VMware Communities : All Content - VI: VMware ESX™ 3.5

ESX stopped respoding to management functions

AndreTheGiant — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 06:49:57 GMT

Your system is in HCL?

Does it have a FQDN?
The output of hostname command give a name that is pingable?

Andre

Asus M4A78-E

AndreTheGiant — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:19:35 GMT

Yes i tried.... and the instalation it is complete with successful!!!

Good for you.

and i need to accept the darkside (linux) and understand all this issus.

"If you only knew the power of the Dark Side..."

Andre

esxi 64 bit ram

tom howarth — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:33:40 GMT

That is not what Matt said, what he said was before you go off buying a new processor try a BIOS upgrade to your machine first,

If you found this or any other answer useful please consider the use of the Helpful or correct buttons to award points

Tom Howarth VCP / vExpert
VMware Communities User Moderator
Blog: www.planetvm.net
Contributing author on "VMware vSphere and Virtual Infrastructure Security: Securing ESX and the Virtual Environment”. Currently available on roughcuts

ESXI Installed on USB Drive

AndreTheGiant — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:17:30 GMT

It's supported.
The embedded version is just a ESXi on a internal USB or a SD flash card.

It could be a good idea.

Andre

vmware esxi 3.5 supported

jbruelasdgo — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:22:02 GMT

please review the following:

http://www.vmware.com/support/policies/lifecycle/vi/eos.html

regards

Jose B Ruelas

http://aservir.wordpress.com

Rescanning HBA caused ESX to fail

arturka — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:37:55 GMT

If you want to get answer for your question you have to include more information into post.

put what you have in logs /var/log/messages /var/log/vmkernel during rescanning HBA also will be useful to have something from /var/log/vmkwarning

do you have custer ? how many nodes ? what type of HBA adapter you have? how many LUNs assigned to host ?

Artur

I need a confirmation

mcowger — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:16:37 GMT

the bcast address can be calculated from the netmask and IP.

--Matt
VCP, vExpert, Unix Geek

SAN performance testing

mcowger — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:15:28 GMT

You can't remove the the vmkernel layer from anything - its always there - its is the OS.

Additionally, the array is never really being used unless its by a VM requesting data...

So....why would you want to test the array in a vacuum (not that thats even possible)?

--Matt
VCP, vExpert, Unix Geek

As the VMware ESX download doesn't work

ShaggySS — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:57:17 GMT

This issue is back

Converting a 2-node physical SQL cluster to a single VM

Brian Laws — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:52:43 GMT

We've decided to do something very similar. We did a P2V on the active node so that we can capture all the disk. We're building new VMs (with the same name as the clustered SQL name), installing a new SQL instance, attaching the SAN cluster disks (which were captured in the P2V of the active node), re-creating all the objects in the master database (logins, etc.), and restoring the databases. Unfortunately, though, we lost everything stored in the system. So I have to re-install everything that was there before (clients, drivers, etc), setup permissions, shares, DNS convigs, services/accounts, environment variables, etc. It's making for a lot of extra work and much higher risk (since I don't know what I'm missing). But we're hoping it will do the trick. Thankfully, there's nothing installed on the cluster which we don't have setup files for. But again, I don't know what I'm missing. We will be testing in a network bubble, and we'll eventually bring the servers out of that bubble (restoring the prod data to it).

Not what I was hoping for, but it looks like the only option.

Thanks for the reply, Kosch.

what is the command for services restart ?

Troy Clavell — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:24:52 GMT

restart webAccess

service vmware-webAccess restart

restart virtual center management agent

service vmware-vpxa restart

restart host management agents

service mgmt-vmware restart

Bash: esxcfg: command not found

arturka — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:16:51 GMT

hi

seems for me that you are loggin to system via ssh using non root account and later you are authenticating as root

do like this:

after first login to system using non root account you have to type su - (this minus it's needed to take change all variables from non root use to root user) thanks to it you don't need to make separate configuration for non root account

if it useful click some stars please

Artur

Best P2V software

arturka — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:05:01 GMT

In my case is imposible to do it in that way, because 99% of migration will done by WAN,

Project is about consolidate and migrate 1000 production servers across EU and US to 5 DC. A lot of them are Lotus Domino servers and SQL, so it has to be done LIVE block based migration.

Guys I really need your help with this software

Artur

ResourcePool.updateConfig failure in /var/log/vmware/hostd.log

tascheHyaene — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:25:46 GMT

Good afteroon,

I'm running a two-node ESX 3.5 cluster with vCenter 2.5. The cluster is running fine, and I recently started scouring logs looking for anything peculiar, just in case.

On one of the nodes, about every 10 minutes or so, two processes start and end in quick secession:

From /var/log/vmware/hostd.log:

~~2009-11-20 12:56:31.962 'TaskManager' 23034800 info~~ Task Created : haTask-ha-root-pool-vim.ResourcePool.updateConfig-270185
~~2009-11-20 12:56:31.962 'TaskManager' 23034800 info~~ Task Completed : haTask-ha-root-pool-vim.ResourcePool.updateConfig-270185
~~2009-11-20 12:56:32.032 'TaskManager' 21621680 info~~ Task Created : haTask-ha-root-pool-vim.ResourcePool.updateConfig-270186
~~2009-11-20 12:56:32.032 'TaskManager' 21621680 info~~ Task Completed : haTask-ha-root-pool-vim.ResourcePool.updateConfig-270186

After doing a vmware-vim-cmd vimsvc/task list, the output informs me that the process isn't running or the process never existed.

But like clockwork, about 10 minutes after the two tasks complete, I receive the following, again from /var/log/vmware/hostd.log:

~~2009-11-20 13:06:32.128 'PropertyCollector' 21621680 warning~~ GetPropertyProvider failed for haTask-ha-root-pool-vim.ResourcePool.updateConfig-270185
~~2009-11-20 13:06:32.129 'PropertyCollector' 21621680 warning~~ GetPropertyProvider failed for haTask-ha-root-pool-vim.ResourcePool.updateConfig-270186

Am I correct in assuming that 270185 and 270186 are references to specific processes?

If so, then why is the process ending and then reporting 10 minutes later that GetPropertyProvider failed? I'm guessing that the ESX box is trying to update the config on one or more resource pools, but why is it failing and should I be concerned?

The Internets and the google did not provide many tasty conclusive morsels in regards to this warning/failure and everything on both ESX boxes is running ok. I just want to make sure that this isn't part of something larger or will become part of something larger later on down the line.

Any opinions/questions/insights would be heartily welcomed.

Mcafee 100% cpu

msaville — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:44:02 GMT

We currently are using the work around of having the download done after hours. Then we don't care if it spikes.

Long term though I am pushing the security team into using a Vshield Mcafee appliance.

Is any one else done this or is looking into it?

2008 R2 Slow

Scissor — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:06:18 GMT

I believe there are known issues with the current VMware Tools Video driver under R2. So when you install the tools make sure to unselect the Video driver.

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1011709

Script to find RDMs

hi1280 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:06:08 GMT

This ended up working for what I needed to do.

find /vmfs/volumes/ -type f -name *vmdk -size -1024k -exec grep -l RawDeviceMap {} \; > /tmp/rdm.csv

then I copied /tmp/rdm.csv to my laptop to view all my rdm's

Win Srv 2008 R2 support

DAbowitt — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:35:35 GMT

Yea know! Need update to VMWARE tools and probably some other areas to officially support R2. I need timeline as I can't rollout R2 with current issues when running on ESX 3.5.

OpenSSH GSSAPI allows elevated privileges

tupelo.operations — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:56:39 GMT

I am sure that no one has updated OpenSSH on these hosts as I am the one who updates these servers and I have not had a chance to update hosts in quite some time.

Clone Powered ON VM with RDM

lamw — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:50:26 GMT

Yep this is possible, during the clone process a snapshot will be taken so that the clone can proceed. You would not be able to clone a powered on VM with physical RDM since that does not support snapshots, but a virtual RDM does. You'll need your ESX(i) host to be managed by vCenter to utilize VMware's clone functionality ... but if you wan to clone it manually, then you'll need to issue a snapshot and then copy the appropriate configuration files and then using vmkfstools to copy the actual VM disk.

=========================================================================
William Lam
VMware vExpert 2009
VMware ESX/ESXi scripts and resources at: http://engineering.ucsb.edu/~duonglt/vmware/
Twitter: @lamw
vGhetto Script Repository
Getting Started with the vMA (tips/tricks)
Getting Started with the vSphere SDK for Perl
VMware Code Central - Scripts/Sample code for Developers and Administrators
VMware Developer Comuunity

If you find this information useful, please award points for "correct" or "helpful".

Snapshot issue in ESX 3.5

vpalan — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:46:02 GMT

Thanks a lot... already i have clicked stars.

irq 177, boot Linux virtual machine with irqpoll?

calle77 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:18:52 GMT

Did you have any luck in finding the root cause of this error? I'm having the same problem on my RHEL 5.4 VM.

irq 177: nobody cared (try booting with the "irqpoll" option)

Call Trace:
<IRQ> <ffffffff800ba0f2> __report_bad_irq+0x30/0x7d
<ffffffff800ba325> note_interrupt+0x1e6/0x227
<ffffffff800b9821> __do_IRQ+0xbd/0x103
<ffffffff881fd984> :e1000:e1000_watchdog_task+0x0/0x65c
<ffffffff8006c997> do_IRQ+0xe7/0xf5
<ffffffff8005d615> ret_from_intr+0x0/0xa
<ffffffff80012322> __do_softirq+0x51/0x133
<ffffffff8005e2fc> call_softirq+0x1c/0x28
<ffffffff8006cb14> do_softirq+0x2c/0x85
<ffffffff8005dc8e> apic_timer_interrupt+0x66/0x6c
<EOI> <ffffffff881fdf81> :e1000:e1000_watchdog_task+0x5fd/0x65c
<ffffffff8004d80a> run_workqueue+0x94/0xe4
<ffffffff8004a052> worker_thread+0x0/0x122
<ffffffff8004a142> worker_thread+0xf0/0x122
<ffffffff8008be71> default_wake_function+0x0/0xe
<ffffffff8003298b> kthread+0xfe/0x132
<ffffffff8005dfb1> child_rip+0xa/0x11
<ffffffff8003288d> kthread+0x0/0x132
<ffffffff8005dfa7> child_rip+0x0/0x11

handlers:
<ffffffff881fb78f> (e1000_intr+0x0/0x113 e1000)
Disabling IRQ #177

Changing subnet for VMkernel and Vmotion

ThompsG — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:03:21 GMT

Evening,

This is actually how we run our Service Console and VMotion. We have both Service Console and VMotion on one vSwitch. The Service Console port group is configured with 1 network adapter active and 1 standby. The VMotion port group is configured in reverse. This separates the traffic out while still giving you a level of redundancy in case a network adapter/cable goes down.

Since you are adding VMotion to an existing vSwitch (vswif0) then will be no outage, unless as the other poster said you have IP storage.

Kind regards,

Glen

Virtual Machine Swapfile, Windows Paging File and SAN Replication

mcowger — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:59:05 GMT

If your swap file does not live on shared storage, it has to be copied along with the active VM memory during the VMotion process to the target host, thus making your vmotions take potentially much longer.

--Matt
VCP, vExpert, Unix Geek

Too Many Levels of Redo files

seanhsmith — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:25:12 GMT

I have found the following article which appears to resolve the issue.

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1002310

I will test it after I have finished the disk clone and post the results

Cheers

fiber switch

marvinms — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:29:37 GMT

Did you miss the part were you have to setup access to Storage?

You still have to give the hosts access their LUNS don't you?.

The "current" Brocades make it easier than the McData switches by allowing the creation of aliases, just when I figured out WWNs.

ESX 3.5 VM File Server and slow initial conneciton/timeout

kf4ape — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:14:31 GMT

All,
I have a file server VM (30gb total) and will occasionally have a slow inital connection via UNC however the ESX is on GigE. the server hosting it is a DL385g5p (dual quad cores) and the it sites on an MSA60 connected via a P800...it no slouch and there is one other VM on the box (the VC) which shows no activity...the VM was initiall created on an ESX3.0.2 box and coverted over to 3.5

so what is happening is that the network map to it looses connection and the delay kill the autoreconnect by the client...the end user connects to other shares without issue, just this one file server (which is VM)

thoughts?

ESX 3.5 and Adaptec 2610SA SATA Raid for white box

IT Admin to the Stars — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:36:35 GMT

Hello All,

this is a pretty old post, but I was wondering if you can help us in being able to install ESX on a white box machine with an adaptec 2610SA controller. So far, we've only been able to get as far as creating the RAID array's (we have 5 drives in there and were planning on using 2 for the ESX OS install in a mirrored RAID, and 3 for RAID 5 where the actual VMs etc were going to sit).

However, when we try to install ESX, we see a red window pop up trying to load the aacraid_esx30 or some similar driver but then fails by saying "Unable to find any devices of the type needed for this installation type. Would like to manually select your driver or use a driver disk?". If we select "Manually Choose" then aacraid is not in the list. If we say "use driver disk" and insert a floppy with the aacraid driver for linux (RHEL4) then it reads the disk, and brings the dialog "No devices of the appropriate type were found on the driver disk. Would like to manually select the driver, continue anyway, or load another driver disk". Here if we choose "manually choose", we see the aacraid driver in the list now, but selecting it brings back the ""Unable to find any devices of the type needed for this installation type. Would like to manually select your driver or use a driver disk?" dialog box.

Does anyone have any idea how to fix this and install ESX on this machine with this raid controller?

Thank you so much in advance.
Knoa IT

VCB-HP Data Protector Problem

catullo — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:16:05 GMT

Hi,

I faced the same problem.

Did you find the way to solve it ?

hostd keeps crashing

NTurnbull — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:02:53 GMT

See if this article by Eric Zandboer helps: http://erikzandboer.wordpress.com/2009/02/24/hostd-hara-kiri-by-erik-zandboer/

Thanks,
Neil

Layer 2 errors on VMs

Dave365 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:49:26 GMT

I will do that, thanks.

Do you think this is related to the error on the VM's interface?

HA and Vmotion a extreme status

Anton V Zhbankov — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:02:40 GMT

VMotion will fail almost immediately, and HA will start registering VMs from failed ESX after 15 seconds.

There is no conflict between HA and VMotion, they work in mutually exclusive situations.

---
MCSA, MCTS, VCP, VMware vExpert '2009
http://blog.vadmin.ru

VSS/VCB Issues

jackyareva — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:45:24 GMT

Dear Lightbulb,

After according to your help and install the update, it still not works. I also can find out the error message what tkutil mentioned above, in oder to find out the reason, I tried to get more information as below

C:\>vssadmin list writers
vssadmin 1.1 - Volume Shadow Copy Service administrative command-line tool
(C) Copyright 2001 Microsoft Corp.

Writer name: 'System Writer'
Writer Id: {e8132975-6f93-4464-a53e-1050253ae220}
Writer Instance Id: {7ff996cd-b3a7-49c8-a898-142d421dfe9a}
State: [9] Failed
Last error: Timed out

Writer name: 'MSDEWriter'
Writer Id: {f8544ac1-0611-4fa5-b04b-f7ee00b03277}
Writer Instance Id: {97a509cf-4e41-4c4a-a0a7-d6903fd81286}
State: [1] Stable
Last error: No error

Writer name: 'Event Log Writer'
Writer Id: {eee8c692-67ed-4250-8d86-390603070d00}
Writer Instance Id: {a39b35fb-9d4c-4ae3-9965-99ecd59eec63}
State: [1] Stable
Last error: No error

Writer name: 'Registry Writer'
Writer Id: {afbab4a2-367d-4d15-a586-71dbb18f8485}
Writer Instance Id: {91f84cc7-1f6a-42bc-b695-03b210b6a13e}
State: [1] Stable
Last error: No error

Writer name: 'COM+ REGDB Writer'
Writer Id: {542da469-d3e1-473c-9f4f-7847f01fc64f}
Writer Instance Id: {7015315e-e50d-4437-96cf-a67b01995a74}
State: [1] Stable
Last error: No error

Writer name: 'WINS Jet Writer'
Writer Id: {f08c1483-8407-4a26-8c26-6c267a629741}
Writer Instance Id: {737a60b4-8191-4204-800b-0dd86f72d0e9}
State: [9] Failed
Last error: Timed out

Writer name: 'Dhcp Jet Writer'
Writer Id: {be9ac81e-3619-421f-920f-4c6fea9e93ad}
Writer Instance Id: {d03d8daf-e9ad-4f51-815e-75f0046bb90e}
State: [9] Failed
Last error: Timed out

Writer name: 'WMI Writer'
Writer Id: {a6ad56c2-b509-4e6c-bb19-49d8f43532f0}
Writer Instance Id: {4664c629-e8bd-4ab3-b200-43de56d423de}
State: [9] Failed
Last error: Timed out

Could you provide me some help about it?

Thanks in advance

High CPU in HA Cluster

bulletprooffool — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:35:26 GMT

Do you have any VMs with processor affinity set? Are they thrashing the CPU?

ESX 3.5 Update 4: unable to detect cd-rom

mbx369 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:48:47 GMT

Hi,

I have 2 ESX servers on HP ProLiant DL580 G5. Somehow, I am unable to detect the cd-rom.
But the drives are definitely ok, coz bootable from cd.
I also have 2 HP ProLiant DL380 G6. But these two are working fine.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

I had posted in this thread http://communities.vmware.com/message/1290101 but i think that thread's been closed.

~~~~~ To Live Is To Die ~~~~~

Cant mount cdrom on HP Proliant ML350 server

mbx369 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:40:24 GMT

Hi,

I have updated my HP ProLiant ESXs to update 4. But the cd-rom still doesn't show up on ESX.
And no one is updating this thread.
Any ideas how to resolve this?

~~~~~ To Live Is To Die ~~~~~

Sun Blade 6000 Virtualized NEM (X4238) driver is MIA

FostersFlop — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:00:04 GMT

Hello Charles,

Thank you. I had been looking on Sun's site and not on VMware's for drivers.

Your timing could not have come at a better time as I have just ordered another 6000 chassis with five x6240 blade modules.

Regards,

Mark

Resetting password for vpxuser account

Texiwill — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:30:45 GMT

Hello,

vpxuser will automatically be changed by vCenter every 30 or 60 days.... I think it is 30.

This is not a password anyone should really know.... Now root is a different question.

Best regards,
Edward L. Haletky VMware Communities User Moderator, VMware vExpert 2009
Virtualization Practice Analyst
Now Available: 'VMware vSphere(TM) and Virtual Infrastructure Security'
Also available 'VMWare ESX Server in the Enterprise'
SearchVMware Pro|Blue Gears|Top Virtualization Security Links|
Virtualization Security Round Table Podcast

Jumbo frame

rafaelcallico — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:29:47 GMT

hi sivan

about JF I just think it help meanly in cpu performace not only on sever also in network infrastructure (switch, router) the fact is tha using JF you can reduce the number of ethernet frame needed to send a fixed amount of data, the math is very simple standar frame is 1500 bystes , JF is 9KB only you need to generate 1 of 6 previously generated frame the switch(also router)need to check only one time(of previously 6) the fdb(forwarding database).my tesis it´s simple if hardware supports is the use it

best regards

rafael

Command for changing System Resource Allocation Settings - CPU shares, reservations

hodnov — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:15:46 GMT

Is there a command in the vimsh set or otherwise that will change the System Resource Allocation settings of an ESX host?

I need to change the Cpu shares to 4000 and the reservation to 1000 mhz.

I know these values get stored in etc/vmware/esx.conf, but the entries get populated only after you alter the defaults in VI Client.

I want to make the changes during a scripted esx install.

Thanks

Virtualize Unix server

manojpeter — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:27:12 GMT

VMWare env details: 8 ESX servers v3.5 update-3, VC 2.5 update-3 on HP hardware BL685c.

We are planning to virtualize the following server platforms.

1. RH Linix Enterprise server 3.0 and
2. SUSE Linux Enterprise 9.0 on Intel hardware.

Please advise:
1. If they can be virtualized.
2. How to cold virtualize using converter v.4.0.3 software.

Any more info required, kindly let me know.

Thanks in Advance.

Unable to add host to vcenter across two sites

foxy1977 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:36:52 GMT

The vpn is on a router to router vpn so it is a bit difficult.

How do I commit a redo log when VC doesn't show any snapshots are being used?

benny.hauk — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:22:15 GMT

Well, I'll have to answer my own issue (wish I could get credit for this). Finally after being on the phone the entire drive to work with the vmware licensing dept ironing out our recent contract renewal, it finally dawned on me what the fix was.

We've had this happen once before and I opened a ticket with VMware and they resolved it. It just took a while for the solution to come to me again. Here it is:

For the VMs still writing to a delta / redo log file, create a new snapshot (w/o memory) and immediately delete that snapshot.
done.

The snapshot deletion process will go commit any and all active snapshot / redo logs / etc automatically. Deceptively easy & fast fix. Zero downtime.

By the way, vmware-cmd didn't work either (the commend reported the VM didn't have any snapshots).

Benny Hauk, VCP4
Systems Admin
LifeWay Chrstian Resources

Incorrect NIC speed!

kcampbell — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:29:25 GMT

as a follow up. i swapped out the 2 in-use cat6 for the lan connections with two others, one of the connections i connected to another port on the patch panel and then back to the original port- THAT nic came up 1000mb -the other is in the wall and i changed out the cable -still comes up at 100mb. the internal wall cabling is cat6 and speed confirmed at 1000mb. thinking this is more of a firmware issue. so now that ive got one channel at 1000, i can migrate both integral svrs from that host onto another and then take host down to maintenance mode and update the firmware. then im almost positive all nics will come up with correct speed bec it's not a card issue, given the circumstances and other ppl experiencing the same thing with varying cards (at least i feel confident it isnt a card issue for my situation). im just happy for the small victory with getting one of the 100mb to 1000mb with a cable swap so i can evacuate the svrs to another host....small victories

3.5 install not picking up local PERC raid controller

foxy1977 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:11:53 GMT

I ended up installing esx v4 classic on the server as we upgraded our licences. The installer worked fine and picked up the raid controller. I moved the server out of the storage group so it could not see the LUNs on the SAN.

Thanks

Terminal Server Farm an Resource Pool

NTurnbull — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:57:45 GMT

Hi, well the first thing is that your monitoring the performance of the apps inside the vm not the vm's resource usage. As to the question of resource pools - it depends on your environment. Are your hosts heavily loaded? If so then using a resouce pool to carve up CPU and RAM to reserve it for only the TS servers in the cluster would ensure that they got the resources they need, but possibly at the detriment of other guest vm's as they now share a smaller amount of resources between themselves. Remeber that the cluster is a resource pool in itself - the root resource pool.

Thanks,
Neil

Moving from Local storage to iSCSI SAN

Jain — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:05:30 GMT

yes, it is supported & just work fine for me

If you found this information useful, please consider awarding points for "Correct" or "Helpful". Thanks!!!

IPMI message handler: BMC returned incorrect response

MattGsy — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:31:51 GMT

I have no HP Agent on either and can ssh fine.
But we haven't got our ESX servers managed by a VC yet.
But I was getting these errors after install, I am keeping an eye on
them to see if the messages re-appear.

Hungs on RedHat VMs

afrontera — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:07:27 GMT

No ideas?

I cant belive that anyone has similar issues before. Any help will be apreciated.

Thx

Increase disk size in ESX

powerzhu — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:27:53 GMT

there is a tutorial to resize vmware disk and partition http://www.partition-tool.com/resource/resize-vmware-virtual-disk-tutorial.htm

100 percent CPU usage on 1 CPU in ESX host

VirtuallyTaken — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:54:21 GMT

Hi all,

Thanks for all the help. Found the solution. Its the (pegasus)cimserver that was taking up all the CPU0 resource. This is an issue with memory leak for ESX 3.5 updates 2, 3 and 4. No such issue with ESX 4 as pegasus component is not used. Here is the workaround if you have this issue: http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1009607

Cheers

ESX 3.5 cluster failure with SAN & Network connectivity loss, BMC error ?

George_B — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:40:11 GMT

In addition I have now just tested from the ISCLI QLogic SanSurfer utility installed on both nodes and both HBA's can ping and see the SAN.

ESX 3.5 and Storage

NeelR — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:53:03 GMT

Hi All,

We are currently thinking of using vRanger 4.0 DPP for our new backup. Is anyone using this?

Below is a rough drawing on how we have our enviro setup.

MGT Server - Windows pServer where we do all our work from.

San 2/3 - ESX Storage

San1/4 - For Backups (Fibre attached to MGT Server)

Green is all Fibre

Blue is Ethernet

Red line on the FC Switch is zoning. So 2 zones seperating the Sans.

So we want to install vRanger on our MGT server and then store the backups on San1/4. Is this possible? Even though the switch is Zoned?

Also if the ESX Server see's San1/4 but doesnt use them is this an issue? I remember having an MSA1000 attached to our MGT Server a while back, it was being 'seen' from ESX Servers and they began to have issues in the logs, however I cannot remember if there was any performance problems. Also, should the be seen if it is zoned? Do I need another FC Card to see San2/3 on our MGT Server?

Any help would be great.

Cheers,
Neel

VCB Snapshots fill up vmfs datastore

znet98 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:19:12 GMT

in vcb config.js, there are some options to do it (remove snapshot after backup automaticaly)

Example:

/*
* SNAPSHOT_POLICY determines how disk snapshots for backup are being created:
* +) "automatic"
* A snapshot is being generated automatically by the Interoperability
* Module right before backup and it is being removed
* automatically right after backup.
* +) "manual" -
* Exactly one snapshot named "VCB-BACKUP" must already exist for
* each protected VM. The snapshot is mounted/unmounted on the proxy,
* but the snapshot is neither created nor deleted by VCB.
* This can be used to have external tools manage the backup snapshot.
* +) "createonly"
* The Interoperability Module will create the snapshot for each VM
* right before it gets backed up, but will not remove the snapshot
* after unmounting.
* +) "deleteonly"
* The Interoperability Module assumes that the snapshot named
* "VCB-BACKUP" has been created beforehand. The snapshot will be
* deleted automatically after backup.
*
* The default option is "automatic"
*
*/
//SNAPSHOT_POLICY="automatic";

Hope this helps.

Michael

Template Deploy Customization Times Out

Troy Clavell — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:49:28 GMT

khughes wrote: The problem came up when I tried to deploy the new version of the same machine (citrix6) the template was made off of.

If I were a betting man, I would say this is why you had the problem. Maybe your DR test will confirm.

Unable to create partition - NFS Server

kanoute696 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:23:22 GMT

I have a ESX3.5 host with a NFS server connected via VM Kernel. When I create a new virtual machine and run a iso image it constantly comes back saying that it cant create a partition on the datastore located NFS server. All the obvious permissions are fine. Has anybody seen this before?. Both servers are new builds.

Scheduled Task

max2479 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:17:25 GMT

Hello All,
Schedule task does not have the way of gracefully rebooting the VM. Shutdown will not work because I am not sure when VM will be shutdown so I can power it back on... reset is NOT gracefully shutdown. If I want to gracefully reboot the VM at scheduled time what are the options for me?

script only?
if yes, are there scripts that will schedule the time for the VM to reboot?

Cannot find nic driver for Win2k3 X64 after P2V (Intel pro mt 1000)

Scissor — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:51:08 GMT

Download the driver from Intel's web site.

Can serive console and vmkernel be in the same network?

Texiwill — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:43:20 GMT

Hello,

Interesting.... Okay I should say no two vmkernel ports can share the same subnet... Which is more accurate...

Personally I never use the same subnet for SC and vMotion or iSCSI or NFS. Just confuses my traffic.

Best regards,
Edward L. Haletky VMware Communities User Moderator, VMware vExpert 2009
Virtualization Practice Analyst
Now Available: 'VMware vSphere(TM) and Virtual Infrastructure Security'
Also available 'VMWare ESX Server in the Enterprise'
SearchVMware Pro|Blue Gears|Top Virtualization Security Links|
Virtualization Security Round Table Podcast

Service console memory monitoring

chukarma — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:01:44 GMT

After issuing the top command and typing in M for sorting by memory usage, I get this list. Is this pretty normal usage by these vmware-hostd processes? Basically, I am trying to figure out if the service console is low on memory and if there's any processes that is using up the service console memory causing a lock up in the service console. The service console memory is set to 800MB.

PID USER PRI NI SIZE RSS SHARE STAT %CPU %MEM 2303 root 15 0 68276 66M 23944 S 2505 root 15 0 68276 66M 23944 S 2506 root 15 0 68276 66M 23944 S 2566 root 15 0 68276 66M 23944 S 2572 root 15 0 68276 66M 23944 S 2573 root 15 0 68276 66M 23944 S 2574 root 15 0 68276 66M 23944 S 2587 root 15 0 68276 66M 23944 S 2588 root 15 0 68276 66M 23944 S 2589 root 15 0 68276 66M 23944 S 2686 root 15 0 68276 66M 23944 S 31686 root 16 0 68276 66M 23944 S 2228 root 25 0 62520 61M 12252 S 2229 root 15 0 62520 61M 12252 S 2230 root 15 0 62520 61M 12252 S 2231 root 25 0 62520 61M 12252 S 2232 root 25 0 62520 61M 12252 S 2233 root 25 0 62520 61M 12252 S 2234 root 25 0 62520 61M 12252 S 2235 root 15 0 62520 61M 12252 S 2236 root 15 0 62520 61M 12252 S 2237 root 15 0 62520 61M 12252 S 2238 root 25 0 62520 61M 12252 S 2239 root 15 0 62520 61M 12252 S 2449 root 15 0 62520 61M 12252 S 2450 root 25 0 62520 61M 12252 S 2451 root 25 0 62520 61M 12252 S 2452 root 25 0 62520 61M 12252 S 2453 root 25 0 62520 61M 12252 S 2454 root 25 0 62520 61M 12252 S 2455 root 25 0 62520 61M 12252 S 2456 root 25 0 62520 61M 12252 S 2457 root 25 0 62520 61M 12252 S 2458 root 25 0 62520 61M 12252 S 2459 root 25 0 62520 61M 12252 S 2460 root 25 0 62520 61M 12252 S 2461 root 25 0 62520 61M 12252 S 2462 root 25 0 62520 61M 12252 S 2463 root 25 0 62520 61M 12252 S 2464 root 25 0 62520 61M 12252 S 2465 root 25 0 62520 61M 12252 S 2466 root 25 0 62520 61M 12252 S 2467 root 25 0 62520 61M 12252 S

HA for Guests on ESX 3.5?

compldc1972 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 TIME CPU COMMAND
0.0 8.5 0:38 0 vmware-hostd
0.0 8.5 0:00 0 vmware-hostd
0.0 8.5 0:00 0 vmware-hostd
0.0 8.5 0:37 0 vmware-hostd
0.0 8.5 0:38 0 vmware-hostd
0.0 8.5 0:31 0 vmware-hostd
0.0 8.5 0:33 0 vmware-hostd
0.0 8.5 0:33 0 vmware-hostd
0.0 8.5 0:32 0 vmware-hostd
0.0 8.5 0:37 0 vmware-hostd
0.0 8.5 0:00 0 vmware-hostd
0.3 8.5 0:01 0 vmware-hostd
0.0 7.8 0:01 0 webAccess
0.0 7.8 0:00 0 webAccess
0.0 7.8 0:00 0 webAccess
0.0 7.8 0:00 0 webAccess
0.0 7.8 0:00 0 webAccess
0.0 7.8 0:00 0 webAccess
0.0 7.8 0:00 0 webAccess
0.0 7.8 0:00 0 webAccess
0.0 7.8 0:03 0 webAccess
0.0 7.8 0:03 0 webAccess
0.0 7.8 0:00 0 webAccess
0.0 7.8 0:00 0 webAccess
0.0 7.8 0:00 0 webAccess
0.0 7.8 0:00 0 webAccess
0.0 7.8 0:00 0 webAccess
0.0 7.8 0:00 0 webAccess
0.0 7.8 0:00 0 webAccess
0.0 7.8 0:00 0 webAccess
0.0 7.8 0:00 0 webAccess
0.0 7.8 0:00 0 webAccess
0.0 7.8 0:00 0 webAccess
0.0 7.8 0:00 0 webAccess
0.0 7.8 0:00 0 webAccess
0.0 7.8 0:00 0 webAccess
0.0 7.8 0:00 0 webAccess
0.0 7.8 0:00 0 webAccess
0.0 7.8 0:00 0 webAccess
0.0 7.8 0:00 0 webAccess
0.0 7.8 0:00 0 webAccess
0.0 7.8 0:00 0 webAccess
0.0 7.8 0:00 0 webAccess
14:26:00 GMT

thanks everyone, that's maybe why I didnt' get the job:-(, at least i know now.

HBA replacement in VMware HA/DRS cluster

Troy Clavell — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:51:12 GMT

I don't know if there are official VMware steps, because it's a hardware thing, but if there is, it would be in this document
http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35u2/vi3_35_25_u2_san_cfg.pdf

....yes, migrate all the guests, put host in maitnenace mode, due hardware replacement, re-zone, power on host and maybe a rescan of your storage adapters.

Increasing vm disk space - problem

LinuxTux — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:55:00 GMT

Tried qtparted and it doesn't support lvm

All I've done so far is to increase the space using virtual centre.

Eth0 and Eth1 not found on VMWare 3.5 install on HS22 Blade

szekelyk — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:33:38 GMT

Hi, we have the same issue, but with the embedded ESXi 3.5 U4 everything is OK. We can ping the server.

Mybe it is worth a try.

Krisztian

VM disk crash after increasing disk size

mrweetman — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:17:04 GMT

Thank you for your reply.

We have in our planes to start upgrading to vSphere sometime before Christmas so lets hope that solves the problem. I'll keep you posted..

-Marius

ghettoVCB.sh - Free alternative for backing up VM's for ESX(i) 3.5 and 4.0+

lamw — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 03:04:10 GMT

Description:

This script performs backups of virtual machines residing on ESX(i) 3.5/4.0+ servers using methodology similar to VMware's VCB tool. The script takes snapshots of live virtual machines, backs up the master VMDK(s) and then upon completion, deletes the snapshot until the next backup. The only caveat is that it utilizes resources available to the Service Console of the ESX server running the backups as opposed to following the traditional method of offloading virtual machine backups through a VCB proxy.

This script has been tested on ESX 3.5/4.0 and ESXi 3.5/4.0 and supports the following backup mediums: LOCAL STORAGE, SAN and NFS. The script is non-interactive and can be setup to run via crontab. Currently, this script accepts a text file that lists the display names of virtual machine(s) that are to be backed up. Additionally, one can specify a folder containing configuration files on a per VM basis for granular control over backup policies.

Additionally, for ESX environments that don't have persistent NFS datastores designated for backups, the script offers the ability to automatically connect the ESX server to a NFS exported folder and then upon backup completion, disconnect it from the ESX server. The connection is established by creating an NFS datastore link which enables monolithic (or thick) VMDK backups as opposed to using the usual *nix mount command which necessitates breaking VMDK files into the 2gbsparse format for backup. Enabling this mode is self-explanatory and will evidently be so when editing the script (Note: VM_BACKUP_VOLUME variable is ignored if ENABLE_NON_PERSISTENT_NFS=1 ).

In its current configuration, the script will allow up to 3 unique backups of the Virtual Machine before it will overwrite the previous backups; this however, can be modified to fit procedures if need be. Please be diligent in running the script in a test or staging environment before using it on production live Virtual Machines; this script functions well within our environment but there is a chance that it may not fit well into other environments.

Features

Support for multiple VMDK disk(s) backup per VM
Only valid VMDK(s) presented to the VM will be backed up
Online back up of VM(s)
Ability to shutdown guestOS and initiate backup process and power on VM afterwards with the option of hardpower timeout
Allow spaces in VM(s) backup list (not recommended and not a best practice)
Ensure that snapshot removal process completes prior to to continuing onto the next VM backup
VM(s) that intially contain snapshots will not be backed up and will be ignored
Ability to specify the number of backup rotations for VM
Output back up VMDK(s) in either ZEROEDTHICK (default behavior) or 2GB SPARSE or THIN or EAGERZEROEDTHICK format
Support for both SCSI and IDE disks
Non-persistent NFS backup
Fully support VMDK(s) stored across multiple datastores
Ability to compress backups (Experimental Support)
Ability to configure individual VM backup policies NEW!
Ability to include/exclude specific VMDK(s) per VM (requires individual VM backup policy setup) NEW!
Ability to configure logging output to file NEW!
Independent disk awareness (will ignore VMDK) NEW!
New timeout variables for shutdown and snapshot creations NEW!
Ability to configure snapshots with both memory and/or quiesce options NEW!
Ability to configure disk adapter format NEW!
Additional debugging information including dry run execution NEW!
Support for VMs with both virtual/physical RDM (pRDM will be ignored and not backed up) NEW!

Requirements:

VMs running on ESX(i) 3.5/4.0+
SSH console access to ESX/ESXi host

Setup:

1) Download ghettoVCB.sh to either your ESX or ESXi system

2) Change the permissions on the script to ensure it can be executed:

[root@himalaya ~]# chmod +x ghettoVCB.sh

Configurations:

The following variables need to be defined within the script or in VM backup policy prior to execution.

Defining the backup datastore and folder in which the backups are stored (if folder does not exist, it will automatically be created):

VM_BACKUP_VOLUME=/vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS

Defining the backup disk format (zeroedthick, eagerzeroedthick, thin, and 2gbsparse are available):

DISK_BACKUP_FORMAT=thin

Defining the backup rotation per VM:

VM_BACKUP_ROTATION_COUNT=3

Defining whether the VM is powered down or not prior to backup (1 = enable, 0 = disable):

Note: VM(s) that are powered off will not require snapshoting

POWER_VM_DOWN_BEFORE_BACKUP=0

Defining whether the VM can be hard powered off when "POWER_VM_DOWN_BEFORE_BACKUP" is enabled and VM does not have VMware Tools installed

ENABLE_HARD_POWER_OFF=0

If "ENABLE_HARD_POWER_OFF" is enabled, then this defines the number of (60sec) iterations the script will before executing a hard power off when:

ITER_TO_WAIT_SHUTDOWN=3

The number (60sec) iterations the script will wait when powering off the VM and will give up and ignore the particular VM for backup:

POWER_DOWN_TIMEOUT=5

The number (60sec) iterations the script will wait when taking a snapshot of a VM and will give up and ignore the particular VM for backup:

Default value should suffice

SNAPSHOT_TIMEOUT=15

Defining whether or not to enable compression (1 = enable, 0 = disable):

ENABLE_COMPRESSION=0

Defining the adapter type for backed up VMDK (buslogic and lsilogic are available):

ADAPTER_FORMAT=buslogic

Defining whether virtual machine memory is snapped and if quiescing is enabled (1 = enable, 0 = disable):

Note: By default both are disabled

VM_SNAPSHOT_MEMORY=0
VM_SNAPSHOT_QUIESCE=0

*Defining VMDK(s) to backup from a particular VM either a list of vmdks or "all"

VMDK_FILES_TO_BACKUP="myvmdk.vmdk"

Ensure that you do not edit past this section:

########################## DO NOT MODIFY PAST THIS LINE ##########################

Usage:

[root@himalaya ~]# ./ghettoVCB.sh
###############################################################################
#
# ghettoVCB for ESX/ESXi 3.5 & 4.x+
# Author: William Lam
# http://www.engineering.ucsb.edu/~duonglt/vmware/
# Created: 11/17/2008
# Last modified: 11/14/2009
#
###############################################################################

Usage: ./ghettoVCB.sh -f [VM_BACKUP_UP_LIST] -c [VM_CONFIG_DIR] -l [LOG_FILE]

OPTIONS:
   -f     List of VMs to backup
   -c     Configuration directory for VM backups
   -l     File to output logging
   -d     Debug level [info|debug|dryrun] (default: info)

(e.g.)

Backup VMs stored in a list
        ./ghettoVCB.sh -f vms_to_backup

Backup VMs based on specific configuration located in directory
        ./ghettoVCB.sh -f vms_to_backup -c vm_backup_configs

Output will log to /tmp/ghettoVCB.log
        ./ghettoVCB.sh -f vms_to_backup -l /tmp/ghettoVCB.log

Dry run (no backup will take place)
        ./ghettoVCB.sh -f vms_to_backup -d dryrun

The input to this script is a file that contains the display name of the virtual machine(s) separated by a newline. When creating this file on a non-Linux/UNIX system, you may introduce ^M character which can cause the script to miss-behave. To ensure this does not occur, plesae create the file on the ESX/ESXi host.

Here is a sample of what the file would look like:

[root@himalaya ~]# cat vms_to_backup
VCAP
VIMA
vMA-2

Sample Execution:

Backup VMs stored in a list
Backup VMs based on individual VM backup policies
Debug Mode
Dry run Mode

Backup VMs stored in a list

Log verbosity: info (default)
Log output: stdout (default)

[root@himalaya ~]# ./ghettoVCB.sh -f vms_to_backup

2009-11-12 06:14:10 -- info: ============================== ghettoVCB LOG START ==============================

2009-11-12 06:14:10 -- info: CONFIG - VM_BACKUP_VOLUME = /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS
2009-11-12 06:14:10 -- info: CONFIG - VM_BACKUP_ROTATION_COUNT = 3
2009-11-12 06:14:10 -- info: CONFIG - DISK_BACKUP_FORMAT = thin
2009-11-12 06:14:10 -- info: CONFIG - ADAPTER_FORMAT = buslogic
2009-11-12 06:14:10 -- info: CONFIG - POWER_VM_DOWN_BEFORE_BACKUP = 0
2009-11-12 06:14:10 -- info: CONFIG - ENABLE_HARD_POWER_OFF = 0
2009-11-12 06:14:10 -- info: CONFIG - ITER_TO_WAIT_SHUTDOWN = 3
2009-11-12 06:14:10 -- info: CONFIG - POWER_DOWN_TIMEOUT = 5
2009-11-12 06:14:10 -- info: CONFIG - SNAPSHOT_TIMEOUT = 15
2009-11-12 06:14:10 -- info: CONFIG - LOG_LEVEL = info
2009-11-12 06:14:10 -- info: CONFIG - BACKUP_LOG_OUTPUT = stdout
2009-11-12 06:14:10 -- info: CONFIG - VM_SNAPSHOT_MEMORY = 0
2009-11-12 06:14:10 -- info: CONFIG - VM_SNAPSHOT_QUIESCE = 0
2009-11-12 06:14:10 -- info: CONFIG - VMDK_FILES_TO_BACKUP = all

2009-11-12 06:14:15 -- info: Initiate backup for VCAP
Destination disk format: VMFS thin-provisioned
Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage/VCAP/VCAP_2.vmdk'...
Clone: 100% done.
Destination disk format: VMFS thin-provisioned
Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage/VCAP/VCAP_1.vmdk'...
Clone: 100% done.
Destination disk format: VMFS thin-provisioned
Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage/VCAP/VCAP.vmdk'...
Clone: 100% done.
Destination disk format: VMFS thin-provisioned
Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage/VCAP/VCAP-0.vmdk'...
Clone: 100% done.
2009-11-12 06:15:15 -- info: Backup Duration: 60 Seconds
2009-11-12 06:15:15 -- info: Successfully completed backup for VCAP!

2009-11-12 06:15:17 -- info: Initiate backup for VIMA
2009-11-12 06:15:17 -- info: Creating Snapshot "ghettoVCB-snapshot-2009-11-12" for VIMA
Destination disk format: VMFS thin-provisioned
Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SAS.Savvio/VIMA/VIMA.vmdk'...
Clone: 100% done.
2009-11-12 06:16:40 -- info: Removing snapshot from VIMA ...
2009-11-12 06:16:43 -- info: Backup Duration: 1.43 Minutes
2009-11-12 06:16:43 -- info: Successfully completed backup for VIMA!

2009-11-12 06:16:47 -- info: Initiate backup for vMA-2
Destination disk format: VMFS thin-provisioned
Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SAS.Constellation/vMA-2/vMA-2.vmdk'...
Clone: 100% done.
2009-11-12 06:18:14 -- info: Backup Duration: 1.45 Minutes
2009-11-12 06:18:14 -- info: Successfully completed backup for vMA-2!

2009-11-12 06:18:14 -- info: ============================== ghettoVCB LOG END ================================

Backup VMs based on individual VM backup policies and log output to /tmp/ghettoVCB.log

Log verbosity: info (default)
Log output: /tmp/ghettoVCB.log (default)

1. Create folder to hold individual VM backup policies (can be named anything):

[root@himalaya ~]# mkdir backup_config

2. Create individual VM backup policies for each VM that ensure each file is named exactly as the display name of the VM being backed up (use provided template to create duplicates):

[root@himalaya backup_config]# cp ghettoVCB-vm_backup_configuration_template VCAP
[root@himalaya backup_config]# cp ghettoVCB-vm_backup_configuration_template VIMA

Listing of VM backup policy within backup configuration directory

[root@himalaya backup_config]# ls
ghettoVCB-vm_backup_configuration_template  VCAP  VIMA

Backup policy for "VCAP" (backup only 2 specific VMDKs)

[root@himalaya backup_config]# cat VCAP
VM_BACKUP_VOLUME=/vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS
DISK_BACKUP_FORMAT=thin
VM_BACKUP_ROTATION_COUNT=3
POWER_VM_DOWN_BEFORE_BACKUP=0
ENABLE_HARD_POWER_OFF=0
ITER_TO_WAIT_SHUTDOWN=4
POWER_DOWN_TIMEOUT=5
SNAPSHOT_TIMEOUT=15
ENABLE_COMPRESSION=0
ADAPTER_FORMAT=buslogic
VM_SNAPSHOT_MEMORY=0
VM_SNAPSHOT_QUIESCE=0
VMDK_FILES_TO_BACKUP="VCAP.vmdk,VCAP_2.vmdk"

Backup policy for VM "VIMA" (backup all VMDKs found)

[root@himalaya backup_config]# cat VIMA
VM_BACKUP_VOLUME=/vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS
DISK_BACKUP_FORMAT=thin
VM_BACKUP_ROTATION_COUNT=3
POWER_VM_DOWN_BEFORE_BACKUP=0
ENABLE_HARD_POWER_OFF=0
ITER_TO_WAIT_SHUTDOWN=4
POWER_DOWN_TIMEOUT=5
SNAPSHOT_TIMEOUT=15
ENABLE_COMPRESSION=0
ADAPTER_FORMAT=buslogic
VM_SNAPSHOT_MEMORY=1
VM_SNAPSHOT_QUIESCE=0
VMDK_FILES_TO_BACKUP="all"

Note: When specifying -c option (individual VM backup policy mode) if a VM is listed in the backup list but DOES NOT have a corresponding backup policy, the VM will be backed up using the default configuration found within the ghettoVCB.sh script.

Execution of backup

[root@himalaya ~]# ./ghettoVCB.sh -f vms_to_backup -c backup_config -l /tmp/ghettoVCB.log

Logging output to "/tmp/ghettoVCB.log" ...
Destination disk format: VMFS thin-provisioned
Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage/VCAP/VCAP_2.vmdk'...
Clone: 100% done.
Destination disk format: VMFS thin-provisioned
Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage/VCAP/VCAP.vmdk'...
Clone: 100% done.
Destination disk format: VMFS thin-provisioned
Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SAS.Savvio/VIMA/VIMA.vmdk'...
Clone: 100% done.
Destination disk format: VMFS thin-provisioned
Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SAS.Constellation/vMA-2/vMA-2.vmdk'...
Clone: 100% done.

Note: When specifying the -l option (log output to file), vmkfstools copy is also logged to stdout. This is done primarily for debugging purposes.

Log output from backup

[root@himalaya ~]# cat /tmp/ghettoVCB.log

2009-11-12 06:26:53 -- info: ============================== ghettoVCB LOG START ==============================

2009-11-12 06:26:56 -- info: CONFIG - USING CONFIGURATION FILE = backup_config/VCAP
2009-11-12 06:26:56 -- info: CONFIG - VM_BACKUP_VOLUME = /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS
2009-11-12 06:26:56 -- info: CONFIG - VM_BACKUP_ROTATION_COUNT = 3
2009-11-12 06:26:56 -- info: CONFIG - DISK_BACKUP_FORMAT = thin
2009-11-12 06:26:56 -- info: CONFIG - ADAPTER_FORMAT = buslogic
2009-11-12 06:26:56 -- info: CONFIG - POWER_VM_DOWN_BEFORE_BACKUP = 0
2009-11-12 06:26:56 -- info: CONFIG - ENABLE_HARD_POWER_OFF = 0
2009-11-12 06:26:56 -- info: CONFIG - ITER_TO_WAIT_SHUTDOWN = 4
2009-11-12 06:26:56 -- info: CONFIG - POWER_DOWN_TIMEOUT = 5
2009-11-12 06:26:56 -- info: CONFIG - SNAPSHOT_TIMEOUT = 15
2009-11-12 06:26:56 -- info: CONFIG - LOG_LEVEL = info
2009-11-12 06:26:56 -- info: CONFIG - BACKUP_LOG_OUTPUT = /tmp/ghettoVCB.log
2009-11-12 06:26:56 -- info: CONFIG - VM_SNAPSHOT_MEMORY = 0
2009-11-12 06:26:56 -- info: CONFIG - VM_SNAPSHOT_QUIESCE = 0
2009-11-12 06:26:56 -- info: CONFIG - VMDK_FILES_TO_BACKUP = VCAP.vmdk,VCAP_2.vmdk

2009-11-12 06:26:58 -- info: Initiate backup for VCAP
Destination disk format: VMFS thin-provisioned
Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage/VCAP/VCAP_2.vmdk'...
Clone: 100% done.
Destination disk format: VMFS thin-provisioned
Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage/VCAP/VCAP.vmdk'...
Clone: 100% done.
2009-11-12 06:26:59 -- info: Backup Duration: 1 Seconds
2009-11-12 06:26:59 -- info: Successfully completed backup for VCAP!

2009-11-12 06:26:59 -- info: CONFIG - USING CONFIGURATION FILE = backup_config/VIMA
2009-11-12 06:26:59 -- info: CONFIG - VM_BACKUP_VOLUME = /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS
2009-11-12 06:26:59 -- info: CONFIG - VM_BACKUP_ROTATION_COUNT = 3
2009-11-12 06:26:59 -- info: CONFIG - DISK_BACKUP_FORMAT = thin
2009-11-12 06:26:59 -- info: CONFIG - ADAPTER_FORMAT = buslogic
2009-11-12 06:26:59 -- info: CONFIG - POWER_VM_DOWN_BEFORE_BACKUP = 0
2009-11-12 06:26:59 -- info: CONFIG - ENABLE_HARD_POWER_OFF = 0
2009-11-12 06:26:59 -- info: CONFIG - ITER_TO_WAIT_SHUTDOWN = 4
2009-11-12 06:26:59 -- info: CONFIG - POWER_DOWN_TIMEOUT = 5
2009-11-12 06:26:59 -- info: CONFIG - SNAPSHOT_TIMEOUT = 15
2009-11-12 06:26:59 -- info: CONFIG - LOG_LEVEL = info
2009-11-12 06:26:59 -- info: CONFIG - BACKUP_LOG_OUTPUT = /tmp/ghettoVCB.log
2009-11-12 06:26:59 -- info: CONFIG - VM_SNAPSHOT_MEMORY = 1
2009-11-12 06:26:59 -- info: CONFIG - VM_SNAPSHOT_QUIESCE = 0
2009-11-12 06:26:59 -- info: CONFIG - VMDK_FILES_TO_BACKUP = all

2009-11-12 06:27:02 -- info: Initiate backup for VIMA
2009-11-12 06:27:02 -- info: Creating Snapshot "ghettoVCB-snapshot-2009-11-12" for VIMA
Destination disk format: VMFS thin-provisioned
Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SAS.Savvio/VIMA/VIMA.vmdk'...
Clone: 100% done.
2009-11-12 06:29:28 -- info: Removing snapshot from VIMA ...
2009-11-12 06:29:31 -- info: Backup Duration: 2.48 Minutes
2009-11-12 06:29:31 -- info: Successfully completed backup for VIMA!

2009-11-12 06:29:31 -- info: CONFIG - VM_BACKUP_VOLUME = /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS
2009-11-12 06:29:31 -- info: CONFIG - VM_BACKUP_ROTATION_COUNT = 3
2009-11-12 06:29:31 -- info: CONFIG - DISK_BACKUP_FORMAT = thin
2009-11-12 06:29:31 -- info: CONFIG - ADAPTER_FORMAT = buslogic
2009-11-12 06:29:31 -- info: CONFIG - POWER_VM_DOWN_BEFORE_BACKUP = 0
2009-11-12 06:29:31 -- info: CONFIG - ENABLE_HARD_POWER_OFF = 0
2009-11-12 06:29:31 -- info: CONFIG - ITER_TO_WAIT_SHUTDOWN = 3
2009-11-12 06:29:31 -- info: CONFIG - POWER_DOWN_TIMEOUT = 5
2009-11-12 06:29:31 -- info: CONFIG - SNAPSHOT_TIMEOUT = 15
2009-11-12 06:29:31 -- info: CONFIG - LOG_LEVEL = info
2009-11-12 06:29:31 -- info: CONFIG - BACKUP_LOG_OUTPUT = /tmp/ghettoVCB.log
2009-11-12 06:29:31 -- info: CONFIG - VM_SNAPSHOT_MEMORY = 0
2009-11-12 06:29:31 -- info: CONFIG - VM_SNAPSHOT_QUIESCE = 0
2009-11-12 06:29:31 -- info: CONFIG - VMDK_FILES_TO_BACKUP = all

2009-11-12 06:29:35 -- info: Initiate backup for vMA-2
Destination disk format: VMFS thin-provisioned
Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SAS.Constellation/vMA-2/vMA-2.vmdk'...
Clone: 100% done.
2009-11-12 06:31:05 -- info: Backup Duration: 1.50 Minutes
2009-11-12 06:31:05 -- info: Successfully completed backup for vMA-2!

2009-11-12 06:31:05 -- info: ============================== ghettoVCB LOG END ================================

Debug backup mode

Log verbosity: debug
Log output: stdout

[root@himalaya ~]# ./ghettoVCB.sh -f vms_to_backup -c backup_config -d debug
2009-11-13 19:51:47 -- info: ============================== ghettoVCB LOG START ==============================

2009-11-13 19:51:47 -- debug: HOST BUILD: VMware ESX 4.0.0 build-164009
2009-11-13 19:51:47 -- debug: HOSTNAME: himalaya.primp-industries.com

2009-11-13 19:51:51 -- info: CONFIG - USING CONFIGURATION FILE = backup_config/VCAP
2009-11-13 19:51:51 -- info: CONFIG - VM_BACKUP_VOLUME = /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS
2009-11-13 19:51:51 -- info: CONFIG - VM_BACKUP_ROTATION_COUNT = 3
2009-11-13 19:51:51 -- info: CONFIG - DISK_BACKUP_FORMAT = thin
2009-11-13 19:51:51 -- info: CONFIG - ADAPTER_FORMAT = buslogic
2009-11-13 19:51:51 -- info: CONFIG - POWER_VM_DOWN_BEFORE_BACKUP = 0
2009-11-13 19:51:51 -- info: CONFIG - ENABLE_HARD_POWER_OFF = 0
2009-11-13 19:51:51 -- info: CONFIG - ITER_TO_WAIT_SHUTDOWN = 4
2009-11-13 19:51:51 -- info: CONFIG - POWER_DOWN_TIMEOUT = 5
2009-11-13 19:51:51 -- info: CONFIG - SNAPSHOT_TIMEOUT = 15
2009-11-13 19:51:51 -- info: CONFIG - LOG_LEVEL = debug
2009-11-13 19:51:51 -- info: CONFIG - BACKUP_LOG_OUTPUT = stdout
2009-11-13 19:51:51 -- info: CONFIG - VM_SNAPSHOT_MEMORY = 0
2009-11-13 19:51:51 -- info: CONFIG - VM_SNAPSHOT_QUIESCE = 0
2009-11-13 19:51:51 -- info: CONFIG - VMDK_FILES_TO_BACKUP = VCAP.vmdk,VCAP_2.vmdk

2009-11-13 19:51:52 -- info: Initiate backup for VCAP
2009-11-13 19:51:52 -- debug: findVMDK() - Searching for VMDK: "VCAP_2.vmdk" to backup
2009-11-13 19:51:52 -- debug: findVMDK() - Found VMDK! - "VCAP_2.vmdk" to backup
Destination disk format: VMFS thin-provisioned
Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage/VCAP/VCAP_2.vmdk'...
Clone: 100% done.
2009-11-13 19:51:53 -- debug: findVMDK() - Searching for VMDK: "VCAP_1.vmdk" to backup
2009-11-13 19:51:53 -- debug: findVMDK() - Searching for VMDK: "VCAP.vmdk" to backup
2009-11-13 19:51:53 -- debug: findVMDK() - Found VMDK! - "VCAP.vmdk" to backup
Destination disk format: VMFS thin-provisioned
Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage/VCAP/VCAP.vmdk'...
Clone: 100% done.
2009-11-13 19:51:53 -- debug: findVMDK() - Searching for VMDK: "VCAP-0.vmdk" to backup
2009-11-13 19:51:54 -- info: Backup Duration: 2 Seconds
2009-11-13 19:51:54 -- info: Successfully completed backup for VCAP!

2009-11-13 19:51:54 -- info: CONFIG - USING CONFIGURATION FILE = backup_config/VIMA
2009-11-13 19:51:54 -- info: CONFIG - VM_BACKUP_VOLUME = /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS
2009-11-13 19:51:54 -- info: CONFIG - VM_BACKUP_ROTATION_COUNT = 3
2009-11-13 19:51:54 -- info: CONFIG - DISK_BACKUP_FORMAT = thin
2009-11-13 19:51:54 -- info: CONFIG - ADAPTER_FORMAT = buslogic
2009-11-13 19:51:54 -- info: CONFIG - POWER_VM_DOWN_BEFORE_BACKUP = 0
2009-11-13 19:51:54 -- info: CONFIG - ENABLE_HARD_POWER_OFF = 0
2009-11-13 19:51:54 -- info: CONFIG - ITER_TO_WAIT_SHUTDOWN = 4
2009-11-13 19:51:54 -- info: CONFIG - POWER_DOWN_TIMEOUT = 5
2009-11-13 19:51:54 -- info: CONFIG - SNAPSHOT_TIMEOUT = 15
2009-11-13 19:51:54 -- info: CONFIG - LOG_LEVEL = debug
2009-11-13 19:51:54 -- info: CONFIG - BACKUP_LOG_OUTPUT = stdout
2009-11-13 19:51:54 -- info: CONFIG - VM_SNAPSHOT_MEMORY = 1
2009-11-13 19:51:54 -- info: CONFIG - VM_SNAPSHOT_QUIESCE = 0
2009-11-13 19:51:54 -- info: CONFIG - VMDK_FILES_TO_BACKUP = all

2009-11-13 19:51:56 -- info: Initiate backup for VIMA
2009-11-13 19:51:56 -- info: Creating Snapshot "ghettoVCB-snapshot-2009-11-13" for VIMA
2009-11-13 19:51:58 -- debug: Waiting for snapshot "ghettoVCB-snapshot-2009-11-13" to be created
2009-11-13 19:51:58 -- debug: Snapshot timeout set to: 900 seconds
2009-11-13 19:52:01 -- debug: Waiting for snapshot creation to be completed - Iteration: 0 - sleeping for 60secs (Duration: 0 seconds)
2009-11-13 19:53:03 -- debug: findVMDK() - Searching for VMDK: "VIMA.vmdk" to backup
Destination disk format: VMFS thin-provisioned
Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SAS.Savvio/VIMA/VIMA.vmdk'...
Clone: 100% done.
2009-11-13 19:54:27 -- info: Removing snapshot from VIMA ...
2009-11-13 19:54:32 -- info: Backup Duration: 2.60 Minutes
2009-11-13 19:54:32 -- info: Successfully completed backup for VIMA!

2009-11-13 19:54:32 -- info: CONFIG - VM_BACKUP_VOLUME = /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS
2009-11-13 19:54:32 -- info: CONFIG - VM_BACKUP_ROTATION_COUNT = 3
2009-11-13 19:54:32 -- info: CONFIG - DISK_BACKUP_FORMAT = thin
2009-11-13 19:54:32 -- info: CONFIG - ADAPTER_FORMAT = buslogic
2009-11-13 19:54:32 -- info: CONFIG - POWER_VM_DOWN_BEFORE_BACKUP = 0
2009-11-13 19:54:32 -- info: CONFIG - ENABLE_HARD_POWER_OFF = 0
2009-11-13 19:54:32 -- info: CONFIG - ITER_TO_WAIT_SHUTDOWN = 3
2009-11-13 19:54:32 -- info: CONFIG - POWER_DOWN_TIMEOUT = 5
2009-11-13 19:54:32 -- info: CONFIG - SNAPSHOT_TIMEOUT = 15
2009-11-13 19:54:32 -- info: CONFIG - LOG_LEVEL = debug
2009-11-13 19:54:32 -- info: CONFIG - BACKUP_LOG_OUTPUT = stdout
2009-11-13 19:54:32 -- info: CONFIG - VM_SNAPSHOT_MEMORY = 0
2009-11-13 19:54:32 -- info: CONFIG - VM_SNAPSHOT_QUIESCE = 0
2009-11-13 19:54:32 -- info: CONFIG - VMDK_FILES_TO_BACKUP = all

2009-11-13 19:54:35 -- info: Initiate backup for vMA-2
2009-11-13 19:54:35 -- debug: findVMDK() - Searching for VMDK: "vMA-2.vmdk" to backup
Destination disk format: VMFS thin-provisioned
Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SAS.Constellation/vMA-2/vMA-2.vmdk'...
Clone: 100% done.
2009-11-13 19:56:10 -- info: Backup Duration: 1.58 Minutes
2009-11-13 19:56:10 -- info: Successfully completed backup for vMA-2!

2009-11-13 19:56:10 -- info: ============================== ghettoVCB LOG END ================================

Dry run Mode (no backup will take place)

Log verbosity: drymode
Log output: stdout

[root@himalaya ~]# ./ghettoVCB.sh -f vms_to_backup -c backup_config -d dryrun

2009-11-12 06:32:57 -- info: ============================== ghettoVCB LOG START ==============================

2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - USING CONFIGURATION FILE = backup_config/VCAP
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - VM_BACKUP_VOLUME = /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - VM_BACKUP_ROTATION_COUNT = 3
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - DISK_BACKUP_FORMAT = thin
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - ADAPTER_FORMAT = buslogic
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - POWER_VM_DOWN_BEFORE_BACKUP = 0
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - ENABLE_HARD_POWER_OFF = 0
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - ITER_TO_WAIT_SHUTDOWN = 4
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - POWER_DOWN_TIMEOUT = 5
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - SNAPSHOT_TIMEOUT = 15
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - LOG_LEVEL = dryrun
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - BACKUP_LOG_OUTPUT = stdout
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - VM_SNAPSHOT_MEMORY = 0
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - VM_SNAPSHOT_QUIESCE = 0
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - VMDK_FILES_TO_BACKUP = VCAP.vmdk,VCAP_2.vmdk

2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- dryrun: ###############################################
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- dryrun: Virtual Machine: VCAP
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- dryrun: VM_ID: 2784
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- dryrun: VMX_PATH: /vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage/VCAP/VCAP.vmx
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- dryrun: VMX_DIR: /vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage/VCAP
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- dryrun: VMX_CONF: VCAP/VCAP.vmx
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- dryrun: VMFS_VOLUME: himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- dryrun: VMDK(s):
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- dryrun:  VCAP_2.vmdk
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- dryrun:  VCAP_1.vmdk
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- dryrun:  VCAP.vmdk
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- dryrun:  VCAP-0.vmdk
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- dryrun: ###############################################

2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - USING CONFIGURATION FILE = backup_config/VIMA
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - VM_BACKUP_VOLUME = /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - VM_BACKUP_ROTATION_COUNT = 3
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - DISK_BACKUP_FORMAT = thin
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - ADAPTER_FORMAT = buslogic
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - POWER_VM_DOWN_BEFORE_BACKUP = 0
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - ENABLE_HARD_POWER_OFF = 0
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - ITER_TO_WAIT_SHUTDOWN = 4
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - POWER_DOWN_TIMEOUT = 5
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - SNAPSHOT_TIMEOUT = 15
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - LOG_LEVEL = dryrun
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - BACKUP_LOG_OUTPUT = stdout
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - VM_SNAPSHOT_MEMORY = 1
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - VM_SNAPSHOT_QUIESCE = 0
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - VMDK_FILES_TO_BACKUP = all

2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- dryrun: ###############################################
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- dryrun: Virtual Machine: VIMA
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- dryrun: VM_ID: 4064
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- dryrun: VMX_PATH: /vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SAS.Savvio/VIMA/VIMA.vmx
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- dryrun: VMX_DIR: /vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SAS.Savvio/VIMA
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- dryrun: VMX_CONF: VIMA/VIMA.vmx
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- dryrun: VMFS_VOLUME: himalaya-local-SAS.Savvio
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- dryrun: VMDK(s):
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- dryrun:  VIMA.vmdk
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- dryrun: ###############################################

2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - VM_BACKUP_VOLUME = /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - VM_BACKUP_ROTATION_COUNT = 3
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - DISK_BACKUP_FORMAT = thin
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - ADAPTER_FORMAT = buslogic
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - POWER_VM_DOWN_BEFORE_BACKUP = 0
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - ENABLE_HARD_POWER_OFF = 0
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - ITER_TO_WAIT_SHUTDOWN = 3
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - POWER_DOWN_TIMEOUT = 5
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - SNAPSHOT_TIMEOUT = 15
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - LOG_LEVEL = dryrun
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - BACKUP_LOG_OUTPUT = stdout
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - VM_SNAPSHOT_MEMORY = 0
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - VM_SNAPSHOT_QUIESCE = 0
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- info: CONFIG - VMDK_FILES_TO_BACKUP = all

2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- dryrun: ###############################################
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- dryrun: Virtual Machine: vMA-2
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- dryrun: VM_ID: 4960
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- dryrun: VMX_PATH: /vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SAS.Constellation/vMA-2/vMA-2.vmx
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- dryrun: VMX_DIR: /vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SAS.Constellation/vMA-2
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- dryrun: VMX_CONF: vMA-2/vMA-2.vmx
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- dryrun: VMFS_VOLUME: himalaya-local-SAS.Constellation
2009-11-12 06:33:01 -- dryrun: VMDK(s):
2009-11-12 06:33:02 -- dryrun:  vMA-2.vmdk
2009-11-12 06:33:02 -- dryrun: ###############################################

2009-11-12 06:33:02 -- info: ============================== ghettoVCB LOG END ================================

Enable compression for backups:

To make use of this feature, modify the variable ENABLE_COMPRESSION from 0 to 1. Please note, do not mix uncompressed backups with compressed backups. Ensure that directories selected for backups do not contain any backups with previous versions of ghettoVCB before enabling and implementing the compressed backups feature.

Restore backups (ghettoVCB-restore.sh):

To recover a VM that has been processed by ghettoVCB, please take a look at this document: Ghetto Tech Preview - ghettoVCB-restore.sh - Restoring VM's backed up from ghettoVCB to ESX(i) 3.5 and 4.0+

Cronjob FAQ:

Please take a moment to read over what is a cronjob and how to set one up, before continuing

The task of configuring cronjobs on classic ESX servers (with Service Console) is no different than traditional cronjobs on *nix operating systems (this procedure is outlined in the link above). With ESXi on the other hand, additional factors need to be taken into account when setting up cronjobs in the limited shell console called Busybox because changes made do not persist through a system reboot. The following document will outline steps to ensure that cronjob configurations are saved and present upon a reboot.

Task: Configure ghettoVCB.sh to execute a backup five days a week (M-F) at 12AM (midnight) everyday and send output to a unique log file

Configure on ESX:

1. As root, you'll install your cronjob by issuing:

[root@himalaya ~]# crontab -e

2. Append the following entry:

0 0 * * 1-5 /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/ghettoVCB.sh /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/backuplist > /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/ghettoVCB-backup-$(date +\%s).log

3. Save and exit

[root@himalaya dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups]# crontab -e
no crontab for root - using an empty one
crontab: installing new crontab

4. List out and verify the cronjob that was just created:

[root@himalaya dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups]# crontab -l
0 0 * * 1-5 /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/ghettoVCB.sh /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/backuplist > /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/ghettoVCB-backup-$(date +\%s).log

You're ready to go!

Configure on ESXi:

1. Setup the cronjob by appending the following line to /var/spool/cron/crontabs/root:

0 0 * * 1-5 /vmfs/volumes/simplejack-local-storage/ghettoVCB.sh /vmfs/volumes/simplejack-local-storage/backuplist > /vmfs/volumes/simplejack-local-storage/ghettoVCB-backup-$(date +\%s).log

2. Kill the current crond (cron daemon) and then restart the crond for the changes to take affect:

On ESXi < 3.5u3

/bin/kill `ps | grep crond | cut -f 1 -d ' '`

On ESXi 3.5u3+

~ # kill $(pidof crond)
~ # crond

On ESXi 4.0

~ # kill $(cat /var/run/crond.pid)
~ # busybox crond

3. Now that the cronjob is ready to go, you need to ensure that this cronjob will persist through a reboot. You'll need to add the following two lines to /etc/rc.local (ensure that the cron entry matches what was defined above)

On ESXi 3.5

/bin/kill $(pidof crond)
/bin/echo "0 0 * * 1-5 /vmfs/volumes/simplejack-local-storage/ghettoVCB.sh /vmfs/volumes/simplejack-local-storage/backuplist > /vmfs/volumes/simplejack-local-storage/ghettoVCB-backup-\$(date +\\%s).log" >> /var/spool/cron/crontabs/root
crond

On ESXi 4.0

/bin/kill $(cat /var/run/crond.pid)
/bin/echo "0 0 * * 1-5 /vmfs/volumes/simplejack-local-storage/ghettoVCB.sh /vmfs/volumes/simplejack-local-storage/backuplist > /vmfs/volumes/simplejack-local-storage/ghettoVCB-backup-\$(date +\\%s).log" >> /var/spool/cron/crontabs/root
/bin/busybox crond

Afterwards the file should look like the following:

~ # cat /etc/rc.local
#! /bin/ash
export PATH=/sbin:/bin

log() {
   echo "$1"
   logger init "$1"
}

#execute all service retgistered in /etc/rc.local.d
if [http:// -d /etc/rc.local.d |http:// -d /etc/rc.local.d ]; then
   for filename in `find /etc/rc.local.d/ | sort`
      do
         if [ -f $filename ] && [ -x $filename ]; then
            log "running $filename"
            $filename
         fi
      done
fi

/bin/kill $(cat /var/run/crond.pid)
/bin/echo "0 0 * * 1-5 /vmfs/volumes/simplejack-local-storage/ghettoVCB.sh /vmfs/volumes/simplejack-local-storage/backuplist > /vmfs/volumes/simplejack-local-storage/ghettoVCB-backup-\$(date +\\%s).log" >> /var/spool/cron/crontabs/root
/bin/busybox crond

This will ensure that the cronjob is re-created upon a reboot of the system through a startup script

2. To ensure that this is saved in the ESXi configuration, we need to manually initiate an ESXi backup by running:

~ # /sbin/auto-backup.sh
config implicitly loaded
local.tgz
etc/vmware/vmkiscsid/vmkiscsid.db
etc/dropbear/dropbear_dss_host_key
etc/dropbear/dropbear_rsa_host_key
etc/opt/vmware/vpxa/vpxa.cfg
etc/opt/vmware/vpxa/dasConfig.xml
etc/sysconfig/network
etc/vmware/hostd/authorization.xml
etc/vmware/hostd/hostsvc.xml
etc/vmware/hostd/pools.xml
etc/vmware/hostd/vmAutoStart.xml
etc/vmware/hostd/vmInventory.xml
etc/vmware/hostd/proxy.xml
etc/vmware/ssl/rui.crt
etc/vmware/ssl/rui.key
etc/vmware/vmkiscsid/initiatorname.iscsi
etc/vmware/vmkiscsid/iscsid.conf
etc/vmware/vmware.lic
etc/vmware/config
etc/vmware/dvsdata.db
etc/vmware/esx.conf
etc/vmware/license.cfg
etc/vmware/locker.conf
etc/vmware/snmp.xml
etc/group
etc/hosts
etc/inetd.conf
etc/rc.local
etc/chkconfig.db
etc/ntp.conf
etc/passwd
etc/random-seed
etc/resolv.conf
etc/shadow
etc/sfcb/repository/root/interop/cim_indicationfilter.idx
etc/sfcb/repository/root/interop/cim_indicationhandlercimxml.idx
etc/sfcb/repository/root/interop/cim_listenerdestinationcimxml.idx
etc/sfcb/repository/root/interop/cim_indicationsubscription.idx
Binary files /etc/vmware/dvsdata.db and /tmp/auto-backup.31345.dir/etc/vmware/dvsdata.db differ
config implicitly loaded
Saving current state in /bootbank
Clock updated.
Time: 20:40:36   Date: 08/14/2009   UTC

Now you're really done!

If you're still having trouble getting the cronjob to work, ensure that you've specified the correct parameters and there aren’t any typos in any part of the syntax.

Ensure crond (cron daemon) is running:

ESX:

[root@himalaya dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups]# ps -ef | grep crond | grep -v grep
root      2625     1  0 Aug13 ?        00:00:00 crond

ESXi:

~ # ps | grep crond | grep -v grep
5196 5196 busybox              crond

Ensure that the date/time on your ESX(i) host is setup correctly:

ESX(i):

[root@himalaya dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups]# date
Fri Aug 14 23:44:47 PDT 2009

Note: Careful attention must be noted if more than one backup is performed per day. Backup windows should be staggered to avoid contention or saturation of resources during these periods.

FAQ:

1Q: I'm getting error X when using the script or I'm not getting any errors, the backup didn’t even take place. Oh what could be wrong?
1A: Please provide the entire output of a manual execution (debug & dryrun mode) or if you're logging the output withing \{code\} tags, a short description of your environment and the type of VM(s) you're trying to backup—I will try to provide some assistance.

2Q: I've sent you private message or email but I haven't received a response? What gives?
2A: I do not accept issues/bugs reported via PM or email, I will reply back, directing you to post on the appropriate VMTN forum (that's what it's for). If the data/results you're providing is truely senstive to your environment I will hear you out, but 99.99% it is not, so please do not messsage/email me directly. I do monitor all forums that contain my script including the normal VMTN forums and will try to get back to your question as soon as I can and as time permits. Please do be patient as you're not the only person using the script (100,000+ views), thank you.

3Q: Can I schedule backups to take place hourly, daily, monthly, yearly?
3A: Yes, do a search online for crontab.

4Q: I would like to setup cronjob for ESX(i) 3.5 or 4.0?
4A: Take a look at the Cronjob FAQ section in this document.

5Q: I want to schedule my backup on Windows, how do I do this?
5A: Do a search for plink. Make sure you have paired SSH keys setup between your Windows system and ESX/ESXi host.

6Q: I only have a single ESXi host. I want to take backups and store them somewhere else. The problem is: I don't have NFS, iSCSI nor FC SAN. What can I do?
6A: You can use local storage to store your backups assuming that you have enough space on the destination datastore. Afterwards, you can use scp (WinSCP/FastSCP) to transfer the backups from the ESXi host to your local desktop.

7Q: I’m pissed; the backup is taking too long. My datastore is of type X?
7A: YMMV, take a look at your storage configuration and make sure it is optimized.

8Q: I noticed that the backup rotation is occurring after a backup. I don't have enough local storage space, can the process be changed?
8A: This is primarily done to ensure that you have at least one good backup in case the new backup fails. If you would like to modify the script, you're more than welcome to do so.

9Q: What is the best storage configuration for datastore type X?
9A: Search the VMTN forums; there are various configurations for the different type of storage/etc.

10Q: I want to setup an NFS server to run my backups. Which is the best and should it be virtual or physical?
10A: Please refer to answer 7A. From experience, we’ve seen physical instances of NFS servers to be faster than their virtual counterparts. As always, YMMV.

11Q: I have VMs that have snapshots. I want to back these things up but the script doesn’t let me do it. How do I fix that?
11A: VM snapshots are not meant to be kept for long durations. When backing up a VM that contains a snapshot, you should ensure all snapshots have been committed prior to running a backup. No exceptions will be made…ever.

12Q: I would like to restore from backup, what is the best method?
12A: The restore process will be unique for each environment and should be determined by your backup/recovery plans. At a high level you have the option of mounting the backup datastore and registering the VM in question or copy the VM from the backup datastore to the ESX/ESXi host. The latter is recommended so that you're not running a VM living on the backup datastore or inadvertently modifying your backup VM(s).

13Q: When I try to run the script I get: "-bash: ./ghettoVCB.sh: Permission denied", what is wrong?
13A: You need to change the permission on the script to be executable, chmod +x ghettoVCB.sh

14Q: Where can I download the latest version of the script?
14A: The latest version is available on this page at the bottom.

15Q: I would like to suggest/recommend feature X, can I get it? When can I get it? Why isn't it here, what gives?
15A: The general purpose of this script is to provide a backup solution around VMware VMs. Any additional features outside of that process will be taken into consideration depending on the amount of time, number of requests and actual usefulness as a whole to the community rather than to an individual.

16Q: What are the different type of backup uses cases that are supported with ghettoVCB?
16A: 1) Live backup of VM with the use of a snapshot and 2) Offline backup of a VM without a snapshot. These are the only two use cases supported by the script.

Useful Links:

Detail instructions on how to configure/schedule ghettoVCB on Windows (Raj Perumal's The World Runs on Technology Blog):

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Change log:

11/17/09 - The following enhancements and fixes have been implemented in this release of ghettoVCB. Special thanks goes out to all the ghettoVCB BETA testers for providing time and their environments to test features/fixes of the new script!

Enhancements:

Individual VM backup policy
Include/exclude specific VMDK(s)
Logging to file
Timeout variables
Configur snapshot memory/quiesce
Adapter format
Additional logging + dryrun mode
Support for both physical/virtual RDMs

Fixes:

Independent disk aware

Host Error -- Unable to apply DRS resource settings on host (Reason: The operation is not allowed in the current state.).This can significantly reduce the effectiveness of DRS.

levinpeng — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:44:58 GMT

I have defined 3 root resource pools in my cluster. The total CPU resource is 60G and I set the Reservation for each root resource pool to 18G. The total memory resource is 80G and set the the momery reservation for each resource pool to 25G.
Recenty, some host often show error. I checked the events of the host and there are a lot items such as:
Unable to apply DRS resource settings on host (Reason: The operation is not allowed in the current state.).This can significantly reduce the effectiveness of DRS.
Unable to apply DRS resource settings on host (Reason: The operation is not allowed in the current state.).This can significantly reduce the effectiveness of DRS.
Unable to apply DRS resource settings on host (Reason: The operation is not allowed in the current state.).This can significantly reduce the effectiveness of DRS.
Unable to apply DRS resource settings on host (Reason: The operation is not allowed in the current state.).This can significantly reduce the effectiveness of DRS.
Unable to apply DRS resource settings on host (Reason: The operation is not allowed in the current state.).This can significantly reduce the effectiveness of DRS.

the details of the event doesn't have more information, so don't know what problem is.

I wonder if the configuration of the resource pools are incorrect. How should I do?

ESX 3.X on IBM DS3300?

Joe74 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:28:27 GMT

Was just about to go into production with Vsphere 4.0, DS3300 and Bladecenter 3 x H22. Two days prior to going into production I got a PSOD on two of the servers at same time. After submitting the logs to VMware and discussing it with IBM for about a week, we have decided not to go with vsphere until IBM and VMware have released firmware and patch updates and approved on the HCL. (I was told around the March 2010.) It appears there are issues with DS3300 and vsphere. IBM or VMware could not guarantee the PSOD wont happend again so I will stick to 3.5 update 4 for the time being. Major pain the ass, had all the configuration set and ready to go. Iometer was showing good numbers.

Regards,

Joe

High CPU usage on Server 2003 guest

uttam_choudhary — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:26:37 GMT

Let me ask couple of basic questions here?

1. Before upgrade everything was working fine ? Performing better? How do you measure the performance (by user response time or something , please explain)

2. Has the number of user increased recently?

3. What kind of application is insalled on the server? Is it CPU intensive or memory intensive?

4. Could you send the screenshots both from VIC and task manager?

5. Did you try taking the performance data for server by windows perfomance monitoring?

I am all this because performace is a relative term and to me this sounds like a windows/application issue.....rather than vmware issue.

Data Store Reservation?

weinstein5 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:11:29 GMT

With 3.5 no - but in vSPhere you can actually set alrams that will alert as the datastore fills up -

If you find this or any other answer useful please consider awarding points by marking the answer correct or helpful

SCSI card to VM

weinstein5 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:06:43 GMT

no not a dumb question - but will not work. The service console in essence a specialized VM used to manage the vmkernel which is what does the virtualization in your ESX server - so it is the vmkernel that needs to recognize the SCSI card - so if the card is not supported you will not be able to use it -

If you find this or any other answer useful please consider awarding points by marking the answer correct or helpful

ESX 3.5 - To see Red Hat Version....

Texiwill — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:06:41 GMT

Hello,

Even so, please remember only to get updates from VMware not RedHat.

Best regards,
Edward L. Haletky VMware Communities User Moderator, VMware vExpert 2009
Virtualization Practice Analyst
Now Available: 'VMware vSphere(TM) and Virtual Infrastructure Security'
Also available 'VMWare ESX Server in the Enterprise'
SearchVMware Pro|Blue Gears|Top Virtualization Security Links|
Virtualization Security Round Table Podcast

Migrating a running 2.5.x virtual machine to ESX 3.x?

PSCJJ — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:13:27 GMT

Hello all,

After troubleshooting , i found out that one of the ESX servers was not part of the same datacenter.

The process works now.

Thank you

VMs extremely slow after reboot. Also, boot order of VMs?

JoeyJoeJoe70 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:02:05 GMT

Recently had to power down and restart all of our ESX servers and the VMs on one of them are coming up extremely slowly and all tasks on the VMs are taking a very long time to complete. Even simple stuff like changing NIC settings or starting/restarting VMs takes up to ten minutes to complete.

The ESX server was shut down gracefully, so its not as if the plug was pulled or anything drastic like that.

Second, I have a virtual app that, pre-reboot of ESX, used to work fine, but since has started timing out on PXE boot and I get "operating system not found"

HA Agent Error

vmroyale — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:56:58 GMT

Hello.

See if kb 1001596 helps.

Good Luck!

VcbRestore console mode : failed /usr/sbin/vcbRestore: line 1: 22377 Aborted

CMCC — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:56:53 GMT

I have Virtualcenter, but where is the module Import you're talking about? I can't find it...

Have you finally restore your VM with another method?

VI Client connectivity Issue to ESX 3.5

awliste — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:41:35 GMT

You're working in an unsupported config, so you're going to have troubles finding help. You're in uncharted territory my friend.

I'd say start with VIC ports and network flow. Make sure your ports are all open and working - look at:

http://www.vreference.com/2009/09/22/firewall-diagram-updated-to-version-3/

Run a sniffer, make sure you're seeing what you're supposed to be seeing and not blocking traffic that you need.

I offer this as a place to start. ESX mgmt with VIC starts at 80, hands over to 443, and you'll need 902/903 for different VM functions (reference the chart.)

Good luck!

Integritas!

Abe Lister

Just some guy that loves to virtualize
==============================
Ain't gonna lie. I like points. If what I'm saying is something useful to you, consider sliding me some points for it!

Memory shown by guest is smaller than configured memory

wila — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:17:56 GMT

OK, now they say that I interpret VMware documentation incorrectly.

I think you have to put a little more pressure on them and ask what the procedure is to move your VMs to another provider...

--
Wil
_____________________________________________________
VI-Toolkit & scripts wiki at http://www.vi-toolkit.com

DRS error

pjudge — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:07:31 GMT

restarted virtual center service on server. this resolved the issue.

thanks for your help

ESX 3.5 connectivity issue with SAN

zikria — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:05:43 GMT

Thanks guys for your helpful comments.
After changing both FC, the connectivity issue was resolved with one HBA but the second HBA was faulty and had to be replaced.

ESX server VM unresponsive

Matt.B — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:28:34 GMT

No, it is extremely annoying. I don't understand why I have to manually eject the entire CD-ROM unit from the server to prevent this recurring message. I have to go down to the data center again today to pull another drive. I am suprised more people haven't run into this. I still see the issue after our upgrade to 3.5U4 build 176894.

Roles and Responsibilites of ESX administrator

BSRKrishna — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 06:11:44 GMT

Hi 2 all,

I am not sure i can ask this question in this fourm...

Can any one share the L3 ESX administrator ROLES and Responsibilities ..

Thanks & Regards,
BSR Krishna

Monitoring ESX via SNMP instead of the Web API?

RattusXanthurus — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:59:16 GMT

We have the service console set to 800mb but it looks like we have way less than 1600mb swap, although we do get alerts if we go above 50% swap usage and I don't think any of those have been going off.

We are already using a modified version of that check_esx3 posted on these forums somewhere that made it look up less API info each time it ran.Our checks are also set up to runabout every 5-10 minute, but I guess caching could help if any of them are looking up duplicate info.

I didn't hear it first hand but someone at work told me VMware confirmed there was a memory leak in Pegasus when hitting the API a lot, not sure if that is fixed in ESX 4 or not though, we still don't have any of those in production just yet.

As far as monitoring via SNMP instead, all of our ESX servers are Dells and it looks like OpenManage shows tons of sensor data so we may be able to kill the VMWare API Health Check if nothing else.

esxcfg-rescan vmhba2 shows nothing?

peterlyttle — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 12:53:11 GMT

After another call with VMWare Support they have confirmed that this is a bug in the 199239.

can't install vmware converter agent

olano — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:09:58 GMT

It turns out that the ports 139 and 445 don't be opened.

Lan

Can't add NFS Mount

bertschj — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:32:46 GMT

Mike/Ed -

That led me to look at Security on that folder and it didn't have Anon access. Added it and all is well.

ESX 3.0 doesn't complain like 3.5 did when I added it. But I could not see any files from the 3.0 server.

Appreciate the help

Service Console Isolation Clarification

Ripper98 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:25:54 GMT

Thanks to everyone who helped clear the muddy waters for me. I think I have a better understanding of the risks and need to isolate the service console traffic.

ESX 3.5 update 2 losing settings in Virtual Machine Startup/Shutdown option

teceu — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:08:18 GMT

Yes, we are having this problem in a cluster with 6 nodes.

But, in our case, we always disable HA before shutting down the hosts.

When the cluster is up again, the "Allow virtual machines to start and stop automatically" option is unchecked.

It seems that disabling HA has the side effect of disabling those settings also.

How do I determine which physical NIC a guest is utilizing?

Troy Clavell — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:32:38 GMT

No, it's a PowerCLI script

VMware vSphere PowerCLI is a powerful command line tool that lets you automate all aspects of vSphere management, including network, storage, VM, guest OS and more. PowerCLI is distributed as a Windows PowerShell snapin, and includes more than 150 PowerShell cmdlets, along with documentation and samples.

http://communities.vmware.com/community/vmtn/vsphere/automationtools/windows_toolkit?view=overview

How to disable Physical Address Extension (PAE) in guest VM?

jmattson — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:59:48 GMT

I should clarify that PAE is required for hardware-enforced DEP. I don't know if there's a way to coerce Windows into using software-enforced DEP on a system that supports hardware-enforced DEP. However, you should be able to disable hardware-enforced DEP in your VMs with the following configuration option:

cpuid.80000001.edx = "----:----:---0:----:----:----:----:----"

That would leave Windows no option but to use software-enforced DEP.

what service to start

Texiwill — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:28:45 GMT

Hello,

This should be vmware-aam

Best regards,
Edward L. Haletky VMware Communities User Moderator, VMware vExpert 2009
Virtualization Practice Analyst
Now Available: 'VMware vSphere(TM) and Virtual Infrastructure Security'
Also available 'VMWare ESX Server in the Enterprise'
SearchVMware Pro|Blue Gears|Top Virtualization Security Links|
Virtualization Security Round Table Podcast

Will ESX 3.5 recognize additional HDs on PowerEdge 2900 (not joined to a RAID 1 config) ?

mike.laspina — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:25:24 GMT

Your welcome.

http://blog.laspina.ca/
vExpert 2009

ESX 3.5 U 5?

khughes — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:09:39 GMT

Like Tex said, VMware keeps this stuff pretty close until release time comes around. If I were to take a guess at it, they might release one more update to 3.5, but that would be it. 4.0 has been out for a while now and I believe they will continue on that path and leave 3.5 in the dust.

Kyle

How can you clean up old LUN numbers?

Rubeck — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:08:05 GMT

Hi Jamie..

Any chance that you could share what have been done to resolve this issue ?
Some people might search the community if having simmilar issue... Maybe the info could help someone else...

Thanks in advance...

/Rubeck

Remove Snapshot - Status: A file was not found

aitch — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:50:14 GMT

Thanks again Shan, using VMware converter seems like the safest way from our perspective, only thing is the server is a bit of a beast (200GB) so it might take a while to do this. Just need to make some disk space available for it. I'll post up in here how it goes.

Would just creating a clone of the VM solve the issue? Ie. just by right clicking the vm in the VIClient and clicking "Clone"?

The VM in question is on Suse Linux Enterprise Server 1, so converting wouldn't be possible I'm guessing.

What could have caused these errors to occur? The upmost parent snapshot was taken only a few weeks ago.

Thanks
Haydn

Why

Troy Clavell — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:44:05 GMT

yes, that sounds like a plan.

Please I need your help

Lotus91000 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:56:32 GMT

Hi ,
The other think that I just see is about the way that the etc/opt/vmware/*aam* folder doesn't exist anymore after the Migration.
Is that normal?

Issues with Symantec Backup Exec and VCB

xadox — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:29:31 GMT

It seems like the files are Rootkit files of the .NET.

how to disable Qlogic HBA on bootup?

fredlock — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:39:30 GMT

anyone how to do this with an IBM server like x3850 ???

RENAME vmdk files

tom howarth — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:21:59 GMT

Poster has answered their own question, good work with the research and thank you for coming back to the forums with the answer.

VMware Communities : All Content - VI: VMware ESX™ 3.5

ESX stopped respoding to management functions

Asus M4A78-E

esxi 64 bit ram

ESXI Installed on USB Drive

vmware esxi 3.5 supported

Rescanning HBA caused ESX to fail

I need a confirmation

SAN performance testing

As the VMware ESX download doesn't work

Converting a 2-node physical SQL cluster to a single VM

what is the command for services restart ?

Bash: esxcfg: command not found

Best P2V software

ResourcePool.updateConfig failure in /var/log/vmware/hostd.log

Mcafee 100% cpu

2008 R2 Slow

Script to find RDMs

Win Srv 2008 R2 support

OpenSSH GSSAPI allows elevated privileges

Clone Powered ON VM with RDM

Snapshot issue in ESX 3.5

irq 177, boot Linux virtual machine with irqpoll?

Changing subnet for VMkernel and Vmotion

Virtual Machine Swapfile, Windows Paging File and SAN Replication

Too Many Levels of Redo files

fiber switch

ESX 3.5 VM File Server and slow initial conneciton/timeout

ESX 3.5 and Adaptec 2610SA SATA Raid for white box

VCB-HP Data Protector Problem

hostd keeps crashing

Layer 2 errors on VMs

HA and Vmotion a extreme status

VSS/VCB Issues

High CPU in HA Cluster

ESX 3.5 Update 4: unable to detect cd-rom

Cant mount cdrom on HP Proliant ML350 server

Sun Blade 6000 Virtualized NEM (X4238) driver is MIA

Resetting password for vpxuser account

Jumbo frame

Command for changing System Resource Allocation Settings - CPU shares, reservations

Virtualize Unix server

Unable to add host to vcenter across two sites

How do I commit a redo log when VC doesn't show any snapshots are being used?

Incorrect NIC speed!

3.5 install not picking up local PERC raid controller

Terminal Server Farm an Resource Pool

Moving from Local storage to iSCSI SAN

IPMI message handler: BMC returned incorrect response

Hungs on RedHat VMs

Increase disk size in ESX

100 percent CPU usage on 1 CPU in ESX host

ESX 3.5 cluster failure with SAN & Network connectivity loss, BMC error ?

ESX 3.5 and Storage

VCB Snapshots fill up vmfs datastore

Template Deploy Customization Times Out

Unable to create partition - NFS Server

Scheduled Task

Cannot find nic driver for Win2k3 X64 after P2V (Intel pro mt 1000)

Can serive console and vmkernel be in the same network?

Service console memory monitoring

HA for Guests on ESX 3.5?

HBA replacement in VMware HA/DRS cluster

Increasing vm disk space - problem

Eth0 and Eth1 not found on VMWare 3.5 install on HS22 Blade

VM disk crash after increasing disk size

ghettoVCB.sh - Free alternative for backing up VM's for ESX(i) 3.5 and 4.0+

Table of Contents:

Description:

Features

Requirements:

Setup:

Configurations:

Usage:

Sample Execution:

Backup VMs stored in a list

Backup VMs based on individual VM backup policies and log output to /tmp/ghettoVCB.log

Debug backup mode

Dry run Mode (no backup will take place)

Enable compression for backups: