Extend VMDK

[houghtp]

Hi would anyone have a workflow to extend a VMDK, then using VIX extend the partition inside the guest OS?

I know this is fairly straight forward with PowerCLi Set-Harddisk cmdlet but i can't find a way to do it with Orchestrator?

thanks.

[tschoergez]

Hi!

Hm, in orchestrator its not that easy.

First part: Extend the disk of the VM:

You have to do a reconfigureVM-Task for the VM, and in the configSpec for this task you have to specify a new configuration for the disk you want to extend.

Some code example:

//Set new Disksize

disk.capacityInKB = parseInt( "" + (newSizeGb10241024) );

//Add disk to devicespec and devicespec to configspec

var deviceSpec = new VcVirtualDeviceConfigSpec();

deviceSpec.operation = VcVirtualDeviceConfigSpecOperation.edit;

deviceSpec.device = disk;

var deviceConfigSpecs = new Array();

deviceConfigSpecs.push(deviceSpec);

var configSpec = new VcVirtualMachineConfigSpec();

configSpec.deviceChange = deviceConfigSpecs;

I create a demo-workflow with a full example, you can download it from:

http://www.vcoportal.de/downloads/extendDisk.workflow

second part: Use VIX-API to extend the partition inside the guest:

I have no idea ?:|... But if you find something, I'm looking forward to some examples here ... :).

Cheers,

joerg

[houghtp]

Hi Joerg, thanks for the reply.

When i run your workflow it errors but doesn't give me an eroor message. In the server.log all i can see is:

2010-10-28 09:08:22.725+0100 WARN Error in execution of workflow 'extendDisk'

java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: Could not initialize class com.vmware.vmo.plugin.vix.VixServer

at java.lang.Class.forName0(Native Method)

at java.lang.Class.forName(Class.java:247)

at ch.dunes.vso.sdk.SDKModuleDescription.defineInScope(SDKModuleDescription.java:453)

at ch.dunes.vso.sdk.ModulesFactory.defineInScope(ModulesFactory.java:409)

at ch.dunes.scripting.jsmodel.Definitions.doDefineModelInScope(Definitions.java:94)

at ch.dunes.scripting.jsmodel.Definitions.defineModelInScope(Definitions.java:48)

at ch.dunes.scripting.server.script.MainScriptingObject.(MainScriptingObject.java:144)

at ch.dunes.workflow.engine.mbean.helper.WorkflowHandler.execute(WorkflowHandler.java:183)

at ch.dunes.workflow.engine.mbean.helper.WorkflowHandler.run(WorkflowHandler.java:155)

at java.util.concurrent.Executors$RunnableAdapter.call(Executors.java:441)

at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask$Sync.innerRun(FutureTask.java:303)

at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:138)

at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.runTask(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:886)

at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:908)

at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:619)

any ideas?

[tschoergez]

Hm, the error in the logs show some issues with the VIX-Plugin for Orchestrator (I dont have it in my environment).

But I dont think this WARNing has something to do with the workflow, because it does not use the VIX-plugin.

In my scripting-parts I do some logging with System.debug(...), so you should check the scripts-logs.log.

Do you see any error messages in the "logs"-Tab of the Workflow-Token in the vCO-Client?

Cheers,

joerg

[houghtp]

Yeah I checked in the script-logs.log but there's nothing in there from today (I've ran your workflow several times this morning) .

The Logs tab is also empty...?

[tschoergez · Accepted solution]

Strange. In the scripts there are System.debug...-lines before something interesting happens, so you should see at last some log entries. Can you doublecheck your orchestrator configuration, and e.g. disable the VIX-plugin temporaily?

Can you execute other (built-in for example) workflows?

[houghtp]

Ok that was it. I removed the VIX plugin and all is working now.

As for the next part i presume i would have to run diskpart to extend the volume in the guest. Do i need to use VIX for that or can I just call a command in the guest from JavaScript?

I see it something like:

Create diskpart script on the fly replacing specific volume number with Disk number entered in presentation layer (subtracting 1 to get correct volume)

copy the script into the guest (presume i would need VIX for this)

executing diskpart /s command pointing to script

remove script from guest.

what do you think, is there a better way?

thanks for your help on this !

[tschoergez]

To run diskpart, you need do execute an command inside the guest. For this there is no built-in-functionality in vCO.

You can try to use remcom.exe, psexec, or install a SSH-Server in the guest.

With a working VIX-Plugin it would be possible to execute commands via the VIX-API.

I remember there was an example for Perl what does exactly what you want:

http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-11938

Maybe you can get some ideas here.

Cheers,

joerg

[admin]

Hi,

had the same problem when installing/using the VIX plugin. Everything is shown fine in the vCO GUI but every workflow fails. Think the problem was:

In order for the plug-in to function properly, you must update your system PATH variable by appending a ";” and this path to it. You can add this value to the path variable by editing it under Environment Variables, under your System Properties.

best regards

Christian

[houghtp]

Sorry Christian, when you say appending a ";” and this path to it. which path are you referring to?

[houghtp]

not to worry, i found it - its in the guide!!

[tschoergez]

Hi Paul,

I put together another workflow which uses the VIX-Plugin to extend a partition. You can download from

http://www.vcoportal.de/downloads/extendGuestPartition.workflow

It's not perfect, but it works in my lab. Please see the annotations on http://www.vcoportal.de/Downloads.html#Zweig3

When you put both examples together, you have to trigger a disk rescan in windows. I have no idea how to automate this (and its not in the perl example ).

Cheers,

Joerg

[muralikrishnaP1]

links not working.....!!!

n plz ths n help me out

http://communities.vmware.com/thread/399711

[tschoergez]

new link:

http://www.vcoportal.de/downloads/

the last two workflows might help you...

Cheers,

Joerg

[muralikrishnaP1]

in which software should i open that workflows?? plz help me out na

[tschoergez]

Well, your post is in the "VMware vCenter Orchestrator" section of the forums (at least this one :smileyplain:), so try it with VMware vCenter Orchestrator...