vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Update 1 ESXi 6.0 vCenter Server 6.0 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.
vSphere Virtual Machine 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 © 2009–2016 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright and trademark information. VMware, Inc. 3401 Hillview Ave. Palo Alto, CA 94304 www.vmware.com 2 VMware, Inc.
Contents About vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 7 Updated Information 9 1 Introduction to VMware vSphere Virtual Machines 11 What Is a Virtual Machine? 11 Virtual Machines and the Virtual Infrastructure 12 Virtual Machine Lifecycle 13 Virtual Machine Components 13 Virtual Machine Hardware Available to vSphere Virtual Machines Virtual Machine Options and Resources 15 vSphere Web Client 16 Introduction to VMware Tools 17 Where to Go From Here 17 13 2 Deploying Virtual Machines 19 About Provision
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Creating Virtual Machines and vApps from Templates in a Content Library 84 5 Installing the Microsoft Sysprep Tool 87 Install the Microsoft Sysprep Tool from a Microsoft Web Site 87 Install the Microsoft Sysprep Tool from the Windows Operating System CD 88 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware 89 Virtual Machine Compatibility 89 Virtual CPU Configuration 95 Virtual Memory Configuration 101 Network Virtual Machine Configuration 103 Parallel and Serial Port Config
Contents 9 Monitoring Solutions with the vCenter Solutions Manager 183 View Solutions and vServices 183 Monitoring Agents 184 Monitoring vServices 184 10 Managing Virtual Machines 185 Edit Virtual Machine Startup and Shutdown Settings 185 Install the Client Integration Plug-In 187 Using a Virtual Machine Remote Console 187 Open the HTML 5 Remote Console 188 Install the VMware Remote Console Application 188 Using the VMware Remote Console Application 189 Adding and Removing Virtual Machines 189 Change the
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About vSphere Virtual Machine Administration vSphere Virtual Machine Administration describes how to create, configure, and manage virtual machines in ® the VMware vSphere environment. In addition, this information provides introductions to the tasks that you can do within the system as well as cross-references to the information that describes the tasks. This information focuses on managing virtual machines in the VMware vSphere Web Client and includes the following information.
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Updated Information This vSphere Virtual Machine Administration guide is updated with each release of the product or when necessary. This table provides the update history of the vSphere Virtual Machine Administration guide. Revision Description EN-001887-03 Added information about the guest Introspection drivers. See “VMware Tools Device Drivers,” on page 204 and “Names of VMware Tools Components Used in Silent Installations,” on page 234.
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Introduction to VMware vSphere Virtual Machines 1 Before you start creating and managing virtual machines, you benefit from some background information, for example, the virtual machine lifecycle, components, and VMware Tools.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Table 1‑1. Virtual Machine Files (Continued) File Usage Description .nvram vmname.nvram or nvram Virtual machine BIOS or EFI configuration .vmsd vmname.vmsd Virtual machine snapshots .vmsn vmname.vmsn Virtual machine snapshot data file .vswp vmname.vswp Virtual machine swap file .vmss vmname.vmss Virtual machine suspend file .log vmware.log Current virtual machine log file -#.log vmware-#.
Chapter 1 Introduction to VMware vSphere Virtual Machines Virtual Machine Lifecycle You create and deploy virtual machines into your datacenter in a several ways. You can create a single virtual machine and install a guest operating system and VMware Tools on it. You can clone or create a template from an existing virtual machine, or deploy OVF templates.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration In some cases, the host might not have the required vSphere license for a resource or device. Licensing in vSphere is applicable to ESXi hosts, vCenter Server, and solutions and can be based on different criteria, depending on the specifics of each product. For information about vSphere licensing, see the vCenter Server and Host Management documentation. The PCI and SIO virtual hardware devices are part of the virtual motherboard, but cannot be configured or removed.
Chapter 1 Introduction to VMware vSphere Virtual Machines Table 1‑2. Virtual Machine Hardware and Descriptions (Continued) Hardware Device Description PCI Device You can add up to 16 PCI vSphere DirectPath devices to a virtual machine. The devices must be reserved for PCI passthrough on the host on which the virtual machine runs. Snapshots are not supported with DirectPath I/O passthrough devices.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration You can add virtual disks and add more space to existing disks, even when the virtual machine is running. You can also change the device node and allocate shares of disk bandwidth to the virtual machine. VMware virtual machines have the following options: General Options View or modify the virtual machine name, and check the location of the configuration file and the working location of the virtual machine.
Chapter 1 Introduction to VMware vSphere Virtual Machines Introduction to VMware Tools VMware Tools is a suite of utilities that you install in the operating system of a virtual machine. VMware Tools enhances the performance of a virtual machine and makes possible many of the ease-of-use features in VMware products.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration After you provision and deploy virtual machines into the vSphere infrastructure, you can configure and manage them. You can configure existing virtual machines by modifying or adding hardware or install or upgrade VMware Tools. You might need to manage multitiered applications with VMware vApps or change virtual machine startup and shutdown settings, use virtual machine snapshots, work with virtual disks, or add, remove, or delete virtual machines from the inventory.
Deploying Virtual Machines 2 To deploy virtual machines in the vCenter Server inventory, you can deploy from a template, create a virtual machine, or clone an existing virtual machine.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Cloning a virtual machine to a template preserves a master copy of the virtual machine so that you can create additional templates. For example, you can create one template, modify the original virtual machine by installing additional software in the guest operating system, and create another template. See Clone a Virtual Machine to a Template in the vSphere Web Client.
Chapter 2 Deploying Virtual Machines 2 Select the Virtual Machine Name and Folder on page 22 When you create a virtual machine, you provide a unique name for it. The unique name distinguishes it from existing virtual machines in the virtual machine folder or datacenter. The name can contain up to 80 characters. You can select a datacenter or folder location for the virtual machine, depending on your organizational needs.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Select the Virtual Machine Name and Folder When you create a virtual machine, you provide a unique name for it. The unique name distinguishes it from existing virtual machines in the virtual machine folder or datacenter. The name can contain up to 80 characters. You can select a datacenter or folder location for the virtual machine, depending on your organizational needs.
Chapter 2 Deploying Virtual Machines Procedure u Select the datastore location where you want to store the virtual machine files. Option Action Store all virtual machine files in the same location on a datastore. Select a datastore and click Next. Store all virtual machine files in the same datastore cluster. a b c Select a datastore cluster.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 4 Click Next. Customize Virtual Machine Hardware Before you deploy a new virtual machine, you have the option to configure the virtual hardware. When you create a virtual machine, the virtual disk is selected by default. You can use the New device drop-down menu on the Customize Hardware page to add a new hard disk, select an existing disk, or add an RDM disk.
Chapter 2 Deploying Virtual Machines n Have a network adapter connected to the network where the PXE server resides. For details about guest operating system installation, see the Guest Operating System Installation Guide at http://partnerweb.vmware.com/GOSIG/home.html. Install a Guest Operating System from Media You can install a guest operating system from a CD-ROM or from an ISO image. Installing from an ISO image is typically faster and more convenient than a CD-ROM installation.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration n Datastore.Low level file operations on the datastore. Procedure 1 In the inventory, click Datastores and on the Objects tab, select the datastore to which you will upload the file. 2 Click the Navigate to the datastore file browser icon ( 3 (Optional) Click the Create a new folder icon.
Chapter 2 Deploying Virtual Machines 2 Select a Template on page 28 After you select the template from which to deploy the virtual machine, you can optionally select to customize the guest operating system and the virtual machine hardware. You can also select to turn on the virtual machine when you complete the creation procedure.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Start the Deploy a Virtual Machine from a Template Task To save time, you can create a virtual machine that is a copy of a configured template. You can open the New Virtual Machine wizard from any object in the inventory that is a valid parent object of a virtual machine, or directly from the template. The wizard provides several options for creating and deploying virtual machines and templates.
Chapter 2 Deploying Virtual Machines Select the Virtual Machine Name and Folder When you create a virtual machine, you provide a unique name for it. The unique name distinguishes it from existing virtual machines in the virtual machine folder or datacenter. The name can contain up to 80 characters. You can select a datacenter or folder location for the virtual machine, depending on your organizational needs.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Procedure 1 2 Select the format for the virtual machine's disks. Option Action Same format as source Use the same format as the source virtual machine. Thick Provision Lazy Zeroed Create a virtual disk in a default thick format. Space required for the virtual disk is allocated during creation. Any data remaining on the physical device is not erased during creation, but is zeroed out on demand at a later time on first write from the virtual machine.
Chapter 2 Deploying Virtual Machines Customize the Guest Operating System When you customize a guest operating system, you can prevent conflicts that might result if you deploy virtual machines with identical settings, such as duplicate computer names. You can change the computer name, network settings, and license settings. You can customize guest operating systems when you clone a virtual machine or deploy a virtual machine from a template.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Customize Virtual Machine Hardware Before you deploy a new virtual machine, you have the option to configure the virtual hardware. When you create a virtual machine, the virtual disk is selected by default. You can use the New device drop-down menu on the Customize Hardware page to add a new hard disk, select an existing disk, or add an RDM disk.
Chapter 2 Deploying Virtual Machines n Datastore.Allocate space on the destination datastore or datastore folder. n Network.Assign network on the network to which the virtual machine will be assigned. n Virtual machine.Provisioning.Customize on the virtual machine or virtual machine folder if you are customizing the guest operating system. n Virtual machine.Provisioning.Read customization specifications on the root vCenter Server if you are customizing the guest operating system.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 8 Enter Additional Customization Parameters for the Guest Operating System on page 37 In the User Settings screen, you can enter the NetBIOS name and configure the network settings of the virtual machine. 9 Customize Virtual Machine Hardware on page 38 Before you deploy a new virtual machine, you have the option to configure the virtual hardware. When you create a virtual machine, the virtual disk is selected by default.
Chapter 2 Deploying Virtual Machines 3 (Optional) Select Customize this virtual machine's hardware to configure the virtual machine's hardware before deployment. 4 (Optional) Select Power On Virtual Machine after creation to power on the virtual machine after creation is complete. 5 Click Next. Select the Virtual Machine Name and Folder When you create a virtual machine, you provide a unique name for it.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Thin provisioning lets you create sparse files with blocks that are allocated upon first access, which allows the datastore to be over-provisioned. The sparse files can continue growing and fill the datastore. If the datastore runs out of disk space while the virtual machine is running, it can cause the virtual machine to stop functioning. Procedure 1 2 Select the format for the virtual machine's disks.
Chapter 2 Deploying Virtual Machines 2 Select Customize this virtual machine's hardware. 3 Select Power on virtual machine after creation. 4 Click Next. Customize the Guest Operating System When you customize a guest operating system, you can prevent conflicts that might result if you deploy virtual machines with identical settings, such as duplicate computer names. You can change the computer name, network settings, and license settings.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Customize Virtual Machine Hardware Before you deploy a new virtual machine, you have the option to configure the virtual hardware. When you create a virtual machine, the virtual disk is selected by default. You can use the New device drop-down menu on the Customize Hardware page to add a new hard disk, select an existing disk, or add an RDM disk.
Chapter 2 Deploying Virtual Machines Procedure 1 Start the Clone a Virtual Machine to a Template Task on page 39 To make a master copy of a virtual machine, you can clone the virtual machine to a template. You can open the New Virtual Machine wizard from any object in the inventory that is a valid parent object of a virtual machine, or directly from the template. The wizard provides several options for creating and deploying virtual machines and templates.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Select a Virtual Machine to Clone to a Template To clone a virtual machine to a template, you must select an existing virtual machine to clone. You cannot modify a template after you create it. To change the template, you must convert it back to a virtual machine. This page appears only if you opened the New Virtual Machine wizard from an inventory object other than a virtual machine, such as a host or cluster.
Chapter 2 Deploying Virtual Machines Select a Datastore for the Virtual Machine Template Each virtual machine or virtual machine template requires a folder or directory for its virtual disks and files. When you create a virtual machine or template to deploy to the vCenter Server inventory, select a datastore or datastore cluster for the virtual machine's configuration and other files and all of the virtual disks. Each datastore can have a different size, speed, availability, and other properties.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Finish Virtual Machine Template Creation Before you deploy the template, you can review the template settings. Procedure 1 Review the template settings and make any necessary changes by clicking Back to go back to the relevant page. 2 Click Finish. The progress of the clone task appears in the Recent Tasks pane. When the task completes, the template appears in the inventory.
Chapter 2 Deploying Virtual Machines Start the Clone a Template to a Template Task To make changes to a template and preserve the state of the original template, you clone the template to a template. You can open the New Virtual Machine wizard from any object in the inventory that is a valid parent object of a virtual machine, or directly from the template. The wizard provides several options for creating and deploying virtual machines and templates.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Procedure 1 Type a name for the template. 2 Select or search for the datacenter or folder in which to deploy the template. 3 Click Next. Select a Resource for a Virtual Machine Template When you deploy a virtual machine template, select a host or cluster resource for the template. The template must be registered with an ESXi host. The host handles all requests for the template and must be running when you create a virtual machine from the template.
Chapter 2 Deploying Virtual Machines 3 Select a datastore location for the virtual disk. Option Action Store the virtual disk and virtual machine configuration files in the same location on a datastore. Select Store with the virtual machine from the Location drop-down menu. Store the disk in a separate datastore location. Select Browse from the Location drop-down menu, and select a datastore for the disk. Store all virtual machine files in the same datastore cluster.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 4 Finish Virtual Machine Creation on page 47 Before you deploy the virtual machine, you can review the virtual machine settings. Start the Convert a Template to a Virtual Machine Task To reconfigure a template with new or updated hardware or applications, you must convert the template to a virtual machine and clone the virtual machine back to a template. In some cases, you might convert a template to a virtual machine because you no longer need the template.
Chapter 2 Deploying Virtual Machines Procedure 1 Search or browse for the host, cluster, vApp, or resource pool for the virtual machine. If deploying the virtual machine to the selected location might cause compatibility problems, the problems appear at the bottom of the window. 2 Click Next. Finish Virtual Machine Creation Before you deploy the virtual machine, you can review the virtual machine settings.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration n The ESXi host that the virtual machine is running on must be 3.5 or later. Guest operating system customization is supported on multiple Windows operating systems. Linux Requirements Customization of Linux guest operating systems requires that Perl is installed in the Linux guest operating system. Guest operating system customization is supported on multiple Linux distributions.
Chapter 2 Deploying Virtual Machines Customize Windows During Cloning or Deployment You can customize Windows guest operating systems for the virtual machine when you deploy a new virtual machine from a template or clone an existing virtual machine. Customizing the guest helps prevent conflicts that can result if virtual machines with identical settings are deployed, such as duplicate computer names.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 4 5 Provide licensing information for the Windows operating system and click Next. Option Action For non-server operating systems Type the Windows product key for the new guest operating system. For server operating systems a b c d Type the Windows product key for the new guest operating system. Select Include Server License Information. Select either Per seat or Per server.
Chapter 2 Deploying Virtual Machines 10 Select IPv6 to configure the virtual machine to use IPv6 network. Note that the virtual machine can retain the IP address allocated from the network as well as IPv6 addresses. Microsoft supports IPv6 for Windows Server 2003, Windows XP with Service Pack 1 (SP1) or later, and Windows CE .NET 4.1 or later. However, these operating systems have limited IPv6 support for built-in applications, system services, and are not recommended for IPv6 deployment.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration If the new virtual machine encounters customization errors while it is starting, the errors are logged to %WINDIR%\temp\vmware-imc. To view the error log file, click the Windows Start button and select Programs > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer.
Chapter 2 Deploying Virtual Machines 5 Select the type of network settings to apply to the guest operating system. Option Action Typical settings Select Typical settings and click Next. vCenter Server configures all network interfaces from a DHCP server using default settings. Custom settings a b c d Select Custom settings and click Next. For each network interface in the virtual machine, click the ellipsis button (...) . Enter IP address and other network settings and click OK.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Apply a Customization Specification to a Virtual Machine You can add guest OS specification to an existing virtual machine. When you customize a guest operating system, you can prevent conflicts that might result if you deploy virtual machines with identical settings, such as duplicate computer names. You can change the computer name, network settings, and license settings.
Chapter 2 Deploying Virtual Machines Create a Customization Specification for Linux Use the Guest Customization wizard to save guest operating system settings in a specification that you can apply when cloning virtual machines or deploying from templates. Prerequisites Ensure that all requirements for customization are met. See “Guest Operating System Customization Requirements,” on page 47.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 9 To specify IPv6 related settings, select IPv6 to configure the virtual machine to use IPv6 network. a Select Prompt user for an address when the specification is used. Selecting this option prompts you to enter IPv6 address. b Select Use the following IPv6 addresses to choose an IPv6 address from the list. n Click the pencil icon to enter additional IPv6 addresses. You can specify the full address or shorten it by using zero compression and zero suppression.
Chapter 2 Deploying Virtual Machines 5 Enter the guest operating system's computer name. The operating system uses this name to identify itself on the network. On Linux systems, it is called the host name. 6 7 Option Action Enter a name a Type a name. b The name can contain alphanumeric characters and the hyphen (-) character. It cannot contain periods (.) or blank spaces and cannot be made up of digits only. Names are not case-sensitive.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 10 Select the type of network settings to apply to the guest operating system. Option Action Standard settings Select Use standard network settings and click Next. vCenter Server configures all network interfaces from a DHCP server using default settings. Custom settings a b Select Manually select custom settings. For each network interface in the virtual machine, click the pencil icon.
Chapter 2 Deploying Virtual Machines Create a Customization Specification for Windows Using a Custom Sysprep Answer File in the vSphere Web Client A custom sysprep answer file is a file that stores a number of customization settings such as computer name, licensing information, and workgroup or domain settings. You can supply a custom sysprep answer file as an alternative to specifying many of the settings in the Guest Customization wizard.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 9 To specify IPv6 related settings, select IPv6 to configure the virtual machine to use IPv6 network. a Select Prompt user for an address when the specification is used. Selecting this option prompts you to enter IPv4 or IPv6 address. b Select Use the following IPv6 addresses to choose an IPv6 address from the list. n Click the pencil icon to enter additional IPv6 addresses.
Chapter 2 Deploying Virtual Machines Copy a Customization Specification in the vSphere Web Client If you need a customization specification that is only slightly different from an existing specification, you can use the Customization Specification Manager to create a copy of the existing specification and modify it. For example, you might need to change the IP address or the administrator password. Prerequisites You must have at least one customization specification.
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Deploying OVF Templates 3 You can export virtual machines, virtual appliances, and vApps in Open Virtual Machine Format (OVF). You can then deploy the OVF template in the same environment or in a different environment.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Deploy an OVF Template in the vSphere Web Client You can deploy an OVF template from a local file system accessible to the vSphere Web Client, or from a URL. Prerequisites Install the Client Integration plug-in before you deploy an OVF template. This plug-in enables OVF deployment from your local filesystem. See “Install the Client Integration Plug-In,” on page 187.
Chapter 3 Deploying OVF Templates Accept the OVF License Agreements This page appears only if license agreements are packaged with the OVF template. Procedure u Agree to accept the terms of the end user license agreements, and click Next. Select OVF Name and Location When you deploy an OVF template, you provide a unique name for the virtual machine or vApp. The name can contain up to 80 characters. You can select a datacenter or folder location for the virtual machine.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Select Storage for OVF Template Select the location to store the files for the deployed template. Procedure 1 2 Select the disk format to store the virtual machine virtual disks. Format Description Thick Provisioned Lazy Zeroed Creates a virtual disk in a default thick format.
Chapter 3 Deploying OVF Templates 2 3 If the OVF template is set up to allow network customization, you can select the IP protocol, the IP allocation, or both. Option Description Static - Manual You will be prompted to enter the IP addresses in the Appliance Properties page. Transient - IP Pool IP addresses are allocated from a specified range when the appliance is powered on. The IP addresses are released when the appliance is powered off.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 2 Search the Marketplace to find a prepackaged application. download it. 3 Log in and download the appliance. 4 Deploy the appliance in your vSphere environment. Export an OVF Template An OVF template captures the state of a virtual machine or vApp into a self-contained package. The disk files are stored in a compressed, sparse format. Required privilege: vApp.Export Prerequisites Power off the virtual machine or vApp.
Chapter 3 Deploying OVF Templates n C:\NewFolder\OvfLib\MyVm-disk1.vmdk If you choose to export into the OVA format, and type MyVm, the file C:\MyVm.ova is created. VMware, Inc.
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Using Content Libraries 4 Content libraries are container objects for VM templates, vApp templates, and other types of files. vSphere administrators can use the templates in the library to deploy virtual machines and vApps in the vSphere inventory. Sharing templates and files across multiple vCenter Server instances in same or different locations brings out consistency, compliance, efficiency, and automation in deploying workloads at scale.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration To ensure the contents of a subscribed library are up-to-date, the subscribed library automatically synchronizes to the source published library on regular intervals. You can also manually synchronize subscribed libraries. You can use the option to download content from the source published library immediately or only when needed to manage your storage space.
Chapter 4 Using Content Libraries n “Creating Virtual Machines and vApps from Templates in a Content Library,” on page 84 Create a Library You can create a content library in the vSphere Web Client, and populate it with templates, which you can use to deploy virtual machines or vApps in your virtual environment. Prerequisites Required privileges: Content library. Create local library or Content library. Create subscribed library on the vCenter Server instance where you want to create the library.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 7 8 Enter the path to a storage location where to keep the contents of this library. Option Description Enter a local file system path or an NFS URL Enter the path to the local file system of the Windows machine where vCenter Server runs, or enter a path to an NFS storage if you are using vCenter Server Appliance.
Chapter 4 Using Content Libraries 2 Right-click a content library and select Edit Settings. 3 Edit the settings for the library. 4 Type of Content Library Action Content library that is local You can publish a local library to share its contents with other users. a Select the Publish this library externally check box. b Select whether to set a password for authentication to the library.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Delete a Content Library You can delete a content library that you no longer want to use. Prerequisites Required privilege: Content library. Delete subscribed library or Content library. Delete local library on the type of library you want to delete. Procedure 1 In the vSphere Web Client navigator, select vCenter Inventory Lists > Content Libraries. 2 Right-click a content library from the list and select Delete.
Chapter 4 Using Content Libraries Figure 4‑1.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Administrators whose role is defined as a global permissions can see and manage the libraries in all vCenter Server instances that belong to the global root. Because content libraries and their children items inherit permissions only from the global root object, when you navigate to a library or a library item and click Manage tab, you can see there is no Permissions tab.
Chapter 4 Using Content Libraries Importing Items to a Content Library You can import items such as VM templates and vApps to a content library from your local machine or from a Web server, and use them to create virtual machines and vApps. You can also import ISO images, certificates, and other files, which you want to keep in the library and share with other users across multiple vCenter Server systems.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration In the Recent Tasks pane you see two tasks, one about creating a new item in the library, and the second about uploading the contents of the item to the library. After the task is complete, the item appears on the Related Objects tab under Templates or Other Types. Clone a vApp to a Template in Content Library You can clone existing vApps to vApp templates in a content library.
Chapter 4 Using Content Libraries 4 (Optional) Select configuration data that you want to include in the template. You can select to preserve the MAC-addresses on the network adapters and include extra configuration. 5 Click OK. A new task for exporting an OVF package appears in the Recent Tasks pane. After the task is complete, the template appears in the Templates tab of the Related Objects tab for the content library.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration VM Templates and vApp Templates in Content Libraries In a content library you can store VM and vApp templates. You can use the VM and vApp templates to deploy virtual machines and vApps in the vSphere inventory. A VM template is a template of a virtual machine. The VM templates that exist in a VM template folder differentiate from the VM templates that exist in a content library.
Chapter 4 Using Content Libraries Procedure 1 In the vSphere Web Client navigator, select vCenter Inventory Lists > Content Libraries. 2 Select a content library and click the Related Objects tab. 3 Select the type of file you want to export. n From the Templates tab, right-click a template from the library, and select Export Item. n From the Other Types tab, right-click a file from the library that is not a template, and select Export Item. The Export Library Item dialog box opens.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Creating Virtual Machines and vApps from Templates in a Content Library From VM or from vApp templates stored in a content library, you can deploy virtual machines and vApps on hosts or clusters in your vSphere inventory. The library can be a local library to the vCenter Server instance where you want to deploy the VM or the vApp template, or can be a subscribed library to that vCenter Server instance.
Chapter 4 Using Content Libraries 4 Enter a name and select a location for the vApp, and click Next. 5 On the Select a resource page, select a host, a cluster, a resource pool, or a vApp to deploy the vApp to. 6 On the Review details page, verify the template details and click Next. 7 Select disk format and a storage resource for the vApp. 8 On the Customize template page, you can customize the deployment properties for the vApp.
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Installing the Microsoft Sysprep Tool 5 Install the Microsoft Sysprep tool so that you can customize Windows guest operating systems when you clone virtual machines. The guest operating system customization feature in vCenter Server uses the functions of the Sysprep tool. Verify that your vCenter Server meets the following requirements before you customize your virtual machine’s Windows guest operating systems: n Install the Microsoft Sysprep tool.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 3 Extract the files to the appropriate directory for your guest operating system. The following Sysprep support directories are created during the vCenter Server installation: C:\ALLUSERSPROFILE\Application Data\Vmware\VMware VirtualCenter\sysprep ...\1.1\ ...\2k\ ...\xp\ ...\svr2003\ ...\xp-64\ ...\svr2003-64\ 4 Select the subdirectory that corresponds to your operating system. 5 Click OK to expand the files.
Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware 6 You can add or configure most virtual machine properties during the virtual machine creation process or after you create the virtual machine and install the guest operating system. You configure the virtual machine hardware and can change nearly every characteristic that you selected when you created the virtual machine. You can view the existing hardware configuration and add or remove hardware.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Each virtual machine compatibility level supports at least five major or minor vSphere releases. For example, a virtual machine with ESXi 3.5 and later compatibility can run on ESXi 3.5, ESXi 4.0, ESXi 4.1, ESXi 5.0, ESXi 5.1, ESXi 5.5, and ESXi 6.0. Table 6‑1. Virtual Machine Compatibility Options Compatibility Description ESXi 6.0 and later This virtual machine (hardware version 11) is compatible with ESXi 6.0. ESXi 5.
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware Objects in Environment Compatibility Results Cluster with ESXi 5.1, ESXi 5.5, and ESXi 6.0 hosts ESXi 5.1 and later Preserves the ability of the virtual machine to run on other hosts in the cluster, such as ESXi 5.0. You might not have access to the latest virtual hardware features. Cluster with ESXi 5.1, ESXi 5.5, and ESXi 6.0 hosts ESXi 5.5 and later Gives you access to virtual hardware features that are not available with ESXi 5.1.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Schedule a Compatibility Upgrade for a Single Virtual Machine The compatibility level determines the virtual hardware available to a virtual machine, which corresponds to the physical hardware available on the host machine. You can upgrade the compatibility to make the virtual machine compatible with the latest version of the host. To schedule an upgrade for multiple virtual machines, see “Schedule a Compatibility Upgrade for Virtual Machines,” on page 247.
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware Hardware Features Available with Virtual Machine Compatibility Settings The virtual machine compatibility setting determines the virtual hardware available to the virtual machine, which corresponds to the physical hardware available on the host. You can review and compare the hardware available for different compatibility levels to help you determine whether to upgrade the virtual machines in your environment. Table 6‑2.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Table 6‑2. Supported Features for Virtual Machine Compatibility (Continued) 94 ESXi 5.0 and later ESX/ESXi 4.x and later ESX/ESXi 3.5 and later Feature ESXi 6.0 and later ESXi 5.5 and later ESXi 5.1 and later Maximum NICs 10 10 10 10 10 4 PCNet32 Y Y Y Y Y Y VMXNet Y Y Y Y Y Y VMXNet2 Y Y Y Y Y Y VMXNet3 Y Y Y Y Y N E1000 Y Y Y Y Y Y E1000e Y Y Y Y N N USB 1.x and 2.0 Y Y Y Y Y N USB 3.
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware Virtual CPU Configuration You can add, change, or configure CPU resources to improve virtual machine performance. You can set most of the CPU parameters when you create virtual machines or after the guest operating system is installed. Some actions require that you power off the virtual machine before you change the settings. VMware uses the following terminology. Understanding these terms can help you plan your CPU resource allocation strategy.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Virtual CPU Limitations The maximum number of virtual CPUs that you can assign to a virtual machine is 128. The number of virtual CPUs depends on the number of logical CPUs on the host, and the type of guest operating system that is installed on the virtual machine. Be aware of the following limitations: n A virtual machine cannot have more virtual CPUs than the number of logical cores on the host.
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware n To use the CPU hot plug feature with virtual machines that are compatible with ESXi 4.x and later, set the Number of cores per socket to 1. n Adding CPU resources to a running virtual machine with CPU hot plug enabled disconnects and reconnects all USB passthrough devices that are connected to that virtual machine. Prerequisites Required privileges: Virtual Machine.Configuration.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Allocate CPU Resources To manage workload demands, you can change the amount of CPU resources allocated to a virtual machine by using the shares, reservations, and limits settings. A virtual machine has the following user-defined settings that affect its CPU resource allocation. Limit Places a limit on the consumption of CPU time for a virtual machine. This value is expressed in MHz or GHz.
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware n Privileges: Virtual machine.Configuration.Change resource Procedure 1 Right-click a virtual machine in the inventory and select Edit Settings. 2 On the Virtual Hardware tab, expand CPU, and enter a comma-separated list of hyphenated processor ranges in the Scheduling Affinity text box. For example, "0,4-7" would indicate affinity with CPUs 0,4,5,6, and 7. Selecting all processors is identical to selecting no affinity.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Expose VMware Hardware Assisted Virtualization You can expose full CPU virtualization to the guest operating system so that applications that require hardware virtualization can run on virtual machines without binary translation or paravirtualization. Prerequisites n Verify that the virtual machine compatibility is ESXi 5.1 and later. n Intel Nehalem Generation (Xeon Core i7) or later processors or AMD Opteron Generation 3 (Greyhound) or later processors.
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware Procedure 1 Right-click a virtual machine in the inventory and select Edit Settings. 2 On the Virtual Hardware tab, expand CPU and enable virtualized CPU performance counters. 3 Click OK. Change CPU/MMU Virtualization Settings ESXi can determine whether a virtual machine should use hardware support for virtualization. ESXi makes this determination based on the processor type and the virtual machine.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Table 6‑3. Maximum Virtual Machine Memory Introduced in Host Version Virtual Machine Compatibility Maximum Memory Size ESXi 6.0 ESXi 6.0 and later 4080GB ESXi 5.5 ESXi 5.5 and later 1011GB ESXi 5.1 ESXi 5.1 and later 1011GB ESXi 5.0 ESXi 5.0 and later 1011GB ESX/ESXi 4.x ESX/ESXi 4.0 and later 255GB ESX/ESXi 3.x ESX/ESXi 3.5 and later 65532MB The ESXi host version indicates when support began for the increased memory size.
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware Procedure 1 Right-click a virtual machine in the inventory and select Edit Settings. 2 On the Virtual Hardware tab, expand Memory, and allocate the memory capacity for the virtual machine. 3 Option Description Reservation Guaranteed memory allocation for this virtual machine. Limit Upper limit for this virtual machine’s memory allocation. Select Unlimited to specify no upper limit.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration The following NIC types are supported: E1000E Emulated version of the Intel 82574 Gigabit Ethernet NIC. E1000E is the default adapter for Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012. E1000 Emulated version of the Intel 82545EM Gigabit Ethernet NIC, with drivers available in most newer guest operating systems, including Windows XP and later and Linux versions 2.4.19 and later.
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware Network Adapters and Legacy Virtual Machines Legacy virtual machines are virtual machines that are supported by the product in use, but are not current for that product. The default network adapter types for all legacy virtual machines depend on the adapters available and compatible to the guest operating system and the version of virtual hardware on which the virtual machine was created.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 5 6 (Optional) Select how to assign the MAC address from the drop-down menu. n Select Automatic to automatically assign a MAC address. n Select Manual to manually enter the MAC address that you want. If the network adapter is connected to a distributed port group of a distributed switch that has vSphere Network I/O Control version 3 enabled, allocate bandwidth to the adapter. NOTE You cannot allocate bandwidth to SR-IOV passthrough network adapters.
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware 5 6 (Optional) Select how to assign the MAC address from the drop-down menu. n Select Automatic to automatically assign a MAC address. n Select Manual to manually enter the MAC address that you want. From the drop-down menu next to the New Network label, select the standard or distributed port group to connect to. The menu lists all standard and distributed port groups that are available for virtual machine use on the host.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Connect to a named pipe Sets a direct connection between two virtual machines or a connection between a virtual machine and an application on the host computer. With this method, two virtual machines or a virtual machine and a process on the host can communicate as if they were physical machines connected by a serial cable. For example, use this option for remote debugging of a virtual machine.
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware n VM serial port connected over network. Use to connect the serial port output through a network without the virtual serial port concentrator. IMPORTANT Do not change the allowed IP list for either rule set. Updates to the IP list can affect other network services that might be blocked by the firewall. For details about allowing access to an ESXi service through the firewall, see the vSphere Security documentation.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 2 On the Virtual Hardware tab, expand Serial port, and select a connection type. Option Action Use physical serial port Select this option to have the virtual machine use a physical serial port on the host computer. Select the serial port from the drop-down menu. Use output file Select this option to send output from the virtual serial port to a file on the host computer. Browse to select an output file to connect the serial port to.
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware Authentication Parameters for Virtual Serial Port Network Connections When you establish serial port connections over the network, you can use authentication parameters to secure the network. These parameters can support an encrypted connection with a remote system using SSL over Telnet or Telnets, or an encrypted connection with a concentrator using SSL over Telnet or Telnets.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Example: Establishing Serial Port Network Connections to a Client or Server Simple Server Connection To connect to a virtual machine's serial port from a Linux or Windows operating system if you do not use vSPC, configure the virtual machine with a serial port connected as a server with a telnet://:12345 URI. To access a virtual serial port from a client, use telnet yourESXiServerIPAddress 12345.
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware 3 Expand New Serial Port. 4 On the Virtual Hardware tab, expand Serial port, and select a connection type. Option Action Use physical serial port Select this option to have the virtual machine use a physical serial port on the host computer. Select the serial port from the drop-down menu. Use output file Select this option to send output from the virtual serial port to a file on the host computer.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Change the Parallel Port Configuration You can change the output file for peripheral device output and schedule the parallel port to connect when the virtual machine powers on. NOTE If you are changing the parallel port on a virtual machine that runs on an ESXi 4.1 or earlier host, you can send output to a physical parallel port on the host or to an output file on the host. This option is not available with ESXi 5.0 and later.
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware 3 Expand New Parallel port, and click Browse to locate a folder to create the file in. 4 Type a name for the file in the Save As text box and click OK. The file path appears in the Connection text box. 5 (Optional) Select Connect At Power On to connect the device when the virtual machine powers on. 6 Click OK. Output from the attached peripheral device is read to the newly created file.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration You can use Storage vMotion or cross-host Storage vMotion to transform virtual disks from one format to another. Thick Provision Lazy Zeroed Creates a virtual disk in a default thick format. Space required for the virtual disk is allocated when the disk is created. Data remaining on the physical device is not erased during creation, but is zeroed out on demand at a later time on first write from the virtual machine.
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware n You cannot hot-extend virtual SATA disks, or any virtual disk if the capacity after extension is equal to or greater than 2TB. n Fault Tolerance is not supported. n Virtual SAN is not supported. n BusLogic Parallel controllers are not supported. Change the Virtual Disk Configuration If you run out of disk space, you can increase the size of the disk.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration The following ways to add disks can help you plan your disk configuration. These approaches show how you can optimize controller and virtual device nodes for different disks. For storage controller limitations, maximums, and virtual device node behavior, see “SCSI and SATA Storage Controller Conditions, Limitations, and Compatibility,” on page 125. Add an existing hard disk that is configured as a boot disk during virtual machine creation.
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware Prerequisites n Ensure that you are familiar with configuration options and caveats for adding virtual hard disks. See “Virtual Disk Configuration,” on page 115. n Before you add disks greater than 2TB to a virtual machine, see “Large Capacity Virtual Disk Conditions and Limitations,” on page 116. n Verify that you have the Virtual machine.Configuration.Add new disk privilege on the destination folder or datastore.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 7 8 Select the format for the virtual machine's disks and click Next. Option Action Thick Provision Lazy Zeroed Create a virtual disk in a default thick format. Space required for the virtual disk is allocated during creation. Any data remaining on the physical device is not erased during creation, but is zeroed out on demand at a later time on first write from the virtual machine.
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware Prerequisites n Make sure that you are familiar with controller and virtual device node behavior for different virtual hard disk configurations. See “Add a Hard Disk to a Virtual Machine,” on page 117. n Before you add disks greater than 2TB to a virtual machine, see “Large Capacity Virtual Disk Conditions and Limitations,” on page 116. n Verify that you have the Virtual machine.Configuration.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Procedure 1 Right-click a virtual machine in the inventory and select Edit Settings. 2 (Optional) To delete the existing hard disk, move your cursor over the disk and click the Remove icon. The disk is removed from the virtual machine. If other virtual machines share the disk, the disk files are not deleted. 3 On the Virtual Hardware tab, select RDM Disk from the New device drop-down menu and click Add.
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware Use Disk Shares to Prioritize Virtual Machines You can change the disk resources for a virtual machine. If multiple virtual machines access the same VMFS datastore and the same logical unit number (LUN), use disk shares to prioritize the disk accesses from the virtual machines. Disk shares distinguish high-priority from low-priority virtual machines. You can allocate the host disk's I/O bandwidth to the virtual hard disks of a virtual machine.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 4 On the Virtual Hardware tab, expand Hard disk to view the disk options. 5 To enable Flash Read Cache for the virtual machine, enter a value in the Virtual Flash Read Cache text box. 6 Click Advanced to specify the following parameters. Option 7 Description Reservation Select a cache size reservation. Block Size Select a block size. Click OK.
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware 3 Click the datastore link to open the datastore management panel. 4 Click the Manage tab and click Files. 5 Open the virtual machine folder and browse to the virtual disk file that you want to convert. The file has the .vmdk extension. 6 Right-click the virtual disk file and select Inflate. The inflated virtual disk occupies the entire datastore space originally provisioned to it.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration BusLogic Parallel controllers do not support virtual machines with disks larger than 2TB. n CAUTION Changing the controller type after the guest operating system is installed will make the disk and any other devices connected to the adapter inaccessible. Before you change the controller type or add a new controller, make sure that the guest operating system installation media contains the necessary drivers.
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware n Verify that you are familiar with storage controller behavior and limitations. See “SCSI and SATA Storage Controller Conditions, Limitations, and Compatibility,” on page 125. n Verify that you have the Virtual machine.Configuration.Add or remove device privilege on the virtual machine. Procedure 1 Right-click a virtual machine in the inventory and select Edit Settings.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration What to do next You can add a hard disk or other SCSI device to the virtual machine and assign it to the new SCSI controller. Change the SCSI Bus Sharing Configuration in the vSphere Web Client You can set the type of SCSI bus sharing for a virtual machine and indicate whether the SCSI bus is shared.
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware 4 Click OK. About VMware Paravirtual SCSI Controllers VMware Paravirtual SCSI controllers are high performance storage controllers that can result in greater throughput and lower CPU use. These controllers are best suited for high performance storage environments. VMware Paravirtual SCSI controllers are available for virtual machines with ESXi 4.x and later compatibility.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Other Virtual Machine Device Configuration In addition to configuring virtual machine CPU and Memory and adding a hard disk and virtual NICs, you can also add and configure virtual hardware, such as DVD/CD-ROM drives, floppy drives, and SCSI devices. Not all devices are available to add and configure. For example, you cannot add a video card, but you can configure available video cards and PCI devices.
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware 7 Turn on the virtual machine. 8 Click Edit and select Connected next to the datastore ISO file to connect the device. 9 Click OK. Configure a Host Device Type for the CD/DVD Drive in the vSphere Web Client You can configure the virtual machine’s CD/DVD drive to connect to a physical CD or DVD device on the host so that you can install a guest operating system, VMware Tools, or other applications.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration n Verify that the Client Integration Plug-In is installed. Procedure 1 Right-click a virtual machine in the inventory and click the Summary tab. 2 In the VM Hardware pane, click the CD/DVD drive connection icon, select an available drive to connect to, and browse for the CD/DVD media. An Access Control dialog box opens. Click allow to proceed. To change your selection, click the connection icon, select Disconnect, and select a different option.
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware 3 Expand New CD/DVD Drive and select the device type. Option Action Client Device a b Host Device a b c Datastore ISO File a b Select to connect the CD/DVD device to a physical DVD or CD device on the system from which you access the vSphere Web Client. From the Device Mode drop-down menu, select Passthrough IDE. Select to connect the CD/DVD device to a physical DVD or CD device on the host.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 3 Select the device type to use for this virtual device. Option Action Client Device Select this option to connect the floppy device to a physical floppy device or a .flp floppy image on the system from which you access the vSphere Web Client. Use existing floppy image a Create new floppy image a b b c Select this option to connect the virtual device to an existing floppy image on a datastore accessible to the host. Click Browse and select the floppy image.
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware 6 Click OK. Change the SCSI Device Configuration in the vSphere Web Client You can change the physical device and configure the virtual device node. This is useful if you no longer need an existing device and want to connect to another device. To prevent data congestion, you can assign a SCSI device to a SCSI controller and virtual device node other than the default.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 5 Click OK. The virtual machine can access the device. Add a PCI Device in the vSphere Web Client vSphere DirectPath I/O allows a guest operating system on a virtual machine to directly access physical PCI and PCIe devices connected to a host. This action gives you direct access to devices such as highperformance graphics or sound cards. You can connect each virtual machine to up to six PCI devices.
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware Linux distributions must have a 3.2 or later kernel. If 3D is not available on a Linux guest, verify that the driver is available in the Linux kernel. If it is not available, upgrade to a more recent Linux distribution. The location of the kernel depends on whether the distribution is based on deb or rpm. Table 6‑5. Linux Driver Location VMware Linux Guest Kernel Drivers Debian Format RPM Format vmwgfx.ko dpkg -S vmwgfx.ko rpm -qf vmwgfx.ko vmwgfx_dri.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Prerequisites n Verify that the virtual machine is powered off. n Verify that the virtual machine compatibility is ESXi 5.0 and later. n To enable 3D graphics in virtual machines with Windows 8 guest operating systems, the virtual machine compatibility must be ESXi 5.1 or later. n To use a Hardware 3D renderer, ensure that graphics hardware is available. See “Configuring 3D Graphics,” on page 136. n If you update the virtual machine compatibility from ESXi 5.
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware Reduce Memory Overhead for Virtual machines with 3D graphics Option Virtual machines with the 3D graphics option enabled can have higher memory consumption than other virtual machines. You can reduce the memory overhead by editing the configuration file (.vmx file) of your virtual machines and disabling certain memory related settings. Reducing the memory overhead of virtual machines can help you increase the number of virtual machines per host.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Connecting a USB passthrough device to a virtual machine that runs on the ESXi host to which the device is physically attached requires an arbitrator, a controller, and a physical USB device or device hub. USB Arbitrator Manages connection requests and routes USB device traffic. The arbitrator is installed and enabled by default on ESXi hosts. It scans the host for USB devices and manages device connection among virtual machines that reside on the host.
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware Autoconnect is useful in cases where devices mutate during usage. For example, for iPhones and other such devices, the device VID:PID changes during software or firmware upgrades. The upgrade process disconnects and reconnects the devices to the USB port. The USB port is speed-specific. The autoconnect feature assumes that devices do not transition from USB 1.1 (low-full speed) to USB 2.0 (high speed) or the reverse. You cannot interchange USB 2.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration n Remote USB devices require that the hosts be able to communicate over the management network following migration with vMotion, so the source and destination management network IP address families must match. You cannot migrate a virtual machine from a host that is registered to vCenter Server with an IPv4 address to a host that is registered with an IPv6 address.
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware USB Compound Devices For compound devices, the virtualization process filters out the USB hub so that it is not visible to the virtual machine. The remaining USB devices in the compound appear to the virtual machine as separate devices. You can add each device to the same virtual machine or to different virtual machines if they run on the same host.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration The conditions for adding a controller vary, depending on the device version, the type of passthrough (host or client computer), and the guest operating system. Table 6‑8. USB Controller Support Controller type Supported USB Device Version Supported for Passthrough from ESXi Host to VM Supported for Passthrough from Client Computer to VM EHCI+UHCI 2.0 and 1.1 Yes Yes xHCI 3.0, 2.0, and 1.1 Yes (USB 3.0, 2.0, and 1.
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware Add USB Devices from an ESXi Host to a Virtual Machine You can add one or more USB passthrough devices from an ESXi host to a virtual machine if the physical devices are connected to the host on which the virtual machine runs. If a USB device is connected to another virtual machine, you cannot add it until that machine releases it. NOTE If you have the Apple Frontpanel Controller device in your environment, you can safely add it to a virtual machine.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration n To minimize the risk of data loss, follow the instructions to safely unmount or eject hardware for your operating system. Safely removing hardware allows accumulated data to be transmitted to a file. Windows operating systems typically include a Remove Hardware icon located in the System Tray. Linux operating systems use the umount command.
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware You can add multiple devices to a virtual machine, but only one at a time. The virtual machine retains its connection to the device while in S1 standby. USB device connections are preserved when you migrate virtual machines to another host in the datacenter. A USB device is available to only one powered-on virtual machine at a time.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration n Certain hubs can cause USB device connections to be unreliable, so use care when you add a new hub to an existing setup. Connecting certain USB devices directly to the client computer rather than to a hub or extension cable might resolve their connection or performance issues. In some cases, you must remove and reattach the device and hub to restore the device to a working state.
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware Table 6‑9. USB Controller Support Controller type Supported USB Device Version Supported for Passthrough from ESXi Host to VM Supported for Passthrough from Client Computer to VM EHCI+UHCI 2.0 and 1.1 Yes Yes xHCI 3.0, 2.0, and 1.1 Yes (USB 3.0, 2.0, and 1.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration The devices maintain their virtual machine connections in S1 standby, if the vSphere Web Client is running and connected. After you add the USB device to the virtual machine, a message on the client computer states that the device is disconnected. The device remains disconnected from the client computer until you disconnect it from the virtual machine. Fault Tolerance is not supported with USB passthrough from a client computer to a virtual machine.
Chapter 6 Configuring Virtual Machine Hardware 3 Select a device to disconnect from the drop-down menu. A Disconnecting label and a spinner appear, indicating that a disconnection is in progress. When the device is disconnected, after a slight delay, the Summary tab refreshes and the device is removed from the virtual machine configuration. The device reconnects to the client computer and is available to add to another virtual machine.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Add a Shared Smart Card Reader to Virtual Machines You can configure multiple virtual machines to use a virtual shared smart card reader for smart card authentication. The smart card reader must be connected to a client computer on which the vSphere Web Client runs. All smart card readers are treated as USB devices. A license is required for the shared smart card feature. See vCenter Server and Host Management.
Configuring Virtual Machine Options 7 You can set or change virtual machine options to run VMware Tools scripts, control user access to the remote console, configure startup behavior, and more. The virtual machine options define a range of virtual machine properties, such as the virtual machine name and the virtual machine behavior with the guest operating system and VMware Tools.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Table 7‑1. Virtual Machine Options Options Description General Options Virtual machine name and location of the virtual machine configuration file and virtual machine working location. View or change the type and version of the guest operating system.
Chapter 7 Configuring Virtual Machine Options View the Virtual Machine Configuration and Working File Location You can view the location of the virtual machine configuration and working files. You can use this information when you configure backup systems. Prerequisites Verify that the virtual machine is powered off. Procedure 1 Right-click a virtual machine in the inventory and select Edit Settings. 2 Click VM Options tab and expand General Options.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration In order to enroll SSO users to guest user account, you should enroll SSO users to accounts in guest operating systems. The enrollment process will map a vSphere user to a particular account in the guest through the use of SSO certificates. Subsequent guest management requests can then use a SSO SAML token to log into the guest You should configure VMs to accept X.
Chapter 7 Configuring Virtual Machine Options Change the Virtual Machine Console Options for Remote Users To control access to the virtual machine, you can limit the number of simultaneous connections to a virtual machine and lock the guest operating system when the last remote user disconnects from the virtual machine console. Prerequisites n Verify that VMware Tools is installed and running. n To use the Guest OS lock option, verify that you have a Windows XP or later guest operating system.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 3 4 5 6 Select an option for the virtual machine Power Off ( ) control from the drop-down menu. Option Description Shut Down Guest Uses VMware Tools to initiate an orderly system shut down of the virtual machine. Soft power operations are possible only if the tools are installed in the guest operating system. Power Off Immediately stops the virtual machine. A Power Off action shuts down the guest operating system or powers off the virtual machine.
Chapter 7 Configuring Virtual Machine Options 5 Click the Options tab and select VMware Tools. 6 Select Check and upgrade Tools during power cycling in the Advanced pane. 7 Click OK to save your changes and close the dialog box. 8 Select Check and upgrade Tools during power cycling in the Advanced pane. 9 Click OK to save your changes and close the dialog box. The next time the virtual machine is powered on, it checks the ESX/ESXi host for a newer version of VMware Tools.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Delay the Boot Sequence Delaying the boot operation is useful when you change BIOS or EFI settings such as the boot order. For example, you can change the BIOS or EFI settings to force a virtual machine to boot from a CD-ROM. Prerequisites n Verify that vSphere Web Client is logged in to a vCenter Server. n Verify that you have access to at least one virtual machine in the inventory. n Verify that you have privileges to edit boot options for the virtual machine.
Chapter 7 Configuring Virtual Machine Options Procedure 1 Right-click a virtual machine in the inventory and select Edit Settings. 2 Click the VM Options tab and expand Advanced. 3 In the Settings row, select Enable logging and click OK. You can view and compare log files in the same storage location as the virtual machine configuration files.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 4 Click OK. Edit Configuration File Parameters You can change or add virtual machine configuration parameters when instructed by a VMware technical support representative, or if you see VMware documentation that instructs you to add or change a parameter to fix a problem with your system. IMPORTANT Changing or adding parameters when a system does not have problems might lead to decreased system performance and instability.
Chapter 7 Configuring Virtual Machine Options n Each virtual machine can have up to 4 virtual ports. NPIV-enabled virtual machines are assigned exactly 4 NPIV-related WWNs, which are used to communicate with physical HBAs through virtual ports. Therefore, virtual machines can utilize up to 4 physical HBAs for NPIV purposes. Prerequisites n To edit the virtual machine’s WWNs, power off the virtual machine. n Verify that the virtual machine has a datastore containing a LUN that is available to the host.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 164 VMware, Inc.
Managing Multi-Tiered Applications with vSphere vApp 8 A vSphere vApp allows packaging of multiple interoperating virtual machines and software applications that you can manage as a unit and distribute in OVF format.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Prerequisites Verify that one of those objects is available in your datacenter. n A standalone host that is running ESX 4.0 or greater. n A cluster that is enabled for DRS. Procedure 1 Navigate to an object that supports vApp creation and select the Create New vApp icon ( 2 Select Create a new vApp and click Next. 3 In the vApp Name text box, type a name for the vApp. 4 Select the location or resource and click Next. 5 6 166 ).
Chapter 8 Managing Multi-Tiered Applications with vSphere vApp Create a Virtual Machine, Resource Pool, or Child vApp Inside a vApp You can create a virtual machine, resource pool, or child vApp within a vApp. Procedure 1 Navigate to the vApp in which you want to create the object. 2 Click the vApp and select Actions. 3 Select an action from the submenu. You can create a virtual machine, a resource pool, or a child vApp.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 5 Configure vApp Startup and Shutdown Options on page 170 You can change the order in which virtual machines and nested vApps within a vApp start up and shut down. You can also specify delays and actions performed at startup and shutdown. 6 Configure vApp Product Properties on page 171 You can configure product and vendor information for a vApp. 7 View vApp License Agreement on page 172 You can view the license agreement for the vApp that you are editing.
Chapter 8 Managing Multi-Tiered Applications with vSphere vApp 4 Click OK. Configure vApp CPU and Memory Resources You can configure the CPU and memory resource allocation for the vApp. Reservations on vApps and all their child resource pools, child vApps, and child virtual machines count against the parent resources only if those objects are powered on. Prerequisites Required privilege: vApp.vApp resource configuration on the vApp.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 2 Click Unrecognized OVF Sections in the Deployment section. 3 Click OK. Configure vApp IP Allocation Policy If your vApp is set up to allow it, and if you have the required privileges, you can edit how IP addresses are allocated for the vApp. By default, you cannot edit the IP application policy in the Deployment section when you create a vApp in the vSphere Web Client.
Chapter 8 Managing Multi-Tiered Applications with vSphere vApp 3 Select a virtual machine and click the up or down arrow to move the virtual machine in the startup order; the reverse order is used for shutdown. Virtual machines and vApps in the same group are started before the objects in the next group. 4 (Optional) For each virtual machine, select the startup action for the virtual machine. The default is Power On. Select None to power on the virtual machine manually.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration View vApp License Agreement You can view the license agreement for the vApp that you are editing. NOTE This option is available only if the vApp was imported from an OVF that includes a license agreement. Prerequisites Required privilege: vApp.vApp application configuration on the vApp. Procedure 1 On the Summary page of the vApp, click Edit Settings. 2 Click View License Agreement in the Options list. 3 Click OK.
Chapter 8 Managing Multi-Tiered Applications with vSphere vApp Perform vApp Power Operations One of the advantages of a vApp is that you can perform power operations on all virtual machines it contains at the same time. Power on a vApp You can power on a vApp to power on all its virtual machines and child vApps. Virtual machines are powered on according to the startup order configuration.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Procedure 1 Navigate to the vApp you want to suspend. 2 Right-click the vApp and select Suspend. Resume a vApp You can resume a vApp to resume all its virtual machines and child vApps. Virtual machines are resumed according to their startup order configuration. Procedure 1 Navigate to the vApp you want to resume. 2 Right-click the virtual machine and select Power On. Edit vApp Notes You can add or edit notes for a particular vApp.
Chapter 8 Managing Multi-Tiered Applications with vSphere vApp 5 Complete the Network Protocol Profile Creation on page 177 6 Associate a Port Group with a Network Protocol Profile on page 177 To apply the range of IP addresses from a network protocol profile to a virtual machine that is a part of a vApp or has vApp functionality enabled, associate the profile with a port group that controls the networking of the virtual machine.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 5 If you enable IP Pools, enter a comma-separated list of host address ranges in the IP pool range field. A range consists of an IP address, a pound sign (#), and a number indicating the length of the range. The gateway and the ranges must be within the subnet. The ranges that you enter in the IP pool range field cannot include the gateway address. For example, 10.20.60.4#10, 10.20.61.0#2 indicates that the IPv4 addresses can range from 10.20.60.4 to 10.20.60.
Chapter 8 Managing Multi-Tiered Applications with vSphere vApp 4 Enter the server name and port number for the proxy server. The server name can optionally include a colon and a port number. For example, web-proxy:3912 is a valid proxy server. 5 Click Next. Complete the Network Protocol Profile Creation Procedure u Review the settings and click Finish to complete adding the network protocol profile.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 2 Open the settings of the vApp or the vApp Options tab of the virtual machine. n Right-click a vApp and select Edit settings. n Right-click a virtual machine, select Edit settings, and in the Edit Settings dialog box, click the vApp Options tab. 3 Click Enable vApp options. 4 Under Authoring, expand IP allocation and set the IP allocation scheme to OVF environment.
Chapter 8 Managing Multi-Tiered Applications with vSphere vApp Edit Application Properties and OVF Deployment Options for a Virtual Machine If a virtual machine is a deployed OVF, you can view application properties and OVF Deployment options that are defined in the OVF. Deployment options include unrecognized OVF section and the IP allocation policy Procedure 1 Right-click a virtual machine in the inventory and select Edit Settings. 2 Click the vApp Options tab.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 1 Edit vApp Product Information for a Virtual Machine on page 180 If you want to export a virtual machine as an OVF, you can prespecify product properties. Those properties become available when you deploy the OVF as a virtual machine.
Chapter 8 Managing Multi-Tiered Applications with vSphere vApp Manage vApp Custom Properties for a Virtual Machine You can manage and define custom properties that are stored in the OVF template when you export a virtual machine or vApp and are used by vCenter Server when you deploy the OVF template. OVF templates support static properties, which are often configured by the user, and dynamic properties, which are always set by vCenter Server.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Edit OVF Settings for a Virtual Machine A virtual machine's OVF settings allow you to customize the OVF environment, OVF transport, and boot behavior after OVF deployment. You can edit and configure settings that affect the OVF environment in the Virtual Machine Properties dialog box. Prerequisites vApp options must be enabled in order to access these options. Procedure 1 Right-click a virtual machine in the inventory and select Edit Settings.
Monitoring Solutions with the vCenter Solutions Manager 9 In the vSphere Web Client, you can view an inventory of installed solutions, view detailed information about the solutions, and monitor the solution health status. A solution is an extension of vCenter Server that adds new functions to a vCenter Server instance. VMware products that integrate with vCenter Server are also considered solutions.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 4 Select a solution. The Summary tab displays more information about the solution. 5 To view vService provider information, click Monitor, and click vServices. Monitoring Agents The vCenter Solutions Manager displays the vSphere ESX Agent Manager agents that you use to deploy and manage related agents on ESX/ESXi hosts. You can use the Solutions Manager to keep track of whether the agents of a solution are working as expected.
Managing Virtual Machines 10 You can manage individual virtual machines or a group of virtual machines that belongs to a host or cluster. You can install the Client Integration Plug-in to access the virtual machine's console. From the console, you can change the guest operating system settings, use applications, browse the file system, monitor system performance, and so on. Use snapshots to capture the state of the virtual machine at the time you take the snapshot.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 2 Select Manage > Settings. 3 Under Virtual Machines, select VM Startup/Shutdown and click Edit. The Edit VM Startup and Shutdown dialog box opens. 4 Select Allow virtual machines to start and stop automatically with the system. 5 (Optional) In the Default VM Settings pane, configure the default startup and shutdown behavior for all virtual machines on the host.
Chapter 10 Managing Virtual Machines Install the Client Integration Plug-In The Client Integration Plug-in provides access to a virtual machine's console in the vSphere Web Client, and provides access to other vSphere infrastructure features. The Client Integration Plug-in also lets you log in to the vSphere Web Client by using Windows session credentials. You use the Client Integration Plug-in to deploy OVF or OVA templates and transfer files with the datastore browser.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration The VMware Remote Console (VMRC) standalone application for Windows that opens in a separate window. The VMware Remote Console standalone application has extended functionality that enables you to connect to client devices and launch virtual machine consoles on remote hosts. The HTML 5 remote console opens in a browser tab. Some functions might not be available when you use the HTML 5 remote console.
Chapter 10 Managing Virtual Machines Using the VMware Remote Console Application You can use the standalone VMRC to connect to client devices. With VMRC, you can access the mouse and keyboard connected to remote virtual machines. To perform administrative tasks, make sure that you log in to the VMRC as an administrator. Prerequisites Verify that the VMRC is installed on your local system. You can download the VMRC installer for Windows from the VMware Web site at www.vmware.com/go/download-vmrc.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Remove Virtual Machines from the Datastore If you no longer need a virtual machine and want to free up space on the datastore, you can remove the virtual machine from vCenter Server and delete all virtual machine files from the datastore, including the configuration file and virtual disk files. Prerequisites n Power off the virtual machine. n Ensure that another virtual machine is not sharing the disk.
Chapter 10 Managing Virtual Machines Change the Template Name If you move a template to another host or datacenter folder, you can change the template name to make it unique in that folder. Procedure 1 Right-click the template and select Rename. 2 Enter a new name and click OK. Deleting Templates You can delete a template by removing it from the inventory or deleting the template from the disk.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 5 Locate and right-click the .vmtx file and select Register VM. The Register Virtual Machine wizard appears. 6 Maintain the original template name or enter a new name in the Name text box. 7 Select a location for the template and click Next. 8 Select a host or cluster on which to store the template and click Next. 9 Review your selections and click Finish. 10 To verify that the template is reregistered, check the host or cluster inventory.
Chapter 10 Managing Virtual Machines The Snapshot Hierarchy The Snapshot Manager presents the snapshot hierarchy as a tree with one or more branches. The relationship between snapshots is like that of a parent to a child. In the linear process, each snapshot has one parent snapshot and one child snapshot, except for the last snapshot, which has no child snapshots. Each parent snapshot can have more than one child.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Snapshot Files When you take a snapshot, you capture the state of the virtual machine settings and the virtual disk. If you are taking a memory snapshot, you also capture the memory state of the virtual machine. These states are saved to files that reside with the virtual machine's base files. Snapshot Files A snapshot consists of files that are stored on a supported storage device. A Take Snapshot operation creates .vmdk, -delta.vmdk, .vmsd, and .vmsn files.
Chapter 10 Managing Virtual Machines File Description vmname-number.vmdk and vmnamenumber-delta.vmdk Snapshot file that represents the difference between the current state of the virtual disk and the state that existed at the time the previous snapshot was taken. The filename uses the following syntax, S1vm-000001.vmdk where S1vm is the name of the virtual machine and the six-digit number, 000001, is based on the files that already exist in the directory.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration The Snapshot Manager window contains the following areas: Snapshot tree, Details region, command buttons, Navigation region, and a You are here icon. Snapshot tree Displays all snapshots for the virtual machine. You are here icon Represents the current and active state of the virtual machine. The You are here icon is always selected and visible when you open the Snapshot Manager. You can select the You are here state to see how much space the node is using.
Chapter 10 Managing Virtual Machines When you capture the memory state, the virtual machine's files do not require quiescing. If you do not capture the memory state, the snapshot does not save the live state of the virtual machine and the disks are crash consistent unless you quiesce them. Quiesced Snapshots When you quiesce a virtual machine, VMware Tools quiesces the file system of the virtual machine.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration When you quiesce a virtual machine, VMware Tools quiesces the file system in the virtual machine. The quiesce operation pauses or alters the state of running processes on the virtual machine, especially processes that might modify information stored on the disk during a restore operation. Application-consistent quiescing is not supported for virtual machines with IDE or SATA disks.
Chapter 10 Managing Virtual Machines You can restore snapshots in the following ways: Revert to Latest Snapshot Restores the parent snapshot, one level up in the hierarchy from the You are Here position. Revert to Latest Snapshot activates the parent snapshot of the current state of the virtual machine. Revert To Lets you restore any snapshot in the snapshot tree and makes that snapshot the parent snapshot of the current state of the virtual machine.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration The virtual machine power and data states are returned to the states they were in at the time you took the parent snapshot. If the parent snapshot is a memory snapshot, the virtual machine is restored to an on power state. Revert to a Snapshot Revert to a snapshot to restore the virtual machine to the state of that snapshot. Prerequisites Verify that you have the Virtual machine.Snapshot management.Revert to snapshot privilege on the virtual machine.
Chapter 10 Managing Virtual Machines To prevent snapshot files from merging with the parent snapshot, for example in cases of failed updates or installations, first use the Go to command to restore to a previous snapshot. This action invalidates the snapshot delta disks and deletes the memory file. You can then use the Delete option to remove the snapshot and any associated files.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Procedure 1 Show the Needs Consolidation column. a Select a vCenter Server instance, a host, or a cluster and click the Related Objects tab and click Virtual Machines. b Right-click the menu bar for any virtual machine column and select Show/Hide Columns > Needs Consolidation. A Yes status indicates that the snapshot files for the virtual machine should be consolidated, and that the virtual machine's Tasks and Events tab shows a configuration problem.
VMware Tools Components, Configuration Options, and Security Requirements 11 VMware Tools provides drivers and services that enhance the performance of virtual machines and make possible many of the ease-of-use features in vSphere. When VMware Tools is installed, you can configure many of these utilities and change their characteristics. In addition, to harden a virtual machine and reduce security risks as much as possible, disable the VMware Tools features that might be vulnerable to security threats.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration VMware Tools Service The VMware Tools service starts when the guest operating system starts. The service passes information between host and guest operating systems. This program, which runs in the background, is called vmtoolsd.exe in Windows guest operating systems, vmware-tools-daemon in Mac OS X guest operating systems, and vmtoolsd in Linux, FreeBSD, and Solaris guest operating systems.
Chapter 11 VMware Tools Components, Configuration Options, and Security Requirements On Windows guest operating systems whose operating system is Windows Vista or later, the VMware SVGA 3D (Microsoft - WDDM) driver is installed. This driver provides the same base functionality as the SVGA driver, and it adds Windows Aero support. SCSI driver A VMware Paravirtual SCSI driver is included for use with paravirtual SCSI devices.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration VMCI and VMCI Sockets drivers The Virtual Machine Communication Interface driver allows fast and efficient communication between virtual machines and the hosts they run on. Developers can write client-server applications to the VMCI Sock (vsock) interface to make use of the VMCI virtual device.
Chapter 11 VMware Tools Components, Configuration Options, and Security Requirements Repairing, Changing, and Uninstalling VMware Tools Components Usually when you upgrade VMware Tools, the modules are upgraded and new features are added. If some features do not work correctly after an upgrade, you must change or repair modules. On operating systems other than Windows and Linux, you must manually start the VMware User process after an upgrade.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 6 7 Specify whether to repair or modify the modules. n Click Repair to repair the files, registry settings, and so on of components that are already installed. n Click Modify to specify which modules are installed. Follow the on-screen instructions. What to do next If features still do not work, uninstall VMware Tools and reinstall.
Chapter 11 VMware Tools Components, Configuration Options, and Security Requirements n If you are using a session manager or environment that does not support the Desktop Application Autostart Specification, available from http://standards.freedesktop.org. n If you upgrade VMware Tools. Procedure u Start the VMware User process. Option Action Start the VMware User process when you start an X session. Add vmware-user to the appropriate X startup script, such as the .xsession or .xinitrc file.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Threats Associated with Unprivileged User Accounts Disk shrinking feature Shrinking a virtual disk reclaims unused disk space. Users and processes without root or administrator privileges can invoke this procedure. Because the disk-shrinking process can take considerable time to complete, invoking the disk-shrinking procedure repeatedly can cause a denial of service. The virtual disk is unavailable during the shrinking process. Use the following .
Chapter 11 VMware Tools Components, Configuration Options, and Security Requirements You can limit the number of log files for all virtual machines on a host by editing the /etc/vmware/config file. If the vmx.log.keepOld property is not defined in the file, you can add it. For example, to keep ten log files for each virtual machine, add the following to /etc/vmware/config: vmx.log.keepOld = "10" You can also use a PowerCLI script to change this property on all the virtual machines on a host.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration n Features not exposed in vSphere that could cause vulnerabilities GUESTLIB_HOST_MEM_UNMAPPED_MB Because VMware virtual machines run in many VMware products in addition to vSphere, some virtual machine parameters do not apply in a vSphere environment. Although these features do not appear in vSphere user interfaces, disabling them reduces the number of vectors through which a guest operating system could access a host. Use the following .
Chapter 11 VMware Tools Components, Configuration Options, and Security Requirements Table 11‑1. vmwtool Commands (Continued) vmwtool Command Description synctime [on|off] Lets you turn on or off synchronization of time in the guest operating system with time on the host operating system. By default, time synchronization is turned off. Use this command without any options to view the current time synchronization status. idle [on|off] Lets you turn the CPU idler on or off.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration If the clock on the guest operating system falls behind the clock on the host, VMware Tools moves the clock on the guest forward to match the clock on the host. If the clock on the guest operating system is ahead of the clock on the host, VMware Tools causes the clock on the guest to run more slowly until the clocks are synchronized.
Chapter 11 VMware Tools Components, Configuration Options, and Security Requirements 3 Type the command to determine whether time synchronization is enabled. utility-name timesync status For utility-name use the guest-specific program name. 4 Operating System Program Name Windows VMwareToolboxCmd.exe Linux, Solaris, and FreeBSD vmware-toolbox-cmd Type the command to enable or disable periodic time synchronization. utility-name timesync subcommand For subcommand, use enable or disable.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Connect or Disconnect a Virtual Device You can connect and disconnect removable devices such as floppy drives, DVD/CD-ROM drives, ISO images, USB devices, sound adapters, and network adapters. IMPORTANT Some restrictions exist for connecting devices: n Some devices cannot be shared between the host and guest operating systems or between two guest operating systems. For example, only one virtual machine or the host can access the floppy drive at any one time.
Chapter 11 VMware Tools Components, Configuration Options, and Security Requirements 6 Type the command to connect or disconnect the device. utility-name device device-name subcommand Option Action device-name Use one of the names displayed when you used the list subcommand. subcommand Use enable or disable. The device is connected or disconnected, as you specified.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration n Verify that the host has free disk space equal to the size of the virtual disk that you plan to shrink. Procedure 1 Open a command prompt or terminal in the guest operating system. 2 Change to the VMware Tools installation directory. 3 Operating System Default Path Windows C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Tools Linux and Solaris /usr/sbin FreeBSD /usr/local/sbin Mac OS X /Library/Application Support/VMware Tools Type the command to list available moun
Chapter 11 VMware Tools Components, Configuration Options, and Security Requirements n If you plan to script commands and need to know what the exit codes are, see “Exit Codes for the VMware Tools Configuration Utility,” on page 223. Procedure 1 Write a new script or modify default scripts and save them as .bat files with new names. The default scripts for power-on and power-off operations are placeholders only. These scripts are located in the Program Files\VMware\VMware Tools directory.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration n On Linux, Mac OS X, Solaris, and FreeBSD guest operating systems, to edit a script, make sure xterm and vi are installed in the guest operating system and are in your PATH, or specify which editor to use by setting the EDITOR environment variable. n If you plan to script commands and need to know what the exit codes are, see “Exit Codes for the VMware Tools Configuration Utility,” on page 223. Procedure 1 Log in to the guest operating system as root.
Chapter 11 VMware Tools Components, Configuration Options, and Security Requirements Table 11‑3. Default VMware Tools Scripts Script Name Description poweroff-vm-default Runs when the virtual machine is being powered off or reset. Has no effect on networking for the virtual machine. poweron-vm-default Runs when the virtual machine is being powered on rather than resumed. Also runs after virtual machine restarts. Has no effect on networking for the virtual machine.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 3 Type the command to disable the script. utility-name script script-name disable Option Action utility-name (On Windows) Use VMwareToolboxCmd.exe. utility-name (On Linux, Solaris, and FreeBSD) Use vmware-toolbox-cmd. script-name Use power, resume, suspend, or shutdown. 4 (Optional) If you disabled the script for suspending a virtual machine, repeat this procedure.
Chapter 11 VMware Tools Components, Configuration Options, and Security Requirements Subcommands for the stat Command You can use the vmware-toolbox-cmd help stat command to display information such as host time and CPU speed. Additional subcommands are available for virtual machines in a vSphere environment. Table 11‑4. Subcommands for the stat Command Subcommand Name Description hosttime Displays the date and time on the host. speed Displays the CPU speed, in MHz.
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Upgrading Virtual Machines 12 After you perform an ESX/ESXi upgrade, you can upgrade all of the virtual machines that reside on the host to take advantage of new features. To determine whether your virtual machines are compatible with the new version of ESXi, see “Virtual Machine Compatibility,” on page 89. For a list of hardware features available to virtual machines with each ESXi compatibility setting, see “Hardware Features Available with Virtual Machine Compatibility Settings,” on page 93.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration n “Manually Install or Upgrade VMware Tools in a NetWare Virtual Machine,” on page 241 n “Manually Install or Upgrade VMware Tools in a FreeBSD Virtual Machine,” on page 243 n “Upgrade VMware Tools,” on page 244 n “Perform an Automatic Upgrade of VMware Tools,” on page 245 n “Upgrade the Compatibility for Virtual Machines,” on page 246 n “Schedule a Compatibility Upgrade for Virtual Machines,” on page 247 Upgrading VMware Tools You can upgrade VMware Tools
Chapter 12 Upgrading Virtual Machines Some features in a particular release of a VMware product might depend on installing or upgrading to the version of VMware Tools included in that release. Upgrading to the latest version of VMware Tools is not always necessary. Newer versions of VMware Tools are compatible with several host versions. To avoid unnecessary upgrades, evaluate whether the added features and capabilities are necessary for your environment. Table 12‑1.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration n For information about installing or upgrading VMware Tools in FreeBSD virtual machines, see “Manually Install or Upgrade VMware Tools in a FreeBSD Virtual Machine,” on page 243. Using Open Virtual Machine Tools Open Virtual Machine Tools is the open source implementation of the open-vm-tools suite, which includes virtualization utilities to improve the function and management of virtual machines on VMware hypervisors.
Chapter 12 Upgrading Virtual Machines n The open-vm-tools-devel package contains libraries and additional documentation for developing vmtoolsd plug-ins and applications. n The open-vm-tools-debuginfo package contains the source code for open-vm-tools and binary files. For the latest copy of the Open VM Tools source code, see the Sourceforge Web site at http://open-vm-tools.sourceforge.net. You can also the obtain a copy of the source code from the GitHub web site at https://github.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Table 12‑2. Virtual Machine Downtime by Guest Operating System Guest Operating System Upgrade VMware Tools Upgrade Virtual Machine Compatibility Microsoft Windows Downtime to restart the guest operating system. Downtime to shut down and power on the virtual machine. Linux Downtime to restart the guest operating system is required to load drivers. Downtime to shut down and power on the virtual machine. NetWare No downtime.
Chapter 12 Upgrading Virtual Machines n If you use vSphere and plan to install the Guest Introspection Thin Agent driver, see the system requirements listed in the vShield Quick Start Guide. The vShield component is not installed by default. You must perform a custom installation and include that component. n If you plan to install the Guest Introspection Thin Agent driver, see the system requirements listed in the vShield Quick Start Guide. The vShield component is not installed by default.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 9 If you are installing a beta or RC version of VMware Tools and you see a warning that a package or driver is not signed, click Install Anyway to complete the installation. 10 When prompted, reboot the virtual machine. The VMware Tools label on the Summary tab changes to OK. If you are using vCenter Server, the VMware Tools label on the Summary tab changes to OK.
Chapter 12 Upgrading Virtual Machines Suppress Prompts About Unsigned Drivers on Windows Operating Systems Before Vista If you are installing a beta or RC version of VMware Tools in a Windows Server 2003 or earlier guest operating system, you can use a computer properties setting to suppress prompts that interfere with automatic installation of VMware Tools.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Procedure 1 Use the certificate export wizard to create a VMware certificate file. a Locate a signed VMware file, such as a VMware .exe or .sys file. b Right-click the file and select Properties. c Click the Digital Signatures tab and select View Certificate. d Click the Details tab and click Copy to File. e Follow the prompts and name the exported certificate vmware.cer.
Chapter 12 Upgrading Virtual Machines Table 12‑3. VMware Tools Component Values Valid Component Values Drivers Description Audio Audio driver for 64-bit operating systems and Windows Vista and later systems. BootCamp Driver for Mac BootCamp support. LSI PCI Fusion-MPT Miniport driver for Windows XP systems. MemCtl VMware memory control driver. Use this driver if you plan to use this virtual machine in a vSphere environment.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Table 12‑3. VMware Tools Component Values (Continued) Valid Component Values Toolbox Description NetworkIntrospect ion NSX Network Introspection driver, vnetflt.sys. The second of the two guest introspection drivers. VSS Driver for creating automatic backups. This driver is used if the guest operating system is Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, or other newer operating system.
Chapter 12 Upgrading Virtual Machines 2 3 VMware Product Action Fusion Virtual Machine > Install (or Upgrade) VMware Tools Workstation Pro VM > Install (or Upgrade) VMware Tools Workstation Player Player > Manage > Install (or Upgrade) VMware Tools Mount the VMware Tools virtual disc on the guest operating system.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 10 Uncompress the installer. tar zxpf /mnt/cdrom/VMwareTools-x.x.x-yyyy.tar.gz The value x.x.x is the product version number, and yyyy is the build number of the product release. If you attempt to install a tar installation over an RPM installation, or the reverse, the installer detects the previous installation and must convert the installer database format before continuing. 11 If necessary, unmount the CD-ROM image.
Chapter 12 Upgrading Virtual Machines n Because VMware Tools OSPs follow the best practices and standards of the specific Linux operating system, OSPs use standard mechanisms for determining dependencies among packages. These mechanisms allow you to audit the packages on virtual machines with or without graphics components. n You can use standard operating system tools to examine OSPs during VMware Tools installation.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 4 Open Install VMware Tools on the VMware Tools virtual disc, follow the prompts in the installer assistant, and click OK. The virtual machine restarts to have VMware Tools take effect. Manually Install or Upgrade VMware Tools in a Solaris Virtual Machine For Solaris virtual machines, you manually install or upgrade VMware Tools by using the command line.
Chapter 12 Upgrading Virtual Machines 5 If the Solaris volume manager does not mount the CD-ROM under /cdrom/vmwaretools, restart the volume manager. /etc/init.d/volmgt stop /etc/init.d/volmgt start 6 Change to a working directory, for example, /tmp. cd /tmp 7 Extract VMware Tools. gunzip -c /cdrom/vmwaretools/vmware-solaris-tools.tar.gz | tar xf - 8 Run the installer and configure VMware Tools. cd vmware-tools-distrib ./vmware-install.pl Usually, the vmware-config-tools.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration n To determine whether you have the latest version of VMware Tools, look on the Summary tab for the virtual machine. n For vSphere virtual machines, determine whether you have the latest version of VMware Tools. In the vSphere Client inventory, select the virtual machine and click the Summary tab. Procedure 1 2 3 Mount the VMware Tools virtual disc on the guest operating system.
Chapter 12 Upgrading Virtual Machines What to do next If you upgraded VMware Tools as part of a larger, system-wide upgrade, next determine whether to upgrade the virtual machines in your environment. To review and compare the hardware available for different compatibility levels, see “Hardware Features Available with Virtual Machine Compatibility Settings,” on page 93. If you upgraded VMware Tools as part of a vSphere upgrade, next determine whether to upgrade the virtual machines in your environment.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration 3 If you are performing an upgrade or reinstallation, in the Install/Upgrade VMware Tools dialog box, select Interactive Tools Installation or Interactive Tools Upgrade and click OK. The process starts by mounting the VMware Tools virtual disc on the guest operating system. 4 In the virtual machine, log in to the guest operating system as root and open a terminal window.
Chapter 12 Upgrading Virtual Machines 3 Power on the virtual machines to upgrade. 4 Right-click your selections. 5 Select Guest OS > Install/Upgrade VMware Tools and click OK. 6 Select Interactive Upgrade or Automatic Upgrade and click Upgrade. 7 If you chose the interactive upgrade for a virtual machine with a Linux guest operating system, reboot the operating system by running the reboot command from a command-line prompt so that you can use the new network modules. VMware Tools are upgraded.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration The VMware Tools label on the Summary tab changes to OK. IMPORTANT When you upgrade VMware Tools on Linux guest operating systems, new network modules are available but are not used until you either restart the guest operating system or stop networking, unload and reload the VMware networking kernel modules, and restart networking.
Chapter 12 Upgrading Virtual Machines The selected virtual machines are upgraded to the corresponding hardware version for the Compatibility setting that you chose, and the new hardware version is updated in the Summary tab of the virtual machine. What to do next Power on the virtual machines.
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Required Privileges for Common Tasks 13 Many tasks require permissions on more than one object in the inventory. You can review the privileges that are required to perform the tasks and, where applicable, the appropriate sample roles. The table below lists common tasks that require more than one privilege. You can add permissions to inventory objects by pairing a user with one of the predefined roles, or you can create custom roles with the set of privileges that you expect to use multiple times.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration Table 13‑1. Required Privileges for Common Tasks (Continued) Task Required Privileges Applicable Role Deploy a virtual machine from a template On the destination folder or data center: n Virtual machine .Inventory.Create from existing n Virtual machine.Configuration.Add new disk Administrator On a template or folder of templates: Virtual machine.Provisioning.Deploy template Administrator On the destination host, cluster or resource pool: Resource.
Chapter 13 Required Privileges for Common Tasks Table 13‑1. Required Privileges for Common Tasks (Continued) Task Required Privileges Applicable Role Cold migrate (relocate) a virtual machine On the virtual machine or folder of virtual machines: n Resource.Migrate powered off virtual machine n Resource.
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Index Numerics 3D graphics drivers for 136 enabling 137 rendering options 136 requirements 136 selecting renderer 137 vendors 136 A acceleration, disabling 160 adapters, See storage controllers add Guest OS specification 54 Add SSO Users 156 adding floppy drives 134 network adapters 106 PCI devices 136 SATA controllers 126 SCSI controllers 127 SCSI devices 135 USB devices to client computers 148 agent manager 184 AHCI SATA controller, See storage controllers AMD override mask 99 apply Guest OS specificati
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration create vApp on a host 84 create virtual machine from VM template 84 create virtual machine on a cluster 84 create virtual machine on a host 84 creating vApps 84 creating VMs 84 delete 76 deploy virtual machine 84 description 71 edit settings 74 export item 82 how to use 71 import file 79 import items 79 import OVF 79 import item 78 import item from local file on your system 79 import item from URL 79 import item from Web server 79 overview 71 permissions 76 URL 74 use
Index disconnecting virtual devices 209, 216 disk command 217 disk formats thick provisioned 115 thin provisioned 115 virtual machines 124 disks format 124 limits 123 shares 123 See also virtual disks downtime during compatibility upgrade 229 during VMware Tools upgrade 229 drag and drop, of files and text 206, 209 drivers, VMware Tools 204 DVD drives adding 132 client devices 131 connecting 216 host devices 131 E edit settings, subscribed library 75 editing, vApp properties 167, 168 ESX Agent Manager 184
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration NetWare (tar installer) 241 process overview 227 silently on Windows guest operating systems 232 Solaris (tar installer) 240 inventory folders 12 IP allocation, vApp 181 IP address configuration 175, 176 IP addresses, generating with a script 48 ISO images, connecting 216 ISO image files, uploading to datastore 25 isolation.device.connectable.disable property 209 isolation.device.edit.disable property 209 isolation.tools.copy.disable property 209 isolation.tools.
Index NetWare, Novell 212 network drivers, virtual 204 network adapters adding 106 connecting 216 supported types 103 network association settings 175 network protocol profile associating with a port group 177 configuring vApp 177 configuring virtual machine 177 networks, IP address configuration 175, 176 NIC, See network adapters NICs adding 106 legacy virtual machines 105 NX flag 99 O Open Virtual Machine Format, See also OVF Open Virtual Machine Tools suite 228 Open Virtual Machine Tools 228 operating
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration for adding SCSI controllers 127 for changing SCSI controller type 128 for cloning virtual machines 32 for common tasks 249 for creating virtual machines 20 for deploying virtual machines from templates 26 resetting virtual machines 157 resource pools, selecting 22, 29, 35, 46 resources, virtual machine 13 resources, virtual machine 15 restart settings, for virtual machines 157 resume vApps 174 virtual machines 157 resume-vm-default script 220 S SAN LUNs 115 SATA cont
Index startup settings, for virtual machines 185 stat command 222, 223 statistics, virtual machines 161 status information, retrieving 222 storage 115 storage controllers adding SATA 126 adding SCSI 127 AHCI SATA 125 and snapshots 125 BusLogic Parallel 125 changing type 128 compatibility 125 IDE 125 limitations for VMware Paravirtual SCSI 129 limitations of 125 LSI Logic SAS 125 maximum number of 125 required privileges for changing type 128 SCSI 125 VMware Paravirtual SCSI 125, 129 Storage vMotion, file n
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration USB controllers adding to virtual machine 143, 148 removing from virtual machine 151 USB devices adding from client computer to VM in the vSphere Web Client 149 adding to client computers 148 adding to hosts 143 cascading hubs 142 compound 142 configuring for vMotion 141 connecting 216 connecting to a client computer 147 device limits for Mac OS X guests 146 ejecting from guest OS 145 removing client computer device from VM 150 removing from host 146 removing from rem
Index hardware features available with 93 selecting for virtual machine creation 89 setting default 89 upgrading 89 virtual machine console installing 187, 188 using 189 virtual machine hardware virtual disks 117 See also virtual machines compatibility virtual machine options 153 Virtual Machine Communication Interface firewall 109 virtual machine configuration file (.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration upgrading compatibility 246 upgrading Compatibility 92 viewing consoles 188 working file location 155 See also templates, clones See also virtual hardware virtual memory allocation 101 configuring 101 Virtual Serial Port Concentrator 107, 112 VM NICs, configuring 105 VM template, clone to VM template in library 80 VM network adapters, configuring 105 VM templates in content libraries 82 VMCI drivers 204, 209 vmci0.
