Basic System Administration ESX Server 3.5, ESX Server 3i version 3.5 VirtualCenter 2.5 This document supports the version of each product listed and supports all subsequent versions until the document is replaced by a new edition. To check for more recent editions of this document, see http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.
Basic System Administration You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware Web site at: http://www.vmware.com/support/ The VMware Web site also provides the latest product updates. If you have comments about this documentation, submit your feedback to: docfeedback@vmware.com Copyright © 2006–2010 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. This product is protected by U.S. and international copyright and intellectual property laws.
Contents About This Book 13 Getting Started 1 VMware Infrastructure Components 19 Two Approaches to Managing Virtual Machines 20 Components of VMware Infrastructure 21 VMware Infrastructure Client Interfaces 23 Optional VirtualCenter Components 24 VirtualCenter Modules 25 Managed Components 26 Functional Components 27 Access Privileges Components 28 2 Using this Document 31 Getting Started 32 Virtual Machine Management System Administration 33 Appendixes 34 33 3 Starting and Stopping the VMware Infras
Basic System Administration Using DHCP for the Service Console 41 Connecting to the Service Console 42 Using Commands on the Service Console 42 4 Using the VI Client 45 About the VI Client 45 Menu Bar 47 Pop‐Up Menus 50 Console Menu 50 Navigation Bar 51 Inventory View Tabs 53 Getting Started Tabs 56 Using the Tutorial 57 Toolbar 57 Status Bar, Recent Tasks, and Triggered Alarms 58 Panel Sections 59 Sorting and Filtering Lists 60 Using Custom Attributes 61 Selecting and Viewing Objects 63 Selecting Objects
Contents VMWARE‐ROOT‐MIB 84 VMWARE‐ENV‐MIB 84 VMWARE‐PRODUCTS‐MIB 85 VMWARE‐RESOURCES‐MIB 86 VMWARE‐TC‐MIB 89 VMWARE‐TRAPS‐MIB 90 VMWARE‐VMINFO‐MIB 91 VMWARE‐VMKERNEL‐MIB 93 Using SNMP with VirtualCenter Server 93 Using SNMP with ESX Server 3 95 Configuring the ESX Server Agent from the Service Console 95 Configuring SNMP Trap Destinations for ESX Server 3 96 Using SNMP with ESX Server 3i 97 Configuring SNMP Management Client Software 98 Configuring SNMP Security for ESX Server 3 98 SNMP Diagnostics 98 Usi
Basic System Administration Adding a Host 119 Connecting or Disconnecting a Host 122 Removing a Host from a Cluster 124 Removing a Host from VirtualCenter 125 Host Advanced Configuration Options 127 8 Consolidating the Datacenter 129 About Datacenter Consolidation 130 Consolidation Prerequisites 130 First Time Use 131 About Consolidation Services 131 Specifying Consolidation Settings 132 Discovering Physical Systems 132 Specifying Scope 133 Supplying System‐level Administrator Credentials 134 Viewing Anal
Contents Custom VMware Tools Installation 165 WYSE Multimedia Support 166 Installing WYSE Multimedia Support with VMware Tools 166 Installing WYSE Multimedia Support as part of a VMware Tools Upgrade 166 11 Managing Virtual Machines 169 Changing Virtual Machine Power States 169 Understanding Virtual Machine Power States 170 Understanding Transitional Power States 172 Manually Powering a Virtual Machine On and Off 172 Using Suspend and Resume 173 Scheduling a Power State Change for a Virtual Machine 174 Ad
Basic System Administration Cloning Virtual Machines 210 Creating a Scheduled Task to Clone a Virtual Machine 212 14 Customizing Guest Operating Systems 215 Preparing for Guest Customization 216 Virtual Hardware Requirements for Guest Customization 216 Windows Requirements for Guest Customization 217 Linux Requirements for Guest Customization 218 Customizing a Windows Guest Operating System 218 Customizing a Linux Guest Operating System 222 Using the Customization Specification Wizard 224 Using the Clone
Contents Taking a Snapshot 251 Changing Disk Mode to Exclude Virtual Disks from Snapshots 252 Using the Snapshot Manager 253 Restoring a Snapshot 255 Parent Snapshot 255 Revert to Snapshot Command 256 System Administration 17 Managing Users, Groups, Permissions, and Roles 261 Access Elements 262 Access Rules 262 Hierarchical Inheritance 263 Multiple Permission Settings 263 Tasks Requiring Settings on Multiple Objects 264 Users 265 Groups 267 Permissions 267 Roles 268 Creating Roles 271 Cloning Roles 272 E
Basic System Administration Viewing Charts 290 Saving Chart Data to a File 291 Customizing Chart Views 291 Resource Maps 293 About VMotion Resource Maps 294 Map Elements and Icons 294 Viewing Maps 295 Printing Maps 296 Exporting Maps 296 19 Managing Tasks, Events, and Alarms 297 Managing Tasks 297 Understanding Tasks 298 Viewing and Performing Tasks 298 Managing Scheduled Tasks 301 Rescheduling a Scheduled Task 304 Removing a Scheduled Task 305 Canceling a Task 305 Managing Events 307 Viewing All Event Me
Contents Global 331 Host CIM 333 Host Configuration 333 Host Inventory 335 Host Local Operations 337 Network 337 Performance 338 Permissions 339 Resource 339 Scheduled Task 341 Sessions 341 Tasks 342 Virtual Machine Configuration 342 Virtual Machine Interaction 345 Virtual Machine Inventory 346 Virtual Machine Provisioning 347 Virtual Machine State 348 B Installing the Microsoft Sysprep Tools 351 C Performance Chart Metrics 355 CPU 356 Virtual Machine 357 Host 358 Resource Pool 358 Cluster 359 Disk 359 Ho
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About This Book This manual, Basic System Administration, describes how to start and stop the VMware® Infrastructure Client (VI Client) components, build your VMware Infrastructure environment, monitor and manage the information generated about the components, and set up roles and permissions for users and groups using the VMware Infrastructure environment. This manual also provides information for managing, creating, and configuring virtual machines in your datacenter.
Basic System Administration Intended Audience The information presented in this manual is written for system administrators who are experienced Windows or Linux system administrators and who are familiar with virtual machine technology and datacenter operations. Document Feedback VMware welcomes your suggestions for improving our documentation. If you have comments, send your feedback to: docfeedback@vmware.
About This Book Technical Support and Education Resources The following sections describe the technical support resources available to you. You can access the most current versions of this manual and other books by going to: http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs Online and Telephone Support Use online support to submit technical support requests, view your product and contract information, and register your products. Go to http://www.vmware.com/support.
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Getting Started VMware, Inc.
Basic System Administration 18 VMware, Inc.
1 VMware Infrastructure Components 1 This chapter introduces VMware Infrastructure components and the operations that you use when managing your virtual machines through ESX Server or VirtualCenter Server.
Basic System Administration Two Approaches to Managing Virtual Machines VMware Infrastructure Client (VI Client) is a flexible, configurable solution for managing your virtual machines. There are two primary methods for managing your virtual machines: Directly through an ESX Server host (a single or standalone host) that can manage only those virtual machines, and their resources, installed on it.
Chapter 1 VMware Infrastructure Components Figure 1-2.
Basic System Administration VirtualCenter Server – The working core of VirtualCenter. VirtualCenter Server is a single Windows Service and is installed to run automatically. As a Windows Service, the VirtualCenter Server runs continuously in the background, performing its monitoring and managing activities even when no VI Clients are connected and even if nobody is logged on to the computer where it resides.
Chapter 1 VMware Infrastructure Components VirtualCenter agent – On each managed host, software that collects, communicates, and executes the actions received from the VirtualCenter Server. The VirtualCenter agent is installed the first time any host is added to the VirtualCenter inventory. Host agent – On each managed host, software that collects, communicates, and executes the actions received through the VI Client. It is installed as part of the ESX Server installation.
Basic System Administration Virtual Infrastructure Web Access (VI Web Access) – A Web interface through which you can perform basic virtual machine management and configuration and get console access to virtual machines. It is installed with your ESX Server host. Similar to the VI Client, VI Web Access works directly with a host or through VirtualCenter. See the VI Web Access Administrator’s Guide for additional information.
Chapter 1 VMware Infrastructure Components VMware DRS – A feature that helps improve resource allocation and power consumption across all hosts and resource pools. VMware DRS collects resource usage information for all hosts and virtual machines in the cluster and gives recommendations (or migrates virtual machines) in one of two situations: Initial placement – When you first power on a virtual machine in the cluster, DRS either places the virtual machine or makes a recommendation.
Basic System Administration Managed Components VirtualCenter monitors and manages various components of your virtual and physical infrastructure. Some components are available for organizing potentially hundreds of virtual machines and other objects. They can be renamed to represent their purposes; for example, they can be named after company departments or locations or functions.
Chapter 1 VMware Infrastructure Components Folders – Containers used to group objects and organize them into hierarchies. This is not only convenient but also provides a natural structure upon which to apply permissions. There are three types of folders, each of which can contain other folders (of the same type) and exactly one other type of object.
Basic System Administration Events – A list of all the events that occur in the VirtualCenter environment. Use the Navigation option to display all the events. Use an object‐specific panel to display only the events relative to that object. Admin – A list of environment‐level configuration options. The Admin option provides configuration access to Roles, Sessions, Licenses, Diagnostics, and System Logs. When connected to an ESX Server host, only the Roles option appears.
Chapter 1 VMware Infrastructure Components Individual permissions are assigned through the VI Client by pairing a user and a role and assigning this pair to a VMware Infrastructure Client object: Users and Groups – For VirtualCenter, users and groups are created and maintained through the Windows domain or Active Directory database. Users and groups are registered with VirtualCenter, or created and registered with an ESX Server, through the process that assigns privileges.
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2 Using this Document 2 Basic System Administration describes the tasks you must complete to configure the VMware Infrastructure Client (VI Client) and virtual machines. Before using the information in Basic System Administration, read the Introduction to VMware Infrastructure for an overview of system architecture and the physical and virtual devices that make up a VMware Infrastructure system.
Basic System Administration Getting Started The introductory discussion spans seven chapters and describes the system components, system management tools, and the basic tasks you must complete to configure your VMware Infrastructure Client. The introductory part contains the following chapters: 32 Using this Document – Summarizes the contents of this guide so that you can find the information you need.
Chapter 2 Using this Document Virtual Machine Management The virtual machine management discussion consists of seven chapters that provide a basic understanding of virtual machines and how to manage, configure, and customize them. The virtual machine management part contains the following chapters: Creating Virtual Machines – Describes how to create virtual machines by using the New Virtual Machine wizard and by cloning existing virtual machines.
Basic System Administration Appendixes Basic System Administration provides these four appendixes with specialized information you might find useful when configuring your VMware Infrastructure environment: 34 Defined Privileges – Includes tables with the permissions and roles that are available with the VMware Infrastructure system. Installing the Microsoft Sysprep Tools – Describes how to install the Microsoft Sysprep tools on your VirtualCenter Server machine.
3 Starting and Stopping the VMware Infrastructure Components 3 This chapter includes information on how to start and stop each one of the major VMware Infrastructure components, ESX Server and VirtualCenter Server.
Basic System Administration To reboot or shut down your ESX Server (SEE UPDATE) 1 Start a VMware Infrastructure Client and connect either to a VirtualCenter Server or an ESX Server host. See “Configuring VirtualCenter Communication” on page 76 for information. 2 If connected to a VirtualCenter Server, display the inventory’s Hosts & Clusters panel. Select the appropriate root folder (by default labeled Hosts & Clusters) or subfolder. 3 Select the appropriate ESX Server in the inventory panel.
Chapter 3 Starting and Stopping the VMware Infrastructure Components The following sections discuss starting and stopping elements related to VirtualCenter: “Verifying That VirtualCenter Server Started” on page 37 “Restarting the VirtualCenter Server” on page 37 “Stopping the VirtualCenter Server” on page 38 NOTE When VirtualCenter is installed, all users in the local machine’s Administrators group are assigned the Administrator role with full privileges in the VirtualCenter environment.
Basic System Administration 2 Right‐click VMware Infrastructure Server, choose Start, and wait for startup to complete. 3 Close the Properties dialog box. Stopping the VirtualCenter Server The VirtualCenter Server is a Windows service. You can use the Windows interface to select the service and stop it. You should not have to stop the VirtualCenter Server. It is best for the VirtualCenter Server to have continuous operation.
Chapter 3 Starting and Stopping the VMware Infrastructure Components To start a VI Client session 1 Log in to your Windows system. 2 The first time you start the VI Client, log in as the administrator. 3 a If the managed host is not a domain controller, log in as either \ or , where is a member of the local Administrators group.
Basic System Administration VI Web Access VI Web Access is the Web interface through which you can manage your virtual machines. VI Web Access is installed when you install ESX Server. As with the VI Client, VI Web Access can either be used to connect directly to an ESX Server host or to VirtualCenter. The functionality of VI Web Access is a subset of VI Client functionality. The VI Web Access console provides a remote mouse‐keyboard‐screen (MKS) for the virtual machines.
Chapter 3 Starting and Stopping the VMware Infrastructure Components 3 Type your user name and password, and click Log In. The VI Web Access home page appears. After your user name and password are authorized by VI Web Access, the VI Web Access home page appears. The VI Web Access home page contains: Details about virtual machines on the server to which you are connected.
Basic System Administration If your DNS server cannot map the host’s name to its DHCP‐generated IP address, you must determine the service consoleʹs numeric IP address yourself. Another caution against using DHCP is that the numeric IP address might change as DHCP leases run out or when the system is rebooted. For this reason, VMware does not recommend using DHCP for the service console unless your DNS server can handle the host name translation.
Chapter 3 Starting and Stopping the VMware Infrastructure Components To view the man page for a particular command At the service console command line, type the man command followed by the name of the command for which you want to see information, for example: : man For additional information on commands, see the following resources: For more detailed information on ESX Server 3 related commands, see the ESX Server 3 Configuration Guide.
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4‐ Using the VI Client 4 This chapter describes the specific layout and navigation of the VI Client. It also contains information for configuring admin options, VirtualCenter Server settings, managing host configuration options, and managing modules.
Basic System Administration Figure 4-1.
Chapter 4 Using the VI Client Menu Bar The menu bar provides access to all commands and operates in a manner consistent with other Windows applications. The tables below list all the menu items available from these five menus. The menu items available vary depending upon whether the VI Client is connected to a VirtualCenter Server or an ESX Server host.
Basic System Administration View Menu – Controls which panels are visible. This provides a menu item for selecting one of the navigation buttons. In Table 4‐3, an asterisk (*) indicates items that are available only when connected to VirtualCenter Server. Table 4-3.
Chapter 4 Using the VI Client Table 4-5.
Basic System Administration Help Menu – Displays the online help options, links to the VMware Web site, and product version information. Pop-Up Menus Pop‐up menus provide direct access to many of the menu items. Pop‐up menus are available from most objects in both the inventory panel and the information panel. To view a pop-up menu Right‐click the selected object or press Shift+F10. Console Menu The console of a powered‐on virtual machine is available through a connected server.
Chapter 4 Using the VI Client The pop‐out virtual machine Console has the following menu items. The embedded Console has similar menu items but does not include all of the external Console menu items. Table 4-7.
Basic System Administration To view the Inventory button options Click the arrow on the Inventory navigation bar button to see the inventory group options. Choose View > Inventory > Hosts and Clusters (or Virtual Machines and Templates, Networks, or Datastores. See “Managing the VI Client Inventory” on page 107 for information on the differences between the Inventory button views. Inventory button – A view of all the monitored objects in VirtualCenter.
Chapter 4 Using the VI Client Scheduled Tasks button – A list of activities and a means to schedule those activities. This is available through VirtualCenter Server only. The Scheduled Tasks and Events buttons, available only when connected to a VirtualCenter Server, display a single information panel. Events button – A list of all the events that occur in the VirtualCenter environment. Use the Navigation option to display all the events.
Basic System Administration When an object is removed from the inventory, its log and event history remains until purged through the aging processes. Data is kept for a specified window of time. As the time window shifts, older data is purged. Admin tabs – A subset of the Admin button. The Admin tabs are a set of panels that display configuration‐oriented information pertaining to the serve that the VI Client is connected to. The tab options are Roles and System Logs.
Chapter 4 Using the VI Client Table 4-8. Inventory View Tabs (Continued) Panel Name Client Connected To Button, Tab, or Toggle Description Datacenters VirtualCenter inventory panel tab Lists the datacenters organized under the selected folder. Datastores Virtual Center navigation bar button: Datastores Provides access for managing datastores. Events ESX Server inventory panel tab Lists the event messages that report on the status of the selected object.
Basic System Administration Table 4-8. Inventory View Tabs (Continued) Panel Name Client Connected To Button, Tab, or Toggle Description Scheduled Tasks VirtualCenter navigation bar button Provides access for creating and managing scheduled tasks. Sessions VirtualCenter admin panel tab Lists the VI Client sessions connected to the VirtualCenter Server. Summary ESX Server VirtualCenter inventory panel tab Displays a collection of data for the selected object.
Chapter 4 Using the VI Client To disable Getting Started tabs: Click the Close Tab link to disable Getting Started tabs for the type of object selected. Select Edit > Client Settings and click Remove All Tabs to disable Getting Started tabs for all inventory objects. To restore Getting Started tabs: Select Edit > Client Settings and click Restore All Tabs to restore Getting Started tabs for all inventory objects. Using the Tutorial The tutorial provides an introduction to virtualization.
Basic System Administration To change the look of the toolbar Right‐click the toolbar and choose the appropriate option. Status Bar, Recent Tasks, and Triggered Alarms The status bar appears at the bottom of the window. It contains icons to view triggered alarms or recent tasks. The Tasks button displays any currently running or recently completed active tasks. Included is a progress bar indicating the percentage complete of each task.
Chapter 4 Using the VI Client To hide or view recent tasks or triggered alarms Click the Tasks or Alarms icons in the status bar. Panel Sections In the body of the VI Client page is a panel section. In most views, there is a left and a right panel: the inventory panel and the information panel. These panels can be resized. Inventory panel — Displays a hierarchical list of VMware Infrastructure objects when the Inventory or Maps button is selected from the navigation bar.
Basic System Administration Your choices for the panels are persistent across VI Client sessions. If you run multiple VI Client sessions using different user names, the settings from the last session to quit determine the values for the next VI Client session. Sorting and Filtering Lists Sort any list in the VI Client by clicking the column label heading. A triangle in the column head shows the sort order as ascending or descending. You can also filter a list, sorting and including only selected items.
Chapter 4 Using the VI Client any of these virtual machines changes to something else, they are removed from the list. New virtual machines that are added are also being filtered. Filtering is persistent for the user session. To remove a filter Click Clear, or delete the entry in of the filtering field and click OK. The VI Client displays the full list of available items.
Basic System Administration To add a custom attribute 1 Choose Administration > Custom Attributes. This option is not available when connected only to an ESX Server. 2 Add a custom attribute and click Add. The attribute is added to the list of virtual machine characteristics. 3 To change the attribute name, click in the Name field and type the name you want to assign to the attribute. 4 Enter the values for the custom attribute.
Chapter 4 Using the VI Client To edit custom attributes and annotations for a virtual machine or host 1 Select the virtual machine or host in the inventory. 2 Click the Summary tab for the virtual machine or host. 3 In the Annotations box, click the Edit link. The Edit Custom Attributes dialog box is displayed. 4 To add an attribute: a Click Add. b In the Name text box, type the name of the attribute. c In the Type drop‐down list, select the attribute type: Virtual Machine, Host, or Global.
Basic System Administration Selecting Objects VirtualCenter objects are datacenters, networks, datastores, resource pools, clusters, hosts, and virtual machines. Selecting an object does the following: Allows you to view the status of the object. Enables the menus so you can choose actions to take on the object. To select an object 1 Click the appropriate navigation bar option such as Inventory, Scheduled Tasks, Events, Admin, or Maps.
Chapter 4 Using the VI Client To change the name of an object Select an item and press F2 or click the text of the selected item. Type the new name. Monitoring Objects VI Client monitors VirtualCenter or ESX Server activities. For a host to be monitored by VirtualCenter, it must be registered with the VirtualCenter Server. See “Adding a Host” on page 119 for information on adding objects to your VirtualCenter Server.
Basic System Administration There are three methods for taking actions upon objects in VirtualCenter: Selecting the action from the menu bar at the top of the VirtualCenter window. See “Menu Bar” on page 47. Selecting the action from the object’s pop‐up menu or button. The procedure listed below describes how to choose the action from the object menu or button. Scheduling the action through the Scheduled Tasks panel. See “Managing Scheduled Tasks” on page 301 to information on scheduling tasks.
Chapter 4 Using the VI Client Managing VirtualCenter Modules After the server component of a module is installed and registered with the VirtualCenter server, its client component is available to VirtualCenter clients. Client component installation and enablement are managed through the Plugin Manager dialog box (Plugins > Manage Plugins). The Plugin Manager enables users to do the following: View available modules that are not currently installed on the client. View installed modules.
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5 System Configuration 5 This chapter includes basic system configuration information, such as how to access and configure log files, configure firewalls, and set up SNMP. Some topics have extensive information discussed in separate chapters or books. Where this occurs, references are provided. Some of the topics in this chapter are typically one‐time configuration tasks, though the settings can be altered when needed.
Basic System Administration The ESX Server 3 Configuration Guide describes the tasks you must complete to configure ESX Server 3 host networking, storage, and security. The ESX Server 3i Configuration Guide describes these tasks for an ESX Server 3i host. In addition, these guides provide overviews, recommendations, and conceptual discussions to help you understand these tasks. They explain how to deploy an ESX Server host to meet your needs.
Chapter 5 System Configuration Storage Adapters – Displays storage adapter configuration, such as device type, SAN identification, LUN identification, path, and capacity. The Rescan, Hide LUNs, and Properties dialog boxes allow you to scan for new storage devices or VMFS volumes, hide the LUN information for each selected storage adapter, and view VMotion configuration status. Network Adapters – Displays network adapter information, including device type, speed, vSwitch, and network identification.
Basic System Administration System Resource Allocation – Displays the host’s resource allocation settings. This includes memory and CPU usage. The Edit dialog boxes allow you to configure amounts of CPU shares and memory shares are reserved for host use. The Simple/Advanced toggled dialog box allows you to configure the host’s resource pools CPU and memory reserved shares for selected host functions.
Chapter 5 System Configuration Managing Storage – Explains how to manage existing datastores and the file systems that comprise datastores. Raw Device Mapping – Discusses raw device mapping, how to configure this type of storage, and how to manage raw device mappings by setting up multipathing, failover, and so forth.
Basic System Administration Viewing ESX Server Command Information The ESX Server 3 Configuration Guide and ESX Server 3i Configuration Guide include appendixes that provide specialized information you might find useful when configuring an ESX Server host: ESX Server Technical Support Commands – (In the ESX Server 3 Configuration Guide only) Covers the ESX Server 3 configuration commands that can be issued through a command line shell such as SSH.
Chapter 5 System Configuration Specifies the level of detail for performance statistics collection. Legal values are minimal, typical, and full. The default is full. Specifies how often, in seconds, VirtualCenter checks if any scheduled tasks are ready to be executed or alarms should be triggered. The default is 5 seconds. Verifies that all users and groups known to VirtualCenter currently exist in Windows.
Basic System Administration Web Service – Specify the HTTP and HTTPS ports for the Web Service to use. You can also specify whether you want to maintain compatibility with the VirtualCenter 1.x version of the SDK Web Service. See “Configuring VirtualCenter Communication” on page 76. Timeout Settings – Specify the VI Client connection timeout values for normal operations and long operations.
Chapter 5 System Configuration If a firewall is preventing the VI Client from connecting to the VirtualCenter Server, you have three options for correcting this: Reconfigure your firewall to allow the VI Client to communicate through port 902 on the VirtualCenter Server or ESX Server. See the instructions for your firewall. Use some port other than 902 (and if necessary, configure your firewall to open this other port).
Basic System Administration 4 Enter the port number your VI Client is using to communicate with the VirtualCenter Server. Click the Finish option. Click the Finish button. The port must be less than 64000. 5 To accept the changes, restart the VirtualCenter Server. See “VirtualCenter Server” on page 36. Configuring VirtualCenter Communication over a Web Connection One alternative to connecting the VirtualCenter Server and VI Client on opposite sides of a firewall is through a standard Web connection.
Chapter 5 System Configuration 7 (SEE UPDATE) Set the dll directory. a If needed, create the directory: C:\inetpub\wwwroot\vpx\ b Set the permissions for this directory to allow execution. c Copy the file VmdbHttpProxy.dll to this directory. The file is in \Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\VirtualCenter Server\. 8 Verify that the change has been applied. 9 Stop and restart the default Web site. 10 Each time you update the VirtualCenter version, repeat this process.
Basic System Administration To view the virtual machines on a host Select a host. Click the Virtual Machines tab. This is a list of all the virtual machines running on the selected managed host and the percentage of resources allocated to the virtual machine. To view the configuration of a virtual machine See the chapters in “Virtual Machine Management” on page 115 for complete information about creating virtual machines and editing the configuration of virtual machines.
Chapter 5 System Configuration Advanced – Options under this heading control advanced virtual machine options as follows: General – Contains settings for acceleration, logging, debugging. Also allows you to set advanced virtual machine configuration parameters. CPUID Mask – Contains settings for configuring CPUID masks for increasing VMotion compatibility. Boot Options – Contains options for setting boot delay and forcing the virtual machine to enter BIOS setup on boot.
Basic System Administration To view the users that are currently logged on to a VirtualCenter Server From the VI Client connected to a VirtualCenter Server, click the Admin button in the navigation bar. Then click the Sessions tab. To terminate an active session 1 From the VI Client connected to a VirtualCenter Server, click the Admin button in the navigation bar. Then click the Sessions tab. 2 Right‐click the session to close. Choose Terminate. 3 To confirm the termination, click OK.
Chapter 5 System Configuration About SNMP and VMware Infrastructure Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) allows management programs to monitor and control a variety of networked devices. Managed devices run SNMP agents, which can provide information to a management program in at least one of the following ways: In response to a get operation, which is a specific request for information from the management system.
Basic System Administration Table 5-1. VMware MIB Files (Continued) MIB File Description VMWARE-VMINFO-MIB.mib Defines variables for reporting information about virtual machines. VMWARE-VMKERNEL-MIB.mib Defines variables for reporting information about the state of the VMkernel. VMWARE-ROOT-MIB The VMWARE-ROOT-MIB.mib file defines VMware’s enterprise OID and top level OID assignments. Table 5‐2 lists the identification mapping for VMWARE-ROOT-MIB.mib. Table 5-2.
Chapter 5 System Configuration VMWARE-ENV-MIB.mib defines a single trap, vmwEnvHardwareEvent, which is sent when an ESX Server 3i host has detected a material change in the physical condition of the hardware. Table 5‐3 lists the variables defined in VMWARE-ENV-MIB.mib. Table 5-3. Variable Definitions in VMWARE-ENV-MIB Variable ID Mapping Description vmwEnv vmwProductSpecific 20 Defines the OID root for this MIB module. vmwEnvNumber vmwEnv 1 Number of conceptual rows in vmwEnvTable.
Basic System Administration Table 5-4. Identification Mappings for VMWARE-PRODUCTS-MIB.mib Label Identification Mapping oidESX vmwOID 1 vmwESX vmwProductSpecific 1 vmwEmbeddedESX vmwProductSpecific 2 vmwVC vmwProductSpecific 3 vmwServer vmwProductSpecific 4 VMWARE-RESOURCES-MIB The VMWARE-RESOURCES-MIB.mib file defines variables used to report information on resource usage. Table 5‐5 lists the identification mappings defined in this file. Table 5-5.
Chapter 5 System Configuration Table 5-5. Identification Mappings for VMWARE-RESOURCES-MIB (Continued) Variable ID Mapping Description memCOS vmwMemory 2 Amount of physical memory used by the service console (in KB). This variable does not apply to ESX Server 3i hosts, which do not have a service console. memAvail vmwMemory 3 The amount of free physical memory available on the host. memTable vmwMemory 4 A table of memory usage by each virtual machine.
Basic System Administration Table 5-5. Identification Mappings for VMWARE-RESOURCES-MIB (Continued) Variable ID Mapping Description numWrites hbaEntry 7 Number of writes to this disk since the disk module was loaded. kbWritten hbaEntry 8 Number of kilobytes written to this disk since the disk module was loaded. vmwNetTable vmwResources 4 A table used for reporting network adapter statistics. netEntry vmwNetTable 1 A record for a single network adapter on the virtual machine.
Chapter 5 System Configuration VMWARE-TC-MIB The VMWARE-TC-MIB.mib file provides common textual conventions used by VMware MIB files. VMWARE-TC-MIB.mib defines the following integer values for VmwSubsystemTypes: unknown(1) chassis(2) powerSupply(3) fan(4) cpu(5) memory(6) battery(7) temperatureSensor(8) raidController(9) voltage(10) VMWARE-TC-MIB.
Basic System Administration VMWARE-TRAPS-MIB VMWARE-TRAPS-MIB.mib defines traps used by ESX Server and VirtualCenter. All notifications defined in this file are sent by VMware agents using the SNMPv1 trap format. Table 5‐6 lists the traps. Table 5-6. Traps Defined in VMWARE-TRAPS-MIB Trap Description ESX Server Traps vmPoweredOn This trap is sent when a virtual machine is powered on from a suspended or powered off state. vmPoweredOff This trap is sent when a virtual machine is powered off.
Chapter 5 System Configuration Table 5-7. Variables Defined in VMWARE-TRAPS-MIB (Continued) Variable ID Mapping Description vpxdOldStatus vmwTraps 304 The prior status. vpxdNewStatus vmwTraps 305 The new status. vpxdObjValue vmwTraps 306 The object value. VMWARE-VMINFO-MIB The VMWARE-VMINFO-MIB.mib file defines variables for reporting virtual machine information. Table 5‐8 lists the variables defined in this file. Table 5-8.
Basic System Administration Table 5-8. Identification Mappings for VMWARE-VMINFO-MIB (Continued) 92 Variable ID Mapping Description hbaVmIdx hbaEntry 1 A number corresponding to the virtual machine’s index in the vmTable. hbaIdx hbaEntry 2 The virtual machine’s virtual SCSI adapter number. hbaNum hbaEntry 3 The device number for the HBA. hbaVirtDev hbaEntry 4 The virtual device type for this HBA. hbaTgtTable vmwVirtMachines 3 The table of SCSI targets visible to a virtual machine.
Chapter 5 System Configuration Table 5-8. Identification Mappings for VMWARE-VMINFO-MIB (Continued) Variable ID Mapping Description fdConnected floppyEntry 4 Indicates whether the floppy device is connected. cdromTable vmwVirtMachines 6 A table of CD‐ROM drives visible to a virtual machine. cdromEntry cdromTable 1 A record for a single CD‐ROM drive. cdVmIdx cdromEntry 1 A number corresponding to the virtual machine’s index in the vmTable. cdromIdx cdromEntry 2 Index for the CD‐ROM table.
Basic System Administration Configure the SNMP settings on VirtualCenter Server. Configure your management software to accept traps from VirtualCenter Server. To configure SNMP settings on VirtualCenter Server 1 In the VI Client connected to VirtualCenter Server, choose Administration > VirtualCenter Management Server Configuration. The VirtualCenter Management Server Configuration dialog box is displayed. 2 Select SNMP to display the SNMP page.
Chapter 5 System Configuration Using SNMP with ESX Server 3 ESX Server 3 ships with two SNMP agents. The first is an SNMP agent based on Net‐SNMP with enhancements to support data specific to ESX Server 3. The second agent is identical to that which ships with ESX Server 3i, and can be used and configured in the same manner. See “Using SNMP with ESX Server 3i” on page 97 for more information on this agent. The Net‐SNMP‐based agent is compiled for version 5.0.9.2.30E.19 of Net‐SNMP.
Basic System Administration To start the ESX Server 3 SNMP agent automatically You can set the SNMP daemon to start whenever ESX Server 3 boots by logging in as the root user on the service console and running the chkconfig command: chkconfig snmpd on To start the ESX Server 3 SNMP agent manually If you must start the SNMP agent manually, log in as root in the service console and run the following command: /etc/rc.d/init.d/snmpd start By default, the agent starts and runs as background processes.
Chapter 5 System Configuration 4 Add the following line, replacing public with a community name of your choice: trapcommunity public. Only one instance of this line is allowed. 5 Save your changes. Using SNMP with ESX Server 3i ESX Server 3i ships with an SNMP management agent different from that which runs in the service console of ESX Server 3. Currently, this SNMP agent supports only SNMP traps, not GETS. This agent is off by default.
Basic System Administration Configuring SNMP Management Client Software To use your SNMP management software with the ESX Server 3 or ESX Server 3i agents, take the steps needed to accomplish the following: In your management software, specify the ESX Server machine as an SNMP‐based managed device. Set up appropriate community names in the management software. These must correspond to the values set in the master SNMP agent’s configuration file, for example, rocommunity, trapcommunity, and trapsink.
Chapter 5 System Configuration Table 5-11. Diagnostic Counters from SNMPv2-MIB (Continued) Variable ID Mapping Description snmpInBadCommunityNames snmp 4 The total number of community‐based SNMP messages delivered to the SNMP entity that used an invalid SNMP community name. snmpInBadCommunityUses snmp 5 The total number of community‐based SNMP messages delivered to the SNMP entity that represented an SNMP operation that was not allowed for the community named in the message.
Basic System Administration System Log Files In addition to lists of events and alarms, VMware Infrastructure components generate assorted logs. These logs contain additional information about activities in your VMware Infrastructure environment.
Chapter 5 System Configuration To search and list selected items 1 With the log you want to filter displayed, choose View > Filtering to refer to the filtering options. 2 Enter text into the data field. Click Clear to empty the data field. External System Logs VMware technical support might request several files to help resolve any issues you have with the product. This section describes the types and locations of log files found on various VI3 component systems.
Basic System Administration Table 5-12. ESX Server System Logs (Continued) Component Location VI Client Agent log /var/log/vmware/vpx/vpxa.log Virtual Machine Kernel Core file /root/vmkernel-core. and /root/vmkernel-log. These files are present after you reboot your machine.
Chapter 5 System Configuration Configuring Syslog on ESX Server Hosts All ESX Server hosts run a syslog service (syslogd), which logs messages from the VMkernel and other system components to a file. On an ESX Server 3 host, you can configure syslog behavior by editing the /etc/syslog.conf file.
Basic System Administration 7 In the Syslog.Remote.Port text box, enter the port on the remote host to which syslog data will be forwarded. By default, this option is set to 514, which is the default UDP port used by syslog. Changes to this option take effect only if Syslog.Remote.Hostname is configured. 8 Click OK. Changes to the syslog options take effect immediately. See the ESX Server 3i Configuration Guide for more information on installing and using the Remote CLI.
Chapter 5 System Configuration 3 If the VI Client is connected to an ESX Server, specify the location for the log files. 4 Click OK. A file is created of the selected data and stored at the specified location, using the vm-support script. If no file extension is provided, the default is a text file. The file contains Type, Time, and Description. Collecting Log Files VMware technical support might request several files to help resolve your problem.
Basic System Administration To collect ESX Server VMkernel files If the VMkernel fails, normally an error message appears for a period of time and then the virtual machine reboots. If you specified a VMware core dump partition when you configured your virtual machine, the VMkernel also generates a core dump and error log. More serious problems in the VMkernel can freeze the machine without an error message or core dump.
6 Managing the VI Client Inventory 6 This chapter describes how to manage the objects in your VMware Infrastructure environment. This includes folders, datacenters, clusters, resource pools, networks, and datastores. These objects are used to help manage or organize the monitored and managed hosts and virtual machines. NOTE The views and capabilities displayed vary depending on whether the VI Client is connected to a VirtualCenter Server or an ESX Server host.
Basic System Administration Understanding VI Client Objects There are several ways to get insight into the relationships between different objects: Viewing through the Maps feature – shows the inventory object relationships in graphical form. Clicking an object in the inventory – provides a list of tabbed content that lists related objects. For example, a datastore has a virtual machine tab that lists the virtual machines that use the datastore.
Chapter 6 Managing the VI Client Inventory If your system is licensed, you can enable the following cluster features: VMware HA – Allows VirtualCenter to migrate and restart a virtual machine when a host fails. VMware HA is not listed as an inventory object itself, but it allows the cluster object to be seen.
Basic System Administration Networks – In VirtualCenter Server only. Child object to datacenters. Networks are discovered when hosts are added to the VMware Infrastructure environment. See the ESX Server 3 Configuration Guide or ESX Server 3i Configuration Guide for comprehensive information on configuring ESX Server networks. Datastores – In VirtualCenter Server only. Child object to datacenters. Datastores are discovered when hosts are added to the VMware Infrastructure environment.
Chapter 6 Managing the VI Client Inventory If the object is a cluster, resource pool, host, or virtual machine, a wizard appears. Answer the prompts and click Finish. For additional information, see the appropriate manual: Cluster – See the Resource Management Guide. Resource pool – See the Resource Management Guide. Host – See “Managing Hosts in VirtualCenter” on page 117. Virtual machine – See “Managing Virtual Machines” on page 169.
Basic System Administration 4 Resource pools — Can be moved to other resource pools and folders. Virtual machines — Can be moved to other resource pools, clusters, folders, datacenters, or hosts. When adding to anything other than a host, you must specify a target host. Correct the conditional situation, if needed. When you release the mouse button after dragging the object moves to the new location or an error message indicates what needs to be done to permit the move.
Chapter 6 Managing the VI Client Inventory Upload a file from the client computer to a datastore. Download a file from a datastore to the client computer. Delete or rename files on a datastore. The Datastore Browser operates in a manner similar to file system applications like Windows Explorer. It supports many common file system operations, including copying, cutting, and pasting files. The Datastore Browser does not support drag‐and‐drop operations.
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7 Managing Hosts in VirtualCenter 7 This chapter describes how to manage hosts using VirtualCenter. For information on configuration management of ESX Server hosts, see the ESX Server 3 Configuration Guide or ESX Server 3i Configuration Guide. NOTE The views and capabilities displayed vary depending on whether the VI Client is connected to a VirtualCenter Server or an ESX Server host. Unless indicated, the process, task, or description applies to all kinds of VI Client connections.
Basic System Administration About Hosts A host is a virtualization platform, an ESX Server system, that supports virtual machines. A VirtualCenter managed host is an ESX Server host that is registered with VirtualCenter. The task of managing a host is accomplished through the VMware Infrastructure Client. This VI Client can be connected either directly to an ESX Server host or indirectly to hosts through a connection to a VirtualCenter Server.
Chapter 7 Managing Hosts in VirtualCenter Understanding Host States Actions taken upon a managed host require that the managed host be in a specific state. Whenever an operation is performed on a managed host, the host state changes. While the state is in transition, the state field displays a term that describes the transition. NOTE Disconnecting a managed host differs from removing the managed host from the VirtualCenter Server.
Basic System Administration 4 Enter the managed host connection settings. a Type the name of the managed host in the Host name field. b Enter the Username and Password for a user account that has administrative privileges on the selected managed host. VirtualCenter uses the root account to log in to the system and then creates a special user account. VirtualCenter then uses this account for all future authentication. 120 5 To confirm the Host Summary information, click Next.
Chapter 7 Managing Hosts in VirtualCenter a Specify what should happen to the resource pools on the host. The options are: b Put all the host’s virtual machines into the cluster’s root resource pool. Create new resource pool for the host’s virtual machines. The default resource pool name is derived from the host’s name. Type over the text to supply your own name. Click Next. See the Resource Management Guide for more information on clusters.
Basic System Administration NOTE Newer processors have two CPU cores in each processor package. Systems with dual‐core processors must use ESX Server 2.5.2 or later. VirtualCenter licenses are issued by pairs of processor packages, not by processor cores. Therefore, if the system is using two dual‐core processors or two single‐core processors, the system requires a single 2‐processor VirtualCenter license. Verifies that the managed host version is supported.
Chapter 7 Managing Hosts in VirtualCenter If the managed host is disconnected, the word “disconnected” is appended to the object name in parentheses, and the object is dimmed. All associated virtual machines are similarly dimmed and labeled. VMware, Inc.
Basic System Administration Removing a Host from a Cluster Hosts can be removed from a cluster by selecting them from either the inventory or list views and dragging them to a new location within the inventory (either to a folder as a standalone host or to another cluster). When a host is removed from a cluster, the resources it provides are deducted from the total cluster resources.
Chapter 7 Managing Hosts in VirtualCenter The host icon changes and the term “maintenance mode” is added to the name in parentheses. 5 Move the host: a Select the host icon in the inventory panel, and drag it to the new location. The host can be moved to another cluster or another datacenter. When the new location is selected, a blue box surrounds the cluster or datacenter name. b Release the mouse button. VirtualCenter moves the host to the new location.
Basic System Administration Figure 7-1. Removing a Host 1. Registered host and virtual machines host A VM1 VM1.dsk VM2 VM2.dsk VirtualCenter host B VM3 VM3.dsk VM4.dsk VM4 shared datastore 2. Remove host. Virtual machines stay on the host’s datastore. host A VirtualCenter VM1 VM1.dsk VM2 VM2.dsk host B VM3 VM3.dsk VM4.dsk VM4 shared datastore To remove a managed host 1 From the VI Client connected to a VirtualCenter Server, display the inventory.
Chapter 7 Managing Hosts in VirtualCenter 5 Select the appropriate managed host icon in the inventory panel, and choose Remove from the pop‐up menu. 6 Click Yes to remove the managed host. Click No to keep the managed host. If you click Yes, VirtualCenter removes the managed host and associated virtual machines from the VirtualCenter environment. VirtualCenter then returns all associated processor and migration licenses to available status.
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8 Consolidating the Datacenter 8 This chapter describes the Guided Consolidation feature, a feature recommended for smaller IT environments to get set up and running with VMware Infrastructure. This feature enables you to consolidate physical systems in your datacenter by converting them to virtual machines and importing them into VirtualCenter.
Basic System Administration About Datacenter Consolidation Access the Guided Consolidation feature by clicking the Consolidation navigation button. Guided Consolidation, recommended for smaller IT environments, enables you to streamline your datacenter by moving business applications, spread across multiple disparate physical systems, into a centrally managed virtual environment. In the virtualized environment, the physical systems that run your business applications are transformed into virtual machines.
Chapter 8 Consolidating the Datacenter Consolidation services require local administrator privileges on the VirtualCenter server. Specifically, the collector service must be run with local administrator privileges. Additionally, the account used must also be granted the Logon as service privilege. If Active Directory is deployed on your network, the credentials used to run consolidation services must also have sufficient privileges to query the Active Directory database.
Basic System Administration To view active consolidation services Select Administration > Consolidation Settings > Service Status tab. Specifying Consolidation Settings Consolidation settings enable you to specify the credentials necessary to run Consolidation services and to specify default system‐level credentials (see “Consolidation Prerequisites” on page 130). To specify consolidation settings 1 Select Administration > Consolidation Settings > Credentials tab.
Chapter 8 Consolidating the Datacenter To discover physical systems in your datacenter 1 In the VI Client toolbar, click Consolidation to display the Consolidation view. 2 In the Getting Started tab click Analyze physical computers for consolidation, or in the Analysis tab, click Add to Analysis. The Add to Analysis dialog box is displayed. If this is the first time you are using this feature, see “First Time Use” on page 131. 3 Select the systems you want to analyze.
Basic System Administration Supplying System-level Administrator Credentials VirtualCenter requires administrator access to the systems selected for analysis before it can begin to analyze them. You can specify credentials on a system‐by‐system basis, and you can specify default credentials that VirtualCenter can use when credentials have not been explicitly specified.
Chapter 8 Consolidating the Datacenter Confidence – Indicates the degree to which VirtualCenter is able to gather performance data about the system and how good a candidate the system is based on the available data. CPU Usage – Displays the system’s average CPU usage. Memory Usage – Displays the system’s average memory. After reviewing analysis results, you can proceed by creating a consolidation plan. See “Consolidating Candidates” on page 135.
Basic System Administration To initiate the conversion process 1 In the Analysis tab, select the systems you want to consolidate and click Plan Consolidation. A dialog box is displayed. 2 Select a system. 3 Optionally change the name displayed in the Physical Computer column by double‐clicking it and entering a new name. Your entry will be used as the name for the resultant virtual machine.
Chapter 8 Consolidating the Datacenter Status Initiated by Start Time Complete Time Troubleshooting Consolidation This section discusses the following topics: “VirtualCenter Performance” on page 137 “Analysis Limit” on page 137 VirtualCenter Performance Guided Consolidation caches information about discovered systems, and a very large cache can negatively impact VirtualCenter performance. Do not run Guided Consolidation over more than 20,000 systems without clearing the cache.
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9 Importing and Exporting Virtual Machines 9 The VMware Infrastructure Client (VI Client) allows you to import and export virtual appliances stored in Open Virtual Machine Format (OVF). An appliance is a pre‐configured virtual machine that typically includes a preinstalled guest operating system and other software. Importing virtual appliances allows you to add pre‐configured virtual machines to your Virtual Center or ESX Server inventory.
Basic System Administration About OVF OVF is a file format that allows for exchange of virtual appliances across products and platforms. The OVF format offers the following advantages: OVF files are compressed, allowing for faster downloads. The VI Client validates a OVF file before importing it, and ensures that it is compatible with the intended destination server. If the appliance is incompatible with the selected host, it cannot be imported and an error message is displayed.
Chapter 9 Importing and Exporting Virtual Machines 6 (Optional) Edit the name and select a datacenter. A default name might be provided. You can optionally edit the name. The name can be up to 80 characters long and can contain alphanumeric characters and the underscore ( _ ) and hyphen (‐) characters. It should also be unique within the virtual machine folder. (SEE UPDATE) Names are case‐sensitive. 7 Click Next.
Basic System Administration 6 If you want to create a new folder for the appliance, select the Create folder for virtual machine check box. 7 (Optional) Enter a description of the virtual machine in the Description text box. By default, the text from the Notes pane on the virtual machine’s Summary tab appears in this text box. 8 Click OK. The progress of the export task is displayed in the VI Client Status panel. 142 VMware, Inc.
10 Creating Virtual Machines 10 The VMware Infrastructure Client (VI Client) enables you to deploy and manage virtual machines. The VI Client provides several ways to create virtual machines: Importing – You can import a virtual machine stored in OVF format. See Chapter 9, “Importing and Exporting Virtual Machines,” on page 139. Consolidate – You can consolidate existing physical systems by converting them to virtual machines and importing those into VirtualCenter.
Basic System Administration This chapter contains the following topics: “Using the New Virtual Machine Wizard” on page 144 “Installing a Guest Operating System” on page 154 “Installing and Upgrading VMware Tools” on page 155 You must have the appropriate privileges before you can create virtual machines. Consult your VirtualCenter administrator if you are not sure whether you have the necessary privileges.
Chapter 10 Creating Virtual Machines To open the Virtual Machine Properties dialog box from the New Virtual Machine wizard, select the Edit the virtual machine settings before completion check box and click Next. For information about the Virtual Machine Properties dialog box, see “Virtual Machine Properties Editor” on page 179. Creating Typical Virtual Machines The typical path is abbreviated because some assumptions are made about the virtual machine configuration.
Basic System Administration 8 Select a datastore in which to store the virtual machine files, and click Next. You should choose a datastore large enough to hold the virtual machine and all of its virtual disk files. For ESX Server hosts, the Datastore is configured on that host, including VMFS, NAS, and iSCSI volumes.
Chapter 10 Creating Virtual Machines The colored triangles along the slider represent these amounts as indicated by the key on the wizard. You can also drag the slider or select the number using the up and down arrows. The maximum for best performance represents the threshold above which the host’s physical memory is insufficient to run the virtual machine at full speed. This value fluctuates as conditions on the host change (as virtual machines are powered on or off, for example). 12 Click Next.
Basic System Administration 17 On the Ready to Complete New Virtual Machine page, review your selections and specify the following options: Edit the virtual machine settings before submitting the creation task Check this option if you want to open the Virtual Machine Properties dialog box to set further configuration options, such as adding additional disks (see “Performing Additional Configuration Before Completion” on page 144).
Chapter 10 Creating Virtual Machines 7 If the resource pool option is available, expand the tree until you locate the resource pool in which you want to run the virtual machine, highlight it, and click Next. Resource pools allow you to manage your computing resources within a host or hosts by setting them up in a meaningful hierarchy. Virtual machines and child resource pools share the resources of the parent resource pool. For more information on resource pools, see the Resource Management Guide.
Basic System Administration 14 Click Next. 15 Choose the networks to connect to and their options by selecting how many NICs you want to connect to, the names of the networks, and whether you want to connect to them at power on. If you do not want the virtual network adapter to connect when the virtual machine is powered on, deselect the Connect at Power On check box. The Network drop‐down menu lists the port groups that are configured for virtual machine use on the host.
Chapter 10 Creating Virtual Machines Mapping a SAN LUN gives your virtual machine direct access to that SAN, allowing you to use existing SAN commands to manage storage for the disk. You also have the option of creating your virtual machine without a disk. See the SAN Configuration Guide for details about SAN LUN configuration. 19 If you choose to create a new virtual disk, go to Step 19. If you choose to use an existing virtual disk, go to Step 24.
Basic System Administration 23 On the Ready to Complete New Virtual Machine page, review your selections and specify the following options: Edit the virtual machine settings before submitting the creation task Check this option if you want to open the Virtual Machine Properties dialog box to set further configuration options, such as adding additional disks (see “Performing Additional Configuration Before Completion” on page 144).
Chapter 10 Creating Virtual Machines Mapping a SAN LUN For virtual machines running on an ESX Server host, instead of storing virtual machine data in a virtual disk file, you can store the data directly on a SAN LUN. This is useful if you are running applications in your virtual machines that must know the physical characteristics of the storage device. When you map a LUN to a VMFS volume, VirtualCenter creates a file that points to the raw LUN.
Basic System Administration 8 On the Specify Advanced Options page, you can change the virtual device node and click Next. 9 On the Ready to Complete New Virtual Machine page, review your selections. Click Finish to complete your virtual machine, or optionally perform additional configuration (see “Performing Additional Configuration Before Completion” on page 144). Installing a Guest Operating System A new virtual machine is like a physical computer with a blank hard disk.
Chapter 10 Creating Virtual Machines 3 To power on your virtual machine, click the Power On button. When a virtual machine is powered on, a green right arrow is displayed next to the virtual machine icon in the inventory list, and the options in the Commands panel change as shown in the following image: 4 Follow the instructions provided by the operating system vendor. To customize a guest operating system, see “Customizing Guest Operating Systems” on page 215.
Basic System Administration A set of scripts that helps you to automate guest operating system operations. The scripts run when the virtual machine’s power state changes if you configure them to do so. The VMware user process (VMwareUser.exe on Windows guests or vmware-user on Linux and Solaris guests), which enables you to copy and paste text between the guest and managed host operating systems.
Chapter 10 Creating Virtual Machines The installers for VMware Tools for Windows, Linux, Solaris, and NetWare guest operating systems are built into ESX Server as ISO image files. An ISO image file looks like a CD‐ROM to your guest operating system and even appears as a CD‐ROM disc in Windows Explorer. You do not use an actual CD‐ROM disc to install VMware Tools, nor do you need to download the CD‐ROM image or burn a physical CD‐ROM of this image file.
Basic System Administration To install or upgrade VMware Tools on a Linux guest from X with the RPM installer 1 Open a console to the virtual machine. 2 Power on the virtual machine. 3 After the guest operating system starts, right‐click the virtual machine and choose Install VMware Tools. The remaining steps take place inside the virtual machine.
Chapter 10 Creating Virtual Machines To install or upgrade VMware Tools on a Linux guest with the tar installer or RPM installer 1 Open a console to the virtual machine. 2 Power on the virtual machine. 3 After the guest operating system starts, right‐click the virtual machine and choose Install VMware Tools. The remaining steps take place inside the virtual machine. 4 As root (su -), mount the VMware Tools virtual CD‐ROM image and change to a working directory (for example, /tmp), as follows.
Basic System Administration 5 Uncompress the installer and unmount the CD‐ROM image. Depending on whether you are using the tar installer or the RPM installer, do one of the following: For the tar installer, at the command prompt, enter: tar zxpf /mnt/cdrom/VMwareTools-5.0.0-.tar.gz umount /dev/cdrom Where is the build/revision number of the Workstation release. For the RPM installer, at the command prompt, enter: rpm -Uhv /mnt/cdrom/VMwareTools-5.0.0-.i386.
Chapter 10 Creating Virtual Machines To install or upgrade VMware Tools on a Solaris guest 1 Open a console to the virtual machine. 2 Power on the virtual machine. 3 After the guest operating system starts, right‐click the virtual machine and choose Install VMware Tools. The remaining steps take place inside the virtual machine. 4 Log in as root (su -) and, if necessary, mount the VMware Tools virtual CD‐ROM image, as follows.
Basic System Administration To install VMware Tools in a NetWare virtual machine 1 Open a console to the virtual machine. 2 Power on the virtual machine. 3 After the guest operating system starts, right‐click the virtual machine and choose Install VMware Tools. The remaining steps take place inside the virtual machine. 4 Load the CD‐ROM driver so the CD‐ROM device mounts the ISO image as a volume. Do one of the following: In the system console for a NetWare 6.
Chapter 10 Creating Virtual Machines To display the VMware Tools Properties dialog box on Windows guests Open a console to the virtual machine and double‐click the VMware Tools icon in the system tray from inside the guest operating system. To display the VMware Tools Properties dialog box on Linux and Solaris guests Open a console to the virtual machine and then open a terminal window and enter the command: /usr/bin/vmware-toolbox & To display the VMware Tools dialog box on NetWare 5.
Basic System Administration 7 (Optional) Enter command‐line options in the Advanced field (see “Command‐Line Options” on page 164). 8 Click OK. VMware Tools can also be manually upgraded from within the virtual machine’s operating system by opening the VMware Tools Properties dialog box (double‐click the icon in the system tray) and clicking Upgrade in the Options tab. Table 10-1.
Chapter 10 Creating Virtual Machines To configure virtual machines to automatically upgrade VMware Tools: 1 Open the Virtual Machine Properties dialog box for the virtual machine you want to upgrade. 2 Select Options tab > VMware Tools. 3 Select the Check and upgrade Tools before each power‐on option under Automatic VMware Tools Upgrade. 4 Click OK. The next time the virtual machine is powered on, it checks the ESX Server host for a newer version of VMware Tools.
Basic System Administration 7 Click the red X next to each optional feature you want to install, and select This feature will be installed on local hard drive. 8 Click Next. A progress bar is displayed showing the progress of the installation. 9 Click Finish. WYSE Multimedia Support If you are using a WYSE thin client device to conduct remote desktop sessions using VMware VDI, installing WYSE Multimedia Support in the guest operating system improves the performance of streaming video.
Chapter 10 Creating Virtual Machines 3 In the list of programs, select VMware Tools and click Change. The VMware Tools Installation wizard is displayed. 4 Click Next. The Program Maintenance page is displayed. 5 Select Modify and click Next. The Custom Setup page is displayed. 6 Click the red X next to WYSE Multimedia Redirector and select This feature will be installed on local hard drive. 7 Click Next. 8 Click Modify to begin the installation.
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11 Managing Virtual Machines 11 This chapter describes virtual machine tasks, including adding and removing virtual machines and powering virtual machines on and off. NOTE The views and capabilities displayed vary depending on whether the VI Client is connected to a VirtualCenter Server or an ESX Server host. Unless indicated, the process, task, or description applies to both kinds of VI Client connections.
Basic System Administration There are also several access points for making changes to these power states. You can change a power state change by: Selecting the virtual machine and the power option from the Inventory > Virtual Machine menu. Selecting Power on from the Commands area. Selecting the power option from the pop‐up menu. Scheduling a power state change through the Scheduled Tasks button in the navigation bar.
Chapter 11 Managing Virtual Machines The following power options perform extra functions in addition to the basic virtual machine power operations. VMware Tools must be installed in the virtual machine to perform these functions: Shut down guest – Shuts down the guest operating system gracefully. Standby guest – Suspends the guest operating system and run VMware tools suspend scripts. Restart guest – Shuts down and restarts the guest operating system without powering off the virtual machine.
Basic System Administration Understanding Transitional Power States Actions taken on a virtual machine require that the virtual machine be in specific power states. Whenever a power operation is performed on a virtual machine, the virtual machine power state changes and all other commands are locked out until the first command is completed. The figure below illustrates states, transitions, and state‐changing commands for virtual machines. Figure 11-1.
Chapter 11 Managing Virtual Machines Using Suspend and Resume The suspend and resume feature is most useful when you want to save the current state of your virtual machine and pick up work later with the virtual machine in the same state. After you resume and do additional work in the virtual machine, you cannot return to the state the virtual machine was in at the time you suspended. To preserve the state of the virtual machine so you can return to the same state repeatedly, take a snapshot.
Basic System Administration Scheduling a Power State Change for a Virtual Machine Depending upon your permissions, you can create a scheduled task to change the power state of the virtual machine in the VI Client. To create a scheduled task that changes the power state 1 Click the Scheduled Tasks button in the navigation bar. The list of scheduled tasks appears. 2 Right‐click and choose New Scheduled Task, or choose File > New > Scheduled Task. The Select a Task to Schedule window appears.
Chapter 11 Managing Virtual Machines Adding and Removing Virtual Machines Virtual machines can be added to the VirtualCenter Server inventory through their managed hosts. They can be removed from VirtualCenter Server control and optionally from their managed host’s storage.
Basic System Administration 6 To confirm that you want to remove the virtual machine from the inventory, click OK. VirtualCenter Server removes references to the virtual machine and no longer tracks its condition. NOTE The Remove from Inventory command removes the virtual machine only from VirtualCenter inventory. It does not remove the virtual machine from its datastore.
Chapter 11 Managing Virtual Machines Starting and Shutting Down Virtual Machines You can configure your virtual machine to start up and shut down automatically, or you can disable this function. You can also set the default timing as well as the startup order for specified virtual machines when the system host starts. To configure virtual machine startup and shutdown 1 Select the Inventory button. 2 Select a host machine. 3 Click the Configuration tab. Configuration information for the host appears.
Basic System Administration 5 Click Properties. The Virtual Machine Startup and Shutdown dialog box appears. 6 If you want to allow virtual machines to start and stop automatically, click the check box at the top of the dialog box and enter a time in seconds for the default startup delay and the default shutdown delay. 7 If you want the operating system to start after a brief delay, specify a delay time in the Default Startup Delay box.
12 Configuring Virtual Machines 12 This chapter describes the Virtual Machine Properties editor and the Add Hardware wizard. These allow you to edit and configure your virtual machines. It also discusses advanced virtual machine configuration options. These activities can be performed during the virtual machine creation process or after you create the virtual machine and install the guest operating system.
Basic System Administration 3 (Optional) Power off the virtual machine. Most of the properties of a virtual machine can be changed only while it is powered off, but you can open the properties editor regardless of the power state. Many of the controls are read‐only if the virtual machine is not powered off. 4 To display the Virtual Machine Properties dialog box, click the Edit Settings link in the Commands panel. The Virtual Machine Properties dialog box is displayed.
Chapter 12 Configuring Virtual Machines 4 If you do not want the CD‐ROM drive connected when the virtual machine starts, deselect Connect at power on. 5 Select the Use physical drive radio button to connect the virtual machine’s drive to a physical drive on the host computer. You can access a client CD‐ROM device or host CD‐ROM device. There are two types of DVD/CD‐ROM access: a Use Pass‐through (raw) mode only for remote client device access. b Use ATAPI emulation to access a host CD‐ROM device.
Basic System Administration To change the SCSI device configuration 1 Click the Hardware tab. 2 Select the SCSI device in the hardware list. 3 To connect this virtual machine to the server’s SCSI device when the virtual machine is powered on, select Connect at power on. 4 Under Connection, select the physical device you want to use. Under Virtual device node, select the virtual device node where you want this device to appear in the virtual machine.
Chapter 12 Configuring Virtual Machines To change the virtual Ethernet adapter (NIC) configuration 1 Click the Hardware tab. 2 Click the appropriate NIC in the Hardware list. 3 To connect the virtual NIC when the virtual machine is powered on, select Connect at power on. 4 Under Network connection, use the drop‐down menu to choose the network label you want the virtual machine to use. 5 Click OK to save your changes and close the dialog box.
Basic System Administration You can also specify whether the SCSI bus is shared. Depending on the type of sharing, virtual machines can access the same virtual disk simultaneously on the same server or any server. 1 Click the Hardware tab. 2 Click the appropriate SCSI Controller in the Device list. 3 Select the SCSI controller type in the list. CAUTION Changing the SCSI controller type might result in a virtual machine boot failure.
Chapter 12 Configuring Virtual Machines 6 7 If you are connecting two virtual machines, you must configure a serial port as a named pipe in two virtual machines: a server virtual machine and a client virtual machine. a For the server virtual machine, select Server in the Near end list. b For the client virtual machine, select Client in the Near end list. c Select A virtual machine in the Far end list.
Basic System Administration To change the virtual processor or CPU configuration If the virtual machine is on an ESX Server host and you have Virtual SMP for ESX Server, which supports symetric multiprocessors (SMP), you can configure a virtual machine to have up to four virtual processors or CPUs. Virtual SMP can use two‐way or four‐way SMP.
Chapter 12 Configuring Virtual Machines Advanced > Fibre Channel NPIV — Virtual node and port World Wide Names (WWNs). Advanced > Virtualized MMU – Settings for enabling Hardware Page Table Virtualization. Advanced > Swapfile Location — Swapfile location. To change general settings 1 Click the Options tab. 2 Select General Options in the Settings list. The virtual machine name is displayed in the Virtual machine name field.
Basic System Administration 6 (Optional) Configure the guest operating system to synchronize time with the host by selecting the Synchronize guest time with host option. 7 Click OK to save your changes and close the dialog box. To change power management settings 1 Click the Options tab. 2 Select Power Management in the Settings list. Guest Power Management allows you to determine how the virtual machine responds when the guest operating system is placed on standby.
Chapter 12 Configuring Virtual Machines encountering problems, deselect Disable acceleration. You might then be able to run the program with acceleration. 3 b To enable logging mode, select the Enable logging check box. c To enable debugging mode, select an option from the Debugging and Statistics section. Debugging information and statistics can be helpful to VMware technical support in resolving issues. d To set advanced configuration parameters, click Configuration Parameters.
Basic System Administration those versions of the Linux guest operating system which support VMI paravirtualization. NOTE Enabling paravirtualization utilizes one of the virtual machine’s six virtual PCI slots. Also, enabling paravirtualization can limit how and where the virtual machine can be migrated. Consider the following before enabling this feature: 6 These hosts support VMI paravirtualization: ESX Server 3.5 and greater, ESX Server 3i version 3.5 and greater, and Workstation 6.0 and greater.
Chapter 12 Configuring Virtual Machines LUN using their NPIV WWNs. Ensure that access is provided to both the host and the virtual machines. The physical HBAs on the ESX Server host must support NPIV. If the physical HBAs do not support NPIV, the virtual machines running on that host will fall back to using the WWNs of the host’s physical HBAs for LUN access. Each virtual machine can have up to 4 virtual ports.
Basic System Administration 8 Select Advanced > Swapfile Location. Choose one of the following options: Default — Store the virtual machine swapfile at the default location defined by the host or cluster swapfile settings. See “Host Configuration for ESX Server and VirtualCenter” on page 69 for more information on host swapfile settings. See the Resource Management Guide for more information on cluster settings.
Chapter 12 Configuring Virtual Machines Reservation – Guaranteed CPU allocation for this virtual machine. Limit – Upper limit for this virtual machine’s CPU allocation. Select Unlimited to specify no upper limit. For more information on share values, see the Resource Management Guide. 4 Click OK to save your changes. The Virtual Machine Properties dialog box closes.
Basic System Administration 3 4 Choose Hyperthreading Sharing Mode from the drop‐down menu. The options are: Any – (default) The virtual CPUs of this virtual machine can freely share cores with other virtual CPUs of this or other virtual machines. None – The virtual CPUs of this virtual machine have exclusive use of a processor core whenever they are scheduled to it. The other hyperthread of the core is halted while this virtual machine is using the core.
Chapter 12 Configuring Virtual Machines 3 From the drop‐down menu in the Resource allocation panel, choose a relative metric for allocating memory to all virtual machines. Symbolic values Low, Normal, High, and Custom are compared to the sum of all shares of all virtual machines on the server and, on an ESX Server 3 host, the service console. Share allocation symbolic values can be used to configure their conversion into numeric values.
Basic System Administration Disk Resources The Disk Resources panel lets you allocate host disk I/O bandwidth to the virtual hard disks of this virtual machine. Disk I/O is a host‐centric resource and cannot be pooled across a cluster. However, CPU and memory resources are much more likely to constrain virtual machine performance than disk resources. To change disk settings 1 Click the Resources tab. 2 Select Disk in the Settings list.
Chapter 12 Configuring Virtual Machines To add a serial port 1 Start the Add Hardware wizard. 2 Select Serial Port, and click Next. 3 Select the type of media you want the virtual port to access: use a physical serial port on the host, output to a file, or connect to a named pipe. 4 Click Next. 5 If you selected Use physical serial port on the host, use the drop‐down menu to choose the port on the host computer that you want to use for this serial connection.
Basic System Administration To add a parallel port 1 Start the Add Hardware wizard. 2 Select Parallel Port, and click Next. 3 Select physical parallel port on the host or Output to file. 4 Click Next. 5 If you selected Use physical parallel port on the host, choose the port from the drop‐down menu. If you selected Output to file, browse to the location of the file.
Chapter 12 Configuring Virtual Machines To add a floppy drive 1 Start the Add Hardware wizard. 2 Select Floppy Drive, and click Next. 3 Select the type of floppy media to use: A physical floppy drive to give the guest access to the floppy on the host. A floppy image, which is a file on the host that stores data in the same format as a physical floppy disk. A blank floppy image to create and use a blank floppy image. 4 Click Next.
Basic System Administration To add a hard disk 1 Start the Add Hardware wizard. 2 Select Hard Disk, and click Next. 3 Select the type of storage for the virtual machine’s disk, and click Next. You can store virtual machine data in a new virtual disk, an existing virtual disk, or a Mapped SAN LUN. A virtual disk, which appears as a single hard disk to the guest operating system, is composed of one or more files on the host file system.
Chapter 12 Configuring Virtual Machines 9 Click Next. 10 Review the information, and click Finish. To add a SCSI device 1 Start the Add Hardware wizard. 2 Select SCSI Device, and click Next. 3 Under Connection, use the drop‐down menu to choose the physical device you want to use. 4 To connect this virtual machine to the server’s SCSI device when the virtual machine is powered on, select Connect at power on.
Basic System Administration Upgrading Virtual Hardware To allow legacy virtual machines to take full advantage of the capabilities offered by ESX Server 3.x, you must upgrade their virtual hardware to the current version. See “Legacy Virtual Machines” on page 201 for more information. You can determine whether a virtual machine needs to be upgraded by determining its hardware version. To determine the virtual hardware version for a virtual machine 1 Select the virtual machine in the inventory.
13 Working with Templates and Clones 13 This chapter describes creating templates and cloning virtual machines.
Basic System Administration templates. Virtual machines can be transformed into templates without requiring a full copy of the virtual machine files and the creation of a new object. You can use templates to create new virtual machines by deploying the template as a virtual machine. When complete, the deployed virtual machine is added to the folder chosen by the user when the template was created. To view templates, select the datacenter and select the Virtual Machines tab.
Chapter 13 Working with Templates and Clones To convert an existing virtual machine to a template 1 Start the VI Client and log in to the VirtualCenter Server. 2 Click the Inventory button in the navigation bar. The inventory panel and the information panel display information about managed datacenters, hosts, resource pools, and virtual machines. The inventory toolbar appears. 3 Expand the inventory as needed, and select a virtual machine.
Basic System Administration To clone an existing template 1 Start the VI client, and log in to the VirtualCenter Server. 2 Click the Inventory button in the navigation bar. 3 Select the datacenter that contains the template. The virtual machines and templates associated with the datacenter appear in the datacenter panel. 4 Right‐click the template and choose Clone. The Clone Template wizard appears. 5 Give the new template a unique name and description, and click Next.
Chapter 13 Working with Templates and Clones 3 Convert the virtual machine to a template. You can directly change the name of a template using the procedure below. To change the name of a template 1 From the VirtualCenter client, click the Inventory button. 2 Select the datacenter that contains the template. 3 Select the Virtual Machines tab. 4 Click on the template. Click the template again. 5 The name of the virtual machine is now an editable field.
Basic System Administration 5 Give the new virtual machine a name, select a location, and click Next. The name can be up to 80 characters long and can contain alphanumeric characters and the underscore ( _ ) and hyphen (‐) characters. It should also be unique across all templates and virtual machines in the datacenter. Names are case‐insensitive: the name ʺmy_vmʺ is identical to ʺMy_Vmʺ. 6 On the Host / Cluster page, select the host on which you want to store the template and click Next.
Chapter 13 Working with Templates and Clones To convert a template to a virtual machine 1 Start VirtualCenter client, and log in to the VirtualCenter Server. 2 Click the Inventory button in the navigation bar. The inventory panel and the information panel display information about managed datacenters, hosts, resource pools, and virtual machines. The inventory toolbar appears. 3 Select the datacenter that contains the template.
Basic System Administration 4 Right‐click the template, and choose Delete from Disk. 5 Click OK to confirm removing the template from the VirtualCenter database. The template is deleted from the disk and cannot be recovered. Regaining Templates Templates are associated with hosts, and the only way to regain or register templates after removing and adding a host is to use the datastore browser to locate the template. Then use the inventory wizard to name and register the .
Chapter 13 Working with Templates and Clones To clone a virtual machine 1 Start VirtualCenter and log in to the VirtualCenter Server. 2 From the inventory panel, click the Inventory button in the navigation bar. The inventory panel and the information panel display the datastores, resource pools, hosts, and virtual machine information. The inventory toolbar appears. 3 Expand the inventory as needed, and click the source virtual machine. 4 Power off the virtual machine.
Basic System Administration Creating a Scheduled Task to Clone a Virtual Machine This procedure creates a scheduled task to clone a virtual machine. To create a scheduled task to clone a virtual machine 1 Click the Scheduled Tasks button in the navigation bar. The list of scheduled tasks appears. 2 Choose File > New > Scheduled Task, or click the New button. The Select a Task to Schedule dialog box appears. 3 Use the drop‐down menu to choose Clone a virtual machine, and click OK.
Chapter 13 Working with Templates and Clones 8 Select the radio button for Now or Later. If later, enter the time and date when you want the virtual machine to be deployed, and click Next. To see the calendar, click Later, and click the drop‐down arrow to select a date from the displayed calendar. A red circle indicates today’s date, and a dark circle indicates the scheduled date. 9 Review the information on the Ready to Complete New Virtual Machine page, and click Finish.
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14 Customizing Guest Operating Systems 14 Now that you have created and configured a virtual machine, you have the option to customize the identity and network settings of your virtual machine’s guest operating system so that it is ready to begin work immediately in your target environment. You can save your virtual machine settings in a specification that you can recall later and reuse. You do this using the customization wizard.
Basic System Administration Preparing for Guest Customization When you deploy a new virtual machine from a template or clone an existing virtual machine, you have the opportunity to customize the new guest operating system. The Guest Customization wizard guides you through the configuration options. Before you run the Guest Customization wizard, if you intend to perform a guest customization, do the following: Verify that your system meets the guest customization requirements.
Chapter 14 Customizing Guest Operating Systems For Windows guest operating systems: If the virtual machine resides on a host running ESX Server 3.0.x or earlier, both the active partition (the partition containing boot.ini) and the system partition (the partition containing the system directory, for example, \WINNT or \WINDOWS), are on the same virtual disk and attached the SCSI 0:0 virtual SCSI node. NOTE It is not a requirement that active and system partitions be the same partition.
Basic System Administration The Microsoft Sysprep tools are installed on the VirtualCenter server. If the virtual machine resides on a host running ESX Server 3.0.x or earlier, both the active partition (the partition containing boot.ini) and the system partition (the partition containing the system directory, for example, \WINNT or \WINDOWS), must be on the same virtual disk. Microsoft Sysprep tools have certain requirements and impose certain restrictions on the source machine.
Chapter 14 Customizing Guest Operating Systems To customize a Windows guest operating system The Guest Customization wizard starts indirectly from the Deploy Template wizard or Clone Virtual Machine wizard, or you can start the wizard by selecting a virtual machine and then selecting Edit > Customization Specifications. 1 Start the Guest Customization wizard. 2 On the Registration Information page, enter the virtual machine owner’s name and organization. Click Next.
Basic System Administration 4 On the Windows License page, specify the Windows license key for the new guest operating system. Click Next. If you are customizing a Windows Server operating system, select the appropriate license mode, Per seat or Per server. If you select Per server, specify the maximum number of simultaneous connections you want the server to accept. 5 On the Administrator Password page, type and confirm the administrator password for the virtual machine. Click Next.
Chapter 14 Customizing Guest Operating Systems 9 If typical VirtualCenter configuration is not appropriate for your environment, select Custom settings, select the network interface card (NIC) to customize and click Customize to make additional specifications. The Network Properties dialog box opens. Use the Network Properties dialog box to perform these steps: VMware, Inc.
Basic System Administration 10 On the Workgroup or Domain page, complete one of these steps: To join a workgroup, select Workgroup, type the workgroup name, and click Next. To join a domain, select Windows Server Domain, specify the user name of a user who can add computers to the Windows domain, and specify the user’s password. Click Next. 11 On the Operating System Options page, select Generate New Security ID (SID) to generate a new security ID for the virtual machine. 12 Click Next.
Chapter 14 Customizing Guest Operating Systems The computer name is the name given to the particular instance of a guest operating system. The operating system uses this name to identify itself on the network. On Linux systems, it is called the host name. This is not the same as the VMware VI3 virtual machine name that was declared earlier in the Deploy Template wizard or Clone Virtual Machine wizard.
Basic System Administration 6 On the DNS and Domain settings page, enter the IP addresses for the DNS servers. Specify the DNS connections by entering DNS suffixes. For each DNS suffix you enter, click Add. If you are adding multiple DNS connections, use Move Up and Move Down to specify the order in which a virtual machine is to use the connections. 7 (Optional) On the Save Specification page, save the customized options as an .
Chapter 14 Customizing Guest Operating Systems 2 To create a new specification, click the New icon. The Guest Customization wizard appears. 3 Choose the target virtual machine operating system from the drop‐down menu. 4 Select the check box if you want to use a custom Sysprep answer file. 5 Type a name for the new customization specification and an optional description. Click Next. 6 Type the owner’s name and organization to register this copy of the guest operating system. Click Next.
Basic System Administration 8 Click Next. The operating system License page appears. 9 In the License page, type the product ID if the virtual machine requires licensing information. Some virtual machines might not require licensing information. In that case, leave these fields blank. 10 Select the check box for Include Server License Information if you are customizing a server guest operating system.
Chapter 14 Customizing Guest Operating Systems In the latter case, you must also enter a user name and password for a user account that has permission to add a computer to the specified domain. 21 Click Next. 22 In the Operating System Options page, select Generate New Security ID (SID) to generate a new security identifier. 23 Click Next. 24 Review the information you have entered, and click Finish.
Basic System Administration 26 Click OK to close the dialog box. 27 Click the Edit icon to redisplay the Guest Customization wizard, and change the information for the specification. 28 Click the Copy icon to create a copy of the specification. 29 To delete a specification, select it and click the Delete icon. The specification is deleted from the specification manager.
Chapter 14 Customizing Guest Operating Systems Completing a Guest Operating System Customization The final customization steps occur when the new virtual machine boots for the first time. As part of this process, the machine might reboot a number of times. The customization process does not complete until the guest operating system boots, runs the finalization scripts, and reaches the log in page.
Basic System Administration If any of the information required in the configuration finalization process is not correct, the guest operating system pauses when the new virtual machine boots and waits for you to enter the correct information. Incorrect information might include: The computer name is not unique. The computer name must be unique for the network on which the machine is deployed. The product key is incorrect. The user specified to join a domain that does not exist.
15 Migrating Virtual Machines 15 This chapter describes the process of migrating—moving a virtual machine from one host to another. This chapter contains the following topics: “About Migration” on page 232 “Migration” on page 233 “Migration with VMotion” on page 233 “Migration Wizard” on page 241 “Migration with Storage VMotion” on page 245 The user initiating the migration must have appropriate permission to perform migration with VMotion on both machines.
Basic System Administration About Migration Migration is the process of moving a virtual machine from one host to another. If the virtual machine is powered‐off or suspended, this process is called migration. If the virtual machine is powered‐on, this process is called migration with VMotion. Migration with VMotion, designed to be used between compatible systems, allows you to migrate virtual machines with no downtime but requires VMotion licensing and specific configuration. In VirtualCenter 2.
Chapter 15 Migrating Virtual Machines Migration The virtual machine you want to migrate must be powered off or suspended prior to beginning the migration process. With a migration, you also have the option of moving the associated disks from one datastore to another. (To move the disks of a powered‐on virtual machine from one datastore to another, use Storage VMotion.
Basic System Administration Migration with VMotion happens in three stages: 1 When the migration with VMotion is requested, VirtualCenter verifies that the existing virtual machine is in a stable state with its current host. 2 The virtual machine state information (that is, memory, registers, and network connections) is copied to the target host. 3 The virtual machine resumes its activities on the new host.
Chapter 15 Migrating Virtual Machines processors must come from the same vendor class (Intel or AMD) and same processor family (P3, P4, or Intel core) to be compatible for migration with VMotion. Processor families such as Intel Xeon and AMD Opteron are defined by the processor vendors.
Basic System Administration SSE3 Considerations Within the Intel P4 and AMD Opteron processor families, VMware places a restriction between processors that do support the SSE3 instructions and processors that do not support the SSE3 instructions because they are application level instructions that bypass the virtualization layer, and could cause application instability if mismatched after a migration with VMotion.
Chapter 15 Migrating Virtual Machines Minimum Network Requirements Two NICs with at least one GigE NIC dedicated to VMotion. For best security, dedicate the GigE NIC to VMotion and use VLANs to divide the Virtual machine and management traffic on the other NIC. For best availability, combine both NICs into a bond, and use VLANS to divide traffic into at least three networks (One or more for virtual machines, one for the service console on an ESX Server 3 host, and one for VMotion).
Basic System Administration support this configuration produces a warning, but the migration can proceed. When the virtual machine is powered on again, the swapfile is located with the virtual machine. See the VI Client online Help for more information on configuring swapfile policies. Migrations with VMotion are not allowed unless the destination swapfile location is the same as the source swapfile location.
Chapter 15 Migrating Virtual Machines Warning messages do not disable migration. Often the migration is justified and you can continue with the migration despite the warnings. Compatibility panel Warning messages Errors can disable migration if there are no error‐free destination hosts among the selected destination hosts. In this case, the Next button is disabled. Error message For clusters, the network and datastore configurations are taken into account when checking compatibility issues.
Basic System Administration A specific host feature’s effects on compatibility are dependent on whether or not ESX Server exposes or hides them from virtual machines: Features that are exposed to virtual machines are not compatible when they are mismatched. Features that are not exposed to virtual machines are compatible regardless of mismatches. CPU Compatibility Masks VirtualCenter compares the CPU features of two hosts to determine whether to allow or disallow migrations with VMotion.
Chapter 15 Migrating Virtual Machines For other cases, and advanced purposes (intended to be used using specific instructions from VMware or by CPU and operating system developers who might need to control the characteristics of virtual CPUs), VMware also provides a mechanism to manually edit the CPU compatibility masks used by a virtual machine. Manual edit of the CPU compatibility masks without the appropriate documentation and testing is NOT recommended and might lead to an unsupported configuration.
Basic System Administration If the wizard is invoked through drag‐ and‐drop, the Select Destination host or cluster window is skipped if the drag‐and‐drop target is a standalone host or a pool assigned to a standalone host. If a cluster or a cluster’s pool is the drag‐and‐drop target, the Select Destination host or cluster window appears. NOTE Moving a virtual machine from the host where its snapshots are located might render those snapshots inaccessible. 4 Click Next.
Chapter 15 Migrating Virtual Machines VirtualCenter moves the virtual machine, including the virtual disks, to the new host. Event messages appear in the Events tab. The data displayed on the Summary tab shows the status and state throughout the migration. NOTE You can relocate only powered off and suspended virtual machines. You cannot relocate virtual machines that are being migrated with VMotion. 8 Click Next. 9 Review the summary, and click Finish.
Basic System Administration 5 Start the Migrate Virtual Machine wizard. In the inventory panel, select the virtual machine you want to migrate. Then do one of the following: From the pop‐up menu, choose the Migrate option. From the information panel Summary tab, click the Migrate to New Host button. Drag the virtual machine onto the target standalone host, cluster, or resource pool. The migration with VMotion wizard starts.
Chapter 15 Migrating Virtual Machines 8 Select a resource pool, and click Next. The Resource Pool Selection page does not appear if a virtual machine was dropped on a resource pool. 9 10 Select the migration priority level: High Priority – VirtualCenter reserves resources on both the source and destination hosts to maintain virtual machine availability during the migration. High priority migrations do not proceed if resources are unavailable.
Basic System Administration Storage VMotion has a number of uses in administering virtual infrastructure, including the following: Upgrading VMware Infrastructure without virtual machine downtime. During an upgrade from ESX Server 2.x to ESX Server 3.5, you can migrate running virtual machines from a VMFS2 datastore to a VMFS3 datastore, and upgrade the VMFS2 datastore without any impact on virtual machines.
Chapter 15 Migrating Virtual Machines Storage VMotion Remote Command-Line Syntax Migrations with Storage VMotion can be initiated on both ESX Server 3i and ESX Server 3 hosts from the Remote Command‐Line Interface (Remote CLI) using the svmotion command. For more information on installing and using the Remote CLI, see the ESX Server 3i Configuration Guide. The svmotion command can be invoked in either an interactive or non‐interactive mode.
Basic System Administration Table 15-2. svmotion command parameters (Continued) Parameter Description --disks If you do not specify this parameter, all virtual disks associated with a virtual machine are relocated to the same datastore as the virtual machine configuration file. By specifying this parameter, you can choose to locate individual virtual disks to different datastores.
16 Using Snapshots 16 VMware VirtualCenter snapshots allow you to preserve the state of the virtual machine so you can return to the same state repeatedly. This chapter contains the following topics: “Understanding Snapshots” on page 249 “Using the Snapshot Manager” on page 253 “Restoring a Snapshot” on page 255 Understanding Snapshots A snapshot captures the entire state of the virtual machine at the time you take the snapshot.
Basic System Administration When you revert to a snapshot, you return all these items to the state they were in at the time you took that snapshot. If you want the virtual machine to be suspended, powered on, or powered off when you launch it, be sure it is in the correct state when you take that snapshot. Snapshots are useful when you need to revert repeatedly to the same state but you don’t want to create multiple virtual machines.
Chapter 16 Using Snapshots Snapshots and Other Activity in the Virtual Machine When you take a snapshot, be aware of other activity going on in the virtual machine and the likely effect of reverting to that snapshot. In general, it is best to take a snapshot when no applications in the virtual machine are communicating with other computers. The potential for problems is greatest if the virtual machine is communicating with another computer, especially in a production environment.
Basic System Administration 3 (Optional) Type a description for your snapshot. Descriptions are useful to identify differences between similarly named snapshots. Descriptions appear in the Snapshot Manager. 4 Click OK. A progress pop‐up menu box appears. When the snapshot has been successfully taken, it is listed in the Recent Tasks field at the bottom of VirtualCenter.
Chapter 16 Using Snapshots 3 Under Mode, select Independent. Independent disks are not affected by snapshots. You have the following persistence options for an independent disk: 4 Persistent – Changes are immediately and permanently written to the disk. All changes to an independent disk in persistent mode remain, even when you revert to that snapshot. Nonpersistent – Changes to the disk are discarded when you power off or revert to that snapshot. Click OK.
Basic System Administration The You are here icon represents a state that is never a snapshot itself but rather the virtual machine state after the parent snapshot. A snapshot is always a static record of a virtual machine state. The You are here state can be operational and changing. Even when you create a snapshot of a powered off or suspended virtual machine, the You are here state is not identical to the snapshot. You cannot go to or select the You are here state.
Chapter 16 Using Snapshots Restoring a Snapshot VMware VirtualCenter includes the following snapshot methods to allow you to return to the original virtual machine: The Inventory > Virtual Machine > Snapshot menu contains the command Revert to Snapshot. The Snapshot Manager has a Go to button. Parent Snapshot To discern between the Revert to Snapshot and Go to commands, you must understand what is meant by the parent snapshot.
Basic System Administration Revert to Snapshot Command Revert to Snapshot is essentially a shortcut to the parent snapshot of You are here. This command immediately activates the parent snapshot of the current state of the virtual machine. The current disk and memory states are discarded and restored as they were when you took that snapshot.
Chapter 16 Using Snapshots There are three ways to revert to the parent snapshot: Choose Inventory > Virtual Machine > Snapshot > Revert to Snapshot. Click the Revert to snapshot button on the toolbar. Right‐click the virtual machine, and choose Snapshot > Revert to Snapshot. VMware, Inc.
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17 Managing Users, Groups, Permissions, and Roles 17 This chapter describes users, groups, permissions, and roles. VirtualCenter and ESX Server hosts determine the level of access for the user based on the permissions assigned to the user. The combination of user name, password, and permissions is the mechanism by which VirtualCenter and ESX Server hosts authenticate a user for access and authorize the user to perform activities.
Basic System Administration “Users” on page 265 “Groups” on page 267 “Permissions” on page 267 “Roles” on page 268 “Access Permissions” on page 274 Access Elements Access to VMware Infrastructure objects and activities is established through the combination of: Log In information – User name and password. Groups – A method for grouping individual users. You can manage users more easily by assigning them to groups.
Chapter 17 Managing Users, Groups, Permissions, and Roles Hierarchical Inheritance Propagation is set per permission rule, not universally applied. Permissions defined for a sub‐object always override those propagated from parent objects. With respect to permissions, there are three types of elements in the hierarchy. They are: Managed entity – These can have permissions defined on them.
Basic System Administration If there is no permission defined explicitly for the user on that object, the user is assigned the union of privileges assigned to the groups for that object. If there is a permission defined explicitly for the user on that object, that permission takes precedence over all group permissions. Example 1: Expanding a user’s permissions Role 1 can power on virtual machines. Role 2 can take snapshots of virtual machines.
Chapter 17 Managing Users, Groups, Permissions, and Roles Example 3: Adding a virtual machine Role 3 can add virtual machines. Role 4 is read only. Group C is granted Role 3 on Host 1. Group C is also granted Role 4 on the parent folder or datacenter for Host 1’s associated datastores and networks. These objects inherit their permissions from their parent folder or datacenter. Setting both permissions allows Group C users to add a virtual machine to the host.
Basic System Administration Any changes you make to the Windows domain are reflected in VirtualCenter. Because you cannot directly manage users in VirtualCenter, the user interface doesn’t provide a user list for you to review. You see these changes only when you select users to configure permissions.
Chapter 17 Managing Users, Groups, Permissions, and Roles The vpxuser user is a VirtualCenter entity with root rights on the ESX Server host, allowing it to manage activities for that host. The vpxuser is created at the time that an ESX Server host is attached to VirtualCenter. It is not present on the ESX Server host unless the host is being managed through VirtualCenter. CAUTION Do not change vpxuser and do not change its permissions.
Basic System Administration Most users have limited ability to manipulate the objects associated with the host. However, ESX Server provide full access rights and permissions on all virtual objects, such as datastores, hosts, virtual machines, and resource pools, to two users: root and vpxuser. As root, you can grant permissions on a host to individual users or groups. Through VirtualCenter, you can grant permissions to any user or group included in the Windows domain list referenced by VirtualCenter.
Chapter 17 Managing Users, Groups, Permissions, and Roles Table 17-1. Default Roles Role Role Type No Access User system Description User Capabilities Cannot view or change the assigned object. VI Client tabs associated with an object display without content. This is the default role for all users except those users in the Administrators group. Read Only User system View the state and details about the object. View all the tab panels in the VI Client except the console tab.
Basic System Administration Table 17-1. Default Roles (Continued) Role Role Type Description User Capabilities Resource Pool Administrator sample Perform actions on datastores, hosts, virtual machines, resources, and alarms. Provides resource delegation and is assigned to resource pool inventory objects. This includes: Datacenter Administrator sample All privileges for folder, virtual machine, alarms, and scheduled task privileges groups.
Chapter 17 Managing Users, Groups, Permissions, and Roles “Editing Roles” on page 273 “Removing Roles” on page 273 “Renaming Roles” on page 274 NOTE Changes to permissions and roles are implemented immediately, even if the users involved are logged on. Creating Roles Some of the default roles are preconfigured and cannot be changed. If you have situations that require a different combination of access privileges, create an additional role or modify the provided sample roles to suit your needs.
Basic System Administration 3 Right‐click in the Roles tab information panel. Choose Add. The Add Role dialog box appears. 4 Type a name for the new role. 5 Select the privileges you want the new role to have. Click the plus (+) signs to expand the lists, as needed. Click OK to complete the process. Cloning Roles You can make a copy of an existing role, rename it, and later edit it. When you make a copy, the new role is not automatically applied to the same user or groups and objects.
Chapter 17 Managing Users, Groups, Permissions, and Roles 3 To clone the selected role, choose Administration > Role > Clone. A duplicate of the role is added to the list of roles. The name is Copy of . Editing Roles When you edit a role, you have the option to change any or all of the privileges selected for that role. When completed, these new privileges are applied to any user or group assigned the edited role.
Basic System Administration 4 To confirm that you want to delete the selected role, click OK. The role is removed from the list and is no longer available for assigning to users or groups. If the role is assigned to a user or group, a warning message appears. 5 Select one of the radio button options and click OK. The options are: Remove Role Assignments — This option removes any configured user or group + role pairings on the server.
Chapter 17 Managing Users, Groups, Permissions, and Roles If you remove users from the VirtualCenter domain, they lose permissions to all objects in the VMware Infrastructure and will not be able to log in again. Users who are currently logged on and are removed from the domain retain their VMware Infrastructure permissions only until the next validation period (the default is every 24 hours).
Basic System Administration 4 Right‐click in the Permissions tab and choose Add Permission. 5 Choose a role from the Assigned Role drop‐down menu. This menu displays all the roles that have been assigned to that host. When the role is displayed, the privileges granted on the role are listed in the section below the role title for reference purposes. 6 (Optional) Select the Propagate to Child Objects check box.
Chapter 17 Managing Users, Groups, Permissions, and Roles 7 Click the Add button to open the Select Users or Groups dialog box. See “Adjusting the Search List in Large Domains” on page 278 for information on adjusting the list of users and groups you select from. 8 Identify the user or group that is being assigned this role: a Choose the domain where the user or group is located from the Domain drop‐down menu. b Type a name in the Search box or select a name from the Name list. c Click Add.
Basic System Administration 10 To finish the task, click OK. The server adds the permission to the list of permissions for the object. The list of permissions references all users and groups that have roles assigned to the object, and indicates where in the VirtualCenter hierarchy the role is assigned. Adjusting the Search List in Large Domains If you have domains with thousands of users or groups in them, adjust the search settings for use in the Select Users or Groups dialog box.
Chapter 17 Managing Users, Groups, Permissions, and Roles To deactivate the validation functions, deselect the check box. NOTE Permissions are always validated when the server starts. Even if the server is disabled. 4 Click OK. Changing Access Permissions After a user or group + role pair is set for an inventory object, the only change you can make is to the role paired with the user or group and the Propagate check box. You do have the option to remove the permission setting.
Basic System Administration Removing Access Permissions Removing a permission for a user or group does not remove the user or group from the list of those available. It also does not remove the role from the list of available items. It removes the user or group + role pair from the selected inventory object. To remove a permission role for a user or group 1 From the VI Client, click the Inventory button in the navigation bar. Expand the inventory as needed, and click the appropriate object.
18 Setting Up and Monitoring Performance Statistics and Resource Maps 18 This chapter describes how to set up performance statistics for hosts, clusters, resource pools, and virtual machines. It also provides information on customizing and viewing performance charts and resource maps.
Basic System Administration About Collection Intervals and Collection Levels By default, VirtualCenter has four collection intervals: Day, Week, Month, and Year. Each interval specifies a length of a time during which statistics are collected at a certain frequency. For example, the Day interval sets statistics to be collected every 5 minutes during a 1 day period, as shown in Figure 18‐1, “Example: Daily Statistics Collection,” on page 282. Figure 18-1.
Chapter 18 Setting Up and Monitoring Performance Statistics and Resource Maps collection interval, with level 4 having the largest number of counters. By default, all collection intervals use collection level 1. NOTE The collection level for an interval can not be greater than the collection level set for the preceding collection interval. For example, if the Month interval is set to collection level 3, the Year interval can be set to collection level 1, 2, or 3, but not to collection level 4.
Basic System Administration Table 18-2. Statistic Collection Levels (Continued) Collection Level Metrics Best Practice Level 3 All metrics for all counter groups, excluding Use for short‐term performance monitoring after encountering problems or when device statistics are required. those for maximum and minimum rollup types. Due to the large quantity of troubleshooting data retrieved and recorded, use level 3 for the shortest time period possible— the Day or Week collection interval.
Chapter 18 Setting Up and Monitoring Performance Statistics and Resource Maps Using Collection Levels Effectively To retrieve more detailed metrics for a short period of time, view a real‐time data chart rather than increase the collection level. Viewing real‐time data has less impact on performance because metrics are retrieved directly from the source without being written to the VirtualCenter database. For more information on data charts, see “Performance Charts” on page 289.
Basic System Administration Figure 18-2. Default Rollup of Statistics Data You control how long statistical data is stored in the database by enabling or disabling a collection interval. When you disable a collection interval, all subsequent intervals are automatically disabled. For example, when you disable the Week interval, the Month and Year intervals are also disabled. Data is purged at the end of the Day interval cycle since no rollups can occur. Oldest data is purged first.
Chapter 18 Setting Up and Monitoring Performance Statistics and Resource Maps Configuring Statistics Collection Intervals By default, all collection intervals are enabled and query for statistics at collection level 2. You can change the default implementation by: Changing the interval length or collection frequency. Changing the collection level. Enabling or disabling a collection interval.
Basic System Administration 3 If necessary, select the collection interval check box to enable or disable it. 4 Select the row containing the collection interval. 5 Click Edit. The Edit Collection Interval dialog box opens. 6 Change the following attribute values where appropriate: Collection Frequency Keep samples for Collection Level NOTE To keep data samples for more than 3 years, archive it outside of the VirtualCenter database.
Chapter 18 Setting Up and Monitoring Performance Statistics and Resource Maps 3 (Optional) Validate the change by using the database estimation calculator. Enter the number of Physical Hosts in your inventory. Enter the number of Virtual Machines in your inventory. To estimate the statistics impact on the database 1 Configure your collection intervals. See “To configure collection intervals.” 2 Enter the number of Physical Hosts in your inventory.
Basic System Administration Viewing Charts Several chart views are preconfigured for you. A chart view is a collection of settings that define what data the chart displays. Settings for preconfigured views can be customized, or entirely new views can be created. Charts display data as line graphs or stacked graphs. Stacked graphs are limited to displaying data on a single metric, but can plot the data on that metric for multiple inventory objects.
Chapter 18 Setting Up and Monitoring Performance Statistics and Resource Maps Network – Shows the aggregated network performance statistics of the selected inventory object. Available for host and virtual machine. System – Available for host and virtual machine. Cluster Services – Available for DRS/HA clusters and hosts that are part of DRS clusters. Saving Chart Data to a File You can save chart data to a file in various graphics formats or in Microsoft Excel format.
Basic System Administration To customize charts 1 In the Performance tab, click Change Chart Options. The Customize Performance Chart dialog box is displayed. Figure 18-4. Customize Performance Chart dialog box. 2 In the Chart Options area, select a metric and a time range to access the settings for that chart, or select Custom to create an entirely new chart with a time range you specify. 3 Adjust the settings to your liking and click Apply.
Chapter 18 Setting Up and Monitoring Performance Statistics and Resource Maps To save your settings as a new chart view 1 In the Customize Performance Chart dialog box, click Save Chart Settings. The Save Selection dialog box is displayed. 2 Select a chart and click OK. Your settings are saved and added to the Switch to menu, and the Save Selection dialog box is closed. To delete chart views 1 In the Customize Performance Chart dialog box, click Manage Charts. A dialog box is displayed.
Basic System Administration About VMotion Resource Maps VMotion Resource maps, like other maps, provide a visual representation of the resources (hosts, datastores, and networks) associated with the selected virtual machine. In addition to this basic information, these maps also indicate the hosts in the virtual machine’s cluster or datacenter which are potential migration targets.
Chapter 18 Setting Up and Monitoring Performance Statistics and Resource Maps Table 18-3. Map Elements and Icons (Continued) Attribute Description Virtual machine icon. Network icon. Datastore icon. Overview section Thumbnail graphic of the full‐scale map. Map Relationships section Displayed when more than one map view is available. Refresh link Maps do not auto‐refresh. Click Refresh to synchronize your map with the current state of the inventory and to center the map view.
Basic System Administration Printing Maps You can print maps by selecting File > Print Maps> Print, or by clicking the Print button (global maps). Exporting Maps You can export maps to image files (BPM, JPEG, or EMF) by selecting File > Export > Export Maps, or by clicking the Export button (global maps). 296 VMware, Inc.
19 Managing Tasks, Events, and Alarms 19 This chapter contains the following topics: “Managing Tasks” on page 297 “Managing Events” on page 307 “Managing Alarms” on page 312 Managing Tasks This section describes how to view and schedule VirtualCenter tasks. Tasks are planned activities. These activities are scheduled or initiated manually. Tasks generate event messages that indicate any issues associated with the task.
Basic System Administration “Managing Scheduled Tasks” on page 301 “Rescheduling a Scheduled Task” on page 304 “Removing a Scheduled Task” on page 305 “Canceling a Task” on page 305 Understanding Tasks The scheduled tasks option allows you to configure selected VirtualCenter activities to occur at designated times. The timing options include immediately, later, or on a recurring basis. Scheduled tasks are performed in addition to manually driven activities.
Chapter 19 Managing Tasks, Events, and Alarms Tasks are not tracked or scheduled on your ESX Server host unless the ESX Server is registered and connected to a VirtualCenter Server. To view recent tasks From the VI Client connected to an ESX Server or a VirtualCenter Server, click the Tasks toggle button on the lower left side of the VI Client window. To perform a task on an ESX Server 1 From the VI Client connected to an ESX Server, click the Inventory button in the navigation bar.
Basic System Administration 3 Click a task in the panel. Detailed information appears in the Task Details pane. To sort the list of tasks 1 From the VI Client, display the inventory panel, select the appropriate object and view the Tasks & Events panel. 2 Click the column title. It toggles between ascending and descending sort. To filter the list of tasks 300 1 From the VI Client, expand the inventory as needed, and click the appropriate object. 2 Click the Task & Events tab.
Chapter 19 Managing Tasks, Events, and Alarms 5 Type a keyword into the box, and press Enter. The list of tasks displays only those items that contain the keyword you typed. Managing Scheduled Tasks You can schedule tasks to occur at designated times. Each schedule task option runs the corresponding wizard for the task and adds a scheduling time option at the end of the wizard. The possible tasks that can be scheduled through the New Task wizard are listed below.
Basic System Administration Customize a virtual machine (see “Preparing for Guest Customization” on page 216) Add a host (see “Adding a Host” on page 119) NOTE Any operation can be set as a scheduled task through the VMware Infrastructure API. However, only a subset of all operations can be part of a scheduled task through the VI Client. To create a scheduled task 1 From the VI Client connected to a VirtualCenter Server, click the Scheduled Tasks option in the navigation bar.
Chapter 19 Managing Tasks, Events, and Alarms Table 19-1. Scheduled Task Frequency Options Frequency Procedure to Set Once To run the scheduled task immediately after creation, select Now, and click Next. To run the scheduled task at a later date and time, do the following: 1 Select Later. 2 Type a clock time in the Time field. 3 Click the Date arrow to display a calendar. Select a date by clicking it on the calendar. Click the left and right arrows to view additional months.
Basic System Administration 6 To complete the wizard, click Finish. VirtualCenter adds the task to the list in the Scheduled Tasks tab. Rescheduling a Scheduled Task You can change the properties of scheduled tasks: NOTE The VI Client converts to local time when it and the VirtualCenter Server are located in different time zones. For example, assume the VirtualCenter Server is located in Eastern Standard Time (EST), and the VI Client is located in Pacific Standard Time (PST), three hours behind EST.
Chapter 19 Managing Tasks, Events, and Alarms Removing a Scheduled Task Removing a scheduled task removes all future occurrences of the task. The history associated with all previous executions of the task remains in the VirtualCenter database. NOTE Removing a task differs from canceling a task. Canceling a task stops a task currently occurring, whether started manually or schedule. Removing a task removes future occurrences of a scheduled task.
Basic System Administration Deploying a template Creating a template from a virtual machine Cloning a template To cancel a task that is currently running 1 From the VI Client connected to a VirtualCenter Server, view the Recent Tasks panel. 2 If the Recent Tasks panel is not currently displayed, click Tasks at the lower‐left corner of the VI Client window. 3 Select the appropriate task from the list. 4 Right‐click the task, and choose Cancel. Not all tasks can be cancelled.
Chapter 19 Managing Tasks, Events, and Alarms VirtualCenter stops progress on the task, returns the objects to their previous states, and displays the task as canceled. Managing Events An event is any action that is of interest to the VirtualCenter Server or the ESX Server. Each event triggers an event message. All event messages are archived on the VirtualCenter Server’s database.
Basic System Administration Viewing All Event Messages The Events tab is available when you select a resource pool, host, or virtual machine object from the Inventory panel. This view of the events is available when the VI Client is connected to an ESX Server. NOTE When connected to a VirtualCenter Server, Events are combined with the Tasks tab. Figure 19-1. VI Client Connected to ESX Server > Inventory > Virtual Machine > Events Tab To view event details From the Inventory panel, click the Events tab.
Chapter 19 Managing Tasks, Events, and Alarms Viewing Selected Event Messages Each object in the inventory panel has an Events tab in the information panel. Each event that appears is an object‐specific subset of all the server events. To view the event messages and event detail for an object 1 From the VI Client connected to either a VirtualCenter Server or an ESX Server, click the Inventory button in the navigation bar. Expand the inventory as needed.
Basic System Administration Sorting and Filtering Event Messages Sort all items in the list by clicking in the column label heading. A triangle in the column head shows the sort order as ascending or descending. To sort a list Click the column heading to resort the list by the entries in that column. The current selection does not change. To change ascending or descending order Click the column heading to toggle between ascending and descending order. To choose items in a list Click an individual item.
Chapter 19 Managing Tasks, Events, and Alarms Entries in multiple columns that match the search term are displayed. In the example, the search word “power” is found in both the Description and the Task column entries. Exporting Event Messages You can export all or part of the events log file. To export the events file 1 From the VI Client connected to a VirtualCenter Server, choose File > Export > Export Events. 2 Specify the time range of messages and the type of messages to export.
Basic System Administration 4 Select the Type radio button to indicate the type of errors to include in the exported file. You can specify whether to include user‐generated or system‐generated events. You can specify all users, or you can specify These users and click Browse to select a subset of users. 5 Specify the time range of events to export. Options are Hours, Days, Weeks, Months, and From/To date ranges. 6 Specify the number of events to export, either all or a specific number.
Chapter 19 Managing Tasks, Events, and Alarms The Alarms tab in the inventory panel displays the list of alarms for the selected object that are activated upon designated events. Alarms can apply to hosts and virtual machines, and can be defined in parent entities such as folders or resource pools. NOTE Alarms are configurable only through the VirtualCenter Server. ESX Server hosts connected to a VI Client directly do not have the alarms functionality.
Basic System Administration Understanding Alarms Alarms send notification messages when selected events occur to or on hosts or virtual machines. Alarms indicate the status levels of an object or collection of objects in the hierarchy. Alarms can be defined at all hierarchical levels, including folders, datacenters, clusters, resource pools, hosts, and virtual machines. Alarms are inherited from parent levels and cannot be changed or overridden at a child level.
Chapter 19 Managing Tasks, Events, and Alarms Send a notification trap The VirtualCenter Server is the default SNMP notification receiver. An SNMP trap viewer is required to view a sent trap. The VirtualCenter Server host must be configured to receive SNMP traps. See “Preparing for SNMP Alarm Notification” on page 316. Run a script The user script command and its arguments must be formatted into one string.
Basic System Administration 3 4 For email message notification, set the SMTP server and SMTP port: (SEE UPDATE) SMTP Server – The DNS name or IP address of the SMTP gateway to use for sending email messages. Sender Account – The email address of the sender, for example, mail_server datacenter.com. Click OK. Preparing for SNMP Alarm Notification To use SNMP traps, you must configure: The VirtualCenter Server host. The SNMP receiver server to accept the traps from VirtualCenter.
Chapter 19 Managing Tasks, Events, and Alarms Receiver port – The port number of the receiver. If the port value is empty, VirtualCenter uses the default port. The default port is 902. 4 Community String – The community identifier. Click OK. Creating Alarms If you plan to use email message or SNMP notification, see “Preparing for Email Message SMTP Alarm Notification” on page 315 and define the address information before you create your alarm.
Basic System Administration 4 In the General tab, specify a name for the alarm, the object to be monitored (host or virtual machine), the trigger priority, and whether to enable this alarm. Trigger priorities can be set to Red or Green: Red – The default, triggers the alarms prioritized red as first, then yellow, and green alarms last. Green – Triggers the alarms prioritized as green first, then yellow, and red alarms last. 5 To define the alarm but not make it active, deselect the Enable box.
Chapter 19 Managing Tasks, Events, and Alarms Warning (Yellow) state or percentage and Alert (Red) state or percentage Percentage options range from 5 percent to 100 percent in 5 percent increments. Exiting condition is considered a yellow condition at n percentage.
Basic System Administration 8 Specify the reporting frequency when the alarm is triggered. Enter a value for Tolerance and one for Frequency. 9 Specify the action to be taken when the alarm is triggered. 10 Click the Actions tab. Click the Add button. Click the appropriate check box. There are four different level changes: green to yellow, yellow to red, red to yellow, and yellow to green. Attach an action for each change from one level to another. 320 VMware, Inc.
Chapter 19 Managing Tasks, Events, and Alarms 11 Choose the action to be taken when the event is triggered and specify the associated information. The options are: Send a notification email. Provide the email address of the notification recipient in the Value field. SMTP sends a notification email. The SMTP must be ready when the email is sent. There are two ways to set SMTP: through VirtualCenter or through Microsoft Outlook Express.
Basic System Administration {oldStatus} — alarm status before it is triggered {newStatus} — alarm status after it is triggered {target} — inventory object as triggering alarm Example scripts: "c:\windows\system32\cmd.exe /c c:\MyAlarmProcess.bat {targetName} {alarmName}" Two alarm‐triggering parameters are passed to the back file. The first parameter is the name of the entity, and the second is the name of the alarm.
Chapter 19 Managing Tasks, Events, and Alarms 2 If the alarm you want to change is not defined at the current location, click the linked object in the Defined in column. VirtualCenter displays the Alarms panel for the object where the alarm was defined. 3 Select the alarm to edit. Choose Inventory > Alarm > Edit Settings. The entry in the Defined in column for the alarm must be This object. 4 Edit the alarm general settings, triggers, or actions, as needed. Click OK.
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Appendixes VMware, Inc.
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A Defined Privileges A The following tables list the default privileges that, when selected for a role, can be paired with a user and assigned to an object. The following tables use VC to indicate VirtualCenter Server and HC to indicate host client, a standalone ESX Server. When setting permissions, verify all the object types are set with appropriate privileges for each particular action.
Basic System Administration “Network” on page 337 “Performance” on page 338 “Permissions” on page 339 “Resource” on page 339 “Scheduled Task” on page 341 “Sessions” on page 341 “Tasks” on page 342 “Virtual Machine Configuration” on page 342 “Virtual Machine Interaction” on page 345 “Virtual Machine Inventory” on page 346 “Virtual Machine Provisioning” on page 347 “Virtual Machine State” on page 348 Alarms Table A-1.
Appendix A Defined Privileges Datacenter Table A-2. Datacenter Privileges Privilege Name Create Datacenter Delete Datacenter Move Datacenter Description Affects Pair with Object Effective on Object Creates a new datacenter.
Basic System Administration Table A-3. Datastore Privileges (Continued) Privilege Name Description Affects Pair with Object Effective on Object File Management Carries out file operations in the datastore browser. HC and VC Datastores Datastores Rename Datastore Renames a datastore.
Appendix A Defined Privileges Table A-5. Folder Privileges (Continued) Privilege Name Description Affects Pair with Object Effective on Object Move Folder Moves a folder. VC only Folders, source and destination Folders VC only Folders Folders Privilege must be present at both the source and destination. User interface element – Inventory drag‐and‐drop Rename Folder Changes the name of a folder.
Basic System Administration Table A-6. Global Privileges (Continued) Privilege Name Enable Methods Description Affects Pair with Object Effective on Object Allows servers for VirtualCenter extensions to enable certain operations on objects managed by VirtualCenter.
Appendix A Defined Privileges Table A-6. Global Privileges (Continued) Privilege Name Settings Description Affects Pair with Object Effective on Object Reads and modifies runtime VC configuration settings. VC only All objects Root folder VC only All objects Root folder User interface element – Administration > VirtualCenter Management Server Configuration VC Server Prepares or initiates a VMotion send operation or a VMotion receive operation.
Basic System Administration Table A-8. Host Configuration Privileges (Continued) Privilege Name Change SNMP Settings Connection Description Affects Pair with Object Effective on Object Edits, restarts, and stops SNMP agent. HC and VC Hosts Hosts VC only Hosts Hosts HC and VC Hosts Hosts (ESX Server 3i only) HC and VC Hosts Hosts HC and VC Hosts Hosts HC and VC Hosts Hosts HC and VC Hosts Hosts No user VI Client interface elements are associated with this privilege.
Appendix A Defined Privileges Table A-8. Host Configuration Privileges (Continued) Privilege Name Description Affects Pair with Object Effective on Object System Management Allows extensions to manipulate the file system on the host. HC and VC Hosts Hosts HC and VC Hosts Hosts HC and VC Hosts Hosts HC and VC Hosts Hosts No user VI Client interface elements are associated with this privilege.
Basic System Administration Table A-9. Host Inventory Privileges (Continued) Privilege Name Description Affects Pair with Object Effective on Object Create Cluster Creates a new cluster.
Appendix A Defined Privileges Host Local Operations Table A-10. Host Local Operations Privileges Privilege Name Description Affects Pair with Object Effective on Object Add Host to VirtualCenter Installs and uninstalls various agents on a host, for example, vpxa and aam. HC only Root folder Root folder HC only Root folder Root folder HC only Root folder Root folder HC only Root folder Root folder Description Affects Pair with Object Effective on Object Removes a network.
Basic System Administration Performance Table A-12. Alarm Management Privileges Privilege Name Description Affects Pair with Object Effective on Object Modify Intervals Creates, removes, and updates performance data collection intervals. VC only Root folder Root folder User interface element – Administration > VirtualCenter Management Server Configuration > Statistics 338 VMware, Inc.
Appendix A Defined Privileges Permissions Table A-13. Permissions Privileges Privilege Name Modify Permission Pair with Object Effective on Object HC and VC Any object plus parent object All inventory items HC and VC Any object Root folder HC and VC Any object Root folder Description Affects Pair with Object Effective on Object Asks the server to go ahead with a suggested VMotion.
Basic System Administration Table A-14.
Appendix A Defined Privileges Scheduled Task Table A-15. Scheduled Task Privileges Privilege Name Create Tasks1 Pair with Object Effective on Object VC only All inventory objects All inventory objects VC only All inventory objects All inventory objects VC only All inventory objects All inventory objects VC only All inventory objects All inventory objects Description Affects Schedules a task. Requires the privileges to perform the scheduled action at the time of scheduling.
Basic System Administration Table A-16. Session Privileges (Continued) Privilege Name Description Affects Pair with Object Effective on Object Validate Session Verifies session validity. VC only Root folder Root folder View and Terminate Sessions Allows viewing of session. Forces log out of one or more logged‐on users. VC only Root folder Root folder Description Affects Pair with Object Effective on Object Create Allows an extension to create a user‐defined task.
Appendix A Defined Privileges Table A-18. Virtual Machine Privileges (Continued) Privilege Name Advanced Pair with Object Effective on Object HC and VC Virtual machines Virtual machines HC and VC Virtual machines Virtual machines Description Affects Changes values in extraConfig. User interface element – Virtual Machine Properties dialog box > Options tab > Advanced ‐ General option > Configuration Parameters button Change CPU Count Changes the number of virtual CPUs.
Basic System Administration Table A-18. Virtual Machine Privileges (Continued) Privilege Name Remove Disk Pair with Object Effective on Object HC and VC Virtual machines Virtual machines HC and VC Virtual machines Virtual machines HC and VC Virtual machines Virtual machines HC and VC Virtual machines Virtual machines Description Affects Removes a virtual disk device.
Appendix A Defined Privileges Virtual Machine Interaction Table A-19. Virtual Machine Interaction Privilege Name Description Affects Pair with Object Effective on Object Answer Question Resolves issues with VM state transitions or runtime errors.
Basic System Administration Table A-19. Virtual Machine Interaction (Continued) Privilege Name Reset Pair with Object Effective on Object HC and VC Virtual machines Virtual machines HC and VC Virtual machines Virtual machines HC and VC Virtual machines Virtual machines Pair with Object Effective on Object Description Affects Resets virtual machine and reboots the guest operating system.
Appendix A Defined Privileges Virtual Machine Provisioning Table A-21.
Basic System Administration Table A-21. Virtual Machine Provisioning Privileges (Continued) Pair with Object Effective on Object VC only Virtual machines Virtual machines VC only Virtual machines Virtual machines VC only Virtual machines Virtual machines VC only Root folder Root folder VC only Root folder Root folder Pair with Object Effective on Object Privilege Name Description Affects Deploy Template Creates a new virtual machine from a template.
Appendix A Defined Privileges Table A-22. Virtual Machine State Privileges (Continued) Privilege Name Description Affects Pair with Object Effective on Object Rename Snapshot Renames this snapshot with either a new name or a new description or both. HC and VC Virtual machines Virtual machines HC and VC Virtual machines Virtual machines No user VI Client interface elements are associated with this privilege. Revert To Snapshot Sets the VM to the state it was in at a given snapshot.
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B Installing the Microsoft Sysprep Tools B If you plan to customize a Windows guest operating system, you must first install the Microsoft Sysprep tools on your VirtualCenter Server machine. Microsoft includes the Sysprep tool set on the installation CD‐ROM discs for Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows 2003. It also distributes Sysprep from the Microsoft Web site.
Basic System Administration To install the Microsoft Sysprep tools from a Microsoft Web site download 1 Download the Sysprep package from the Microsoft download center. Make sure that you download the correct version for the guest operating system you want to customize. 2 Click Next to continue. 3 Click I agree to accept the terms and conditions. 4 Click Download. 5 Save the file to your local disk. 6 Open and expand the .cab file, using a tool such as Winzip.
Appendix B Installing the Microsoft Sysprep Tools To install the Microsoft Sysprep tools from the Windows operating system CD 1 Insert the Windows operating system CD into the CD‐ROM drive (often the D: drive. 2 Locate the DEPLOY.CAB file in the CD directory, \Support\Tools. 3 Open and expand the DEPLOY.CAB file, using a tool such as Winzip.exe or another tool capable of reading Microsoft CAB files. 4 Extract the files to the directory appropriate to your Sysprep guest operating system.
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C Performance Chart Metrics C This appendix lists the metrics, or counters, available for display in performance charts. The availability of some counters depends on the Statistics Collection Level setting (see “About Collection Intervals and Collection Levels” on page 282). Changes to chart options take effect after the current data collection cycle is complete and the next cycle begins. Counters have rollup and statistics type characteristics.
Basic System Administration Tables are organized by resource and inventory object and contain the following information: Counter — Lists the display name of each metric. Available in Collection Level — Indicates the minimum value to which the statistics collection level must be set for the metric to be included as a selectable option in the Customize Chart Performance dialog box.
Appendix C Performance Chart Metrics Virtual Machine Table C-1. CPU Performance Metrics for Virtual Machines Counter Available in Collection Level VC/ESX CPU Usage 1(4) Yes/Yes Description Calculates CPU usage as a percentage. Rollup: Average (Minimum/Maximum) Stats Type: Rate CPU Usage in MHz 1(4) Yes/Yes Calculates CPU usage in Megahertz. Rollup: Average (Minimum/Maximum) Stats Type: Rate CPU Used 3 Yes/Yes Calculates amount of CPU time that is used.
Basic System Administration Host Table C-2. CPU Performance Metrics for Hosts Counter Available in Collection Level VC/ESX CPU Used 1 Yes/Yes Description Calculates amount of CPU time that is used. Rollup: Summation Stats Type: Delta idle 1 Yes/Yes Calculates CPU idle time. Rollup: Summation Stats Type: Delta CPU Reserved Capacity 1 Yes/Yes Compares value of resource pool’s reservation setting with sum of child objects’ reservation settings. Displays the greater of the two values.
Appendix C Performance Chart Metrics Cluster Table C-4. CPU Performance Metrics for Clusters Counter CPU Usage in MHz Available in Collection Level VC/ESX 1(4) Yes/No Description Calculates CPU usage in Megahertz. Rollup: Average (Minimum/Maximum) Stats Type: Rate Disk The table in this section lists metrics for measuring disk performance. All measurements are in kilobytes unless otherwise noted.
Basic System Administration Table C-5. Disk Performance Metrics for Host and Virtual Machines (Continued) Counter Available in Collection Level VC/ESX Description numberWrite 3 Yes/Yes Calculates total number of disk write actions per HBA. Rollup: Summation Stats Type: Delta numberRead 3 Yes/Yes Calculates total number of disk read actions per HBA. Rollup: Summation Stats Type: Delta Memory The tables in this section list metrics for measuring memory performance.
Appendix C Performance Chart Metrics Table C-6. Memory Performance Metrics for Virtual Machines (Continued) Counter Memory Swap In Available in Collection Level VC/ESX Description 4 Yes/Yes Calculates average maximum amount of memory swapped in. Rollup: Maximum Stats Type: Absolute Memory Balloon Target 2(4) Yes/Yes Calculates amount of memory available to memory control. Rollup: Average Stats Type: Absolute Memory Balloon 2(4) Yes/Yes Calculates amount of memory used by memory control.
Basic System Administration Table C-6. Memory Performance Metrics for Virtual Machines (Continued) Counter Memory Granted Available in Collection Level VC/ESX 2(4) Yes/Yes Description Calculates amount of memory granted. Rollup: Average Stats Type: Absolute Memory Consumed 2(4) Yes/Yes Calculates amount of host memory consumed by the virtual machine for guest operating system memory.
Appendix C Performance Chart Metrics Table C-7. Memory Performance Metrics for Hosts (Continued) Counter Memory Consumed Available in Collection Level VC/ESX Description 2(4) Yes/Yes Calculates amount of host memory consumed by the virtual machine for guest operating system memory. Rollup: Average Stats Type: Absolute Memory Swap Out 2(4) Yes/Yes Calculates amount of memory swapped out.
Basic System Administration Table C-7. Memory Performance Metrics for Hosts (Continued) Available in Collection Level VC/ESX Description Memory Overhead 2(4) Yes/Yes Calculates amount of additional host memory allocated to the virtual machine. Memory Balloon 2(4) Yes/Yes Calculates amount of memory used by memory control. Counter Rollup: Average Stats Type: Absolute Memory Granted 2(4) Yes/Yes Calculates amount of memory granted.
Appendix C Performance Chart Metrics Table C-8. Memory Performance Metrics for Resource Pools (Continued) Counter Available in Collection Level VC/ESX Description Memory Zero 2(4) Yes/Yes Calculates amount of zero page memory. Rollup: Average Stats Type: Absolute Memory Swapped 2(4) Yes/Yes Calculates amount of memory swapped. Rollup: Average Stats Type: Absolute Memory Swap Target 2(4) Yes/No Calculates amount of memory that can be swapped.
Basic System Administration Cluster Table C-9. Memory Performance Metrics for Clusters Counter Available in Collection Level VC/ESX Description Memory Usage 1(4) Yes/No Calculates amount of memory used as a percentage of total configured, or total available memory. Rollup: Average Stats Type: Absolute Memory Granted 2(4) Yes/No Calculates amount of memory granted. Rollup: Average Stats Type: Absolute Memory Active 2(4) Yes/No Calculates amount of memory actively used.
Appendix C Performance Chart Metrics Table C-9. Memory Performance Metrics for Clusters (Continued) Counter Available in Collection Level VC/ESX Description Memory Heap 2(4) Yes/No Calculates amount of memory allocated for heap. Rollup: Average Stats Type: Absolute Memory Heap Free 2(4) Yes/No Calculates free space in memory heap. Rollup: Average Stats Type: Absolute Memory State 2(4) Yes/No Calculates state.
Basic System Administration Cluster Table C-10. Cluster Services Metrics for Clusters Counter Effective CPU Resources Available in Collection Level VC/ESX Description 1(4) Yes/No Calculates average DRS effective CPU resources available measured in MHz. Rollup: Average Stats Type: Rate. 1(4) Effective Memory Resources Yes/No Calculates average DRS effective memory resources available in MB.
Appendix C Performance Chart Metrics Table C-11. Network Metrics for Hosts and Virtual Machines (Continued) Counter Network Usage (Average) Available in Collection Level VC/ESX Description 1(4) Yes/Yes Aggregated network performance statistics in KBps. Rollup: Average (Minimum/Maximum) Stats Type: Rate Network Packets Received VMware, Inc. 3 Yes/Yes Number of packets received in the period.
Basic System Administration System The table in this section lists metrics for measuring system performance. System performance charts are available for virtual machines and hosts. Table C-12. System Metrics for Virtual Machines and Hosts Counter Available in Collection Level Heartbeat 1 VC/ESX Description Number of heartbeats in collection period. Rollup: Summation Yes/Yes Uptime 1 Yes/Yes Stats Type: Delta Number of seconds since startup.
Index Symbols 176, 281 A access inventory objects 262 permissions 274 privileges 327 rules 262 to VirtualCenter through Web 78 Active Directory 130 VirtualCenter settings 75 active sessions 81 send messages 82 adapters Ethernet 180, 199 SCSI 150 alarms 28 about 312 define rules for 317 edit 322 email notification of 312 privileges 328 remove 323 scripts 315 SNMP traps 315 tab 54 annotations 61 appliances 139 ATAPI 150 VMware, Inc.
Basic System Administration license server 23 VirtualCenter agent 23 VirtualCenter database 22 VirtualCenter Server 21 VMware Infrastructure 21 console service, the 41 tab 54 virtual machine 50 consolidation about 130 analysis results 134 cache 137 confidence metric 135 credentials 132 first time use 131 limits 137 prerequisites 130 services 130 settings 131, 132 tasks 136 troubleshoot 137 consolidation settings 130 convert, see consolidation CPU advanced settings 193 compatibility masks 240 configuration
Index events 28 about 307 alarms 312 export 104, 311 navigation bar 54 tab 54 export appliances 139 events 104 virtual machines 141 extensions privileges 330 F Fibre Channel NPIV 81, 187, 190 firewall configure communication 76 floppy drives 180, 199 folders 27 privileges 330 G Getting Started tabs, enable and disable 56 global privileges 331 groups 262, 267 guest operating systems 215 customization prerequisites 216 install 154 Guided Consolidation 53, 113 H hardware virtual machine 180, 196 HBA 190 ho
Basic System Administration license server 23 diagram 21 VirtualCenter settings 74 Linux guest, customize 215 guest, install VMware Tools on 158 load balancing 25 log files 28, 100 collect 105 export 101 external 101 logging VirtualCenter settings 76 logging in 262 VI Client 38 VI Web Access 40 logging out VI Client 39 VI Web Access 40 LSI logic 150 LUNs 153, 200 MIB 83, 95 Microsoft Sysprep 351 migration about 232 relocate virtual machine files 245 Storage VMotion 245 with snapshots 238 modules, see plug
Index privileges 338 statistics collection 281 tab 54 permissions 262, 267 access 274 privileges 339 settings 263 tab 54 plugins 22 manage 67 ports 180 parallel 198 Web access to VirtualCenter 78 power management 25 power off shutdown, versus 172 power states transitional 172 virtual machines 169, 174 privileges 262, 327 alarms 328 configuration 333 datacenter 329 datastore 329 extension 330 folders 330 global 331 host CIM 333 host inventory 335 host local operations 337 network 337 performance 338 permiss
Basic System Administration S SAN LUN 200 mapping 153 schedule power states 174 scheduled tasks 298 about 27 cancel 305 clone virtual machine 212 manage 301 privileges 341 scheduling affinity 193 scripts alarms 315 SCSI 180, 201 adapter 150 security baselines 25 configuration 73 SNMP 98 serial port 197 service console 41 commands 42 configure ESX Server agent 95 connection 42 DHCP 41 man pages 43 remote command-line interface, versus 42 services consolidation 131 syslogd 103 VMware Tools 155 sessions privi
Index Summary tab 54 suspend 170 virtual machines 173 swapfile 81, 187 syslog 103 sysprep 351 SNMP, configure 96 troubleshoot consolidation 137 log files 100, 105 tutorial 57 T upgrade VMware Tools 155, 157 users 265 utilities sysprep 351 VMware Tools 155 tabs Admin 54 Getting Started 56 Inventory 54 Summary 54 tar installer 159, 160 tasks 28 about 298 cancel 305 clone virtual machine 212 events 307 manage 297 navigation bar 54 privileges 342 scheduled 301 Telnet 42 templates 26 about 203 create 204 de
Basic System Administration virtual machines acceleration 188 add existing 175 advanced settings 188 boot settings 189 clone 210 configuration privileges 342 configure 179 convert 25 copy disks 113 CPU compatibility masks 240 CPU configuration 186 CPU settings, resource 192 CPU, settings, advanced 193 CPUID Mask settings 189 create 144 custom attributes 61 deploying from templates 207 disk settings 196 Ethernet adapter 199 export 141 Fibre Channel NPIV 81 Fibre Channel NPIV settings 190 floppy drives 199 g
Index configuration 74 custom attributes 61 database 22, 76 diagram 21 events 307 hosts, add 119 hosts, remove 125 inventory 27 objects 63 plugins 22, 25 port configuration 77 restarting 37 SNMP 93 start 36 stop 36, 38 tasks 297 templates, unregister 209 traps 90 VMFS 153 VMI paravirtualization 189 VMotion 24, 232 compatibility 238 network best practices 237 network requirements 236 Nx and XD considerations 235 requirements 234 resource maps 294 SSE3 and SSSE3 considerations 236 swapfile considerations 237
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Updates for the Basic Administration Guide Last Updated: May 14, 2010 This document provides updates to the ESX Server 3.5 and ESX Server 3i version 3.5 versions of the Basic Administration Guide. Updated descriptions, procedures, and graphics are organized by page number so that you can easily locate the areas of the guide that have changes. If the change spans multiple sequential pages, this document provides the starting page number only.
Updates for the Basic Administration Guide Updates for the Preparing Email Message SMTP Alarm Notification Procedure on Page 316 Update to the Host Configuration Privileges Table on Page 333 Updates to the Installing the Microsoft Sysprep Tools Appendix on Page 351 Updates for the Reboot or Shut Down Procedure on Page 36 The text in Step 1 should be replaced with the following text: 1 Shut down all virtual machines running on the ESX Server host.
Updates for the Basic Administration Guide Table 5‐1 lists the MIB files provided by VMware and describes the information that each file provides. Updates to the To configure your management program to interpret VirtualCenter SNMP traps Procedure on Page 94 Step 1 in the To configure your management program to interpret VirtualCenter SNMP traps procedure is incorrect.
Updates for the Basic Administration Guide To configure an ESX host for SNMP Traps 1 Log in as root to the service console of the ESX host. 2 Run the following command to edit the snmp.xml file: vi /etc/vmware/snmp.xml 3 Update the snmp.xml file with the following text: public true 99 localhost@162 private 4 Run the following command to edit the config.
Updates for the Basic Administration Guide Updates to the Adding a Host Section on Page 119 The note in the Adding a Host section should contain the following information regarding the Lockdown mode: NOTE Lockdown Mode, which is available only in ESXi Embedded, is not available in ESX installations. Lockdown Mode disables remote access for the administrator after VirtualCenter Server takes control of the ESXi host.
Updates for the Basic Administration Guide Updates to the Linux Requirements for Guest Customization Section on Page 218 The Linux Requirements for Guest Customization section should include the following requirement: Perl is installed in the Linux guest operating system. Updates to Understanding Snapshots Section on Page 250 The section Understanding Snapshots does not include information on delta disks.
Updates for the Basic Administration Guide Updates to the To assign a user or group permission Procedure on Page 275 In Step 2, the objects that can have permissions assigned to them which are listed for VirtualCenter and ESX Server are incorrect. The text should read: In VirtualCenter – Folders, datacenters, clusters, resource pools, hosts In ESX Server – Hosts Updates for the Preparing Email Message SMTP Alarm Notification Procedure on Page 316 In Step 3, the Sender Account example is incorrect.
Updates for the Basic Administration Guide Update–8 VMware, Inc.
