Patching / updating ESXi 5.5

[cjewison]

Dear All

I've inherited a network consisting of 2 Esxi hosts that appear to have never been patched/updated since they where installed. one is Esxi 4 which I plan to replace and one 5.5 which I've been looking to update - I need to mention that I've had a crash course with this platform over the last couple of months after having the network land on my lap,  I'm not totally green when it comes to IT but this platform scares me a little , we have 4 VMs on the 5.5 host and they are very important to the company, hence my reluctance to go in all guns blazing.

My problem started or came to light when trying to back up the full VMs from the datastore with Backup Exec 2014 and them failing with ,to cut it short "Unable to create a snapshot of the virtual machine. The virtual machine no longer exists or may be too busy to quiesce to take the snapshot"  , Now after 2 weeks with support from Symantec they've decided to tell me its the version of ESXi I'm using , despite their SCL saying V4 and above are compatible with the software are the cauise of these fails - I'm sceptical - why list old versions in the SCL if a much later version needs patching to allow the software do a job its meant too?

So here I am , I really need to be able to back up the Datastore but if Symantec are to be believed I need to update , but I don't want to update without a back up - Catch 22

As mentioned , most of this platform is alien to me , I don't know if current VMs are affected by updates , I don't know how best to update - what update I need or should start with.

Its seem we run Esxi 5.5.0 build 1331820 if thats any help

If anyone could point me in the right direction, I would be most grateful.

Many Thanks

[cykVM]

Hi,

ok, a bit of a complicated situation you are in. But for any suggestions to solve your issues a bit more detail on the hardware in use would help a lot.

Also a few more details on the guest VM OSes running and if you have any clue if the hoists were installed using a customized VMWare installation image of the server manufacturer (e.g. DELL, HP, Lenovo/IBM etc.)?

Regarding your Backup issue I would first check if the ESXi hosts are running on a paid license (VMWare Essentials ... or Enterprise for example) or are they using a free license.

With a free license you can't backup the VMs with direct access to the datastore, because the license does not include this (access to storage APIs it's called in VMWare world).

To check your license: fire up vSphere client and log on to the host directly with root access, make sure that your host is selected on the upper left and click on "Configuration tab" -> "Software"/"Licensed Features" should give you an overview of the license in use.

Also a good chance to document the license key at this point.

Depending on your hardware and VMs it might be even a good idea to leave things untouched regarding updates. At least it's a good idea to first update the server's BIOS to the latest available and also take a look at fiormware levels on the storage controller(s) and NIC(s) and further addon-cards (like remote control cards - iLo for HP servers, iDRAC for DELL etc.).

cykVM

[cjewison]

Many thanks for responding

I will try top answer your questions as best I can.

The host in running on a Dell Poweredge 1920 and am not 100% but I may have been a Dell Image I wasnt about when it was built , is there a way to tell?, VMs on the host are running either Server 2008 R2 or Sever 2012 R2

I believe its a paid license but not 100% see below

Product: VMware vSphere 5 Hypervisor Licensed for 2 physical CPUs (unlimited cores per CPU)

License Key:

Expires: Never

Product Features:

Up to 8-way virtual SMP

I will look at updating the BIOS and Controllers but I get a 3 hour window to do any work like this due to offices in many time zones all access data from it.

Apologies If I missed something I'm on a call to Symantec at the moment.

again thanks for responding

[cykVM · Accepted solution]

This looks like the free license to me, otherwise "Essentials (Plus) ..." or "Enterprise ..." would be clearly stated after the "Product: ".

You may also verify your license state if you logon to the MyVMWare account being used to register for the download.

With this free license you won't get Backup EXEC to make VM backups and the snapshots will fail as you stated above.

So first of all you need at least an Essentials package to get the backup working.

So discussing this with Symantec is of no use at the moment.

[cykVM]

I can't find any infomration on the Poweredge 1920 server so far, only some 1950. xx20 is a quite unusual numbering for a DELL as far as I know. Could only find some UPS named 1920.

But you may also check exact verion by the Service Tag on DELL support pages.

[cjewison]

Nooo!

I think you are right , I logged in and only found Keys for ESXI 4 and non match the key in the 5.5 host - What a nightmare.

OK , so what would be my best steps here? - Can a free license be converted to a proper one ?

Will this free one only affect the backing up of the datastore as I can back up individual files and folders from the VMs

Thanks for your help.

[cjewison]

Sorry , my mistake its a PowerEdge 1950 , been a long day :smileyplain:

[cykVM]

Ok, a 1950 then. This usually has a Perc 6/i SAS RAID controller and Intel or Broadcom NICs.

cjewison schrieb:

I think you are right , I logged in and only found Keys for ESXI 4 and non match the key in the 5.5 host - What a nightmare.

OK , so what would be my best steps here? - Can a free license be converted to a proper one ?

A Version 4 (paid) license usually can't be used for version 5.x system. You will have to buy at least the Essentials pack for version 5.x. The license can then be entered on above page in "Configuration" by clicking on the "Edit" link on the upper right.

Will this free one only affect the backing up of the datastore as I can back up individual files and folders from the VMs

What you mean by "I can back up individual files and folders from the VMs"? Baking up from inside the (Windows) VM is always possible as long as the Backup EXEC agent is installed.

But you won't be able to back up the vmdk file which represents the virtual disk.

Maybe it's better to get the replacement server for the ESXi 4 system first.

[cykVM]

... and use the new server as a temporary backup system for the VMs after ESXi 5.x is running on the new server. Be careful not to buy a 6.x license as this will not work with 5.x version (but the 6.x key might be downgradeable within MyVMWare).

With the DELL 1950 in place I would preferably run 5.x and definitely do not mix versions again with the new server.

[cjewison]

Thanks again for helping me with this , just so I'm clear , can essentials license can be purchased and used on my 5.5 host to convert the free one and this allow me to back up?

I'm ignoring the V 4 Host for the time being as is full of Server 2003 servers which I want gone - its this 5.5 that has  the most important Servers on.

just one unrelated question while I remember if you wouldn't mind , is there anyway to tell if a VMDK file is being used by another virtual machine other than the one it was created for?, I have 400GB VMDK and the VM its associated with is now not in use , I want to delete this to free up space on the host but it mentions if its being used by another VM , the machine wont function correctly, how can you tell if it is? - I've been looking at the modified date not changing so I think not but still not confident enough to delete it.

[cykVM]

cjewison schrieb:

Thanks again for helping me with this , just so I'm clear , can essentials license can be purchased and used on my 5.5 host to convert the free one and this allow me to back up?

Exactly. In fact the license entered just (un)locks features. The features are always running (like the storage APIs needed for backup) but you just don't have access to them with the free license.

I've no personal experience with Backup EXEC 2014, yet. Using BE 2010 R3 here which just runs fine with Essentials license.

I'm ignoring the V 4 Host for the time being as is full of Server 2003 servers which I want gone - its this 5.5 that has  the most important Servers on.

I just mentioned the replacement server for the v4 because it would give you a backup system. You could use vCenter converter to shift over all VMs running on your 5.5 host, clear the 5.5 host and update it without any service interruption.

Just for a one time "backup" of the VMs vCenter converter would be OK and it works even with the free license. But converter is in no way meant to be a replacement for (scheduled/regular) backups.

the conversion process could run for several hours depending on the size of the VM (just as a warning).

just one unrelated question while I remember if you wouldn't mind , is there anyway to tell if a VMDK file is being used by another virtual machine other than the one it was created for?, I have 400GB VMDK and the VM its associated with is now not in use , I want to delete this to free up space on the host but it mentions if its being used by another VM , the machine wont function correctly, how can you tell if it is? - I've been looking at the modified date not changing so I think not but still not confident enough to delete it.

If you run only a few VMs on that host, just check the VM's configuration if it points to that particular vmdk. If it's too many VMs running on that host, you may read this discussion and the linked KBs: Re: command to check if vmdk is in use

First of all I would write down some kind of task list and sort that.

I'm not sure if DELL provides some BIOS/firmware updates which could be run from the commandline inside VMWare, so that's maybe another challenge to get those updates installed.

The customized DELL VMWare 5.5 Update 2 installation image is found here: VMware ESXi 5.5 Update 2 Driver Details | Dell US

[cjewison]

cykVM  , Thank you so much for your help with this , Ill look at getting a proper license in the first instance

Thank also for the info on the vmdk file , I didnt realise you could check a config file

Many many thanks

[cykVM]

You don't have to dig through the config file, just log on to the host with vSphere client and do a right-click on the (running) VM and select "Edit settings". On the "Hardware" tab there is a list of configured hardware for that VM which also lists the "Virtual Disk" entries. By clicking/marking the virtual disk you can see on the upper right the actual "Disk File" it's pointing to.

[cykVM]

But I presume this vmdk is not in use by another VM as this would lead to other problems usually.

It's generally possible to link a virtual disk to multiple VMs, but with Windows VMs it's not recommended. NTFS might run mad leaving an incosistent file system.

[cjewison]

Great thats even better

Im now in the process of purchasing the Essentials Kit :smileycool:

Thanks again, you've been very helpful

[cykVM]

Maybe another thing to consider before you upgrade anything is backing up the 5.5 host's configuration, see KB VMware KB: Backing up and restoring ESXi configuration using the vSphere Command-Line Interface and ...

[cjewison]

Thanks for the tip

Its proving a battle to know what I'm meant to be buying - I may take your advice and upgrade the v4 host first , this has the smallest VMs and the least critical.

When I go the store I see Vsphere Essentials , Vsphere Essentials Plus , do you know if the basic Essentials has what I need to get back ups running? - the "Whats included" tab says

• vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi)
• vCenter Server Essentials
• vCenter Operations Manager Foundation.

The Essentials Plus has

• vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi)
• vCenter Server Essentials
• vCenter Operations Manager Foundation
• vSphere Data Protection
• vSphere High Availability (HA)
• vSphere vMotion
• Cross Switch vMotion
• vSphere vShield Endpoint
• vSphere Replication

the price difference is £3500

The only way I can speak with vmware is contacting sales who cant help with the technical side , I cant contact Tech Support because the support contract ran out  2 years ago.

[cykVM]

Just for the backups Essentials would be sufficient. But if you at some point need vMotion or Replication etc. you need to buy at least Essentials Plus.

A better overview about features included on the Essential packs might provided by this: http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/vsphere/VMware-vSphere-Essentials-Editions-Datasheet.pdf

All Editions in one chart: VMware vSphere 5 - Essentials, Standard, Enterprise and Plus Kit

[cykVM]

Are you planning to get new hardware as a replacement for the v4 server?

Would be a lot safer if you could copy over the mission critical VMs to a freshly installed server. You mentioned that you have a maintenance window of 3 hours for doing such upgrades etc., depending on the size of the VMs this will take longer so that's why I mentioned to put up a draft to-do-list and sort that.

[cjewison]

I'm just looking at the specs now and not even sure if the current hosts will be enough

One thing I've noticed on the 5.5 host is direct path I/O is not supported , not sure how that affects us , feel like I keep hitting brick walls with this. :smileyplain:

as always , thanks for taking so much of your time to help me , really appreciated - wish I could just concentrate on this but I'm the only IT guy looking after 5 locations and doing everything.

The Essentials Plus would seem to be the best option if I'm planning to replace all the physical servers with virtual , would you agree?

many thanks