vCenter Server and Host Management Update 2 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.
vCenter Server and Host Management 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 VMware vCenter Server™ and Host Management 9 Updated Information 11 1 vSphere Concepts and Features 13 Virtualization Basics 13 Physical Topology of vSphere Data Center 14 vSphere Software Components 15 Client Interfaces for vSphere 17 vSphere Managed Inventory Objects 18 Optional vCenter Server Components 20 vCenter Server Plug-Ins 21 2 Using the vSphere Web Client 23 Log in to vCenter Server by Using the vSphere Web Client 24 Log Out of vCenter Server Using the vSphere Web Client 24
vCenter Server and Host Management 3 Configuring Hosts and vCenter Server 37 Host Configuration 37 Configure the Boot Device on an ESXi Host 37 Configure Agent VM Settings 38 Set Advanced Host Attributes 38 Synchronizing Clocks on the vSphere Network 39 Edit Time Configuration for a Host 39 Configuring vCenter Server 40 Configure License Settings for vCenter Server 40 Configuring Statistics Settings 40 Configure Runtime Settings for vCenter Server 43 Configure User Directory Settings 43 Configure Mail Sen
Contents Customize the OVF Template 70 Review the Configuration and Complete the Deployment 71 vCenter Host Gateway User Permissions 71 Configure the vCenter Host Gateway Appliance 72 Restart the vCenter Host Gateway Service 72 Synchronize the Time Settings of the vCenter Host Gateway Appliance Change Network Settings of the vCenter Host Gateway Appliance 73 Configure Proxy Settings 73 Manage the Registration of the vCenter Host Gateway Service 74 72 Change the Administrator Password of the vCenter Hos
vCenter Server and Host Management Configure License Settings for an ESXi Host 99 Configure License Settings for vCenter Server 99 Assign a License to a Virtual SAN Cluster 100 Set Assets to Evaluation Mode 101 Rename a License 101 Remove Licenses 101 Viewing Licensing Information 102 View Licensing Information About the vSphere Environment 102 View Available Licenses and Features About a Product 103 View the Features that an Asset Uses 103 View the License Key of the License 103 View the Licensed Features
Contents EVC Requirements for Hosts 130 Create an EVC Cluster 130 Enable EVC on an Existing Cluster 131 Change the EVC Mode for a Cluster 131 Determine EVC Modes for Virtual Machines 132 Determine the EVC Mode that a Host Supports 133 Prepare Clusters for AMD Processors Without 3DNow! 133 CPU Compatibility Masks 134 View CPUID Details for an EVC Cluster 135 Migrate a Powered-Off or Suspended Virtual Machine 135 Migrate a Virtual Machine to a New Compute Resource 137 Migrate a Virtual Machine to a New Com
vCenter Server and Host Management Distributed Virtual Switch Workflows 163 Standard Virtual Switch Workflows 163 Resource Pool Workflows 164 Storage Workflows 164 Storage DRS Workflows 165 Basic Virtual Machine Management Workflows Clone Workflows 167 Linked Clone Workflows 167 Linux Customization Clone Workflows 168 Tools Clone Workflows 168 Windows Customization Clone Workflows Device Management Workflows 169 Move and Migrate Workflows 169 Other Workflows 170 Power Management Workflows 171 Snapshot Wo
About VMware vCenter Server™ and Host Management ® vCenter Server and Host Management describes how to start and stop the VMware vSphere Web Client components, build your vSphere environment, monitor and manage the information generated about the components, and set up roles and permissions for users and groups using the vSphere environment.
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Updated Information This vCenter Server and Host Management is updated with each release of the product or when necessary. This table provides the update history of the vCenter Server and Host Management. Revision Description EN-002008-02 Updated Chapter 2, “Using the vSphere Web Client,” on page 23 to correct supported browser requirements. EN-002008-01 n n EN-002008-00 VMware, Inc.
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vSphere Concepts and Features 1 VMware vSphere™ leverages the power of virtualization to transform data centers into simplified cloud computing infrastructures and enables IT organizations to deliver flexible and reliable IT services. The two core components of vSphere are VMware ESXi™ and VMware vCenter Server™. ESXi is the virtualization platform on which you create and run virtual machines. vCenter Server is a service that acts as a central administrator for ESXi hosts that are connected on a network.
vCenter Server and Host Management Because virtual machines are decoupled from specific underlying physical hardware, virtualization allows you to consolidate physical computing resources such as CPUs, memory, storage, and networking into pools of resources that can be dynamically and flexibly made available to virtual machines. With appropriate management software, such as vCenter Server, you can also use a number of features that increase the availability and security of your virtual infrastructure.
Chapter 1 vSphere Concepts and Features vSphere Software Components VMware vSphere is a suite of software components for virtualization. These include ESXi, vCenter Server, and other software components that fulfill a number of different functions in the vSphere environment. vSphere includes the following software components: ESXi A virtualization platform that you use to create the virtual machines as a set of configuration and disk files that together perform all the functions of a physical machine.
vCenter Server and Host Management issues Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) tokens. These security tokens represent the identity of a user in one of the identity source types supported by vCenter Single Sign-On. vCenter Server plug-ins Administration server The administration server allows users with administrator privileges to vCenter Single Sign-On to configure the vCenter Single Sign-On server and manage users and groups from the vSphere Web Client.
Chapter 1 vSphere Concepts and Features The database is installed and configured during vCenter Server installation. If you are accessing your ESXi host directly through the vSphere Web Client, and not through a vCenter Server system and associated vSphere Web Client, you do not use a vCenter Server database. tcServer Many vCenter Server functions are implemented as Web services that require the tcServer. The tcServer is installed on the vCenter Server machine as part of the vCenter Server installation.
vCenter Server and Host Management vSphere Managed Inventory Objects In vSphere, the inventory is a collection of virtual and physical objects on which you can place permissions, monitor tasks and events, and set alarms. You can group most inventory objects by using folders to more easily manage them. All inventory objects, with the exception of hosts, can be renamed to represent their purposes. For example, they can be named after company departments or locations or functions.
Chapter 1 vSphere Concepts and Features Folders Folders allow you to group objects of the same type so you can easily manage them. For example, you can use folders to set permissions across objects, to set alarms across objects, and to organize objects in a meaningful way. A folder can contain other folders, or a group of objects of the same type: data centers, clusters, datastores, networks, virtual machines, templates, or hosts.
vCenter Server and Host Management Optional vCenter Server Components Optional vCenter Server components are packaged and installed with the base product, but might require a separate license. Optional vCenter Server features include: vMotion A feature that enables you to move running virtual machines from one ESXi host to another ESXi host without service interruption. It requires licensing on both the source and target host. vCenter Server centrally coordinates all vMotion activities.
Chapter 1 vSphere Concepts and Features takes care of initial placement and future migrations based on workload measurements. Storage space balancing and I/O balancing minimize the risk of running out of space and the risk of I/O bottlenecks slowing the performance of virtual machines.
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Using the vSphere Web Client 2 Use the vSphere Web Client to connect to vCenter Server systems and manage vSphere inventory objects. Use of the vSphere Web Client requires a supported Web browser. VMware has tested and supports the following guest operating systems and browser versions for the vSphere Web Client. Table 2‑1. Supported guest operating systems and browser versions for the vSphere Web Client . Operating system Browser Windows 32-bit and 64-bit Microsoft Internet Explorer 10.0.19 and later.
vCenter Server and Host Management n “Export Lists,” on page 34 n “Keyboard Shortcuts,” on page 35 Log in to vCenter Server by Using the vSphere Web Client Log in to vCenter Server by using the vSphere Web Client to manage your vSphere inventory. Prerequisites If you want to use vCenter Server 5.0 with vSphere Web Client, verify that the vCenter Server 5.0 system is registered with vSphere Web Client. If you want to use vCenter Server 5.1 or vCenter Server 5.
Chapter 2 Using the vSphere Web Client Use the vSphere Web Client Navigator You can use the navigator to browse and select objects in the vSphere Web Client inventory as an alternative to the hierarchical inventory tree.
vCenter Server and Host Management Rearrange the Components of the User Interface You can rearrange the sidebars in the vSphere Web Client user interface. You can move the sidebars and Navigator pane around the content area to enhance your personal experience by customizing the vSphere Web Client user interface . You change the interface at any time. Procedure 1 In a Web browser, log in to vSphere Web Client. 2 Drag and drop the sidebar you want to move to an appropriate place.
Chapter 2 Using the vSphere Web Client Install the Client Integration Plug-in only once to enable all the functionality the plug-in delivers. You must close the Web browser before installing the plug-in. If you install the Client Integration Plug-in from an Internet Explorer browser, you must first disable Protected Mode and enable pop-up windows on your Web browser. Internet Explorer identifies the Client Integration Plug-in as being on the Internet instead of on the local intranet.
vCenter Server and Host Management Refresh Data You must manually refresh the data in the vSphere Web Client to see changes made to objects by other users during your session. For performance reasons, the vSphere Web Client does not continuously refresh data on all objects in the inventory. All changes that you make during your current session are immediately reflected in the client user interface. Change made by other users or in other sessions are not reflected until you manually refresh the data.
Chapter 2 Using the vSphere Web Client 2 (Optional) Click any item in the search results to display that item in the inventory. 3 (Optional) To see more search results or more details about the search results, click Show All Results. a (Optional) Select an object in the results table to see additional information about the object. b (Optional) Double-click any item in the search results to display that item in the inventory. The search results are listed in a table.
vCenter Server and Host Management 8 (Optional) To add an additional search, click Add another object type and repeat Step 2 to Step 7. 9 Click Search. Search results are displayed in the details pane and in the navigator. 10 (Optional) Click any item in the navigator to see its details without leaving the context of the search. 11 (Optional) Double-click any item in the details pane to display that item in the inventory.
Chapter 2 Using the vSphere Web Client Quick Filters Available for vSphere Objects Various types of quick filters are available for the vSphere objects in your inventory. No quick filters are available for linked vCenter Server systems, host profiles, and extensions. Tags are a quick filter option available for all types of vSphere objects, except for linked vCenter Server systems, host profiles, and extensions.
vCenter Server and Host Management Quick Filters for Virtual Machines You can filter virtual machines by the following criteria: n Tags n State n Needs Consolidation n Blocked by Question n FT Role n VMware Tools Version Status n VMware Tools Running Status n EVC Mode n Guest OS n Compatibility n CPU Count n NIC Count Quick Filters for VM Templates You can filter virtual machine templates by the following criteria: n Tags n VMware Tools Version Status n Guest OS n Compatibili
Chapter 2 Using the vSphere Web Client 2 From the Recent Objects drop-down menu, select the object that you want to view. Objects are listed in two types depending on whether you visited or created the object. Option Description Recent Objects The last objects that you visited in the vSphere Web Client inventory. New Objects The latest objects that you created in the vSphere Web Client inventory. You have navigated to the object that you selected in the Recent Objects menu.
vCenter Server and Host Management 3 Click OK. Drag and Drop Objects You can select an inventory object, and while holding the left mouse button you can drag and drop it to another object. Drag and drop is an alternative way to quickly initiate operations that are available in the context menu, such as Move To and Migrate. For completing some drag-and-drop operations, you do not need to perform any additional actions. For completing others, you might have to go through a wizard.
Chapter 2 Using the vSphere Web Client Keyboard Shortcuts Keyboard shortcuts allow you to quickly navigate or perform a task in the vSphere Web Client. Inventory Keyboard Shortcuts With inventory keyboard shortcuts you can quickly navigate to different inventories in the vSphere Web Client. Table 2‑3.
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Configuring Hosts and vCenter Server 3 Configuring ESXi hosts, vCenter Server systems, and the vSphere Web Client involves several tasks.
vCenter Server and Host Management Configure Agent VM Settings You can configure the datastore and network settings for the ESX agent virtual machines that you deploy on a host. An ESX agent is a virtual machine, or a virtual machine and a vSphere Installation Bundle (VIB), that extend the functions of an ESXi host to provide additional services that a vSphere solution requires. For example, a solution might require a particular network filter or firewall configuration to function.
Chapter 3 Configuring Hosts and vCenter Server 6 Click OK. Synchronizing Clocks on the vSphere Network Make sure that all components on the vSphere network have their clocks synchronized. If the clocks on the machines in your vSphere network are not synchronized, SSL certificates, which are time-sensitive, might not be recognized as valid in communications between network machines.
vCenter Server and Host Management Configuring vCenter Server You can configure vCenter Server from the vSphere Web Client, including settings such as licensing, statistics collection, logging, and other settings. Configure License Settings for vCenter Server You must assign a license to a vCenter Server system before its evaluation period expires or its currently assigned license expires.
Chapter 3 Configuring Hosts and vCenter Server Procedure 1 In the vSphere Web Client, navigate to the vCenter Server instance. 2 Select the Manage tab. 3 Under Settings, select General. 4 Click Edit. 5 From Statistics intervals, click a statistics interval attribute to edit its value. a In Interval duration, select the time interval in which statistics data is collected. b In Save for, select for how long the archived statistics are kept in the database.
vCenter Server and Host Management 2 In Database Size, estimate the effect of the statistics settings on the database. a Enter the number of Physical Hosts. b Enter the number of Virtual Machines. The estimated space required and number of database rows required are calculated and displayed. c 3 If necessary, make changes to your statistics collection settings. Click OK.
Chapter 3 Configuring Hosts and vCenter Server Configure Runtime Settings for vCenter Server You can change the vCenter Server ID, managed address, and name. Usually, you do not need to change these settings, but you might need to make changes if you run multiple vCenter Server systems in the same environment. Prerequisites Required privilege: Global.Settings Procedure 1 In the vSphere Web Client, navigate to the vCenter Server instance. 2 Select the Manage tab. 3 Under Settings, select General.
vCenter Server and Host Management 6 In User directory timeout, type the timeout interval in seconds for connecting to the directory server. 7 In Query Limit, type the number of users and groups for which you can associate permissions on the child inventory objects of the vCenter Server system. You can associate permissions with users and groups from the Add Permissions dialog box that displays when you click Add permissions in Manage > Permissions for a vSphere inventory object.
Chapter 3 Configuring Hosts and vCenter Server Procedure 1 In the vSphere Web Client, navigate to the vCenter Server instance. 2 Select the Manage tab. 3 Under Settings, select General. 4 Click Edit. 5 Select SNMP receivers. 6 In Receiver URL, type the host name or IP address of the SNMP receiver. 7 Select the Enabled check box next to Enable receiver. 8 In Receiver port, type the port number of the receiver. The port number must be a value between 1 and 65535.
vCenter Server and Host Management 6 In Normal operations, type the timeout interval in seconds for normal operations. Do not set the value to zero (0). 7 In Long operations, enter the timeout interval in minutes for long operations. Do not set the value to zero (0). 8 Click OK. 9 Restart the vCenter Server system for the changes to take effect. Configure Logging Options You can configure the amount of detail that vCenter Server collects in log files. Prerequisites Required privilege: Global.
Chapter 3 Configuring Hosts and vCenter Server 4 Click Edit. 5 Select Database. 6 In Maximum connections, type a number. Increase this number if your vCenter Server system performs many operations frequently and performance is critical. Decrease this number if the database is shared and connections to the database are costly. Do not change this value unless one of these issues pertains to your system.
vCenter Server and Host Management Configure Advanced Settings In Advanced Settings, you can modify the vCenter Server configuration file, vpxd.cfg. You can use Advanced Settings to add entries to the vpxd.cfg file, but not to edit or delete them. VMware recommends that you change these settings only when instructed to do so by VMware technical support or when you are following specific instructions in VMware documentation. Prerequisites Required privilege: Global.
Chapter 3 Configuring Hosts and vCenter Server Edit the Settings of Services The vSphere Web Client lists all manageable services running on vCenter Server. You can edit the settings for some of the services. The vSphere Web Client displays information about all manageable services running in vCenter Server and the vCenter Server Appliance. A list of the default services is available for each vCenter Server instance.
vCenter Server and Host Management 5 From the Actions menu select an operation name. n Restart n Start n Stop Note Restarting the Content Library Service also restarts the Transfer Service and the OVF Service. The Content Library Service, the Transfer Service, and the OVF Service run on the same Tomcat server. Configuring Services in the vSphere Web Client You can monitor and manage services by using the vSphere Web Client. You can change the settings of only a few services.
Chapter 3 Configuring Hosts and vCenter Server Service Name Description Transfer Service Provides support for moving content, such as VM templates, scripts, and ISO images across sites and vCenter Server instances. See “Transfer Service Properties,” on page 53. VMware Open Virtualization Format Service Supports the provisioning of OVF based virtual machines. For a list of settings you can configure for this service, see “VMware Open Virtualization Format Service,” on page 56.
vCenter Server and Host Management Property Default Value Description Garbage Collect Max Retries 5 Number of attemts to clean the content library after the deletion of files fails. Garbage collection cleans content library data and files that are no longer used. Garbage Collection Start Hour 22 The time of the day when the content library garbage collection starts. Garbage Collection Stop Hour 8 The time of the day when the content library garbage collection stops.
Chapter 3 Configuring Hosts and vCenter Server Hardware Health Service The Hardware Health Service collects and analyses Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) sensor metrics from hardware that runs ESXi. Property Default Value Description vws.loglevel Warning Level of details of the information included in the logs. Transfer Service Properties The Transfer Service lets you move content, such as VM templates, scripts, and ISO images across sites and vCenter Server instances.
vCenter Server and Host Management vAPI Endpoint The vAPI endpoint provides a single point of access to vAPI services. You can change the properties of the vAPI Endpoint service. 54 Property Default Value Description [default] endpoint maximum number of execution threads 300 The maximum number of execution threads for the vAPI endpoint. [default] endpoint minimum number of spare threads 10 The minimum number of threads that are always kept alive for the vAPI endpoint.
Chapter 3 Configuring Hosts and vCenter Server Property Default Value Description Cookie authentication Enabled Enables or disables cookie authentication. If you enable the cookie authentication, the session ID is returned in cookie. If you disable it the cookie is returned in the header Credentials login allowance Enabled Lets vAPI users authenticate with a user name and password in addition to using a SAML token.
vCenter Server and Host Management Property Default Value Description Request rate interval for anonymous calls 60 Request rate interval for anonymous calls, measured in seconds. This is the time frame in which only request rates for anonymous calls are allowed. Set to 0 to disable. Note The vAPI endpoint limits the number of incoming requests to Request rate for anonymous calls per Request rate interval for anonymous calls.
Chapter 3 Configuring Hosts and vCenter Server VMware Syslog Service The Syslog Service provides support for system logging, network logging, and collecting logs from hosts. You can use the Syslog Service to redirect and store ESXi messages to a server on the network. Property Default Value Description Common Log Level N/A Set the level of information you want to include in the logs. n * - include all log files. n info - Only informational log files are redirected to the remote machine.
vCenter Server and Host Management Using Enhanced Linked Mode Enhanced Linked Mode links multiple vCenter Server systems by using one or more Platform Services Controllers. With Enhanced Linked Mode, you can view and search across all linked vCenter Server systems. This mode replicates roles, permissions, licenses, and other key data across systems.
Configuring Customer Experience Improvement Program 4 When you choose to participate in the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP), VMware receives anonymous information to improve the quality, reliability, and functionality of VMware products and services.
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Providing vCenter Server Availability 5 When you deploy vCenter Server, you must build a highly available architecture that can handle workloads of all sizes. Availability is critical for solutions requiring continuous connectivity to vCenter Server. To avoid extended periods of downtime, users should run vCenter Server in highly available configurations.
vCenter Server and Host Management Cluster Recommendations for Protecting vCenter Server When configuring the vSphere HA and vSphere DRS cluster that you use to provide vCenter Server availability by protecting the vCenter Server database server, observe these recommendations. n Place all database servers in a dedicated management cluster. n For vSphere DRS, create VM and host anti-affinity rules to prevent the database servers from running on the same host.
Chapter 5 Providing vCenter Server Availability Another potential benefit of this approach is that MSCS uses a type of "shared-nothing" cluster architecture. The cluster does not involve concurrent disk accesses from multiple nodes. In other words, the cluster does not require a distributed lock manager. MSCS clusters typically include only two nodes and they use a shared SCSI connection between the nodes. Only one server needs the disks at any given time, so no concurrent data access occurs.
vCenter Server and Host Management 6 Power off the VM. 7 Detach the RDM disks. Detaching the RDM disks is not a permanent deletion. Do not select Delete from disk and do not delete the vmdk files. 8 Clone the VM and select the Customize the operating system option, so that the clone has a unique identity. Create a unique identity through either the default sysrep file or the custom sysrep file. 9 Attach the shared RDMs to both VMs. 10 Power on both VMs.
Managing Third-Party Hypervisors by Using vCenter Host Gateway 6 vCenter Host Gateway is a vCenter Server feature that lets you manage virtual environments that consist of various types of hypervisors. vCenter Host Gateway is distributed as a virtual appliance. After you deploy and configure the vCenter Host Gateway appliance, you can use the vSphere Web Client to manage both VMware and thirdparty hypervisors, such as Microsoft Hyper-V.
vCenter Server and Host Management vCenter Host Gateway System Requirements To install vCenter Host Gateway, ensure your system meets the hardware and software requirements. Software Requirements n vCenter Server 6.0 n Version 7. ESXi 4x or higher Hardware Requirements You can run vCenter Host Gateway on any system that meets the minimum hardware requirements. Table 6‑1. Minimum Hardware Requirements Hardware Requirements Number of CPUs 2 vRAM 3 GB Disk Space 6 GB.
Chapter 6 Managing Third-Party Hypervisors by Using vCenter Host Gateway n Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2012 n Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 n Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 Note vCenter Host Gateway relies on Windows Remote Management (WinRM) to manage Microsoft Hyper-V Server. To manage Microsoft hypervisors by using vCenter Server, you must verify that you have configured WinRM on the host running Microsoft Hyper-V Server and that WinRM is accessible over the network.
vCenter Server and Host Management Start the OVF Deployment Wizard To deploy the vCenter Host Gateway appliance you must start the deployment wizard from the vSphere Web Client. Prerequisites Verify that the Client Integration plug-in is installed. Procedure 1 In a Web browser, log in to vSphere Web Client as an administrator. 2 Select an inventory object that is a valid parent object of a virtual machine, such as data center, folder, cluster, resource pool, or host.
Chapter 6 Managing Third-Party Hypervisors by Using vCenter Host Gateway Accept the OVF License Agreements The Accept License Agreements page of the Deploy OFV Template wizard appears only if license agreements are packaged with the OVF template. Procedure 1 On the Accept License Agreements page of the wizard, read the End User License Agreements and click Accept. 2 Click Next. Select OVF Name and Location When you deploy an OVF template, you provide a unique name for the virtual machine or vApp.
vCenter Server and Host Management 2 Select a datastore to store the deployed OVF template. The configuration file and virtual disk files are stored on the datastore. Select a datastore large enough to accommodate the virtual machine and all associated virtual disk files. 3 Click Next. Setup OVF Network Set up and configure the networks the deployed OVF templates use.
Chapter 6 Managing Third-Party Hypervisors by Using vCenter Host Gateway 8 Select the Host Network Mode. Option Description static Manual configuration. If you are using static host network mode, enter the Host Network IP Adddress and the length of the Host Network Prefix. dhcp Automatic configuration. autoconf Automatic configuration. Available only if you have selected IPv6 address. 9 Enter the Host Network Default Gateway. 10 Enter the Host Network DNS Servers.
vCenter Server and Host Management Configure the vCenter Host Gateway Appliance After you deploy the vCenter Host Gateway appliance, you can change the configuration settings by using the Web configuration UI of the appliance. n Restart the vCenter Host Gateway Service on page 72 You can restart the vCenter Host Gateway service by using the vCenter Host Gateway appliance. If the host name or the certificate of vCenter Host Gateway changes, you must restart the service.
Chapter 6 Managing Third-Party Hypervisors by Using vCenter Host Gateway 2 On the VMware vCenter Host Gateway tab, click Time. 3 Select a synchronization method and click Submit. Option Description No Synchronization Select this option if you do not use any synchronization. NTP Synchronization Enter one or more NTP server names, separated by a comma. In addition to the names, enter NTPD options for each server, if applicable.
vCenter Server and Host Management 4 Enter the IP address of the proxy server. 5 Enter the port on which the proxy server listens. 6 (Optional) Provide a proxy user name and password. 7 Click Save Settings to apply your changes. Manage the Registration of the vCenter Host Gateway Service You can unregister the vCenter Host Gateway service from the Platform Services Controller, and change the registration settings.
Chapter 6 Managing Third-Party Hypervisors by Using vCenter Host Gateway Restart or Shut Down the vCenter Host Gateway Appliance You must reboot the vCenter Host Gateway appliance when the network or hardware configuration changes, or after you update the software updates. Procedure 1 In a Web browser, log in to the Web interface of the vCenter Host Gateway appliance. 2 Click the System tab. 3 Select a power management option.
vCenter Server and Host Management 10 Assign a licence key to the host and click Next. 11 On the page that displays lockdown options, leave the default options selected, and click Next. 12 Select a location for the virtual machines that already exist on the host and click Next. 13 Review the summary information and click Finish.
Organizing Your Inventory 7 Plan how you will set up your virtual environment. A large vSphere implementation might contain several virtual data centers with a complex arrangement of hosts, clusters, resource pools, and networks. It might involve multiple vCenter Server systems connected using Enhanced Linked Mode. Smaller implementations might require a single virtual data center with a much less complex topology.
vCenter Server and Host Management n Configure storage systems and create datastore inventory objects to provide logical containers for storage devices in your inventory. See vSphere Storage. n Create clusters to consolidate the resources of multiple hosts and virtual machines. You can enable vSphere HA and vSphere DRS for increased availability and more flexible resource management.
Chapter 7 Organizing Your Inventory Required privileges: n Host.Inventory.Add host to cluster n Resource.Assign virtual machine to resource pool n System.View on the virtual machines folder where you want to place the virtual machines of the host. Procedure 1 In the vSphere Web Client, navigate to a data center, cluster, or folder within a data center. 2 Right-click the data center, cluster, or folder and select Add Host. 3 Type the IP address or the name of the host and click Next.
vCenter Server and Host Management 4 5 Select DRS and vSphere HA cluster features. Option Description To use DRS with this cluster a b Select the DRS Turn ON check box. Select an automation level and a migration threshold. To use HA with this cluster a b c d e Select the vSphere HA Turn ON check box. Select whether to enable host monitoring and admission control. If admission control is enabled, specify a policy. Select a VM Monitoring option. Specify the virtual machine monitoring sensitivity.
Chapter 7 Organizing Your Inventory 2 3 Right-click the parent object and select the menu option to create the folder. Option Description The parent object is a data center. If the parent object is a data center, you can select the type of folder to create: n Select All vCenter Actions > New Host and Cluster Folder. n Select All vCenter Actions > New Network Folder. n Select All vCenter Actions > New Storage Folder. n Select All vCenter Actions > New VM and Template Folder.
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Tagging Objects 8 Tags allow you to attach metadata to objects in the vSphere inventory to make these objects more sortable and searchable. A tag is a label that you can apply to objects in the vSphere inventory. When you create a tag, you assign that tag to a category. Categories allow you to group related tags together. When you define a category, you can also specify which object types its tags can be applied to and whether more than one tag in the category can be applied to an object.
vCenter Server and Host Management Procedure 1 In the vSphere Web Client object navigator, browse to any object that has custom attributes. 2 Click the object's Summary tab. 3 Select Actions > Tags & Custom Attributes > Edit Custom Attributes... 4 In the Migrate Custom Attribues dialog box, click Migrate. The Migrate Custom Attributes to Tags wizard appears. 5 Read the instructions and click Next. 6 Select the custom attributes to migrate and click Next.
Chapter 8 Tagging Objects Create a Tag Category You use categories to group tags together and define how tags can be applied to objects. Every tag must belong to one and only one category. You must create at least one category before creating any tags. Prerequisites Required privilege: Inventory Service.vSphere Tagging.Create vSphere Tag Category on the root vCenter Server. Procedure 1 From the vSphere Web Client Home, click Tags. 2 Click the Items tab and click Categories.
vCenter Server and Host Management Procedure 1 From the vSphere Web Client Home, click Tags. 2 Click the Items tab and click Categories. 3 Select a category from the list and click the Delete Category icon ( ). 4 Click Yes to confirm deletion of the category. The category and all its associated tags are deleted. Edit a Tag Category You can edit a category to change its name, cardinality, or associable objects. Prerequisites Required privilege: Inventory Service.vSphere Tagging.
Chapter 8 Tagging Objects Create a Tag You use tags to add metadata to inventory objects. You can record information about your inventory objects in tags and use the tags in searches. Prerequisites Required privilege: Inventory Service.vSphere Tagging.Create vSphere Tag on root vCenter Server. Procedure 1 From the vSphere Web Client Home, click Tags. 2 Click the Items tab and click Tags. 3 Click the New Tag icon.
vCenter Server and Host Management Procedure 1 Browse to the object in the vSphere Web Client inventory. 2 Click the Manage tab and click Tags. 3 Select a tag to remove and click the Detach Tag icon ( ). 4 Click Yes to confirm the removal of the tag. Delete a Tag You can delete a tag when it is no longer needed. Deleting a tag removes it from all the objects to which it is applied. Prerequisites Required privilege: Inventory Service.vSphere Tagging.
Chapter 8 Tagging Objects Tagging Best Practices Incorrect tagging can lead to replication errors. To avoid these errors, diligently follow best practices when tagging objects. When working with tags in multiple node situations, expect replication delays between the nodes (generally 30 seconds to 2 minutes depending on your setup).
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License Management and Reporting 9 vSphere provides centralized a license management and reporting system that you can use to manage licenses for ESXi hosts, vCenter Server systems, Virtual SAN clusters, and solutions. Solutions are products that integrate with vSphere such as VMware Site Recovery Manager, vCloud Networking and Security, vRealize Operations Manager, and others.
vCenter Server and Host Management n Generating Reports for License Usage in the vSphere Web Client on page 104 You can track the license usage of your vSphere environment by generating reports for the license usage of assets for a certain time period. Assets are hosts, vCenter Server systems, Virtual SAN clusters, and solutions. Licensing Terminology and Definitions The licensing system in vSphere uses specific terminology and definitions to refer to different licensingrelated objects.
Chapter 9 License Management and Reporting The License Service in vSphere 6.0 In vSphere 6.0, the License Service is part of the Platform Services Controller and delivers centralized license management and reporting functionality to vSphere and to products that integrate with vSphere. You can use the License Service with newly installed vSphere 6.0 environments, or environments that are upgraded from vSphere 5.x to vSphere 6.0 . For details about upgrading the license management in vCenter Server 5.
vCenter Server and Host Management Licensing for Products in vSphere ESXi hosts, vCenter Server, and Virtual SAN clusters are licensed differently. To apply their licensing models correctly, you must understand how the associated assets consume license capacity, the way the evaluation period for each product functions, what happens if a product license expires, and so on. Licensing for ESXi Hosts ESXi hosts are licensed with vSphere licenses.
Chapter 9 License Management and Reporting Licensing ESXi Hosts After Upgrade If you upgrade an ESXi host to a version that starts with the same number, you do not need to replace the existing license with a new one. For example, if you upgrade a host from ESXi 5.1 to 5.5, you can use the same license for the host. If you upgrade an ESXi host to a version that starts with a different number, you must apply a new license. For example, if you upgrade an ESXi host from 5.x to 6.
vCenter Server and Host Management Licensing for Clusters with Enabled Virtual SAN After you enable Virtual SAN on a cluster, you must assign the cluster an appropriate Virtual SAN license. Just like vSphere licenses, Virtual SAN licenses have per CPU capacity. When you assign a Virtual SAN license to a cluster, the amount of license capacity that is used equals the total number of CPUs in the hosts that participate in the cluster.
Chapter 9 License Management and Reporting The components from a vCloud Suite edition are activated with a single license key. For example, if you have a license key for vCloud Suite Standard, you assign the same key to all assets that will run vCloud Suite, for example, ESXi hosts, vCloud Automation Center, vCloud Director, and others. All virtual machines running on a CPU licensed with a vCloud Suite edition can use all components included in that vCloud Suite edition.
vCenter Server and Host Management 4 In the text area of the Enter licenses keys page, enter one license key per line, and click Next. You can enter a list of keys in one operation. A new license will be created for every license key that you enter. 5 On the Edit license names page, rename the new licenses as appropriate and click Next . 6 On the Ready to complete page, review the new licenses and click Finish. A new license is created for every license key that you entered.
Chapter 9 License Management and Reporting Configure License Settings for an ESXi Host You must assign a license to an ESXi host before its evaluation period expires or its currently assigned license expires. If you upgrade, combine, or divide vSphere licenses in My VMware, you must assign the new licenses to ESXi hosts. Prerequisites n To view and manage licenses in the vSphere 6.0 environment, you must have the Global.Licenses privilege on the vCenter Server system, where the vSphere Web Client runs.
vCenter Server and Host Management 5 Select a licensing method. n Select an existing license and click OK. n Create a new license. a Click the Create New License ( ) icon. b In the New Licenses dialog, type or copy and paste a license key and click Next. c On the Edit license names page, rename the new license as appropriate and click Next. d Click Finish. e In the Assign License dialog, select the newly-created license and click OK.
Chapter 9 License Management and Reporting Set Assets to Evaluation Mode To explore the complete set of features available for an asset, you can set it to evaluation mode. Different products have different terms for using their evaluation mode. Before you set an asset to evaluation mode, you should consider the specifics for using the evaluation mode of its associated product.
vCenter Server and Host Management Prerequisites n To view and manage licenses in the vSphere 6.0 environment, you must have the Global.Licenses privilege on the vCenter Server system, where the vSphere Web Client runs. Procedure 1 In the vSphere Web Client, select Administration, and under Licensing, select Licenses. 2 Select the Licenses tab. 3 From the Show drop-down menu, select Unassigned to display only the unassigned licenses. 4 By pressing Ctrl+A select all licenses to remove.
Chapter 9 License Management and Reporting n Remove all expired licenses or licenses that you do not intend to assign. For example, if you have upgraded, divided, or combined any licenses in My VMware, you must remove the old licenses from the inventory. View Available Licenses and Features About a Product You can view information about a product, such as the available licenses, features, and license capacity in the vSphere Web Client. Prerequisites n To view and manage licenses in the vSphere 6.
vCenter Server and Host Management 4 Click View License Key. View the Licensed Features for an Asset Before you start to use a feature on an asset, you can check whether the asset is licensed to use this feature. For example, to use vSphere HA, you should check whether all hosts in a vSphere HA cluster are licensed for this feature. Prerequisites n To view and manage licenses in the vSphere 6.0 environment, you must have the Global.
Chapter 9 License Management and Reporting 3 If you select a custom time period, select the start and end dates, and click Recalculate. The Report Summary shows the license usage for each product as a percentage of the license capacity for the product over the selected period. View License Usage Details for a Single Product You can view details about the license usage and capacity of a certain product. You can filter the license usage data by time period.
vCenter Server and Host Management 6 Browse to the location where you want to save the file and click Save. The license usage for products over the selected time period is exported in a CSV file. The CSV file is contained in a .zip file that is saved to the location that you specified. The exported report contains raw data about the license usage of products over the selected period.
Working with Tasks 10 vSphere tasks are activities and actions that occur on an object within the vSphere inventory. This chapter includes the following topics: n “Managing Tasks,” on page 107 n “Schedule Tasks,” on page 107 Managing Tasks Tasks represent system activities that do not complete immediately, such as migrating a virtual machine.
vCenter Server and Host Management Table 10‑1. Scheduled Tasks Scheduled Task Description Add a host Adds the host to the specified data center or cluster. Change the power state of a virtual machine Powers on, powers off, suspends, or resets the state of the virtual machine. Change cluster power settings Enable or disable DPM for hosts in a cluster. Change resource settings of a resource pool or virtual machine Changes the following resource settings: n CPU – Shares, Reservation, Limit.
Chapter 10 Working with Tasks Procedure 1 In the vSphere Web Client, navigate to the object for which you want to schedule a task. 2 Select Manage, and select Scheduled Tasks. 3 From the Schedule New Task drop-down list, select the task to schedule. A wizard opens for the task with (scheduled) appended next to its name. The wizard contains a Scheduling options page, where you configure the scheduling options for the task.
vCenter Server and Host Management Change or Reschedule a Task After a scheduled task is created, you can change the schedule, frequency, and other attributes of the task. You can edit and reschedule tasks before or after they run. Prerequisites Required privilege:Schedule Task.Modify Procedure 1 In the vSphere Web Client, navigate to the object for which you want to edit a scheduled task. To view all scheduled tasks for a vCenter Server instance, navigate to that vCenter Server instance.
Reboot or Shut Down an ESXi Host 11 You can power off or restart (reboot) any ESXi host using the vSphere Client. Powering off a managed host disconnects it from vCenter Server, but does not remove it from the inventory. Procedure 1 Shut down all virtual machines running on the ESXi host. 2 Select the ESXi host you want to shut down. 3 From the main or right-click menu, select Reboot or Shut Down. 4 n If you select Reboot, the ESXi host shuts down and reboots.
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Managing Hosts in vCenter Server 12 To access the full capabilities of the host that you are managing, connect the host to a vCenter Server system. For information about configuration management of ESXi hosts, see the vSphere Networking documentation, the vSphere Storage documentation, and the vSphere Security documentation.
vCenter Server and Host Management Reconnect a Managed Host Use the vSphere Client to reconnect a managed host to a vCenter Server system. Procedure 1 From the vSphere Client connected to a vCenter Server system, display the inventory and click the managed host to reconnect. 2 Right-click the host and select Connect from the pop-up menu. When the managed host’s connection status to vCenter Server is changed, the statuses of the virtual machines on that managed host are updated to reflect the change.
Chapter 12 Managing Hosts in vCenter Server 4 Select the host icon in the inventory panel, and drag it to the new location. The host can be moved to another cluster or another datacenter. When the new location is selected, a blue box surrounds the cluster or datacenter name. vCenter Server moves the host to the new location. 5 Right-click the host, and select Exit Maintenance Mode from the pop-up menu. 6 (Optional) Restart any virtual machines, as needed.
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Migrating Virtual Machines 13 You can move virtual machines from one host or storage location to another location using hot or cold migration. For example, with vSphere vMotion you can move powered on virtual machines away from a host to perform maintenance, to balance loads, to collocate virtual machines that communicate with each other, to move virtual machines apart to minimize fault domain, to migrate to new server hardware, and so on.
vCenter Server and Host Management You can perform several types of migration according to the virtual machine resource type. Change compute resource only Moving a virtual machine but not its storage to another compute resource, such as a host, cluster, resource pool, or vApp. You use vMotion to move a powered on virtual machine to another compute resource. You can move the virtual machine to another host by using cold migration or hot migration.
Chapter 13 Migrating Virtual Machines n “Migrate a Virtual Machine to New Storage,” on page 140 n “Place vMotion Traffic on the vMotion TCP/IP Stack of an ESXi Host,” on page 141 n “Place Traffic for Cold Migration, Cloning, and Snapshots on the Provisioning TCP/IP Stack,” on page 143 n “Limits on Simultaneous Migrations,” on page 144 n “About Migration Compatibility Checks,” on page 145 Cold Migration Cold migration is the migration of powered off or suspended virtual machines between hosts acro
vCenter Server and Host Management If you plan to transfer high volumes of virtual machine data that the management network cannot accommodate or if you want to isolate cold migration traffic in a subnet different from the management network, for example, for migration over a long distance, redirect the cold migration traffic on a host to the TCP/IP stack that is dedicated to cold migration and cloning of powered off virtual machines.
Chapter 13 Migrating Virtual Machines Host Configuration for vMotion Before using vMotion, you must configure your hosts correctly. Ensure that you have correctly configured your hosts. n Each host must be correctly licensed for vMotion. n Each host must meet shared storage requirements for vMotion. n Each host must meet the networking requirements for vMotion. Important The ESXi firewall in ESXi 5.0 and later does not allow per-network filtering of vMotion traffic.
vCenter Server and Host Management Requirements for Concurrent vMotion Migrations You must ensure that the vMotion network has at least 250 Mbps of dedicated bandwidth per concurrent vMotion session. Greater bandwidth lets migrations complete more quickly. Gains in throughput resulting from WAN optimization techniques do not count towards the 250 Mbps limit. To determine the maximum number of concurrent vMotion operations possible, see “Limits on Simultaneous Migrations,” on page 144.
Chapter 13 Migrating Virtual Machines Networking Best Practices for vSphere vMotion Consider certain best practices for configuring the network resources for vMotion on an ESXi host. n Provide the required bandwidth in one of the following ways: Physical Adapter Configuration Best Practices Dedicate at least one adapter for vMotion. Use at least one 1 GbE adapter for workloads that have a small number of memory operations.
vCenter Server and Host Management n You can migrate virtual machines with USB devices that are connected to a physical USB device on the host. You must enable the devices for vMotion. n You cannot use migration with vMotion to migrate a virtual machine that uses a virtual device backed by a device that is not accessible on the destination host. For example, you cannot migrate a virtual machine with a CD drive backed by the physical CD drive on the source host.
Chapter 13 Migrating Virtual Machines Requirements and Limitations for vMotion Without Shared Storage A virtual machine and its host must meet resource and configuration requirements for the virtual machine files and disks to be migrated with vMotion in the absence of shared storage. vMotion in an environment without shared storage is subject to the following requirements and limitations: n The hosts must be licensed for vMotion. n The hosts must be running ESXi 5.1 or later.
vCenter Server and Host Management Requirements for Migration Between vCenter Server Instances To enable migration across vCenter Server instances, your system must meet certain requirements. n The source and destination vCenter Server instances and ESXi hosts must be 6.0 or later. n The cross vCenter Server and long distance vMotion features require an Enterprise Plus license. For more information, see http://www.vmware.com/uk/products/vsphere/compare.html.
Chapter 13 Migrating Virtual Machines Migration with Storage vMotion With Storage vMotion, you can migrate a virtual machine and its disk files from one datastore to another while the virtual machine is running. With Storage vMotion, you can move virtual machines off of arrays for maintenance or to upgrade. You also have the flexibility to optimize disks for performance, or to transform disk types, which you can use to reclaim space.
vCenter Server and Host Management CPU Compatibility and EVC vCenter Server performs compatibility checks before it allows migration of running or suspended virtual machines to ensure that the virtual machine is compatible with the target host. vMotion transfers the running state of a virtual machine between underlying ESXi systems.
Chapter 13 Migrating Virtual Machines When you attempt to migrate a virtual machine with vMotion, one of the following scenarios applies: n The destination host feature set matches the virtual machine’s CPU feature set. CPU compatibility requirements are met, and migration with vMotion proceeds. n The virtual machine’s CPU feature set contains features not supported by the destination host. CPU compatibility requirements are not met, and migration with vMotion cannot proceed.
vCenter Server and Host Management EVC masks only those processor features that affect vMotion compatibility. Enabling EVC does not prevent a virtual machine from taking advantage of faster processor speeds, increased numbers of CPU cores, or hardware virtualization support that might be available on newer hosts. EVC cannot prevent virtual machines from accessing hidden CPU features in all circumstances.
Chapter 13 Migrating Virtual Machines Procedure 1 Right-click a data center in the inventory and select New Cluster. 2 Type a name for the cluster. 3 Expand EVC and select a baseline CPU feature set from the EVC mode drop-down menu. Select a CPU vendor and EVC mode appropriate for the hosts that you intend to add to the cluster. 4 (Optional) Enable DRS. 5 (Optional) Enable vSphere HA. 6 Click OK. 7 Select a host to move into the cluster.
vCenter Server and Host Management Prerequisites n Verify that all hosts in the cluster have supported CPUs for the EVC mode you want to enable. See http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003212 for a list of supported CPUs. n Verify that all hosts in the cluster are connected and registered on vCenter Server. The cluster cannot contain a disconnected host. n Virtual machines must be in the following power states, depending on whether you raise or lower the EVC mode.
Chapter 13 Migrating Virtual Machines For example, consider a cluster containing hosts with Intel Xeon 45nm Core 2 processors that have been set to the Intel Merom Generation (Xeon Core 2) EVC mode. A virtual machine powered on in this cluster runs in the Intel Merom Generation (Xeon Core 2) EVC mode. If the cluster's EVC mode is raised to Intel Penryn Generation (Xeon 45nm Core 2), the virtual machine remains at the lower Intel Merom Generation (Xeon Core 2) EVC mode.
vCenter Server and Host Management Procedure u Enable the AMD Opteron Gen. 3 (no 3DNow!) EVC mode for your EVC cluster. The steps to enable the EVC mode differ depending on whether you are creating a cluster or enabling the mode on an existing cluster, and on whether the existing cluster contains powered-on virtual machines. Option Description Creating a new cluster In the New Cluster wizard, enable EVC for AMD hosts and select the AMD Opteron Gen. 3 (no 3DNow!) EVC mode.
Chapter 13 Migrating Virtual Machines View CPUID Details for an EVC Cluster The feature set that is exposed by an EVC cluster corresponds to the feature set of a particular type of processor. Processor feature sets are described by a set of feature flags that you examine using the CPUID instruction. You can view the CPUID feature flags currently exposed by the hosts in an EVC cluster. Procedure 1 Select a cluster in the inventory. 2 Click the Manage tab and click Settings.
vCenter Server and Host Management 5 6 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 13 Migrating Virtual Machines Migrate a Virtual Machine to a New Compute Resource You can use the Migration wizard to migrate a powered-on virtual machine from one compute resource to another by using vMotion. To relocate only the disks of a powered-on virtual machine, migrate the virtual machine to a new datastore by using Storage vMotion. Prerequisites Verify that your hosts and virtual machines meet the requirements for migration with vMotion with shared storage.
vCenter Server and Host Management vCenter Server moves the virtual machine to the new host or storage location. Event messages appear in the Events tab. The data displayed on the Summary tab shows the status and state throughout the migration. If errors occur during migration, the virtual machines revert to their original states and locations.
Chapter 13 Migrating Virtual Machines 5 Option Action Thick Provision Eager Zeroed Create a thick disk that supports clustering features such as Fault Tolerance. Space required for the virtual disk is allocated at creation time. In contrast to the thick provision lazy zeroed format, the data remaining on the physical device is zeroed out during creation. It might take longer to create disks in this format than to create other types of disks. Thin Provision Use the thin provisioned format.
vCenter Server and Host Management Event messages appear in the Events tab. The data displayed on the Summary tab shows the status and state throughout the migration. If errors occur during migration, the virtual machines revert to their original states and locations. Migrate a Virtual Machine to New Storage Use migration with Storage vMotion to relocate the configuration file of a virtual machine and virtual disks while the virtual machine is powered on.
Chapter 13 Migrating Virtual Machines 5 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 Storage DRS cluster. a b c Store virtual machine configuration files and disks in separate locations. a b c d 6 Select a Storage DRS cluster.
vCenter Server and Host Management 4 On the Select connection type page, select VMkernel Network Adapter and click Next. 5 On the Select target device page, select the switch for the VMkernel adapter, and click Next. 6 Option Description Select an existing network Use the physical adapter configuration of an existing distributed port group to send data from the VMkernel adapter to the external network.
Chapter 13 Migrating Virtual Machines Place Traffic for Cold Migration, Cloning, and Snapshots on the Provisioning TCP/IP Stack Use the provisioning TCP/IP stack to isolate traffic for cold migration, VM clones, and snapshots, and to assign a dedicated default gateway, routing table, and DNS configuration for this traffic. To enable the Provisioning TCP/IP stack, assign it a new VMkernel adapter.
vCenter Server and Host Management 8 9 10 (Optional) On the IPv4 settings page, select an option for obtaining IP addresses. Option Description Obtain IP settings automatically Use DHCP to obtain IP settings. A DHCP server must be present on the network. Use static IP settings Enter the IPv4 IP address and subnet mask for the VMkernel adapter. The VMkernel Default Gateway and DNS server addresses for IPv4 are obtained from the selected TCP/IP stack.
Chapter 13 Migrating Virtual Machines Table 13‑1. Network Limits for Migration with vMotion Operation ESXi Version Network Type Maximum Cost vMotion 5.0, 5.1, 5.5, 6.0 1GigE 4 vMotion 5.0, 5.1, 5.5, 6.0 10GigE 8 Datastore Limits Datastore limits apply to migrations with vMotion and with Storage vMotion. A migration with vMotion has a resource cost of 1 against the shared virtual machine's datastore.
vCenter Server and Host Management n Errors might disable migration if no error-free destination hosts are available among the selected destination hosts. In this case, if you click Next, the wizard displays the compatibility errors again, and you cannot proceed to the next step.
Automating Management Tasks by Using vRealize Orchestrator 14 VMware™ vRealize Orchestrator is a development- and process-automation platform that provides a library of extensible workflows. By using the workflow library you can create and run automated, configurable processes to manage the vSphere infrastructure as well as other VMware and third-party technologies.
vCenter Server and Host Management The vSphere Web Client allows you run and schedule workflows on selected objects from your vSphere inventory. You cannot create, delete, edit and manage workflows in the vSphere Web Client. You develop and manage workflows in the Orchestrator client. For more information about the Orchestrator client, see Using the VMware vRealize Orchestrator Client. For information about developing workflows, see Developing with VMware vRealize Orchestrator.
Chapter 14 Automating Management Tasks by Using vRealize Orchestrator Configure the Default vRealize Orchestrator If you have configured more than one Orchestrator server to work with a vCenter Server instance that is connected with your vSphere Web Client, you must configure the default Orchestrator server to use with the vCenter Server instance. You cannot run workflows on the objects in a vCenter Server instance if it is not added as a vCenter Server host to the Orchestrator server.
vCenter Server and Host Management Prerequisites n Verify that you have configured at least one Orchestrator server to work with the same Single Sign-On instance to which both the vCenter Server and vSphere Web Client are pointing. You must also ensure that Orchestrator is registered as a vCenter Server extension. You register Orchestrator as a vCenter Server extension when you specify a user (by providing the user name and password), who has the privileges to manage vCenter Server extensions.
Chapter 14 Automating Management Tasks by Using vRealize Orchestrator Export the Associations of Workflows with vSphere Objects You can transfer the associations of workflows with objects in the vSphere inventory from one vSphere Web Client to another by using an XML file. Prerequisites n Verify that you have configured at least one Orchestrator server to work with the same Single Sign-On instance to which both the vCenter Server and vSphere Web Client are pointing.
vCenter Server and Host Management Managing Workflows You can view different information about Orchestrator workflows, run and schedule workflows and manage them by using the vSphere Web Client. You can perform some management tasks on the Orchestrator workflows from the vRealize Orchestrator view in the vSphere Web Client. You can also perform some of the tasks by right-clicking a vSphere inventory object and selecting All vRealize Orchestrator plugin Actions.
Chapter 14 Automating Management Tasks by Using vRealize Orchestrator View Information About Workflow Runs You can view information about the workflow runs for each connected Orchestrator server. The available information includes the workflow name, start and end date, state of the workflow, and user who started the workflow.
vCenter Server and Host Management View Workflows that Are Waiting for User Interaction You can view the workflows that are waiting for a user interaction. Prerequisites Verify that you have configured at least one Orchestrator server to work with the same Single Sign-On instance to which both the vCenter Server and vSphere Web Client are pointing. You must also ensure that Orchestrator is registered as a vCenter Server extension.
Chapter 14 Automating Management Tasks by Using vRealize Orchestrator 6 Click Categories. A list of available workflow categories appears. 7 Double-click a workflow category to browse the available workflows and its subcategories. Find a Workflow If you have a large number of workflows, you can filter them by a search keyword to find a specific workflow.
vCenter Server and Host Management 8 Schedule the date and time of the workflow run. 9 Specify the recurrence options. 10 Click Finish. Edit the Schedule of a Workflow You can modify the schedule of a workflow and set it to run at an earlier or later time. Prerequisites Verify that you have configured at least one Orchestrator server to work with the same Single Sign-On instance to which both the vCenter Server and vSphere Web Client are pointing.
Chapter 14 Automating Management Tasks by Using vRealize Orchestrator What to do next You can view information about the workflow run in the Recent Tasks pane or in the Orchestrator server menu. See “View Information About Workflow Runs,” on page 153. Suspend a Scheduled Task You can suspend a scheduled workflow run. You can also resume suspended scheduled tasks.
vCenter Server and Host Management Workflows for Managing Inventory Objects The default workflows for managing vSphere inventory objects are the workflows included in the vCenter Server 5.5 plug-in workflow library. The vCenter Server 5.5 plug-in workflow library contains workflows that you can use to run automated processes related to the vCenter Server and host management.
Chapter 14 Automating Management Tasks by Using vRealize Orchestrator Enable DRS on cluster Enables DRS on a cluster. Enable HA on cluster Enables high availability on a cluster. Enable vCloud Distributed Storage on cluster Enables vCloud Distributed Storage on a cluster. Remove virtual machine DRS group from cluster Removes a DRS virtual machine group from a cluster. Remove virtual machines from DRS group Removes virtual machines from a cluster DRS group. Rename cluster Renames a cluster.
vCenter Server and Host Management Run program in guest Starts a program in a guest operating system. Kill process in guest Treminates a process in a guest operating system. Custom Attributes Workflows With custom attributes workflows, you can add custom attributes to virtual machines or get a custom attribute for a virtual machine. Add custom attribute to a virtual machine Adds a custom attribute to a virtual machine.
Chapter 14 Automating Management Tasks by Using vRealize Orchestrator Log unused datastore files Searches the vCenter Server environment for unused files that are registered on virtual machines and exports a log of the files in a text file. Upload file to datastore Uploads a file to an existing folder on a specific datastore. The uploaded file will overwrite any existing file with the same name in the same destination folder.
vCenter Server and Host Management Move host to folder Moves a host into a folder as a standalone host. The host must be part of a ClusterComputeResource in the same data center and the host must be in maintenance mode. Reload host Forces vCenter Server to reload data from a host. Host Power Management Workflows With host power management workflows you can reboot or shut down a host. Reboot host Reboots a host.
Chapter 14 Automating Management Tasks by Using vRealize Orchestrator Distributed Virtual Port Group Workflows With distributed virtual port group workflows you can update or delete a port group, and reconfigure the port group. Connect virtual machine NIC number to distributed virtual port group Reconfigures the network connection of the specified virtual machine NIC number to connect to the specified distributed virtual port group. If no NIC number is specified, the number zero is used.
vCenter Server and Host Management Retrieve all standard virtual switches Retrieves all standard virtual switches from a host. Update port group in standard virtual switch Updates the properties of a port group in a standard virtual switch. Update standard virtual switch Updates the properties of a standard virtual switch. Update VNIC for port group in standard virtual switch Updates a VNIC associated with a port group in a standard virtual switch.
Chapter 14 Automating Management Tasks by Using vRealize Orchestrator Display all datastores and disks Displays the existing datastores and available disks on a specified host. Enable iSCSI adapter Enables an iSCSI adapter. List all storage adapters Lists all storage adapters of a specified host.
vCenter Server and Host Management Basic Virtual Machine Management Workflows With basic virtual machine management workflows you can perform basic operations on virtual machines, for example, create, rename or delete a virtual machine, upgrade virtual hardware, and so on. 166 Create custom virtual machine Creates a virtual machine with the specified configuration options and additional devices. Create simple dvPortGroup virtual machine Creates a simple virtual machine.
Chapter 14 Automating Management Tasks by Using vRealize Orchestrator Upgrade virtual machine Upgrades the virtual hardware to the latest revision that the host supports. An input parameter allows a forced upgrade even if VMware Tools is out of date. Wait for task and answer virtual machine question Waits for a vCenter Server task to complete or for the virtual machine to ask a question. If the virtual machine requires an answer, accepts user input and answers the question.
vCenter Server and Host Management Linux Customization Clone Workflows With Linux customization workflows you can clone a Linux virtual machine and customize the guest operating system. Clone a Linux machine with multiple NICs Clones a Linux virtual machine, performs the guest operating system customization, and configures up to four virtual network cards.
Chapter 14 Automating Management Tasks by Using vRealize Orchestrator Clone a Windows machine Sysprep with single NIC and credential Clones a Windows virtual machine performing the guest operating system customization. Configures one virtual network card and a local administrator user account. Sysprep tools must be available on vCenter Server. Clone a Windows machine with multiple NICs and credential Clones a Windows virtual machine performing the guest operating system customization.
vCenter Server and Host Management Migrate virtual machine with vMotion Migrates a virtual machine from one host to another by using the MigrateVM_Task operation from the vSphere API. Move virtual machine to another vCenter Server system Moves a list of virtual machines to another vCenter Server system. Quick migrate multiple virtual machines Suspends the virtual machines if they are powered on and migrates them to another host using the same storage.
Chapter 14 Automating Management Tasks by Using vRealize Orchestrator Get Virtual Machine by Name and UUID Searches virtual machines by name and then filters the result with particular universally unique identifier (UUID) in order to identify a unique virtual machine.
vCenter Server and Host Management Snapshot Workflows With snapshot workflows, you can perform snapshot-related operations. Create a snapshot Creates a snapshot. Create snapshots of all virtual machines in a resource pool Creates a snapshot of each virtual machine in a resource pool. Remove all snapshots Removes all existing snapshots without reverting to a previous snapshot.
About Headless Systems 15 ESXi supports the detection and configuration of headless systems. A headless system is a system that can be operated without a monitor, keyboard or mouse. Network Appliance boxes do not have VGA, the primary interface is a single serial port. You can leverage your existing headless systems to use ESXi. You can add ESXi appliances to a datacenter where virtual machines are managed with vSphere Virtual Center.
vCenter Server and Host Management ESXi Serial Port Modes ESXi supports four serial port modes. There are four serial port modes in ESXi: Logging mode – Logging mode is the default mode in a debug build. Logging mode sends the vmkernel.log over the serial port. GDB mode – Use GDB mode for dedicated debugging. Shell mode – Shell mode is the shell port access, which is similar to SSH. DCUI mode – DCUI mode is a Direct Console User Interface.
Chapter 15 About Headless Systems Controlling the Serial DCUI You can use alternate keystrokes to control the DCUI over a serial port. This is useful when F2 or other function keys cannot be used. Controlling the Serial DCUI Alternate keystroke mappings for DCUI mode: n Esc + 1 -> F1 n Esc + 2 -> F2 n Esc + 3 -> F3 n Esc + 4 -> F4 n Esc + 5 -> F5 n Esc + 6 -> F6 n Esc + 7 -> F7 n Esc + 8 -> F8 n Esc + 9 -> F9 n Esc + 0 -> F10 n Esc + ! -> F11 n Esc + @ -> F12 VMware, Inc.
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Index Numerics 3DNow!, EVC modes 133 A abbreviations 9 adding hosts 78 advanced attributes, hosts 38 advanced settings, vCenter Server 48 API Watchdog 62 Asset 92 assets features in use 103 used features 103 assign licenses 97 assigning license keys 99 associate workflows 148, 149 Auto Deploy Service, configuring 51 B baselines, security 21 basic host management workflows 161 basic virtual machine workflows 166 boot devices, configuring for an ESXi host 37 C categories creating 85 deleting 85 editing 86
vCenter Server and Host Management data centers, creating 78 data collection levels 42 data collector, enabling 59 database impact of statistics on 41 limiting size 46 retention policy 46 vCenter Server 15 datastore and files workflows 160 datastores about 18 relocate virtual machine files 127 default vRealize Orchestrator 149 deploy OFV template 71 deploy OVF template network setup 70 select OVF name 69 deploy the vCenter Host Gateway appliance accepting EULA 69 customize the OVF template 70 selecting sto
Index installing, Client Integration Plug-in 26 interfaces 17 inventory organize 77 searching 28, 29 inventory object filter 30 quick filter 30 inventory keyboard shortcuts 35 inventory objects migrate 34 view recent 32 view last visited 32 K kernel-level CPU features 128 keyboard shortcuts 35 L layout settings, customizing 26 license add license keys 97 create 97 rename 101 license assets 97 license hosts 97 license information 102 license report 105 License usage 92 license capacity 104 License capacit
vCenter Server and Host Management Storage vMotion 127 with vMotion 120 migration across vCenter Server systems 126 modules, See plug-ins move and migrate workflows 169 MSCS 63 N navigating, vSphere Web Client 25 networking workflows 162 networks best practices for vMotion 123 requirements for vMotion 121 normal operations 45 O object navigator 25 objects, migrate 34 Open Virtualization Format service, settings 56 Orchestrator associate workflows 149 browsing the inventory 154 edit the association of wor
Index settings ESX agent VMs 38 vCenter Server 40 showing sidebars 26 simple search 29 SMTP notification 44 server 44 snapshot workflows 172 SNMP community string 44 receiver URL 44 settings 44 traps 44 Solution 92 solutions, licensing 91 specify OVF location 68 SSL certificate 114 standard virtual switch workflows 163 statistics collection intervals 40 impact on the database 41 statistics settings, configuring 40 storage DRS workflows 165 Storage vMotion limitations 127 limits 144 requirements 127 storage
vCenter Server and Host Management hardware requirements 66 network settings, changing 73 networking requirements 66 overview 65 proxy settings 73 rebooting 75 registering services 71 registering a service 74 restarting the service 72 shut down 75 shutdown 75 shutting down 75 solution user 71 supported host operations 76 supported third-party hosts 66 supported virtual machine operations 76 synchronizing the time 72 system requirements 66 vCenter Host Gateway appliance configuring 72 support bundles downlo
Index workflow management 152 workflow runs information, single workflow 153 workflow schedule editing 156 workflow scheduling resuming from suspension 157 running a scheduled workflow 156 suspending 157 workflow search 154 workflows basic host management 161 basic virtual machine 166 clone 167 cluster and compute resource 158 components 147 custom attributes 160 data center folder management 161 datancenter 160 datastore and files 160 device management 169 distributed virtual port group 163 distributed vi
vCenter Server and Host Management 184 VMware, Inc.
