http://communities.vmware.com/community/vmtn/vi/esx3.5?view=documents Latest Documents in VI: VMware ESX™ 3.5 en Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:53:57 GMT Clearspace 1.10.12 (http://jivesoftware.com/products/clearspace/) 2009-10-30T17:53:57Z en http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-11094 Has anyone played with the custom scripts for VCB 1.5 / ESX3.5U2? According to the VM Backup Guide pg 52, the pre-freeze and post-thaw scripts are now located under C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Tools\backupScripts.d.<br /> <br /> For pre-freeze, it says "All scripts are invoked in ascending alphabetical order with freeze as the first argument." I created a pre-freeze-script.bat and a freeze_script_1.bat under that directory. Neither worked. Also, C:\windows\pre-freeze-script.bat does not work either...<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> Moderator" since there doesn't seem to be a VCB community, I posted here, please move if appropriate.<br /> <p /> Dave<br /> <br /> <hr /> Bump..... :o(<br /> <hr /> 1.Make sure you installed the latest VMtools on the guest. <br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <br /> 2. We ended up using FREEZE.bat and that seems to work.<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <br /> <hr /> Thanks Jason - <br /> <br /> I renamed C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Tools\backupScripts.d\freeze.bat to C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Tools\backupScripts.d\FREEZE.bat<br /> <br /> That did not work. I ran a repair to vmware tools and then it worked. The file names are case sensitive.<br /> <p /> <br /> I used C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Tools\backupScripts.d\THAW.bat for the thaw script. <br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> Dave<br /> <br /> <hr /> Hello,<br /> <br /> the problem is that scripts are launched twice. Before and after creation of snapshot.<br /> <p /> So before snapshot is made scripts are launched in ascending alphabetical order - freeze then thaw <br /> <p /> and after creation of snapshot in descending order - first thaw for the second time and then freeze ... as it written in backup guide<br /> <p /> but I don't understand why it's like that ...<br /> <p /> <p /> <br /> <hr /> Here is what we have found out:<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <br /> Each script in the backupscripts.d folder will get ran for EACH Argument sent. So as a example before a backup snaps it will run each script in that folder with the argument of FREEZE starting with freeze.bat in that folder. When THAW is called the same thing happens. <br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> So if you have 3 scripts in that directory each will get ran for FREEZE and each will run for THAW. <br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> What we did was create 1 script that will take Arguments like FREEZE, THAW, FREEZEFAIL<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> you can verify this by creating 2 scripts in that directory that write the current time to a file. Run a VCB job and you will see that file get written to 4 times. 2 for the FREEZE and 2 for the THAW.<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <br /> <hr /> Hello,<br /> <br /> Ok I understand but now how can I stop the database before the snap and start it after snap ? <br /> <p /> If I have two scripts, first for stopping the databases and second for starting them again, both scripts will run before and after the snap in the different order. That's no use.<br /> <p /> database will stop and start before snapshot and start again and stop after backup.<br /> <p /> In the previous versions of VCB it was ok.<br /> <br /> <hr /> Something like this:<br /> <br /> if "%1%" == "freeze" goto doFreeze<br /> <br /> goto doThaw<br /> <br /> :doFreeze<br /> <br /> call c:\windows\pre-freeze.bat<br /> <br /> goto EOF<br /> <br /> :doThaw<br /> <br /> call c:\windows\post-thaw.bat<br /> <br /> so you would create 1 script and have a section for Freeze and Thaw...<br /> <hr /> Ok now it works. <br /> <br /> The argument send by vcb was the missing factor ...<br /> <p /> Thanks.<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <br /> <hr /> ... there is one more thing<br /> <br /> after FREEZE section of the script is done snapshot is being made but it's not completed but finished in 95% and waiting.<br /> <p /> It is completed in 100% but not before a thaw section is done. Shouldn't snapshot be completed when database is stopped ?<br /> <p /> Is it normal ?<br /> <p /> <p /> <br /> <hr /> Jason - <br /> <br /> What did you actually name the script? Is this a uppercase / lowercase thing as well? <br /> <p /> Dave<br /> <br /> <hr /> Lowser case. Freeze.bat<br /> <hr /> Hello,<br /> <br /> It doesn't matter. VCB will execute anything that's in ...backuScripts.d folder.<br /> <br /> <hr /> I tried a few file names before. The FREEZE.bat and THAW.bat seem to work no matter what the contents. But they execute twice. I think the " IF %1 == Freeze" statement makes it non-case sensitive. I have to test it out in my lab. On college tours with my daughter this week, so I have limited connectivity...<br /> <br /> Dave<br /> <br /> <hr /> This is correct. Each script in that folder will run regardless of name for each operation. You will need to create 1 script that accepts Freeze and Thaw as arguments.<br /> <hr /> OK. I re-ran all of the tests again. All versions are confirmed as latest builds. I had to set the date back to allow the VM to power on because of the issues with ESX3.5U2...<br /> <p /> A script with "if %1% == "freeze'" as the first argument - it will execute as a pre freeze script.<br /> <br /> A script with "if %1% == "thaw"" as the first argument - it will execute as a post thaw script.<br /> <br /> If multiple scripts exist in backupScripts.d, AND the contain the argument, they are executed in order as documented (reverse for thaw)<br /> <p /> <br /> HOWEVER....<br /> <p /> <br /> If the name of the file is freeze.bat, it will execute twice. If it is called thaw.bat, it will also execute twice. This has been confirmed by others.<br /> <p /> <br /> Thanks to all for the assistance.<br /> <br /> Dave<br /> <br /> <hr /> After further testing, I can confirm that ALL custom scripts placed in the backupScripts.d directory will execute during both the pre-freeze AND post-thaw events. This means that logic needs to be placed in the script so that the desired result is gained. If no "IF' statements are contained in the scripts, they will be executed during both the pre-freeze and post-thaw events, which could be undesireable. I also confirmed that these script names are NOT case-sensitive.<br /> <p /> <p /> <hr /> Hello,<br /> <br /> thank you for this solution. I my situation it works only partly. If I manually stop service and than manually execute script in backupScripts.d directory script start service. If I start backup of VM via VCB than VCB send "freeze" and script stop the service but after a while job fail based on "Custom Pre-Freeze script failed". I don't know where I would looking for error <img class="jive-emoticon" border="0" src="http://communities.vmware.com/images/emoticons/sad.gif" alt=":-(" /><br /> <br /> <hr /> You can try checking the logs on the VM under %TEMP% and on the ESX host in the VM's directory.<br /> <p /> <p /> <br /> Dave<br /> <br /> ************************<br /> "There is an island of opportunity in the middle of every difficulty. Miss that, though, and you're pretty much doomed."<br /> despair.com<br /> <br /> <hr /> I would like more accurately specify error message. During creating snapshot I get message:<br /> <br /> Creating quiesced snapshot failed ...... script in the virtual machine exited with non-zero return code.<br /> <p /> <p /> <br /> <hr /> If you did not do a "COMPLETE" install of VMware Tools, the sync driver does not install. Run the VMware Tools installer and modify the install, then add the sync driver. If you are running ESX3.5 add the VSS driver too. See the attached screenshot.<br /> <p /> <p /> <br /> Dave<br /> <br /> ************************<br /> "There is an island of opportunity in the middle of every difficulty. Miss that, though, and you're pretty much doomed."<br /> despair.com<br /> <br /> <hr /> I add VSS driver - still sthe same. It looks like VCB don't send THAW argument.<br /> <hr /> Can you post a copy of the script you are running?<br /> <hr /> I took script code from this thread. I change only directory with "execution" scripts. <br /> <br /> if "%1%" == "freeze" goto doFreeze<br /> <p /> goto doThaw<br /> <p /> :doFreeze<br /> <p /> call "c:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Tools\services_scripts\freeze.bat"<br /> <p /> goto EOF<br /> <p /> :doThaw<br /> <p /> call "c:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Tools\services_scripts\thaw.bat"<br /> <p /> <p /> <br /> <hr /> Can you post " freeze.bat"<br /> <hr /> I'm not sure if the VSS driver actually NEEDS to pre-freeze / post-thaw. VSS does it differently. Assuming you are running ESX 3.5U2<br /> <p /> <p /> <br /> Dave<br /> <br /> ************************<br /> "There is an island of opportunity in the middle of every difficulty. Miss that, though, and you're pretty much doomed."<br /> despair.com<br /> <br /> <hr /> You wrote that I shoul add VSS driver. I think VSS is especially for databases.<br /> <hr /> You wrote that I shoul add VSS driver <img class="jive-emoticon" border="0" src="http://communities.vmware.com/images/emoticons/wink.gif" alt=";)" />. I think VSS is especially for databases.<br /> <hr /> I cant find it in the VM Backup Guide, but I think only the SYNC driver uses the scripts. I believe the VSS driver just uses VSS and the script is NOT required. The VSS driver takes care of quiescing the app and disk.<br /> <p /> <p /> <br /> Dave<br /> <br /> ************************<br /> "There is an island of opportunity in the middle of every difficulty. Miss that, though, and you're pretty much doomed."<br /> despair.com<br /> <br /> <hr /> Correct, If you are using VMware's VSS provider then it will be called automatically by VCB.<br /> <hr /> Some additional information:<br /> If the VSS driver is installed together with the recent VMware Tools the new location and behaviour is used for custum scripts. The scripts are called every time you start to use VCB.<br /> <br /> If you only have the the sync installed the old path under &lt;%windir%&gt;/system32 is used.<br /> <p /> The above isnt true for a guest VM which runs the WinXP OS. Because of a bug the old location is <b>always</b> used. I have to to dig for the PR where VMware describes the problem.<br /> <p /> This drives me nuts because my Target system was first a W2k3 and later i testet with WinXP because i dont want to backup my 600GB production VM. <br /> <p /> Here is my current script which works around for every of my problems.<br /> <p /> Placed it under the new location ../VMware Tools/backupScripts.d<br /> =========================================================<br /> @echo off<br /> <p /> if "%1%" == "" goto noParam<br /> if "%1%" == "freeze" goto doFreeze<br /> if "%1%" == "thaw" goto dothaw<br /> if "%1%" == "freezeFail" goto dofreezefail<br /> goto wrongParam<br /> <p /> <br /> :doFreeze<br /> call c:\windows\pre-freeze-script.bat<br /> goto Ende<br /> <p /> :dothaw<br /> call c:\windows\post-thaw-script.bat<br /> goto Ende<br /> <p /> :dofreezefail<br /> call c:\windows\post-freezefail-script.bat<br /> goto Ende<br /> <p /> :noParam<br /> echo "Usage: %0 "<br /> echo At least one Parameter is needed!<br /> goto Ende<br /> <p /> :wrongParam<br /> echo "Usage: %0 "<br /> echo "%1" is not a valid parameter!<br /> goto Ende<br /> <p /> :Ende<br /> ========================================================<br /> <p /> Regards<br /> Joerg<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> Remember if you found this or others answers helpful do not forget to award points by marking an answer as helpful or correct **<br /> <p /> <p /> <br /> <hr /> Some additional information:<br /> If the VSS driver is installed together with the recent VMware Tools the new location and behaviour is used for custom scripts. The scripts are called every time you start to use VCB.<br /> <br /> If you only have the the sync installed the old path under &lt;%windir%&gt;/ is used.<br /> <br /> The above isnt true for a guest VM which runs the WinXP OS. Because of a bug the old location is <b>always</b> used. I have to to dig for the PR where VMware describes the problem.<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> This drives me nuts because my Target system was first a W2k3 and later i testet with WinXP because i dont want to backup my 600GB production VM. <br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> Here is my current script which works around for every of my problems.<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> Placed it under the new location ../VMware Tools/backupScripts.d<br /> =========================================================<br /> @echo off<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> if "%1%" == "" goto noParam<br /> if "%1%" == "freeze" goto doFreeze<br /> if "%1%" == "thaw" goto dothaw<br /> if "%1%" == "freezeFail" goto dofreezefail<br /> goto wrongParam<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <br /> :doFreeze<br /> call c:\windows\pre-freeze-script.bat<br /> goto Ende<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> :dothaw<br /> call c:\windows\post-thaw-script.bat<br /> goto Ende<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> :dofreezefail<br /> call c:\windows\post-freezefail-script.bat<br /> goto Ende<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> :noParam<br /> echo "Usage: %0 "<br /> echo At least one Parameter is needed!<br /> goto Ende<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> :wrongParam<br /> echo "Usage: %0 "<br /> echo "%1" is not a valid parameter!<br /> goto Ende<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> :Ende<br /> ========================================================<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> Regards<br /> Joerg<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> Remember if you found this or others answers helpful do not forget to award points by marking an answer as helpful or correct **<br /> <br /> <hr /> Altix, thank very much!!! Your script works.<br /> <hr /> Hello,<br /> <br /> The scripts works fine!<br /> <p /> I'm only wondering wherefor the freezefail is? What the meaning of this argument?<br /> <p /> Can anyone tell?<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> Regards,<br /> <p /> Matthijs<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <br /> <hr /> HA! I just saw your question..Only two months late....<br /> <br /> Freezefail is when the freeze process returns a non-zero code, allows you to do a little error notification or cleanup. <br /> <p /> Dave Convery<br /> VMware vExpert 2009<br /> <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.dailyhypervisor.com/">http://www.dailyhypervisor.com</a><br /> <br /> Careful. We don't want to learn from this.<br /> Bill Watterson, "Calvin and Hobbes"<br /> <p /> <br /> This document was generated from the following thread: <a class="jive-link-thread" href="http://communities.vmware.com/thread/160702">Has anyone figured out VCB 1.5 custom quiescing scripts?</a> Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:53:05 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-11094 2009-10-30T17:53:05Z 3 weeks, 4 days ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-10775 <br /> Hi all, I have the next cuestion..<br /> <p /> How I know if this affect my VMWare ESX 3.5.0<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> Vulnerability Report<br /> .indent {<br /> margin-left: 1cm;<br /> }<br /> .proof {<br /> white-space: pre;<br /> font-family: monospace;<br /> width: 90%;<br /> word-wrap: break-word;<br /> }*CVE#:*<br /> <div class="indent"><a class="jive-link-external" href="http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2004-2761">CVE-2004-2761</a><br /> </div> <b>Summary:</b><br /> <div class="indent">X.509 Certificates using the MD5 algorithm may be affected by <br /> a vulnerability that can weaken security.<br /> </div> <b>Details:</b><br /> <div class="indent">A vulnerability exists in X.509 certificates which, when <br /> signed via MD5, may allow for phishing attacks. The flaw is specific to <br /> weaknesses in the MD5 algorithm used to sign X.509 certificates. It is possible <br /> for a potential attacker to generate multiple pairs of certificates, which share <br /> like MD5 signatures. Typical exploration would allow the attacker to impersonate <br /> a legitimate website.<br /> </div> <b>Fix:</b><br /> <div class="indent">See references or contact the vendor for appropriate patch <br /> information. Typically, this problem is associated with NSS libraries or FireFox <br /> packages, among other applications.<br /> <br /> Note: According to a paper discussing <br /> the vulnerability, written by the discovering team, creating rogue certificates <br /> requires prior knowledge of a pre-signed certificate. Therefore it can be <br /> assumed that any certificate created before the announcement of the <br /> vulnerability is effectively safe from such an attack. If the certificate was <br /> created prior to 2009, this issue can be considered a false positive. Any <br /> certificate signed with MD5 created in 2009 or later, however, should be <br /> replaced by a new certificate signed with a stronger hashing <br /> method.<br /> <br /> Workaround:<br /> <br /> Utilize an alternative hashing method to sign <br /> certificates (ex: SHA-256, SHA-512)</div> <br /> Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:01:35 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-10775 2009-09-25T00:01:35Z 2 months, 1 day ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-10661 blade center 3.5 raid expand failed ibm Mon, 31 Aug 2009 06:01:01 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-10661 2009-08-31T06:01:01Z 2 months, 3 weeks ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-10595 <h1>Table of Contents:</h1> <ul> <ul> <li>Description</li> <li>Requirements</li> <li>Setup</li> <li>Usage</li> <li>Sample Execution</li> <li>Change Log</li> <li>Known Issues</li> </ul> </ul> <br /> <h2>Description:</h2> <br /> This script performs a restore of virtual machines backed up using <b><a class="jive-link-wiki" href="http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-8760">ghettoVCB</a></b>. Tasks are performed directly within the service console of the ESX(i) server involved in the restore process. This is currently a Ghetto Tech Preview that includes basic restore functionality. Two main use cases are supported in this release:<br /> <br /> <b>1)</b> Restore a VM that contains ALL VMDKs on one datastore<br /> <b>2)</b> Restore a VM that has VMDKs located on multiple datastores<br /> <br /> In all cases, restored VMs will have VMDKs that reside on the SAME datastore chosen for the restore process. Please ensure that there is sufficient space on the target datastore before attempting a restore operation. In the near future, restoration of VMs backed up using the compression feature of ghettoVCB will be implemented.<br /> <br /> <b><span style="color:blue">Features</span></b><br /> <ul> <li>Support for logging output</li> <li>Support for various debugging output</li> <li>Allow spaces in VM(s) backup list (not recommended and not a best practice)</li> <li>Support for restore in the following formats: <b>ZEROEDTHICK</b> (default behavior), <b>2GB SPARSE</b>, <b>THIN</b> or <b>EAGERZEROEDTHICK</b></li> </ul> <p /> <hr /> <br /> <h2>Requirements:</h2> VMs backed up using <b><a class="jive-link-wiki" href="http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-8760">ghettoVCB.sh</a></b> on ESX(i) 3.5 or 4.0<br /> SSH console access to ESX/ESXi 3.5 or 4.0 host<br /> <br /> <hr /> <br /> <h2>Setup:</h2> <b>1)</b> Download <b>ghettoVCB-restore.sh</b> to either your ESX or ESXi<br /> <b>2)</b> Change the permissions on the script to ensure it can be executed:<br /> <br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">chmod +x ghettoVCB-restore.sh </code></pre><br /> <br /> <hr /> <br /> <h2>Usage:</h2> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[root@himalaya ~]# ./ghettoVCB-restore.sh ############################################################################### # # ghettoVCB-restore for ESX/ESXi 3.5u2+ &#38; 4.x+ # Author: William Lam # http://www.engineering.ucsb.edu/~duonglt/vmware/ # Created: 08/18/2009 # Last modified: 08/25/2009 # ############################################################################### Usage: ./ghettoVCB-restore.sh -c [VM_BACKUP_UP_LIST] -l [LOG_FILE] OPTIONS: -c VM backup list -l File ot output logging (e.g.) Output will go to stdout ./ghettoVCB-restore.sh -c vms_to_restore Output will log to /tmp/ghettoVCB-restore.log ./ghettoVCB-restore.sh -c vms_to_restore -l /tmp/ghettoVCB-restore.log </code></pre><br /> <br /> Standard input for script is a file that contains:<br /> <b>1)</b> Full path to the backed up VM<br /> <b>2)</b> Full restore path<br /> <b>3)</b> Restoration disk format<br /> Reminder: When creating this file on a non-Linux/UNIX system, one may introduce ^M characters that will cause the script to misbehave. To ensure that this does not occur, please create the file on the ESX/ESXi host. <br /> <br /> Here is a sample of what the file should look like:<br /> <br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[root@himalaya ~]# cat vms_to_restore #&quot;&lt;DIRECTORY or .TGZ&gt;;&lt;DATASTORE_TO_RESTORE_TO&gt;;&lt;DISK_FORMAT_TO_RESTORE&gt;&quot; # DISK_FORMATS # 1 = zeroedthick # 2 = 2gbsparse # 3 = thin # 4 = eagerzeroedthick # e.g. # &quot;/vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS/VCAP/VCAP-2009-08-18--1;/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage;1&quot; &quot;/vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS/VCAP/VCAP-2009-08-20--1;/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage;1&quot; &quot;/vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS/sideswipe/sideswipe-2009-08-20--1;/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage;1&quot; &quot;/vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS/stupid ass vm with spaces/stupid ass vm with spaces-2009-08-20--1;/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage;2&quot; &quot;/vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS/vMA-resize/vMA-resize-2009-08-23--1;/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage;3&quot; </code></pre><br /> <br /> Comments in the input file is acceptable so long as the intended line is preceded by a #. The above sample VM restore file, <b>vms_to_restore</b>, describes the following backup:<br /> <br /> <table class="jive-wiki-table"> <tr> <td>VM to restore</td> <td>Datastore to restore to</td> <td>VMDK format</td> </tr> <tr> <td>/vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS/VCAP/VCAP-2009-08-20--1</td> <td>/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage</td> <td>zeroedthick</td> </tr> <tr> <td>/vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS/sideswipe/sideswipe-2009-08-20--1</td> <td>/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage</td> <td>zeroedthick</td> </tr> <tr> <td>/vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS/stupid ass vm with spaces/stupid ass vm with spaces-2009-08-20--1</td> <td>/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage</td> <td>2gbsparse</td> </tr> <tr> <td>/vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS/vMA-resize/vMA-resize-2009-08-23--1</td> <td>/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage</td> <td>thin</td> </tr> </table> <br clear="left" /> <br /> <hr /> <br /> <h2>Sample Execution:</h2> <br /> <b>Execute restore with output going to stdout (restore the first two VMs listed from above):</b><br /> <br /> Input file:<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[root@himalaya ~]# cat vms_to_restore &quot;/vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS/VCAP/VCAP-2009-08-20--1;/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage;1&quot; &quot;/vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS/sideswipe/sideswipe-2009-08-20--1;/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage;1&quot; </code></pre><br /> <br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[root@himalaya ~]# ./ghettoVCB-restore.sh -c vms_to_restore ################## Restoring VM: VCAP ##################### Start time: Sun Aug 23 22:31:26 PDT 2009 Restoring VM from: &quot;/vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS/VCAP/VCAP-2009-08-20--1&quot; Restoring VM to Datastore: &quot;/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage&quot; using Disk Format: &quot;zeroedthick&quot; Creating VM directory: &quot;/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage/VCAP&quot; ... Copying &quot;VCAP.vmx&quot; file ... Restoring VM's VMDK(s) ... Updating VMDK entry in &quot;VCAP.vmx&quot; file ... Destination disk format: VMFS zeroedthick Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS/VCAP/VCAP-2009-08-20--1/VCAP.vmdk'... Clone: 100% done. Registering VCAP ... End time: Sun Aug 23 22:32:32 PDT 2009 ################## Completed restore for VCAP! ##################### ################## Restoring VM: sideswipe ##################### Start time: Sun Aug 23 22:32:32 PDT 2009 Restoring VM from: &quot;/vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS/sideswipe/sideswipe-2009-08-20--1&quot; Restoring VM to Datastore: &quot;/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage&quot; using Disk Format: &quot;zeroedthick&quot; Creating VM directory: &quot;/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage/sideswipe&quot; ... Copying &quot;sideswipe.vmx&quot; file ... Restoring VM's VMDK(s) ... Updating VMDK entry in &quot;sideswipe.vmx&quot; file ... Destination disk format: VMFS zeroedthick Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS/sideswipe/sideswipe-2009-08-20--1/sideswipe.vmdk'... Clone: 100% done. Updating VMDK entry in &quot;sideswipe.vmx&quot; file ... Destination disk format: VMFS zeroedthick Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS/sideswipe/sideswipe-2009-08-20--1/4a31aece-e34d675a-72cf-003048d9586a/sideswipe.vmdk'... Clone: 100% done. Updating VMDK entry in &quot;sideswipe.vmx&quot; file ... Destination disk format: VMFS zeroedthick Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS/sideswipe/sideswipe-2009-08-20--1/4a31aece-e34d675a-72cf-003048d9586a/sideswipe_1.vmdk'... Clone: 100% done. Updating VMDK entry in &quot;sideswipe.vmx&quot; file ... Destination disk format: VMFS zeroedthick Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS/sideswipe/sideswipe-2009-08-20--1/sideswipe_1.vmdk'... Clone: 100% done. Registering sideswipe ... End time: Sun Aug 23 22:34:46 PDT 2009 ################## Completed restore for sideswipe! ##################### Start time: Sun Aug 23 22:31:26 PDT 2009 End time: Sun Aug 23 22:34:46 PDT 2009 Duration : 3.33 Minutes --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- </code></pre><br /> <br /> Execute restore with output going to log file <b>/tmp/ghettoVCB-restore.log</b> (restore the last two VMs listed from above):<br /> <br /> Input file:<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[root@himalaya ~]# cat vms_to_restore &quot;/vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS/stupid ass vm with spaces/stupid ass vm with spaces-2009-08-20--1;/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage;2&quot; &quot;/vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS/vMA-resize/vMA-resize-2009-08-23--1;/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage;3&quot; </code></pre><br /> <br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[root@himalaya ~]# ./ghettoVCB-restore.sh -c vms_to_restore -l /tmp/ghettoVCB-restore.log Logging output to &quot;/tmp/ghettoVCB-restore.log&quot; ... cat /tmp/ghettoVCB-restore.log </code></pre><br /> <br /> <b>Display debug information level 1</b>:<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[root@himalaya ~]# ./ghettoVCB-restore.sh -c vms_to_restore -d 1 ################ DEBUG MODE ############## Virtual Machine: &quot;VCAP&quot; VM_VMX: &quot;VCAP.vmx&quot; VM_ORG_FOLDER: &quot;VCAP-2009-08-20--1&quot; VM_FOLDER_NAME: &quot;VCAP&quot; VMDK_LIST_TO_MODIFY: scsi0:0.fileName = &quot;VCAP.vmdk&quot; scsi0:0.fileName = &quot;VCAP-0.vmdk&quot; ########################################## ################ DEBUG MODE ############## Virtual Machine: &quot;sideswipe&quot; VM_VMX: &quot;sideswipe.vmx&quot; VM_ORG_FOLDER: &quot;sideswipe-2009-08-20--1&quot; VM_FOLDER_NAME: &quot;sideswipe&quot; VMDK_LIST_TO_MODIFY: scsi0:0.fileName = &quot;sideswipe.vmdk&quot; scsi0:0.fileName = &quot;sideswipe-0.vmdk&quot; scsi0:1.fileName = &quot;/vmfs/volumes/4a31aece-e34d675a-72cf-003048d9586a/sideswipe/sideswipe.vmdk&quot; scsi0:1.fileName = &quot;sideswipe-1.vmdk&quot; scsi1:8.fileName = &quot;/vmfs/volumes/4a31aece-e34d675a-72cf-003048d9586a/sideswipe/sideswipe_1.vmdk&quot; scsi1:8.fileName = &quot;sideswipe-2.vmdk&quot; scsi3:12.fileName = &quot;sideswipe_1.vmdk&quot; scsi3:12.fileName = &quot;sideswipe-3.vmdk&quot; ########################################## Start time: Sun Aug 23 23:04:49 PDT 2009 End time: Sun Aug 23 23:04:49 PDT 2009 Duration : 0 Seconds --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- </code></pre><br /> <br /> <b>Display debug information level 2</b>:<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[root@himalaya ~]# ./ghettoVCB-restore.sh -c vms_to_restore -d 2 ################## Restoring VM: stupid ass vm with spaces ##################### ==========&gt; DEBUG MODE LEVEL 2 ENABLED &lt;========== Start time: Sun Aug 23 23:05:11 PDT 2009 Restoring VM from: &quot;/vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS/stupid ass vm with spaces/stupid ass vm with spaces-2009-08-20--1&quot; Restoring VM to Datastore: &quot;/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage&quot; using Disk Format: &quot;2gbsparse&quot; Creating VM directory: &quot;/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage/stupid ass vm with spaces&quot; ... Copying &quot;stupid ass vm with spaces.vmx&quot; file ... Restoring VM's VMDK(s) ... Updating VMDK entry in &quot;stupid ass vm with spaces.vmx&quot; file ... SOURCE: &quot;/vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS/stupid ass vm with spaces/stupid ass vm with spaces-2009-08-20--1/stupid ass vm with spaces.vmdk&quot; ORIGINAL_VMX_LINE: --&gt;scsi0:0.fileName = &quot;stupid ass vm with spaces.vmdk&quot;&lt;-- DESTIONATION: &quot;/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage/stupid ass vm with spaces/stupid ass vm with spaces-0.vmdk&quot; MODIFIED_VMX_LINE: --&gt;scsi0:0.fileName = &quot;stupid ass vm with spaces-0.vmdk&quot;&lt;-- Updating VMDK entry in &quot;stupid ass vm with spaces.vmx&quot; file ... SOURCE: &quot;/vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS/stupid ass vm with spaces/stupid ass vm with spaces-2009-08-20--1/4a31aece-e34d675a-72cf-003048d9586a/stupid ass vm with spaces.vmdk&quot; ORIGINAL_VMX_LINE: --&gt;scsi0:1.fileName = &quot;/vmfs/volumes/4a31aece-e34d675a-72cf-003048d9586a/stupid ass vm with spaces/stupid ass vm with spaces.vmdk&quot;&lt;-- DESTIONATION: &quot;/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage/stupid ass vm with spaces/stupid ass vm with spaces-1.vmdk&quot; MODIFIED_VMX_LINE: --&gt;scsi0:1.fileName = &quot;stupid ass vm with spaces-1.vmdk&quot;&lt;-- Updating VMDK entry in &quot;stupid ass vm with spaces.vmx&quot; file ... SOURCE: &quot;/vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS/stupid ass vm with spaces/stupid ass vm with spaces-2009-08-20--1/4a31aece-e34d675a-72cf-003048d9586a/stupid ass vm with spaces_1.vmdk&quot; ORIGINAL_VMX_LINE: --&gt;scsi0:2.fileName = &quot;/vmfs/volumes/4a31aece-e34d675a-72cf-003048d9586a/stupid ass vm with spaces/stupid ass vm with spaces_1.vmdk&quot;&lt;-- DESTIONATION: &quot;/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage/stupid ass vm with spaces/stupid ass vm with spaces-2.vmdk&quot; MODIFIED_VMX_LINE: --&gt;scsi0:2.fileName = &quot;stupid ass vm with spaces-2.vmdk&quot;&lt;-- Registering stupid ass vm with spaces ... End time: Sun Aug 23 23:05:11 PDT 2009 ################## Completed restore for stupid ass vm with spaces! ##################### ################## Restoring VM: vMA-resize ##################### ==========&gt; DEBUG MODE LEVEL 2 ENABLED &lt;========== Start time: Sun Aug 23 23:05:11 PDT 2009 Restoring VM from: &quot;/vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS/vMA-resize/vMA-resize-2009-08-23--1&quot; Restoring VM to Datastore: &quot;/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage&quot; using Disk Format: &quot;thin&quot; Creating VM directory: &quot;/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage/vMA-resize&quot; ... Copying &quot;vMA-resize.vmx&quot; file ... Restoring VM's VMDK(s) ... Updating VMDK entry in &quot;vMA-resize.vmx&quot; file ... SOURCE: &quot;/vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS/vMA-resize/vMA-resize-2009-08-23--1/vMA-resize.vmdk&quot; ORIGINAL_VMX_LINE: --&gt;scsi0:0.fileName = &quot;vMA-resize.vmdk&quot;&lt;-- DESTIONATION: &quot;/vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.RE4-GP:Storage/vMA-resize/vMA-resize-0.vmdk&quot; MODIFIED_VMX_LINE: --&gt;scsi0:0.fileName = &quot;vMA-resize-0.vmdk&quot;&lt;-- Registering vMA-resize ... End time: Sun Aug 23 23:05:11 PDT 2009 ################## Completed restore for vMA-resize! ##################### Start time: Sun Aug 23 23:05:11 PDT 2009 End time: Sun Aug 23 23:05:11 PDT 2009 Duration : 0 Seconds --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- </code></pre><br /> <br /> <hr /> <br /> <h2>Change Log:</h2> <br /> <hr /> <br /> <h2>Known Issues:</h2> 3.5 backup esx3.5 ghettovcb restore Mon, 24 Aug 2009 06:28:38 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-10595 2009-08-24T06:28:38Z 3 months, 22 hours ago 11 http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-10553 <ol> <li>Stopping the virtual machine by issuing the command <b>vmware-cmd /vmfs/volumes/&lt;datastorename&gt;/&lt;vmname&gt;/&lt;vmname&gt;.vmx stop</b>. This must be done on the ESX host where the Virtual Machine is running!</li> <li>If this does not work, one can issue the following command: <b>vmware-cmd /vmfs/volumes/&lt;datastorename&gt;/&lt;vmname&gt;/&lt;vmname&gt;.vmx stop</b> <b>hard.</b> This will try to kill the Virtual Machine instantly.</li> <li>A final solution is to kill the <b>PID (process ID)</b>. Issue the following command: <b>ps auxfww | grep &lt;vmname&gt;</b> to locate the correct PID (BTW: this cannot be done via *ESXTOP*). The first number to appear in the output is your PID. The PID can be used to terminate the process by issuing <b>kill -9 PID.</b></li> </ol> <ul> <li>There is a problem using PS to kill the running VM process, in that it can still leave the VM World running in the background. <br clear="all" /> Another way to stop an errant VM is to issue the commands vm-support -x to list the running VMs and their World IDs, then vm-support -X worldid (note the x is case sensitive in both commands). This then prompts the user with a couple of questions, then runs a debug stop of the VM, and creates a set of log files as well that you can forward to VMware tech support for them to check if you so desire</li> </ul> <p /> This document was generated from the following thread: <a class="jive-link-thread" href="http://communities.vmware.com/thread/113406">esxRanger and ESX 3.01 and Kill Process?</a> 3.5 pid command_line esx kill process Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:41:20 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-10553 2009-08-17T16:41:20Z 3 months, 1 week ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-10459 This simple script is listing all datastores AND extents of your host server.<br /> I wrote this one because sometimes our Storage team is requesting us if they could work on specifics LUN IDs, and if these are just additional extents, I had to review one-by-one all the properties of each datastores (and clusters).<br /> I had enough, so .. voilà !<br /> <br /> Enjoy,<br /> <br /> Eric<br /> <p /> <br /> <i>#!/bin/bash</i><br /> <br /> <i># Listing of LUNs extents</i><br /> <br /> <i>echo "List of LUNs extents :"</i><br /> <i>for filename in $(ls -la /vmfs/volumes/ |grep ^l |awk '{ print $NF }') ;</i><br /> <i>do</i><br /> <i>echo "------------------------------------------------"</i><br /> <i>echo "Datastore Name : " $(vmkfstools -P /vmfs/volumes/$filename/ -h | grep label |awk '{ print $NF }')</i><br /> <i>vmkfstools -P /vmfs/volumes/$filename/ -h | grep vmhba</i><br /> <i>done</i><br /> <i>echo "------------------------------------------------"</i><br /> <br /> <i>echo "All done !"</i> vmfs extents script luns lun san Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:45:18 GMT eric.paquay@gmail.com http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-10459 2009-08-06T12:45:18Z 3 months, 2 weeks ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-10284 Have anyone found a solution for running fax software in a vm and fax hardware on the network? Currently I can only find some ISDN pci cards and that doesn't work with a vm. I hope that a solution like AnywhereUSB for usb devices is out there just for faxing.<br /> <hr /> You could use good old COM Modems even COM ISDN Modems would help you<br /> <hr /> COM modems work great, and unlike PCI modems, when a COM modem locks, you cycle its power. When a PCI modem locks, you cycle the whole host. Not a good thing on an ESX host.<br /> <hr /> I believe GFi do an IP Based solution..<br /> <br /> <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.gfi.com/">http://www.gfi.com/</a><br /> <hr /> GFI has IP based software, but requires a PBX or some other hardware device to manage fax calls.<br /> <br /> It seems that there currently aren't any available product for virtualization other than traditionel serial attached solutions (modems) that can be connected by tcp/ip<br /> <hr /> I strongly suggest the IP based soluton.... better if using an ethernet connection over optical fibers, yes it requires some additional hardware but it decouples your ESX server from the phone lines (something you still have to consider with COM modems).<br /> Think at what could happen if, during a thunderstorm, lighting hits the phone line where the modem is connected... it can blew up your ESX server!<br /> And don't tell me the chances are low.. it has already happened.. <img class="jive-emoticon" border="0" src="http://communities.vmware.com/images/emoticons/sad.gif" alt=":(" /><br /> <br /> regards,<br /> <br /> Antonello<br /> <hr /> Another reason to use IP based solutions and decouple fax modems from the host a VM runs on is that they make moving VMs around (VMotion) a lot harder if not impossible.<br /> <br /> Frank.<br /> <hr /> Agreed.<br /> <br /> We are using RightFax from Captaris in this same setup. We have the Fax Work Server in a VM and the two remote board servers are stand alone physicals with the full length PCI card. We went with this option because it provided a good measure of redundancy in the critical patient care setup of pharmacy prescription transmission in both the front end and back end aspects.<br /> <hr /> We are about to try GFI Faxmaker with Eicon Diva Soft IP on an ESX 3 VM, coupled to Cisco CM. <br /> I'll keep you posted on whether it works!!<br /> <hr /> We are in the process of getting two PowerEdge 2900's and had planned on putting in a Brooktrout fax card in each. We have RightFax to send scripts to pharmacies. If we run Rightfax on a VM, does anyone know if their is a problem with using one or both fax boards and then if a PE2900 fails everything will still works because one of the fax board resources is still available.<br /> <hr /> If you're using ESX, the fax cards will not work at all.<br /> <br /> VMware ESX server has no support for devices such as fax cards, which is why our fax servers are remaining as physical servers.<br /> <br /> As far as VMware Server goes, I would imagine the same issue would apply.<br /> <hr /> Here's a good post on the very question you're posing:<br /> <br /> <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vmware.com/community/thread.jspa?messageID=396541&#38;#396541">http://www.vmware.com/community/thread.jspa?messageID=396541&#38;#396541</a><br /> <br /> It deals with VMware Server (GSX) but it still holds. Basically, with an internal card, you're SOL.<br /> <br /> Here's a clip from that posting that sums up the issue pretty well (thanks FP@PM!):<br /> <br /> "The concept of a hosted virtual machine is that the vserver can be moved to any host server and work. Any device on the host must be seen by the host and must have a VMware virtual counterpart. So yes your host will see you Fax Card but a virtual server on that host will only see a serial port. So if your software on the virtual server can make use of a comm port the application will work, but if it need the drivers of the card to function then it will not."<br /> <p /> <hr /> Hi , <br /> I'm interested in your test , can you provide more details ?<br /> I understand you'll install GFI Faxmaker on a VM and use a fax board on a different physical server equipped with EICON SOFT IP , am I right ?<br /> How it worked ?<br /> Thanks<br /> <hr /> With Eicon Diva soft IP you don't need any fax hardware what so ever!<br /> <br /> We've got the server talking directly to the Cisco Voice Router which is connected to an ISDN line (we found it easier not to configure Call Manager) so in theroy VMotion should work. <br /> <br /> The software was just over &pound;400 for 2 lines and we're just about to pilot with the first 10 users. Adding more lines is just a software upgrade. <br /> <br /> One thing worth mentioning is that Eicon Diva Soft IP looks like it comes with a USB dongle if you read some manuals but it doesn't.<br /> <br /> This document was generated from the following thread: <a class="jive-link-thread" href="http://communities.vmware.com/thread/66207">Fax hardware for vm's?</a> Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:29:25 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-10284 2009-07-02T18:29:25Z 4 months, 3 weeks ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-10268 lsilogic_buslogic lsi buslogic Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:57:54 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-10268 2009-07-01T11:57:54Z 2 months, 1 week ago 2 http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9617 3.5 esx3.5 networking Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:39:55 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9617 2009-03-09T15:39:55Z 8 months, 1 week ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9659 <br /> Hello Welcome to the community,<br /> <p /> I'm a Esxi starter an have a Problem after plug in a 4th Disk into my Dell ProLiant server.<br /> <p /> The Dell ArrayConfigurationUtility expands my existing logical Drive and set the capacity from 268 GB to 410 GB.<br /> <p /> That's fine up to here. In the VI Client under &lt;configuration&lt;strorage&lt;properties the Device shows Capacity 410 GB but on the left site <br /> <p /> there is an extent with capacity 268 gb. If i klick on the add extent button i get an empty Form.<br /> <p /> How can I get max capacity on the extent or is it possible to expand the extent.<br /> <p /> Thanks <br /> <p /> Heiko Mevius Mon, 09 Mar 2009 09:18:14 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9659 2009-03-09T09:18:14Z 8 months, 2 weeks ago 1 http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9653 I took the liberty to tweek lamw's awsome script<br /> <br /> I simply add a variable called LOG_FILE_LOCATION and had most of the ECHO command to pipe in a file.<br /> <p /> <br /> You can get the original script here <a class="jive-link-wiki" href="http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-8760">ghettoVCB.sh - Free alternative for backing up VM's for ESX(i) 3.5 and 4.0+</a><br /> <p /> <br /> I used the script on ESXi and had no problems with it...<span style="color:#ff0000">this dosen't mean you should'nt test it before!!!</span> <br /> <p /> <br /> <b>All credits for the script should go to lamw</b> esxi backup esx3.5 ghettovcb Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:19:35 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9653 2009-03-04T17:19:35Z 8 months, 3 weeks ago 2 http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9537 Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:06:27 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9537 2009-02-18T21:06:27Z 9 months, 1 week ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9536 Wed, 18 Feb 2009 20:59:49 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9536 2009-02-18T20:59:49Z 9 months, 1 week ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9535 Wed, 18 Feb 2009 20:56:25 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9535 2009-02-18T20:56:25Z 9 months, 1 week ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9534 Wed, 18 Feb 2009 20:53:42 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9534 2009-02-18T20:53:42Z 9 months, 1 week ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9380 I have VM on ESX 3.5 when i try add hard disk capacity 500 GB have error "a general system error occurred: The file is too big for the filesystem" esx3.5 Wed, 21 Jan 2009 06:07:07 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9380 2009-01-21T06:07:07Z 10 months, 1 week ago 1 http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9376 Hello All,<br /> <br /> I have a IBM HS21 XM in a BladeCenter S chassis w/ 2 Xeon Quad core<br /> CPUs . Both cpus are the same speed but they have different CPUIDs and<br /> Microcode levels.<br /> <p /> <br /> ESX 3i 3.5.0 build-123629 will load and run fine w/ 1 cpu but freezes while booting if both cpus are installed.<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <br /> Thanks for any help,<br /> <p /> Scott Tue, 20 Jan 2009 23:16:08 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9376 2009-01-20T23:16:08Z 10 months, 1 week ago 5 http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9321 <h2>Description </h2> <br /> This script utilizes <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35u2/vi3_35_25_u2_rcli.pdf">VMware RCLI</a> (Remote command line interface) and <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vmware.com/support/developer/viperltoolkit/viperl15/doc/perl_toolkit_utilities_idx.html">VMware VI Perl Toolkit</a> found in <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vmware.com/download/download.do?downloadGroup=VI-RCLI-U2">VMware VIMA</a>. <br /> <br /> VMware currently provides few automated options to clone existing virtual machines that require the use of Virtual Center. That is, virtual machine cloning can be achieved through the use of VI Client and tools like <b>“vmclone.pl”</b> (which is part of the VI Perl Toolkit) however it is a stringent requirement that Virtual Center must be present in the virtual infrastructure to take advantage of these options. In contrast, virtual machine cloning can also be achieved manually by executing a sequence of commands through the Service Console. The benefit of this option is that Virtual Center is not needed however it quickly becomes cumbersome and impractical if a large number of virtual machines are to be cloned.<br /> <br /> The motivation for this script ( <b>ghettoClone.sh</b> ) then is to provide administrators with a means to automatically clone and deploy a large subset of virtual machines into a virtual environment without requiring tedious Service Console work or Virtual Center. Furthermore, for ease of accessibility, the free VMware VIMA appliance was chosen as the central launch point for the cloning process. <b>ghettoClone.sh</b> is executed from within VIMA and is compatible with both ESX and ESXi 3.5u2+. It accepts a single source virtual machine along with inputted configuration parameters to tailor cloned virtual machines. <br /> <br /> Please note that <b>ghettoClone.sh</b> will generate full one to one copies of the source VM (which include all VMDK files associated with it). Each cloned virtual machine will inherit all attributes pertaining to the source VM except that of the UUID bio/location ID’s and display name which will be unique across all generated clones. If you're looking to deploy Linked Clones, please refer to this script instead: <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9020">http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9020</a><br /> <br /> <b><span style="color:red">Important Note:</span></b> Upon execution of the cloning process, the user will be prompted to select an available datastore where cloned virtual machines will be stored. It is up to the user to ensure that there is enough space prior to executing the cloning process. This includes but is not limited to considering swap file sizes and room for possible snapshots. The cloning process will begin immediately after confirmation of the datastore so please proceed with caution. It is recommended that the <b>dry run</b> process is executed before committing to a configuration. <br /> <br /> <h2>Requirements:</h2> <ul> <li>VMware VIMA (virtual appliance)</li> <li>ESX/ESXi 3.5u2+</li> <li>my-vmregister.pl (modified version of the sample code provided by VMware) [Download at the bottom]</li> </ul> <br /> <h2>Usage:</h2> <br /> <b>ghettoClone.sh input parameters:</b><br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">Usage: ./ghettoClone.sh [-h SERVER] [-v VM_TO_CLONE] [-n NAMING_CONVENTION] [-s START] [-e END] [-f NAME_FILE] -d Please quote your params if you dare to use spaces in your naming conventions! Ensure this script is being executed on VMware VIMA and your ESX/ESXi hosts are 3.5u2+ OPTIONS: -h ESX/ESXi 3.5+ Server IP or Hostname -v VM to clone (VM display name) -n Clone naming convention -s Starting value -e Ending value -f File containg naming convention for VM clones (separate each name with newline) -d Dry run, produces only text output of what would be executed based on input parameters (e.g.) ./ghettoClone.sh -h olga.resnet.ucsb.edu -v UCSB_TEST -n &quot;UCSB-CLONE-&quot; -s 1 -e 10 ./ghettoClone.sh -h olga.resnet.ucsb.edu -v UCSB_TEST -n &quot;UCSB-CLONE-&quot; -s 1 -e 10 -d ./ghettoClone.sh -h olga.resnet.ucsb.edu -v UCSB_TEST -f cloneInputFile.txt ./ghettoClone.sh -h olga.resnet.ucsb.edu -v UCSB_TEST -f cloneInputFile.txt -d </code></pre><br /> <br /> <h2>Use cases</h2> <br /> There are 2 supported use cases:<br /> <br /> <h4><b><span style="color:blue">Option 1 - </span></b> Deploy clones from source VM by specifying a cloned VM naming convention and amount (start/end parameter) of clones. </h4> <br /> <h4><b><span style="color:green">Option 2 - </span></b> Deploy clones from source VM by specifying a subset of VM names through an input file. The amount of cloned VMs will directly correlate with the amount of display names present in the input file. </h4> <br /> Both use cases support the <b>“Dry Run”</b> feature which allows the user to simulate and validate execution of the script before actual execution of the cloning process. <br /> <br /> <h2>Prerequisite</h2> <br /> Prior to starting, ensure that the VMware VIMA host is managing the appropriate ESX or ESXi 3.5u2+ hosts (those that will be utilizing the ghettoClone.sh script). The script uses VMware VI Fast Pass authentication to connect to the ESX/ESXi server(s). The following steps will demonstrate how to set this up prior to executing the script. <br /> <br /> 1. Add ESX/ESXi hosts to VIMA managment using <b>vifp</b><br /> <br /> A password prompt for the vi-admin account and root password to the pertinent ESX/ESXi host(s) will be presented.<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[vi-admin@vima-primp-industries ~]$ sudo vifp addserver olga.resnet.ucsb.edu root@olga.resnet.ucsb.edu's password: [vi-admin@vima-primp-industries ~]$ </code></pre><br /> <br /> 2. Verify that the appropriate hosts are being managed by VIMA<br /> <br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[vi-admin@vima-primp-industries ~]$ sudo vifp listservers olga.resnet.ucsb.edu himalaya.primp-industries.com </code></pre><br /> <br /> 3. Lastly, prior to running any of the RCLI or VI Perl Toolkits that utilize VI Fast Pass (not all can), run the following command on the appropriate ESX/ESXi host(s).<br /> <br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[vi-admin@vima-primp-industries ~]$ vifpinit olga.resnet.ucsb.edu </code></pre><br /> <br /> To remove a server from VIMA, use the argument <b>“removeserver”</b> on the host and provide the appropriate credentials. <br /> <br /> Now, you're ready to begin!<br /> <p /> <hr /> <br /> <h2>Example execution </h2> <h3>Environment</h3> <ul> <li>ESXi 3.5u3 host </li> <li>Source VM 1 is Windows XP SP2 with 2 VMDK's (10 GB and 50 MB) named <b>UCSB_TEST</b> stored on local storage</li> <li>Source VM 2 is Windows XP SP2 with 2 VMDK's (10 GB and 100 MB) named <b>UCSB-ENGINEERING</b> stored on FC LUN</li> <li>Clone 3 VMs </li> </ul> <br /> <h3><span style="color:blue">Option 1</span></h3> <br /> 1. Dry run execution<br /> <div class="jive-quote">./ghettoClone.sh -h olga.resnet.ucsb.edu -v UCSB_TEST -n "UCSB-RESNET-CLONE-" -s 1 -e 3 -d</div> <br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[vi-admin@vima-primp-industries ~]$ ./ghettoClone.sh -h olga.resnet.ucsb.edu -v UCSB_TEST -n &quot;UCSB-RESNET-CLONE-&quot; -s 1 -e 3 -d Retrieving info from: olga.resnet.ucsb.edu ... Selection Available space Maximum Capacity Type Name 1) 34.18 GB 124.75 GB VMFS dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates 2) 244.61 GB 255.25 GB VMFS olga-local-SAS.Storage 3) 91.58 GB 151.75 GB VMFS dlgCore-FC-LUN202.VMstorage2 4) 29.19 GB 152.75 GB VMFS dlgCore-FC-LUN203.VMstorage3 5) 53.29 GB 150.75 GB VMFS dlgCore-FC-LUN201.VMstorage1 6) exit Please select a datastore in which the cloned virtual machines will be stored: 2 #################### DRY RUN MODE #################### # Temp working directory: tmp_clone_2009-01-09_144356 # ESX Server to initiate clone: olga.resnet.ucsb.edu # SOURCE VM: UCSB_TEST # SOURCE VM PATH: [http://olga-local-SAS.Storage|http://olga-local-SAS.Storage] UCSB_TEST/UCSB_TEST.vmx # SOURCE VM DIR: [http://olga-local-SAS.Storage|http://olga-local-SAS.Storage] UCSB_TEST # SOURCE VM DATASTORE: [http://olga-local-SAS.Storage|http://olga-local-SAS.Storage] # DESTINATION VM DATASTORE: [http://olga-local-SAS.Storage|http://olga-local-SAS.Storage] # VMDK-[0]: -&gt;UCSB_TEST_1.vmdk&lt;- # VMDK-[1]: -&gt;UCSB_TEST.vmdk&lt;- # 2 valid VMDK(s) total # Clone naming convention: UCSB-RESNET-CLONE-{1-3} # 3 clone(s) to create ################################################## Start time: Fri Jan 9 14:36:59 PST 2009 End time: Fri Jan 9 14:37:04 PST 2009 Duration : 5 Seconds </code></pre><br /> <br /> 2. Select a datastore and start clone duplication ( <b>note</b>: in this instance, duplication will take place on the same datastore [local storage: source and destination]. Duplication may be faster on FC/iSCSI/NFS and dissimilar source and destination datastores.)<br /> <br /> <div class="jive-quote">./ghettoClone.sh -h olga.resnet.ucsb.edu -v UCSB_TEST -n "UCSB-RESNET-CLONE-" -s 1 -e 3</div> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[vi-admin@vima-primp-industries ~]$ ./ghettoClone.sh -h olga.resnet.ucsb.edu -v UCSB_TEST -n &quot;UCSB-RESNET-CLONE-&quot; -s 1 -e 3 Retrieving info from: olga.resnet.ucsb.edu ... Selection Available space Maximum Capacity Type Name 1) 34.18 GB 124.75 GB VMFS dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates 2) 244.61 GB 255.25 GB VMFS olga-local-SAS.Storage 3) 91.57 GB 151.75 GB VMFS dlgCore-FC-LUN202.VMstorage2 4) 29.19 GB 152.75 GB VMFS dlgCore-FC-LUN203.VMstorage3 5) 53.29 GB 150.75 GB VMFS dlgCore-FC-LUN201.VMstorage1 6) exit Please select a datastore in which the cloned virtual machines will be stored: 2 0% Complete! - Creating clone &quot;UCSB-RESNET-CLONE-1&quot; - 0/3 - Time elapsed: 5 Seconds 0% Complete! - Creating clone &quot;UCSB-RESNET-CLONE-1&quot; - 0/3 - Time elapsed: 31 Seconds ... 0% Complete! - Creating clone &quot;UCSB-RESNET-CLONE-1&quot; - 0/3 - Time elapsed: 6.67 Minutes 33% Complete! - Creating clone &quot;UCSB-RESNET-CLONE-2&quot; - 1/3 - Time elapsed: 6.77 Minutes ... 33% Complete! - Creating clone &quot;UCSB-RESNET-CLONE-2&quot; - 1/3 - Time elapsed: 13.43 Minutes 66% Complete! - Creating clone &quot;UCSB-RESNET-CLONE-3&quot; - 2/3 - Time elapsed: 13.52 Minutes ... 66% Complete! - Creating clone &quot;UCSB-RESNET-CLONE-3&quot; - 2/3 - Time elapsed: 20.45 Minutes 100% Complete! - Creating clone &quot;UCSB-RESNET-CLONE-3&quot; - 3/3 - Time elapsed: 20.53 Minutes Start time: Fri Jan 9 14:48:23 PST 2009 End time: Fri Jan 9 15:08:56 PST 2009 Duration : 20.55 Minutes </code></pre><br /> <br /> <h3><span style="color:green">Option 2</span></h3> <br /> 0. Input file<br /> <br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[vi-admin@vima-primp-industries ~]$ cat toCloneList ALima AAmbrosio MKerr </code></pre><br /> <br /> The script accepts a file listing display names of the VM clones to be created. Each needs to be separated by a newline.<br /> <br /> 1. Dry run execution<br /> <br /> <div class="jive-quote">./ghettoClone.sh -h olga.resnet.ucsb.edu -v UCSB-ENGINEERING -f toCloneList -d</div> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[vi-admin@vima-primp-industries ~]$ ./ghettoClone.sh -h olga.resnet.ucsb.edu -v UCSB-ENGINEERING -f toCloneList -d Retrieving info from: olga.resnet.ucsb.edu ... Selection Available space Maximum Capacity Type Name 1) 52.83 GB 124.75 GB VMFS dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates 2) 244.61 GB 255.25 GB VMFS olga-local-SAS.Storage 3) 91.50 GB 151.75 GB VMFS dlgCore-FC-LUN202.VMstorage2 4) 29.19 GB 152.75 GB VMFS dlgCore-FC-LUN203.VMstorage3 5) 53.29 GB 150.75 GB VMFS dlgCore-FC-LUN201.VMstorage1 6) exit Please select a datastore in which the cloned virtual machines will be stored: 3 #################### DRY RUN MODE #################### # Temp working directory: tmp_clone_2009-01-09_151630 # ESX Server to initiate clone: olga.resnet.ucsb.edu # SOURCE VM: UCSB-ENGINEERING # SOURCE VM PATH: [http://dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates|http://dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates] UCSB-ENGINEERING/UCSB-ENGINEERING.vmx # SOURCE VM DIR: [http://dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates|http://dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates] UCSB-ENGINEERING # SOURCE VM DATASTORE: [http://dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates|http://dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates] # DESTINATION VM DATASTORE: [http://dlgCore-FC-LUN202.VMstorage2|http://dlgCore-FC-LUN202.VMstorage2] # VMDK-[0]: -&gt;UCSB-ENGINEERING_1.vmdk&lt;- # VMDK-[1]: -&gt;UCSB-ENGINEERING.vmdk&lt;- # 2 valid VMDK(s) total # Clone naming convention: [ AAmbrosio ALima MKerr ] # 3 clone(s) to create ################################################## Start time: Fri Jan 9 15:16:36 PST 2009 End time: Fri Jan 9 15:16:41 PST 2009 Duration : 5 Seconds </code></pre><br /> <br /> 2. Select datastore and start clone duplication ( <b>note</b>: in this instance, duplication will take place from one source FC datastore to different destination FC datastore)<br /> <br /> <div class="jive-quote">./ghettoClone.sh -h olga.resnet.ucsb.edu -v UCSB-ENGINEERING -f toCloneList</div> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[vi-admin@vima-primp-industries ~]$ ./ghettoClone.sh -h olga.resnet.ucsb.edu -v UCSB-ENGINEERING -f toCloneList Retrieving info from: olga.resnet.ucsb.edu ... Selection Available space Maximum Capacity Type Name 1) 52.83 GB 124.75 GB VMFS dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates 2) 244.61 GB 255.25 GB VMFS olga-local-SAS.Storage 3) 91.50 GB 151.75 GB VMFS dlgCore-FC-LUN202.VMstorage2 4) 29.19 GB 152.75 GB VMFS dlgCore-FC-LUN203.VMstorage3 5) 53.29 GB 150.75 GB VMFS dlgCore-FC-LUN201.VMstorage1 6) exit Please select a datastore in which the cloned virtual machines will be stored: 3 0% Complete! - Creating clone &quot;AAmbrosio&quot; - 0/3 - Time elapsed: 10 Seconds ... 0% Complete! - Creating clone &quot;AAmbrosio&quot; - 0/3 - Time elapsed: 2.62 Minutes 33% Complete! - Creating clone &quot;ALima&quot; - 1/3 - Time elapsed: 2.70 Minutes ... 33% Complete! - Creating clone &quot;ALima&quot; - 1/3 - Time elapsed: 5.42 Minutes 66% Complete! - Creating clone &quot;MKerr&quot; - 2/3 - Time elapsed: 5.50 Minutes ... 66% Complete! - Creating clone &quot;MKerr&quot; - 2/3 - Time elapsed: 8.12 Minutes 100% Complete! - Creating clone &quot;MKerr&quot; - 3/3 - Time elapsed: 8.20 Minutes Start time: Fri Jan 9 15:21:35 PST 2009 End time: Fri Jan 9 15:29:49 PST 2009 Duration : 8.23 Minutes </code></pre> 3.5 esx3.5 esxi update_2 update_3 rcli vmware_vima vima vi_perl_toolkit vitk clones clone cloning full_clone esx_cloning esxi_cloning Fri, 09 Jan 2009 23:57:43 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9321 2009-01-09T23:57:43Z 10 months, 2 weeks ago 2 http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9111 I cannot connect to certain hosts in my farm from virtualcenter, they show as (not responding).<br /> Therefore I connect directly to them and in the Recent Tasks pane, i "see Update Child Resource Configuration" constantly scrolling in the tasks list.<br /> <br /> This is what is killing the server connectivity.<br /> <br /> Ideas?!<br /> <br /> <hr /> I have just been having exactly the same problem.<br /> <br /> Hosts would briefly go "not responding" then return, also had problems editing VM configs, starting/stopping VMs etc.<br /> <br /> Eventually spotted the hosts were continuously doing "Update Child Resource Configuration" many times each second.<br /> I tried disabling DRS, but no effect.<br /> Eventually I went through the following sequence for all hosts (fortunately only 5 of them)<br /> <br /> <ol> <li>Disconnect host from VC.</li> <li>Remove host from VC.</li> <li>service vmware-vpxa stop - this stopped the Update Child.. tasks.</li> <li>service mgmt-vmware restart.</li> <li>Add host back into VC.</li> </ol> This appears to have resolved the problem and didn't require any VMs to be restarted, but it is not something I would like to repeat too often!<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <hr /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <br /> Ce document a &eacute;t&eacute; g&eacute;n&eacute;r&eacute; &agrave; partir du fil de discussion suivant: <a class="jive-link-thread" href="http://communities.vmware.com/thread/175191">update child resource configuration constantly scrolling in the VI client</a> Tue, 09 Dec 2008 10:29:16 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9111 2008-12-09T10:29:16Z 11 months, 2 weeks ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9061 <b>“my-vmware-cmd”</b> was developed to aid in the day-to-day management of our VDI environment. This script allows specific operations to be executed across a specified set of virtual machines by utilizing a subset of available VMware service console operations. Although specific to our VDI environment, the script is versatile in that it can be extended to other virtual machine environments.<br /> <br /> <b>Compatiable with:</b><br /> VMware ESX 3.5 Update 3<br /> VMware ESXi 3.5 Installable Update 3<br /> VMware ESX 3.5 Update 2<br /> VMware ESXi 3.5 Installable Update 2<br /> VMware ESX 3.5 Update 1<br /> VMware ESXi 3.5 Installable Update 1<br /> VMware ESX 3.5 <br /> VMware ESXi 3.5 Installable<br /> VMware ESX Server 3.0.3<br /> VMware ESX Server 3.0.2 Update 1<br /> VMware ESX Server 3.0.2<br /> VMware ESX Server 3.0.1<br /> VMware ESX Server 3.0.0<br /> <br /> The script accepts a text file that specifies virtual machine display names. In addition to running the script locally on an ESX/ESXi host, the script can be executed remotely from a <b>centralized host</b> such as an administrative UNIX/Linux system that has access to the ESX/ESXi hosts that the virtual machines reside on.<br /> <br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">Usage: Local execution- my-vmware-cmd.sh [operation] [vm_input_file] &lt;optional_arguments&gt; Remote execution- my-vmware-cmd.sh remote [ESX_ESXI_IP_ADDRESS] [operation] [vm_input_file] &lt;optional_arguments&gt; Operations: start [vm_input_file] -- Start all VMs in the input file stop [vm_input_file] -- Stop all VMs in the input file suspend [vm_input_file] -- Suspend all VMs in the input file resume [vm_input_file] -- Resume all suspended VMs in the input file reset [vm_input_file] -- Hard reset all VMs in the input file shutdown [vm_input_file] -- Shutdown all VMs in the input file (VMware Tools required) reboot [vm_input_file] -- Reboot all VMs in the input file (VMware Tools required) snap [vm_input_file] -- Create administrative pristine snapshot of all VMs in the input file revert [vm_input_file] -- Revert all VMs in the input file back to pristine state purge [vm_input_file] -- Removes from local inventory and purges all VMs in the input file mac [vm_input_file] [generic|nixdhcp] [http://NETWORK (172.30.0)|http://NETWORK (172.30.0)] [HOST_COUNT_START (200)] &lt;NIC_#&gt; default=0 -- Extracts MAC addresses and generates either a generic file or one compatible with *nix dhcpd ( e.g. my-vmware-cmd.sh mac [vm_input_file] generic ) ( e.g. my-vmware-cmd.sh mac [vm_input_file] nixdhcp 172.30.0 200 ) vnic [vm_input_file] &lt;NIC_#&gt; default=0 -- Change vNic portgroup for all VMs in the input file ( e.g. my-vmware-cmd.sh vnic [vm_input_file] 3 ) </code></pre><br /> <p /> The majority of operations are relatively self explanatory; this document will focus on three operations that are specific to our VDI environment. <br /> <br /> <ul> <li>purge</li> <li>mac</li> <li>vnic</li> </ul> <br /> These operations will be demonstrated across 32 linked clones that have been generated from the developed <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9020">ghetto-esx-linked-clones.sh</a> script.<br /> <br /> <hr /> <br /> <h4><b>purge</b></h4> This operation unregisters and removes specified linked clones that have been generated from <b>ghetto-esx(i)-linked-clones.sh</b>. Linked clones must be purged prior to updating the Master VM image associated to the clones. The issue arises from the fact that linked clones are tied to the Master VMDK. Modifications to respective Master images are not possible until associated LCs are destroyed. When a <b>“delete from disk”</b> operation is issued in VIClient on said VMs, all attributes of the VMs will be removed including referenced VMDKs. In this circumstance, the Master VMDK in which all linked clones are referencing will be removed. <br /> <br /> Basically, the purge operation handles linked clone deletions properly by locally unregistering specified linked clones and deleting their respective directories while leaving the Master VM image intact. One caveat to this process is that the inventory change will be reflected on Virtual Center as an orphaned VM. In this case, one just needs to issue <b>”remove from inventory”</b> operations on the orphaned VMs. <br /> <p /> <span style="color:blue"><b>Virtual Machine Input file(s):</b></span><br /> <br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[root@olga lamw]# cat vm_input_file_1 LinkedCLones-1 LinkedCLones-2 LinkedCLones-3 LinkedCLones-4 LinkedCLones-5 LinkedCLones-6 LinkedCLones-7 LinkedCLones-8 LinkedCLones-9 LinkedCLones-10 LinkedCLones-11 LinkedCLones-12 LinkedCLones-13 LinkedCLones-14 LinkedCLones-15 LinkedCLones-16 [root@olga lamw]# cat vm_input_file_2 LinkedCLones-17 LinkedCLones-18 LinkedCLones-19 LinkedCLones-20 LinkedCLones-21 LinkedCLones-22 LinkedCLones-23 LinkedCLones-24 LinkedCLones-25 LinkedCLones-26 LinkedCLones-27 LinkedCLones-28 LinkedCLones-29 LinkedCLones-30 LinkedCLones-31 LinkedCLones-32 </code></pre><br /> <br /> <ul> <li><span style="color:blue"><b>Local Execution on ESX host:</b></span></li> </ul> <br /> <h3>Scenario: Purge Linked Clones 1-16 on local ESX Host</h3> <br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[root@olga lamw]# vmware -v VMware ESX Server 3.5.0 build-123630 [root@olga lamw]# ./my-vmware-cmd.sh purge vm_input_file_1 ############################################################################### # # UCSB ResNet Virtual Machine Managment Tool for VMware ESX 3.5+ and ESXi # Author: william2003[at]gmail[dot]com # Created: 07/05/2008 # ############################################################################### Validating Virtual Machine list against VMs on ESX Server: olga.resnet.ucsb.edu &quot;LinkedCLones-1&quot; &quot;LinkedCLones-2&quot; &quot;LinkedCLones-3&quot; &quot;LinkedCLones-4&quot; &quot;LinkedCLones-5&quot; &quot;LinkedCLones-6&quot; &quot;LinkedCLones-7&quot; &quot;LinkedCLones-8&quot; &quot;LinkedCLones-9&quot; &quot;LinkedCLones-10&quot; &quot;LinkedCLones-11&quot; &quot;LinkedCLones-12&quot; &quot;LinkedCLones-13&quot; &quot;LinkedCLones-14&quot; &quot;LinkedCLones-15&quot; &quot;LinkedCLones-16&quot; Purge the following 16 Virtual Machine(s) y/n? y </code></pre><br /> <br /> <span style="color:blue"><b>Purging Virtual Machines in the specified list:</b></span><br /> <br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">Purging has been confirmed for the following 16 Virtual machine(s) Unregistering &quot;LinkedCLones-1&quot; VM_ID=15856 and removing /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/LinkedCLones-1 Unregistering &quot;LinkedCLones-2&quot; VM_ID=15872 and removing /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/LinkedCLones-2 Unregistering &quot;LinkedCLones-3&quot; VM_ID=15888 and removing /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/LinkedCLones-3 Unregistering &quot;LinkedCLones-4&quot; VM_ID=15904 and removing /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/LinkedCLones-4 Unregistering &quot;LinkedCLones-5&quot; VM_ID=15920 and removing /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/LinkedCLones-5 Unregistering &quot;LinkedCLones-6&quot; VM_ID=15936 and removing /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/LinkedCLones-6 Unregistering &quot;LinkedCLones-7&quot; VM_ID=15952 and removing /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/LinkedCLones-7 Unregistering &quot;LinkedCLones-8&quot; VM_ID=15968 and removing /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/LinkedCLones-8 Unregistering &quot;LinkedCLones-9&quot; VM_ID=15984 and removing /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/LinkedCLones-9 Unregistering &quot;LinkedCLones-10&quot; VM_ID=16000 and removing /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/LinkedCLones-10 Unregistering &quot;LinkedCLones-11&quot; VM_ID=16016 and removing /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/LinkedCLones-11 Unregistering &quot;LinkedCLones-12&quot; VM_ID=16032 and removing /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/LinkedCLones-12 Unregistering &quot;LinkedCLones-13&quot; VM_ID=16048 and removing /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/LinkedCLones-13 Unregistering &quot;LinkedCLones-14&quot; VM_ID=16064 and removing /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/LinkedCLones-14 Unregistering &quot;LinkedCLones-15&quot; VM_ID=16080 and removing /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/LinkedCLones-15 Unregistering &quot;LinkedCLones-16&quot; VM_ID=16096 and removing /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/LinkedCLones-16 Start time: Mon Dec 8 22:45:36 PST 2008 End time: Mon Dec 8 22:46:11 PST 2008 Duration : 35 Seconds Completed purge for all specified Virtual Machines! </code></pre><br /> <br /> <ul> <li><span style="color:green"><b>Remote Execution on non-ESX host (VIMA):</b></span></li> </ul> <br /> <h3>Scenario: Purge Linked Clones 17-32 from remote VIMA host</h3> <br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[vi-admin@vima-primp-industries ~]$ vmware -v -bash: vmware: command not found [vi-admin@vima-primp-industries ~]$ uname -a Linux vima-primp-industries.com 2.6.18-92.el5 #1 SMP Tue Apr 29 13:16:15 EDT 2008 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux [vi-admin@vima-primp-industries ~]$ cat /etc/redhat-release Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server release 5.2 (Tikanga) [vi-admin@vima-primp-industries ~]$ [vi-admin@vima-primp-industries ~]$ ./my-vmware-cmd.sh remote 172.30.0.64 purge vm_input_file_2 ############################################################################### # # UCSB ResNet Virtual Machine Managment Tool for VMware ESX 3.5+ and ESXi # Author: william2003[at]gmail[dot]com # Created: 07/05/2008 # ############################################################################### Executing remote operation: &quot;purge&quot; on host: 172.30.0.64 with the following specified Virtual Machines: ##################################### LinkedCLones-17 LinkedCLones-18 LinkedCLones-19 LinkedCLones-20 LinkedCLones-21 LinkedCLones-22 LinkedCLones-23 LinkedCLones-24 LinkedCLones-25 LinkedCLones-26 LinkedCLones-27 LinkedCLones-28 LinkedCLones-29 LinkedCLones-30 LinkedCLones-31 LinkedCLones-32 ##################################### OPERATION WILL BE EXECUTED IMMEDIATELY ONCE AUTHENTICATION ON REMOTE HOST SUCCEEDS! Would you like to continue y/n? y </code></pre><br /> <br /> <span style="color:green"><b>Purging Virtual Machines in the specified list:</b></span><br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">root@172.30.0.64's password: Validating Virtual Machine list against VMs on ESX Server: olga.resnet.ucsb.edu Unregistering &quot;LinkedCLones-17&quot; VM_ID=16112 and removing /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/LinkedCLones-17 Unregistering &quot;LinkedCLones-18&quot; VM_ID=16128 and removing /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/LinkedCLones-18 Unregistering &quot;LinkedCLones-19&quot; VM_ID=16144 and removing /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/LinkedCLones-19 Unregistering &quot;LinkedCLones-20&quot; VM_ID=16160 and removing /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/LinkedCLones-20 Unregistering &quot;LinkedCLones-21&quot; VM_ID=16176 and removing /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/LinkedCLones-21 Unregistering &quot;LinkedCLones-22&quot; VM_ID=16192 and removing /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/LinkedCLones-22 Unregistering &quot;LinkedCLones-23&quot; VM_ID=16208 and removing /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/LinkedCLones-23 Unregistering &quot;LinkedCLones-24&quot; VM_ID=16224 and removing /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/LinkedCLones-24 Unregistering &quot;LinkedCLones-25&quot; VM_ID=16240 and removing /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/LinkedCLones-25 Unregistering &quot;LinkedCLones-26&quot; VM_ID=16256 and removing /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/LinkedCLones-26 Unregistering &quot;LinkedCLones-27&quot; VM_ID=16272 and removing /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/LinkedCLones-27 Unregistering &quot;LinkedCLones-28&quot; VM_ID=16288 and removing /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/LinkedCLones-28 Unregistering &quot;LinkedCLones-29&quot; VM_ID=16304 and removing /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/LinkedCLones-29 Unregistering &quot;LinkedCLones-30&quot; VM_ID=16320 and removing /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/LinkedCLones-30 Unregistering &quot;LinkedCLones-31&quot; VM_ID=16336 and removing /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/LinkedCLones-31 Unregistering &quot;LinkedCLones-32&quot; VM_ID=16352 and removing /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/LinkedCLones-32 Start time: Mon Dec 8 22:56:45 PST 2008 End time: Mon Dec 8 22:57:19 PST 2008 Duration : 34 Seconds Completed purge for all specified Virtual Machines! </code></pre><br /> <p /> <hr /> <br /> <h4><b>mac</b></h4> This operation extracts MAC addresses associated with specified VMs and outputs a file named: <b>"dhcp-eth#-YYYY-MM-DD-HHMMSS"</b>. This outputted file can then be used to reserve IPs on either Windows or *nix DHCP servers. There are two output options, one being a generic output relating VM names to their respective MAC address and the other a prepared file that is compatible with popular *nix dhcpd releases. <br /> <br /> <h3>Scenario: Extract MAC Addresses for the 32 Linked Clones and output in a generic form.</h3> <br /> <ul> <li><span style="color:green"><b>Local Execution on ESXi host:</b></span></li> </ul> <br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">~ # vmware -v VMware ESX Server 3i 3.5.0 build-123629 ~ # ./my-vmware-cmd.sh mac vm_input_file generic ############################################################################### # # UCSB ResNet Virtual Machine Managment Tool for VMware ESX 3.x and ESXi # Author: william2003[at]gmail[dot]com # Created: 07/05/2008 # ############################################################################### Validating Virtual Machine list against VMs on ESX Server: olga.resnet.ucsb.edu Start time: Sat Dec 20 03:38:55 UTC 2008 End time: Sat Dec 20 03:38:58 UTC 2008 Duration : 3 Seconds Completed &quot;dhcp-eth0-2008-12-20-033855&quot; generation file for all specified Virtual Machines! ~ # ~ # cat dhcp-eth0-2008-12-20-033855 LinkedClones1 005056b45d33 LinkedClones10 005056b45a2f LinkedClones11 005056b450ec LinkedClones12 005056b44182 LinkedClones13 005056b43790 LinkedClones14 005056b40346 LinkedClones15 005056b407fb LinkedClones16 005056b42a3f LinkedClones17 005056b44c11 LinkedClones18 005056b41f24 LinkedClones19 005056b42308 LinkedClones2 005056b4440f LinkedClones20 005056b47039 LinkedClones21 005056b44219 LinkedClones22 005056b4699b LinkedClones23 005056b42e7c LinkedClones24 005056b4028b LinkedClones25 005056b46f1c LinkedClones26 005056b42299 LinkedClones27 005056b4225e LinkedClones28 005056b42eed LinkedClones29 005056b425fd LinkedClones3 005056b42502 LinkedClones30 005056b45556 LinkedClones31 005056b477c3 LinkedClones32 005056b425df LinkedClones4 005056b428d7 LinkedClones5 005056b4602f LinkedClones6 005056b46e43 LinkedClones7 005056b41139 LinkedClones8 005056b4683d LinkedClones9 005056b40566 ~ # </code></pre><br /> <p /> <h3>Scenario: Create DHCP IP reservation file for the 32 Linked Clones on Network: "<b>172.30.200</b>", starting from Host: "<b>50</b>" and increment to the last VM.</h3> <br /> <ul> <li><span style="color:green"><b>Remote Execution on non ESX host (VIMA):</b></span></li> </ul> <p /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[vi-admin@vima-primp-industries ~]$ vmware -v -bash: vmware: command not found [vi-admin@vima-primp-industries ~]$ uname -a Linux vima-primp-industries.com 2.6.18-92.el5 #1 SMP Tue Apr 29 13:16:15 EDT 2008 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux [vi-admin@vima-primp-industries ~]$ cat /etc/redhat-release Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server release 5.2 (Tikanga) [vi-admin@vima-primp-industries ~]$ [vi-admin@vima-primp-industries ~]$ ./my-vmware-cmd.sh remote 172.30.0.64 mac vm_input_file linux 172.30.200 50 ############################################################################### # # UCSB ResNet Virtual Machine Managment Tool for VMware ESX 3.x and ESXi # Author: william2003[at]gmail[dot]com # Created: 07/05/2008 # ############################################################################### Connecting to 172.30.0.64 to extract MAC Addresses: root@172.30.0.64's password: Completed &quot;dhcp-2008-12-06-182712&quot; generation file for all specified Virtual Machines! [vi-admin@vima-primp-industries ~]$ cat dhcp-2008-12-06-182712 host LinkedClones-1 { hardware ethernet 00:50:56:b4:19:f8; fixed-address 172.30.200.50; } host LinkedClones-2 { hardware ethernet 00:50:56:b4:3f:7b; fixed-address 172.30.200.51; } host LinkedClones-3 { hardware ethernet 00:50:56:b4:36:af; fixed-address 172.30.200.52; } host LinkedClones-4 { hardware ethernet 00:50:56:b4:0a:13; fixed-address 172.30.200.53; } host LinkedClones-5 { hardware ethernet 00:50:56:b4:4c:cb; fixed-address 172.30.200.54; } host LinkedClones-6 { hardware ethernet 00:50:56:b4:26:a9; fixed-address 172.30.200.55; } host LinkedClones-7 { hardware ethernet 00:50:56:b4:7c:f0; fixed-address 172.30.200.56; } host LinkedClones-8 { hardware ethernet 00:50:56:b4:31:6f; fixed-address 172.30.200.57; } host LinkedClones-9 { hardware ethernet 00:50:56:b4:1f:75; fixed-address 172.30.200.58; } host LinkedClones-10 { hardware ethernet 00:50:56:b4:55:9b; fixed-address 172.30.200.59; } host LinkedClones-11 { hardware ethernet 00:50:56:b4:3b:8d; fixed-address 172.30.200.60; } host LinkedClones-12 { hardware ethernet 00:50:56:b4:45:b8; fixed-address 172.30.200.61; } host LinkedClones-13 { hardware ethernet 00:50:56:b4:1f:29; fixed-address 172.30.200.62; } host LinkedClones-14 { hardware ethernet 00:50:56:b4:5d:14; fixed-address 172.30.200.63; } host LinkedClones-15 { hardware ethernet 00:50:56:b4:03:98; fixed-address 172.30.200.64; } host LinkedClones-16 { hardware ethernet 00:50:56:b4:4f:81; fixed-address 172.30.200.65; } host LinkedClones-17 { hardware ethernet 00:50:56:b4:3b:43; fixed-address 172.30.200.66; } host LinkedClones-18 { hardware ethernet 00:50:56:b4:0b:85; fixed-address 172.30.200.67; } host LinkedClones-19 { hardware ethernet 00:50:56:b4:5e:0a; fixed-address 172.30.200.68; } host LinkedClones-20 { hardware ethernet 00:50:56:b4:12:14; fixed-address 172.30.200.69; } host LinkedClones-21 { hardware ethernet 00:50:56:b4:06:08; fixed-address 172.30.200.70; } host LinkedClones-22 { hardware ethernet 00:50:56:b4:45:55; fixed-address 172.30.200.71; } host LinkedClones-23 { hardware ethernet 00:50:56:b4:67:b0; fixed-address 172.30.200.72; } host LinkedClones-24 { hardware ethernet 00:50:56:b4:48:12; fixed-address 172.30.200.73; } host LinkedClones-25 { hardware ethernet 00:50:56:b4:48:c3; fixed-address 172.30.200.74; } host LinkedClones-26 { hardware ethernet 00:50:56:b4:38:50; fixed-address 172.30.200.75; } host LinkedClones-27 { hardware ethernet 00:50:56:b4:3f:ac; fixed-address 172.30.200.76; } host LinkedClones-28 { hardware ethernet 00:50:56:b4:68:c9; fixed-address 172.30.200.77; } host LinkedClones-29 { hardware ethernet 00:50:56:b4:72:a4; fixed-address 172.30.200.78; } host LinkedClones-30 { hardware ethernet 00:50:56:b4:66:78; fixed-address 172.30.200.79; } host LinkedClones-31 { hardware ethernet 00:50:56:b4:53:e7; fixed-address 172.30.200.80; } host LinkedClones-32 { hardware ethernet 00:50:56:b4:2f:8b; fixed-address 172.30.200.81; } </code></pre><br /> <p /> <hr /> <br /> <h4><b>vnic</b></h4> <br /> This operation reconfigures the portgroup of the specified vNic (default eth0) for a given set of VMs. This operation supports remote execution but requires 2 SSH authentications by design. The operation also requires that the VMs in question be powered off prior to execution. Unfortunately due to the limitation of the CLI, there is currently no dynamic way of modifying the vNic portgroup while the VM is powered on.<br /> <br /> <h3>Scenario: Change 16 of the 32 Linked Clones from "IsolatedNetwork" to "labs.90-172.30.90-23" network</h3> <br /> 1. Portgroup Selection:<br /> <br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[root@olga lamw]# ./my-vmware-cmd.sh vnic vm_input_file_1 ############################################################################### # # UCSB ResNet Virtual Machine Managment Tool for VMware ESX 3.x and ESXi # Author: william2003[at]gmail[dot]com # Created: 07/05/2008 # ############################################################################### Validating Virtual Machine list against VMs on ESX Server: olga.resnet.ucsb.edu CHOICE VLAN ID PORTGROUP ------------------------------------------ 1 4095 trunk.PassThrough 2 3252 dev.3252-172.30.52-24 3 3249 dev.3249-172.30.49-24 4 3248 dev.3248-172.30.48-24 5 333 nc.333-172.30.0-24 6 90 labs.90-172.30.90-23 7 333 SC.NC333 8 100 SC.Core100 9 3251 VMk.3251 10 0 IsolatedNetwork 11 Quit Please select a portgroup to apply to the following Virtual Machine(s): 10 </code></pre><br /> <br /> 2. Portgroup configuration:<br /> <br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">&quot;LinkedClones-1&quot; &quot;LinkedClones-2&quot; &quot;LinkedClones-3&quot; &quot;LinkedClones-4&quot; &quot;LinkedClones-5&quot; &quot;LinkedClones-6&quot; &quot;LinkedClones-7&quot; &quot;LinkedClones-8&quot; &quot;LinkedClones-9&quot; &quot;LinkedClones-10&quot; &quot;LinkedClones-11&quot; &quot;LinkedClones-12&quot; &quot;LinkedClones-13&quot; &quot;LinkedClones-14&quot; &quot;LinkedClones-15&quot; &quot;LinkedClones-16&quot; Would you like to update the Network configuration for &quot;eth0&quot; to apply &quot;labs.90-172.30.90-23&quot; to the following 16 Virtual Machine(s) y/n? y VM Network Portgroup update will take affect for the following 16 Virtual machine(s) Completed configuring LinkedClones-1 from &quot;IsolatedNetwork&quot; to &quot;labs.90-172.30.90-23&quot; Completed configuring LinkedClones-2 from &quot;IsolatedNetwork&quot; to &quot;labs.90-172.30.90-23&quot; Completed configuring LinkedClones-3 from &quot;IsolatedNetwork&quot; to &quot;labs.90-172.30.90-23&quot; Completed configuring LinkedClones-4 from &quot;IsolatedNetwork&quot; to &quot;labs.90-172.30.90-23&quot; Completed configuring LinkedClones-5 from &quot;IsolatedNetwork&quot; to &quot;labs.90-172.30.90-23&quot; Completed configuring LinkedClones-6 from &quot;IsolatedNetwork&quot; to &quot;labs.90-172.30.90-23&quot; Completed configuring LinkedClones-7 from &quot;IsolatedNetwork&quot; to &quot;labs.90-172.30.90-23&quot; Completed configuring LinkedClones-8 from &quot;IsolatedNetwork&quot; to &quot;labs.90-172.30.90-23&quot; Completed configuring LinkedClones-9 from &quot;IsolatedNetwork&quot; to &quot;labs.90-172.30.90-23&quot; Completed configuring LinkedClones-10 from &quot;IsolatedNetwork&quot; to &quot;labs.90-172.30.90-23&quot; Completed configuring LinkedClones-11 from &quot;IsolatedNetwork&quot; to &quot;labs.90-172.30.90-23&quot; Completed configuring LinkedClones-12 from &quot;IsolatedNetwork&quot; to &quot;labs.90-172.30.90-23&quot; Completed configuring LinkedClones-13 from &quot;IsolatedNetwork&quot; to &quot;labs.90-172.30.90-23 Completed configuring LinkedClones-14 from &quot;IsolatedNetwork&quot; to &quot;labs.90-172.30.90-23&quot; Completed configuring LinkedClones-15 from &quot;IsolatedNetwork&quot; to &quot;labs.90-172.30.90-23&quot; Completed configuring LinkedClones-16 from &quot;IsolatedNetwork&quot; to &quot;labs.90-172.30.90-23&quot; Start time: Tue Dec 9 18:37:05 PST 2008 End time: Tue Dec 9 18:37:49 PST 2008 Duration : 44 Seconds Completed Network Configurations for all specified Virtual Machines! </code></pre><br /> <br /> <hr /> <br /> <h3><span style="color:red">Known Issues:</span></h3> <br /> 1. When running "<b>my-vmware-cmd</b>" on ESXi and using operation "<b>vnic</b>", you may see the following warning output, this can be ignored, this is due to some of the limited capabilities of the binaries in the busy box environment.<br /> <br /> Warning Message<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">Please select a portgroup to apply to the following Virtual Machine(s): bash: Network: unknown operand </code></pre> 3.0.0 3.0.1 3.0.2 3.0.3 3.5 esx3 esx3.5 Sat, 06 Dec 2008 18:11:00 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9061 2008-12-06T18:11:00Z 11 months, 1 week ago 1 http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9020 This script allows users to create linked cloned virtual machine(s) from a master (or golden) virtual machine. Clones may be stored on any type of datastore (LOCAL, SAN, NFS) that is presented to the ESX host. The script is very capable in deploying a large VDI environment in a relatively short amount of time.<br /> <br /> <b>Compatiable with:</b><br /> VMware ESX 3.5 Update 3<br /> VMware ESX 3.5 Update 2<br /> VMware ESX 3.5 Update 1<br /> VMware ESX 3.5 <br /> VMware ESX Server 3.0.3<br /> VMware ESX Server 3.0.2 Update 1<br /> VMware ESX Server 3.0.2<br /> VMware ESX Server 3.0.1<br /> VMware ESX Server 3.0.0<br /> <br /> There are currently 3 supported use cases:<br /> <br /> 1) <b>Default</b><br /> Generate linked clones located in the same datastore that houses the master (golden) virtual machine. Writes will be directed to their respective linked virtual machine delta file with reads originating from the master virtual machine. <br /> <br /> 2) <b>Distributed Write(s) I/O</b><br /> Generate linked clones evenly across available datastores of choice. Reads will originate from the specified master virtual machine while writes are directed towards their respective virtual machine delta files that have been dispersed across the specified datastores.<br /> <br /> 3) <b>Distributed Read(s) &#38; Write(s) I/O</b><br /> Duplicate the master virtual machine on available datastores of choice and evenly generate linked clones off of each duplicated master virtual machine. Reads and writes will be isolated onto the datastore of the linked clone(s) in question. This process is similar to running multiple instances of the default behavior of the script.<br /> <br /> <b>Note</b>: This linked clones script is virtual machine OS independent (i.e. it is not restricted to just Windows OS’s for VDI environment). For example, one can utilize this script to their advantage in development environments where new VMs need to be (mass) cloned quickly for testing.<br /> <p /> <br /> <b><span style="color:red">DISCLAIMER</span></b> - When deleting linked clones, our process requires that the admin utilizes the <b>“<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9061">my-vmware-cmd</a>”</b> toolset that has been developed. Under no circumstances should the <b>“delete from disk”</b> feature be used on a linked clone from within VIClient. This is to ensure that the master image of which clones are linked from is not terminated.<hr /> <br /> The following requirements will be validated by the script prior to execution:<br /> <ul> <li>Master VM is offline</li> <li>Master VM does not contain any Snapshots or RDMs</li> <li>Valid eth0 interface</li> <li>Single VMDK disk (remove any instances in the .vmx file if you have others)</li> </ul> <p /> <br /> <h3><u>Example Execution of all 3 Use cases:</u></h3> <br /> <b><span style="color:green">Storage Environment:</span></b><br /> <br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[root@olga lamw]# vmware-vim-cmd hostsvc/summary/fsvolume Name Type SubType Path Device Capacity Mode dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates VmfsVolume VMFS /vmfs/volumes/48e1cd81-81223593-6cd8-00215acaa2b2 vmhba1:0:200:1 133949292544 readWrite dlgCore-FC-LUN202.VMstorage2 VmfsVolume VMFS /vmfs/volumes/48e1a4a6-3b55e69b-02a9-001f29c948e2 vmhba1:0:202:1 162940321792 readWrite olga-local-SAS.Storage VmfsVolume VMFS /vmfs/volumes/49167992-ac31f0a5-3f9f-001f29c7a04c vmhba0:0:0:5 274072600576 readWrite dlgCore-FC-LUN203.VMstorage3 VmfsVolume VMFS /vmfs/volumes/48e16ed0-420158d5-5601-00215acaa2b2 vmhba1:0:203:1 164014063616 readWrite dlgCore-FC-LUN201.VMstorage1 VmfsVolume VMFS /vmfs/volumes/48e1b819-3443974c-03c4-001f29c948e2 vmhba1:0:201:1 161866579968 readWrite </code></pre><br /> <br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[root@olga lamw]# vdf -h Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on /dev/cciss/c0d0p2 7.9G 1.2G 6.3G 16% / /dev/cciss/c0d0p1 244M 27M 204M 12% /boot /dev/cciss/c0d0p7 2.0G 33M 1.9G 2% /home none 391M 0 391M 0% /dev/shm /dev/cciss/c0d0p8 2.0G 33M 1.9G 2% /tmp /dev/cciss/c0d0p6 4.0G 289M 3.5G 8% /var /vmfs/devices 273G 0 273G 0% /vmfs/devices /vmfs/volumes/48e16ed0-420158d5-5601-00215acaa2b2 152G 108G 44G 70% /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN203.VMstorage3 /vmfs/volumes/48e1a4a6-3b55e69b-02a9-001f29c948e2 151G 105G 46G 69% /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN202.VMstorage2 /vmfs/volumes/48e1b819-3443974c-03c4-001f29c948e2 150G 126G 24G 84% /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN201.VMstorage1 /vmfs/volumes/48e1cd81-81223593-6cd8-00215acaa2b2 124G 71G 53G 57% /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates /vmfs/volumes/49167992-ac31f0a5-3f9f-001f29c7a04c 255G 1.3G 253G 0% /vmfs/volumes/olga-local-SAS.Storage </code></pre><br /> <br /> <hr /> <br /> <h3><b><span style="color:blue">Default Case</span></b></h3> <ul> <li>Master Virtual Machine: /vmfs/volumes/olga-local-SAS.Storage/UCSB-GAUCHOS/UCSB-GAUCHOS.vmx stored on LOCAL STORAGE</li> <li>Storage Medium: LOCAL STORAGE</li> <li>32 Linked Clones on the same datastore as the Master VM</li> </ul> <br /> <div class="jive-quote"> <strike>root@olga lamw</strike># ./ghetto-esx-linked-clones.sh /vmfs/volumes/olga-local-SAS.Storage/UCSB-GAUCHOS/UCSB-GAUCHOS.vmx LinkedClones- 1 32<br /> </div> <br /> 1. Confirmation after initial execution of script:<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">###################################################### # # UCSB ResNet Linked Clones Tool for ESX 3.x # Author: william2003[at]gmail[dot]com # duonglt[at]engr[dot]ucsb[dot]edu # Created: 06/26/2008 # ###################################################### Requested parameters: Master Virtual Machine Image: /vmfs/volumes/olga-local-SAS.Storage/UCSB-GAUCHOS/UCSB-GAUCHOS.vmx Requested Number of Linked Clones: 32 VMs Initial Master Memory: 2048 MB Initial Master VMDK Size: 10 GB Expected Storage Consumption: 84 GB Please verify that there is enough storage space for the requested configuration before running Would you like to continue with these parameters y/n? y </code></pre><br /> <p /> 2. Linked Clones construction progress:<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">Generating Linked Clones ... 59% Complete! - Linked Clones Created: 19/32 </code></pre><br /> <p /> 3. Completed Linked Clones output:<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">Generating Linked Clones ... 100% Complete! - Linked Clones Created: 32/32 Waiting for Virtual Machine(s) to obtain their MAC addresses... Linked clones VM MAC addresses stored at: lcs_created_on-2008-12-09-210343/UCSB-GAUCHOS Start time: Tue Dec 9 21:00:06 PST 2008 End time: Tue Dec 9 21:03:40 PST 2008 Duration : 3.57 Minutes </code></pre><br /> <p /> Maps before <b>Default</b> case execution:<br /> <br /> <img src="http://www.engr.ucsb.edu/~duonglt/vmware/9020/default_1.jpg" alt="http://www.engr.ucsb.edu/~duonglt/vmware/9020/default_1.jpg" class="jive-image" /> <br /> <br /> Maps after <b>Default</b> execution:<br /> <br /> <img class="jive-image-thumbnail" src="http://communities.vmware.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/102-9020-2-4617/250-111/default_2.jpg" width="250" height="111" alt="default_2.jpg" onclick="myJiveImage.start(this, 'http://communities.vmware.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/102-9020-2-4617/default_2.jpg');return false;"/> <br /> <br /> <span style="color:red">Red</span> denotes the Master VM<br /> <span style="color:green">Green</span> denotes the datastore<br /> <span style="color:orange">Orange</span> denotes the last Linked Clone created<br /> <br /> <hr /> <h3><b><span style="color:blue">Distributed Write(s) I/O Case</span></b></h3> <ul> <li>Master Virtual Machine: /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/UCSB-RESNET/UCSB-RESNET.vmx stored on FC SAN</li> <li>Storage Mediums: LOCAL STORAGE and FC SAN</li> <li>64 Linked Clones distributed across 2 datastores</li> </ul> <br /> <div class="jive-quote"> <strike>root@olga lamw</strike># ./ghetto-esx-linked-clones.sh /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/UCSB-RESNET/UCSB-RESNET.vmx LinkedClones- 1 64 dw<br /> </div> <br /> 1. Datstore selection:<br /> <br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">#FREE SPACE DATASTORE(S) 1) 44G /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN203.VMstorage3 2) 44G /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN202.VMstorage2 3) 24G /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN201.VMstorage1 4) 53G /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates 5) 253G /vmfs/volumes/olga-local-SAS.Storage 6) Quit Please select datastore(s) to be used: (e.g. 1,2,3): 4,5 </code></pre><br /> <p /> 2. Confirmation after initial execution of script:<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">###################################################### # # UCSB ResNet Linked Clones Tool for ESX 3.x # Author: william2003[at]gmail[dot]com # duonglt[at]engr[dot]ucsb[dot]edu # Created: 06/26/2008 # ###################################################### Requested parameters: Master Virtual Machine Image: /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/UCSB-RESNET/UCSB-RESNET.vmx Requested Number of Linked Clones: 64 VMs Initial Master Memory: 2048 MB Initial Master VMDK Size: 10 GB Expected Storage Consumption: 167 GB Please verify that there is enough storage space for the requested configuration before running Distributed Write I/O Scheme selected. Linked clones will be evenly distributed across the following datastore(s): /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates /vmfs/volumes/olga-local-SAS.Storage Would you like to continue with these parameters y/n? y </code></pre><br /> <p /> 3. Completed Linked Clones output:<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">Generating Linked Clones ... 100% Complete! - Linked Clones Created: 64/64 Waiting for Virtual Machine(s) to obtain their MAC Addresses... Linked clones VM MAC addresses stored at: lcs_created_on-2008-12-09-211724/UCSB-RESNET Start time: Tue Dec 9 21:12:43 PST 2008 End time: Tue Dec 9 21:17:19 PST 2008 Duration : 4.60 Minutes </code></pre><br /> <p /> Maps before <b>Default</b> execution:<br /> <br /> <img class="jive-image-thumbnail" src="http://communities.vmware.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/102-9020-2-4618/250-90/default_3.jpg" width="250" height="90" alt="default_3.jpg" onclick="myJiveImage.start(this, 'http://communities.vmware.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/102-9020-2-4618/default_3.jpg');return false;"/><br /> <br /> Maps after <b>Default</b> execution:<br /> <br /> <img class="jive-image-thumbnail" src="http://communities.vmware.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/102-9020-2-4619/249-117/default_4.jpg" width="249" height="117" alt="default_4.jpg" onclick="myJiveImage.start(this, 'http://communities.vmware.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/102-9020-2-4619/default_4.jpg');return false;"/><br /> <br /> <span style="color:red">Red</span> denotes the Master VM<br /> <span style="color:green">Green</span> denotes the two datastores<br /> <span style="color:orange">Orange</span> denotes the last Linked Clones created<br /> <br /> <hr /> <h3><b><span style="color:blue">Distributed Read(s) &#38; Write(s) I/O Case</span></b></h3> <ul> <li>Master Virtual Machine: /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/UCSB-ENGINEERING/UCSB-ENGINEERING.vmx stored on FC SAN</li> <li>Storage medium: FC SAN</li> <li>128 Linked Clones distributed across 2 datastores</li> </ul> <br /> <div class="jive-quote"> <strike>root@olga lamw</strike># ./ghetto-esx-linked-clones.sh /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/UCSB-ENGINEERING/UCSB-ENGINEERING.vmx LinkedClones- 1 128 drw<br /> </div> <br /> 1. Datstore selection:<br /> <br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">#FREE SPACE DATASTORE(S) 1) 44G /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN203.VMstorage3 2) 43G /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN202.VMstorage2 3) 24G /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN201.VMstorage1 4) 53G /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates 5) 253G /vmfs/volumes/olga-local-SAS.Storage 6) Quit Please select datastore(s) to be used: (e.g. 1,2,3): 1,2 </code></pre><br /> <p /> 2. Confirmation after initial execution of script:<br /> <br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">###################################################### # # UCSB ResNet Linked Clones Tool for ESX 3.x # Author: william2003[at]gmail[dot]com # duonglt[at]engr[dot]ucsb[dot]edu # Created: 06/26/2008 # ###################################################### Requested parameters: Master Virtual Machine Image: /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN200.Templates/UCSB-ENGINEERING/UCSB-ENGINEERING.vmx Naming convention for Linked-Cloned Master Virtual Machine: MASTER-LinkedClones-{1-2} Naming convention for Linked-Cloned Virtual Machines: LinkedClones-{1-128} Looking to create: 2 Master VMs Requested Number of Linked Clones: 128 VMs Initial Master Memory: 2048 MB Initial Master VMDK Size: 10 GB Expected Storage Consumption: 353 GB Please verify that there is enough storage space for the requested configuration before running Distributed Read &#38; Write I/O Scheme selected. Operation will duplicate master image and evenly generate linked clones from these dupulicated images across the specified datastore(s): /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN203.VMstorage3 /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN202.VMstorage2 Distribution of Linked Clones per datastore: 64 MASTER-LinkedClones-1 will be stored on: /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN203.VMstorage3 The following VMs will be linked to &quot;MASTER-LinkedClones-1&quot; under this datastore: LinkedClones-{1-64} MASTER-LinkedClones-2 will be stored on: /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN202.VMstorage2 The following VMs will be linked to &quot;MASTER-LinkedClones-2&quot; under this datastore: LinkedClones-{65-128} Would you like to continue with these parameters y/n? y </code></pre><br /> <p /> 3. Creating Master image on each Datastore to distribute read(s)/write(s) Linked Clones<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">Creating MASTER-LinkedClones-1 on: /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN203.VMstorage3 Creating MASTER-LinkedClones-2 on: /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-FC-LUN202.VMstorage2 Initiating vmkfstools copy ... Initiating vmkfstools copy ... 0% Complete! - Linked Clones Created: 0/128 Registering newly created MASTER-LinkedClones-1 ... Registering newly created MASTER-LinkedClones-2 ... 2% Complete! - Linked Clones Created: 3/128 </code></pre><br /> <p /> 4. Completed Linked Clones output:<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">100% Complete! - Linked Clones Created: 128/128 Waiting for Virtual Machine(s) to obtain their MAC addresses... Linked clones VM MAC addresses stored at: lcs_created_on-2008-12-09-214627/MASTER-LinkedClones-1 lcs_created_on-2008-12-09-214627/MASTER-LinkedClones-2 Start time: Tue Dec 9 21:36:49 PST 2008 End time: Tue Dec 9 21:46:22 PST 2008 Duration : 9.55 Minutes </code></pre><br /> <p /> Maps before <b>Default</b> execution:<br /> <br /> <img class="jive-image-thumbnail" src="http://communities.vmware.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/102-9020-2-4620/250-90/default_5.jpg" width="250" height="90" alt="default_5.jpg" onclick="myJiveImage.start(this, 'http://communities.vmware.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/102-9020-2-4620/default_5.jpg');return false;"/><br /> <br /> Maps after <b>Default</b> execution:<br /> <br /> <img class="jive-image-thumbnail" src="http://communities.vmware.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/102-9020-2-4632/250-173/default_6.jpg" width="250" height="173" alt="default_6.jpg" onclick="myJiveImage.start(this, 'http://communities.vmware.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/102-9020-2-4632/default_6.jpg');return false;"/><br /> <br /> <span style="color:red">Red</span> denotes the Master VM<br /> <span style="color:green">Green</span> denotes the two datastores<br /> <span style="color:purple">Purple</span> denotes the 2 replicated Master VM in each of the datastores<br /> <span style="color:orange">Orange</span> denotes the last Linked Clones created<br /> <br /> <hr /> <br /> <h3><span style="color:red">Known Issues:</span></h3> <br /> 1. When running "<b>ghetto-esx-linked-clones.sh</b>" on VMware ESX 3.0.0, the <b>"FULL_PATH_TO_MASTER_VMX_FILE"</b> must be in the UUID format and not the human readable symlink, this was fixed in VMware ESX 3.0.1 and possibly updated in one of the 3.0.0 patchset.<br /> <br /> Solution, use the following:<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">./ghetto-esx-linked-clones.sh /vmfs/volumes/4857f047-4e4ec6bf-a8b8-001b78361a3c/VM-MasterImage/VM-MasterImage.vmx LinkedClone- 1 200 </code></pre><br /> <br /> Instead of<br /> <br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">./ghetto-esx-linked-clones.sh vmfs/volumes/himalaya-local-SATA.Storage/VM-MasterImage/VM-MasterImage.vmx LinkedClone- 1 200 </code></pre> 3.5 linked clones 3.0.0 3.0.1 3.0.2 3.0.3 Wed, 03 Dec 2008 23:05:37 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9020 2008-12-03T23:05:37Z 11 months, 6 days ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-8821 Hi,<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <br /> I need some help installing naviagent on my esx box. I have tried to run the ./ESX_install.sh script with the appropriate name but keep getting permission denied. I have logged into the system using putty and have upgraded to root permissions using su, so it should work.<br /> <p /> Anyone got suggestions why this wouldnt work? This is urgent. I have attached my .sh file<br /> <p /> Thanks<br /> <p /> <p /> <br /> <hr /> I managed to answer my own question here.<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <br /> When you need to execute a script you need to applying execute permissions to all files to be run by the script.<br /> <p /> To do this, run <b>chmod 755 "filename"</b> to apply execute permissions.<br /> <p /> <br /> This document was generated from the following thread: <a class="jive-link-thread" href="http://communities.vmware.com/thread/180641">Running ./ESX_Install.sh gives Permission Denied</a> Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:10:35 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-8821 2008-11-20T11:10:35Z 1 year, 4 days ago 1 http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-8760 <h1>Table of Contents:</h1> <ul> <ul> <li>Description</li> <li>Features</li> <li>Requirements</li> <li>Setup</li> <li>Configurations</li> <li>Usage</li> <li>Sample Execution <ul> <li>Backup VMs stored in a list</li> <li>Backup VMs using individual backup policies </li> <li>Debug backup Mode</li> <li>Dry run Mode</li> </ul> </li> <li>Enable compression for backups</li> <li>Restore backups (ghettoVCB-restore.sh)</li> <li>Cronjob FAQ</li> <li>FAQ</li> <li>Useful Links</li> <li>Change Log</li> </ul> </ul> <br /> <h1>Description:</h1> <br /> This script performs backups of virtual machines residing on <b>ESX(i) 3.5/4.0+</b> servers using methodology similar to <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vmware.com/products/vi/consolidated_backup.html">VMware's VCB</a> 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.<br /> <br /> This script has been tested on <b>ESX 3.5/4.0 and ESXi 3.5/4.0</b> and supports the following backup mediums: <b>LOCAL STORAGE</b>, <b>SAN</b> and <b>NFS</b>. 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.<br /> <br /> 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: <b>VM_BACKUP_VOLUME</b> variable is ignored if <b>ENABLE_NON_PERSISTENT_NFS=1</b> ).<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> <h1>Features</h1> <ul> <li>Support for multiple VMDK disk(s) backup per VM</li> <li>Only valid VMDK(s) presented to the VM will be backed up</li> <li>Online back up of VM(s)</li> <li>Ability to shutdown guestOS and initiate backup process and power on VM afterwards with the option of hardpower timeout </li> <li>Allow spaces in VM(s) backup list (not recommended and not a best practice)</li> <li>Ensure that snapshot removal process completes prior to to continuing onto the next VM backup</li> <li>VM(s) that intially contain <b>snapshots</b> will not be backed up and will be ignored</li> <li>Ability to specify the number of backup rotations for VM</li> <li>Output back up VMDK(s) in either <b>ZEROEDTHICK</b> (default behavior) or <b>2GB SPARSE</b> or <b>THIN</b> or <b>EAGERZEROEDTHICK</b> format</li> <li>Support for both SCSI and IDE disks</li> <li>Non-persistent NFS backup </li> <li>Fully support VMDK(s) stored across multiple datastores</li> <li>Ability to compress backups (Experimental Support)</li> <li><b><span style="color:blue">Ability to configure individual VM backup policies</span></b> <b><span style="color:green">NEW!</span></b></li> <li><b><span style="color:blue">Ability to include/exclude specific VMDK(s) per VM (requires individual VM backup policy setup)</span></b> <b><span style="color:green">NEW!</span></b></li> <li><b><span style="color:blue">Ability to configure logging output to file</span></b> <b><span style="color:green">NEW!</span></b></li> <li><b><span style="color:blue">Independent disk awareness (will ignore VMDK)</span></b> <b><span style="color:green">NEW!</span></b></li> <li><b><span style="color:blue">New timeout variables for shutdown and snapshot creations </span></b> <b><span style="color:green">NEW!</span></b></li> <li><b><span style="color:blue">Ability to configure snapshots with both memory and/or quiesce options</span></b> <b><span style="color:green">NEW!</span></b></li> <li><b><span style="color:blue">Ability to configure disk adapter format</span></b> <b><span style="color:green">NEW!</span></b></li> <li><b><span style="color:blue">Additional debugging information including dry run execution</span></b> <b><span style="color:green">NEW!</span></b></li> <li><b><span style="color:blue">Support for VMs with both virtual/physical RDM (pRDM will be ignored and not backed up)</span></b> <b><span style="color:green">NEW!</span></b></li> </ul> <br /> <hr /> <br /> <h1>Requirements:</h1> <ul> <li>VMs running on ESX(i) 3.5/4.0+</li> <li>SSH console access to ESX/ESXi host</li> </ul> <br /> <hr /> <br /> <h1>Setup:</h1> <br /> 1) Download <b>ghettoVCB.sh</b> to either your ESX or ESXi system<br /> <br /> 2) Change the permissions on the script to ensure it can be executed:<br /> <br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[root@himalaya ~]# chmod +x ghettoVCB.sh </code></pre><br /> <br /> <hr /> <br /> <h1>Configurations:</h1> <br /> The following variables need to be defined within the script or in VM backup policy prior to execution. <br /> <br /> <b>Defining the backup datastore and folder in which the backups are stored (if folder does not exist, it will automatically be created):</b><br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">VM_BACKUP_VOLUME=/vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/WILLIAM_BACKUPS </code></pre><br /> <br /> <b>Defining the backup disk format (zeroedthick, eagerzeroedthick, thin, and 2gbsparse are available):</b><br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">DISK_BACKUP_FORMAT=thin </code></pre><br /> <br /> <b>Defining the backup rotation per VM:</b><br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">VM_BACKUP_ROTATION_COUNT=3 </code></pre><br /> <br /> <b>Defining whether the VM is powered down or not prior to backup (1 = enable, 0 = disable):</b><br /> <br /> <b><span style="color:green">Note: VM(s) that are powered off will not require snapshoting</span></b><br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">POWER_VM_DOWN_BEFORE_BACKUP=0 </code></pre><br /> <br /> <b>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</b><br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">ENABLE_HARD_POWER_OFF=0 </code></pre><br /> <br /> <b>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:</b><br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">ITER_TO_WAIT_SHUTDOWN=3 </code></pre><br /> <br /> <b>The number (60sec) iterations the script will wait when powering off the VM and will give up and ignore the particular VM for backup:</b><br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">POWER_DOWN_TIMEOUT=5 </code></pre><br /> <br /> <b>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:</b><br /> <br /> <b><span style="color:green">Default value should suffice</span></b><br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">SNAPSHOT_TIMEOUT=15 </code></pre><br /> <br /> <b>Defining whether or not to enable compression (1 = enable, 0 = disable):</b><br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">ENABLE_COMPRESSION=0 </code></pre><br /> <br /> <b>Defining the adapter type for backed up VMDK (buslogic and lsilogic are available):</b><br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">ADAPTER_FORMAT=buslogic </code></pre><br /> <br /> <b>Defining whether virtual machine memory is snapped and if quiescing is enabled (1 = enable, 0 = disable):</b><br /> <br /> <b><span style="color:green">Note: By default both are disabled</span></b><br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">VM_SNAPSHOT_MEMORY=0 VM_SNAPSHOT_QUIESCE=0 </code></pre><br /> <br /> *Defining VMDK(s) to backup from a particular VM either a list of vmdks or "all"<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">VMDK_FILES_TO_BACKUP=&quot;myvmdk.vmdk&quot; </code></pre><br /> <br /> <b>Ensure that you do not edit past this section:</b><br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">########################## DO NOT MODIFY PAST THIS LINE ########################## </code></pre><br /> <br /> <hr /> <br /> <h1>Usage:</h1> <br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[root@himalaya ~]# ./ghettoVCB.sh ############################################################################### # # ghettoVCB for ESX/ESXi 3.5 &#38; 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 </code></pre><br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> Here is a sample of what the file would look like:<br /> <br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[root@himalaya ~]# cat vms_to_backup VCAP VIMA vMA-2 </code></pre><br /> <br /> <hr /> <br /> <h1>Sample Execution:</h1> <ul> <li>Backup VMs stored in a list</li> <li>Backup VMs based on individual VM backup policies</li> <li>Debug Mode</li> <li>Dry run Mode</li> </ul> <br /> <h2>Backup VMs stored in a list</h2> <ul> <li>Log verbosity: info (default)</li> <li>Log output: stdout (default)</li> </ul> <br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[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 &quot;ghettoVCB-snapshot-2009-11-12&quot; 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 ================================ </code></pre><br /> <br /> <h2>Backup VMs based on individual VM backup policies and log output to /tmp/ghettoVCB.log</h2> <ul> <li>Log verbosity: info (default)</li> <li>Log output: /tmp/ghettoVCB.log (default)</li> </ul> <br /> 1. Create folder to hold individual VM backup policies (can be named anything):<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[root@himalaya ~]# mkdir backup_config </code></pre><br /> <br /> 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):<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[root@himalaya backup_config]# cp ghettoVCB-vm_backup_configuration_template VCAP [root@himalaya backup_config]# cp ghettoVCB-vm_backup_configuration_template VIMA </code></pre><br /> <br /> Listing of VM backup policy within backup configuration directory<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[root@himalaya backup_config]# ls ghettoVCB-vm_backup_configuration_template VCAP VIMA </code></pre><br /> <br /> Backup policy for "VCAP" (backup only 2 specific VMDKs)<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[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=&quot;VCAP.vmdk,VCAP_2.vmdk&quot; </code></pre><br /> <br /> Backup policy for VM "VIMA" (backup all VMDKs found)<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[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=&quot;all&quot; </code></pre><br /> <br /> <span style="color:red"><b>Note:</b></span> When specifying -c option (individual VM backup policy mode) if a VM is listed in the backup list but <b>DOES NOT</b> have a corresponding backup policy, the VM will be backed up using the default configuration found within the ghettoVCB.sh script.<br /> <br /> Execution of backup<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[root@himalaya ~]# ./ghettoVCB.sh -f vms_to_backup -c backup_config -l /tmp/ghettoVCB.log Logging output to &quot;/tmp/ghettoVCB.log&quot; ... 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. </code></pre><br /> <br /> <span style="color:red"><b>Note:</b></span> When specifying the -l option (log output to file), vmkfstools copy is also logged to stdout. This is done primarily for debugging purposes.<br /> <br /> Log output from backup<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[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 &quot;ghettoVCB-snapshot-2009-11-12&quot; 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 ================================ </code></pre><br /> <br /> <h2>Debug backup mode</h2> <ul> <li>Log verbosity: debug</li> <li>Log output: stdout</li> </ul> <br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[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: &quot;VCAP_2.vmdk&quot; to backup 2009-11-13 19:51:52 -- debug: findVMDK() - Found VMDK! - &quot;VCAP_2.vmdk&quot; 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: &quot;VCAP_1.vmdk&quot; to backup 2009-11-13 19:51:53 -- debug: findVMDK() - Searching for VMDK: &quot;VCAP.vmdk&quot; to backup 2009-11-13 19:51:53 -- debug: findVMDK() - Found VMDK! - &quot;VCAP.vmdk&quot; 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: &quot;VCAP-0.vmdk&quot; 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 &quot;ghettoVCB-snapshot-2009-11-13&quot; for VIMA 2009-11-13 19:51:58 -- debug: Waiting for snapshot &quot;ghettoVCB-snapshot-2009-11-13&quot; 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: &quot;VIMA.vmdk&quot; 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: &quot;vMA-2.vmdk&quot; 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 ================================ </code></pre><br /> <br /> <h2>Dry run Mode (no backup will take place)</h2> <ul> <li>Log verbosity: drymode</li> <li>Log output: stdout</li> </ul> <br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[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 ================================ </code></pre><br /> <br /> <hr /> <br /> <h1>Enable compression for backups:</h1> <br /> To make use of this feature, modify the variable <b>ENABLE_COMPRESSION</b> 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.<hr /> <br /> <h1>Restore backups (ghettoVCB-restore.sh):</h1> <br /> To recover a VM that has been processed by ghettoVCB, please take a look at this document: <a class="jive-link-wiki" href="http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-10595">Ghetto Tech Preview - ghettoVCB-restore.sh - Restoring VM's backed up from ghettoVCB to ESX(i) 3.5 and 4.0+</a><br /> <br /> <hr /> <br /> <h1>Cronjob FAQ:</h1> <br /> <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/how-do-i-add-jobs-to-cron-under-linux-or-unix-oses/">Please take a moment to read over what is a cronjob and how to set one up, before continuing</a><br /> <br /> 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. <br /> <br /> <b>Task</b>: 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<br /> <br /> <u><b>Configure on ESX:</b></u><br /> <br /> 1. As root, you'll install your cronjob by issuing:<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[root@himalaya ~]# crontab -e </code></pre><br /> <br /> 2. Append the following entry:<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">0 0 * * 1-5 /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/ghettoVCB.sh /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/backuplist &gt; /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/ghettoVCB-backup-$(date +\%s).log </code></pre><br /> <br /> 3. Save and exit<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[root@himalaya dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups]# crontab -e no crontab for root - using an empty one crontab: installing new crontab </code></pre><br /> <br /> 4. List out and verify the cronjob that was just created:<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[root@himalaya dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups]# crontab -l 0 0 * * 1-5 /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/ghettoVCB.sh /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/backuplist &gt; /vmfs/volumes/dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups/ghettoVCB-backup-$(date +\%s).log </code></pre><br /> <br /> You're ready to go!<br /> <br /> <u><b>Configure on ESXi:</b></u><br /> <br /> 1. Setup the cronjob by appending the following line to <u>/var/spool/cron/crontabs/root</u>:<br /> <br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">0 0 * * 1-5 /vmfs/volumes/simplejack-local-storage/ghettoVCB.sh /vmfs/volumes/simplejack-local-storage/backuplist &gt; /vmfs/volumes/simplejack-local-storage/ghettoVCB-backup-$(date +\%s).log </code></pre><br /> <br /> 2. Kill the current crond (cron daemon) and then restart the crond for the changes to take affect:<br /> <br /> On ESXi &lt; 3.5u3<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">/bin/kill `ps | grep crond | cut -f 1 -d ' '` </code></pre><br /> <br /> On ESXi 3.5u3+<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">~ # kill $(pidof crond) ~ # crond </code></pre><br /> <br /> On ESXi 4.0<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">~ # kill $(cat /var/run/crond.pid) ~ # busybox crond </code></pre><br /> <br /> 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 <b>/etc/rc.local</b> (ensure that the cron entry matches what was defined above)<br /> <br /> On ESXi 3.5<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">/bin/kill $(pidof crond) /bin/echo &quot;0 0 * * 1-5 /vmfs/volumes/simplejack-local-storage/ghettoVCB.sh /vmfs/volumes/simplejack-local-storage/backuplist &gt; /vmfs/volumes/simplejack-local-storage/ghettoVCB-backup-\$(date +\\%s).log&quot; &gt;&gt; /var/spool/cron/crontabs/root crond </code></pre><br /> <br /> On ESXi 4.0<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">/bin/kill $(cat /var/run/crond.pid) /bin/echo &quot;0 0 * * 1-5 /vmfs/volumes/simplejack-local-storage/ghettoVCB.sh /vmfs/volumes/simplejack-local-storage/backuplist &gt; /vmfs/volumes/simplejack-local-storage/ghettoVCB-backup-\$(date +\\%s).log&quot; &gt;&gt; /var/spool/cron/crontabs/root /bin/busybox crond </code></pre><br /> <br /> Afterwards the file should look like the following: <br /> <br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">~ # cat /etc/rc.local #! /bin/ash export PATH=/sbin:/bin log() { echo &quot;$1&quot; logger init &quot;$1&quot; } #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 ] &#38;&#38; [ -x $filename ]; then log &quot;running $filename&quot; $filename fi done fi /bin/kill $(cat /var/run/crond.pid) /bin/echo &quot;0 0 * * 1-5 /vmfs/volumes/simplejack-local-storage/ghettoVCB.sh /vmfs/volumes/simplejack-local-storage/backuplist &gt; /vmfs/volumes/simplejack-local-storage/ghettoVCB-backup-\$(date +\\%s).log&quot; &gt;&gt; /var/spool/cron/crontabs/root /bin/busybox crond </code></pre><br /> <br /> This will ensure that the cronjob is re-created upon a reboot of the system through a startup script<br /> <br /> 2. To ensure that this is saved in the ESXi configuration, we need to manually initiate an ESXi backup by running:<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">~ # /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 </code></pre><br /> <br /> Now you're really done!<br /> <p /> 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. <br /> <br /> Ensure crond (cron daemon) is running:<br /> <br /> <b>ESX:</b><br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[root@himalaya dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups]# ps -ef | grep crond | grep -v grep root 2625 1 0 Aug13 ? 00:00:00 crond </code></pre><br /> <br /> <b>ESXi:</b><br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">~ # ps | grep crond | grep -v grep 5196 5196 busybox crond </code></pre><br /> <br /> Ensure that the date/time on your ESX(i) host is setup correctly:<br /> <br /> <b>ESX(i):</b><br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">[root@himalaya dlgCore-NFS-bigboi.VM-Backups]# date Fri Aug 14 23:44:47 PDT 2009 </code></pre><br /> <p /> <span style="color:red"><b>Note:</b></span> 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.<hr /> <br /> <h1>FAQ:</h1> <br /> <b>1Q:</b> 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? <br /> <b>1A:</b> Please provide the entire output of a manual execution (debug &#38; 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.<br /> <br /> <b>2Q:</b> I've sent you private message or email but I haven't received a response? What gives?<br /> <b>2A:</b> 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.<br /> <br /> <b>3Q:</b> Can I schedule backups to take place hourly, daily, monthly, yearly?<br /> <b>3A:</b> Yes, do a search online for <b>crontab</b>. <br /> <br /> <b>4Q:</b> I would like to setup cronjob for ESX(i) 3.5 or 4.0?<br /> <b>4A:</b> Take a look at the Cronjob FAQ section in this document. <br /> <br /> <b>5Q:</b> I want to schedule my backup on Windows, how do I do this?<br /> <b>5A:</b> Do a search for <b>plink</b>. Make sure you have paired SSH keys setup between your Windows system and ESX/ESXi host.<br /> <br /> <b>6Q:</b> 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?<br /> <b>6A:</b> 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.<br /> <br /> <b>7Q:</b> I’m pissed; the backup is taking too long. My datastore is of type X?<br /> <b>7A:</b> YMMV, take a look at your storage configuration and make sure it is optimized. <br /> <br /> <b>8Q:</b> I noticed that the backup rotation is occurring after a backup. I don't have enough local storage space, can the process be changed?<br /> <b>8A:</b> 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. <br /> <br /> <b>9Q:</b> What is the best storage configuration for datastore type X?<br /> <b>9A:</b> Search the VMTN forums; there are various configurations for the different type of storage/etc. <br /> <br /> <b>10Q:</b> I want to setup an NFS server to run my backups. Which is the best and should it be virtual or physical? <br /> <b>10A:</b> 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. <br /> <br /> <b>11Q:</b> 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?<br /> <b>11A:</b> 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.<br /> <br /> <b>12Q:</b> I would like to restore from backup, what is the best method?<br /> <b>12A:</b> 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). <br /> <br /> <b>13Q:</b> When I try to run the script I get: <b>"-bash: ./ghettoVCB.sh: Permission denied"</b>, what is wrong?<br /> <b>13A:</b> You need to change the permission on the script to be executable, chmod +x ghettoVCB.sh<br /> <br /> <b>14Q:</b> Where can I download the latest version of the script?<br /> <b>14A:</b> The latest version is available on this page at the bottom.<br /> <br /> <b>15Q:</b> I would like to suggest/recommend feature X, can I get it? When can I get it? Why isn't it here, what gives? <br /> <b>15A:</b> 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.<br /> <br /> <b>16Q:</b> What are the different type of backup uses cases that are supported with ghettoVCB? <br /> <b>16A:</b> 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.<br /> <br /> <hr /> <br /> <h2>Useful Links:</h2> <br /> Detail instructions on how to configure/schedule ghettoVCB on Windows (<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://blog.theworldrunsontechnology.com/">Raj Perumal's The World Runs on Technology Blog</a>):<br /> <br /> <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://blog.theworldrunsontechnology.com/2009/04/backing-up-your-virtual-machines-in.html">Part 1</a><br /> <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://blog.theworldrunsontechnology.com/2009/04/creating-virtual-machine-backups-in.html">Part 2</a><br /> <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://blog.theworldrunsontechnology.com/2009/04/how-to-schedule-ghettovcb-backup-job-or.html">Part 3</a><br /> <br /> <hr /> <br /> <h2>Change log:</h2> <p /> 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!<br /> <br /> Enhancements:<br /> <ul> <li>Individual VM backup policy</li> <li>Include/exclude specific VMDK(s)</li> <li>Logging to file</li> <li>Timeout variables</li> <li>Configur snapshot memory/quiesce</li> <li>Adapter format</li> <li>Additional logging + dryrun mode</li> <li>Support for both physical/virtual RDMs</li> </ul> <p /> Fixes:<br /> <ul> <li>Independent disk aware</li> </ul> 3.5 esxi backup vcb esx3.5 vmkfstools snapshot 4.0 esxi.40 esxi4 Tue, 18 Nov 2008 03:04:10 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-8760 2008-11-18T03:04:10Z 1 week, 20 hours ago 518 http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-8620 In ESX you can see recent events in task / events. But there appears to be a limit. since it's saved in a database, shouldn't this list go back as far as you need? Any way to see the ENTIRE task / event list?<br /> <br /> This is from the VC not individual ESX hosts, how do we retrieve the list so we can see months or weeks ago?<br /> <br /> <hr /> Well it's not syslog, but I did figure out where this info is. And SQL does keep ALL the events, going back to the beginning, at least our database hasn't purge the old data yet, I have stuff going back to June (when I rebuilt the SQL table)<br /> <br /> SQL : Schemas -&gt; dbo -&gt; Tables -&gt; VPX_EVENT<br /> <br /> You have to export this from SQL or use a viewer to get this info, but the events, tasks, everything (all details) are there. Now why can't VI simply display the entire table if we want it?<br /> <br /> <hr /> FYI for everyone, I contacted vmware about this and was confirmed to what rparker said...the ONLY way to get this info is to query the database...currently it is not possible to get this detailed historic data from VC...<br /> <br /> This document was generated from the following thread: <a class="jive-link-thread" href="http://communities.vmware.com/thread/176870">Task / Event History</a> virtual center task event history vc vc_2.5 Thu, 06 Nov 2008 15:11:40 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-8620 2008-11-06T15:11:40Z 1 year, 2 weeks ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-8331 <br /> 1- Fist of all, transfer your Arcserve Agent install files ( in a temporary folder on your ESX ), using VEAM sftp for example. You need to transfer the following files from the CD to the temporary folder: /agnts/linux <br /> <p /> 2 - Do a chmod 777 -R on all the copied file , tohave enough permissions to run the install procedure <br /> <p /> 3 - from this folder, run ./install<br /> <p /> 4 - After install is completed, run the agent: uagent start <br /> <p /> 5 - Enable service via Firewall:<br /> <p /> esxcfg-firewall --openPort 6050,tcp,out,caagentd<br /> esxcfg-firewall --openPort 6050,udp,out,caagentd<br /> esxcfg-firewall --openPort 6051,tcp,in,caagentd <br /> esxcfg-firewall --openPort 6051,udp,in,caagentd<br /> <br /> 6 - esxcfg-firewall -s should show you something like this:<br /> Known services: activeDirectorKerberos caARCserve CIMHttpServer CIMHttpsServer CIMSLP commvaultDynamic commvaultStatic ftpClient ftpServer kerberos LDAP LDAPS legatoNetWorker LicenseClient nfsClient nisClient ntpClient smbClient snmpd sshClient sshServer swISCSIClient symantecBackupExec symantecNetBackup telnetClient TSM updateManager VCB vncServer vpxHeartbeats<br /> <br /> 7 - enable CA arcserve service: esxcfg-firewall -e caARCserve <br /> <br /> 8 - restart the firewall service: service firewall restart <br /> <p /> <br /> 9 - In order to make the /vmfs directory visible u need to modify the file /etc/mtab<br /> and add this line<br /> /vmfs /vmfs vmfs rw 0 0<br /> and restart agent<br /> caagent stop<br /> caagent start <br /> <p /> This is optional. It should be done automatically by the install procedure. <br /> <p /> 10 - Set up VMware ESX Server automatic pre and post scripts to enable online Vm backups:<br /> <p /> From the CD , copy all files located in /agents/vmware to /opt/CA/BABuagent<br /> , you must copy the pre_backup.pl pre script, the post_backup.pl post script, and the supporting files listed below to the BABuagent directory, and give execution permission to all the copied files. <br /> Note: The permissions given should be similar to the permissions given to the Agent for Linux executable (labeled "uagentd") residing in the BABuagent directory. <br /> <br /> cavm.cfg , env_var.pm , err_msg_set.pm , debug_msg.pm and the 2 .pl files<br /> <p /> <br /> You need to give enough permissions to all these files to be excuted correctly ( for example, do a chmod 777 on all these files ).<br /> <p /> <br /> 11 - Modify the file: /opt/CA/BABuagent/uag.cfg : you need to add the following 3 lines at the end of the file<br /> <p /> -P 0<br /> -Prebackup /opt/CA/BABuagent/pre_backup.pl<br /> -Postbackup /opt/CA/BABuagent/post_backup.pl<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> That's all. And the backup /restores work great. Even with online VMs <br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> Hope this will help. <br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> This document was generated from the following thread: <a class="jive-link-thread" href="http://communities.vmware.com/thread/157964">Simple steps to use CA Arcserve bakcup agent on ESX 3.x</a> Tue, 21 Oct 2008 08:32:48 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-8331 2008-10-21T08:32:48Z 1 year, 1 month ago 2 http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-8070 networking Mon, 06 Oct 2008 09:33:19 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-8070 2008-10-06T09:33:19Z 1 year, 1 month ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-7900 <br /> Im trying to set up NFS storage for our ESX servers<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> Not sure if I have my networking setup correct for it too<br /> work.<br /> <p /> vmnic0: Service Console on a<br /> "legal"(129.242.x.x) address on vswitch0.<br /> <p /> vmnic1: free<br /> <p /> vmnic2: virtual machines on vswitch2<br /> <p /> vmnic3: Vmkernel for Vmotion on a<br /> "private"(10.0.4.x) address on vswitch1.<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> When i try to mount the NFS Storage in VIC i get the following error:<br /> <p /> "ERROR DURING THE CONFIGURATION OF THE HOST: UNABLE TO GET CONSOLE PATH FOR MOUNT"<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> Routing issue?<br /> <p /> Network config issue?<br /> <p /> vSwitch issue?<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> Any help would be appreciated.<br /> <p /> <br /> Thanx,<br /> <br /> Roar Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:20:12 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-7900 2008-09-24T13:20:12Z 1 year, 2 months ago 3 http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-7622 <br /> Here are some notes I created when trying to get a cold cloned Solaris 64-bit VM which originated on an HP BL685c G5 server to run. The main complication is that the SCSI/RAID controller needs to be updated in the ramdisk and paths change. <br /> <p /> It is not possible to resize virtual disk and the underlying filesystems are not accessible for individual selection leading to long clone time and/or large virtual disk size. Once cloned verify that the guest OS has been correctly identified and that the devices are appropriate for the guest OS. Some NIC adapter options are only relevant for particular guest OS so it is often necessary to change the guest OS save that change and then change the hardware to match. If you change the SCSI adapter associated with a virtual disk you will receive a warning asking if you want to change the bus adapter type associated with the disk, it appears to be safe to do this. Boot VM OS instance into failsafe mode and allow it to mount the discovered OS instance at /a. Discover /devices path to root filesystem and remount read-write e.g.<br /> <p /> &lsquo;df /a' gives block device name<br /> <p /> &lsquo;ls -l /dev/dsk/c1t0d0s0' gives path to /devices path<br /> <p /> edit bootpath property in /a/boot/solaris/bootenv.rc to reflect this path to the new root device. Reboot the system, you should see the boot_archive ram disk being updated to reflect the hardware changes. Allow the system to attempt to boot normally, it will fail to mount the root filesystem and should drop to maintenance mode. Log in and remount the root filesystem read-write e.g.<br /> <p /> mount -o remount,rw /devices/pci@0,0/pci1000,30@10/sd@0,0:a /<br /> <p /> run devfsadm to reprobe the hardware<br /> <p /> run format to determine new /dev path to root filesystem and edit /etc/vfstab to reflect this new path.<br /> <p /> In the event that the driver for the network card in the physical machine was different from that in the VM you will need to move /etc/hostname.'driver''instance' e.g.<br /> <p /> mv /etc/hostname.bnx0 /etc/hostname.e1000g0<br /> <p /> ZFS resources are not specified in /etc/vfstab they must be destroyed and then imported using the pool ID e.g.<br /> <p /> zpool destroy export<br /> zpool import -f 1640966619789446333 export<br /> <p /> Reboot the system, once again you should see the boot_archive ram disk being updated. Install VMware tools and reboot one final time. Wed, 10 Sep 2008 08:01:28 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-7622 2008-09-10T08:01:28Z 1 year, 2 months ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-7420 I have ESX 3.5 with 8GB Memory. And I am running 90 VMs of 40MB each with 76MB Memory Overhead. Is there any way to reduce the Memory Overhead size , So, that I can run more VMs.<br /> <hr /> Welcome to the forums,<br /> <br /> As far as I know this isn't possible. The memory overhead is calculated according to the memory size, number of cpu's and the fact if it's a 32 or 64 vm.<br /> <br /> more info on why:<br /> <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.waldspurger.org/carl/papers/esx-mem-osdi02.pdf">http://www.waldspurger.org/carl/papers/esx-mem-osdi02.pdf</a><br /> and the following pdf, page 128:<br /> <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_301_201_resource_mgmt.pdf">http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_301_201_resource_mgmt.pdf</a><br /> <p /> <p /> <br /> Duncan<br /> My virtualisation blog:<br /> <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.yellow-bricks.com">http://www.yellow-bricks.com</a><br /> <br /> If you find this information useful, please award points for "correct" or "helpful".<br /> <p /> <hr /> Hello,<br /> <br /> The only way I know of is to remove all non-required virtual hardware components and to use faster cores allowing the assignment of 1 vCPU in more VMs versus mutilple vCPUs which have more overhead.<br /> <hr /> Hello, <br /> <br /> I am also facing same problem...Can we fool ESX somehow so that ESX doesn't take the Overhead memory into account??<br /> <p /> <br /> Any Help appreciated!!<br /> <p /> <br /> Thanks<br /> <br /> <hr /> No, if you read the links above you will see that this isn't possible. It just reserves the space for certain procedures. maybe in time the overhead will be reduced, who knows...<br /> <p /> <p /> <br /> Duncan<br /> My virtualisation blog:<br /> <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.yellow-bricks.com">http://www.yellow-bricks.com</a><br /> <br /> If you find this information useful, please award points for "correct" or "helpful".<br /> <p /> <hr /> Hello,<br /> <br /> Is there any way to enable/increase swap after ESX server is installed. Would it solve the problem of overhead memory?<br /> <p /> <br /> Any help appreciated. <br /> <p /> <br /> Thanks <br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <br /> This document was generated from the following thread: <a class="jive-link-thread" href="http://communities.vmware.com/thread/165419">Is there any way to reduce Memory Overhead size for Virtual Machines?</a> Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:28:36 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-7420 2008-08-28T13:28:36Z 1 year, 2 months ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-7360 I've got a DR environment with 2x Sun StorageTek 6140 Arrays and 3 LUNs replicated between.<br /> <p /> <p /> <hr /> ARRAY PROD ST6140 &#38; ARRAY DR ST6140<br /> <br /> <hr /> <p /> <p /> VOL01_PROD is replicated with VOL01_DR<br /> <br /> VOL02_PROD is replicated with VOL02_DR<br /> <p /> <br /> VOL03_PROD is replicated with VOL03_DR<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <hr /> <p /> When I do a disaster recovery and I promote the disaster recovery array as the primary storage, I can see correctly the LUNs from ESX but it wants to format the LUNs....<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> Do you have any ideas about why VMware tries to reformat the replicated LUNs?<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> Thanks in advance. <br /> <p /> <br /> Jacques Neves <br /> <p /> <p /> Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:34:42 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-7360 2008-08-26T14:34:42Z 1 year, 3 months ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-6870 Host: ESX 3.5 - 64607<br /> Guest OS: Windows 2003 Server – Standard Edition<br /> <br /> Greetings,<br /> <br /> We have a software vendor that has added a feature to their latest software release that stops the application if it detects that it is running on a virtual machine. Our software vendor tells us that they needed to disable this ability because of Vista security concerns. It seems that they have had difficulty with Vista running as a guest OS and disabled the application across the board due to this problem. Instead of identifying the guest OS and disabling if it finds Vista, they go strait to the platform and disable the application if they detect that it resides on a guest OS.<br /> <br /> Perhaps I misunderstand virtualization, but are the guest VMs not autonomous? What security issues could they be talking about with Virtualized Vista? BTW, we have no plans to migrate to Vista.<br /> <br /> Has anyone else run into applications that actively thwart hosted operating systems? Suggestions?<br /> <br /> Thank you,<br /> <br /> <ul class="jive-dash"> <li>Curt</li> </ul> vista esx3.5 Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:14:56 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-6870 2008-08-07T15:14:56Z 1 year, 3 months ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-6841 <br /> Hi<br /> <p /> I had 2 logical drive in my single esx 3.5 host. I have stored all the vm in the second logical drive. The first one contained ESX 3.5 OS. However my primary drive which contained the OS crashed and I had to replace that. I have installed fresh ESX 3.5 in the new drive now. The second logical drive where all the data about the VM stored is untouched. Can I get back all my previous VM's now?? Also how to see the data which is stored in the datastore.<br /> <p /> Cheers. Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:01:07 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-6841 2008-08-06T20:01:07Z 1 year, 3 months ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-6063 Hello.. I have just installed ESX server and also installed Virtual Center in a vm, a linux virtual machine, and imported a windows 2003 system using converter. The virtual center machine can browse the web, ping, and ftp out to the internet. The other 2 boxes cannot ftp or browse web pages on the internet, but they can ping by name. THe network configuration is the same! No firewall setup, same router and dns servers. Does anyone have any idea what this may be? I am baffled. Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:01:55 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-6063 2008-06-24T19:01:55Z 1 year, 5 months ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-5860 I'm having SAN reliability issues running ESX 3.5.0.1 on all my HP bl480c blade servers, each have two Emulex LPe1105 HBAs. The HBAs are hardwired to an HP Virtual Connect module, which is plugged in my SAN on a Silkworm. The luns are mapped from an EVA8000 which has active/active controllers. All firmware and software revisions are recent. <br /> <br /> To make a long story short, I tested failover scenarios by unplugging the HBAs, one at a time, using the Virtual Connect. The link does go down but path failover fails to work as expected: it switches once, but the failed HBA becomes unusable, even after it's been reconnected for a while. Doing rescans won't help... although there is a link up, the luns cannot be rediscovered. Only resetting the card using HBAnyware, or rebooting the ESX server, makes it functional again. If I do similar tests on the exact same hardware, but with Win2003, it works well. So I'm thinking this might be an issue with the lpfc driver.<br /> <br /> Does anybody have a similar setup and have tested this? I would be glad to hear from you.<br /> <br /> I did open a call on this, but it's been lagging so that's why I'm poking around to see if I'm alone in this boat.<br /> <br /> Thanks<br /> <hr /> <br /> Welcome ot the forum - Have you changed the failover policy for each LUN from the default MRU (Most Rectly Used) to Fixed? Also, when they are reconnected can you manually switch paths?<br /> <p /> Check out <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_3_server_config.pdf">http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_3_server_config.pdf</a> for more information -<hr /> Path policy is set to Fixed. And esxcfg-mpath doesn't consider the paths as OK when I plug back the HBA so I cannot switch back. Running esxcfg-rescan once the HBA is plugged back in does not make them come back either, as a matter of fact it <b>removes</b> them, as if they were no longer visible at all.<br /> <br /> Thanks<br /> <hr /> Use emulex firmware version 2.70A5 <br><br><br><br><br>RHCE, VCP<br /> Blog: <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://computing.dwighthubbard.info">http://computing.dwighthubbard.info</a><br /> <hr /> I said to myself "You've got to be kidding".... but I gave it a try with firmware 2.70a5 and it now works. I think it's the first time I actually have to downgrade a shipping firmware. <br /> <br /> Kudos to Dwight. You made my day.<br /> <br /> Thanks<br /> <hr /> That was exactly my reaction when VMware support told us that would fix the issue.<br /> <p /> <p /> RHCE, VCP<br /> Blog: <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://computing.dwighthubbard.info">http://computing.dwighthubbard.info</a><br /> <br /> This document was generated from the following thread:&nbsp;<a href="http://communities.vmware.com/thread/149151" class="jive-link-thread">Path failover on HP blade with Emulex HBAs</a> Thu, 12 Jun 2008 19:29:36 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-5860 2008-06-12T19:29:36Z 1 year, 5 months ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-5580 qlogic firmware bios esx3.5 hba san 3.5 Thu, 29 May 2008 13:35:49 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-5580 2008-05-29T13:35:49Z 1 year, 5 months ago 1 http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-5480 <h2>Fixing ESX boot loader problem</h2> <br /> After a ghost clone to another disk, my ESX host in the lab came up with the much appreciated "GRUB" message at the boot loader prompt. Without an option to do anything. Turns out the GRUB MBR record is damaged, you cannot rerun the upgrade ISO CD image for this as it will not refresh that bit unless you re-install instead of upgrade.<br /> <br /> So i found myself a Red Hat 9 install CD and performed the following:<br /> <br /> Boot into rescue mode<br /> <br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">linux rescue </code></pre><br /> <br /> Click defaults until the final screen where it tells you that it will not mount the drive as it didn't find any linux, but you are given the prompt that you need, click "Continue" and here you go a linux prompt.<br /> <br /> Now suppose your boot disk is /dev/hda and the boot partition is /dev/hda1 and the root partition is /dev/hda2 (You can check this with fdisk -l for yourself.<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">mkdir /mnt/sysimage mount /dev/hda2 /mnt/sysimage chroot /mnt/sysimage </code></pre><br /> Ok, so now we are back in our system, but we still don't have access to our boot partition and the grub installer will need that.<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">mount /dev/hda1 /boot </code></pre><br /> Check that our boot folder isn't empty anymore<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">ls -lh </code></pre><br /> Now if everything went well you can put back the MBR record by issuing the following command.<br /> <pre class="jive-pre"><code class="jive-code jive-plain">grub-install /dev/hda </code></pre><br /> If it doesn't complain then you can now reboot the host and boot again from your normale storage.<br /> <br /> PS: It stores info in /boot/device.map, check with cat if it is correct if you have issues. boot esx grub Tue, 27 May 2008 09:52:15 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-5480 2008-05-27T09:52:15Z 1 year, 6 months ago 1 http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-5110 I was recently told by an integrator that if I build a Windows 2003 R2 Cluster across physical ESX hosts, I must store the Windows OS vmdk files on ESX local disk and not on the SAN.<br /> <br /> Has anyone ever heard/read of this configuration?<br /> <br /> Has anyone ever implemented a Windows Cluster in this manner across physical ESX hosts? <br /> <br /> Thanks.<br /> <hr /> With Update 1 VM booting form SAN is now supported - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vmware.com/support/vi3/doc/vi3_esx35u1_vc25u1_rel_notes.html">http://www.vmware.com/support/vi3/doc/vi3_esx35u1_vc25u1_rel_notes.html</a><br /> <hr /> Hi weinstein5,<br /> I was not referring to the ESX OS. I was referring to the Windows Guest OS. Sorry if I did not explain the situation clearly enough.<br /> <br /> So, with that in mind.. any thoughts?<br /> <br /> Thanks.<br /> <hr /> I have also heard this before but its not really relevent, if you read the following guide all is explained... <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/vi3_35_25_u1_mscs.pdf">http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/vi3_35_25_u1_mscs.pdf</a>.<br /> <p /> <p /> If you found this information useful, please consider awarding points for "Correct" or "Helpful". Thanks!!!<br /> <hr /> <br /> Prior to ESX 3.5 Update 1m VNware only supported Microsoft Clusters in that configuration - where the VMs booted from systems disks stored on local VMFS volumes - with ESX 3.5 Update 1 VMware now supports the VMs booting from SAN LINs - <br /> <br /> <h3>Support for Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS)</h3> <br /> VMware ESX Server 3.5 Update 1 supports Microsoft Cluster Service. Support is similar to ESX Server 3.0.1 with the following additions:<br /> <br /> <ul> <li>Both 64 bit and 32 bit Windows 2003 guests are supported with MSCS.</li> <li>Boot from SAN for VMs using MSCS is now supported.</li> <li>Majority Node Set clusters with application-level replication (for example, Exchange 2007 Cluster Continuous Replication (CCR) is now supported.</li> </ul> <br /> <hr /> <br /> Hi alanrenouf,<br /> <p /> I read that document some weeks ago, it didn't answer my specific question. We've been running a windows cluster for file and another windows cluster for exchange 2003 on ESX 2.5 for over three years with all guest OS vmdk files up on the san. Never had a problem.<br /> <p /> <hr /> Hi weinstein5,<br /> That's very strange. We've been running a windows cluster for file and another windows cluster for exchange 2003 on ESX 2.5 for over three years with all guest OS vmdk files up on the san. Never had a problem.<br /> <br /> If putting the guest OS vmdk files on the SAN for windows clusters was not supported in previous versions of ESX, did that really stop/deter most companies from running windows clusters that way?<br /> <hr /> key word in my explanation is 'supported' by VMware - does not mean it will not work - and no I do not think that stiooed people form doing it -<br /> <hr /> <br /> I agree, its always been a support issue until Update 1<br /> <p /> <br /> If you found this information useful, please consider awarding points for "Correct" or "Helpful". Thanks!!!<br /> <hr /> <br /> The problem appears to be related to disk timeouts. While it worked previously about 98.5% of the time, there is a scenario in which the node boot disk is located on a SAN, along with the quorum/data shared disks. In that scenario, the boot disk connection is "lost" from the SAN, triggering a cluster failover to the passive node, but the connection returns to the boot disk, in which the master tries to read/write to disks it "knows" to be mastered on it. This is now a split-brain scenario which can cause many an issue, as some will know if they've encountered it in the physical world. This why Update 1 includes timeouts related to MSCS that "fixes" this scenario, so the limitation for disks to be local is now gone.<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> Hope that makes it clear,<br /> <p /> -KjB<br /> <p /> <br /> This document was generated from the following thread:&nbsp;<a href="http://communities.vmware.com/thread/144904" class="jive-link-thread">Must OS of Windows Cluster reside on ESX local disk?</a> Sat, 10 May 2008 04:14:24 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-5110 2008-05-10T04:14:24Z 1 year, 6 months ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-5000 I am planning to have two dual port Intel PCI NICs in an ESX Server. The server only has 4 PCI slots, and the other two slots will be used by single port HBA adapters for HA reasons.<br /> <br /> Initially I was just going to have port1 from NIC1 plugged into physical switch1, port2 from NIC2 plugged into physical switch2 and have both ports on the one vswitch with IP HASH based load balancing. Easy and simple with HA in place on the physical side of the network. I would just use External Switch Tagging (EST) so no special config required on ESX.<br /> <br /> However someone mentioned why not use etherchannel for a bigger "pipe".<br /> <br /> My question has two parts:<br /> <br /> 1. If I have port1 from NIC1 plus port1 from NIC2 both plugged into physical switch1 and etherchannel them together, and then I have port2 from NIC1 plus port2 from NIC2 both plugged into physical switch2 and etherchannel them together, can I put all this (effectively just two big "pipes") on the one vswitch?<br /> 2. Can I then use several VLANS on these ethernal channel "pipes"?<br /> <br /> I've never used etherchannel before.<br /> <br /> Has anyone actually done this in practice, or know of some official doco that explains how this is both possible and supported with VMware ESX Server?<br /> <br /> Thanks in advance.<br /> <hr /> There is some really good information about this topic in this discussion: <a class="jive-link-external" href="https://email.vmware.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=8cc59e12e56d4ef4a8ef947a596fb886&#38;URL=http%3a%2f%2fcommunities.vmware.com%2fmessage%2f902563%23902563">http://communities.vmware.com/message/902563#902563</a><br /> <hr /> Yes you can - you would create a Nic Team on a virtual switch - check out the networking section of <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_3_server_config.pdf">http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_3_server_config.pdf</a><br /> <hr /> The link <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://communities.vmware.com/message/902563#902563">http://communities.vmware.com/message/902563#902563</a> simply takes me to a VMware Outlook Web Access page (and my logon for this forum does not work on that page).<br /> <br /> Are you able to provide a different link to the same info?<br /> <br /> Thanks.<br /> <hr /> Yes I have read (and again just now re-read) the Advanced Networking chapter of vi3_35_25_3_server_config.pdf. I understand it is really only outlining the basics of what can be done.<br /> <br /> However it seems to imply you can only create one team on a vswitch or port group. I understand that scenario, but the scenario I'm asking about has two separate teams on the one vswitch or port group. By that I mean, I only want each VM to have one NIC. If I didn't explain the scenario feel free to ask me to elaborate.<br /> <br /> I still don't know if this is possible. It would be great to hear from someone who has done this in the past, if indeed anyone has.<br /> <br /> Also, that doc makes no mention, at least not that I could see, if you could etherchannel NICs together and then VLAN ontop of that. It was suggested to me that if you etherchannel NICs together then you can only use them on one VLAN due to the logic on the physical switch side needed to maintain the etherchannel on those ports.<br /> <br /> Looking forward to replies from anyone that knows networking inside out.<br /> <br /> Thanks.<br /> <hr /> <br /> I've copied it here for you to read::8}<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> I would like to clear up some misconceptions surrounding link aggregation and ESX. One of my colleagues, Dan Whitman, wrote up this very nice summary of our stance regarding link aggregation. Hooray for Dan! Seriously, thanks Dan for the clear and concise summary.<br /> <p /> Unfortunately, we don't document this very well but we do in fact support 802.3ad in specific configurations. We have to be careful when we refer to LACP generically because there are two modes which can be employed: Static and Dynamic and both are in the 802.3ad IEEE standard. While the whole premise of the LACP standard is to enable dynamic "routing" of Layer 2 traffic, there is a facility built into the standard to allow the forcing of static paths. Interestingly enough, the little documentation we have says that while we support 802.3ad, we do not support LACP. The appropriate statement should be that ESX doesn't support the dynamic aspect of the standard but does support static mode in the 802.3ad specification. <br /> <p /> I have worked through this conundrum with several customers and the configuration below has been proven to work in single switch and multi-switch environments. Note that while spanning-tree is not needed simply because there is no way to link vSwitches together (without doing extreme networking in the VMs), enabling spanning-tree is the only way I've been able to find that allows the enablement of portfast which trims off 30secs of downtime during port failovers.<br /> <p /> At the end of the day, ESX 3.x does support 802.3ad and LACP in STATIC configurations. Below are the configurations of both the Cisco switch (6500 in this case) and peer vSwitch in ESX to support Link Aggregation Control Protocol (802.3ad) and port trunking/grouping (Cisco Fast EtherChannel - FEC).<br /> <p /> <b><u>Supporting links</u></b><br /> <p /> <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/virtual_networking_concepts.pdf">http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/virtual_networking_concepts.pdf</a><br /> <p /> <b><u>Cisco switch example commands to group 2 physical ports in 1 trunk group</u></b><br /> <p /> !<br /> <p /> interface Port-channel10<br /> <p /> description ESX Server 1<br /> <p /> switchport<br /> <p /> switchport trunk encapsulation dot1q<br /> <p /> switchport mode trunk<br /> <p /> spanning-tree portfast trunk<br /> <p /> !<br /> <p /> interface GigabitEthernet3/1<br /> <p /> description ESX Server 1 NIC vmnic0<br /> <p /> speed 1000<br /> <p /> duplex full<br /> <p /> switchport<br /> <p /> switchport mode trunk<br /> <p /> spanning-tree portfast trunk<br /> <p /> channel-group 10 mode on<br /> <p /> !<br /> <p /> interface GigabitEthernet3/2<br /> <p /> description ESX Server 1 NIC vmnic1<br /> <p /> speed 1000<br /> <p /> duplex full<br /> <p /> switchport<br /> <p /> switchport mode trunk<br /> <p /> spanning-tree portfast trunk<br /> <p /> channel-group 10 mode on<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <br /> <b><u>vSwitch example screenshot showing the necessary configuration to accommodate the Cisco port configuration above</u></b><br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> dan whitman - system engineer - air force team - vmware<hr /> Hi cpqarray,<br /> <p /> Thanks for the explanation about the static and dynamic aspects of 802.3ad (etherchannel). I was not aware of that before.<br /> <p /> I have downloaded and read the virtual_networking_concepts.pdf document, along with the info you provided, and although it is good to know about the simple scenario of just one etherchannel team going to a single port group on a vswitch, which seems to be the only example in any doco I have read or any tech I've conversed with, it still doesn't answer my initial question, which is:<br /> <p /> Can I put two separate etherchannel teams (the reason for two etherchannel teams is team1 goes to physical switch1 and team two goes to physical switch1 - only because I need physical HA and I read some VMware doco that says you should not etherchannel across different physical switches, or maybe it said it's just not possible) onto the one port group on a vswitch inside ESX Server?<br /> <p /> Looking forward to your reply.<br /> <p /> PS. The virtual_networking_concepts.pdf doco didn't make it clear whether or not I can still use multiple VLANs across an etherchannel team - do you know if I can?<br /> <hr /> This thread should not be in the VCP community. Moving to appropriate product community.<br><br><br><br><br>---<br /> <b>Badsah Mukherji</b><br /> Senior Community Manager, VMware Communities<br /> <hr /> Hi,<br /> <br /> You can not place two NIC teams which are on separate trunks on the same vswitch portgroup they will need to be all on the same trunk/team or all separate 802.1q vlan ports on the same team.<br /> <br /> Yes you can have multiple VLAN's on the FEC trunk but I would suggest you change the native vlan to something other than 1 if you have not already.<br /> <p /> Just to clarify 802.3ad Link Aggregation is not the same as FEC (cisco Fast Ether Channel)<br /> <p /> 802.3ad is an IEEE protocol standard and FEC is a cisco proprietary protocol. Cisco can do both of them. <br /> <p /> Do you really need the trunk?<br /> <p /> If none of your VM's have more than a single 1G vNIC per portgroup then it is not required and is more complex.<br /> <p /> You can cross separate physical switches with a trunk the above example will work<br /> <p /> This is a great helpfull ppt<br /> <p /> <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vmware-tsx.com/download.php?asset_id=41">http://www.vmware-tsx.com/download.php?asset_id=41</a><br /> <br /> Message was edited by: mike.laspina - word omitted - portgroup and added one more answer and link.<br /> <hr /> Hi Mike,<br /> Thanks for clarifying that. So it appears it's a no go. The main idea for the 802.3ad Link Aggregation was simply to give the VMs (which only have one vNIC each) more bandwidth. However I'm also required to provide multiple paths across different physical switches - so it does appear I cannot do both. Darn. Looks like it will have to be just one port per physical switch, in which case I may as well stick with the default port based load balancing.<br /> <br /> You mentioned I can trunk across different physical switches - so for that I would plan to use one port per physical switch (different ports than those used for the VM network) and I would have 3 VLANS on this vswitch (vmkernel vmotion, service console and heartbeat for our Microsoft Clusters). We only plan to use FC SAN (no iSCSI or NFS) so no need for two separate vmkernel networks (vmotion network separate from iSCSI network).<br /> <br /> So can you confirm ESX 3.5 does not support etherchannel, but it does support 802.3ad Link Aggregation?<br /> <br /> Also, are you aware of anyone who has used two physical switches for the VM network, and yet has also teamed NICs together for a larger pipe? If not, does that mean that every instance of NICs teamed for a single large pipe has always been with just one physical switch, meaning they have a central point of failure? That doesn't strike me as best practice, unless I'm missing part of the picture somewhere...<br /> <br /> Looking forward to your reply.<br /> <br /> Thanks.<br /> <hr /> You can achieve what you are looking for by using 802.1q port trunking and NIC teaming and you will have the 2G bandwidth over the team. <br /> 2 Adapters for VM traffic teamed across the two physical switches <br /> <br /> 2 Adapters for SC VMotion teamed across the two physical switches<br /> <br /> It is possible to do this with 802.3ad but it's a complexity that would just give you difficult trouble shooting and you don't really need it. <br /> <br /> I have this type of config on HP Procurve, just more of and at a larger scale and I have some 802.3ad static trunk configurations working as well.<br /> <br /> I have 802.3ad trunks across the switches so there are no single points of failure.<br /> <br /> ESX 3.5 works on static FEC and 802.3ad configurations it does support(use) LACP and PAgP dynamic protocols on the teamed NICs.<br /> <hr /> Hi Mike,<br /> Please forgive my ignorance, but I thought if I use only 802.1q port trunking and NIC teaming (without any link aggregation or fast etherchannel) then I will not have a single 2G bandwidth over the team, but rather I'll have two separate 1G bandwidths, ie the most bandwidth any one machine could ever use at any point in time is just 1G - or is that not correct?<br /> <br /> Thanks in advance.<br /> <hr /> <div class="jive-quote"><span class="jive-quote-header">ServerAdmins wrote:</span><br /> Hi Mike,<br /> Please forgive my ignorance, but I thought if I use only 802.1q port trunking and NIC teaming (without any link aggregation or fast etherchannel) then I will not have a single 2G bandwidth over the team, but rather I'll have two separate 1G bandwidths, ie the most bandwidth any one machine could ever use at any point in time is just 1G - or is that not correct?<br /> <p /> Thanks in advance.</div> <br /> You are correct. The only way to possibly get more than one pNIC's worth of bandwidth out of a single VM is to use IP Hash as your load balancing mechanism and have your pSwitch configured for 803.3ad trunking. In that case, each IP conversation could - possibly - use a different pNIC. My question is do you <u>really</u> have a VM that is <u>using</u> one pNIC worth of network? I would be surprised if you do. Also, consider your pSwitch infrastructure - what is the connectivity between your pSwitches? What is the utilization on those links? I doubt their saturated. If your ISL is not pushing significantly more than one pNIC's bandwidth then you probably don't need to complicate your environment with link aggregation to your ESX hosts.<br /> <br /> Ken Cline<br /> Technical Director, Virtualization<br /> <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.wellslanders.com">Wells Landers</a><br /> VMware Communities User Moderator<br /> <hr /> With the port ID policy the load balancer with try to spread the VM across the available adapters and this will allow you to use the 2G sum over multiple VM's. A single VM will only get a maximum of 1G (More like 500MB in the real world).<br /> <hr /> Hi Mike,<br /> Thanks for the explanations. I like to know my options so I can make an informed decision.<br /> <br /> One more question in this Load Balancing (LB) area:<br /> <br /> From what I understand when I have two NICs trunked together on the one vswitch, if I use port based LB then a VM will choose a NIC when it powers on, and will stay with that NIC till it powers off or is moved to another host. However, if I use IP based LB then each time a VM needs to talk to a machine external to the ESX host on which it lives, it could choose either of those two trunked NICs for that particular conversation, and only stay with that NIC for that conversation. In other words the VM has the capability to choose either NIC of those two trunked NICs each time it starts a new conversation. This sounds like much more even use of the two NICs.<br /> <br /> Is this correct? If not, can you please explain why?<br /> <br /> Thanks.<br /> <hr /> Yes that is correct, portID policy will always use the same physical path unless a failover event occurs. The use of MAC and IP hash are not recommended unless you configure 802.3ad static based trunking on the physical switches. Keep in mind that hashing will have additional CPU load on the ESX server, but it is usually not an issue. As well hashing allows you to control outgoing traffic but not incoming. 802.3ad over to separate switches will be more complex and is possible as I have indicated earlier. You would need to carefully configure the policies to control portgroups in a manner that does not allow it to split across the physical switches. I have done this and it works. Issues on a portgroup will occur during a failed state if you do not prevent the path split. If one switch goes bad due to reasons other that complete failure is when you have the big issues.<br /> <br /> NB. Awarding points is like saying thanks.<br /> <p /> Here is some good info on it.<br /> <p /> <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/virtual_networking_concepts.pdf">http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/virtual_networking_concepts.pdf</a><br /> <hr /> <img class="jive-emoticon" border="0" src="http://communities.vmware.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif" alt=":)" /> Thanks for the note about awarding points. Correct answer and 10 points definitely going your way for your help on this thread.<br /> <br /> Where can I find out what the little icons/symbols mean that are displayed next to most of the names of people that post on this forum? I noticed I have a flag and you have a crown <img class="jive-emoticon" border="0" src="http://communities.vmware.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif" alt=":)" /> How many icons are there?<br /> <br /> Thanks.<br /> <br /> This document was generated from the following thread:&nbsp;<a href="http://communities.vmware.com/thread/143555" class="jive-link-thread">Can I combine two etherchannel "pipes" onto one vswitch?</a> etherchannel link_aggregation load_balancing Sun, 04 May 2008 14:25:59 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-5000 2008-05-04T14:25:59Z 1 year, 6 months ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-4730 Hello,<br /> <br /> I have a special configuration issue!<br /> My intention is to mirror LUN's, stored on EMC Clariion with Mirror view to a backup Clariion system.<br /> The LUNS are containing all data and configuration files from virtual machines running on ESX-3.5 server.<br /> <br /> If the ESX server or the storage should fail, the Idea is to assign the mirrored LUNs to a backup ESX server<br /> and activating the LUN'S on this server. The pure assingment of Luns is not the problem,<br /> But I have no Idea how to activate (import) the virtual machines on the backup server.<br /> <br /> Is this scenario realisable and how can I do this<br /> <br /> in advance many thanks for every constructive answer<br /> <br /> Lucksch Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:35:53 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-4730 2008-04-23T12:35:53Z 1 year, 7 months ago 1 http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-4520 <br /> Hi, My ESX Server got hung after too many SCSI conflict errors. I am not even able to take putty seesion at that time. Reboot solved the problem but logs not even genearted for that specific time before reboot. Is it possible that ESX got hung due to many SCSI conflict errors ? Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:34:17 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-4520 2008-04-14T20:34:17Z 1 year, 7 months ago 2 http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-4130 <i>By default, ESX server balances all outgoing traffic based on IP address pair through multiple NIC ports configured in a single vSwitch. You don't need any switch support for this feature to work.</i><br /> <br /> <i>You need the switch-level support however to let both the outgoing and incoming traffic to be balanced and thus receive increased overall throughput.</i> <br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <br /> Read the <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kukacz.blogspot.com/2008/04/teaming-nics-in-esx-how-to-choose.html">full article</a> at Kukacz Notes blog. esx networking performance Tue, 01 Apr 2008 21:50:50 GMT lkubin@coma.cz http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-4130 2008-04-01T21:50:50Z 1 year, 7 months ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-4040 as you know, every vmdk consists of 2 files, one is xxxx.vmdk, the other is xxxxx-flat.vmdk.<br /> <br /> the former is disk descriptor file, the later is the disk include the real data.<br /> <p /> <br /> if for some reason, user delete the descriptor file, how to restore it from the xxxxx-flat.vmdk?<br /> <p /> <br /> <hr /> Just use the VI client to reattach the file back to the VM.<br /> <hr /> You can restore it from the log and you can restore it by "calculating" its contents.<br /> <hr /> your method does not work, if there's only flat file without the descriptor file, when vi client browse the directory, it will display no vmdk files.<br /> <hr /> agree with you, can you provide the detail approch how to do this.<br /> <br /> i read the ppt from TSX 2007, "top support issues and how to solve them, part 2", it says use "grep -i rw xxxx.vmdk" to get the size, but when i use it, nothing useful displayed.<br /> <br /> <hr /> Oh right I see what you mean. The following steps will guide you to recreate your vmdk's: <br /> <br /> <ol> <li>Determine the hard disk sizes of your original VM - this information should be in the logs files mentioned by previous poster.</li> <li>Create a new VM with the same number of hard disks as your old VM, and the exact same sizes using the log info.</li> <li>Once created, use Putty or some tool to navigate to the directory of new VM.</li> <li>Copy the newly created vmdk files to your existing directory</li> <li>Edit the new VMDK's with the existing flat.vmdk file names.</li> <li>Load the VM in your VirtualCenter. You should now be able to add the flat.vmdk to your VM</li> </ol> <br /> <hr /> Thanks for the post. Apologies for not reading your original post more closely.<br /> <hr /> thank you and your method is very easy to understand and implement. i successfully do a test, let me add some notes to your steps.<br /> <br /> <i>1. Determine the hard disk sizes of your original VM - this information should be in the logs files mentioned by previous poster.</i><br /> <p /> just use ls -l to determine the disk size, in my example, i have 2 disks, one is 6457893888 bytes, the other is 5368709120<br /> <p /> <p /> <i>2. Create a new VM with the same number of hard disks as your old VM, and the exact same sizes using the log info.</i><br /> <p /> <p /> when you create a new VM, the key is disk size and guest os type. the guest os type you can get it from vmware.log, or you can ask the user who use it.<br /> <p /> <p /> for disk capacity, just use the size get from step 1, and divide it with 1024*1024*1024, for 6457893888, the result is:6158.7275390625<br /> <p /> <p /> for 5368709120, the result is just 5. notice the unit is MB, so type the exact value in the input box.<br /> <p /> <p /> <i>3. Once created, use Putty or some tool to navigate to the directory of new VM.</i><br /> <i>4. Copy the newly created vmdk files to your existing directory</i><br /> <p /> <p /> this should be: copy the vmdk flat files in your existing directory to the newly created VM dir<br /> <i>5. Edit the new VMDK's with the existing flat.vmdk file names.</i><br /> <i>6. Load the VM in your VirtualCenter. You should now be able to add the flat.vmdk to your VM</i><br /> <p /> <br /> just power on the VM in virtualcenter<br /> <br /> This document was generated from the following thread: <a class="jive-link-thread" href="http://communities.vmware.com/thread/135776">how to re-construct disk descriptor file?</a> Sat, 29 Mar 2008 14:48:49 GMT xiaoyu@bestinfo.com.cn http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-4040 2008-03-29T14:48:49Z 1 year, 8 months ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-3951 I have a slight problem where I've been assigned to look into creating a virtual backup media server (to run with W2K3 Standard Edition and Symantec Backup Exec) to connect to a directly attached HP StorageWorks MSL2024 Tape Library (1 x Ultrium 960 tape drive) - the physical ESX 3.0.1. host will be running on an HP ProLiant DL380 G5 server with the SCSI HBA being an HP Single Chanel Ultra320 (PCI Express).<br /> <br /> Unfortunately until I get onsite to look at it (at least another two weeks) I'm stuck with no hardware to play with the same configuration and I was just wanting to see if anyone else has managed to get this working successfully AND if so what steps were made to get it working.<br /> <br /> Any info you can provide would be greatly appreciated and accepted as I'm not a full fledged VMware ESX administrator plus there is several posts that show varying results for other vendors tape drives/libraries.<br /> <hr /> Hello,<br /> <br /> I would NOT connect the tape library to your ESX server. I would use a remote physical box to perform backups. The reasons are really two fold.<br /> <br /> 1) If the passthru scsi device craters (which is is want to do) then <br /> the ESX server SC goes with it.<br /> <br /> 2) I do not like the overhead this puts on the ESX server.<br /> <br /> I have done it both ways and a remote server works best. I use a DELL PowerVault 128T and it is very similar to the MSL libraries (it is actually an HP library rebranded as DELL).<br /> <br /> Best regards,<br /> Edward<br /> <hr /> I agree for our backups we send them to a seperate backup server which has the tape library attached to it. I don't like attaching the tape library directly to the ESX host mainly for the fact if you gave problems with the device and a server reboot is necessary you are now effecting all of your guests.<br /> <br /> Also for our guest backups we use esXpress.<br /> <hr /> This is what worked for us. You may need to get an Adaptec 29320LPE SCSI card<br /> <br /> The problem:<br /> <br /> The new breed of HP (and probably other makers) LTO Auto-changer tape libraries are now multi LUN on the SCSI bus &ndash; that is both the tape driver and the media changer have the same SCSI ID with different LUNs.<br /> <br /> Our installation:<br /> <br /> HP Proliant DL380 G5 (only supports PCI Express)<br /> HP 1/8 Ultrium 920 G2 Tape Autoloader <br /> VI3 ESX 3.0.1 (under test, yet to test 3.0.2)<br /> Virtual Centre 2.1<br /> Veritas / Symantec Backup Exec 11<br /> <br /> The two basic configuration restrictions on ESX 3 are:<br /> <br /> 1. There is no support for multi LUN SCSI devices on SCSI pass-through devices (tapes).<br /> <br /> 2. Only Adaptec SCSI cards are supported for pass-through devices. (see VMware HCL)<br /> <br /> For a few days we thought that we &lsquo;could not get there from here!&rsquo;<br /> <br /> The first part of the solution came when we realised that ESX internally does recognise multi LUN SCSI devices when you install the appropriate Adaptec card. It creates two device files, one for each LUN on the SCSI adapter. <br /> <br /> When ESX maps SCSI devices to the guest virtual adapter it is maps to device files not physical adapter devices. That is ESX is quite happy to map the two device files (same ID different LUN) to two separated virtual SCSI IDs on the virtual adapter in the guest.<br /> <br /> The result is the guest gets to see both devices but now they have different SCSI IDs &ndash; virtual that is.<br /> <br /> The second part came in the form of the latest version and patches of Backup Exec which has drivers for the new HP library devices.<br /> <br /> The solution:<br /> <br /> 1. Purchase an Adaptec 29320LPE SCSI adapter &ndash; supported on ESX and supports multi LUN devices.<br /> <br /> 2. Install the adapter and media library, power on the tape library and boot the ESX server. Note it boots, finds the new hardware and re-boots.<br /> <br /> 3. Verify that the both library devices have been found and the ESX SCSI devices created.<br /> <br /> On the ESX console logon as root.<br /> <br /> cat /proc/scsi/scsi<br /> Attached devices:<br /> Host: scsi0 Channel: 00 Id: 04 Lun: 00<br /> Vendor: HP Model: Ultrium 3-SCSI Rev: D22W<br /> Type: Sequential-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 03<br /> Host: scsi0 Channel: 00 Id: 04 Lun: 01<br /> Vendor: HP Model: 1x8 G2 AUTOLDR Rev: 1.30<br /> Type: Medium Changer ANSI SCSI revision: 05<br /> <br /> Note the two SCSI devices &ndash; <br /> <br /> ID = 4 LUN = 0 &ndash; tape drive<br /> ID = 4 LUN = 1 &ndash; media changer<br /> <br /> ll /proc/vmware/scsi/vmhba1<br /> total 0<br /> -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 Sep 24 09:14 4:0<br /> -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 Sep 24 09:14 4:1<br /> -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 Sep 24 09:14 stats<br /> <br /> Note the two SCSI device files &ndash; 4:0 and 4:1.<br /> <br /> On the HP library you can use the Web management interface to change the SCSI ID of the library but not the LUNs, the tape drive is always LUN 0 and the media changer LUN 1.<br /> <br /> 4. In VI Client add the SCSI devices to the Guest VM. The VM should be shutdown at the time.<br /> <br /> Select the VM guest<br /> Edit settings<br /> Add<br /> <br /> SCSI Device<br /> Set - Tape &ndash; &ldquo;HP &ldquo; &ndash; to device to SCSI(0:4)<br /> Set - Media &ndash; &ldquo;HP &ldquo; &ndash; to device to SCSI(0:5)<br /> <br /> Note the lines added to the .VMX file for this guest &ndash;<br /> <br /> scsi0:4.present = "true"<br /> scsi0:4.deviceType = "scsi-passthru"<br /> scsi0:4.fileName = "/vmfs/devices/generic/vml.0201000000500110a00090d7ed556c74726975"<br /> scsi0:4.allowGuestConnectionControl = "false"<br /> scsi0:5.present = "true"<br /> scsi0:5.deviceType = "scsi-passthru"<br /> scsi0:5.fileName = "/vmfs/devices/generic/vml.0208010000500110a00090d7ec317838204732"<br /> scsi0:5.allowGuestConnectionControl = "false"<br /> <br /> 5. Boot the VM and verify that Windows sees the new devices &ndash; Device Manager should have both the Tape and the Media Changer.<br /> <br /> 6. Install Backup Exec build 7170 plus Hot Fix 16 or later.<br /> <br /> 7. Verify access to the tape and media library.<br /> <p /> Note &ndash; <br /> <br /> If the tape library is powered off when ESX boots, attempts to power on the guest OS will fail with .VMX file errors on the virtual SCSI devices.<br /> <br /> A SCSI pass through tape and library can only be mounted to ONE VM guest OS.<br /> <br /> This document was generated from the following thread: <a class="jive-link-thread" href="http://communities.vmware.com/thread/94153">Working Backup Solution via ESX 3.0.1 with HP MSL2024 Tape Library</a> Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:20:58 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-3951 2008-03-27T10:20:58Z 1 year, 8 months ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-3950 Hi ,<br /> <br /> I have two esx 3.0.1 servers setup with HP MSL 2024 tape library which is recently connected to one of esx servers.<br /> <p /> We firing the backup from VM through Veritas backup software. we are facing slow performance with backup.<br /> <p /> Pls guide me to troubleshoot the same.<br /> <br /> <hr /> I have a few questions to start off.<br /> <br /> 1 - Is the Tape Library connected via a non-RAID Adaptec controller?<br /> <p /> 2 - Are there any other devices connected to the same controller as the Tape Library?<br /> <p /> 3 - How many VMs are connected to this Tape Library?<br /> <p /> Also, run esxtop in batch mode to gather performance data when backups are running. While this is happening use Remote Performance Monitor to gather data from inside the VM running the backup software as well.<br /> <p /> Compare the data output from it and see if the data points to an obvious bottleneck. From there you can focus on that component for configuration.<br /> <p /> Faisal<br /> <p /> <hr /> Hi,<br /> <br /> Also, what disks are being used as backup source, and what is the tape standard of this library (LTO2?). If you cannot keep the buffer filled up in the tape unit, it will continuously rewind and resync, which will dramatically impact performance. <br /> <p /> I run a similar setup, with an LTO1 HP tape library (8slots). Two VMs, one carries Symantec Backup exec, the other is a Windows 2003 file server. I get about 900MB/min backup&#38;verify speed if I run a full backup (differential backups run slower off course)<br /> <p /> Please post the CPU loads on all affected VMs, config of these VMs (opsys, assigned memory, number of vCPUs), how fast the backup actually runs ("slow performance": How slow is slow?), any bottlenecks (for example network). Config of your ESX hosts (memory, number of CPUs, numebr of NICs, NIC setup)<br /> <p /> <hr /> The tape library is SCSI attached to the ESX host and you are presenting the device through to the VM right?<br /> <br /> Don't try and trouble shoot it. Find another machine and run the backup of that. It is not recommended to run backup to a local device. There are some circumstance where its okay but as you have seen the load can be high and performance low. Likewise for running the backup server in the VM. Have a look through the <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_vm_backup.pdf">Virtual Machine Backup Guide</a>.<br /> <br /> Have you<br /> <br /> <ol> <li>Checked you are running a supprted SCSI controller. VMware supports attaching SCSI drives to the ESX Server using Adaptec SCSI adapters. Using other adapters, such as LSI MPT‐Fusion SCSI, is not supported.</li> <li>If you are using a tape drive library (versus using a stand‐alone tape drive), the library must be multitarget, and not multi‐LUN.</li> <li>Set the tape drive&rsquo;s virtual target ID in the virtual machine&rsquo;s configuration to be the same as the physical target ID.</li> <li>Check the SCSI terminators on the tape drive, that can often cause them to go slow.</li> </ol> <br /> <span style="font-size:10px"><span style="color:gray">Considering awarding points if this is of use</span></span><br /> <br /> This document was generated from the following thread: <a class="jive-link-thread" href="http://communities.vmware.com/thread/124795">HP tape library perf slow in ESX 3.x setup</a> Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:19:04 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-3950 2008-03-27T10:19:04Z 1 year, 8 months ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-3640 This is the procedure we used to update all our 3.0.2 hosts, dont ask why we are not on 3.5 IBM LS20's dont support 3.5!!!<br /> Uploaded all patches to SAN <br /> <br /> Go into VMware Infrastucture Client<br /> Click on the down arrow next to Inventory and select "DataStores"<br /> Right Click on SanStorage-VMFS00-Tempate and select Browse<br /> Double Click 302-Patches<br /> Click the Upload button and upload all required patches.<br /> <br /> Putty into any ESX Server and to the following (Example used as we updated servers)<br /> <br /> cd /vmfs/volumes/SanStorage-VMFS00-Template/302-Patches<br /> <br /> (Unzipped all patches)<br /> tar -xvvzf ESX-1002424.tgz<br /> tar -xvvzf ESX-1002434.tgz <br /> tar -xvvzf ESX-1002974.tgz <br /> tar -xvvzf ESX-1003364.tgz<br /> tar -xvvzf ESX-1002425.tgz <br /> tar -xvvzf ESX-1002435.tgz <br /> tar -xvvzf ESX-1002975.tgz <br /> tar -xvvzf ESX-1003365.tgz<br /> tar -xvvzf ESX-1002426.tgz <br /> tar -xvvzf ESX-1002965.tgz <br /> tar -xvvzf ESX-1002976.tgz <br /> tar -xvvzf ESX-1003366.tgz<br /> tar -xvvzf ESX-1002427.tgz <br /> tar -xvvzf ESX-1002966.tgz <br /> tar -xvvzf ESX-1003175.tgz <br /> tar -xvvzf ESX-1003374.tgz<br /> tar -xvvzf ESX-1002428.tgz <br /> tar -xvvzf ESX-1002967.tgz <br /> tar -xvvzf ESX-1003179.tgz <br /> tar -xvvzf ESX-1003513.tgz<br /> tar -xvvzf ESX-1002429.tgz <br /> tar -xvvzf ESX-1002969.tgz <br /> tar -xvvzf ESX-1003359.tgz <br /> tar -xvvzf ESX-1003514.tgz<br /> tar -xvvzf ESX-1002430.tgz <br /> tar -xvvzf ESX-1002970.tgz <br /> tar -xvvzf ESX-1003360.tgz <br /> tar -xvvzf ESX-1003515.tgz<br /> tar -xvvzf ESX-1002431.tgz <br /> tar -xvvzf ESX-1002971.tgz <br /> tar -xvvzf ESX-1003362.tgz<br /> <br /> Done Preping the patches for installation<br /> <br /> (Applying patches)<br /> No putty into the server you wish to patch<br /> <br /> First check what patches are loaded on the server<br /> type<br /> esxupdate query<br /> <br /> Now proceed to install patches<br /> (Take note we are installing all patches in accession and not rebooting until the last patch has been loaded)<br /> cd /vmfs/volumes/SanStorage-VMFS00-Template/302-Patches/ESX-1002424<br /> esxupdate --noreboot update<br /> cd /vmfs/volumes/SanStorage-VMFS00-Template/302-Patches/ESX-1002431<br /> esxupdate --noreboot update<br /> cd /vmfs/volumes/SanStorage-VMFS00-Template/302-Patches/ESX-1002435<br /> esxupdate --noreboot update<br /> cd /vmfs/volumes/SanStorage-VMFS00-Template/302-Patches/ESX-1002434<br /> esxupdate --noreboot update<br /> cd /vmfs/volumes/SanStorage-VMFS00-Template/302-Patches/ESX-1002426<br /> esxupdate --noreboot update<br /> cd /vmfs/volumes/SanStorage-VMFS00-Template/302-Patches/ESX-1002430<br /> esxupdate --noreboot update<br /> cd /vmfs/volumes/SanStorage-VMFS00-Template/302-Patches/ESX-1002428<br /> esxupdate --noreboot update<br /> cd /vmfs/volumes/SanStorage-VMFS00-Template/302-Patches/ESX-1003175<br /> esxupdate --noreboot update<br /> cd /vmfs/volumes/SanStorage-VMFS00-Template/302-Patches/ESX-1002976<br /> esxupdate --noreboot update<br /> cd /vmfs/volumes/SanStorage-VMFS00-Template/302-Patches/ESX-1002975<br /> esxupdate --noreboot update<br /> cd /vmfs/volumes/SanStorage-VMFS00-Template/302-Patches/ESX-1002974<br /> esxupdate --noreboot update<br /> cd /vmfs/volumes/SanStorage-VMFS00-Template/302-Patches/ESX-1002971<br /> esxupdate --noreboot update<br /> cd /vmfs/volumes/SanStorage-VMFS00-Template/302-Patches/ESX-1002970<br /> esxupdate --noreboot update<br /> cd /vmfs/volumes/SanStorage-VMFS00-Template/302-Patches/ESX-1002969<br /> esxupdate --noreboot update<br /> cd /vmfs/volumes/SanStorage-VMFS00-Template/302-Patches/ESX-1002967<br /> esxupdate --noreboot update<br /> cd /vmfs/volumes/SanStorage-VMFS00-Template/302-Patches/ESX-1002966<br /> esxupdate --noreboot update<br /> cd /vmfs/volumes/SanStorage-VMFS00-Template/302-Patches/ESX-1002965<br /> esxupdate --noreboot update<br /> cd /vmfs/volumes/SanStorage-VMFS00-Template/302-Patches/ESX-1002427<br /> esxupdate --noreboot update<br /> cd /vmfs/volumes/SanStorage-VMFS00-Template/302-Patches/ESX-1003374<br /> esxupdate --noreboot update<br /> cd /vmfs/volumes/SanStorage-VMFS00-Template/302-Patches/ESX-1003179<br /> esxupdate --noreboot update<br /> cd /vmfs/volumes/SanStorage-VMFS00-Template/302-Patches/ESX-1003366<br /> esxupdate --noreboot update<br /> cd /vmfs/volumes/SanStorage-VMFS00-Template/302-Patches/ESX-1003365<br /> esxupdate --noreboot update<br /> cd /vmfs/volumes/SanStorage-VMFS00-Template/302-Patches/ESX-1003364<br /> esxupdate --noreboot update<br /> cd /vmfs/volumes/SanStorage-VMFS00-Template/302-Patches/ESX-1003362<br /> esxupdate --noreboot update<br /> cd /vmfs/volumes/SanStorage-VMFS00-Template/302-Patches/ESX-1003360<br /> esxupdate --noreboot update<br /> cd /vmfs/volumes/SanStorage-VMFS00-Template/302-Patches/ESX-1003359<br /> esxupdate --noreboot update<br /> cd /vmfs/volumes/SanStorage-VMFS00-Template/302-Patches/ESX-1003515<br /> esxupdate --noreboot update<br /> cd /vmfs/volumes/SanStorage-VMFS00-Template/302-Patches/ESX-1003514<br /> esxupdate --noreboot update<br /> cd /vmfs/volumes/SanStorage-VMFS00-Template/302-Patches/ESX-1003513<br /> esxupdate --noreboot update<br /> <br /> Once completed verify all patch instalations<br /> at root type<br /> <br /> esxupdate query<br /> <br /> --root@VMSX21 ESX-1003513--# esxupdate query<br /> Installed software bundles:<br /> <hr /> Name<br /> <hr /> <p /> <ul> <ul> <ul> <li>Install Date --- --- Summary ---</li> </ul> </ul> </ul> 3.0.2-61618 21:56:25 03/17/08 3.0.2 Update 1 of VMware ESX Server<br /> ESX-1002424 22:06:38 03/17/08 VMotion RARP broadcast to multiple vmnic<br /> ESX-1002431 22:07:45 03/17/08 Incorrect ports to LSI Loigic driver.<br /> ESX-1002435 22:09:06 03/17/08 Update VI client to the same as VC202u1.<br /> ESX-1002434 22:10:23 03/17/08 Update WebCenter to the one of VC202u1.<br /> ESX-1002426 22:11:18 03/17/08 vdf -h produces incorrect results.<br /> ESX-1002430 22:12:21 03/17/08 vmxnet is not loaded by default.<br /> ESX-1002428 22:13:29 03/17/08 Qlogic firmware update.<br /> ESX-1003175 22:14:24 03/17/08 Updated the ESX Update Utility<br /> ESX-1002976 22:15:25 03/17/08 util-linux security update<br /> ESX-1002975 22:16:33 03/17/08 Samba security update<br /> ESX-1002974 22:17:37 03/17/08 I/O failures due to excessive reservatio<br /> ESX-1002971 22:18:44 03/17/08 Perl security update (RHSA-2007:0966-01)<br /> ESX-1002970 22:19:57 03/17/08 Patches remote root exploit in OpenPegas<br /> ESX-1002969 22:20:56 03/17/08 Updated OpenSSL packages for security fi<br /> ESX-1002967 22:21:55 03/17/08 tzdata enhancement, with timezone update<br /> ESX-1002966 22:22:57 03/17/08 COS kernel's SCSI layer may lead to Oops<br /> ESX-1002965 22:23:59 03/17/08 Megaraid2 driver fix for UNISYS platform<br /> ESX-1002427 22:25:02 03/17/08 Fix the firmware of bnx2 (BRCM 5709) dri<br /> ESX-1003374 22:25:59 03/17/08 Tools installer update to support RHEL5.<br /> ESX-1003179 22:27:04 03/17/08 Remote-console black-out resolved<br /> ESX-1003366 22:28:27 03/17/08 H/W iSCSI: System PSOD<br /> ESX-1003365 22:28:35 03/17/08 VM hangs on Harwich and Foxecove<br /> ESX-1003364 22:29:40 03/17/08 Autostart for VM works intermittently<br /> ESX-1003362 22:30:35 03/17/08 Security fix for aacraid driver vulnerab<br /> ESX-1003360 22:31:27 03/17/08 Python security update<br /> ESX-1003359 22:32:27 03/17/08 Samba security update<br /> ESX-1003515 22:33:24 03/17/08 Fix for trunking VLANs with igb driver<br /> ESX-1003514 22:34:31 03/17/08 tg3 driver updates<br /> ESX-1003513 22:36:59 03/17/08 Fixed issue of vpxa crashing during reco<br /> For a differential list of rpms, use the -l/--listrpms option.<br /> <br /> Once you have verified the installation of the patches reboot the server<br /> <br /> type reboot and press enter<br /> <br /> After the load of all the patches i found that we were unable to reconnect the machines to the VI console, with the error<br /> "Unable to access the specified host. either does not exist, the server software is not responding, or there is a network problem"<br /> <br /> To fix this i had to putty into the ESX box<br /> Log on as root<br /> Run "rpm -qa | grep vpxa" to see what vpxa installation was done<br /> Example<br /> root@VMSX01 root--# rpm -qa | grep vpxa<br /> VMware-vpxa-2.5.0-64192<br /> <br /> run "rpm -e &lt;Iput return from rpm -qa here&gt;" to uninstall the software<br /> Example<br /> root@VMSX01 root--#rpm -e VMware-vpxa-2.5.0-64192<br /> Then restart the service<br /> run "service mgmt-vmware restart"<br /> <br /> I had some machine i had to to this twice and make sure you have removed the ESX machine from VI completely before you run above and reconnect. update 3.0.2 patch Mon, 17 Mar 2008 18:05:31 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-3640 2008-03-17T18:05:31Z 1 year, 8 months ago 1 http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-3510 Does anyone know what the hold up is on certifying Virtual Center 2.5 and Oracle 10.2.0.3 64bit? Was looking to upgrade to 3.5/2.5, but we only run 64bit Oracle in our Production environment.<br /> <hr /> *<br /> In this document <br /> <br /> <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_installation_guide.pdf">http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_installation_guide.pdf</a><br /> <p /> <br /> all supported Databases are listed.... (Page 19)<br /> <br /> *<br /> <br /> Oracle 10g Standard Release 2 (10.2.0.1.0) Oracle 10g Enterprise Release 2 (10.2.0.1.0)<br /> <p /> <br /> First apply patch 10.2.0.3.0 to the client and server. Then apply patch 5699495 to the client.<br /> <p /> <br /> Regradless of 32 or 64 bit installation or platform its supported. This is because your SQL command returns the same values redardless of the underlying hard and software architecture. -&gt; means .... VC even use the same scripts... if it is 9i or 10g.<br /> <p /> <br /> But please read the release notes too... There are some hints how to configure the schema.... (priviliges because CONNECT ROLE changed and so on)<br /> <p /> <br /> Regards,<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <hr /> I'm already running 10.2.0.3 in my Virtual Center 2.x environment and it's fully patched. While I agree that 64bit "should" work, there's obviously a reason that the compatibility matrix below has "NO" for 10.2.0.3 64bit and Virtual Center 2.5. My question is when will it officially be supported by VMware, my company does not run unspported configurations for critical applications. Thanks.<br /> See Page 5 - Table 6 (continued)<br /> <br /> <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vmware.com/pdf//vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_compat_matrix.pdf">http://www.vmware.com/pdf//vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_compat_matrix.pdf</a><br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <hr /> You are absolute right. No support for 64bit atm. I'll find out if 64bit will be supported in the future and post the answere here.<br /> <br /> Regards,<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <hr /> Hi Divintas,<br /> <br /> Did you have news about 64bit support ?<br /> <br /> Thanks<br /> <hr /> The only response I can get from VMware Support is that they "hope" to support 64 bit Oracle in the future releases, not very promising, so I'm probably going to be moving over to SQL Server in the next month or so if nothing comes out, seems like this is their primary DB platform for VC anyway.<br /> <hr /> This may be one reason VM Ware doesn't want to support 64-bit just yet:<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <b>When 32-bit Oracle is acceptable</b><br /> <br /> You might want to stay on a 32-bit server if any of these conditions are true: <br /> <p /> <br /> <ul> <li><b>Linear processing:</b> You do not need multiple-CPU SMP processing (Oracle parallel query) for large-table, full-table scans.</li> <li><b>No need for large data buffers:</b> If you do not have large working sets (e.g., an OLTP database) then 32-bit may be the right choice.</li> <li><b>External bottleneck:</b> A 32-bit architecture is fine if your bottleneck is not in the Oracle database. In an ERP system, the bottleneck may be in the app servers, Web caches, or network, and a faster database will not help.</li> <li><b>High buffer invalidations: <span style="color:#339966">I</span></b><span style="color:#339966">f your application performs frequent data purges, data truncations or makes high-volume use of temporary tables, then you may not find large RAM regions suitable. <br clear="all" /> </span></li> <li><b>Not computationally intensive:</b> If your bottleneck is in the network or disk I/O, then the faster 64-bit CPUs will not improve your overall performance.</li> </ul> <p /> <p /> <br /> While a 64-bit server is not a panacea, there are several well-documented reasons for moving to a 64-bit server. If any of the following conditions are true, then you may want to consider a 64-bit solution: <br /> <p /> <br /> <ul> <li>High transactions processing rates: Systems with more than 200 disk I/O's per second may see dramatic improvement in speed and scalability. By caching large amounts of data, disk I/O is reduced and performance skyrockets.</li> <li>Declining performance: As systems grow, the 32-bit limitations prevent continued growth.</li> <li>Anticipating rapid growth: For systems that require uninterrupted growth and scalability, the 64-bit architecture allows almost infinite scalability. Many large ERP systems have been able to scale successfully on Windows 64 platforms.</li> <li>Computationally-intensive system: If your Oracle database is CPU-bound or if you perform lots of parallel full-table scans, then the faster processors in a 64-bit architecture are very appealing.</li> </ul> <br /> This document was generated from the following thread: <a class="jive-link-thread" href="http://communities.vmware.com/thread/123136">Virtual Center 2.5 and Oracle 10.2.0.3 (64bit) compatibility</a> Wed, 12 Mar 2008 19:12:33 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-3510 2008-03-12T19:12:33Z 1 year, 8 months ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-3300 Saw a cool article cross my RSS reader today on How to enable passthrough authentication in VMware VirtualCenter 2.5.<br /> <br /> I just tested it; it works.<br /> <br /> Source: <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.virtualization.info/2008/03/tech-how-to-enable-passhrough.html">http://www.virtualization.info/2008/03/tech-how-to-enable-passhrough.html</a> Thank you Stuart Radnidge and Alessandro Perilli!<br /> <p /> To use it, simply add -passthroughAuth -s vchostname to the end of the shortcut used to launch the VI 2.5 client.<br /> <br /> By default it uses the Negotiate SSPI provider, however since they have fully implemented the interface you can change that behaviour to use Kerberos by adding the following within the node in the vpxd.cfg file on the VC server:<br /> <br /> &lt;sspiProtocol&gt;Kerberos&lt;/sspiProtocol&gt; Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:04:41 GMT jason@boche.net http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-3300 2008-03-03T16:04:41Z 1 year, 8 months ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-3280 HP Proliant and Compaq MPS Table BIOS Settings for ESX Server <br /> <br /> For those of you who use VMware ESX and Compaq/HP Proliant servers, I came across a helpful entry on Vincent Vlieghe's blog: <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://virtrix.blogspot.com/2006/07/hp-proliant-and-compaq-mps-table-bios.html">http://virtrix.blogspot.com/2006/07/hp-proliant-and-compaq-mps-table-bios.html</a><br /> <br /> This basically has to do with how to optimize the server's BIOS configuration for running VMware ESX Server. Most options in the BIOS may be easily interpreted and safe irregardless of the configuration, however, two configuration parameters stand out as important.<br /> <br /> Thank you Vincent Vlieghe for doing the homework on this.<br /> <p /> <br /> donderdag, juli 27, 2006<br /> HP Proliant and Compaq MPS Table BIOS Settings for ESX Server <br /> I read an interesting article on ESX on proliant servers:<br /> <br /> Summary<br /> <p /> HP ProLiant servers (and pre-merger Compaq ProLiant servers) require specific BIOS settings in order to run VMware ESX Server. These settings ensure that the physical hardware can be addressed properly and consistently by the VMkernel. Use of BIOS settings with values other than those identified below may result in operational instability.<br /> <p /> Discussion<br /> <br /> On HP ProLiant servers (and pre-merger Compaq ProLiant servers), the BIOS may not fully populate the PCI interrupt routing entries in the MP Configuration Table (part of the Intel MultiProcessor Specification) if the MPS Table Mode setting within the BIOS is incorrect. An incomplete MP Configuration Table may result in failure of an initial installation of ESX Server, failure to complete the boot process, or instability during normal operation.<br /> <p /> For stable operation on these systems, ESX Server requires a BIOS MPS Table Mode setting of Full Table APIC. With the exception of the specific systems referenced below, the following BIOS settings must be applied in order if available:<br /> <p /> System Options &gt; OS Selection: Select Windows 2000.<br /> <br /> Advanced Options &gt; MPS Table Mode: Select Full Table APIC.<br /> <br /> When presented with multiple Windows options (Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, Windows .NET, and so on) select Windows 2000. If both BIOS settings are available and can be modified, both must be set correctly. You should confirm these settings after any BIOS upgrade operation.<br /> <p /> For the HP ProLiant DL 740 and DL 760 servers specifically, set the OS Selection BIOS setting to Linux to allow for proper operation when hyperthreading is enabled. The remainder of the BIOS settings, and the order in which they are applied, are as specified above.<br /> <br /> If any BIOS setting is incorrect, you may see one or more messages in /var/log/messages or /var/log/vmkwarning on the Service Console similar to the following:<br /> May 11 22:36:30 esx101 vmkernel: 0:00:00:00.00 ALERT: Chipset: 303: no PCI entries - Check BIOS Settings<br /> <br /> May 11 22:36:30 esx101 vmkernel: 0:00:00:00.000 cpu0) ALERT: Chipset: 433: no PCI entries in MPS table - check BIOS settings<br /> <br /> May 11 22:36:30 esx101 vmkernel: 0:00:00:00.000 cpu0) WARNING: IOAPIC: 986: no PCI entry for busID 2 busIRQ 8 - trying ISA irq 15<br /> <p /> You may also see unnecessary hardware interrupt sharing, which is explained in detail in knowledge base article 1290 at www.vmware.com/support/kb/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=1290.<br /> <br /> You may need to use the ROM-Based Setup Utility (RBSU), SmartStart CD, or other BIOS configuration tool to make these adjustments. Hewlett-Packard's Web site includes extensive documentation on how to adjust BIOS settings on HP and Compaq systems, including generalized RBSU guides which may be found at search.hp.com/query.html?qt=title%3A%22ROM-Based+Setup+Utility+User+Guide%22.<br /> <br /> The "OS Selection" section of the HP RBSU User Guide notes that, in certain circumstances, adjusting the OS Selection BIOS setting may result in an automatic change of the MPS Table Mode BIOS setting (emphasis added):<br /> <br /> The OS Selection option allows you to select the primary OS for the server. A list of supported OSs for the server displays on the menu, with the ROM defaulting to Microsoft Windows 2000 when the server supports it. Default server Multi Processor (MP) settings and PCI Hot Plug reservation settings are automatically set based on the OS selected.<br /> <br /> Although an automatic change may occur, the individual BIOS settings should be confirmed explicitly if you intend to use this system with VMware ESX Server. For additional assistance in making these changes, please contact HP Technical Support. esx compaq hp bios os selection Mon, 03 Mar 2008 03:12:24 GMT jason@boche.net http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-3280 2008-03-03T03:12:24Z 1 year, 8 months ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-2681 <p /> <p /> <br /> oooo Fri, 01 Feb 2008 17:29:35 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-2681 2008-02-01T17:29:35Z 1 year, 9 months ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-2663 I am tryinhg to connect 2 ESX servers via ISCSI to a Compellent storage device. I am not able to communicate with the storage device. Wed, 30 Jan 2008 20:39:52 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-2663 2008-01-30T20:39:52Z 1 year, 9 months ago 1 http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-2600 Hi,<br /> <br /> How can I test VCB on vmware workstation since it does not have a HBA Card.<br /> <br /> Alternatively, if i use vmware workstation, how can i test the functionality of VCB. <br /> <br /> Thanks Wed, 23 Jan 2008 17:14:56 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-2600 2008-01-23T17:14:56Z 1 year, 10 months ago 1 http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-2562 I've put together this link compilation for the new versions, it will also be posted on my website. New additional links will also be added to my website as a I gather them.<br /> <br /> <b>Compatibility &#38; Version Info:</b><br /> VI3 Key Features &#38; Benefits Summary by Version - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/key_features_35.pdf">http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/key_features_35.pdf</a><br /> VMware Infrastructure Compatibility Matrixes - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://vmware.com/pdf//vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_compat_matrix.pdf">http://vmware.com/pdf//vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_compat_matrix.pdf</a><br /> Details of What's New and Improved In VI3 Version 3.5 - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vmware.com/support/vi3/doc/whatsnew_esx35_vc25.html">http://www.vmware.com/support/vi3/doc/whatsnew_esx35_vc25.html</a><br /> <p /> <p /> <br /> <b>Must Read:</b><br /> RTFM Upgrade guide for ESX 3.5 and VirtualCenter 2.5 - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://tinyurl.com/3722dz">http://tinyurl.com/3722dz</a><br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <br /> <b>Release Notes/Install, Upgrade and Patch Guide:</b><br /> ESX Server 3.5 and VirtualCenter 2.5 Release Notes - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vmware.com/support/vi3/doc/vi3_esx35_vc25_rel_notes.html">http://www.vmware.com/support/vi3/doc/vi3_esx35_vc25_rel_notes.html</a><br /> ESX Server 3 Installation Guide - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_installation_guide.pdf">http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_installation_guide.pdf</a><br /> Upgrade Guide - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_upgrade_guide.pdf">http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_upgrade_guide.pdf</a><br /> ESX Server 3 Patch Management Guide - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_esxupdate.pdf">http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_esxupdate.pdf</a><br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <br /> <b>Additional documentation:</b><br /> Configuration Maximums for VMware Infrastructure 3 - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_config_max.pdf">http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_config_max.pdf</a><br /> Quick Start Guide - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_quickstart.pdf">http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_quickstart.pdf</a><br /> Basic System Administration - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_admin_guide.pdf">http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_admin_guide.pdf</a><br /> Virtual Infrastructure Web Access Administrator's Guide - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_web_access.pdf">http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_web_access.pdf</a><br /> ESX Server 3 Configuration Guide - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_3_server_config.pdf">http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_3_server_config.pdf</a><br /> Resource Management Guide - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_resource_mgmt.pdf">http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_resource_mgmt.pdf</a><br /> Fibre Channel SAN Configuration Guide - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_san_cfg.pdf">http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_san_cfg.pdf</a><br /> iSCSI SAN Configuration Guide - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_iscsi_san_cfg.pdf">http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_iscsi_san_cfg.pdf</a><br /> Virtual Machine Backup Guide - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_vm_backup.pdf">http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_vm_backup.pdf</a><br /> VMware Infrastructure 3 Primer - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_prim.pdf">http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_prim.pdf</a><br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <br /> <b>Additional downloads:</b><br /> Remote CLI Download - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vmware.com/download/download.do?downloadGroup=VI-RCLI">http://www.vmware.com/download/download.do?downloadGroup=VI-RCLI</a><br /> License Server for ESX 3.5 - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://download3.vmware.com/software/vi/VMware-licenseserver-64192.exe">http://download3.vmware.com/software/vi/VMware-licenseserver-64192.exe</a><br /> CPU Compatibility Tool for ESX 3.5 - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://download3.vmware.com/software/vi/CPU_Compatibility-64557.zip">http://download3.vmware.com/software/vi/CPU_Compatibility-64557.zip</a><br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <br /> <b>Converter:</b><br /> VMware Converter Enterprise for VirtualCenter 2.5 Admin Guide - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_vec_10_admin_guide.pdf">http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_vec_10_admin_guide.pdf</a><br /> VMware Converter Enterprise for VirtualCenter 2.5 Release Notes - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://vmware.com/support/vi3/doc/vi3_vec_10_rel_notes.html">http://vmware.com/support/vi3/doc/vi3_vec_10_rel_notes.html</a><br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <br /> <b>Update Manager:</b><br /> VMware Update Manager Release Notes - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://vmware.com/support/vi3/doc/vi3_vum_10_rel_notes.html">http://vmware.com/support/vi3/doc/vi3_vum_10_rel_notes.html</a><br /> VMware Update Manager Admin Guide - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_vum_10_admin_guide.pdf">http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_vum_10_admin_guide.pdf</a><br /> VMware Update Manager Sizing Estimator - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://vmware.com/support/vi3/doc/vi3_vum_10_sizing_estimator.xls">http://vmware.com/support/vi3/doc/vi3_vum_10_sizing_estimator.xls</a><br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <br /> <b>Latest Hardware Compatibility Guides:</b><br /> Systems - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_systems_guide.pdf">http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_systems_guide.pdf</a><br /> I/O - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_io_guide.pdf">http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_io_guide.pdf</a><br /> Storage/SAN - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_san_guide.pdf">http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_san_guide.pdf</a><br /> Backup Software - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_backup_guide.pdf">http://vmware.com/pdf/vi3_backup_guide.pdf</a><br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <br /> <b>Blog &#38; News Articles:</b><br /> VMware ESX 3.5 goes live with key new features - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://searchservervirtualization.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid94_gci1285629,00.html">http://searchservervirtualization.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid94_gci1285629,00.html</a><br /> What's new in ESX 3.5 &#38; VC 2.5? - <br /> <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://virtualgabe.wordpress.com/2007/12/08/what%e2%80%99s-new-in-esx-35-vc-25-part-2/">http://virtualgabe.wordpress.com/2007/12/08/what%e2%80%99s-new-in-esx-35-vc-25-part-2/</a><br /> <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://virtualgabe.wordpress.com/2007/12/08/what%e2%80%99s-new-in-esx-35-vc-25-part-3/">http://virtualgabe.wordpress.com/2007/12/08/what%e2%80%99s-new-in-esx-35-vc-25-part-3/</a><br /> <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://virtualgabe.wordpress.com/2007/12/08/what%e2%80%99s-new-in-esx-35-vc-25-part-4/">http://virtualgabe.wordpress.com/2007/12/08/what%e2%80%99s-new-in-esx-35-vc-25-part-4/</a><br /> VMware VI Client 2.5 does not support 64-bit workstations - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.dabcc.com/article.aspx?id=6674">http://www.dabcc.com/article.aspx?id=6674</a><br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <br /> <b>Relevant KB Articles:</b><br /> <u>Licensing:</u><br /> Updates to your VMware VI3 Starter Licenses - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003299">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003299</a><br /> Changes in licensing for VI3 Standard Edition When upgrading to VI 3.5 - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003301">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003301</a><br /> Understanding VI 3.5 Licensing: Server and Host-based Licensing Models - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003295">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003295</a><br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <br /> <u>ESX 3.5:</u><br /> Installing ESX Server throws an "Anaconda Error" in the Partitioning Options screen - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003217">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003217</a><br /> VMFS Partition cannot be created for "Typical" ESX Server Installation if Prior installation is detected - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003309">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003309</a><br /> IBM System x3850 M2 and System x3950 M2 Servers fail to connect to 100Mbps Networks - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003226">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003226</a><br /> Installing the Tivoli Storage Manager Client on the Service Console results in an error - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003142">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003142</a><br /> Virtual Machine on a RDM Shared Storage becomes invalid after migration from ESX Server 2.5.x to ESX Server 3.5 or 3i - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003092">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003092</a><br /> Vmotion is disabled after ESX Server upgrade - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003060">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003060</a><br /> Certain Special Characters cause software iSCSI Initiator CHAP Configuration corruption - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003095">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003095</a><br /> Connection to ESX Server host through VI Client is lost if you attempt to delete several VM's at once from the Datastore Browser - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003250">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003250</a><br /> Storage Devices connected to McData FC Switch through Qlogic adapters occasionally do not re-appear after reboot - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003250">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003250</a><br /> Snapshot operations submitted directly to an ESX Server Host during Storage vMotion corrupts Virtual Machine data - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003114">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003114</a><br /> Storage vMotion on a VM with I/O intensive workload may result incorrectly in a timeout error - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003276">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003276</a><br /> Upgrading to ESX Server 3.5 when the Root Parition is nearly full might cause Incomplete System Configuration - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003311">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003311</a><br /> Restarting Hostd (mgmt-vmware) on ESX Server hosts restarts Hosted Virtual Machines where VM Auto Startup/Shutdown is enabled - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003312">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003312</a><br /> ESX Server becomes temporarily unresponsive under a Heavy I/O load - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003039">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003039</a><br /> Consolidation of Large or Deeply Nested Snapshots using VirtualCenter, SDK or VCB might take longer on ESX Server 3.5 than on ESX Server 3.0.x - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003308">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003308</a><br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <br /> <u>Consolidated Backup 1.1:</u><br /> Upgrading Consolidated Backup version 1.0.x to 1.1 causes the installer to hang - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003045">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003045</a> <br /> Consolidated Backup cannot create Quiesced Snapshots of VM's running Windows Vista - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003074">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003074</a><br /> VCB 1.1 Command Line utility connection to port 902 causes an error message - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003088">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003088</a><br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <br /> <u>VC 2.5:</u><br /> When you install SQL Server Express on a System where SQL Native Client is present the installation might fail with error - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003076">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003076</a><br /> VirtualCenter Server Fails to Start after your replace Default SSL Ceritifcates with Custom Certificates - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003070">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003070</a><br /> Error Message During Installation: error 1603: error installing Windows installer engine - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003036">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003036</a><br /> Administrative Credentials are Required for Oracle and SQL Database when Installing or Upgrading VirtualCenter - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003052">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003052</a><br /> Client-side CD-ROM or Floppy can become disconnected - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003118">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003118</a><br /> VirtualCenter Server does not detect changes in Host IP Address unless SSL Certificate Verification has been enabled - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003066">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003066</a><br /> Permission problem if host had been in lockdown mode - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003117">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003117</a><br /> Virtual Machines might lose Network Connectivity when moved to a different Port Group - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003061">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003061</a><br /> Powering on Virtual Machines with multiple PCI Devices might fail - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003048">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003048</a><br /> Incorrect Device Paths for LUNs displayed in Storage Summary - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003064">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003064</a><br /> VirtualCenter Consolidation service Usernames and Passwords must use only ASCII characters - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003096">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003096</a><br /> VI Client installation fails on Windows Vista Business Edition with enabled Anti-virus software - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003079">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003079</a><br /> VirtualCenter Server might crash in a cluster with Manual or Partially Automatic DRS and Automatic DPM - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003027">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003027</a><br /> Deleting Snapshots of VM's with Heavy disk I/O might cause host to be Disconnected from VirtualCenter - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003024">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003024</a><br /> Paravirtualization option is not Disabled for Unsupported Operating Systems - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003008">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003008</a><br /> VirtualCenter Server installation fails or results in an error if your system does not have MDAC 2.8 SP1 or later installed - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003160">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003160</a><br /> Installing Update Manager with Unified Installer might faile if Disparate Databases are used - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003277">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003277</a><br /> Some Alarms may disappear after upgrading to VirtualCenter 2.5 - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/selfservicekb/1003072">http://kb.vmware.com/selfservicekb/1003072</a><br /> VirtualCenter Database upgrade fails with an exception when a Password that contains Apostrophes or Double Quotes is used - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003049">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003049</a><br /> The VirtualCenter Server might Crash when using an older ODBC driver with Oracle 9i - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003049">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003049</a><br /> Guest Operating System Standby feature removed in VirtualCenter Server 2.5 - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1002414">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1002414</a><br /> Cannot specify Destination Folder on Non-default Datacenter when Cloning Virtual Machines - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003075">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003075</a><br /> VirtualCenter Service will not start on a machine with non-Ascii characters in it's Machine Name - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003075">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003075</a><br /> vMotion from ESX Server 3.5 hosts to ESX Server 3.0.x hosts causes the console sessions of the migrated VM's to become blank - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003038">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003038</a><br /> Automatic VMware Tools upgrade does not upgrade to the latest version on VM's with Insufficient space in the Root parition - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003051">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003051</a><br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> Eric Siebert<br /> VMware Communities User Moderator<br /> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-<br /> Visit my website: <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://vmware-land.com">http://vmware-land.com</a><br /> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-<br /> <p /> <hr /> Thanks for putting this together. Very useful!<br /> <p /> <p /> <hr /> Make this a sticky!<br /> <hr /> Updates to the list...<br /> <p /> <b>Forum Threads:</b><br /> 3.5 Install Notes: <a class="jive-link-message" href="http://communities.vmware.com/message/820473#820473">http://communities.vmware.com/message/820473</a><br /> VC 2.5 SQL Server 2000 permission configuration needs - <a class="jive-link-message" href="http://communities.vmware.com/message/820079#820079">http://communities.vmware.com/message/820079</a><br /> VC 2.5 Upgrade - Wiped my Database - <a class="jive-link-message" href="http://communities.vmware.com/message/820174#820174">http://communities.vmware.com/message/820174</a><br /> New Features - What Have You Noticed? - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://communities.vmware.com/thread/117565?tstart=50">http://communities.vmware.com/thread/117565?tstart=50</a><br /> VMware 3.5 Disappointing News - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://communities.vmware.com/thread/116816?tstart=100">http://communities.vmware.com/thread/116816?tstart=100</a><br /> Upgrade of 3.0.2 or Fresh Install? - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://communities.vmware.com/thread/116907?tstart=100">http://communities.vmware.com/thread/116907?tstart=100</a><br /> VI Client 2.5 only supports 32-bit OS - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://communities.vmware.com/thread/116881?tstart=150">http://communities.vmware.com/thread/116881?tstart=150</a><br /> VC 2.5 Database Upgrade - Space required by Upgrade Wizard - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://communities.vmware.com/thread/117001?tstart=150">http://communities.vmware.com/thread/117001?tstart=150</a><br /> Update Manager - Changing the Default Location of the Patch Repository - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://communities.vmware.com/thread/117426?tstart=150">http://communities.vmware.com/thread/117426?tstart=150</a><br /> ESX 3.5 Time Configuration Error "Failed to Change Host Configuration" - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://communities.vmware.com/thread/117349?tstart=200">http://communities.vmware.com/thread/117349?tstart=200</a><br /> VirtualCenter 2.5 Components won't install - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://communities.vmware.com/thread/116964?tstart=250">http://communities.vmware.com/thread/116964?tstart=250</a><br /> <p /> <br /> <b>Other:</b><br /> Technote: Round-Robin Load Balancing - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35_25_roundrobin.pdf">http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35_25_roundrobin.pdf</a><br /> Technote: Enabling Netflow on Virtual Switches - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35_25_netflow.pdf">http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35_25_netflow.pdf</a><br /> Technote: Configuring and Troubleshooting N-Port ID Virtualization - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35_25_npiv_config.pdf">http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35_25_npiv_config.pdf</a><br /> Technote: Virtual Machine Failure Monitoring - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35_25_vmha.pdf">http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35_25_vmha.pdf</a><br /> ESX 3.5 Installation Video (You Tube) - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=qobhariBEec">http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=qobhariBEec</a><br /> <p /> <br /> <b>Blog &#38; News Articles:</b><br /> Review: VMware Infrastructure 3.5 builds on the base - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&#38;articleId=9053158">http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&#38;articleId=9053158</a><br /> <p /> <br /> <b>Relevant KB Articles:</b><br /> <p /> <br /> <u>VC 2.5:</u><br /> For SQL Server 2000, Do Not Grant or Revoke the System Administrators Role to Satisfy the Database Permission Requirements When Upgrading to VirtualCenter 2.5 - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003346">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003346</a><br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <br /> Eric Siebert<br /> VMware Communities User Moderator<br /> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-<br /> Visit my website: <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://vmware-land.com">http://vmware-land.com</a><br /> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <hr /> This is an excelent set of information within such a short time. Thank you very much.<br /> <hr /> Great info. Thank you!<br /> <p /> <p /> <hr /> <div class="jive-quote"><span class="jive-quote-header">FredPeterson wrote:</span>Make this a sticky!</div> I second that!<br /> <hr /> Very nice post, sticky or not, added to bookmarks<br /> <hr /> The Remote CLI documentation I found only discusses svmotion. Is there a document that describes all the commands?<br /> <br /> This document was generated from the following thread: <a class="jive-link-thread" href="http://communities.vmware.com/thread/117185">Essential ESX 3.5 &#38; VC 2.5 links</a> Fri, 18 Jan 2008 18:08:09 GMT eric@bost.com http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-2562 2008-01-18T18:08:09Z 1 year, 10 months ago 2 http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-2513 <h1>Patching Offline ESX servers with Vmware Update Manager</h1> This is my brief guide to what I did to setup patching for isolated networks, like those in intellegence communities, etc. This is meant to help fill in some of the gaps that the documentation left in the process. <br /> <br /> <h2>Install Update Manager Download Service</h2> Setup a machine to be your Update Manager Download system: <br /> <br /> <ul> <li>This machine must have Internet access.</li> <li>This system will require another database beyond what the Update Manager in Virtual Center uses, so you may not want to install it there.</li> <li>Also, you will need to burn CDs/DVDs or transfer files to a device</li> <li>This all being said, a workstation is a good candidate system</li> </ul> <br /> Install the Update Manager Download Service on the above machine <br /> <br /> <ul> <li>Files are located in "<b>umds</b>" folder of the <b>Virtual Center installation CD image</b></li> <li>Open the <b>VMware-UMDS.exe</b> file to install</li> <li>Select to use the local SQL 2005 Express database server</li> </ul> <h2>Download Current Updates</h2> The best thing to do is setup a Windows Scheduled Task that downloads the updates automatically. The first step is to create a script to accomplish this manually then you can make it a scheduled task.<br /> <br /> To get current downloads: <br /> <br /> <ul> <li>Change to the "<b>C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\Update Manager"</b> directory</li> <li>Run the program: <b>vmware-udms --download</b></li> <li>Get coffee! Really, the first run takes a loonngg time.</li> </ul> <br /> Once downloads are done you need to export to a local file repository: <br /> <br /> <ul> <li>Change to the "<b>C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\Update Manager"</b> directory</li> <li>Run the program: vmware-umds -E --dest <b>&lt;FULL PATH TO YOUR REPOSITORY&gt;</b> -s 2007-01-01T00:00:00 -t 2007-12-31T23:59:59</li> <li>This downloads all the patches for 2007, specify different time ranges as required.</li> </ul> <br /> Once exported you need to export your repository to some sort of portable media, say a DVD (most likely a DL from what I have already seen!!!)<br /> <br /> <h2>Import Updates to Virtual Center on Isolated Network</h2> Now that your Internet connect machine has done all the dirty work, you need to get the updates into Virtual Center's Update Database:<br /> <br /> <ul> <li>Get you update media connected to Virtual Center so it can access the files</li> <li>Change to the "<b>C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\Update Manager"</b> directory on Virtual Center</li> <li>Run the program: vmware-updateDownloadCli.exe --update-path <b>&lt;YOUR DRIVE LETTER HERE&gt;</b> --config-import windows esx --vc-user <b>&lt;YOUR VC USER&gt;</b></li> </ul> <br /> This is a very brief explanation of what to do. See these fine documents below for more stuff:<br /> <br /> <h3>VMWare Update Manager</h3> <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_vum_10_admin_guide.pdf">http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_vum_10_admin_guide.pdf</a> Fri, 11 Jan 2008 15:28:05 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-2513 2008-01-11T15:28:05Z 1 year, 10 months ago 3 http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-2505 <h1>Patching Offline ESX servers with Vmware Update Manager</h1> This is my brief guide to what I did to setup patching for isolated networks, like those in intellegence communities, etc. This is meant to help fill in some of the gaps that the documentation left in the process. <br /> <br /> <h2>Install Update Manager Download Service</h2> Setup a machine to be your Update Manager Download system: <br /> <br /> <ul> <li>This machine must have Internet access.</li> <li>This system will require another database beyond what the Update Manager in Virtual Center uses, so you may not want to install it there.</li> <li>Also, you will need to burn CDs/DVDs or transfer files to a device</li> <li>This all being said, a workstation is a good candidate system</li> </ul> <br /> Install the Update Manager Download Service on the above machine. Take note of the installation folder and the folder where the downloads will be stored.<br /> <br /> <ul> <li>Files are located in "<b>umds</b>" folder of the <b>Virtual Center installation CD image</b></li> <li>Open the <b>VMware-UMDS.exe</b> file to install</li> <li>Select to use the local SQL 2005 Express database server</li> </ul> <h2>Download Current Updates</h2> The best thing to do is setup a Windows Scheduled Task that downloads the updates automatically. The first step is to create a script to accomplish this manually then you can make it a scheduled task.<br /> <br /> To get current downloads: <br /> <br /> <ul> <li>Change to the "<b>C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\Update Manager"</b> directory</li> <li>Run the program: <b>vmware-umds --download</b> (or "vmware-umds -D")</li> <li>Get coffee! Really, the first run takes a loonngg time.</li> </ul> <br /> NOTE: It is possible to configure the download to only retrieve ESX host updates, Windows VM updates and/or Linux VM updates. To change which updates are downloaded use the following syntax:<br /> <p /> <p /> <ul> <li><b>vmware-umds -S -h true | false</b></li> <li><b>vmware-umds -S -w true | false</b></li> <li><b>vmware-umds -S -l true | false</b></li> </ul> <br /> For example: <b>vmware-umds -S -h true</b> will d/l ESX host patches, <b>vmware-umds -S -w false</b> will NOT d/l Windows VM patches, etc. This can be useful if you want to verify the process but not spend time waiting for the Windows patches to download. Before running "<b>vmware-umds -D</b>", disable Windows and Linux and verify that the ESX patches are downloaded successfully <br /> <br /> Once downloads are done you need to export to a local file repository: <br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <ul> <li>Change to the "<b>C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\Update Manager"</b> directory</li> <li>Run the program: vmware-umds -E --dest <b>&lt;FULL PATH TO YOUR REPOSITORY&gt;</b> -s 2007-01-01T00:00:00 -t 2007-12-31T23:59:59</li> <li>This downloads all the patches for 2007, specify different time ranges as required.</li> </ul> <br /> Once exported you need to export your repository to some sort of portable media, say a DVD (most likely a DL from what I have already seen!!!)<br /> <br /> <h2>Import Updates to Virtual Center on Isolated Network</h2> Now that your Internet connect machine has done all the dirty work, you need to get the updates into Virtual Center's Update Database:<br /> <br /> <ul> <li>Get you update media connected to Virtual Center so it can access the files</li> <li>Change to the "<b>C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\Update Manager"</b> directory on Virtual Center</li> <li>Run the program: vmware-updateDownloadCli.exe --update-path <b>&lt;YOUR DRIVE LETTER HERE&gt;</b> --config-import windows esx --vc-user <b>&lt;YOUR VC USER&gt;</b></li> </ul> <br /> This is a very brief explanation of what to do. See these fine documents below for more stuff:<br /> <br /> <h3>VMWare Update Manager</h3> <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_vum_10_admin_guide.pdf">http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_vum_10_admin_guide.pdf</a> update_mgr update 3.5 Thu, 10 Jan 2008 03:21:57 GMT allan.christiansen@accenture.com http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-2505 2008-01-10T03:21:57Z 1 year, 7 months ago 2 http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-2421 Just my two cents about svmotion.<br /> <br /> It's working in my test lab. I just did some copy job to the vm I svmotion. No Problem<br /> <br /> BTW if u rename a VM before you svmotion it, then the folder and files change to the new name as well. (nice) <br /> <br /> BUT I tried the --interactive mode...... and you need to enter to full path to the vmx like in old vmware-cmd times... <br /> <p /> <br /> like....... [san01_vendor_metalun_R5] My_great_running_Win2003_with_VC25/My_great_running_Win2003_with_VC25.vmx <br /> <p /> <br /> ...... and if use miss somthing or did not know its "CASE SENSITIVE" you need to type it in again.... <br /> <p /> <br /> Conclusion. Only use the interactive mode to get familar with the required options and for productive use the command line switches .... (there you have history of your tries)<br /> <p /> <hr /> Could you please post the exact command line statement you used to get it to work. The examples in the PDF are horrible, I keep getting <i>"Argument to --vm is not in the correct format."</i> no matter what I do. Thanks.<br /> <hr /> It's not documented, but you don't have to give the name of the .vmx file. So in your example, you can just say <br /> <br /> &lt;san01_vendor_metalun_R5&gt; My_great_running_Win2003_with_VC25<br /> <br /> This works in both --interactive and via the command line. You do need the space, though. <br /> <p /> <br /> I used angle brackets here. (How do you get the square backets to come through unmolested in this editor?)<br /> <p /> <hr /> Documentation is indeed poor. Problem areas are that you have to use "&lt;&gt;" for the <b>source</b> datastore but must <b>not</b> use it for the destination. You must have a space after the first datastore, but must <b>not</b> before and after the second. Here's a real command that's running now:<br /> <br /> svmotion --datacenter=AdaCore-NY --server=esx --vm='&lt;Nexenta-VM&gt; TFBSDo:NAS-is' <br /> <br /> Note that I've had to use angle brackets (&lt;&gt;) instead of right brackets due to the editing being done in this forum's editor.<br /> <p /> <hr /> FYI: I used the RCLI appliance which I downloaded from vmware.<br /> <br /> I used the following command:<br /> <p /> <br /> svmotion --server=vc.mynet.de --username=administrator --datacenter='democenter' --vm='[san01] VC25\VC25.vmx:san02' <br /> <p /> <br /> I used [ ] for the first datapool san01 followed by a space. no space nor other special chars after the ":" for san02.<br /> <p /> <br /> Hope this helps.<br /> <p /> <br /> regards,<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <hr /> So, I'm trying to use svmotion via the RCLI client installed on my laptop running Windows Vista. If I do svmotion.pl --interactive and enter in all of my information, everything works great. However, if I then try: <br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> svmotion.pl --server "my-virtualcenter.domain.loc" --username "domain\userid" --password "password" --datacenter "VI3.5-Test" --vm "&lt;vmhba0:1:0:1&gt; My-VM/My-VM.vmx:vmhba0:2:0" <br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> (yes, my lab datastores haven't been given a good name yet, and I'm using square brackets instead of &lt;&gt; in the actual command)..., using the same information as I use in the --interactive session, I constantly get the "arguement to --vm is not in the correct format" error. Can anyone see what I'm doing wrong? Has anyone else had good luck using the Windows RCLI tools to do a svmotion with the explicit commands, as opposed to via --interactive?<br /> <p /> <hr /> I'd guess that the problem is the use of ":" in the names of your datastores. I'd suggest trying names without that character.<br /> <p /> <p /> <hr /> I wondered about that, but since it works in --interactive mode I didn't think it would be the problem. Also, shouldn't the wrapping " "s take care of that as well?<br /> <hr /> No, I wouldn't think so because the issue isn't the parsing of the argument by the shell, but by the Perl code. It uses ":" as a delimiter, so it wouldn't be too strange if it would get confused if it sees more than one when it expects only one.<br /> <p /> <p /> <hr /> Interesting. I could not get the command to work under Windows, but the exact same syntax copied and pasted to a RedHat 5 box worked fine.<br /> <br /> This document was generated from the following thread: <a class="jive-link-thread" href="http://communities.vmware.com/thread/118338">Storage VMotion is a great feature... but usage is hell</a> storage_vmotion Sat, 22 Dec 2007 07:12:11 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-2421 2007-12-22T07:12:11Z 1 year, 11 months ago 1 http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-2412 Is it possible to get the ESX 3.0 Host ip from within the Guest OS? Thu, 20 Dec 2007 13:02:29 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-2412 2007-12-20T13:02:29Z 1 year, 11 months ago 1 http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-2400 Hello,<br /> <br /> I've created for our own purposes a hot backup script for ESX servers. features are:<br /> <br /> <ul class="jive-dash"> <li>Skip VMs with their names stored in a external file</li> </ul> <br /> Configuration:<br /> <br /> <ul class="jive-dash"> <li>Create a file on your Backup storage with names of VMs which should not be backupped automatically. You can later specify this file at backup time, the named VMs will be skipped</li> </ul> <br /> Usage: Log onto the console of the ESX host and run "ESXBackup" without parameters. Some informations will be displayed.<br /> <br /> To backup a single VM use this command: "ESXBackup -v VMNAME"<br /> To backup all powered on VMs use that: "ESXBackup -v poweredon"<br /> <br /> You may want to use ESXBackup in your crontab, be sure to modify roots crontab "crontab -e -u root" ...<br /> <br /> Known bugs and issues:<br /> <br /> <ul class="jive-dash"> <li>Be aware that VM-Names are CASE-sensitiv. If you use the exludelist, write one VM's name per line without spaces and tabs.</li> </ul> <br /> Planned enhancements:<br /> <br /> <ul class="jive-dash"> <li>Retry backup if one VM fails</li> </ul> <br /> Note: This script is "at is it" - no warranty or other features. Feature request are welcome. This was my first "more-than-a-three-liner" shell script, so many improvements can be made.<br /> If you find this script useful (or not) please let me know ...<br /> <br /> Have fun,<br /> Alex<br /> <hr /> #!/bin/bash<br /> #<br /> <ol> <li>ESX Backup script</li> </ol> #<br /> <ol> <li>Version 0.1c</li> </ol> #<br /> <ol> <li>eMail: vmware<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=_at_"><u>at</u></a>vmpro.de</li> </ol> #<br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>functions ###############################################################</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> function LogOut() {<br /> echo "$(date '+%b %d %H:%M:%S'): $2" | tee -a $1 <br /> }<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>definitions #############################################################</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> ESX_backupdir=/vmfs/volumes/ESXBackup<br /> ESX_logfile=/var/log/ESXBackup.log<br /> ESX_user=ESXBackup<br /> ESX_pass=Password<br /> ESX_host=$HOSTNAME<br /> ESX_mailfrom=ESX-Admins\@domain.org<br /> ESX_sendmail=/usr/bin/sendmail.pl<br /> ESX_mailhost=mail.domain.de<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>code ####################################################################</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> echo "ESXBackup V0.1c - ESX host backup script"<br /> echo ""<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>if no parameters are spedified, print usage hints and exit</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> </ol> if ; then<br /> cat &lt;&lt; EOF<br /> Usage: ESXBackup -v &lt;VMName&gt;|any|poweredon<br /> <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+-t+%26lt%3Bage%26gt%3B+"> -t &lt;age&gt; </a><br /> <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+-m+%26lt%3Bmailto%26gt%3B+"> -m &lt;mailto&gt; </a><br /> <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+-x+%26lt%3Bexcludefile%26gt%3B+"> -x &lt;excludefile&gt; </a><br /> <br /> -v &lt;VMName&gt;: Name of VM to be saved regardless of powerstate.<br /> any: All VMs registered on this ESX host are saved.<br /> poweredon: All VM which are powered on are saved.<br /> -t &lt;age&gt;: All backup folders older than &lt;age&gt; days are<br /> purged from the backup location folder after<br /> backup was successful. &lt;age&gt; must be numeric.<br /> -m &lt;mailto&gt;: Send backup notification for each single VM<br /> to this given smtp address.<br /> -x &lt;file&gt;: File with virtual machine names to be excluded<br /> from backup.<br /> EOF<br /> exit 0<br /> fi<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>get command line parameters</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> </ol> while getopts v:t:m:x: Optionen; do<br /> case $Optionen in<br /> v) ESX_VM=$OPTARG;;<br /> t) ESX_purge=$OPTARG;;<br /> m) ESX_mailto=$OPTARG;;<br /> x) ESX_exclude=$OPTARG;;<br /> esac<br /> done<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>test parameters</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> </ol> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%21+%24ESX_VM+"> ! $ESX_VM </a>; then<br /> echo "You have to define at least a VM to be backed up. Exiting."<br /> echo ""<br /> exit 2<br /> fi <br /> <br /> if ; then<br /> ESX_search="any:"<br /> elif ; then<br /> ESX_search="powerstate:on"<br /> else<br /> ESX_search="name:$ESX_VM"<br /> fi<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>test if purge parameter is positiv numeric</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> </ol> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24ESX_purge+"> $ESX_purge </a>; then<br /> echo $ESX_purge | egrep '<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=%3Aalpha%3A">:alpha:</a>|<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=%3Acntrl%3A">:cntrl:</a>|<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=%3Agraph%3A">:graph:</a>|<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=%3Apunct%3A">:punct:</a>' -q<br /> RetVal=$(expr $?)<br /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24RetVal+%3D+0+"> $RetVal = 0 </a>; then<br /> echo "Purge parameter (-t) must be a numeric value."<br /> exit 3<br /> fi<br /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24ESX_purge+-lt+1+"> $ESX_purge -lt 1 </a>; then<br /> echo "Purge parameter (-t) must be greater than 1"<br /> exit 3<br /> fi<br /> fi<br /> <br /> ESX_summaryfile="/var/tmp/$(date '+%Y%m%d-%H%M')"<br /> <br /> LogOut $ESX_logfile "Script ESXBackup started."<br /> echo "Backup summary for ESX host $ESX_host:" &gt; $ESX_summaryfile<br /> echo "" &gt;&gt; $ESX_summaryfile<br /> <br /> ESX_failed=0<br /> ESX_success=0<br /> ESX_skipped=0<br /> <br /> for ESX_VMS in `/usr/sbin/vcbVmName -h $ESX_host -u $ESX_user -p $ESX_pass -s $ESX_search | grep -i name: | awk -F: '{print $2}'`<br /> do<br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>skip server if its name is in the exclude list</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> </ol> RetVal=""<br /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24ESX_exclude+"> $ESX_exclude </a>; then<br /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+-e+%24ESX_exclude+"> -e $ESX_exclude </a>; then<br /> RetVal=`grep -i -x $ESX_VMS $ESX_exclude`<br /> fi<br /> fi <br /> <br /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24RetVal+%3D+%24ESX_VMS+"> $RetVal = $ESX_VMS </a>; then<br /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Skipped $ESX_VMS."<br /> echo " SKIPPED virtual machine $ESX_VMS." &gt;&gt; $ESX_summaryfile<br /> ESX_skipped=$(($ESX_skipped+1))<br /> else<br /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Init backup of $ESX_VMS"<br /> <br /> ESX_vmfolder="$ESX_backupdir/$ESX_VMS"<br /> ESX_date=$(date '+%Y%m%d-%H%M')<br /> ESX_backupfolder="$ESX_backupdir/$ESX_VMS/$ESX_date"<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>create folder for backup</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> </ol> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Creating folder $ESX_vmfolder"<br /> mkdir -p $ESX_vmfolder<br /> RetVal=$(expr $?)<br /> <br /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24RetVal+%21%3D+0+"> $RetVal != 0 </a>; then<br /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Error creating folder: $Retval"<br /> fi<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>start backup - destination folder should not exist</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> </ol> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Backing up to folder $ESX_backupfolder"<br /> START=$(date +%s);<br /> ESX_vcb=`/usr/sbin/vcbMounter -h $ESX_host -u $ESX_user -p $ESX_pass -a name:$ESX_VMS -r $ESX_backupfolder -t fullvm`<br /> RetVal=$(expr $?)<br /> END=$(date +%s);<br /> DIFF=$(($END - $START));<br /> <br /> echo "$ESX_vcb" &gt;&gt; $ESX_vmfolder/$ESX_date.log<br /> echo "" &gt;&gt; $ESX_vmfolder/$ESX_date.log<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>test whether backup was successfull</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> </ol> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24RetVal+%21%3D+0+"> $RetVal != 0 </a>; then<br /> <br /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Backup error: $RetVal"<br /> echo "Backup time needed: $DIFF seconds." &gt;&gt; $ESX_vmfolder/$ESX_date.log<br /> echo "*** ERROR backing up $ESX_VMS. Error code was $RetVal" &gt;&gt; $ESX_summaryfile<br /> echo " Please refer to the logfile stored on $ESX_vmfolder/$ESX_date.log" &gt;&gt; $ESX_summaryfile<br /> ESX_failed=$(($ESX_failed+1))<br /> <br /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24ESX_mailto+"> $ESX_mailto </a>; then<br /> perl $ESX_sendmail $ESX_mailhost $ESX_mailfrom $ESX_mailto Backup\ failed:\ $ESX_VMS $ESX_vmfolder/$ESX_date.log<br /> fi <br /> <br /> else<br /> <br /> ESX_hddused=`du $ESX_backupfolder -b | awk -F\ '{print $1}'`<br /> ESX_throughput=$((($ESX_hddused/(1024*1024))/$DIFF))<br /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Backup of $ESX_VMS successfull. Saved $ESX_hddused bytes."<br /> echo "Backed up $ESX_hddused bytes within $DIFF seconds. Throughput was $ESX_throughput MB/second." &gt;&gt; $ESX_vmfolder/$ESX_date.log<br /> echo " SUCCESS backing up $ESX_VMS. It took $DIFF seconds to back up $ESX_hddused bytes ($ESX_throughput MB/s)." &gt;&gt; $ESX_summaryfile<br /> ESX_success=$(($ESX_success+1))<br /> <br /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24ESX_purge+"> $ESX_purge </a>; then<br /> <br /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Purging content older than $ESX_purge days."<br /> find $ESX_vmfolder/* -maxdepth 0 -type d -mtime +$ESX_purge -exec rm -rfdv {} \;<br /> find $ESX_vmfolder/* -maxdepth 0 -type f -mtime +$ESX_purge -exec rm -fv {} \;<br /> <br /> fi<br /> <br /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24ESX_mailto+"> $ESX_mailto </a>; then<br /> perl $ESX_sendmail $ESX_mailhost $ESX_mailfrom $ESX_mailto Backup\ succeeded:\ $ESX_VMS $ESX_vmfolder/$ESX_date.log<br /> fi<br /> <br /> fi<br /> <br /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Done backup of $ESX_VMS"<br /> <br /> fi<br /> <br /> done<br /> <br /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24ESX_mailto+"> $ESX_mailto </a>; then<br /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24ESX_VMS+"> $ESX_VMS </a>; then<br /> perl $ESX_sendmail $ESX_mailhost $ESX_mailfrom $ESX_mailto Backup\ summary\ $ESX_host:\ $ESX_failed\ failed,\ $ESX_success\ successful,\ $ESX_skipped\ skipped. $ESX_summaryfile<br /> fi <br /> rm $ESX_summaryfile<br /> fi<br /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>no host was detected by the given name</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> </ol> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%21+%24ESX_VMS+"> ! $ESX_VMS </a>; then<br /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Unable to detect any host to be backed up."<br /> fi<br /> <br /> LogOut $ESX_logfile "Script ESXBackup stopped."<br /> <p /> <br /> <hr /> use Net::SMTP;<br /> <br /> die ("Usage: sendmail.pl &lt;smtpserver&gt; &lt;from&gt; &lt;to&gt; &lt;subject&gt; &lt;msgfilename&gt;") if ($#ARGV != 4);<br /> <br /> $smtpserver = $ARGV[0];<br /> $sender = $ARGV[1];<br /> $recipient = $ARGV[2];<br /> $subject = $ARGV[3];<br /> $msgfilename = $ARGV[4];<br /> <br /> $smtp = Net::SMTP-&gt;new($smtpserver);<br /> $smtp-&gt;mail($sender);<br /> $smtp-&gt;to($recipient);<br /> $smtp-&gt;data();<br /> $smtp-&gt;datasend("Subject: $subject\n");<br /> $smtp-&gt;datasend("To: $recipient\n");<br /> $smtp-&gt;datasend("\n");<br /> <br /> open (MESSAGE, $msgfilename) || die "cannot open message file $msgfilename.";<br /> @nachricht=&lt;MESSAGE&gt;;<br /> close MESSAGE;<br /> <br /> foreach $zeile (@nachricht) {<br /> $smtp-&gt;datasend("$zeile");<br /> }<br /> <br /> $smtp-&gt;dataend();<br /> $smtp-&gt;quit;<br /> <hr /> Hem... Alex, am I missing something or the location of your script is not stated in your post ? I'm really interested in it <img class="jive-emoticon" border="0" src="http://communities.vmware.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif" alt=":)" /> !<br /> <br /> regards,<br /> Antonello<br /> <br /> Message was edited by: <br /> Nementis<br /> Oops... posting lag....<br /> <hr /> Hi,<br /> <br /> took some time to format them <img class="jive-emoticon" border="0" src="http://communities.vmware.com/images/emoticons/wink.gif" alt=";-)" /><br /> Terribly the script is a little bit "mis-formatted", but soon, I'll maintain it on my own website - maybe I've got enough time during christmas holiday <b>g</b><br /> <br /> regards,<br /> Alex<br /> <hr /> Hi, I'm really interested in this script. What is the URL of your website?<br /> <hr /> Hi,<br /> <br /> my web site takes a little extra time to come online - and additionally I'll update my script to include the following features:<br /> <br /> <ul class="jive-dash"> <li>Extra error handling for incomplete vcbMounter activities (such as removement of left snapshots after backup has failed).</li> </ul> <br /> The job should be done next week, then I'll post the new version here (now I know how to post code *g*).<br /> <br /> regards,<br /> Alex<br /> <hr /> Hi there,<br /> <br /> this is a new version of my backup script. Installation is as easy as it was before with the older script. It's tested with ESX 3.0.1<br /> <br /> Improvements:<br /> <br /> <ul class="jive-dash"> <li>retry failed backups</li> </ul> <br /> I'm interested if anybody uses my script, <b>so please provide me with information/experiences and/or simply write me a private message.</b> If nobody uses this script, there's no need to publish it ...<br /> <br /> And once again: I provide no warranty at all ... you know what I mean. But it's tested - it should do the job <img class="jive-emoticon" border="0" src="http://communities.vmware.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif" alt=":-)" /><br /> <br /> Here it goes:<br /> <br /> <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a><br /> <p /> <p /> #!/bin/bash<br /> <p /> <p /> #<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <li>ESX Backup script</li> </ol> <p /> <p /> #<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <li>11. Jan 2007</li> </ol> <p /> <p /> <ol> <li>Version 0.1f</li> </ol> <p /> <p /> #<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <li>Alexander Storf</li> </ol> <p /> <p /> #<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <li>changelog:</li> </ol> <p /> <p /> <ol> <li>From Version 0.1d</li> </ol> <p /> <p /> <ol> <li>Jan 08 2007: Delete <u>VCB-BACKUP</u> snapshot after backup failed</li> </ol> <p /> <p /> <ol> <li>Jan 08 2007: Implemented switch to use locking for simultaneous backups</li> </ol> <p /> <p /> <ol> <li>From Version 0.1e</li> </ol> <p /> <p /> <ol> <li>Jan 10 2007: Implemented optional retry if backup fails</li> </ol> <p /> <p /> #############################################################################<br /> <p /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>function for logging output (screen and file)</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>Parameters: &lt;displaytext&gt; &lt;filename&gt;</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> <p /> function LogOut() {<br /> <p /> <p /> echo "$(date '+%b %d %H:%M:%S'): $2" | tee -a $1 <br /> <p /> <p /> }<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>function to delete a <u>VCB-BACKUP</u> snapshot from a virtual machine</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>Parameters: &lt;vmname&gt;</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> <p /> function DelSnapshot() {<br /> <p /> <p /> VM_ID=`vcbVmName -h $ESX_host -u $ESX_user -p $ESX_pass -s Name:$1 | grep -i moref`<br /> <p /> <p /> SS_ID=`vcbSnapshot -h $ESX_host -u $ESX_user -p $ESX_pass -f $VM_ID <u>VCB-BACKUP</u> | grep -i ssid`<br /> <p /> <p /> if ; then<br /> <p /> <p /> SS_Result=`vcbSnapshot -h $ESX_host -u $ESX_user -p $ESX_pass -d $VM_ID $SS_ID`<br /> <p /> <p /> RetVal=$(expr $?)<br /> <p /> <p /> return $RetVal<br /> <p /> <p /> else<br /> <p /> <p /> return 1<br /> <p /> <p /> fi<br /> <p /> <p /> }<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>definitions #############################################################</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> <p /> <ol> <li>Directory where to store the backups:</li> </ol> <p /> <p /> ESX_backupdir=/vmfs/volumes/ESXBackup<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <li>Filename of backup logfiles:</li> </ol> <p /> <p /> ESX_logfile=/var/log/ESXBackup.log<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <li>Backup user name (on ESX host):</li> </ol> <p /> <p /> ESX_user=ESXUsername<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <li>Password of the backup user:</li> </ol> <p /> <p /> ESX_pass=EsxUserPassword<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <li>own hostname (got from environment), not to be changed:</li> </ol> <p /> <p /> ESX_host=$HOSTNAME<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <li>eMail notification senders address:</li> </ol> <p /> <p /> ESX_mailfrom=backup\@somedomain.com<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <li>location of the sendmail script:</li> </ol> <p /> <p /> ESX_sendmail=/usr/bin/sendmail.pl<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <li>smarthost for mail delivery:</li> </ol> <p /> <p /> ESX_smtphost="mail.somedomain.com"<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <li>location of the locking file:</li> </ol> <p /> <p /> ESX_lockfile=/vmfs/volumes/ESXBackup/ESXBackup.lck<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>code ####################################################################</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> <p /> echo "ESXBackup V0.1f - ESX host backup script"<br /> <p /> <p /> echo ""<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>if no parameters are spedified, print usage hints and exit</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> <p /> if ; then<br /> <p /> <p /> cat &lt;&lt; EOF<br /> <p /> <p /> Usage: ESXBackup -v &lt;VMName&gt;|any|poweredon<br /> <p /> <p /> <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+-t+%26lt%3Bage%26gt%3B+"> -t &lt;age&gt; </a><br /> <p /> <p /> <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+-m+%26lt%3Bmailto%26gt%3B+"> -m &lt;mailto&gt; </a><br /> <p /> <p /> <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+-x+%26lt%3Bexcludefile%26gt%3B+"> -x &lt;excludefile&gt; </a><br /> <p /> <p /> <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+-l+"> -l </a><br /> <p /> <p /> <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+-r+%26lt%3Bcount%26gt%3B+"> -r &lt;count&gt; </a><br /> <p /> <p /> -v &lt;VMName&gt;: Name of VM to be saved regardless of powerstate.<br /> <p /> <p /> any: All VMs registered on this ESX host are saved.<br /> <p /> <p /> poweredon: All VM which are powered on are saved.<br /> <p /> <p /> -t &lt;age&gt;: All backup folders older than &lt;age&gt; days are<br /> <p /> <p /> purged from the backup location folder after<br /> <p /> <p /> backup was successful. &lt;age&gt; must be numeric.<br /> <p /> <p /> -m &lt;mailto&gt;: Send backup notification for each single VM<br /> <p /> <p /> to this given smtp address.<br /> <p /> <p /> -x &lt;file&gt;: File with virtual machine names to be excluded<br /> <p /> <p /> from backup.<br /> <p /> <p /> -l : Use locking mechanism to ensure only one backup<br /> <p /> <p /> is running at the same time. The locking file<br /> <p /> <p /> has to be specified inside the script.<br /> <p /> <p /> -r &lt;count&gt;: Retries a failed backup &lt;count&gt; times. Be aware that<br /> <p /> <p /> backup time could significantly raise using this<br /> <p /> <p /> parameter.<br /> <p /> <p /> EOF<br /> <p /> <p /> exit 0<br /> <p /> <p /> fi<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>get command line parameters</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> <p /> while getopts v:t:m:x:r:l Optionen; do<br /> <p /> <p /> case $Optionen in<br /> <p /> <p /> v) ESX_VM=$OPTARG;;<br /> <p /> <p /> t) ESX_purge=$OPTARG;;<br /> <p /> <p /> m) ESX_mailto=$OPTARG;;<br /> <p /> <p /> x) ESX_exclude=$OPTARG;;<br /> <p /> <p /> l) ESX_lock=TRUE;;<br /> <p /> <p /> r) ESX_retry=$OPTARG;;<br /> <p /> <p /> esac<br /> <p /> <p /> done<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>test parameters</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> <p /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%21+%24ESX_VM+"> ! $ESX_VM </a>; then<br /> <p /> <p /> echo "You have to define at least a VM to be backed up. Exiting."<br /> <p /> <p /> echo ""<br /> <p /> <p /> exit 2<br /> <p /> <p /> fi <br /> <p /> <p /> if ; then<br /> <p /> <p /> ESX_search="any:"<br /> <p /> <p /> elif ; then<br /> <p /> <p /> ESX_search="powerstate:on"<br /> <p /> <p /> else<br /> <p /> <p /> ESX_search="name:$ESX_VM"<br /> <p /> <p /> ESX_singlevm=TRUE<br /> <p /> <p /> fi<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>test if purge parameter is positiv numeric</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> <p /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%21+-z+%24ESX_purge+"> ! -z $ESX_purge </a>; then<br /> <p /> <p /> echo $ESX_purge | egrep '<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=%3Aalpha%3A">:alpha:</a>|<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=%3Acntrl%3A">:cntrl:</a>|<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=%3Agraph%3A">:graph:</a>|<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=%3Apunct%3A">:punct:</a>' -q<br /> <p /> <p /> RetVal=$(expr $?)<br /> <p /> <p /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24RetVal+%3D%3D+0+"> $RetVal == 0 </a>; then<br /> <p /> <p /> echo "Invalid value for purge (-t) parameter."<br /> <p /> <p /> exit 3<br /> <p /> <p /> fi<br /> <p /> <p /> ESX_purge=$(expr $ESX_purge)<br /> <p /> <p /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24ESX_purge+-le+0+"> $ESX_purge -le 0 </a>; then<br /> <p /> <p /> echo "Purge parameter must be positive numeric."<br /> <p /> <p /> exit 3<br /> <p /> <p /> fi<br /> <p /> <p /> fi<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>test if retry parameter is positiv numeric</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> <p /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%21+-z+%24ESX_retry+"> ! -z $ESX_retry </a>; then<br /> <p /> <p /> echo $ESX_retry | egrep '<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=%3Aalpha%3A">:alpha:</a>|<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=%3Acntrl%3A">:cntrl:</a>|<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=%3Agraph%3A">:graph:</a>|<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=%3Apunct%3A">:punct:</a>' -q<br /> <p /> <p /> RetVal=$(expr $?)<br /> <p /> <p /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24RetVal+%3D%3D+0+"> $RetVal == 0 </a>; then<br /> <p /> <p /> echo "Invalid value for retry (-r) parameter."<br /> <p /> <p /> exit 3<br /> <p /> <p /> fi<br /> <p /> <p /> ESX_retry=$(expr $ESX_retry)<br /> <p /> <p /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24ESX_retry+-lt+0+"> $ESX_retry -lt 0 </a>; then<br /> <p /> <p /> echo "Retry parameter must be positive numeric."<br /> <p /> <p /> exit 3<br /> <p /> <p /> fi<br /> <p /> <p /> else<br /> <p /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>if its not definied in commandline, assume 0 retries</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> ESX_retry=0<br /> <p /> <p /> fi<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>temporary file to store backup messages for the complete ESX host</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> <p /> ESX_summaryfile="/var/tmp/$(date '+%Y%m%d-%H%M')"<br /> <p /> <p /> LogOut $ESX_logfile "Script ESXBackup started."<br /> <p /> <p /> echo "Backup summary for ESX host $ESX_host:" &gt; $ESX_summaryfile<br /> <p /> <p /> echo "" &gt;&gt; $ESX_summaryfile<br /> <p /> <p /> ESX_failed=0<br /> <p /> <p /> ESX_success=0<br /> <p /> <p /> ESX_skipped=0<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>loop through all VMs which fit within the search criteria</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> <p /> for ESX_VMS in `/usr/sbin/vcbVmName -h $ESX_host -u $ESX_user -p $ESX_pass -s $ESX_search | grep -i name: | awk -F: '{print $2}'`<br /> <p /> <p /> do<br /> <p /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>skip server if its name is in the exclude list</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> RetVal=""<br /> <p /> <p /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24ESX_exclude+"> $ESX_exclude </a>; then<br /> <p /> <p /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+-e+%24ESX_exclude+"> -e $ESX_exclude </a>; then<br /> <p /> <p /> RetVal=`grep -i -x $ESX_VMS $ESX_exclude`<br /> <p /> <p /> fi<br /> <p /> <p /> fi <br /> <p /> <p /> if ; then<br /> <p /> <p /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Skipped $ESX_VMS."<br /> <p /> <p /> echo " SKIPPED virtual machine $ESX_VMS." &gt;&gt; $ESX_summaryfile<br /> <p /> <p /> ESX_skipped=$(($ESX_skipped+1))<br /> <p /> <p /> else<br /> <p /> <p /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Init backup of $ESX_VMS"<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>Handle locking mechanism</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24ESX_lock+"> $ESX_lock </a>; then<br /> <p /> <p /> while <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+-e+%24ESX_lockfile+"> -e $ESX_lockfile </a><br /> <p /> <p /> do<br /> <p /> <p /> ESX_vmlocked=`cat $ESX_lockfile`<br /> <p /> <p /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Backup locking active ($ESX_vmlocked). Waiting 60s ..."<br /> <p /> <p /> sleep 60<br /> <p /> <p /> done<br /> <p /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>create locking file and write VM and hostname into it</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> touch $ESX_lockfile<br /> <p /> <p /> echo "$ESX_VMS on server $ESX_host" &gt; $ESX_lockfile<br /> <p /> <p /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Setting lock on $ESX_host for $ESX_VMS"<br /> <p /> <p /> fi<br /> <p /> <p /> ESX_vmfolder="$ESX_backupdir/$ESX_VMS"<br /> <p /> <p /> ESX_date=$(date '+%Y%m%d-%H%M')<br /> <p /> <p /> ESX_backupfolder="$ESX_backupdir/$ESX_VMS/$ESX_date"<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>create folder for backup</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Creating folder $ESX_vmfolder"<br /> <p /> <p /> mkdir -p $ESX_vmfolder<br /> <p /> <p /> RetVal=$(expr $?)<br /> <p /> <p /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24RetVal+%21%3D+0+"> $RetVal != 0 </a>; then<br /> <p /> <p /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Error creating folder: $Retval"<br /> <p /> <p /> fi<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>start backup - destination folder should not exist</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Backing up to folder $ESX_backupfolder"<br /> <p /> <p /> START=$(date +%s);<br /> <p /> <p /> RetryCount=0<br /> <p /> <p /> Success=FALSE<br /> <p /> <p /> ToRetry=TRUE<br /> <p /> <p /> while <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24ToRetry+%3D%3D+TRUE+"> $ToRetry == TRUE </a>;<br /> <p /> <p /> do<br /> <p /> <p /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24RetryCount+-gt+0+"> $RetryCount -gt 0 </a>; then<br /> <p /> <p /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Now retrying backup (loop $RetryCount out of $ESX_retry) ..."<br /> <p /> <p /> echo "Now retrying backup (loop $RetryCount out of $ESX_retry) ..." &gt;&gt; $ESX_vmfolder/$ESX_date.log<br /> <p /> <p /> fi<br /> <p /> <p /> ESX_vcb=`/usr/sbin/vcbMounter -h $ESX_host -u $ESX_user -p $ESX_pass -a name:$ESX_VMS -r $ESX_backupfolder -t fullvm`<br /> <p /> <p /> RetVal=$(expr $?)<br /> <p /> <p /> echo "$ESX_vcb" &gt;&gt; $ESX_vmfolder/$ESX_date.log<br /> <p /> <p /> echo "" &gt;&gt; $ESX_vmfolder/$ESX_date.log<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>test whether backup was successfull</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24RetVal+%21%3D+0+"> $RetVal != 0 </a>; then<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>Backup was not successful</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Backup error: $RetVal"<br /> <p /> <p /> echo " ERROR backing up $ESX_VMS. Error code was $RetVal" &gt;&gt; $ESX_summaryfile<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>Try to rename folder of unsuccessful backup</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>If we retry the backup, the folder must not exist</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+-d+%24ESX_backupfolder+"> -d $ESX_backupfolder </a>; then<br /> <p /> <p /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Renaming Backupfolder to $ESX_backupfolder.$RetryCount"<br /> <p /> <p /> mv $ESX_backupfolder $ESX_backupfolder.$RetryCount<br /> <p /> <p /> else<br /> <p /> <p /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " $ESX_backupfolder does not exist, so no renaming needed"<br /> <p /> <p /> fi<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>Sometimes if backup fails the snapshot still resided - now delete it:</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> DelSnapshot $ESX_VMS<br /> <p /> <p /> RetVal=$(expr $?)<br /> <p /> <p /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24RetVal+%3D%3D+0+"> $RetVal == 0 </a>; then<br /> <p /> <p /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Deleted <u>VCB-BACKUP</u> snapshot."<br /> <p /> <p /> echo " Remaining <u>VCB-BACKUP</u> snapshot successfully deleted." &gt;&gt; $ESX_summaryfile<br /> <p /> <p /> echo "Remaining <u>VCB-BACKUP</u> snapshot successfully deleted." &gt;&gt; $ESX_vmfolder/$ESX_date.log<br /> <p /> <p /> fi<br /> <p /> else<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>Backup has been successful</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> END=$(date +%s);<br /> <p /> <p /> DIFF=$(($END - $START));<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>Determine space on backup folder used and calculate the throughput</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> ESX_hddused=`du $ESX_backupfolder -b | awk -F\ '{print $1}'`<br /> <p /> <p /> ESX_throughput=$((($ESX_hddused/(1024*1024))/$DIFF))<br /> <p /> <p /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Backup of $ESX_VMS successfull. Saved $ESX_hddused bytes."<br /> <p /> <p /> echo "Backed up $ESX_hddused bytes within $DIFF seconds. Throughput was $ESX_throughput MB/second." &gt;&gt; $ESX_vmfolder/$ESX_date.log<br /> <p /> <p /> echo " SUCCESS backing up $ESX_VMS. It took $DIFF seconds to back up $ESX_hddused bytes ($ESX_throughput MB/s)." &gt;&gt; $ESX_summaryfile<br /> <p /> <p /> ESX_success=$(($ESX_success+1))<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>Delete old backups if purging was specified</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24ESX_purge+"> $ESX_purge </a>; then<br /> <p /> <p /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Purging content older than $ESX_purge days."<br /> <p /> <p /> find $ESX_vmfolder/* -maxdepth 0 -type d -mtime +$ESX_purge -exec rm -rfdv {} \;<br /> <p /> <p /> find $ESX_vmfolder/* -maxdepth 0 -type f -mtime +$ESX_purge -exec rm -fv {} \;<br /> <p /> <p /> fi<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>Send success eMail</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24ESX_mailto+"> $ESX_mailto </a>; then<br /> <p /> <p /> perl $ESX_sendmail $ESX_smtphost $ESX_mailfrom $ESX_mailto Backup\ succeeded:\ $ESX_VMS\ on\ $ESX_host $ESX_vmfolder/$ESX_date.log<br /> <p /> <p /> fi<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>Break to while loop</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> Success=TRUE<br /> <p /> <p /> ToRetry=FALSE<br /> <p /> <p /> fi<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>Increment the number of retries and determine if a retry should be made</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> RetryCount=$(($RetryCount+1))<br /> <p /> <p /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24RetryCount+-gt+%24ESX_retry+"> $RetryCount -gt $ESX_retry </a>; then<br /> <p /> <p /> ToRetry=FALSE<br /> <p /> <p /> fi<br /> <p /> <p /> done<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>If backup unsuccessful, increment the failed counter and send an email</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24Success+%3D%3D+FALSE+"> $Success == FALSE </a>; then<br /> <p /> <p /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " *** Backup of $ESX_VMS finally failed!"<br /> <p /> <p /> echo "*** Backup of $ESX_VMS finally failed!" &gt;&gt; $ESX_summaryfile<br /> <p /> <p /> ESX_failed=$(($ESX_failed+1))<br /> <p /> <p /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24ESX_mailto+"> $ESX_mailto </a>; then<br /> <p /> <p /> perl $ESX_sendmail $ESX_smtphost $ESX_mailfrom $ESX_mailto Backup\ failed:\ $ESX_VMS\ on\ $ESX_host $ESX_vmfolder/$ESX_date.log<br /> <p /> <p /> fi <br /> <p /> <p /> fi <br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>Backup is done for this VM, so release the lockfile</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24ESX_lock+"> $ESX_lock </a>; then<br /> <p /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>Release lockfile</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> rm $ESX_lockfile<br /> <p /> <p /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Locking released on $ESX_host for $ESX_VMS"<br /> <p /> <p /> fi <br /> <p /> <p /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Done backup of $ESX_VMS"<br /> <p /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>Sleep some time if not only a single vm has to be backed up to give other</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>ESX hosts the chance to start their backup in the 30 second pause</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%21+%24ESX_singlevm+"> ! $ESX_singlevm </a>; then<br /> <p /> <p /> sleep 30<br /> <p /> <p /> fi<br /> <p /> <p /> fi<br /> <p /> <p /> done<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>At last send the summary mail of the complete ESX host</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> <p /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24ESX_mailto+"> $ESX_mailto </a>; then<br /> <p /> <p /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24ESX_VMS+"> $ESX_VMS </a>; then<br /> <p /> <p /> perl $ESX_sendmail $ESX_smtphost $ESX_mailfrom $ESX_mailto Backup\ summary\ $ESX_host:\ $ESX_failed\ failed,\ $ESX_success\ successful,\ $ESX_skipped\ skipped. $ESX_summaryfile<br /> <p /> <p /> fi <br /> <p /> <p /> fi<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>remove the summary file</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> <p /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+-e+%24ESX_summaryfile+"> -e $ESX_summaryfile </a>; then<br /> <p /> <p /> rm $ESX_summaryfile<br /> <p /> <p /> fi<br /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>no host was detected by the given name</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <p /> <p /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%21+%24ESX_VMS+"> ! $ESX_VMS </a>; then<br /> <p /> <p /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Unable to detect any host to be backed up."<br /> <p /> <p /> fi<br /> <p /> <p /> LogOut $ESX_logfile "Script ESXBackup stopped."<br /> <p /> [/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>esxcfg-firewall -o 25,tcp,out,SMTP[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>esxcfg-firewall -o 25,tcp,out,SMTP[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>esxcfg-firewall -o 25,tcp,out,SMTP[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>esxcfg-firewall -o 25,tcp,out,SMTP[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>esxcfg-firewall -o 25,tcp,out,SMTP[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>esxcfg-firewall -o 25,tcp,out,SMTP[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>esxcfg-firewall -o 25,tcp,out,SMTP[/code]<br /> <p /> <br /> <hr /> Hi kapplah,<br /> <br /> i test your script today and it works fine but i found an failure.<br /> <br /> it the name of an host have a space in the name the script crash.<br /> <br /> Can you fix it ?<br /> <br /> Regards<br /> Alex<br /> <hr /> Hallo Alex,<br /> <br /> (wow - it's funny to speak to myself as my first name is alex, too <img class="jive-emoticon" border="0" src="http://communities.vmware.com/images/emoticons/wink.gif" alt=";-)" /> <br /> <br /> yes, this was untested as we don't use spaces in our virtual machine name intentionally.<br /> <br /> Tomorrow I'll test and begin to modify the script.<br /> <br /> Thanks for your reply,<br /> Alex<br /> <hr /> Hi,<br /> <br /> unfortunately it's not as easy as I thought, because I use the VM's name under several conditions:<br /> <br /> <ul class="jive-dash"> <li>sending a mail </li> </ul> <br /> We always recommend using printable 7bit ascii characters for the VM name. Is it possible to simply rename the VM?<br /> <br /> regards,<br /> Alex<br /> <hr /> Hi Alex!<br /> <br /> Great script. Thank you!<br /> <br /> Probably i'm the only one who encountered this problem...<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>loop through all VMs which fit within the search criteria</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> for ESX_VMS in `/usr/sbin/vcbVmName -h $ESX_host -u $ESX_user -p $ESX_pass -s $ESX_search | grep -i name: | awk -F: '{print $2}'`<br /> <br /> After searching for VMs the script always reported, that it was unable to find any VMs.<br /> <br /> I did then the following:<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>loop through all VMs which fit within the search criteria</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> /usr/sbin/vcbVmName -h $ESX_host -u $ESX_user -p $ESX_pass -s $ESX_search | grep -i name: | awk -F: '{print $2}' &gt; /tmp/.ESX_VMs<br /> for ESX_VMS in `cat /tmp/.ESX_VMs`<br /> <br /> I know - it's really not a big difference...<br /> But like this the script works like a charm!<br /> <br /> Roland<br /> <hr /> Hi Roland,<br /> <br /> please post the statement which you have called the script. What was the content of your temporary file?<br /> <br /> Can you give me the output of the vcbVmName when called with your hostz settings, Username, password and search string? The search string itself may be 'any:' or 'powerstate:on' or 'name:VMNAME' (where VMNAME is the name of the single VM you wanted top backup) depending on your commandline call.<br /> <br /> cu,<br /> Alex<br /> <hr /> Hi Alex<br /> <br /> I did the following:<br /> <br /> ESXBackup -v poweredon<br /> <br /> After a bit debugging, I figured out that the variable $ESX_VMS was always empty (with your original version).<br /> <br /> I made the changes I posted above, then my temporary file had the correct content - all names of VMs which where powered on at the moment.<br /> <br /> If I called the vcbVmName (copy / paste the command from the script and changed the necessary variables) the command worked fine.<br /> <br /> Another issue - the sendmail.pl script gives me the following error:<br /> <br /> <strike>root@vi3h02 /</strike># perl /usr/bin/sendmail.pl relay.host.com backup\@address.com recipient@address.com test /var/log/ESXBackup.log<br /> Can't call method "mail" on an undefined value at /usr/bin/sendmail.pl line 12.<br /> <br /> Do you have an idea what's going wrong there?<br /> <br /> CU, Roland<br /> <br /> <hr /> Hi,<br /> <br /> very fast response <img class="jive-emoticon" border="0" src="http://communities.vmware.com/images/emoticons/wink.gif" alt=";-)" /><br /> <br /> For sending mail you have to configure your firewall ontop the ESX server to allow outgoing SMTP. It should be something like that:<br /> <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>esxcfg-firewall -o 25,tcp,out,SMTP[/code]<br /> <br /> regards,<br /> Alex<br /> <hr /> Ooops, my mistake....<br /> <br /> Thx, regards<br /> <br /> Roland<br /> <hr /> So far I am very impressed with your script, there is just one thing missing. Any chance you can have the snapshot deleted if a Vmotion occurrs during a VM backup? I have had several VM's fail backups because DRS vmotions them while being backed up.<br /> <hr /> Hi there, I am not a genius with linux but I have a quick questions:<br /> <br /> I have managed to edit the backupscript so now instead of taking VMNAME its looking for UUID (My machine all have like IT: Test (ast) - test ) So I have spaces special caracters and everything. But Once I modified this now it works fine, actually I have added also a file called host.lst who defined every uuid and a friendly name to create directory, if not found on host.lst then the script will not backup this machine. (Almost work as the exclusion one)<br /> <br /> But anyway, here is my question:<br /> I need to be sending mail using this script but I need to be able to specify the port, and the authentication. I have tried looking on the new but I can't seem to be able to modify the sendmail.pl to use another port (2525) and authenticate to the mail server.<br /> <br /> Thanks for all your help. Btw the script is awesome.<br /> <br /> Have a great day!<br /> <br /> Message was edited by: <br /> nface<br /> <hr /> Any ideas? I know what this error means... but how do you install the perl package? Is there an rpm?<br /> <br /> <strike>root@dali bin</strike># ./sendmail.pl<br /> Can't locate Net/DNS.pm in @INC (@INC contains: /usr/lib/perl5/5.8.0/i386-linux-thread-multi /usr/lib/perl5/5.8.0 /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.0/i386-linux-thread-multi /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.0 /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl /usr/lib/perl5/vendor_perl/5.8.0/i386-linux-thread-multi /usr/lib/perl5/vendor_perl/5.8.0 /usr/lib/perl5/vendor_perl /usr/lib/perl5/5.8.0/i386-linux-thread-multi /usr/lib/perl5/5.8.0 .) at ./sendmail.pl line 7.<br /> BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at ./sendmail.pl line 7.<br /> <hr /> Hi Steve,<br /> <br /> the script doesn't detect whether a vmotion occurs. If the backup fails, the script SHOULD delete the created <u>VCB-BACKUP</u> snapshot. <br /> <br /> But there is a little work to do for me to get this procedure REALLY fully functional (under some conditions when backup fails, the following calls for vcbVmName and vcbSnapshot don't return results ...).<br /> <br /> Alex<br /> <hr /> Hi,<br /> <br /> I'm neither a expert on perl nor on Unix ... <img class="jive-emoticon" border="0" src="http://communities.vmware.com/images/emoticons/wink.gif" alt=";-)" /> The perl script was completely stolen from any other webpage to do the simplest possible job: Sending SMTP mail. The possibilites on the COS are very limited and I don't want to install any other software on it.<br /> <br /> Maybe here's a PERL expert in this forum who can answer the question.<br /> <br /> @renski:<br /> <br /> The sendmail.pl script works for me without installing any 3rd party perl modules or something else. It should work out-of-the box, don't know where your problem is located.<br /> Did you have made any changes (scripting enhacements or something else)? I cannot find a DNS.pm on my ESX server.<br /> What is the size of your SMTP.pm file inside /usr/lib/perl5/5.8.0/Net/ ? Maybe anything has modified it's contents ...<br /> <br /> regards,<br /> Alex<br /> <hr /> Hi Alex,<br /> I figured out how to make your script vmotion aware. If you point the vcbMounter commands and the vcbSnapshot commands to your VC server instead of the local host, the backup will complete even if the VM is vmotioned while being backed up. A host will even backup a VM that was vmotioned an hour earlier and it resides on a different host. <br /> <br /> The vcbVmName command still needs to point to the localhost since it should only backup the VMs that reside on it at the beginning of the backup loop. This has worked for me so far if I run all of my host backups at the same time.<br /> <br /> Message was edited by: <br /> steve.higgins<br /> <hr /> Hi Steve,<br /> <br /> thanks for your hints. Some days ago I've tested the scenario to make backups via the VC server - and as you've said, this doesn't work.<br /> <br /> I'll try to implement your improvements and put the new script online here when it's done.<br /> <br /> I would have to fix some problems with removing snapshots after failed backups (most times when backup fails it fails without any visible reasons - maybe console memory is too low or something else - and then I've got problems deleting the snapshot)<br /> <br /> cu,<br /> Alex<br /> <hr /> I think I found the reason why the vcbVmName and vcbSnapshot scripts don't return results when called sometimes. Whenever I run the script manually to test, they work flawlessly. As soon as I run the ESXBackup script as a cron job they fail. What I did to make it work was add the full path to the "vcb" commands and they will be called successfully. The cron jobs do not search the /usr/sbin directory thus not calling the "vcb" scripts without specifying the full path.<br /> <hr /> I have had the script working for about 2 weeks now fully VMotion aware, snapshots deleting automatically whenever failures do occur. This is the miracle script that I've been looking for. Thank you!<br /> <hr /> Hey kapplah, thanks for the script! Where do you plan on posting updates? Do you have a website?<br /> <hr /> Hi Steve,<br /> <br /> please be so kind to post your enhanced script so I can include changes into mine and post the modified script?<br /> <br /> And thanks for the term "miracle script" - I like it :-))<br /> <br /> regards,<br /> Alex<br /> <hr /> Sure, here is the modified script. I took all of the emailing functions out and a few other small modifications, but it works perfect for what we need to do in our organization.<br /> <br /> #!/bin/bash<br /> #<br /> <ol> <li>ESX Backup script</li> </ol> #<br /> <ol> <li>Version 0.1f</li> </ol> #<br /> <ol> <li>Alexander Storf</li> </ol> #<br /> <ol> <li>Jan 10 2007: Implemented optional retry if backup fails</li> </ol> #############################################################################<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>Parameters: &lt;displaytext&gt; &lt;filename&gt;</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> function LogOut() {<br /> echo "$(date '+%b %d %H:%M:%S'): $2" | tee -a $1 <br /> }<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>Parameters: &lt;vmname&gt;</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> function DelSnapshot() {<br /> VM_ID=`/usr/sbin/vcbVmName -h ict0vc01 -u vcbadmin -p ***** -s Name:$1 | grep -i moref`<br /> SS_ID=`/usr/sbin/vcbSnapshot -h ict0vc01 -u vcbadmin -p ***** -f $VM_ID <u>VCB-BACKUP</u> | grep -i ssid`<br /> if ; then<br /> SS_Result=`/usr/sbin/vcbSnapshot -h ict0vc01 -u vcbadmin -p ***** -d $VM_ID $SS_ID`<br /> RetVal=$(expr $?)<br /> return $RetVal<br /> else<br /> return 1<br /> fi<br /> }<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>definitions #############################################################</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> <br /> <ol> <li>Directory where to store the backups:</li> </ol> ESX_backupdir=/vmfs/volumes/ict0esx01-local-backups/backups<br /> <br /> <ol> <li>Filename of backup logfiles:</li> </ol> ESX_logfile=/var/log/ESXBackup.log<br /> <br /> <ol> <li>Backup user name (on ESX host):</li> </ol> ESX_user=root<br /> <br /> <ol> <li>Password of the backup user:</li> </ol> ESX_pass=*****<br /> <br /> <ol> <li>own hostname (got from environment), not to be changed:</li> </ol> ESX_host=$HOSTNAME<br /> <br /> <ol> <li>location of the locking file:</li> </ol> ESX_lockfile=/vmfs/volumes/ICT0SAN07_LUN100/ESXBackup.lck<br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>code ####################################################################</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> echo "ESXBackup V0.1f - ESX host backup script"<br /> echo ""<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>if no parameters are spedified, print usage hints and exit</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> if ; then<br /> cat &lt;&lt; EOF<br /> Usage: ESXBackup -v &lt;VMName&gt;|any|poweredon<br /> <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+-t+%26lt%3Bage%26gt%3B+"> -t &lt;age&gt; </a><br /> <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+-x+%26lt%3Bexcludefile%26gt%3B+"> -x &lt;excludefile&gt; </a><br /> <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+-l+"> -l </a><br /> <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+-r+%26lt%3Bcount%26gt%3B+"> -r &lt;count&gt; </a><br /> <br /> -v &lt;VMName&gt;: Name of VM to be saved regardless of powerstate.<br /> any: All VMs registered on this ESX host are saved.<br /> poweredon: All VM which are powered on are saved.<br /> -t &lt;age&gt;: All backup folders older than &lt;age&gt; minutes are<br /> purged from the backup location folder after<br /> backup was successful. &lt;age&gt; must be numeric.<br /> -x &lt;file&gt;: File with virtual machine names to be excluded<br /> from backup.<br /> -l : Use locking mechanism to ensure only one backup<br /> is running at the same time. The locking file<br /> has to be specified inside the script.<br /> -r &lt;count&gt;: Retries a failed backup &lt;count&gt; times. Be aware that<br /> backup time could significantly raise using this<br /> parameter.<br /> EOF<br /> exit 0<br /> fi<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>get command line parameters</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> while getopts v:t:m:x:r:l Optionen; do<br /> case $Optionen in<br /> v) ESX_VM=$OPTARG;;<br /> t) ESX_purge=$OPTARG;;<br /> x) ESX_exclude=$OPTARG;;<br /> l) ESX_lock=TRUE;;<br /> r) ESX_retry=$OPTARG;;<br /> esac<br /> done<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>test parameters</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%21+%24ESX_VM+"> ! $ESX_VM </a>; then<br /> echo "You have to define at least a VM to be backed up. Exiting."<br /> echo ""<br /> exit 2<br /> fi <br /> <br /> if ; then<br /> ESX_search="any:"<br /> elif ; then<br /> ESX_search="powerstate:on"<br /> else<br /> ESX_search="name:$ESX_VM"<br /> ESX_singlevm=TRUE<br /> fi<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>test if purge parameter is positiv numeric</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%21+-z+%24ESX_purge+"> ! -z $ESX_purge </a>; then<br /> echo $ESX_purge | egrep '<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=%3Aalpha%3A">:alpha:</a>|<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=%3Acntrl%3A">:cntrl:</a>|<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=%3Agraph%3A">:graph:</a>|<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=%3Apunct%3A">:punct:</a>' -q<br /> RetVal=$(expr $?)<br /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24RetVal+%3D%3D+0+"> $RetVal == 0 </a>; then<br /> echo "Invalid value for purge (-t) parameter."<br /> exit 3<br /> fi<br /> ESX_purge=$(expr $ESX_purge)<br /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24ESX_purge+-le+0+"> $ESX_purge -le 0 </a>; then<br /> echo "Purge parameter must be positive numeric."<br /> exit 3<br /> fi<br /> fi<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>test if retry parameter is positiv numeric</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%21+-z+%24ESX_retry+"> ! -z $ESX_retry </a>; then<br /> echo $ESX_retry | egrep '<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=%3Aalpha%3A">:alpha:</a>|<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=%3Acntrl%3A">:cntrl:</a>|<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=%3Agraph%3A">:graph:</a>|<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=%3Apunct%3A">:punct:</a>' -q<br /> RetVal=$(expr $?)<br /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24RetVal+%3D%3D+0+"> $RetVal == 0 </a>; then<br /> echo "Invalid value for retry (-r) parameter."<br /> exit 3<br /> fi<br /> ESX_retry=$(expr $ESX_retry)<br /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24ESX_retry+-lt+0+"> $ESX_retry -lt 0 </a>; then<br /> echo "Retry parameter must be positive numeric."<br /> exit 3<br /> fi<br /> else<br /> <p /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>if its not definied in commandline, assume 0 retries</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> ESX_retry=0<br /> fi<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>temporary file to store backup messages for the complete ESX host</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> ESX_summaryfile="/var/tmp/$(date '+%Y%m%d-%H%M')"<br /> <br /> LogOut $ESX_logfile "Script ESXBackup started."<br /> echo "Backup summary for ESX host $ESX_host:" &gt; $ESX_summaryfile<br /> echo "" &gt;&gt; $ESX_summaryfile<br /> <br /> ESX_failed=0<br /> ESX_success=0<br /> ESX_skipped=0<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>loop through all VMs which fit within the search criteria</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> for ESX_VMS in `/usr/sbin/vcbVmName -h $ESX_host -u $ESX_user -p $ESX_pass -s $ESX_search | grep -i name: | awk -F: '{print $2}'`<br /> do<br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>skip server if its name is in the exclude list</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> RetVal=""<br /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24ESX_exclude+"> $ESX_exclude </a>; then<br /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+-e+%24ESX_exclude+"> -e $ESX_exclude </a>; then<br /> RetVal=`grep -i -x $ESX_VMS $ESX_exclude`<br /> fi<br /> fi <br /> <br /> if ; then<br /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Skipped $ESX_VMS."<br /> echo " SKIPPED virtual machine $ESX_VMS." &gt;&gt; $ESX_summaryfile<br /> ESX_skipped=$(($ESX_skipped+1))<br /> else<br /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Init backup of $ESX_VMS"<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>Handle locking mechanism</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24ESX_lock+"> $ESX_lock </a>; then<br /> while <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+-e+%24ESX_lockfile+"> -e $ESX_lockfile </a><br /> do<br /> ESX_vmlocked=`cat $ESX_lockfile`<br /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Backup locking active ($ESX_vmlocked). Waiting 60s ..."<br /> sleep 60<br /> done<br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>create locking file and write VM and hostname into it</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> touch $ESX_lockfile<br /> echo "$ESX_VMS on server $ESX_host" &gt; $ESX_lockfile<br /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Setting lock on $ESX_host for $ESX_VMS"<br /> fi<br /> <br /> ESX_vmfolder="$ESX_backupdir/$ESX_VMS"<br /> ESX_date=$(date '+%Y%m%d-%H%M')<br /> ESX_backupfolder="$ESX_backupdir/$ESX_VMS/$ESX_date"<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>create folder for backup</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Creating folder $ESX_vmfolder"<br /> mkdir -p $ESX_vmfolder<br /> RetVal=$(expr $?)<br /> <br /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24RetVal+%21%3D+0+"> $RetVal != 0 </a>; then<br /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Error creating folder: $Retval"<br /> fi<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>start backup - destination folder should not exist</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Backing up to folder $ESX_backupfolder"<br /> START=$(date +%s);<br /> <br /> RetryCount=0<br /> Success=FALSE<br /> ToRetry=TRUE<br /> <br /> while <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24ToRetry+%3D%3D+TRUE+"> $ToRetry == TRUE </a>;<br /> do<br /> <br /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24RetryCount+-gt+0+"> $RetryCount -gt 0 </a>; then<br /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Now retrying backup (loop $RetryCount out of $ESX_retry) ..."<br /> echo "Now retrying backup (loop $RetryCount out of $ESX_retry) ..." &gt;&gt; $ESX_vmfolder/$ESX_date.log<br /> fi<br /> <br /> ESX_vcb=`/usr/sbin/vcbMounter -h ict0vc01 -u vcbadmin -p ***** -a name:$ESX_VMS -r $ESX_backupfolder -t fullvm`<br /> RetVal=$(expr $?)<br /> <br /> echo "$ESX_vcb" &gt;&gt; $ESX_vmfolder/$ESX_date.log<br /> echo "" &gt;&gt; $ESX_vmfolder/$ESX_date.log<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>test whether backup was successfull</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24RetVal+%21%3D+0+"> $RetVal != 0 </a>; then<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>Backup was not successful</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Backup error: $RetVal"<br /> echo " ERROR backing up $ESX_VMS. Error code was $RetVal" &gt;&gt; $ESX_summaryfile<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>Try to rename folder of unsuccessful backup</li> <li>If we retry the backup, the folder must not exist</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+-d+%24ESX_backupfolder+"> -d $ESX_backupfolder </a>; then<br /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Renaming Backupfolder to $ESX_backupfolder.$RetryCount"<br /> mv $ESX_backupfolder $ESX_backupfolder.$RetryCount<br /> else<br /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " $ESX_backupfolder does not exist, so no renaming needed"<br /> fi<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>Sometimes if backup fails the snapshot still resided - now delete it:</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> DelSnapshot $ESX_VMS<br /> RetVal=$(expr $?)<br /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24RetVal+%3D%3D+0+"> $RetVal == 0 </a>; then<br /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Deleted <u>VCB-BACKUP</u> snapshot."<br /> echo " Remaining <u>VCB-BACKUP</u> snapshot successfully deleted." &gt;&gt; $ESX_summaryfile<br /> echo "Remaining <u>VCB-BACKUP</u> snapshot successfully deleted." &gt;&gt; $ESX_vmfolder/$ESX_date.log<br /> fi<br /> <br /> else<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>Backup has been successful</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> END=$(date +%s);<br /> DIFF=$(($END - $START));<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>Determine space on backup folder used and calculate the throughput</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> ESX_hddused=`du $ESX_backupfolder -b | awk -F\ '{print $1}'`<br /> ESX_throughput=$((($ESX_hddused/(1024*1024))/$DIFF))<br /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Backup of $ESX_VMS successfull. Saved $ESX_hddused bytes."<br /> echo "Backed up $ESX_hddused bytes within $DIFF seconds. Throughput was $ESX_throughput MB/second." &gt;&gt; $ESX_vmfolder/$ESX_date.log<br /> echo " SUCCESS backing up $ESX_VMS. It took $DIFF seconds to back up $ESX_hddused bytes ($ESX_throughput MB/s)." &gt;&gt; $ESX_summaryfile<br /> ESX_success=$(($ESX_success+1))<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>Delete old backups if purging was specified</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24ESX_purge+"> $ESX_purge </a>; then<br /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Purging content older than $ESX_purge minutes."<br /> find $ESX_vmfolder/* -maxdepth 0 -type d -mmin +$ESX_purge -exec rm -rfdv {} \;<br /> find $ESX_vmfolder/* -maxdepth 0 -type f -mmin +$ESX_purge -exec rm -fv {} \;<br /> fi<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>Break to while loop</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> Success=TRUE<br /> ToRetry=FALSE<br /> <br /> fi<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>Increment the number of retries and determine if a retry should be made</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> RetryCount=$(($RetryCount+1))<br /> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24RetryCount+-gt+%24ESX_retry+"> $RetryCount -gt $ESX_retry </a>; then<br /> ToRetry=FALSE<br /> fi<br /> <br /> done<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>Backup is done for this VM, so release the lockfile</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24ESX_lock+"> $ESX_lock </a>; then<br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>Release lockfile</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> rm $ESX_lockfile<br /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Locking released on $ESX_host for $ESX_VMS"<br /> fi <br /> <br /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Done backup of $ESX_VMS"<br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>Sleep some time if not only a single vm has to be backed up to give other</li> <li>ESX hosts the chance to start their backup in the 30 second pause</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%21+%24ESX_singlevm+"> ! $ESX_singlevm </a>; then<br /> sleep 30<br /> fi<br /> <br /> fi<br /> <br /> done<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>remove the summary file</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+-e+%24ESX_summaryfile+"> -e $ESX_summaryfile </a>; then<br /> rm $ESX_summaryfile<br /> fi<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>no host was detected by the given name</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%21+%24ESX_VMS+"> ! $ESX_VMS </a>; then<br /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Unable to detect any host to be backed up."<br /> fi<br /> <br /> <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>Delete ALL old backups if purging was specified (5 days)</li> </ol> </ol> </ol> if <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=+%24ESX_purge+"> $ESX_purge </a>; then<br /> LogOut $ESX_logfile " Purging content older than $ESX_purge days."<br /> find $ESX_backupdir/* -maxdepth 0 -type d -mtime +$ESX_purge -exec rm -rfdv {} \;<br /> find $ESX_backupdir/* -maxdepth 0 -type f -mtime +$ESX_purge -exec rm -fv {} \;<br /> fi<br /> <br /> LogOut $ESX_logfile "Script ESXBackup stopped."<br /> <br /> <hr /> Hi, is it possible to store the backup on a NTFS share ?<br /> <hr /> Hi zemotard,<br /> <br /> everything is possible. The only thing you have to do is to mount the share to each ESX host and pass the mount point to the script.<br /> <br /> But there are several prerequisits to achieve this: Open the firewall port for SMB, maybe to start the portmapper and then finally to make a smbmount (I don't know if smbmount is supported by ESX hosts OS).<br /> <br /> I decided to use a NFS mount, because it's supported by the VI Interface directly and the directories are automatically (most times). Additionally you don't have to workaround firewall settings or something else.<br /> <br /> cu,<br /> Alex<br /> <hr /> Hi,<br /> <br /> I did set this script up and it worked so far. I want to use it to backup vms on a san to nfs. <br /> <br /> Now I've got the snapshot-files on my nfs - allright.<br /> <br /> What would be the right way to bring this vm up again if the san dies?<br /> <br /> I couldn't find any option in the vc to "import" snapshots as vms. I couldn't find the snaphot in the Snapshot-Manager either.<br /> <br /> Where am I thinking wrong?<br /> <br /> Thanks,<br /> <br /> Carsten<br /> <hr /> The actual backup of the VM is not a snapshot. Snapshots are used to get a hot backup of the VM. You will not be able to restore or revert to a snapshot once the VM has been backed up. (You can restore the entire backed up VM)<br /> <br /> What you would do is a vmkfstools import or export of the backup files to put them in the correct format so that they can be powered on again by an ESX host if your SAN happened to fail.<br /> <br /> Message was edited by: <br /> steve.higgins<br /> <hr /> Hello,<br /> <br /> What version of sendmail are you using? Where can I download it?<br /> <br /> Thanks,<br /> /guser<br /> <hr /> You might be interested in this thread, as a way not to put the password in the script:<br /> <br /> <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vmware.com/community/thread.jspa?threadID=50424&#38;start=0&#38;tstart=0">http://www.vmware.com/community/thread.jspa?threadID=50424&#38;start=0&#38;tstart=0</a><br /> <hr /> Hi<br /> <br /> Sorry to bring this topic up again so late on. I do apologise as i'm very new to VMWare and Linux.<br /> <br /> I am trying to get this script to backup to a mounted disk on a Windows 2003 box. I can access this through ESX and create directories etc<br /> <br /> The VM's I am trying to backup all sit on a dl380 with 6 drives, we have no SAN<br /> <br /> This is a proof of concept environment.<br /> <br /> I am using ESX 3.0 with no patches<br /> <br /> These are my definitions:<br /> <br /> <ol> <li>Directory where to store the backups:</li> </ol> ESX_backupdir=/mnt/backup/ESX<br /> <br /> <ol> <li>location of the locking file:</li> </ol> ESX_lockfile=/mnt/backup/ESX/ESXBackup.lck<br /> <br /> The command line i run is:<br /> bash esxbackup -v any<br /> <br /> And the output is:<br /> ESXBackup V0.1f - ESX host backup script<br /> <br /> Apr 12 13:01:13: Script ESXBackup started.<br /> Apr 12 13:01:16: Init backup of Harrow<br /> Apr 12 13:01:16: Creating folder /mnt/backup/ESX/Harrow<br /> Apr 12 13:01:16: Backing up to folder /mnt/backup/ESX/Harrow/20070412-1301<br /> Apr 12 13:01:18: Backup error: 1<br /> Apr 12 13:01:18: /mnt/backup/ESX/Harrow/20070412-1301 does not exist, so no renaming needed<br /> VMware Consolidated Backup -- Snapshot Utility, Version 1.0<br /> (C) 2005, VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.<br /> Usage:<br /> vcbSnapshot -h &lt;url&gt; -u &lt;username&gt; -p &lt;password&gt; <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=%26lt%3Bverbosity%26gt%3B">&lt;verbosity&gt;</a> &lt;command&gt;<br /> &lt;url&gt; := &lt;hostname&gt;<br /> &lt;command&gt; := &lt;create&gt;|&lt;find&gt;|&lt;list&gt;|&lt;delete&gt;<br /> &lt;verbosity&gt; := -L (0-6)<br /> &lt;create&gt; := -c &lt;VmId&gt; &lt;SnapshotName&gt; <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=%26lt%3BDescription%26gt%3B">&lt;Description&gt;</a><br /> &lt;find&gt; := -f &lt;VmId&gt; &lt;SnapshotName&gt;<br /> &lt;list&gt; := -l &lt;VmId&gt; &lt;SsId&gt;<br /> &lt;delete&gt; := -d &lt;VmId&gt; &lt;SsId&gt;<br /> &lt;VmId&gt; := "moref:"&lt;Sdk-MoRef&gt;<br /> &lt;SsId&gt; := "ssid:"&lt;Sdk-MoRef&gt;<br /> Apr 12 13:01:20: *** Backup of Harrow finally failed!<br /> Apr 12 13:01:20: Done backup of Harrow<br /> <br /> The ESX directory on the backup device is a USB drive plugged into a Win2K3 server.<br /> <br /> I'm a bit unsure about the lock file. Maybe this is the problem?<br /> <br /> Any help would be much appreciated<br /> <br /> Julian<br /> <hr /> Love the script !<br /> <br /> How do i "restore" the backuped VM back to its original place ?<br /> <br /> Thnx<br /> <hr /> Hi kapplah,<br /> <br /> If you still have problems with hosts with space in the name try with <b>IFS=$'\n'</b> in beginning of script and don't forget at end <b>unset IFS</b><br /> This is for loop problem, because it split by default on space tab and newline<br /> <hr /> Using the script I only want to make snapshots of all the vm servers on the host without backup and then delete them once I have patched them for example. Is there a modified version of this script for this only??<br /> <hr /> Hi c0de1,<br /> <br /> sorry answering that late ...<br /> <br /> To restore a backed up VM you simplay have to run the vcbRestore Command within the COS.<br /> <br /> The syntax should be like that:<br /> <br /> vcbRestore -h name.of.the.esxhost -u username -p password -s /vmfs/volumes/ESXBackup/NameOfVM/date_subdir<br /> <br /> You have to pass the ESXs hostname, the user and password of the Backup Account (you have installed for running ESXBackup) and the location of the backup.<br /> <br /> BTW: You can alway reach me by email, so this decreases response time dramatically :-))<br /> <br /> regards,<br /> Alex<br /> <hr /> Hi dobyrne,<br /> <br /> that cannot be done with my script with minor modifications - but it can be done with a script. You have to loop through all VMs on this ESX host and create a snaphot on it (vmware-cmd will do this job). Second you have to delete these snaphsots ... sounds easy <img class="jive-emoticon" border="0" src="http://communities.vmware.com/images/emoticons/wink.gif" alt=";-)" /><br /> <br /> If I have enough time maybe I'll make a proof of concept.<br /> <br /> regards,<br /> Alex<br /> <hr /> Dobyme,<br /> <br /> I haven't used myself but VMSnapper (<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.virtualizeplanet.com/content/index.php?option=com_content&#38;task=view&#38;id=26&#38;Itemid=44">http://www.virtualizeplanet.com/content/index.php?option=com_content&#38;task=view&#38;id=26&#38;Itemid=44</a>) sounds like it'll do what you want. Not as a script, but at least a single operation.<br /> <hr /> Of course you could also try the V.I.S.B.U script written by mittell of these forums - you can get that one from here<br /> <br /> <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.xtravirt.com/index.php?option=com_remository&#38;Itemid=75&#38;func=fileinfo&#38;id=7">http://www.xtravirt.com/index.php?option=com_remository&#38;Itemid=75&#38;func=fileinfo&#38;id=7</a><br /> <br /> and read the many many messages here<br /> <br /> <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vmware.com/community/thread.jspa?messageID=653056&#38;tstart=0">http://www.vmware.com/community/thread.jspa?messageID=653056&#38;tstart=0</a><br /> <br /> it's actively developed and we use it in house with great success<br /> <hr /> Hi all,<br /> <br /> I just make this script running, but with root account. If i test with an other, i got error. Sounds like normal as this user shouldn't have enough permission to do so.<br /> My question is a general linux like : What kind of access i have to give to my backup account ? I would like to give strictly minimum to it to work ...<br /> <br /> I got an other question, about the restore :<br /> I didn't understand the last post speacking about, The snapshot i had copying to my NFS is sufficient to restore or i have to first copy my .vmdk (virtual box off) and after make snapshot copy ?!<br /> <br /> Thanks a lot for your response.<br /> <br /> <hr /> The Backup Account has to be created on each ESX host locally and must have Administrative Privileges on each host via VC GUI.<br /> <br /> cu,<br /> Alex<br /> <hr /> Can you shed some more light on creating the ESXBackup account and granted it Admin Priveledges?<br /> <br /> When you say "Locally" I would assume you mean create a new user "ESXBackup" via linux on the host, then give them permissions via VC?<br /> <br /> I don't see where you can change local users via VC, only add domain users...<br /> <br /> Can you just step through this process?<br /> <br /> Thanks in advance<br /> <hr /> an0malist,<br /> <br /> You can create a local user on each ESX server by pointing the VI client at the individual host rather than the VC server. (You'll probably have to connect as root.)<br /> <br /> Click on the Users &#38; Groups tab in the right-hand pane, then right-click and select "Add..." from the context menu that pops up.<br /> <br /> HTH,<br /> <br /> Ted<br /> <hr /> Hey, thanks for the quick reply!! That was easier than what I was thinking... I was about to add the user in the linux environment. I didnt even know you could connect to individual servers... nice!<br /> <br /> I'm running into a problem though... here's what I get when I run the script:<br /> <br /> <strike>esxbackup@VMESX01 bin</strike># ./ESXBackup -v JMHOptio01<br /> ESXBackup V0.1c - ESX host backup script<br /> <br /> Sep 14 18:16:59: Script ESXBackup started.<br /> ./ESXBackup: line 153: syntax error near unexpected token `newline'<br /> ./ESXBackup: line 153: `echo "*** ERROR backing up $ESX_VMS. Error code was $RetVal" &gt;&gt; '<br /> <strike>esxbackup@VMESX01 bin</strike>#<br /> <br /> any ideas?<br /> <br /> This document was generated from the following thread: <a class="jive-link-thread" href="http://communities.vmware.com/thread/65687">ESX Backup Script</a> Tue, 18 Dec 2007 11:58:18 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-2400 2007-12-18T11:58:18Z 1 year, 11 months ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-2365 <h4>VMware ESX Server 3.5</h3> <p>Latest Version: 3.5&nbsp;|&nbsp;12/10/2007 | Build: 64607&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vmware.com/support/vi3/doc/vi3_esx35_vc25_rel_notes.html" target="_top">Release Notes</a></p> <h4>VMware VirtualCenter 2.5</h3> <p>Latest Version: 2.5&nbsp;|&nbsp;12/10/2007 | Build: 64201&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vmware.com/support/vi3/doc/vi3_esx35_vc25_rel_notes.html" target="_top">Release Notes</a></p> <h4>VMware Consolidated Backup 1.1</h3> <p>Latest Version: 1.1&nbsp;|&nbsp;12/10/2007 | Build: 64559&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vmware.com/support/vi3/doc/vi3_esx35_vc25_rel_notes.html" target="_top">Release Notes</a></p> update_mgr guided_config storage_vmotion dpm Tue, 11 Dec 2007 01:45:38 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-2365 2007-12-11T01:45:38Z 1 year, 11 months ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-2290 vmfs storage vmware-cmd vmkfstools vm-support vmkload_app Fri, 30 Nov 2007 22:20:21 GMT rreynol@indiana.edu http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-2290 2007-11-30T22:20:21Z 1 year, 12 months ago 6 http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-2271 Hello,<br /> <br /> I have an ESX3 server with local storage. I need to move a VM to another ESX3 server and I would like to know the best way to do this. <br /> <br /> I have copied the VM to a Windows server using FastSCP. Should I just copy it to the datastore of the other ESX3 server?<br /> <br /> Any help would be really appreciated.<br /> <hr /> The "normal" procedure is to export the disk using vmkfstools, copy it to the new host and import it there (using vmkfstools)<br /> <hr /> <div class="jive-quote">Hello,<br /> <p /> I have an ESX3 server with local storage. I need to<br /> move a VM to another ESX3 server and I would like to<br /> know the best way to do this. <br /> <p /> I have copied the VM to a Windows server using<br /> FastSCP. Should I just copy it to the datastore of<br /> the other ESX3 server?<br /> <p /> Any help would be really appreciated.</div> Yes, you could just SCP it over to the new host. Then browse the datastore, right click the vmx file, and choose register.<br /> <p /> <p /> <hr /> When copying to and from an ESX host it's best to run vmkfstools -i /path/to/src/src.vmdk -d 2gbsparse /path/to/dest/dest.vmdk , then copy those files to Windows and then to a temporary space on ESX. Then run vmkfstools -i to import the file again.<br /> <br /> If you want to keep your VM files in the same folder, you'll want to create the VM on the destination ESX host first, delete the hard drive from the VM, then copy the vmdk file to the VM's folder. You can then edit the VM and add an existing vmdk file.<br /> <br /> VMware also has a free converter product that could handle the transfer for you. www.vmware.com/converter<br /> <br /> <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vmware.com/community/message.jspa?messageID=703580#703580">http://www.vmware.com/community/message.jspa?messageID=703580#703580</a><br /> <hr /> COpy it using FastSCP to the second ESX host, but then use "vmkfstools -i &lt;source&gt; &lt;destination&gt;" to import the VMDK to your VMFS volume. Using SCP/CP to place the VMDK on the VMFS volume can cause poor disk performance for the VM, vmfkstools properly allocates the space to prevent this.<br /> <hr /> Thanks for all the help.<br /> <hr /> Hi Mittell, I am interested in yr comment. Can you explain how a copy using vmkfstools differs from a SCP copy and why it affects performance to use the latter?<br /> <hr /> vmkfstools allocates all space at once and then copies the data, a "normal" copy (cp, scp, ...) allocates the space while copying.<br /> This behavior can lead to VMDK fragmentation and therefore to poor disk performance.<br /> <hr /> Interesting, thanks for that. No more lazy Veam copies for me then! <img class="jive-emoticon" border="0" src="http://communities.vmware.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif" alt=":)" /><br /> <hr /> we use vmbk.pl<br /> <br /> <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vmts.net/vmbk.htm">http://www.vmts.net/vmbk.htm</a><br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <br /> regards<br /> clive<br /> <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.osde.info">http://www.osde.info</a><br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <hr /> Hello, ESX noob here. <br /> <br /> I've copied all of the files from an existing ESX server to another using FastSCP. Now when performing the import using the vmkfstools -i, which vmdk file am I running this against? The "name.vmdk" or the "name-flat.vmdk"? From reading other posts I know that the "-flat.vmdk" file is the virtual disk.<br /> <br /> <hr /> nevermind. Found my answer. It's on the smaller "name.vmdk". <br /> <br /> However, when I attempt to run the vmkfstools -i on the file, I immediately get back an error message "Broken pipe". I've tried designating the paths directly to the files and I've tried running the command while in the directory where the vmdk file is located. Is there something I'm missing?<br /> <hr /> You'll specify the vmdk (and not the flat.vmdk). Vmkfstools will take care of the flat.vmdk for you.<br /> <hr /> can you confirm if vmkfstools does or doesn't include delta / redo / snapshot file components ? <br /> <p /> <p /> <br /> regards<br /> clive<br /> <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.osde.info">http://www.osde.info</a><br /> <p /> <p /> <p /> <hr /> How would I verify that these components are on the server? It's a new<br /> install of ESX 3.0.2, 52542. <br /> <br /> Thanks!<br /> Andy<br /> <p /> <p /> <hr /> vmkfstools doesn't include snapshot files, so the source files should not have included any *delta.vmdk files.<br /> <hr /> There were no *delta.vmdk files in the directory. I've gone ahead and deleted the files that I had copied with FastSCP and am trying the VMware Converter to move the VM. Thanks for all of the assistance so far. Was under the gun and needed a fast solution.<br /> <br /> This document was generated from the following thread: <a class="jive-link-thread" href="http://communities.vmware.com/thread/95022">Move a VM from one ESX3 server to another ESX3 server</a> Thu, 29 Nov 2007 18:41:13 GMT http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-2271 2007-11-29T18:41:13Z 1 year, 12 months ago http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-2245 Hello all,<br /> <br /> I've written a backup utility, it's currently still in 'beta' but I think I've worked out most of the bugs and it's been working very well for me, so I thought I'd share my work with the community. <img class="jive-emoticon" border="0" src="http://communities.vmware.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif" alt=":)" /><br /> <br /> I'll be trying to update it fairly regularly, hot-clone of a VM or specific VMDK attached to a VM planned for next version.<br /> <br /> Please see the readme file here for some initial instructions: <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://users.ox.ac.uk/~alexm/README">http://users.ox.ac.uk/~alexm/README</a><br /> <br /> You can download the utility here: <br /> <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://xtravirt.com/index.php?option=com_remository&#38;Itemid=75&#38;func=select&#38;id=5">http://xtravirt.com/index.php?option=com_remository&#38;Itemid=75&#38;func=select&#38;id=5</a><br /> <br /> Once you've extracted the archive, please read the README file in the directory created for instructions on using the utility.<br /> <br /> Any problems post them to this thread and I'll try and resolve them, I'll set up a proper website when I have the time.<br /> <br /> Alex<br /> <br /> p.s. Big thanks to acr for help with testing!<br /> <br /> <b>Added link to the latest release - 21st May 2007</b><br /> <br /> Message was edited by: <br /> MR-T: Updated with link to Xtravirt site<br /> <p /> <hr /> Thanks for taking the time to write this mittell. I'll definitely give it a whirl and throw you some feedback.<br /> <hr /> Sorry about not testing much, I've been traveling. Look for an email later week <img class="jive-emoticon" border="0" src="http://communities.vmware.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif" alt=":)" /> And so far it works well !<br /> <hr /> Great Utility, used it... Love it..<br /> <br /> Thanks again Alex.. <img class="jive-emoticon" border="0" src="http://communities.vmware.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif" alt=":)" /><br /> <hr /> Like Kix, sorry I haven't had a chance to use this yet.<br /> <br /> Fingers crossed some lab time is round the corner.<br /> <br /> Cheers<br /> <hr /> Works like a charm...I backed up about 8 VMs using the script without any issues. Noticed that if we had an option to terminate scheduled backup process, it would have been great for me. I actually started process (scheduled) and then realized that I needed to terminate process. However, the script works great.<br /> Thanks,<br /> samkshah<br /> <hr /> Hmm that's an interesting point, perhaps the script should just check if there is already an instance running already, and if there is, refuse to run?<br /> <br /> I'm slightly nervous about automatically terminating processes from a menu option, although I could put it in fairly easily.<br /> <br /> If you need to terminate a backup job early for any reason you can do so as follows:<br /> <br /> <a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>ps aux | grep vi-backup[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>kill &lt;PID&gt;[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>mkdir /mnt/backup[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>backup.Disable = "Disabled"[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>/path/to/backup/vmname/vmname.restore[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>backup.Disable = "Disabled"[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>service mgmt-vmware restart[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>/path/to/backup/vmname/vmname.restore[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>VMX Entry:<br /> <p /> <br /> backup.Disable = "X"<br /> <p /> Action:<br /> <p /> <br /> X= Manual - Only back this VM when running a manual backup.<br /> <p /> <br /> X= Disabled - Always exclude this VM from backup.<br /> <p /> <br /> ----------------------------------------<br /> <p /> <br /> VMX Entry:<br /> <p /> <br /> scsiY:Z.Backup = "disabled"<br /> <p /> <br /> Action:<br /> <p /> <br /> Always exclude this disk from backup.<br /> <p /> <br /> [/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>vcbVmName -h youresx.domain.com -u root -p password -s Any[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>vcbVmName -h youresx.domain.com -u root -p<br /> <p /> <br /> password -s Any[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>## Config file created by vi-backup.pl 0.9 ## <br /> <p /> <br /> hostname=abc-vcenter.abc.net<br /> <p /> <br /> username=abc\administrator<br /> <p /> <br /> password=abc123<br /> <p /> <br /> searchspec=Name:SERVER3<br /> <p /> <br /> exportpath=/vmfs/volumes/vi-backup/<br /> <p /> <br /> 2gbsparse=1<br /> <p /> <br /> safemode=0<br /> <p /> <br /> mailreport=1<br /> <p /> <br /> mailserver=10.0.0.10<br /> <p /> <br /> mailfrom=vi-backup@abc.net<br /> <p /> <br /> mailto=hugo@abc.net<br /> <p /> <br /> smb=0[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>We're running VMware ESX Server 3.0.1 build-44686<br /> <p /> <br /> -------------------------------------------------<br /> <p /> <br /> Searching for target VMs....<br /> <p /> <br /> FATAL ERROR: No VMs found from specified search specification '"Name:SERVER3"'!<br /> <p /> <br /> Name searches are case sensitive, please check your VMs name.[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>vcbVmName -h abc-vcenter.abc.net -u administrator -p 'abc123' -s name:SERVER3[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>*****Virtual Infrastructure Scripted Backup Utility v0.9 by Alex Mittell*****<br /> <p /> <br /> We're running VMware ESX Server 3.0.1 build-44686<br /> <p /> <br /> -------------------------------------------------<br /> <p /> <br /> Searching for target VMs....<br /> <p /> <br /> Locating VM files....<br /> <p /> <br /> Processing config files....<br /> <p /> <br /> SERVER3 is not on a VMFS volume visible by this host!<br /> <p /> <br /> Target VMs from specified searchspec:<br /> <p /> <br /> SERVER3<br /> <p /> <br /> Snapshotting VM SERVER3....<br /> <p /> <br /> VM SERVER3 is set to be excluded from backup. No snapshot taken. Skipping VM.[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>mv 462e0dcf-cd25404e-f565-0016350603e7/yourvm.vmdk ./yourvm.vmdk[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>ls -d */[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a><br /> <p /> <br /> backup.Disable = "Manual"<br /> <p /> <br /> [/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>backup.Disable = "disabled"[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>scsi0:6.present = "false"<br /> <p /> <br /> scsi0:6.fileName = "VMNAME-000001.vmdk"<br /> <p /> <br /> scsi0:6.deviceType = "scsi-hardDisk"[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a> /etc/init.d/crond restart [/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a> /etc/init.d/crond restart [/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a><br /> <p /> <br /> [root@host01 ~]# cat /usr/local/vi-backup/vi-backup-host02-guest02.cfg<br /> <p /> <br /> ## Config file created by vi-backup.pl 0.9.1 ##<br /> <p /> <br /> hostname=host02.dom.loc<br /> <p /> <br /> username=root<br /> <p /> <br /> password=password<br /> <p /> <br /> searchspec=Name:guest02<br /> <p /> <br /> exportpath=/vmfs/volumes/host01.dom.loc-vms<br /> <p /> <br /> 2gbsparse=1<br /> <p /> <br /> safemode=1<br /> <p /> <br /> mailreport=1<br /> <p /> <br /> mailserver=mail.dom.loc<br /> <p /> <br /> mailfrom=backups@host01.dom.loc<br /> <p /> <br /> mailto=it@dom.loc<br /> <p /> <br /> smb=0<br /> <p /> <br /> [/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a><br /> <p /> <br /> [root@host01 ~]# cat /var/log/vi-backup.log<br /> <p /> <br /> 08/08/2007 16:20:02: Script started.<br /> <p /> <br /> 08/08/2007 16:20:02: We're running VMware ESX Server 3.0.2 build-52542<br /> <p /> <br /> 08/08/2007 16:20:02: Searching for target VMs....<br /> <p /> <br /> 08/08/2007 16:20:05: Locating VM files....<br /> <p /> <br /> 08/08/2007 16:20:11: Processing config files....<br /> <p /> <br /> 08/08/2007 16:20:11: guest02 is not on a VMFS volume visible by this host!<br /> <p /> <br /> 08/08/2007 16:20:11: guest02 log file = /vmfs/volumes/host01.dom.loc-vms/guest02.log<br /> <p /> <br /> 08/08/2007 16:20:11: Snapshotting VM guest02....<br /> <p /> <br /> 08/08/2007 16:20:11: VM guest02 is set to be excluded from backup. No snapshot taken. Skipping VM.<br /> <p /> <br /> 08/08/2007 16:20:11: *** Script completed successfully. ***<br /> <p /> <br /> [/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a><br /> <p /> <br /> [root@host02 ~]# ls -l /vmfs/volumes/host02.dom.loc-vms/<br /> <p /> <br /> drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2.3K Aug 8 16:13 guest02<br /> <p /> <br /> [/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>Update:<br /> <p /> <br /> The new version (0.9.1) is working fine when pointing to a VC server to perform the backups. You will now only need to install VISBU onto one ESX host and perform backups of VMs running on any other hosts without problems.<br /> <p /> <br /> To use VISBU in this way, you must use a domain account that is given Virtual Machine Power User permissions (minimal). Or give this user permissions to create and delete snapshots etc.<br /> <p /> <br /> Great work Alex.<br /> <p /> <br /> -Hugo [/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a><br /> <p /> <br /> #!/bin/bash<br /> <p /> <br /> /usr/local/vi-backup/vi-backup.pl -c /usr/local/vi-backup/backup_job1.cfg<br /> <p /> <br /> /usr/local/vi-backup/vi-backup.pl -c /usr/local/vi-backup/backup_job2.cfg<br /> <p /> <br /> /usr/local/vi-backup/vi-backup.pl -c /usr/local/vi-backup/backup_job3.cfg<br /> <p /> <br /> [/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>kill &lt;PID&gt;[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>mkdir /mnt/backup[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>backup.Disable = "Disabled"[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>/path/to/backup/vmname/vmname.restore[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>backup.Disable = "Disabled"[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>service mgmt-vmware restart[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>/path/to/backup/vmname/vmname.restore[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>VMX Entry:<br /> <br /> backup.Disable = "X"<br /> <p /> <br /> Action:<br /> <br /> X= Manual - Only back this VM when running a manual backup.<br /> <br /> X= Disabled - Always exclude this VM from backup.<br /> <br /> ----------------------------------------<br /> <br /> VMX Entry:<br /> <br /> scsiY:Z.Backup = "disabled"<br /> <p /> <br /> Action:<br /> <br /> Always exclude this disk from backup.<br /> <br /> [/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>vcbVmName -h youresx.domain.com -u root -p password -s Any[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>vcbVmName -h youresx.domain.com -u root -p<br /> <br /> password -s Any[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>## Config file created by vi-backup.pl 0.9 ## <br /> <br /> hostname=abc-vcenter.abc.net<br /> <br /> username=abc\administrator<br /> <br /> password=abc123<br /> <br /> searchspec=Name:SERVER3<br /> <br /> exportpath=/vmfs/volumes/vi-backup/<br /> <br /> 2gbsparse=1<br /> <br /> safemode=0<br /> <br /> mailreport=1<br /> <br /> mailserver=10.0.0.10<br /> <br /> mailfrom=vi-backup@abc.net<br /> <br /> mailto=hugo@abc.net<br /> <br /> smb=0[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>We're running VMware ESX Server 3.0.1 build-44686<br /> <br /> -------------------------------------------------<br /> <br /> Searching for target VMs....<br /> <br /> FATAL ERROR: No VMs found from specified search specification '"Name:SERVER3"'!<br /> <br /> Name searches are case sensitive, please check your VMs name.[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>vcbVmName -h abc-vcenter.abc.net -u administrator -p 'abc123' -s name:SERVER3[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>*****Virtual Infrastructure Scripted Backup Utility v0.9 by Alex Mittell*****<br /> <p /> <br /> We're running VMware ESX Server 3.0.1 build-44686<br /> <br /> -------------------------------------------------<br /> <br /> Searching for target VMs....<br /> <br /> Locating VM files....<br /> <br /> Processing config files....<br /> <br /> SERVER3 is not on a VMFS volume visible by this host!<br /> <br /> Target VMs from specified searchspec:<br /> <p /> <br /> SERVER3<br /> <p /> <br /> Snapshotting VM SERVER3....<br /> <br /> VM SERVER3 is set to be excluded from backup. No snapshot taken. Skipping VM.[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>mv 462e0dcf-cd25404e-f565-0016350603e7/yourvm.vmdk ./yourvm.vmdk[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>ls -d */[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a><br /> <br /> backup.Disable = "Manual"<br /> <br /> [/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>backup.Disable = "disabled"[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>scsi0:6.present = "false"<br /> <br /> scsi0:6.fileName = "VMNAME-000001.vmdk"<br /> <br /> scsi0:6.deviceType = "scsi-hardDisk"[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a> /etc/init.d/crond restart [/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a> /etc/init.d/crond restart [/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a><br /> <br /> [root@host01 ~]# cat /usr/local/vi-backup/vi-backup-host02-guest02.cfg<br /> <br /> ## Config file created by vi-backup.pl 0.9.1 ##<br /> <br /> hostname=host02.dom.loc<br /> <br /> username=root<br /> <br /> password=password<br /> <br /> searchspec=Name:guest02<br /> <br /> exportpath=/vmfs/volumes/host01.dom.loc-vms<br /> <br /> 2gbsparse=1<br /> <br /> safemode=1<br /> <br /> mailreport=1<br /> <br /> mailserver=mail.dom.loc<br /> <br /> mailfrom=backups@host01.dom.loc<br /> <br /> mailto=it@dom.loc<br /> <br /> smb=0<br /> <br /> [/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a><br /> <br /> [root@host01 ~]# cat /var/log/vi-backup.log<br /> <br /> 08/08/2007 16:20:02: Script started.<br /> <br /> 08/08/2007 16:20:02: We're running VMware ESX Server 3.0.2 build-52542<br /> <br /> 08/08/2007 16:20:02: Searching for target VMs....<br /> <br /> 08/08/2007 16:20:05: Locating VM files....<br /> <br /> 08/08/2007 16:20:11: Processing config files....<br /> <br /> 08/08/2007 16:20:11: guest02 is not on a VMFS volume visible by this host!<br /> <br /> 08/08/2007 16:20:11: guest02 log file = /vmfs/volumes/host01.dom.loc-vms/guest02.log<br /> <br /> 08/08/2007 16:20:11: Snapshotting VM guest02....<br /> <br /> 08/08/2007 16:20:11: VM guest02 is set to be excluded from backup. No snapshot taken. Skipping VM.<br /> <br /> 08/08/2007 16:20:11: *** Script completed successfully. ***<br /> <br /> [/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a><br /> <br /> [root@host02 ~]# ls -l /vmfs/volumes/host02.dom.loc-vms/<br /> <br /> drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2.3K Aug 8 16:13 guest02<br /> <br /> [/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>Update:<br /> <p /> <br /> The new version (0.9.1) is working fine when pointing to a VC server to perform the backups. You will now only need to install VISBU onto one ESX host and perform backups of VMs running on any other hosts without problems.<br /> <p /> <br /> To use VISBU in this way, you must use a domain account that is given Virtual Machine Power User permissions (minimal). Or give this user permissions to create and delete snapshots etc.<br /> <p /> <br /> Great work Alex.<br /> <p /> <br /> -Hugo [/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>+<br /> <br /> <i>#!/bin/bash</i><br /> <br /> <i>/usr/local/vi-backup/vi-backup.pl -c /usr/local/vi-backup/backup_job1.cfg</i><br /> <br /> <i>/usr/local/vi-backup/vi-backup.pl -c /usr/local/vi-backup/backup_job2.cfg</i><br /> <br /> <i>/usr/local/vi-backup/vi-backup.pl -c /usr/local/vi-backup/backup_job3.cfg</i><br /> <br /> <i>[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>kill &lt;PID&gt;[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>mkdir /mnt/backup[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>backup.Disable = "Disabled"[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>/path/to/backup/vmname/vmname.restore[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>backup.Disable = "Disabled"[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>service mgmt-vmware restart[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>/path/to/backup/vmname/vmname.restore[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>VMX Entry:</i><br /> <br /> <i>backup.Disable = "X"</i><br /> +<br /> +<br /> <i>Action:</i><br /> <br /> <i>X= Manual - Only back this VM when running a manual backup.</i><br /> <br /> <i>X= Disabled - Always exclude this VM from backup.</i><br /> <br /> <i>\----------------------------------------</i><br /> <br /> <i>VMX Entry:</i><br /> <br /> +scsiY:Z.Backup = "disabled"<br /> <p /> +<br /> <i>Action:</i><br /> <br /> <i>Always exclude this disk from backup.</i><br /> <br /> <i>[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>vcbVmName -h youresx.domain.com -u root -p password -s Any[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>vcbVmName -h youresx.domain.com -u root -p</i><br /> <br /> <i>password -s Any[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>## Config file created by vi-backup.pl 0.9 ##</i> <br /> <br /> <i>hostname=abc-vcenter.abc.net</i><br /> <br /> <i>username=abc\administrator</i><br /> <br /> <i>password=abc123</i><br /> <br /> <i>searchspec=Name:SERVER3</i><br /> <br /> <i>exportpath=/vmfs/volumes/vi-backup/</i><br /> <br /> <i>2gbsparse=1</i><br /> <br /> <i>safemode=0</i><br /> <br /> <i>mailreport=1</i><br /> <br /> <i>mailserver=10.0.0.10</i><br /> <br /> <i>mailfrom=vi-backup@abc.net</i><br /> <br /> <i>mailto=hugo@abc.net</i><br /> <br /> <i>smb=0[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>We're running VMware ESX Server 3.0.1 build-44686</i><br /> <br /> <i>\-------------------------------------------------</i><br /> <br /> <i>Searching for target VMs....</i><br /> <br /> <i>FATAL ERROR: No VMs found from specified search specification '"Name:SERVER3"'!</i><br /> <br /> +Name searches are case sensitive, please check your VMs name.[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>vcbVmName -h abc-vcenter.abc.net -u administrator -p 'abc123' -s name:SERVER3[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>*****Virtual Infrastructure Scripted Backup Utility v0.9 by Alex Mittell*****<br /> <p /> +<br /> <i>We're running VMware ESX Server 3.0.1 build-44686</i><br /> <br /> <i>\-------------------------------------------------</i><br /> <br /> <i>Searching for target VMs....</i><br /> <br /> <i>Locating VM files....</i><br /> <br /> <i>Processing config files....</i><br /> <br /> <i>SERVER3 is not on a VMFS volume visible by this host!</i><br /> <br /> +Target VMs from specified searchspec:<br /> <p /> +<br /> +SERVER3<br /> <p /> +<br /> <i>Snapshotting VM SERVER3....</i><br /> <br /> <i>VM SERVER3 is set to be excluded from backup. No snapshot taken. Skipping VM.[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>mv 462e0dcf-cd25404e-f565-0016350603e7/yourvm.vmdk ./yourvm.vmdk[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>ls -d */[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a></i><br /> <br /> <i>backup.Disable = "Manual"</i><br /> <br /> <i>[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>backup.Disable = "disabled"[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>scsi0:6.present = "false"</i><br /> <br /> <i>scsi0:6.fileName = "VMNAME-000001.vmdk"</i><br /> <br /> <i>scsi0:6.deviceType = "scsi-hardDisk"[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a> /etc/init.d/crond restart [/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a> /etc/init.d/crond restart [/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a></i><br /> <br /> <i>[root@host01 ~]# cat /usr/local/vi-backup/vi-backup-host02-guest02.cfg</i><br /> <br /> <i>\## Config file created by vi-backup.pl 0.9.1 ##</i><br /> <br /> <i>hostname=host02.dom.loc</i><br /> <br /> <i>username=root</i><br /> <br /> <i>password=password</i><br /> <br /> <i>searchspec=Name:guest02</i><br /> <br /> <i>exportpath=/vmfs/volumes/host01.dom.loc-vms</i><br /> <br /> <i>2gbsparse=1</i><br /> <br /> <i>safemode=1</i><br /> <br /> <i>mailreport=1</i><br /> <br /> <i>mailserver=mail.dom.loc</i><br /> <br /> <i>mailfrom=backups@host01.dom.loc</i><br /> <br /> <i>mailto=it@dom.loc</i><br /> <br /> <i>smb=0</i><br /> <br /> <i>[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a></i><br /> <br /> <i>[root@host01 ~]# cat /var/log/vi-backup.log</i><br /> <br /> <i>08/08/2007 16:20:02: Script started.</i><br /> <br /> <i>08/08/2007 16:20:02: We're running VMware ESX Server 3.0.2 build-52542</i><br /> <br /> <i>08/08/2007 16:20:02: Searching for target VMs....</i><br /> <br /> <i>08/08/2007 16:20:05: Locating VM files....</i><br /> <br /> <i>08/08/2007 16:20:11: Processing config files....</i><br /> <br /> <i>08/08/2007 16:20:11: guest02 is not on a VMFS volume visible by this host!</i><br /> <br /> <i>08/08/2007 16:20:11: guest02 log file = /vmfs/volumes/host01.dom.loc-vms/guest02.log</i><br /> <br /> <i>08/08/2007 16:20:11: Snapshotting VM guest02....</i><br /> <br /> <i>08/08/2007 16:20:11: VM guest02 is set to be excluded from backup. No snapshot taken. Skipping VM.</i><br /> <br /> <i>08/08/2007 16:20:11: *** Script completed successfully. ***</i><br /> <br /> <i>[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a></i><br /> <br /> <i>[root@host02 ~]# ls -l /vmfs/volumes/host02.dom.loc-vms/</i><br /> <br /> <i>drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2.3K Aug 8 16:13 guest02</i><br /> <br /> +[/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>Update:<br /> <p /> +<br /> +The new version (0.9.1) is working fine when pointing to a VC server to perform the backups. You will now only need to install VISBU onto one ESX host and perform backups of VMs running on any other hosts without problems.<br /> <p /> +<br /> +To use VISBU in this way, you must use a domain account that is given Virtual Machine Power User permissions (minimal). Or give this user permissions to create and delete snapshots etc.<br /> <p /> +<br /> +Great work Alex.<br /> <p /> +<br /> <i>-Hugo [/code]<a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a></i><br /> <br /> <i>#!/bin/bash</i><br /> <br /> <i>/usr/local/vi-backup/vi-backup.pl -c /usr/local/vi-backup/backup_job1.cfg</i><br /> <br /> <i>/usr/local/vi-backup/vi-backup.pl -c /usr/local/vi-backup/backup_job2.cfg</i><br /> <br /> <i>/usr/local/vi-backup/vi-backup.pl -c /usr/local/vi-backup/backup_job3.cfg</i><br /> <br /> <i>[/code]</i><br /> <br /> <i>Find the PID for vi-backup.</i><br /> <br /> <i><a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>kill &lt;PID&gt;[/code]</i><br /> <br /> <i>That should terminate any existing backup, note that if a disk is currently being exported it will be completed but no further exports will be made, you will also need to remove 'Scripted Backup Snapshots' from any VMs that had a backup terminated half way though using the vi-client.</i><br /> <br /> <i>Version 0.8.5 will be out in the next week, with a menu option to hot clone VMs, and a few bug fixes related to DRS migrations and logging, and lock files so two instances of the script don't attempt to backup a VM simultaneously. I'll try and work something into it related to existing processes too.</i><br /> <br /> +Thanks for the suggestion, glad you found the script useful. <img class="jive-emoticon" border="0" src="http://communities.vmware.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif" alt=":)" /><br /> <br /> <hr /> Thanks for the great script, good job!+<br /> <br /> <i>Can you explain to me why backups of VM's can't be run without committing or flushing the existing snapshots? We use (manual) snapshots on quite a lot of servers and would like to preserve them. VCBMounter doesn't complain about the snapshots, that's why I don't understand why the script does. Thanks in advance!</i><br /> +-----<br /> It doesn't use vcbMounter to do the exports, couple of reasons I chose not to use it - firstly I found it to be unreliable at removing snapshots - so I decided to deal with them myself and use vmkfstools to export the disks. Secondly this way you also end up with instantly usable exported VMDKs, you don't need to use vcbRestore and the catalog file to restore the VMs - this opens other options like the ability to clone VM/specific VMDKs etc.+<br /> <br /> <i>So, the reason snapshotted VMs are excluded is that I'd have to write a load of logic into the script to find existing snapshot files/.vmsd and export them as well as the base VMDK, and this would also complicate the automatic restore of VMs massivley as I'd have to make sure I re-imported the deltas properly and that the correct delta was in use.</i><br /> <br /> <i>I may have a crack at dealing with VMs with existing snapshots at some point but it's not a small a task.</i><br /> <br /> <i>Hope it's useful to you anyway. <img class="jive-emoticon" border="0" src="http://communities.vmware.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif" alt=":)" /></i><br /> +-----<br /> Thank you for the explanation, that clears things up. For a short time I tried your previous script (I think it was called something like smb_backup.sh) and that used vcbMounter, so I assumed the new script also did.+ <br /> <br /> <i>The script is very useful for me, I just have to try and find a way to tackle the 'snapshot-enabled' servers. Thanks again!</i><br /> +-----<br /> Hi All,+<br /> <br /> <i>Im going to look at this but wanted to ask a few questions!</i><br /> <br /> <i>our san is a netapp 3050c and a 3020 for DR</i> <br /> <br /> <i>now i want to be able to backup the vm's to a volume then replicate that vol to the dr san that I can then use as a datastore in the event of a disaster?</i><br /> <br /> <i>So will this util create copies of the vm's or will it create backup files that can only be 'restored' also does it quiesce any file/cache activity first?</i><br /> <br /> <i>er think that will do for know!</i><br /> +-----<br /> Yep that should work. The util creates copies of VMs that can be used immediately (if on VMFS), no 'restore' neccesary. It creates a snapshot of the VM, thus quiescing the VMs VMDK files, and exports them with vmkfstools.+<br /> +-----<br /> this script works nicely.. thanks+<br /> +-----<br /> Hi,+<br /> <br /> <i>When I try to use this script with the smb option, it fails.</i><br /> <br /> <i>I can't seem to chmod or chown anything on a smbmount from my samba server... I can create and delete files but not change the permissions on them.</i><br /> <br /> <i>Stephen</i><br /> +-----<br /> [root@dali vi-backup]# vi-backup.pl -c vi-backup.cfg+<br /> <br /> <i>*****Virtual Infrastructure Scripted Backup Utility v0.8.4 by Alex Mittell*****</i><br /> <br /> <i>We're running VMware ESX Server 3.0.1 build-32039</i><br /> <i>\-------------------------------------------------</i><br /> <i>Searching for target VMs....</i><br /> <i>Locating VM files....</i><br /> <i>Processing config files....</i><br /> <i>Target VMs from specified searchspec:</i><br /> <br /> <i>logbook</i><br /> <br /> <i>Snapshotting VM logbook....</i><br /> <i>Snapshot of logbook successful.</i><br /> <i>Exporting disks for logbook....</i><br /> <i>Exporting disk UBUNTU - Logbook Server.vmdk....</i><br /> <i>Destination disk format: VMFS thick</i><br /> <i>Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/440500b0-6cb6fa4d-412a-0017a4a74e4e/UBUNTU - Logbook Server/UBUNTU - Logbook Server.vmdk'...</i><br /> <i>Failed to clone disk : File system isn't VMFS. (35)</i><br /> <br /> <i>WARNING: There were one or more errors during the disk export. Please look at the VM log file.</i><br /> <i>Removing Snapshot for logbook....</i><br /> <i>Snapshot removed successfully from logbook.</i><br /> <i>Exporting VM config and log file...</i><br /> <i>Config and log file exported successfully.</i><br /> <i>chmod: changing permissions of `/vmfs/volumes/storage1/ESXBackup2/logbook/logbook.restore' (requested: 0700, actual: 0755): Operation not permitted</i><br /> +-----<br /> Hi, could you PM me your config file (minus passwords/real FQDNs of course). Looks like your export path has been detected as VMFS rather than SMB so the -d 2gbsparse switch has not been parsed to vmkfstools.+<br /> <br /> <i>What is your export path?</i><br /> +-----<br /> exportpath=/vmfs/volumes/storage1/ESXBackup2/+<br /> <br /> <i>Also after the vi-backup fails, I notice this smb is mounted now:</i><br /> <br /> <i>//10.2.32.10/esx 276G 76G 200G 28% /vmfs/volumes/440500b0-6cb6fa4d-412a-0017a4a74e4e/ESXBackup2</i><br /> +-----<br /> If i run the script without the smb option using that same export path, it works fine... but as soon as I use the smb it fails.+<br /> +-----<br /> [root@dali vi-backup]# cat vi-backup.cfg+<br /> <i>\## Config file created by vi-backup.pl ##</i><br /> <i>hostname=dali.xxx.edu</i><br /> <i>username=root</i><br /> <i>password=xxx</i><br /> <i>searchspec=name:logbook</i><br /> <i>exportpath=/vmfs/volumes/storage1/ESXBackup2/</i><br /> <i>safemode=1</i><br /> <i>mailreport=1</i><br /> <i>mailserver=123.123.123.123</i><br /> <i>mailfrom=esx@xxx.edu</i><br /> <i>mailto=logs@xxx.com.au</i><br /> <i>smb=1</i><br /> <i>smbshare=//10.2.32.10/esx</i><br /> <i>smbuser=vmesx</i><br /> <i>smbpass=xxxx</i><br /> <br /> <i>Message was edited by:</i> <br /> <i>renski</i><br /> +-----<br /> Right the problem is your export path - you should only mount VMFS volumes under /vmfs.+<br /> <br /> <i>Create a directory called /mnt/backup to mount your SMB share on.</i><br /> <br /> <i><a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>mkdir /mnt/backup[/code]</i><br /> <br /> <i>Then change your export path to /mnt/backup and it should work fine.</i> <br /> <br /> <i>If you want to backup to a VMFS export path, leave the smb option off.</i><br /> +-----<br /> I will try it in the next few deys and let you know....+<br /> <i>I've been having massive issues with VCB but I guess I'll post that seperately.</i><br /> +-----<br /> Hi, the script works great save for a big issue I'm seeing. Are you locking the VMFS file system for the export path? I had the script running on one ESX server and kicked it off on another, both writing to a SAN LUN shared among 5 servers. As soon as I kicked off the job on the 2nd server, both the running backup and newly kicked off backup failed. The error from the 2nd server was:+<br /> <br /> <i>Snapshotting VM cvsdms....</i><br /> <i>Snapshot of cvsdms successful.</i><br /> <i>Exporting disks for cvsdms....</i><br /> <i>Exporting disk cvsdms.vmdk....</i><br /> <i>Destination disk format: VMFS thick</i><br /> <i>Cloning disk</i><br /> <i>'/vmfs/volumes/455230b5-32d0fd0a-e8b8-00110a55aa32/cvsdms/cvsdms.vmdk'...</i><br /> <i>Clone: 0% done.Failed to clone disk : Resource temporarily unavailable (720905)</i><br /> <br /> <i>I also noticed when running a backup on one ESX server that access to the backup LUN from the other ESX servers is slow. This is an HP XP12000 array.</i><br /> <br /> <i>Thanks</i><br /> +-----<br /> Hmm no, no locking, I'm using VMware's vmkfstools so there shouldn't be any issues.+ <br /> <br /> <i>It could be that you have another underlying issue, a quick search gave me this thread.</i><br /> <br /> <i><a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.vmware.com/community/thread.jspa?messageID=528312">http://www.vmware.com/community/thread.jspa?messageID=528312</a></i><br /> <br /> <i>I haven't seen these issues on my setup so I'm not sure why you're having them, anything interesting in your vmkernel logs?</i><br /> +-----<br /> alright that did the trick, thanks...+<br /> +-----<br /> Weird. I don't see this issue on any of my other 12 luns. I fixed the path to the backup LUN to be the same on all host servers, that did the trick.+<br /> <br /> <i>One other thing, the exclusion setting for the VMX file doesn't seem to work for me. Can you confirm this looks right:</i><br /> <br /> <i>backup.Disable = Disabled</i><br /> <br /> <i>Thanks</i><br /> +-----<br /> That's an odd one, I will remember to look out for that. :)+<br /> <br /> <i>The Disabled switch needs to be in quotes.</i><br /> <br /> <i><a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>backup.Disable = "Disabled"[/code]</i><br /> +-----<br /> Will this work with RDM machines?+<br /> +-----<br /> Yes, I use vmkfstools to export the VMs disks so RDMs should be supported. Virtual compatibilty RDMs defintely work as I've tested them.+<br /> +-----<br /> Nice tool...have been looking for some scripts w/ the email notifications.+<br /> <br /> <i>Thanks much.</i><br /> +-----<br /> Thank you Alex for sharing your script with us.+<br /> <br /> <i>Alex K</i><br /> +-----<br /> Does the script use+<br /> <br /> <i>vmkfstools -i /path/to/src/src.vmdk -d 2gbsparse /path/to/dest/dest.vmdk</i><br /> <br /> <i>?</i><br /> +-----<br /> Yes if your exportpath is non-VMFS, if you're exportpath is VMFS it'll automatically drop the *-d 2gbspare *switch.+<br /> +-----<br /> I scheduled the backup to run overnight backing up 5 vm's. I am getting one error.+<br /> <br /> <i>21/02/2007 02:00:10: [machine] VM set to be excluded from backup. This may not be an error.</i><br /> <br /> <i>Please review host/vm logs if you did not expect this VM to be excluded.</i><br /> <br /> <i>..in the machine.log :</i><br /> <br /> <i>21/02/2007 02:00:10: Log file opened.</i><br /> <br /> <i>...</i><br /> <br /> <i>The machines powerstate is on. How can I find out where the backup goes wrong?</i><br /> +-----<br /> Yeah sorry the VM log for disk exports is a bit lacking at the moment, will be sorted in the next release, in the mean time have a look in the host log. (default /var/log/vi-backup.log).+<br /> <br /> <i>Does the machine have any snapshots? If so it will be automatically excluded from backup. You must commit or revert all snapshots before you can back up a VM.</i><br /> +-----<br /> you are right...never remember making a snap..but+<br /> <br /> <i>...</i><br /> <i>21/02/2007 02:00:10: MACHINE already has one or more snapshots.</i><br /> <i>21/02/2007 02:00:10: All snapshots must be commited or removed before a VM can be backed up.</i><br /> <i>21/02/2007 02:00:10: Snapshots can only be auto-commited when running in manual mode.</i><br /> <i>21/02/2007 02:00:10: MACHINE log file = /mnt/vmbackup/snaps/JSOBACKUP.log</i><br /> <i>21/02/2007 02:00:10: Snapshotting VM JSOBACKUP....</i><br /> <i>21/02/2007 02:00:10: VM JSOBACKUP is set to be excluded from backup. No snapshot taken. Skipping VM.</i><br /> <i>....</i><br /> <br /> <i>What is the cmd for removing a snapshot?? Not using VC.</i><br /> <br /> <i>Thanks again.</i><br /> +-----<br /> vmware-cmd /vmfs/volumes/yourvol/yourvm/yourvm.vmx removesnapshots+<br /> +-----<br /> Hi,+<br /> <br /> <i>I've done a full backup to a smb share. I want to test the restore, so I changed the target name for the machine, to logbooktest and it restored fine to /vmfs/volumes/storage1/logbooktest.</i><br /> <br /> <i>How can I now put that machine into vmware and start it up? I won't give it any network settings so I don't disturb the live running instance of "logbook", but I'd just like to see it bootup.</i><br /> <br /> <i>Stephen</i><br /> +-----<br /> sorry just figured it out, worked well.. thanks+<br /> +-----<br /> Hi,+<br /> <br /> <i>How can I schedule multiple backups? I scheduled one machine to backup, then I ran the vi-backup.pl again to schedule the next machine but it said:</i><br /> <br /> <i>Please select a menu option: 4</i><br /> <br /> <i>Configuring scheduled backup....</i><br /> <br /> <i>A schedule already exists - do you want to remove it? [y]: n</i><br /> <br /> <i>Existing schedule un-modified. Exiting script.</i><br /> <br /> <i>Note: I have 4 servers all setup in seperate .cfg's</i><br /> <br /> +-----<br /> Right at the moment the menu option only allows you to schedule one backup job - so if you were running powerstate:on for example that would be fine, but I can see what you're saying about having a config file per VM to allow greater granularity.+<br /> <br /> <i>I will write support for multiple backup jobs as it seems like a good idea now I think about it, previously I was following the KISS principle. <img class="jive-emoticon" border="0" src="http://communities.vmware.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif" alt=":)" /></i><br /> <br /> <i>Anyway, all is not lost. In the directory /etc/cron.d you will find a vi-backup.cron file, just mv this file to say vmname.cron and leave it that directory. Then you can use the menu options to create a new schedule file, and then move that to othervmname.cron, and so on, until you have one .cron file per VM.</i><br /> +-----<br /> Ok cool thanks.+<br /> <br /> <i>So for restoring these backups, the best way I'm assuming is to recreate the machine and when creating the hard disk for the machine select the original backup .vmdk?</i><br /> <br /> <i>What about backing up the actual vm config's... is that possible?</i><br /> <br /> <i>Message was edited by:</i> <br /> <i>renski</i><br /> +-----<br /> It backs up the vm's config file and log files automatically and generates a restore script to restore the VM to a desired location (and rename it if you want, it modifies the .vmx for you). All you need to do once the VM is restored is register the restored .vmx with an ESX host and the VM is ready to use.+<br /> <br /> <i>The restore script will be called:</i> <br /> <br /> <i><a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>/path/to/backup/vmname/vmname.restore[/code]</i><br /> <br /> <i>Just run it, it's a perl script. There will be one for every VM you backup.</i><br /> <br /> <i>You can use vmkfstool to import individual vmdks if you don't want to use the restore script, but I recommend you just use the script, it's nice and easy.</i><br /> +-----<br /> ISD+<br /> <br /> <i>Ahh.. On the NTAP replication question.</i><br /> <br /> <i>Remember, if you use a script like this to export to a LUN that you then SnapMirror to another site, your replication taffic will be unable to benefit from only moving the deltas. Basically, you will wind up replicating the entire LUN every time, because in the NTAP's eyes, you will have changed every block.</i><br /> <br /> <i>A much better way to do it is to use NTAP snapshots and SnapMirror in conjunction with one another to replicate your live LUNs directly the DR site. This way you do not have the export process, the full replication (only changed blocks) and you will be able to replicate far more frequently with no production impact.</i><br /> <br /> <i>There are ways to get the LUN consistent before replication, I think that others have discussed it here (including myself). However, even with this method, you will have to find some way to ensure .VMDK consistency. As long as you have VM Tools installed, you will be fine with basic file servers. For databases, you will need to use pre-post scripts or VSS to get a clean image.</i> <br /> <br /> <i>Either way, you should really look into replicating the live LUNs. It will be much faster, more reliable, and not load your array to nearly the same degree.</i><br /> +-----<br /> <div class="jive-quote">That's an odd one, I will remember to look out for+<br /> <i>that. <img class="jive-emoticon" border="0" src="http://communities.vmware.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif" alt=":)" /></i><br /> <p /> <i>The Disabled switch needs to be in quotes.</i><br /> <p /> <i><a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>backup.Disable = "Disabled"[/code]Mittell,</i></div> <i>The reason I saw the problem was because my backup LUN is a LUSE volume. There is a bug about LUSE volumes and multi-initiators. All hosts need to access a LUSE volume by the same physical path.</i><br /> +-----<br /> This really is a great script and works like a charm. Ive been doing some testing and using the scsiY:Z.Backup = "disabled" option in the vmx file to disable additional disks and that was working well, i removed those and for some reason im getting the message "All snapshots must be commited or removed before a VM can be backed up.+<br /> <i>Do you want to commit the snapshots and proceed with the backup?" if i say yes it continues but if i look at snapshot manager for this host, it shows no snapshots, ive also tried issuing the remove snapshots command via vmware-cmd and this reports no snapshots to remove.</i><br /> <br /> <i>Any ideas ?</i><br /> +-----<br /> Mike+<br /> <br /> <i>Dont suppose you can point me to that thread you were discussing the ONTap snap shotting in could you?</i><br /> <br /> <i>Cheers</i><br /> +-----<br /> If you look in the VM's directory does it have any delta files listed? Also look in the VMs .vmx, do the disks have -000001.vmdk or similar on the end? If they do you may have a stuck snapshot - you can try a couple of things to get the snapshot manager to pick them up. First restart the managment agent on the host with the following.+<br /> <br /> <i>*NB: *before running this make sure you disable auto startup/shutdown for the VMs on the host otherwise they will get rebooted.</i><br /> <i><a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>service mgmt-vmware restart[/code]</i><br /> <br /> <i>After doing that, give it a few minutes to settle, then check the Snapshot Manager again see if the snapshot shows up. If it doesn't I'd then try restarting the VC service, this usaully works.</i><br /> <br /> <i>If you still can't see the snapshot, check that your VM is not affected by this issue.</i><br /> <br /> <i><a class="jive-link-external" href="http://kb.vmware.com/kb/5096672">http://kb.vmware.com/kb/5096672</a></i><br /> <br /> <i>If it isn't, try creating another snapshot manually using the VI client and then doing a 'delete all' in the snapshot manager.</i><br /> <br /> <i>Let me know how you get on.</i><br /> <br /> +-----<br /> I've noticed that if Virtual Center is managing my VM, I cannot edit manually the .vmx files on the host because Virtual Center is handling this file and will overwrite my modification.+<br /> <i>One solution is to add the parameter in the Advanced Configuration panel of the guest, but this is possibile only if the Guest is powered off.</i><br /> <i>Another solution is to deregister the host from Virtual Center, modify all the .vmx on the host and then reregister it with Virtual Center but it is not very comfortable.</i><br /> <br /> <i>Do you know if there are other solutions for safely adding this parameter to the .vmx without powering off the guest?</i><br /> <br /> <i>In ESX 2.5 it was a lot easier <img class="jive-emoticon" border="0" src="http://communities.vmware.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif" alt=":-)" /></i><br /> <br /> <i>TIA.</i><br /> <i>Regards,</i><br /> <i>Luca</i><br /> +-----<br /> <div class="jive-quote">The restore script will be called:+ <br /> <p /> <i><a class="jive-link-adddocument" href="http://communities.vmware.com/community-document-picker.jspa?communityID=2411&subject=code">code</a>/path/to/backup/vmname/vmname.restore[/code]</i><br /> <p /> <i>Just run it, it's a perl script. There will be one</i><br /> +for every VM you backup.ahh very nice :)-----</div> Thanks. yeah i had 000001.vmdk entry in there which was causing havoc, ive removed this and shes all go, once again thanks awesome script.+<br /> +-----<br /> Excellent work Alex, defiantely appreciated. I'm looking forward to seeing compression added. Only just started looking at the file today so may try to add it in myself and do some testing.+<br /> <br /> <i>Once again, thanks. Keep up the good work!</i><br /> +-----<br /> Great work. My personal requests :)+<br /> <i>1. I agree it would be great to have multiple schedules, I would like to be able to backup half of my machines one night and then the other half the next night.</i><br /> <br /> <i>2. I would like the ability to force it to 2 GB sparse. I mount an NFS volume in VC so it shows up under my VMFS volumes, but I would like to be able to save the disk space.</i><br /> <br /> <i>Thanks again for sharing this.</i><br /> +-----<br /> Is there a newer version out yet? ;)I have a few suggestions, but I'd like to see any newer code if it's out there.+<br /> +-----<br /> 1/ Yep I agree and that will defintely be in the next version, it's easy to do too.+<br /> <br /> <i>2/ Hmmm hadn't thought of this....was trying to be smart by suto-setting the 2gbspare option. &lt; &lt;img class="jive-emoticon" src="http://communities.vmware.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif" border="0" alt="<img class="jive-emoticon" border="0" src="http://communities.vmware.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif" alt=":)" />"/&gt;suppose I could add an option to the config to try and force a 2gbsparse export regardless of the path being under /vmfs. What I was trying to prevent was people not understanding what the switch was for and setting it to the wrong value, causing the export to fail.</i><br /> +-----<br /> No unfortunately I've been quite busy lately so progress has been slow (my girlfriend got fed up of me spending all evening doing it too hehe). I'm half way there, but can't say when I'll have it ready for sure, so fire away with the suggestions. ;)+<br /> +-----<br /> WOW!+<br /> <br /> <i>Thx a lot!</i><br /> <br /> <i>This works like thunder!</i><br /> <br /> <i>Some more tests and....</i><br /> <br /> <i>This script is very worthful due to the lack of vmaddRedo and comit functionality in 3.x. Doing a snapshot in VI manually was not the solution for a host based backup....</i><br /> <i>(This is for poor admins which have only the "starter" edition.)</i><br /> <br /> <i>Again: Thx a lot for sharing this with us!</i><br /> <br /> <i>Leo</i><br /> +-----<br /> Very nice tool Mitell. I am a Vmware/ESX newbie.+<br /> <i>I tested the script backing up a XP VM onto a SMB share, and had no problems.</i><br /> <i>I use SMS Trace (SMS Toolkit 2) to read the logfiles, and saw this error in a few of the logfiles:</i><br /> <i><b>Mar 05 09:54:19.411: mks| SOCKET 14 recv error 5: Input/output error</b></i><br /> <i><b>Mar 05 09:54:19.411: mks| SOCKET 14 destroying VNC backend on socket error: 5</b></i><br /> <br /> <i>Is it something to be worried about.</i><br /> <i>Furthermore i saw that the backup was splitted into 2GB files.</i><br /> <i>Is this standard ?</i><br /> +-----<br /> <div class="jive-quote">Very nice tool Mitell. I am a Vmware/ESX newbie.+<br /> <i>I tested the script backing up a XP VM onto a SMB</i><br /> <i>share, and had no problems.</i><br /> <i>I use SMS Trace (SMS Toolkit 2) to read the logfiles,</i><br /> <i>and saw this error in a few of the logfiles:</i><br /> <i><b>Mar 05 09:54:19.411: mks| SOCKET 14 recv error 5:</b></i><br /> <i><b>Input/output error</b></i><br /> <i><b>Mar 05 09:54:19.411: mks| SOCKET 14 destroying VNC</b></i><br /> <i><b>backend on socket error: 5</b></i><br /> <p /> <i>Is it something to be worried about.I've not seen this with my VMs, but it's only a console timeout error, probably happening on snapshot commit. As long as the VM is functioning properly I don't think it's anything to worry about.</i></div> <i>&gt; Furthermore i saw that the backup was splitted into</i><br /> <div class="jive-quote"><i>2GB files.</i><br /> <i>Is this standard ?Yes, if you export to an SMB share the VMDK will be split into 2GB chunks. The advantage of this is that white space (i.e. unused space within the VM) will not be exported, saving disk space.</i></div> <i>It will be automatically recombined into a single file when you restore the VM using the .restore script.</i><br /> +-----<br /> Thanx for the quick reply Mitell.+<br /> <i>One last question.</i> <br /> <i>I just like to understand things i see in the logfiles</i><br /> <i>What does this warning mean:</i><br /> <i><b>[2007-03-21 09:39:04.103 'BaseLibs' 5954480 warning] [Vmdb_Unset] Unsetting unknown path: /vmomi/</b></i><br /> <br /> <i>And you promised the VM world a new release <img class="jive-emoticon" border="0" src="http://communities.vmware.com/images/emoticons/wink.gif" alt=";-)" /></i><br /> <i>Any idea when??</i><br /> <i>Thanx again.</i><br /> +-----<br /> That's just an informational message, produced when you create a snapshot, I get that too you can ignore it. (it's only visible because of the default logging level).+ <br /> <br /> <i>Soon, I promise, I've been really busy of late and not had as much time to work on it as I'd like. If anyone wants to help me please offer! <img class="jive-emoticon" border="0" src="http://communities.vmware.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif" alt=":)" /></i><br /> +-----<br /> Like i said i'm a newbie, so i don't think i can help. My scipting skills are primitive to nonexistent. Sorry.+<br /> <i>Somewhere in the future i want to do something about it.</i><br /> +-----<br /> Hey no worries, just hope the script is useful to you. I'll get the new version out as soon as I can. ;)+<br /> +-----<br /> Here i am again with another simpel question.+<br /> <i>I tested a restore and also without any problems.</i> <br /> <i>The restore was a XP client with a 12 GB disk. It took almost an hour to restore.</i> <br /> <i>Isn't that too slow. I compare the restore time with backup exec that we use in our live enviromet, and restoring 12 Gb is faster.</i><br /> <br /> <i>Is restoring from a SMB share slower. For faster restore do i need to perform this from a vmfs / ext3 are other partition? I read something about CIFS.</i><br /> <i>I have a VM of almost 60 GB. Restoring that would take a working day.</i><br /> <br /> <i>I hope i am not annoying you with those silly questions.</i><br /> +-----<br /> That is slow - what's the network speed between your SMB server and your ESX host running the restore script?+<br /> <br /> <i>If you backup to VMFS-&gt;VMFS on the SAN it won't use the network, so will be much faster. Also technically you wouldn't even need to restore the VM as the disks won't be split into 2GB chunks when exporting to VMFS, so you can use the VMDKs straight away as they are without needing to import them if you don't want to.</i><br /> <br /> <i>I do this for a couple of my VMs, the script backs up the VMDKs to a VMFS volume on the SAN every night, I have a 'backup' VM pointing at these disks - so if my primary VM dies, all I need to do is switch on my 'backup' VM and away we go. Requires more space but it's a nice neat solution for critical VMs.</i> <br /> <br /> <i>You're not annoying me, I don't mind answering questions at all. <img class="jive-emoticon" border="0" src="http://communities.vmware.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif" alt=":)" /></i><br /> +-----<br /> Network speed between SMB and ESX server is 1 GB.+<br /> <br /> <i>We do have a SAN, but are in the process of ordering a new EVA SAN</i><br /> <i>For the time being i installed ESX and VC server on 2 proliant dl 380 G4.</i> <br /> <i>The VC server has enought diskspace for the backups. (SMBshare)</i><br /> <br /> <i>Offcourse we will backup VMFS-&gt;VMFS if our new EVA is installed.Thanx for the "backup VM pointing at these disk " tip. Going to use that.</i><br /> <br /> <i>A few minutes ago i started the script to backup 4 VM's. It just done backing up my XP VM i restored earlier, in approximally 10 minutes. So i don't think there is a network issue.</i><br /> <i>I started the script on the ESX console.</i> <br /> <br /> <i>The previous restore test, i did on my workstation throught Putty console. Could putty cause some performance issues on the ESX server? I don't think so....</i><br /> <br /> <i>I wil test a restore on the esx console tomorrow.</i><br /> <i>Thanx</i><br /> <br /> +-----<br /> Great script! have been writing /using my own in ruby but its nowhere near as polished as this so i'm going to just start using this now.+<br /> <br /> <i>Few suggestions of things I think may be easy to implement (and if i brush up on my perl i may try it myself)</i><br /> <br /> <i>1) Compression, gzip the disks up to a directory would be very useful for me, we keep a local copy and also copy that to two separate places so less time on the network would be great!</i><br /> <br /> <i>I had another Idea but i want to look further into your code before I bring it up.</i><br /> <br /> <i>Thanks again!!</i><br /> +-----<br /> Can I log an issure if the SMB mount fails. The script does not exit and continues doing backup on the local ESX server filesystem+<br /> +-----<br /> I started the restore on the ESX console, but still very slow. Backup is going fast, but i don't know why restore is taking so long.+<br /> <i>I will figure it out. Important thing is i can backup and restore.</i><br /> +-----<br /> While trying to do a restore I get the following error:+<br /> <br /> <i>Please enter location of .restore file: &lt;location of .restore&gt;</i><br /> <i>Can't exec "/data/backups/ruby_dev/ruby_dev.restore": Permission denied at ./vi-backup.pl line 1213, &lt;STDIN&gt; line 2.</i><br /> <br /> <i>Line 1213 contains: system($input);</i><br /> <br /> <i>snippet from above line 1213:</i><br /> <br /> <i>chomp($input = &lt;STDIN&gt;);</i><br /> <i>}</i><br /> <i>die("Restore aborted.\n") if ($input eq 'q');</i><br /> <i>system($input);</i><br /> <i>exit;</i><br /> <br /> <i>If I manually goto the &lt;vmname&gt;.restore file that the backup created, and chmod 744 it I can get past this, however I'm not sure its supposed to be like this <img class="jive-emoticon" border="0" src="http://communities.vmware.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif" alt=":)" /></i><br /> <br /> <i>I am running it as root by the way... just for testing purposes. In the future I'll be running it as its own backup user.</i><br /> <i>-----*pauldavidbarker&lt; &lt;/strong&gt;- I thought I'd trapped failed SMB mounts, thanks for pointing out the bug, I'll get that sorted.</i><br /> <br /> <i>*Mellman *- what type of volume is /data/backups? SMB? The .restore file needs chowning if it's not on SMB, but it throws an error if you try and chown it when it is on SMB, so I've tried to detect the exportpath type and only run chown if it's non-SMB - looks like it hasn't picked up your exportpath type correctly so hasn't run chown to make the .restore executable when it should have. As you say manually running a chown on the file should sort the problem.</i><br /> +-----<br /> Great script. The backups work fine, I just cant seem to get the restore to work. The logs and vmx's restore fine. The vmdk chokes though. I'm restoring to another server and a new storage.+<br /> <br /> <i>I am running this as root and have no problem getting to the vmdk file from the CLI.</i> <br /> <br /> <i>Here's the output.</i><br /> <br /> <i>Target folder &#38; VM name = ThreeKey</i><br /> <i>ThreeKey.vmx target volume = VMotionFS1</i><br /> <i>ThreeKey.vmdk target volume = VMotionFS1</i><br /> <br /> <i>Do you want to start the restore? [y]:</i><br /> <br /> <i>Restoring disks....</i><br /> <i>Restoring ThreeKey.vmdk to /vmfs/volumes/VMotionFS1/ThreeKey....</i><br /> <i>Destination disk format: VMFS thick</i><br /> <i>VmfsExtentOpen: failed to get handle</i><br /> <i>Failed to open '/mnt/brnfstest/ThreeKey/44f695ff-33ff3a34-99c1-0013726873ad/ThreeKey.vmdk': Inappropriate ioctl for device (1638409)</i><br /> <i>Disk ThreeKey.vmdk was not restored successfully.</i><br /> <i>Restoring config files....</i><br /> <i>Restoring log files....</i><br /> <i>Successfully restored log files.</i><br /> <i>Restore to /vmfs/volumes/VMotionFS1/ThreeKey complete.</i><br /> +-----<br /> That's a vmkfstools error that you normally get when trying to import a VMDK to a non-VMFS volume or from an unsupported filesytem.+<br /> <br /> <i>What type file system are you backing up to? ext3?</i><br /> <br /> <i>Can you manually import the VMDKs with vmkfstools -i &lt;source&gt; &lt;destination&gt;?</i><br /> +-----<br /> <div class="jive-quote">What type file system are you backing up to? ext3?</div> It's an NFS export on my EMC NAS+<br /> <br /> <i>&gt; Can you manually import the VMDKs with vmkfstools -i</i><br /> <div class="jive-quote">+&lt;source&gt; &lt;destination&gt;?Nope, that failed. +</div> <i>What do you suggest?</i><br /> +-----<br /> Hmm here's where my lack of experience with NFS and ESX doesn't help....+<br /> <br /> <i>Seem that vmkfstools is incorrectly determining the filesystem type for your NFS mount. I'm not sure, but I thought NFS mounts under ESX3.0.1 went under /vmfs? That might solve your problem, what mechanism are you using to mount hte NFS share?</i><br /> +----