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jcck20007
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Command not available via SSH ?

Hi All:

is there any difference when I SSH into ESX host using a regular user account (since ESX does not allow root to be SSH'ed in by default without config file change)

I needed to restart the service thus I typed

services vmware-mgmt restart

for example

the SSH session (I did a su root to run the command as root) wont recongize this command but in the console of ESX server it does allowed

am i suppose to have some change in the access within the SSH or what has to be done

thanks

J

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lamw
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Those logs are specific to the ESX Server and is located in the SC, hostd.log will probably be the most useful when you try to add the host and perhaps it might provide some insight on what the issue is.

You can do the following before you retry:

tail -f /var/log/vmware/hostd.log

this will allow you to the communication between host and vCenter, if any actually exists ... hit a few return keys before you actually retry and then paste that here. You can do the same for the other logs by tailing perhaps the last 30-40lines depending if there's anything obvious on what maybe causing the issue. There have been times where a restart of vCenter service is required, that could be a last resort, I've had to go down that route at times.

=========================================================================

William Lam

VMware vExpert 2009

VMware ESX/ESXi scripts and resources at:

VMware Code Central - Scripts/Sample code for Developers and Administrators

If you find this information useful, please award points for "correct" or "helpful".

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COdlk
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That should work but the command is

service mgmt-vmware restart

Another way to do it as root would be

/etc/init.d/mgmt-vmware restart

david

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lamw
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It should be:

service mgmt-vmware restart

no 's' at the end of service

Also if you do 'su' to root, you should use

su - root

this will put you in the same environment with all the paths defined for root.

You probably should use 'sudo' for running escalated privileges, that way it can be logged/audited

=========================================================================

William Lam

VMware vExpert 2009

VMware ESX/ESXi scripts and resources at:

VMware Code Central - Scripts/Sample code for Developers and Administrators

If you find this information useful, please award points for "correct" or "helpful".

jcck20007
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yes I got the command wrong, but the reason I needed to restart the service is because i am not able to add this host into VC

it kept on saying its not able to connect but I can SSH into it and able to ping it, any general troubleshooting tips there ?

thanks

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lamw
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I assume restarting the management service did not aid in adding the host into vCenter?

Also double check that your DNS entries are setup properly and that you have full forward/reverse lookups. Also are you adding your ESX host via IP or Hostname? If it's the latter, double check on the vCenter server that it can resolve the hostname both forward/reverse

=========================================================================

William Lam

VMware vExpert 2009

VMware ESX/ESXi scripts and resources at:

VMware Code Central - Scripts/Sample code for Developers and Administrators

If you find this information useful, please award points for "correct" or "helpful".

COdlk
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Even if DNS is working properly I would add the vc ip information into /etc/hosts

david

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jcck20007
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i used IP addresses to add host, I know that for Vmotion and HA to work, FQDN on DNS is critical

is there a command to just add the entry of the VC on the host file or do i need to use vi to do that ?

thanks for all the tips quickly

have a great weekend

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jcck20007
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i reinstalled the ESX host since its nothing on that, now it works right away

one other thing, do you guys know if i can restore a production ESX by simply reinstall it and restore its ETC directory and get all the settings back ?

my class trainer said this can be done if the troubleshooting time on ESX gets too great, is this suggested ?

sorry asked 3 questions in this thread

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lamw
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You'll need to do it using VI Client. Are there any other hosts that you have that you can add or is being managed by your vCenter? If, not you can try to restart the vCenter service, it potentially could be hosed for whatever reason.

=========================================================================

William Lam

VMware vExpert 2009

VMware ESX/ESXi scripts and resources at:

VMware Code Central - Scripts/Sample code for Developers and Administrators

If you find this information useful, please award points for "correct" or "helpful".

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jcck20007
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yes there are other ESX hosts and they are fine, just this one giving fit

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lamw
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I assume your ESX host can ping your vCenter?

Any interesting errors in /var/log/messages,/var/log/vmkernel or /var/log/vmware/hostd.log when you're trying to add the host? Also have you looked at the logs in vCenter to see if it displays any specific errors that might help?

=========================================================================

William Lam

VMware vExpert 2009

VMware ESX/ESXi scripts and resources at:

VMware Code Central - Scripts/Sample code for Developers and Administrators

If you find this information useful, please award points for "correct" or "helpful".

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jcck20007
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no i didnt

can we use vi or VC to gather those error or do we have to use service console session then to vi into each files ?

thanks

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lamw
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Those logs are specific to the ESX Server and is located in the SC, hostd.log will probably be the most useful when you try to add the host and perhaps it might provide some insight on what the issue is.

You can do the following before you retry:

tail -f /var/log/vmware/hostd.log

this will allow you to the communication between host and vCenter, if any actually exists ... hit a few return keys before you actually retry and then paste that here. You can do the same for the other logs by tailing perhaps the last 30-40lines depending if there's anything obvious on what maybe causing the issue. There have been times where a restart of vCenter service is required, that could be a last resort, I've had to go down that route at times.

=========================================================================

William Lam

VMware vExpert 2009

VMware ESX/ESXi scripts and resources at:

VMware Code Central - Scripts/Sample code for Developers and Administrators

If you find this information useful, please award points for "correct" or "helpful".

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Troy_Clavell
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>

one other thing, do you guys know if i can restore a production ESX by simply reinstall it and restore its ETC directory and get all the settings back ?

maybe this KB will be helpful?

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1000761

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amittul
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Adding to Troy . Make sure you re install the same version of ESX Server with the same build

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