. While this isn't an issue when backing up one VM at a time which can have up to 60 virtual disks (max 4 SCSI controllers x max 15 devices per controller), it can become a scaling issue when backing up several VMs concurrently with VCB.
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vSphere 4.0 client

The vSphere 4.0 client is compatible with and may be used to administer ESX 3.0.x, 3.5 (all Updates), and 4.0.
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Installing and Configuring Linux

Whitepaper: Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

This whitepaper talks about installing, configuring, updating, and administering Linux guest operating systems in virtual machines running on VMware Infrastructure 3 version 3.5. In addition, it also provides a collection of useful tips and tricks in fine-tuning your Linux virtual machines:

http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/linux_install_config.pdf
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Lab Manager snapshot

In Lab Manager, only one snapshot of a configuration/virtual machine can exist at a time. Taking a new snapshot replaces the previous one. A configuration snapshot can only be performed when at least one of the configuration's VMs is in a deployed status.
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New in VMware vSphere 4.0

What's New in VMware vSphere 4.0
Virtual Machine Communication Interface (VMCI) - Facilitates high-speed communication between the VM & the hypervisor, as well as between virtual machines that reside on the same host. VMCI does not rely on guest networking. The VMCI Sockets library provides a convenient interface for using this device. See the VMCI landing page http://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vmci-sdk/
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Configuration Maximums Comparison

Configuration Maximums Comparison

Number of virtual machines per host:
ESX(i) 4.0: 320 virtual machines per standalone host
ESX(i) 4.0: 256 virtual machines per host in a DRS cluster
ESX(i) 4.0: 100 virtual machines per host in an HA cluster of 8 or less hosts
ESX(i) 4.0: 40 virtual machines per host in an HA cluster of 9 or more hosts
ESX(i) 3.5 Update 4: 170 virtual machines per host
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Manually uninstall

To manually uninstall & re-install HA on a host, follow these steps in the Service Console:

1) Run the command rpm -qa |grep aam
2) Note the 2 case sensitive package names found
3) Uninstall HA with the command rpm -e [package_name_1] [package_name_2]
ie. rpm -e VMware-aam-haa-2.2.0-1 VMware-aam-vcint-2.2.0-1
4) Reinstall HA by choosing the "Reconfigure for VMware HA" in vCenter
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Lab Manager Configurations

Lab Manager Configurations with a saved state cannot be deployed to Lab Manager hosts with a different CPU family or type than where the configuration was originally saved without discarding the state. This would be similar to VMotioning between two different CPU types, or trying to unsuspend a VM on a different CPU type as compared to where it was originally suspended.
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New in VMware vSphere 4.0

What's New in VMware vSphere 4.0
Service Management of vCenter Server Components and Plug-ins — vCenter Server features a service management console that displays the health of the components of vCenter and its associated extensions. Administrators can identify and correct failures in the management infrastructure. See vSphere Basic System Administration http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vsphere4/r40/vsp_40_admin_guide.pdf
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Configuring ESX(i) host hardware

When configuring ESX(i) host hardware, if you're forced to make a decision on how to populate card slots when only a limited number of PCIe slots are available, you are best suited to place storage controllers (ie. HBAs) in the PCIe slots and NIC cards in the slower slots (ie. PCI-X). Storage needs the burst in I/O performance whereas the bus speed of a NIC will rarely be an issue.
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When a user is removed

When a user is removed from the entire Lab Manager installation, Lab Manager removes the user from all organizations, deletes all of the private objects (ie. Media, undeployed configurations, and VM templates) of the users, and reassigns the shared objects to the logged in administrator. When a user that owns objects is deleted, the user is considered "stranded". If an Organization is disabled, all its users are stranded.
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TCP Wrappers

TCP Wrappers Authentication Flow Summary
When a remote connection is requested, the access control software consults two files. The search stops at the first match:
-Access will be granted when a (daemon,client) pair matches an entry in the /etc/hosts.allow file
-Otherwise, access will be denied when a (daemon,client) pair matches an entry in the /etc/hosts.deny file
-Otherwise, access will be granted
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VMware license files

VMware license files by default are in UNIX format, without DOS/Windows return codes at the end of each line. DO NOT edit license files using Notepad or the license file may become corrupt and unreadable by the VMware License Server. Use WordPad or a third-party text editor that supports UNIX newlines.

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/8996281
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vSphere 4.0 client

The vSphere 4.0 client is compatible with and may be used to administer vCenter Server 2.0.x, 2.5 (all Updates), and 4.0.
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Cheaper/slower/less redundant

Use cheaper/slower/less redundant storage alternatives for your templates, .iso files, and potentially snapshots or VMkernel swap. Save the higher performing and more expensive storage for your running VMs.
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VMware vSphere 4.0

What's New in VMware vSphere 4.0
64 Logical CPUs and 320 Virtual Machines (with a total of up to 512 Virtual CPUs) Per Host — ESX/ESXi 4.0 provides headroom for more virtual machines per host and the ability to achieve even higher consolidation ratios on larger machines. See the Configuration Maximums for VMware vSphere 4.0 http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vsphere4/r40/vsp_40_config_max.pdf
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