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Mike-S
Contributor
Contributor

vmware-vim-cmd commands & %post kickstart

Hi,

I am working on a kickstart script to autobuild my ESX servers. It is working great including the %post script section. However I have one problem. My post script can create virtual switches and port groups but I can't set the network load balancing to IP hash. The command I am using is:

/usr/bin/vmware-vim-cmd "hostsvc/net/portgroup_set --nicteaming-policy=loadbalance_ip vSwitch1 DMZ"

If I run this from the service console it works. However, when I place it in my post script it just doesn't work. Does anybody know why?

Cheers

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M__Y_
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Hi,

Can you post you %post section please (do not forget to mask DNS configuration, password, IP addresses, etc.)?

Regards.

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depping
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Which version of ESX are you using by the way?

Duncan

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Mike-S
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ESX 3.5 Update 2

%post section is attached below:

%post

cat > /tmp/esxcfg.sh <<EOF1

#!/bin/sh

  1. enable SSH root-access

mv /etc/ssh/sshd_config /etc/ssh/sshd_config.old

/bin/sed -e "s/PermitRootLogin no/PermitRootLogin yes/g" /etc/ssh/sshd_config.old > /etc/ssh/sshd_config

/etc/init.d/sshd restart

#Configure Firewall and startup services

echo "Â Â Â Configuring firewall"

chkconfig ntpd on

chkconfig snmpd on

/usr/sbin/esxcfg-firewall -e ntpClient

/usr/sbin/esxcfg-firewall -e snmpd

/usr/sbin/esxcfg-firewall -e sshClient

/usr/sbin/esxcfg-firewall -o 81,tcp,out,UpdateManager

  1. Upsize console memory

mv -f /etc/vmware/esx.conf /etc/vmware/esx.conf.old

/bin/sed -e 's/boot\/memSize = \"272\"/boot\/memSize = \"800\"/g' /etc/vmware/esx.conf.old >> /etc/vmware/esx.conf

mv -f /boot/grub/grub.conf /tmp/grub.conf.bak

/bin/sed -e 's/uppermem 277504/uppermem 818176/g' -e 's/mem=272M/mem=800M/g' /tmp/grub.conf.bak >> /boot/grub/grub.conf

  1. add nic on vSwitch0

/usr/sbin/esxcfg-vswitch -L vmnic9 vSwitch0

/usr/sbin/esxcfg-vswitch -L vmnic5 vSwitch0

/usr/sbin/esxcfg-vswitch -U vmnic0 vSwitch0

/usr/sbin/esxcfg-vswitch -v 51 -p "Service Console" vSwitch0

  1. create vswitch1 with additonal nic and portgroup

/usr/sbin/esxcfg-vswitch -a vSwitch1

/usr/sbin/esxcfg-vswitch -A 172dmz vSwitch1

/usr/sbin/esxcfg-vswitch -A 17dmz vSwitch1

/usr/sbin/esxcfg-vswitch -A 127dmz vSwitch1

/usr/sbin/esxcfg-vswitch -v 504 -p 172dmz vSwitch1

/usr/sbin/esxcfg-vswitch -v 502 -p 17dmz vSwitch1

/usr/sbin/esxcfg-vswitch -v 501 -p 127dmz vSwitch1

/usr/sbin/esxcfg-vswitch -L vmnic3 vSwitch1

/usr/sbin/esxcfg-vswitch -L vmnic4 vSwitch1

/usr/sbin/esxcfg-vswitch -L vmnic7 vSwitch1

/usr/sbin/esxcfg-vswitch -L vmnic8 vSwitch1

  1. Create VMkernel

/usr/sbin/esxcfg-vswitch -A VMkernel vSwitch0

/usr/sbin/esxcfg-vswitch -v 52 -p VMkernel vSwitch0

/usr/sbin/esxcfg-vmknic --add --ip 10.10.10.5 --netmask 255.255.255.0 VMkernel

sleep 3

  1. Refresh the network settings with vimsh

/usr/bin/vimsh -n -e "hostsvc/net/refresh"

/usr/bin/vimsh -n -e "internalsvc/refresh_network"

  1. Active and standby setup

/usr/bin/vmware-vim-cmd "hostsvc/net/portgroup_set --nicorderpolicy-active=vmnic4,vmnic8 --nicorderpolicy-standby=vmnic3,vmnic7 vSwitch1 172dmz"

/usr/bin/vmware-vim-cmd "hostsvc/net/portgroup_set --nicorderpolicy-active=vmnic7,vmnic3 --nicorderpolicy-standby=vmnic8,vmnic4 vSwitch1 127dmz"

/usr/bin/vmware-vim-cmd "hostsvc/net/portgroup_set --nicorderpolicy-active=vmnic4,vmnic8 --nicorderpolicy-standby=vmnic3,vmnic7 vSwitch1 17dmz"

/usr/bin/vimsh -n -e "hostsvc/net/refresh"

/usr/bin/vimsh -n -e "internalsvc/refresh_network"

  1. Set Load Balancing

/usr/bin/vmware-vim-cmd "hostsvc/net/portgroup_set --nicteaming-policy=loadbalance_ip vSwitch1 127dmz"

/usr/bin/vmware-vim-cmd "hostsvc/net/portgroup_set --nicteaming-policy=loadbalance_ip vSwitch1 17dmz"

/usr/bin/vmware-vim-cmd "hostsvc/net/portgroup_set --nicteaming-policy=loadbalance_ip vSwitch1 172dmz"

  1. Enable VMotion

/usr/bin/vimsh -n -e "hostsvc/vmotion/vnic_set vmk0"

  1. Configure NTP

echo "Â Â Â Configuring NTP"

echo "restrict kod nomodify notrap noquery nopeer" > /etc/ntp.conf

echo "restrict 127.0.0.1" >> /etc/ntp.conf

echo "server 10.10.10.1" >> /etc/ntp.conf

echo "driftfile /var/lib/ntp/drift" >> /etc/ntp.conf

echo "10.10.10.1" > /etc/ntp/step-tickers

service ntpd start

/sbin/hwclock --systohc

/etc/init.d/mgmt-vmware restart

EOF1

/bin/chmod 755 /tmp/esxcfg.sh

cp /etc/rc.d/rc.local /etc/rc.d/rc.local.bak

cat >> /etc/rc.d/rc.local <<EOF

cd /tmp

/tmp/esxcfg.sh

mv -f /etc/rc.d/rc.local.bak /etc/rc.d/rc.local

EOF

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M__Y_
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Hi,

I think that it should work. However, have you tried without quotes:

/usr/bin/vmware-vim-cmd hostsvc/net/portgroup_set --nicteaming-policy=loadbalance_ip vSwitch1 127dmz
/usr/bin/vmware-vim-cmd hostsvc/net/portgroup_set --nicteaming-policy=loadbalance_ip vSwitch1 17dmz
/usr/bin/vmware-vim-cmd hostsvc/net/portgroup_set --nicteaming-policy=loadbalance_ip vSwitch1 172dmz

FYI, you can use this to configure SC memory size:

cp -f /etc/vmware/esx.conf /etc/vmware/esx.conf.old

cp -f /boot/grub/grub.conf /tmp/grub.conf.bak
sed -i 's/memSize = \"272\"/memSize = \"800\"/g' /etc/vmware/esx.conf
esxcfg-boot -g
esxcfg-boot -b

Regards.

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Mike-S
Contributor
Contributor

Yes I have tried with and without the quotes but still no luck....

When I put a sleep command in the script I can capture the output and see:

Invalid command 'hostsvc/net/portgroup_set --nicteaming-policy=loadbalance_ip vSwitch1 127dmz'.

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depping
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You know that this is an unsupported config? Are you using aggregated links on the physical switch?

Duncan

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Mike-S
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Yes I am using Cisco switches and EtherChannel is enabled. How is it an unsupported config?

Have you got any advice on my scripting problem?

I am also seeing "514 Error connecting to hostd-vmdb service instance" which might explain why my vmware-vim-cmd commands are not working.

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depping
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well you probably have 3 channels?

when an active nic of one of these channels fail a standby nic will become part of the channel, but this nic is also part of a different channel. this can cause serieus problems on your network cause mac addresses are popping up on places they don't belong.

Duncan

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Mike-S
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I see your point but I have VSS enabled on the physical switches which will prevent that from happening. But if I didn't it would be a very different story.

Cheers

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depping
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Are you sure? I'm no networking expert but this would mean you would have two channels with the same members? I thought VSS was for creating cross stack ether channels?

Duncan

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Gerry_Deutsch
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Hey Mike concerning the "514 Error connecting to hostd-vmdb service instance"........ I have "intermittantly" got that error when loading my hosts with a Kick Start script. I have gotten around the problem by restarting hostd in my Kick Start script and then sleeping 60 seconds to ensure hostd was fully up before continuing. These are the commands I put in my kick Start script.

service mgmt-vmware restart

sleep 60

Note sure why I had to do this....but it fixed my problem.

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