Incompatiable HA Networks since upgrading to VC 2.5 Update 2

[LE2Strat]

I am a new ESX/Virtual Center admin, and came accros this error after upgrading Virtual Center to 2.5 update 2 one only one of our ESX Hosts (3.0.2, we are getting ready to upgrade them but we want to get the HA problem fixed first)

I saw this KB article: But I dont' know where you go for these advanced settings after you turn HA off on the cluster. Strange thing it is only happening on one of our hosts, and I have double checked, the service console on this host and all others are on the same subnet using sequential IP addresses.

Is there anything else I should be checking for looking for? I am pretty new this , so any help would be great.

[mittim12]

If you edit the properties of the Cluster and go to the HA tab there should be an Advanced Options button at the bottom right of the screen. This is where you would apply the resolution listed in the KB article. You might want to check out this article as well,

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[LE2Strat]

You mean right click on the cluster inside of VC and go to Edit Settings? I see there is where you turn HA off on the Cluster. Where do I go to do this at step by step if you don't mind.

When I click on the Cluster, the tabs I get in the middle window are Getting Started, Summary, Virtual Machines, Hosts, DRS Recommendations, Resource Allocation, Performance, Tasks & Events, Alarms, Permissions, Maps

[mittim12]

1: highlight the cluster in question

2: right click and choose edit settings

3: Browse from the general tab to the VMware HA tab.

4: Click on Advanced Options

This is where you would enter the resolution that applies to you.

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[LE2Strat]

I see what the problem is. It says to turn off HA, if you have HA turned off, the HA tab doesn't exist. So is this an error in the steps on the KB article? Should I leave it turned on while I make the change?

[mittim12]

Good find. I think you would be ok with changing it with HA enabled but to play it on the safe side you should use the reconfigure for VMware HA option when completed. This option can be found by right clicking on the servers that are in the cluster.

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[LE2Strat]

OK. Thanks a lot. I put in the advanced settings and reconfigured HA on the hosts. All are fine except the one I originally had problems with. Anything else to try to fix this problem?

[mittim12]

I saw some information on Duncan's blog the other day so it might be worthwhile to check it out, . From everything I have read the HA checks have gotten a bit more restrictive and now your service consoles subnets have to be uniform accross all host of the cluster.

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[LE2Strat]

I think I have found something a-miss with the networking configuration on this particular ESX server. Apparantly there are two virtual interfaces showing up with the IP addresses list in the error message in my first post when I do an ifconfig at the console. These are no the addresses of any of the virtual switches/network cards showing for the ESX in the Virtual Center console. We are going to have to investigate more in depth tomorrow to see if there is any even traffic on these interfaces. Will post more tomorrow.

[LE2Strat]

OK, here is some more information. Still dont' know what to do. I took over these ESX servers from a guy who left the company 16 months ago. Pretty much we haven't done much with them except install updates on it. So I am not knowledgable with the deep down ESX configuration. But in the first picture attached, you can see my virtual switches for this guy in VC. The Service Console IP is: 10.5.1.72 vSwitch1 is in a different network range and isn't applicable I don't think in this situation. In the 2nd picture attached, you can see the ifconfig output from the ESX server console. It looks like there are two more virtual interfaces defined in the 10.5.1.x subnet (which is what the HA error message is complaining about if you look at the first picture in the original post). What I am thinking is maybe the guy who orignal set this one up was thinking of adding redundant service console IP addresses but never assigned then to anything? I see no reference to 10.5.1.172, or 10.5.1.173 on the ESX server inside of VC. How can I figure out if these guys are being used, and if not, is it safe to remove them, and how?

I will also attach my original picture so you can see the error about HA in VC complaining about this particular IP addresses.

[mittim12 · Accepted solution]

VSWIF signifies a service console so you do have three service consoles on the this host. If you are sure that the 172 and 173 consoles are not in use we can disable and then delete them if you like. You can use the esxcfg-vswif to manage service console's from the command line.

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[LE2Strat]

that worked....thanks!!!!!

[mittim12]

Glad everything is working now.

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