ESX 3.5 + VC 2.5 vmotion unable to access file

[var]

Hi,

I have installed the new Version of ESX 3.5 on 2 Servers with their own local storage and the VC 2.5.

Now I want to test the feature vmotion, and get the following error:

unable to migrate from esx1 to esx2: Unable to access the virtual machine configuration: unable to acces file. .....vswp and also the same failure with the vmdk files

See the filesyst-rw------- 1 root root 268435456 Dec 20 22:42 test_windows2008-c3133b37.vswp

-rw------- 1 root root 21474836480 Dec 20 23:04 test_windows2008-flat.vmdk

-rw------- 1 root root 8684 Dec 20 21:57 test_windows2008.nvram

-rw------- 1 root root 409 Dec 20 21:59 test_windows2008.vmdk

-rw------- 1 root root 0 Dec 18 02:45 test_windows2008.vmsd

-rw-rr 1 root root 1618 Dec 20 22:03 test_windows2008.vmx

-rw------- 1 root root 271 Dec 20 22:03 test_windows2008.vmxf

-rw-rr 1 root root 85309 Dec 18 02:28 vmware-1.log

-rw-rr 1 root root 49382 Dec 18 06:21 vmware-2.log

-rw-rr 1 root root 49612 Dec 20 23:01 vmware.logem authorization:

Can anybody help me??

thanks a lot

andi

Message was edited by: Badsah (added tags for RCLI tag group)

[Dave_Mishchenko]

Hi Andi, for vmotion to work, you'll need storage that both ESX hosts can see. If this is a test environment, you can set up a VM that acts as a NFS or iSCSI target to provide shared storage.

[var]

thank, but I mean the new feature of ESX 3.5:

VMware Storage VMotion-Storage VMotion allows IT administrators to minimize service disruption due to planned storage downtime previously incurred for rebalancing or retiring storage arrays. Storage VMotion simplifies array migration and upgrade tasks and reduces I/O bottlenecks by moving virtual machines to the best available storage resource in your environment.

Migrations using Storage VMotion must be administered through the Remote Command Line Interface (Remote CLI), which is available for download at the following location: .

[Hairyman]

vmotion and storage vmotion are two completly different things. normal vmotion needs shared storage to operate and storage vmotion cannot be done from the VC

[var]

Hi,

thanks, but how does storage vmotion work?

What do I need to make this (commandline)???

thanks

[BankTech]

Any details on setting up a vm that acts as an nfs or iscsi storage device? Like what OS it has to be etc.

[thecakeisalie]

Wow this thread is all over the place... Lets get you all straightened out!

First off, var - to be able to use svmotion, you have to have shared storage - or you have to be transferring the VM from a local disk to a VMFS/NFS volume that the host can see. Until the host can see both the source VM location and the destination VM location at the same time, you won't be able to use sVmotion.

To use sVmotion, you need to download the RCLI from here:

http://downloads.vmware.com/d/details/vi_rcli_u2/

(I typically recommend downloading the RCLI virtual appliance, which is easily imported into your viClient and creates a VM to use the RCLI; this avoids compatibility issues with the other desktop downloads)

Once the RCLI is configured, you use it to connect to the ESX server or vCenter server which is hosting the VM that you want to transfer and provide the details it asks for:

svmotion --interactive

(This will prompt you to give it the specific information it requires to transfer the VM, read each line - it gives you an exact example of the input it is looking for)

BankTech - you're kind of off in leftfield with that last question, but to answer it until the mod moves it to a new thread - here's the link to the SAN Compatibility Guide:

http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php?action=search&deviceCategory=san

If your storage does not show up in that search, there is a link above the search results that states "Click here to show the introductory information.", clicking on it will provide you with the following details about the NFS supported for VI:

-

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Network Attached Storage

The following Linux distributions support network attached storage

ESX 3.x

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 NFS Server (Update 2).

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 NFS Server (Update 5).

• Fedora Core 4 NFS Server (2.6.12-1.1456_FC4.9550smp).

• Fedora Core 6 NFS Server (2.6.18-1.2798.fc6 #1 SMP) for ESX 3.5 only.

ESX 4.0

Fedora Core 8 NFS Server

NOTE: Windows Clustering (MSCS) is not supported with NAS.

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The only in-virtual machine storage that I am aware of that is technically supported is the LeftHand VSA:, but it comes with very strict requirements:

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1007817

Hope this helps you all out!!