VMbook: Practical Guide

VMbook: Practical Guide to Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery with VMware Infrastructure featuring Hardware and Software Solutions from:
AMD, Cisco, Dell, Emulex, Intel, NetApp, Sun Microsystems

Once you have VI installed, this is a fantastic 230 page manual for jumpstarting your VI BCP/DR planning and execution.

http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/practical_guide_bcdr_vmb.pdf
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NFS datastores

One of the advantages to using NFS datastores in ESX(i) is that newly created VMs on the NFS storage default to creating .vmdk files in a thin format. This a type of thin provisioning and storage virtualization.
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Snapshot on ESX(i)

When creating a snapshot on ESX(i), consider not snapshotting the virtual machine's memory. By default the virtual machine memory will be included in the snapshot. Snapshotting a VM without the memory state will take a lot less time and disk storage. Understand, however, that you cannot revert to a live running VM without the saved memory state. The snapshot will be crash consistent.
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Storage vMotion failure

If you have encountered a Storage vMotion failure, take a look at the following 2 resources for recovery procedures:

http://www.van-lieshout.com/2009/03/how-to-recover-from-failed-svmotion/
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1009113
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Cisco Nexus 1000V

The Cisco Nexus 1000V is made up of two pieces:

1. The Virtual Ethernet Module (VEM) - A drop in replacement of the standard vSwitch or vDS. VM vNIC traffic traverses this.
2. The Virtual Supervisor Module (VSM) - A VM running Cisco's NX-OS which controls the VEMs. Configurations are performed here and pushed to the VEMs.
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Disconnected template?

Got a disconnected template? Several solutions exist to resolve the problem:
-Disconnect and reconnect the ESX host which owns the template
-Restart the mgmt-vmware service in the ESX Service Console
-Restart the vCenter service
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New in VMware vSphere 4.1

What's New in VMware vSphere 4.1

VMware HA Scalability Improvements - VMware HA has the same limits for virtual machines per host, hosts per cluster, and virtual machines per cluster as vSphere. This lifts restrictions from the past which were dependent on variables such as number of hosts in a cluster, DRS, and HA enablement.

http://vmware.com/pdf/vsphere4/r41/vsp_41_config_max.pdf
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Virtualizing Existing Domain Controllers

Virtualizing Existing Domain Controllers

Contrary to some beliefs, Domain Controllers make fine virtualization candidates with the right sizing and adherence to best practices. There are two approaches to DC virtualization: Creating new virtual DCs from scratch, and converting physical DCs to virtual. The following URL contains information for virtualizing existing domain controllers:

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1006996
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Configuration Maximums Comparison

Configuration Maximums Comparison

ESX(i) hosts manageable by a vCenter Server:
vCenter Server 4.1: 1,000 ESX(i) hosts
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 6: 200 ESX(i) hosts
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Cached Virtual Infrastructure

Cached Virtual Infrastructure Client host connection entries are stored in the Windows registry and are tied to each individual user profile (HKU). You’ll find the comma delimited list of entries in the following registry key:

HKU\[User SID]\Software\VMware\VMware Infrastructure Client\Preferences\
The value name is RecentConnections and the type is REG_SZ
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DRS Decisions

DRS: Decisions.. Decisions..

Virtual Infrastructure revolves around 4 core resources: CPU, Memory, Disk, & Network. DRS is a service that balances the workload of an ESX cluster based on resource utilization. However, DRS only evaluates 2 of the 4 core resources: CPU & Memory which are the 2 biggest bottlenecks, with Disk being a close 3rd.

DRS examines the cluster workload balance every 5 minutes, or 12 times per hour.
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VMware vSphere 4.1

What's New in VMware vSphere 4.1

Enhancements to Host Profiles - You can now use Host Profiles to roll out administrator password changes in vSphere 4.1. Enhancements also include improved Cisco Nexus 1000V support and PCI device ordering configuration.

http://bit.ly/bNrQRZ
http://bit.ly/9a2NoE
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New in VMware vSphere 4.1

What's New in VMware vSphere 4.1

License Reporting Manager - Provides a centralized interface for all license keys for vSphere 4.1 products in a virtual IT infrastructure & their respective usage. You can view & generate reports on license keys & usage for different time periods with the LRM. A historical record of the utilization per license key is maintained in the vCenter Server database.

http://bit.ly/9q9HW8
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Lab Manager configuration

VMware added Extension Baselines to Update Manager which has the ability to deploy VMware software or 3rd party add-on software such as EMC PowerPath/VE or the Nexus 1000V vSwitch.

http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vsp_vum_40u1_admin_guide.pdf
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1019844
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New in VMware vSphere 4.1

What's New in VMware vSphere 4.1

VMware HA Healthcheck and Operational Status - The VMware HA dashboard in the vSphere Client provides a new detailed window called Cluster Operational Status. This window displays more information about the current VMware HA operational status, including the specific status and errors for each host in the VMware HA cluster.

http://vmware.com/pdf/vsphere4/r41/vsp_41_availability.pdf
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vSwitch Security Attributes

vSwitch Security Attributes & Defaults

Forged Transmits - Allows the guest VM OS to change its MAC address; impacts outbound frames - default: Allow
MAC Address Changes - Allows the guest VM OS to change its MAC address; impacts inbound frames - default: Allow
Promiscuous Mode - Allows the guest VM to listen to (capture) packets destined for other vSwitch ports - default: Reject
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Syslog Tidbits

With vSphere version 7 guest VM hardware, the following virtual hardware can be "hot added" while the guest VM is running (some are dependent on the guest OS type):

-Additional CPUs
-Additional Memory
-USB Controller
-Ethernet Adapter
-Hard Disk
-SCSI Device
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Kill a hung or stuck VM

5 methods to kill a hung or stuck VM:
1. vmware-cmd -l
vmware-cmd [.vmx config filename] stop trysoft
2. vm-support -x or cat /proc/vmware/vm/*/names
vm-support -X [vmid]
3. vmware-vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms
vmware-vim-cmd vmsvc/poweroff [vm id]
4. ps -auxwww | grep [vm name]
kill [process id]
5. ps -auxwww | grep [vm name]
kill -9 [process id]
ESX: http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1004340
ESXi: http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1014165
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Timekeeping best practices for Linux

Timekeeping best practices for Linux
The following recommendations include specifics on the kernel command line options to use for the Linux operating system. Descriptions are included for NTP time sync, configuration of VMware Tools time synchronization, and Virtual Hardware Clock configuration, to achieve best timekeeping results.
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1006427
See also: http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1011771
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ESX Service Console "last" command

In the ESX Service Console, the "last" command parses recent entries in the /var/log/wtmp binary log which is a log of all logins and logouts to the system.
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Beacon Probing

When using Beacon Probing to detect vSwitch uplink path failures, 3+ uplinks are needed to accurately detect a bad path. In the event that ESX(i) cannot detect with guaranteed certainty which path has gone bad, such as in the case of using only 2 pNICs with Beacon Probing, the hypervisor will "shotgun" traffic down all pNIC uplinks, hoping the frames will reach their intended destination on at least 1 of the paths.
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Microsoft Cluster Server

Microsoft Cluster Server can be virtualized on VMware Virtual Infrastructure. Although MSCS can be deployed several ways on VMware, a precise set of configurations and conditions exist which must be met in order to be supported by VMware. You can view them at the links below:

http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35u2/vi3_35_25_u2_mscs.pdf
http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vsphere4/r40_u1/vsp_40_u1_mscs.pdf
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VMware Infrastructure Operations

VMware Infrastructure Operations (VIOPS) is an incredibly technical community resource containing VMware Virtual Infrastructure proven practices and advanced solutions. Topics include strategy, applications, security, management, and availability.

http://communities.vmware.com/community/viops
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MAC address prefixes

The following OUIs (MAC address prefixes) are registered to VMware through the IEEE. These are the possible MAC address prefixes you will see assigned in the first three octets of VMware virtual network adapters:

00:05:69
00:0c:29
00:1c:14
00:50:56
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NFS datastores

NFS datastores use 2 TCP sessions to the back end NFS server (1 for NFS control traffic, 1 for data traffic). Only 1 TCP session is used for data transport per datastore. This means that to aggregate the bandwidth of multiple VMkernel VMNICs, multiple NFS datastores are required. This also implies that a single NFS datastore cannot use more than one VMNIC's worth of bandwidth.
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Enable daemons/services

Permanently enable daemons/services in the ESX Service Console/ESXi console with the following command (the numbers specify runlevels at which to start the daemons/services):

chkconfig --level 345 [daemon/service] on

ie.

chkconfig --level 345 snmpd on
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Troubleshooting Options

The new "Troubleshooting Options" menu item in the ESXi 4.1 Direct Console User Interface (DCUI) features 3 new items not seen before:

Enable Local Tech Support - Toggles access to the Tech Support Mode (TSM) console with ALT + F1
Enable Remote Tech Support (SSH) - Toggles remote SSH access (PuTTY)
Modify Tech Support timeout - Time (minutes) before TSM logins are automatically disabled (default=0 disabled, max=1440)
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Esxcfg-module

esxcfg-module and the older school vmkload_mod both provide about the same information when listing loaded VMkernel modules. However, a few of the differences that set the tools apart are:

Only esxcfg-module can enable/disable modules

Only vmkload_mod can interactively load/unload modules
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The right network adapter

Choosing the right network adapter for your virtual machine

The network adapter choices that are available depend on the virtual machine version number and the guest operating system running on the virtual machine.
The Choose Networks window makes available only those network adapters that make sense for the virtual machine you are creating. Continue reading at the following KB article:

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1001805
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Best Practices

VMware vCenter Server Performance and Best Practices for vSphere 4.1

vCenter is a core dependency in the virtual data center for many of vSphere's key features. This whitepaper covers 4 areas concerning vCenter performance:

1. Performance improvements in vSphere 4.1
2. vCenter sizing guidelines and software requirements
3. Monitoring, tuning and troubleshooting
4. Performance improvement case studies

http://bit.ly/96ggV8
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