vThinkBeyondVM's Accepted Solutions

Let me share my views on this: 1. If you choose first option: It will upgrade DB schema which will be compatible with new vCenter you are upgrading to. It is not 2008 r2 to 2012. Database serv... See more...
Let me share my views on this: 1. If you choose first option: It will upgrade DB schema which will be compatible with new vCenter you are upgrading to. It is not 2008 r2 to 2012. Database server version remains same. Just schema will change.      What is DB schema:A database schema is a way to logically group objects such as tables, views, stored procedures etc. Ex. Say you are on vCenter 5.1 , Now DB schema will have logical group of objects such as tables, views etc. Later when new version of vCenter comes up (say 5.5), due to new feature addition to vCenter, existing DB schema(ie. tables, views) need to be changed. In that case, you have to upgrade the DB schema. This mostly happens when you are going for major upgrade ie. From 5.1 to 5.5. Usually for minor versions schema will be same (there can be exceptions), hence for minor versions i.e. 5.5 GA to 5.5U1, most likely DB schema would be same, in this case, you can choose second option. 2. If you choose first option and if upgrade fails & if there is no backup, how will you roll back. hence DB backup need to take. 3. If we choose 2nd option and if new vCenter DB schema is not compatible with existing DB schema, you may come across issues. Choose wisely.
There is NO impact only that SIOC functionality will not be available which distribute IOPS across VMs in case there is IO contention based on IOPS shares set on each VM placed on DS. . Plz let m... See more...
There is NO impact only that SIOC functionality will not be available which distribute IOPS across VMs in case there is IO contention based on IOPS shares set on each VM placed on DS. . Plz let me know your vSphere VC/ESXi version. We need to check if SIOC is supported with RDM. Stay tuned for some more details.
Note that there is bit change in DRS algorithm@5.5. As per me, still host with 8 VMs is not fully loaded & DRS thinks same host is good enough. Refer:http://www.slideshare.net/VMworld/vmworld-... See more...
Note that there is bit change in DRS algorithm@5.5. As per me, still host with 8 VMs is not fully loaded & DRS thinks same host is good enough. Refer:http://www.slideshare.net/VMworld/vmworld-2013-performance-and-capacity-management-of-drs-clusters http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2059868 VMware KB:    Changing the default behavior of Distributed Power Management in vSphere Strange DRS activity on ESXi 5.5
1. First you need to download ESXi(hypervisor) and install on your server. :Refer:vSphere 5.5 - How to install and configure VMware ESXi 5.5 - YouTube 2. Once ESXi installation is successful... See more...
1. First you need to download ESXi(hypervisor) and install on your server. :Refer:vSphere 5.5 - How to install and configure VMware ESXi 5.5 - YouTube 2. Once ESXi installation is successful, you can create VM and then install windows 2012 R2 in that VM as GOS. Refer:How To Create a Virtual Machine On An VMWare ESXi Host Using a VSphere Client - YouTube Let me know if you need any help
Yes correct. You can use all these features during evaluation. Please do read blog post I specified in my first response.
How to upload file into Guest OS on VMware:How to Upload File to Guest Operating System on VMware | DoubleCloud => Private Cloud + Public Cloud How to download file from GOS on VMware:... See more...
How to upload file into Guest OS on VMware:How to Upload File to Guest Operating System on VMware | DoubleCloud => Private Cloud + Public Cloud How to download file from GOS on VMware:How to Download File from Guest Operating System on VMware | DoubleCloud => Private Cloud + Public Cloud If you have any doubt/issue related to this, please post on above blog posts
Below post can help you to do the same: VIX APIs are integrated with vSphere APIs Plz explore :Run, Kill, and List Programs in Guest Operating System on VMware | DoubleCloud => Private... See more...
Below post can help you to do the same: VIX APIs are integrated with vSphere APIs Plz explore :Run, Kill, and List Programs in Guest Operating System on VMware | DoubleCloud => Private Cloud + Public Cloud Run Program in Guest Operating System on VMware | DoubleCloud => Private Cloud + Public Cloud This should solve your problem
This method can be used to shutDown the host: ShutdownHost_Task Below method can used to reboot the host. RebootHost_Task Refer:VMware vSphere API Reference Note: I have not used these m... See more...
This method can be used to shutDown the host: ShutdownHost_Task Below method can used to reboot the host. RebootHost_Task Refer:VMware vSphere API Reference Note: I have not used these methods yet. I will try this during this week. 
Usually this error pops up when ESXi host you are trying to add has higher version than vCenter.  As per your case, both are having same version. In fact, it should work fine with no any issue. ... See more...
Usually this error pops up when ESXi host you are trying to add has higher version than vCenter.  As per your case, both are having same version. In fact, it should work fine with no any issue. Can you please confirm ESXi and vCenter versions? Also can you please post build numbers fro both?
In fact, HA will be well demonstrated when we simulate any host or VM failure scenario, thats what the purpose of HA. If you can not simulate failure (due to production env), you can check som... See more...
In fact, HA will be well demonstrated when we simulate any host or VM failure scenario, thats what the purpose of HA. If you can not simulate failure (due to production env), you can check some tabs in VI client. 1. Click on host (from VI client)>>summary>>vSphere HA state>>here you can know whether host is slave or Master. 2. Click on CLuster>>Summary >>Explore vSphere HA section (plz check each and every link available here) This should give you idea that HA is working fine. If you have DRS/DPM also enabled, there is HA interop with DRS & DPM. Ex. When you have 2 host with less load in a DPM cluster(without HA), DPM should recommend to put one of hosts into standby mode. If you enable HA, DPM should exit host from standby mode. You can also check HA configuration from API or Managed object browser.
Yes, ESXi patches are comulative. Please read carefully this blog post from VMware :Are ESXi Patches Cumulative | VMware vSphere Blog - VMware Blogs Another good blog post on this :VMware F... See more...
Yes, ESXi patches are comulative. Please read carefully this blog post from VMware :Are ESXi Patches Cumulative | VMware vSphere Blog - VMware Blogs Another good blog post on this :VMware Front Experience: Are ESXi 5.x patches cumulative?
I could figure out this issue. This is happening because of below reason: 1. The datastore that you have specified is shared across the datacenters (i.e. there are some host in both datacen... See more...
I could figure out this issue. This is happening because of below reason: 1. The datastore that you have specified is shared across the datacenters (i.e. there are some host in both datacenter with shared datastore) 2. When this line gets executed "Datastore ds = (Datastore) new InventoryNavigator( si.getRootFolder()).searchManagedEntity("Datastore",dsname ); " . It populates the managed entity "Datastore" with first occurrence of that datastore. It does not check the another entry of the same datastore in next datacenter. 3. Note that as per the current design, managed object reference that is is being created for the same shared "datastore"  are separate. Hence, when Clone operation tries to find the datastore ID based on Managed object reference in next datacenter, it could not find. Hence vCenter generates the error message. 4. Same code works fine if there is NO shared datastore. How to solve this issue: 1. You will have to pass the datacenter managed entity object as well when you want to create clone in another datacenter on shared datastore. 2. Please modify below lines (Green font) in existing code : VirtualMachine vm = (VirtualMachine) new InventoryNavigator(si.getRootFolder()).searchManagedEntity("VirtualMachine",snapshot);   if (vm == null) {   System.out.println("No VM " + snapshot + " found");   } else {   ManagedEntity datacenter=(Datacenter) new InventoryNavigator(si.getRootFolder()).searchManagedEntity("Datacenter","DC-4");   //Pasing datacenter managed object   Datastore ds = (Datastore) new InventoryNavigator(datacenter).searchManagedEntity("Datastore",dsname );   Now it should work fine in any case. Let me know if you need any help.
Hi Jason,   Here is what VMware KB on this issue says : Purpose On Sept 24, 2014, a critical vulnerability in bash (CVE-2014-6271, CVE-2014-7169) was published that may allow for remote code... See more...
Hi Jason,   Here is what VMware KB on this issue says : Purpose On Sept 24, 2014, a critical vulnerability in bash (CVE-2014-6271, CVE-2014-7169) was published that may allow for remote code execution. The VMware Security Engineering, Communications, and Response group (vSECR) has been actively investigating the impact this vulnerability may have on our products. Our ongoing assessment is documented in the next section. Resolution Products vSphere ESXi Hypervisor ESXi is not affected as it uses the ash shell (through busybox), which is not affected by the vulnerability reported for the bash shell. Products that run on Windows Windows-based products are not affected including vCenter Server running on Windows. Products that run on Linux or Mac OS (excluding Virtual Appliances) Products that run on Linux or Mac OS (excluding Virtual Appliances) may use the bash shell that is part of the operating system. In case the operating system has a vulnerable version of bash, the bash security vulnerability may be exploited through the product. VMware recommends that customers contact their operating system vendor for a patch. Products that are shipped as a Virtual Appliance Products that are shipped as a Virtual Appliance running on a Linux OS that has a vulnerable version of bash may be affected. A Virtual Appliance is considered affected if is it possible to input malicious environment variables remotely and execute the added code in the Virtual Appliance. We will update this article with the findings of our investigation into Virtual Appliances. Services AirWatch MDM – Investigation ongoing Horizon DaaS – Not affected IT Business Management – Investigation ongoing Socialcast – Investigation ongoing vCloud Air – Investigation ongoing Refer:VMware KB: VMware assessment of bash Code Injection Vulnerability via Specially Crafted Environment Variables (CVE-2…
Your plan looks good to me.   - Install new brand vCenter with new DB : If you care about historical/performance data then you can connect new vCenter with old DB. - Install latest ESXi 5.5.... See more...
Your plan looks good to me.   - Install new brand vCenter with new DB : If you care about historical/performance data then you can connect new vCenter with old DB. - Install latest ESXi 5.5. on new box & attach same storage as old ESXi to this host - Add new ESXi host into new vCenter - Add old ESXi to new vCenter. - Configure vMotion network and migrate all your VMs to new ESXi from old ESXi host. - Remove ESXi host from new vCenter and fresh install latest ESXi 5.5 - Add again back to new vCenter. As your environment is small, you may want to go for embedded DB itself & You can go for vCenter Virtual appliance instead of  windows vCenter server as its easy to deploy. If you want upgrade : Refer :http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2053132 upgrade vCenter from 4.1 to 5.5 best practice Upgrading vCenter 4.1 to 5.5 - Lessons learned - Popping Clouds Upgrade: vSphere 4.1 to 5.5 | My Life in IT
Thanks for the info. When a virtual machine level backup begins, the backup system informs vCenter Server to disable Storage vMotion for that virtual machine to ensure that the backups can ... See more...
Thanks for the info. When a virtual machine level backup begins, the backup system informs vCenter Server to disable Storage vMotion for that virtual machine to ensure that the backups can complete successfully. If Backup is in progress and you try to storage vMotion the VM, as storage vMotion is disabled by backup solution, you will get error message " method is disabled by xXXXX". This is expected behavior. 1. In order to check whether storage vMotion is really disabled. We can confirm this from Managed object browser(MOB) .. You will have to find this VM on MOB to know the same. Steps:    >Go to browser type this URL :::  https://<Your VC IP>/mob     > Click on Content>>click on link corresponding to "root Folder" (Other way is link near word "Datacenters)>>Click on the link corresponding to "Child entity" i.e you will find your Datacenter name>>>Scroll down and find "VM Network">> Click on that link "network-xxx">>You will get VM list >>Find your VM name>> click on link near by it i.e vm-xxx it is a MOB id>>>>Find row "disabledMethod">> find "vim.VirtualMachine.relocate" entry. If this entry is there, it is mean that storage vMotion is disabled. Refer: Refer: VMware KB: Looking up Managed Object Reference (MoRef) in vCenter Server 2. If you are sure that backup is NOT in progress, it is mean that backup solution did not inform vCenter to re-enable the storage vMotion on VM to be backed.  In this case : This KB is applies : VMware KB: Storage vMotion migration fails with the error: The method is disabled by 'SYMC-INCR dd-mm-yyyy hh:mm' 3. If you need some more details on this issue:  : Refer :VMware KB: An orphaned VMDK is created when a system or user generated vSphere Storage vMotion task is performed dur… & my blog on this : http://vthinkbeyondvm.com/crucial-fixes-on-sdrs-in-vmware-vcenter-server-5-5-u2-part-i/ As you are on VC 5.0, above resources are not applicable to you but worth to read as those are related. Let me know if you need any help Message was edited by: Vikas Message was edited by: Vikas
DRS requires vSphere Enterprise license. That is the reason it is not showing these options in your environment. vSPhere HA requires vSphere Standard edition. As you have standard edition, you ar... See more...
DRS requires vSphere Enterprise license. That is the reason it is not showing these options in your environment. vSPhere HA requires vSphere Standard edition. As you have standard edition, you are able to configure HA. There is NO as such impact. 1. You are using MSCS as cluster of VMs & if anything happens to clustering application configured, MSCS will failover to other VM in MSCS cluster.  (I am assuming you are using CIB config. Cluster in Box) 2. vSphere HA helps you to give additional level of HA on host/VM level. As you are running your MSCS cluster VMs on the top of hosts. vSPhere HA is additional HA. 3. In case, host fails, vSphere HA will failover all MSCS clustered VMs to other available host inside vSphere HA cluster. i.e It will restart all VMs on other host. Please note that restarting a VM will have minimal downtime. In this case, as all VMs are on same host, even MSCS cluster will have same downtime as vSphere HA will have. But if you are using CAB (Cluster across box ) as MSCS configuration, you can minimize MSCS  VMs downtime. 4. In case, VM itself fails (not host), vSphere HA will restart the failed VM on the same host. In this case MSCS will failover all your application on other VMs in MSCS cluster. You have only vSPhere HA without DRS. It should be fine. Just that DRS gives some more flexibility to you. Please note that in any HA solution, in case of failure, you will come across minimal downtime (time may differ across different HA solution).
Agree with Andre. vCenter is required just to configure/manage vSphere HA. 1. vSphere HA provides HA in case of  host( ESXi) failures & VM GOS failures. 2. Say you have cluster of 2 hosts ... See more...
Agree with Andre. vCenter is required just to configure/manage vSphere HA. 1. vSphere HA provides HA in case of  host( ESXi) failures & VM GOS failures. 2. Say you have cluster of 2 hosts (ESXi) (You need vCenter to create cluster, enable HA & configure settings) 3. Consider some VMs are running under 2 ESXi hosts.  Consider vCenter VM also running under one of hosts in the cluster. 4. If host where vCenter VM is running got failed, all the VMs including vCenter VM will be restarted on other available host. 5. Restarting will have minimal downtime for all the VMs those got restarted. 6. Due to restart of vCenter VM, your vCenter session will be over as all vservices are down for a while (due to host failure/ restart) 7. Once vCenter VM is up, again you can login to vCenter and manage your HA cluster. 8. If vCenter VM GOS fails, HA will restart the vCenter VM on the same host. 9. In case of these both failures,  HA continues to work fine without any issue. (Just manage when vcenter is up). You also may want to read about "App HA" which is application aware solution from VMware. Earlier, vSphere heartbeat was the product providing HA for even vCenter services. But now its End of availability.
Yes . You are correct. 1. If OS or VM  is failed, VM will be restarted on same host . 2. if  HA is unable to get network or datastore heartbeats, it is mean that host is failed and HA will  res... See more...
Yes . You are correct. 1. If OS or VM  is failed, VM will be restarted on same host . 2. if  HA is unable to get network or datastore heartbeats, it is mean that host is failed and HA will  restart VMs on other hosts. Restarting VM will have small downtime. 
That is going to work. As per your post you have two hosts H1 :::VM1,VM2 & vCenter VM which is managing this HA cluster H2::Failover hosts with no any VMs running Please confirm above ... See more...
That is going to work. As per your post you have two hosts H1 :::VM1,VM2 & vCenter VM which is managing this HA cluster H2::Failover hosts with no any VMs running Please confirm above setup. As you have enough resources, this will work fine. In case of host failure, HA continue to work, You will have to face minimal downtime as vSphere HA will restart these VMs (automatically). As vCenter VM also will have downtime in case of failure, you can not login to vCenter/manage HA cluster until all vCenter services are up and running. vCenter is used just to manage the HA cluster, rest is at host level.
Thanks Andre for the clarification. Yes, even though folder can be renamed when VM is powered on but it will lead to issues if we want to migrate the VM to other datastore or if we shutdown & try... See more...
Thanks Andre for the clarification. Yes, even though folder can be renamed when VM is powered on but it will lead to issues if we want to migrate the VM to other datastore or if we shutdown & try to power on. Hence please do not rename folder when VM is running. Second approach will work just fine.  i.e. renaming display name of the VM and then SVMotion to another datastore & then again you can bring back the VM to earlier datastore. Refer:VMware KB: Renaming a virtual machine and its files in VMware ESXi and ESX