vmware-cmd : reaching datastores through vcenter

[Mafaldo]

Hi,

I've got a proplem with vmware-cmd command.

When I query the esxi server with the VMA using the -l switch, it works fine. This is what I get :

vmware-cmd -H esxi02.axe.lan -U root -P xxxx -l

/vmfs/volumes/f0fd945a-275bd0c1/CL-VDC1/CL-VDC1.vmx
/vmfs/volumes/f0fd945a-275bd0c1/CL-VCEGID/CL-VCEGID.vmx
/vmfs/volumes/f0fd945a-275bd0c1/CL-VFILES/CL-VFILES.vmx
/vmfs/volumes/4d21cdc6-da1be880-18e5-68b59975c9d0/PDASERV0103/PDASERV0103.vmx
/vmfs/volumes/4d220aff-1b6f60b8-33cb-68b59975c9d0/VFILES/VFILES.vmx

But if I send the same command to the vcenter

vmware-cmd -H vcenter.axe.lan -T esxi02.axe.lan -U administrator -P xxxx -l

/vmfs/volumes//CL-VDC1/CL-VDC1.vmx
Use of uninitialized value in concatenation (.) or string at /usr/bin/vmware-cmd line 453.
/vmfs/volumes//CL-VCEGID/CL-VCEGID.vmx
Use of uninitialized value in concatenation (.) or string at /usr/bin/vmware-cmd line 453.
/vmfs/volumes//CL-VFILES/CL-VFILES.vmx
/vmfs/volumes/4d21cdc6-da1be880-18e5-68b59975c9d0/VMGMT/VMGMT.vmx
/vmfs/volumes/4d220c3b-3d4bec50-9b85-68b59975c9d0/XPCOMPTA/XPCOMPTA.vmx

Looks like vcenter has difficulties trying to read/parse one of the datastore's directory (f0fd945a-275bd0c1). See the double "//" ?

On top of that there's an error message from the perl script.I did take a look at it but I couldn't find any problem with it. This is beyond my competencies, I'm afraid.

Any ideas ? Permission issue ?

Ce message a été modifié par: Mafaldo

[Sreejesh_D]

when we query through vCenter server using vmware-cmd we have to mention the ESXi host name/ip epxplicitly using the switch --vihost.

Eg:

vmware-cmd --server esxhostpath_to_vmx_file getstate

vmware-cmd --server vcenter--vihost esxhostpath_to_vmx_file getstate

Ref: http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=201296...

[Sreejesh_D]

-h is the replacement for --vihost. So the required command will be. 

vmware-cmd -H vcenter.axe.lan -h esxi02.axe.lan -U administrator -P xxxx -l

[Mafaldo]

Thanks but when I run vmware-cmd --help I get that :

[vi-admin@vmgmt ~]$ vmware-cmd --help
   Usage: vmware-cmd <options> <vm-cfg-path> <vm-action> <arguments>
          vmware-cmd -s <options> <server-action> <arguments>

     Options:
       Connection Options:
          -H or --server <host>            specifies an ESX host or a Virtual Center
         -T <target host>                 specifies a target host if host is a virtual center

There's no --vihost switch. Is it a version problem ? I'm using vSphere v4.1.

Anyway, my understanding is that in my environment the "-T" switch stand for your "--vihost" switch.

I believe my command syntax is correct because one of the 2 datastores is treated correctly.

[Sreejesh_D · Accepted solution]

Mine too a 4.1 vMA. but the switches are different!!

[vi-admin@xx ~]$ cat /etc/vma-release

vMA 4.1.0 BUILD-268751

[vi-admin@xx ~]$ vmware-cmd --help

   Usage: vmware-cmd <options> <vm-cfg-path> <vm-action> <arguments>

          vmware-cmd -s <options> <server-action> <arguments>

     Options:

       Connection Options:

          -H or --server <host>            specifies an ESX host or a Virtual Center

          -h or --vihost <target host>     specifies a target host if host is a virtual center

          -O <port>                        specifies an alternative port

          -Q <protocol>                    specifies an alternative protocol

can you check the vMA version? and upgrade it if its possible.

[Mafaldo]

Interesting...

Couldn't find /etc/vma-release but I found /etc/vima-release !

It says :

vMA 4.0.0 BUILD-161992

Which is clearly outdated.

What is the best way to update it ?

[schepp]

Mafaldo wrote:

Which is clearly outdated.

What is the best way to update it ?

Deploy the latest vMA OVF since the version 5 is very different from version 4, as it now uses SUSE, like most VMware appliances today.

Regards

[Sreejesh_D]

there is no direct upgrade from vMA4 to 5.

We have to deploy the new vMA OVF and configure it. You can find the realated documentation here.

http://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vima/

[Mafaldo]

Ok, I will deploy VMA 5.1 and try again

I will post a reply with the result.

Thanks yezdi

[Mafaldo]

Brilliant !

It works !

2 remarks though...

1. The process is quite long, it takes like 1 min to display the result. Not an issue for me anyway

2. Strangely enough, the datastore named "f0fd945a-275bd0c1" is now "nfs". However the other datastore which is SAS is still named

"4d21cdc6-da1be880-18e5-68b59975c9d0". I'm curious about the naming scheme behind this ?

What if I had several NFS link attached ?

Topic for another post probably...

[Sreejesh_D]

what is the actual filesystem of "f0fd945a-275bd0c1?

is it a NFS datastore?

[Mafaldo]

Yes it is