3 x Esx Hosts(all identical) 1 fails with Hardware, HA not set, VM shares same SAN storage

[eilz]

Hi

We have 3 x Esx4.0U1 Hosts in a cluster(all identical), IF 1 ESX HOST fails with say a Hardware error BUT HA is set for VM to (disabled) so won't move to another ESX Host in the cluster BUT all hosts share the same SAN storage area, how can I recover the VM's that a currently down manually onto another ESX Host?

Also, what happens if the ESX host that is down then come back up after I manually add the VM's to another ESX Host.  At the moment I can see the VM's in the Vcenter console, but cant access them.  I am guessin I could browse to the datastore using another ESX Host and add them in or not, as there already listed, or would I have to add them with a different VM-name, would it allow me to do so?

My question is what would happen, if I manually added the down VM's to another ESX host directly from the SAN Storage, and IF then the ESX that is currently FAULTY came back up after a few hours, would the configuration be able to take this change, would I have multiple VM's of the same server?.  Would I even be able to re-add the down VM's (still listed as offline), can I even attach the same VM again onto another ESX Host.

I realise, it would have made more sense to enable HA for all VM's to restart beforehand, but this was not done at the time.

I hope this makes sense.

Thanks in advance!

[prince1121]

Hi

if I manually added the down VM's to another ESX host directly from the  SAN Storage, and IF then the ESX that is currently FAULTY came back up  after a few hours, would the configuration be able to take this change,

I dont think it will restore previous configuration .

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[eilz]

If I re-added the vm's to another esx host would they not have to be added with different name, as the exsiting ones are still listed in the vcenter svr as being offline, would there not be a conflict?

Also, am I right in thinking that if a ESX host goes down, it doesn't keep any configuration information once it come back up?

Thanks again all

[Troy_Clavell]

We have 3 x Esx4.0U1 Hosts in a cluster(all identical), IF 1 ESX HOST  fails with say a Hardware error BUT HA is set for VM to (disabled) so  won't move to another ESX Host in the cluster BUT all hosts share the  same SAN storage area, how can I recover the VM's that a currently down  manually onto another ESX Host?

You would have to browse the datastores, find the vmx files and add to  inventory. With that said, if you are going through the trouble of  re-registering guests, why disable HA for the guests?

Also, what happens if the ESX host that is down then come back up after I  manually add the VM's to another ESX Host.  At the moment I can see the  VM's in the Vcenter console, but cant access them.  I am guessin I  could browse to the datastore using another ESX Host and add them in or  not, as there already listed, or would I have to add them with a  different VM-name, would it allow me to do so?

since the VM's would be registered on another host, you MAY get some orphaned objects, but it should be "business as usual"

My question is what would happen, if I manually added the down VM's to  another ESX host directly from the SAN Storage, and IF then the ESX that  is currently FAULTY came back up after a few hours, would the  configuration be able to take this change, would I have multiple VM's of  the same server?.  Would I even be able to re-add the down VM's (still  listed as offline), can I even attach the same VM again onto another ESX  Host.

Seems to me your best solution is to enable HA and let it do what it's intended to do.

[eilz]

Thanks for all the replys. but as I work in a large company that lacks a basic understanding of ESX and its HA features, the option of enabling HA is a no no, it makes no sense but thats the design, ..........I know I am in the wrong job.. right....

So if I right click and add the vmx to the other hosts, the worst case is I have orphaned objects if the failed ESX come back to life, but as its business as usual, I can live with it.

I'd like to thank all those you answered my queries, thank you very much