vCenter Server and Host Management 17 APR 2018 VMware vSphere 6.7 VMware ESXi 6.7 vCenter Server 6.
vCenter Server and Host Management You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware website at: https://docs.vmware.com/ If you have comments about this documentation, submit your feedback to docfeedback@vmware.com VMware, Inc. 3401 Hillview Ave. Palo Alto, CA 94304 www.vmware.com Copyright © 2009–2018 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright and trademark information. VMware, Inc.
Contents About VMware vCenter Server and Host Management 10 1 vSphere Concepts and Features 11 Virtualization Basics 11 Physical Topology of vSphere Data Center vSphere Software Components Client Interfaces for vSphere 13 16 vSphere Managed Inventory Objects Optional vCenter Server Components vCenter Server Plug-Ins 12 17 19 21 2 Using the vSphere Client 22 Log in to vCenter Server by Using the vSphere Client Use the vSphere Client Navigator Customize the User Interface 23 23 24 Rearrange the
vCenter Server and Host Management Create a Scheduled Task with a Keyboard Shortcut 3 Configuring vCenter Server 37 38 Configure License Settings for vCenter Server Configuring Statistics Settings 39 39 Configure Statistics Collection Intervals in the vSphere Web Client 40 Estimate the Effect of Statistics Collection on the Database in the vSphere Web Client Data Collection Levels Configure Runtime Settings for vCenter Server Configure User Directory Settings Configure Mail Sender Settings Config
vCenter Server and Host Management Set Advanced Host Attributes 65 Synchronizing Clocks on the vSphere Network Edit Time Configuration for a Host 66 66 7 Configuring Customer Experience Improvement Program 68 Categories of Information That VMware Receives 68 Join the Customer Experience Improvement Program in the vSphere Web Client 68 8 Organizing Your Inventory 69 Create Data Centers 70 Add a Host 71 Create a Folder 72 Create Clusters 72 9 vSphere Tags and Attributes 74 Migrate Custom Attri
vCenter Server and Host Management Viewing Licensing Information 96 View Licensing Information About the vSphere Environment View Available Licenses and Features About a Product View the Features that an Asset Uses View the License Key of the License 96 97 97 98 View the Licensed Features for an Asset 98 Generating Reports for License Use in the vSphere Web Client 99 View the License Usage for Multiple Products in the vSphere Web Client 99 View License Usage Details for a Single Product in the
vCenter Server and Host Management CPU Compatibility and EVC 134 CPU Compatibility Scenarios 135 CPU Families and Feature Sets 136 About Enhanced vMotion Compatibility EVC Requirements for Hosts Create an EVC Cluster 136 137 137 Enable EVC on an Existing Cluster 138 Change the EVC Mode for a Cluster 139 Determine the EVC Mode of a Virtual Machine 140 Determine the EVC Mode that a Host Supports 141 Prepare Clusters for AMD Processors Without 3DNow! CPU Compatibility Masks 141 142 View C
vCenter Server and Host Management Custom Attributes Workflows Data Center Workflows 174 174 Datastore and Files Workflows 175 Data Center Folder Management Workflows Host Folder Management Workflows 175 176 Virtual Machine Folder Management Workflows Basic Host Management Workflows Host Power Management Workflows 177 Host Registration Management Workflows Networking Workflows 177 177 Distributed Virtual Port Group Workflows Distributed Virtual Switch Workflows Standard Virtual Switch Workflow
vCenter Server and Host Management Testing Possible Solutions 195 Troubleshooting with Logs 195 vCenter Server Upgrade Fails When Unable to Stop Tomcat Service 197 Microsoft SQL Database Set to Unsupported Compatibility Mode Causes vCenter Server Installation or Upgrade to Fail 198 Troubleshooting the vSphere Web Client 198 vCenter Server System Does Not Appear in vSphere Web Client Inventory Unable to Start the Virtual Machine Console 199 Troubleshooting vCenter Server and ESXi Host Certificat
About VMware vCenter Server and Host Management ® vCenter Server and Host Management describes how to use the VMware vSphere Web Client components, configure and manage hosts, migrate virtual machines, and manage licenses in your vCenter Server environment. vCenter Server and Host Management also provides brief introductions to the various tasks you can perform within the system, and it cross-references to the documentation that describes the tasks in detail.
1 vSphere Concepts and Features ® VMware vSphere uses the power of virtualization to transform data centers into simplified cloud computing infrastructures, enabling 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 hypervisor 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 ESXi is the hypervisor in a vSphere environment. The hypervisor is installed on physical or virtual hardware in a virtualized data center, and acts as a platform for virtual machines. The hypervisor provides physical hardware resources dynamically to virtual machines to support the operation of the virtual machines. The hypervisor allows virtual machines to operate with a degree of independence from the underlying physical hardware.
vCenter Server and Host Management Compute servers continue to function even if vCenter Server becomes unreachable (for example, if the network is severed). The ESXi hosts can be managed separately and continue to run the virtual machines assigned to them based on the resource assignment that was last set. After connection to vCenter Server is restored, it can manage the data center as a whole again.
vCenter Server and Host Management You can install vCenter Server on a Windows virtual machine or physical server, or deploy the vCenter Server Appliance. The vCenter Server Appliance is a preconfigured Linux-based virtual machine optimized for running vCenter Server and the vCenter Server components. You can deploy the vCenter Server Appliance on ESXi hosts 5.5 or later, or on vCenter Server instances 5.5 or later. Starting with vSphere 6.
vCenter Server and Host Management you are prompted for the Lookup Service URL when you install other vSphere components. For example, the Inventory Service and the vCenter Server installers ask for the Lookup Service URL and then contact the Lookup Service to find vCenter Single Sign-On. After installation, the Inventory Service and vCenter Server system are registered with the vCenter Lookup Service so other vSphere components, like the vSphere Client, can find them.
vCenter Server and Host Management 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. Features that require the tcServer to be running include: lCIM/Hardware Status tab, Performance charts, WebAccess, Storage Policy-Based services, and vCenter Service status.
vCenter Server and Host Management Tasks for which the workflow differs significantly between the vSphere Client and the vSphere Web Client have duplicate procedures that provide steps according to the respective client interface. The procedures that relate to the vSphere Web Client, contain vSphere Web Client in the title. vSphere Web Client The vSphere Web Client is a web application installed on a machine with network access to your vCenter Server installation.
vCenter Server and Host Management The data center defines the namespace for networks and datastores. The names for these objects must be unique within a data center. You cannot have two datastores with the same name within a single data center, but you can have two datastores with the same name in two different data centers. Virtual machines, templates, and clusters need not be unique within the data center, but must be unique within their folder.
vCenter Server and Host Management Data center folders form a hierarchy directly under the root vCenter Server and allow users to group their data centers. Within each data center is one hierarchy of folders with virtual machines and templates, one with hosts and clusters, one with datastores, and one with networks. Hosts The physical computer on which ESXi is installed. All virtual machines run on hosts or clusters.
vCenter Server and Host Management Optional vCenter Server features include: vMotion 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. Storage vMotion Allows you to move the disks and configuration file of a running virtual machine from one datastore to another without service interruption.
vCenter Server and Host Management 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. vSphere Fault Tolerance vSphere Fault Tolerance provides continuous availability for virtual machines by creating and maintaining a Secondary VM that is identical to the Primary VM.
Using the vSphere Client 2 Use the vSphere Client to connect to vCenter Server systems and manage vSphere inventory objects. Use of the vSphere Client requires a supported Web browser. VMware has tested and supports the following guest operating systems and browser versions for the vSphere Client. Table 2‑1. Supported Guest Operating Systems and Browser Versions for the vSphere Client . Operating system Browser Windows 32-bit and 64-bit Microsoft Internet Explorer 11 and later.
vCenter Server and Host Management n Export Lists n Attach File to Service Request n Keyboard Shortcuts Log in to vCenter Server by Using the vSphere Client Log in to vCenter Server by using the vSphere Client to manage your vSphere inventory. In vSphere 6.5 and later, the vSphere Client is installed as part of the vCenter Server on Windows or the vCenter Server Appliance deployment. This way, the vSphere Client always points to the same vCenter Single Sign-On instance.
vCenter Server and Host Management Procedure 1 From the vSphere Client Home, click Global Inventory Lists. 2 Under Global Inventory Lists, click one of the object categories to view objects of that type. For example, click Hosts to view hosts in the vSphere Client inventory. 3 Click an object in the list once to display information about the object in the center pane of the vSphere Client. 4 (Optional) Click the object again to open it.
vCenter Server and Host Management n Disable the Related Objects Tabs You can disable the related object tabs by changing the webclient.properties file. Rearrange the Components of the User Interface You can rearrange the panes in the vSphere Web Client user interface. You can move the panes and Navigator sidebar around the content area to enhance your personal experience by customizing the vSphere Web Client user interface. You change the interface at any time.
vCenter Server and Host Management 3 On a new line, enter docking.disabled=true and save the file. Disable the Related Objects Tabs You can disable the related object tabs by changing the webclient.properties file. Procedure 1 Connect to the vCenter Server or vCenter Server Appliance by using any remote console, and optionally use SSH. 2 Navigate to the /etc/vmware/vsphere-client/webclient.properties file and open it in a text editor. 3 Edit the file to include the line show.relations.in.
vCenter Server and Host Management 3 If the browser blocks the installation either by issuing certificate errors or by running a pop-up blocker, follow the Help instructions for your browser to resolve the problem. 4 Save the plug-in to your computer, and run the executable. 5 Step through the installation wizard for both the VMware Enhanced Authentication Plug-in and the VMware Plug-in Service which are run in succession. 6 When the installations are complete, refresh your browser.
vCenter Server and Host Management Searching the Inventory With vSphere Client, you can search the inventory for objects that match specified criteria. You can search the inventories of all vCenter Server systems connected to the same Platform Services Controller or to Platform Services Controllers. You can only view and search for inventory objects that you have permission to view. Note If your permissions change while you are logged in, the search service might not immediately recognize these changes.
vCenter Server and Host Management 3 (Optional) To see more search results or more details about the search results, click All Results. a (Optional) To see additional information about the object, select an object in the results table. b (Optional) To display that item in the inventory, double-click any item in the search results. The search results are listed in a table. If differing types of objects are found, the table contains tabs for each type of object.
vCenter Server and Host Management 4 Select a property to search for from the drop-down menu. The properties available depend on the type of object you are searching for. 5 Select the relationship between the search term and the property from the drop-down menu. The options available in this step depend on the property selected in the previous step. For example, if you select a Name property, the options available are contains, is, and is not. 6 Type or select the search term.
vCenter Server and Host Management Use Quick Filters You can use quick filters to find an object or a set of objects in your vSphere Web Client inventory that fit certain criteria. Quick filters are available in the list views, which appear in the Objects tab of an inventory list and in search results. For example, you can use the quick filter options for virtual machines to find all virtual machines in your vSphere inventory that are powered on but do not have VMware Tools running.
vCenter Server and Host Management n Storage I/O Control Quick Filters for Clusters You can filter clusters by the following criteria: n Tags n vSphere DRS n vSphere HA n vSAN Quick Filters for Hosts You can filter hosts by the following criteria: n Tags n Connection State n Type n Maintenance Mode n Standalone or Clustered n Power State n CPUs n NICs n ESX/ESXi Version n vSphere vMotion n Host Compliance n HA State n vSphere Fault Tolerance n EVC Mode Quick Filters fo
vCenter Server and Host Management n Has Snapshot n VMware Tools Version Status n VMware Tools Running Status n EVC Mode n Guest OS n Compatibility n CPUs n NICs 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 Compatibility n CPUs n NICs View Recent Objects You can quickly navigate to the objects that you visited during your vSphere Web Client session.
vCenter Server and Host Management You have navigated to the object that you selected in the Recent Objects pane. Configure the vSphere Web Client Timeout Value By default, vSphere Web Client sessions close after 120 minutes of idle time, requiring the user to log in again to resume using the client. You can change the timeout value by editing the webclient.properties file. Procedure 1 On the computer where the vSphere Web Client is installed, locate the webclient.properties file.
vCenter Server and Host Management 3 Option Description Saved Searches Removes all Saved Searches for this user. User preferences for Update Manager views Removes all Update Manager view preferences for this user. User preferences for columns in list views Removes all list view column preferences for this user. Click Clear Selected Data Drag Objects You can select an inventory object, and while holding the left mouse button you can drag it to another object.
vCenter Server and Host Management Procedure 1 From the vSphere Client, open a list view. You can access list views of objects from the Global Inventory Lists and the search results. 2 Click Export List ( ) at the bottom right corner of a list view. The Export List Contents dialog box opens and lists the available options for inclusion in the CSV file. 3 Select whether you want all rows or your current selection of rows to be listed in the CSV file.
vCenter Server and Host Management Table 2‑3. Inventory Keyboard Shortcuts Keyboard Combination Action Ctrl+Alt+s Quick search Ctrl+Alt+Home or Ctrl+Alt+1 Home Ctrl+Alt+2 Hosts and Clusters Ctrl+Alt+3 VMs and Templates Ctrl+Alt+4 Storage Ctrl+Alt+5 Networking Ctrl+Alt+6 Content Libraries Ctrl+Alt+7 Global Inventory Lists Create a Scheduled Task with a Keyboard Shortcut You can use a keyboard shortcut to create a scheduled task.
Configuring vCenter Server 3 You can configure vCenter Server from the vSphere Client and from the vSphere Web Client. What you can do depends on your deployment. On-premises vCenter Server You can change many of the vCenter Server settings, including licensing, statistics collection, logging, and more. vCenter Server in VMware Cloud on AWS VMware preconfigures vCenter Server instances when you create an SDDC.
vCenter Server and Host Management 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. If you upgrade, combine, or divide vCenter Server licenses in My VMware, you must assign the new licenses to vCenter Server systems and remove the old licenses. Prerequisites n To view and manage licenses in the vSphere environment, you must have the Global.
vCenter Server and Host Management Configure Statistics Collection Intervals in the vSphere Web Client Statistic collection intervals determine the frequency at which statistic queries occur, the length of time statistical data is stored in the database, and the type of statistical data that is collected. You can view the collected statistics through the performance charts in the vSphere Web Client or through command-line monitoring utilities. Note Not all interval attributes are configurable.
vCenter Server and Host Management n Samples that are collected every 2 hours are stored for 1 month. n Samples that are collected on 1 day are stored for 1 year. For all statistics intervals, the default level is 1. It uses the Cluster Services, CPU, Disk, Memory, Network, System, and Virtual Machine Operations counters.
vCenter Server and Host Management Table 3‑1. Statistics Levels Level Metrics Level 1 n Cluster Services (VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler) – all metrics Use for long-term performance monitoring when device statistics are not required. Level 1 is the default Collection Level for all Collection Intervals.
vCenter Server and Host Management Procedure 1 In the vSphere Client, navigate to the vCenter Server instance. 2 Select the Configure tab. 3 Under Settings, select General. 4 In the Edit vCenter Server Settings dialog box, select Runtime Settings. 5 In vCenter Server unique ID, enter a unique ID. You can change this value to a number from 0 through 63 to identify each vCenter Server system running in a common environment. By default, an ID value is generated randomly.
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.
vCenter Server and Host Management Configure SNMP Settings You can configure up to four receivers to receive SNMP traps from vCenter Server. For each receiver, specify a host name, port, and community. Prerequisites Required privilege: Global.Settings Procedure 1 In the vSphere Client, navigate to the vCenter Server instance. 2 Select the Configure tab. 3 Under Settings, select General. 4 Click Edit. 5 Select SNMP receivers.
vCenter Server and Host Management 6 Click OK. Configure Timeout Settings You can configure the timeout intervals for vCenter Server operations. These intervals specify the amount of time after which the vSphere Web Client times out. Prerequisites Required privilege: Global.Settings Procedure 1 In the vSphere Client, navigate to the vCenter Server instance. 2 Select the Configure tab. 3 Under Settings, select General. 4 Click Edit. 5 Select Timeout settings.
vCenter Server and Host Management 6 7 Select the logging options.
vCenter Server and Host Management 9 Select the Enabled check box next to Event cleanup to have vCenter Server periodically clean up the retained events. 10 (Optional) In Events retention, type a value in days. Information about events for this vCenter Server system is discarded after the specified number of days. 11 Click OK. Verifying SSL Certificates for Legacy Hosts You can configure vCenter Server to check the SSL certificates of hosts to which it connects.
vCenter Server and Host Management 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.Settings Procedure 1 In the vSphere Client, navigate to the vCenter Server instance. 2 Select the Configure tab. 3 Select Advanced Settings.
vCenter Server and Host Management 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. Note Starting with vSphere 6.
vCenter Server and Host Management Prerequisites Verify that the user you use to log in to the vCenter Server instance is a member of the SystemConfiguration.Administrators group in the vCenter Single Sign-On domain. Procedure 1 Log in to the vCenter Server by using the vSphere Web Client. 2 On the vSphere Web Client Home page, click System Configuration. 3 Under System Configuration click Services. 4 From the Services list select a manageable service.
vCenter Server and Host Management Service Description Transfer Service Provides support for moving content, such as VM templates, scripts, and ISO images across sites and vCenter Server instances. Note Runs as a child service of the Content Library Service. For a list of settings you can configure for this service, see Transfer Service Properties. Ovf Service Supports the provisioning of OVF based virtual machines. Note Runs as a child service of the Content Library Service.
vCenter Server and Host Management Service Name Description VMware vSphere Authentication Proxy Provides support for joining unattended ESXi hosts to an Active Directory domain by using an account with delegated privileges, enhancing security for PXE-booted hosts and hosts that are provisioned using Auto Deploy. VMware vSphere ESXi Dump Collector Service Collects core dumps from remote hosts. See VMware vSphere ESXi Dump Collector. vAPI Endpoint Provides a single point of access to vAPI services.
vCenter Server and Host Management Property Default Value Description Garbage Collect Interval (minutes) 60 Interval in minutes for Content library garbage collection. Garbage collection cleans content library data and files that are no longer used. 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.
vCenter Server and Host Management Note You must log in as a user with an Administrator or a Content library administrator role to change the settings of the Content Library service. Transfer Service Properties The Transfer Service lets you move content, such as VM templates, scripts, and ISO images across sites and vCenter Server instances. The Transfer Service has a set of configurable properties that you can change to meet the needs of your virtual environment.
vCenter Server and Host Management VMware Open Virtualization Format Service The Open Virtualization Format Service enables OVF based provisioning of virtual machines. You can change the configuration properties of this service. Property Default Value Description OVF Export Session Timeout 5 The amount of time after which the OVF export session times out. Measured in minutes. OVF Import Session Timeout 10 Waiting time before the OVF import session times out. Measured in minutes.
vCenter Server and Host Management Property Default Value Description log4j.appender.CONSOLE1.layout.Conver sionPattern %d{yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSXXX} [%t %x %-5p %c] %m%n Configures the format of the log messages sent to the "CONSOLE1" appender. log4j.appender.LOGFILE com.vmware.log4j.appender.NonAppend ingRollingFileAppender Defines the "LOGFILE" appender. log4j.appender.LOGFILE.Append true Specifies if the "LOGFILE" appender output file should be opened in append or truncate mode.
vCenter Server and Host Management Property Default Value Description Domain - Active Directory domain to which to join the ESXi hosts. Domain User - Active Directory account with delegated domain join privileges used to join ESXi hosts. Domain User Password - Password for the account specified in Domain User. VMware vSphere ESXi Dump Collector The vSphere ESXi Dump Collector service collects core dumps from remote hosts.
vCenter Server and Host Management 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. [default] endpoint queue size 50 The maximum number of tasks that can queue up for the vAPI endpoint.
vCenter Server and Host Management Property Default Value Description Enables REST basic authentication Enabled Enables login service for simple authentication with user name and password. Global request rate 180 Global request rate. Set to 0 to disable. Global request rate interval 1 Global request rate interval, measured in seconds. This is the time frame in which only http.request.rate.count requests are allowed. Set to 0 to disable. If you enable this interval, the default value is 1.
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.
Using Enhanced Linked Mode 4 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 Communication Among ESXi , vCenter Server, and the vSphere Web Client 5 By default, the vSphere Web Client uses ports 80 and 443 to communicate with vCenter Server and ESXi hosts. Configure your firewall to allow communication between the vSphere Web Client and vCenter Server by opening ports 80 and 443. vCenter Server acts as a web service. If your environment requires the use of a web proxy, vCenter Server can be proxied like any other web service. VMware, Inc.
Configuring Hosts and vCenter Server 6 Configuring ESXi hosts, vCenter Server systems, and the vSphere Web Client involves several tasks. This chapter includes the following topics: n Host Configuration n Synchronizing Clocks on the vSphere Network Host Configuration Before you create virtual machines on your hosts, you must configure the hosts to ensure that they have correct licensing, network and storage access, and security settings.
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.
vCenter Server and Host Management Procedure 1 Browse to the host in the vSphere Client. 2 Click the Configure tab. 3 Under System, click Advanced System Settings. 4 In Advanced System Settings, select the appropriate item. 5 Click the Edit button and change the value. 6 Click OK. Synchronizing Clocks on the vSphere Network Verify that all components on the vSphere network have their clocks synchronized.
vCenter Server and Host Management 4 Select an option for setting the time and date of the host. Option Description Manually configure the date and time on this host Set the time and date for the host manually. Use Network Time Protocol (Enable NTP client) Synchronize the time and date of the host with an NTP server. The NTP service on the host periodically takes the time and date from the NTP server.
Configuring Customer Experience Improvement Program 7 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.
Organizing Your Inventory 8 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 Set up networking by using vSphere Standard Switches or vSphere Distributed Switches. To use services such as vMotion, TCP/IP storage, VMware vSAN™, and Fault Tolerance, setup VMkernel networking for these services. For more information, see vSphere Networking. n Configure storage systems and create datastore inventory objects to provide logical containers for storage devices in your inventory. See vSphere Storage.
vCenter Server and Host Management Add a Host You can add hosts under a data center object, folder object, or cluster object. If a host contains virtual machines, those virtual machines are added to the inventory together with the host. You can also add hosts to a DRS cluster, for details see vSphere Resource Management. Prerequisites n Verify that a data center, folder, or cluster exists in the inventory. n Obtain the user name and password of the root user account for the host.
vCenter Server and Host Management 8 (Optional) Select a lockdown mode option to disable the remote access for the administrator account after vCenter Server takes control of this host. 9 (Optional) If you add the host to a data center or a folder, select a location for the virtual machines that reside on the host and click Next. 10 Review the summary and click Finish. A new task for adding the host appears in the Recent Tasks pane. It might take a few minutes for the task to complete.
vCenter Server and Host Management Prerequisites n Verify that you have sufficient permissions to create a cluster object. n Verify that a data center, or folder within a data center, exists in the inventory. n Verify that hosts have the same ESXi version and patch level. n Obtain the user name and password of the root user account for the host. Procedure 1 Browse to a data center in the vSphere Client. 2 Right-click the data center and select New Cluster. 3 Enter a name for the cluster.
vSphere Tags and Attributes 9 Tags and attributes allow you to attach metadata to objects in the vSphere inventory to make it easier to sort and search for these objects. 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 specify the object types for its tags, and whether more than one tag in the category can be applied to an object.
vCenter Server and Host Management Migrate Custom Attributes to Tags Tags replace the custom attributes functionality found in previous versions of vSphere. If you have existing custom attributes, you can migrate them to tags. During the migration, the custom attribute names are converted to categories. Custom attribute values are converted to tag names. Procedure 1 In the vSphere Web Client object navigator, browse to any object that has custom attributes. 2 Click the object's Summary tab.
vCenter Server and Host Management 8 9 (Optional) Select a tag to edit its attributes. Option Description Name The tag name must be unique across all linked vCenter Server systems. Description You can provide text in the description to describe the purpose or use of the tag. Click Finish. The selected custom attributes are converted to categories and tags. Create, Edit, or Delete a Tag Category You use categories to group tags together and define how tags can be applied to objects.
vCenter Server and Host Management 4 Edit the category options. Option Description Category Name The category name must be unique to the currently selected vCenter Server system. Description You can provide text in the description to describe the purpose or use of the category. Tags Per Object n If you select One Tag, you can apply only one tag from this category to an object. Use this option for categories whose tags are mutually exclusive.
vCenter Server and Host Management 3 Perform the task. Option Description Create a tag a Click the New Tag icon. b Specify the Name and an optional Description. c In the Category drop-down menu, select an existing category or create a category. If you select [New Category], the dialog box expands to show the options for creating a category. See Create, Edit, or Delete a Tag Category. 4 Edit a tag Select a category and click the Edit Category icon.
vCenter Server and Host Management Add Permissions for Tags and Tag Categories You can manage the user privileges for working with tags and categories. The procedure for assigning permission to tags is the same as the procedure for tag categories. You can set permissions on common tag operations to manage the operations over the inventory objects. You must have vSphere administrator credentials to set and manage permissions for tags.
vCenter Server and Host Management n Avoid simultaneously creating categories and tags from different management nodes before categories and tags across nodes can finish the replication process. If duplicate categories or tags are created from different nodes at the same time, the duplicates might not be detected and will appear. If you see these results, manually delete duplicates from one management node.
vCenter Server and Host Management 2 Click Custom Attributes. All currently defined custom attributes for vCenter Server are displayed. 3 Click Add. 4 Enter the values for the custom attribute. a Type the name of the attributes in the Attribute text box. b Select the attribute type from the Type drop-down menu. c Click OK. After you have defined an attribute on an object, it is available to all objects of that type in the inventory.
License Management and Reporting 10 vSphere provides a centralized license management and reporting system that you can use to manage licenses for ESXi hosts, vCenter Server systems, vSAN 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 Viewing Licensing Information You can view the licensing state of the vSphere environment from a central place by using the license management functionality in the vSphere Client or the vSphere Web Client. You can view the licenses that are available in vSphere, current license assignments and usage, available license capacity, licensed features in use, and so on.
vCenter Server and Host Management Solution A product that is packed and distributed independently from vSphere. You install a solution in vSphere to take advantage of certain functionality. Every solution has a licensing model specific for the solution, but uses the License Service for license management and reporting. Examples of solutions are VMware Site Recovery Manager, vRealize Operations Manager, vCloud Network and Security, and so on. Asset Any object in vSphere that requires licensing.
vCenter Server and Host Management For example, suppose that your environment consists of two Platform Services Controllers that are connected to four vCenter Server systems each, and every vCenter Server system has 10 hosts connected to it. The License Service stores information about the license assignments and uses for all eight vCenter Server systems, and the 80 hosts that are connected to those systems.
vCenter Server and Host Management n The license must support all the features that the host uses. For example, if the host is associated with a vSphere Distributed Switch, the license that you assign must support the vSphere Distributed Switch feature. If you attempt to assign a license that has insufficient capacity or does not support the features that the host uses, the license assignment fails. You can assign and reassign the CPU capacity of a vSphere license to any combination of ESXi hosts.
vCenter Server and Host Management vSphere Desktop vSphere Desktop is intended for VDI environments such as Horizon View. The license usage for vSphere Desktop equals the total number of powered on desktop virtual machines running on the hosts that are assigned a vSphere Desktop license. Licensing for vCenter Server vCenter Server systems are licensed with vCenter Server licenses that have per-instance capacity.
vCenter Server and Host Management The license use of the vSAN is recalculated and updated in one of the following cases: n If you assign a new license to the vSAN cluster n If you add a new host to the vSAN cluster n If a host is removed from the cluster n If the total number of CPUs in a cluster changes You must maintain the vSAN clusters in compliance with the vSAN licensing model.
vCenter Server and Host Management 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, such assets include 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 Procedure 1 Click Menu > Administration. 2 Expand Licensing and click Licenses. 3 On the Licenses tab, click Add New Licenses. 4 On the Enter licenses keys page, enter one license key per line, and click Next. The license key is a 25-symbol string of letters and digits in the format XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX. You can enter a list of keys in one operation. A new license will be created for every license key that you enter.
vCenter Server and Host Management 4 On the Assets tab, click the vCenter Server systems, Hosts, Clusters, or Solutions tab. 5 Select the assets to license. Note In the vSphere Client, use Shift+click to select multiple assets. 6 Click Assign License. 7 In the Assign License dialog box, select a licensing method. n In the vSphere Client, select an existing license and click OK. n In the vSphere Web Client, select an existing license or select a newly created license.
vCenter Server and Host Management 5 In the Assign License dialog box, select a licensing method. n In the vSphere Client, select an existing license and click OK. n In the vSphere Web Client, select an existing license or select a newly created license. Task Steps Select an existing license Select an existing license from the list and click OK. Select a newly created license a Click the Create New License ( ) icon.
vCenter Server and Host Management 5 In the Assign License dialog box, select a licensing method. n In the vSphere Client, select an existing license and click OK. n In the vSphere Web Client, select an existing license or select a newly created license. Task Steps Select an existing license Select an existing license from the list and click OK. Select a newly created license a Click the Create New License ( ) icon.
vCenter Server and Host Management 2 Click the Configure tab. Option Description vSphere Client a Right-click your vSAN cluster, and choose menu Assign License. b Select a licensing option. vSphere Web Client n Select an existing license and click OK. n Create a vSAN license. a TO BE ADDED b TO BE ADDED c TO BE ADDED d TO BE ADDED e TO BE ADDED a Under Configuration, select Licensing, and click Assign License. b Select a licensing option. n Select an existing license and click OK.
vCenter Server and Host Management 6 Click the Assign License icon. 7 Select Evaluation License and click OK to save your changes. The asset is in evaluation mode. You can explore the entire set of features that are available for the asset. Note You must assign an appropriate license to the asset before its evaluation period expires. Otherwise the asset will get into unlicensed state and certain functionality will be blocked. Rename a License After you create a license, you can change its name.
vCenter Server and Host Management 4 Use the filters to display only the unassigned licenses. Client Options vSphere Client n Click the filter icon ( ) in the State column. A text box appears. n vSphere Web Client Type what licenses you want to display (unassigned or assigned). From the Show drop-down menu, select Unassigned to display only the unassigned licenses. 5 Select a license to remove or press Ctrl+A to select all licenses.
vCenter Server and Host Management What to do next To comply with the EULA of vSphere and the products that you use with vSphere, you should not keep unassigned licenses in the inventory. n If any unassigned licenses exist, assign these licenses to assets. 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.
vCenter Server and Host Management 2 Expand Licensing and click Licenses. 3 Select the Assets tab. 4 Select the vCenter Server systems, Hosts, Clusters or the Solutions option. 5 Select an asset and view the associated features. n In the vSphere Client, click the Features subtab below the list of assets. n In the vSphere Web Client, click the View Licensed Features toolbar icon View the License Key of the License In vSphere, a license holds a license key for a product.
vCenter Server and Host Management The list of features that you can configure on the asset appears on the right. Generating Reports for License Use in the vSphere Web Client You can track the license use of your vSphere environment by generating reports for the license use of assets for a certain time period. Assets are hosts, vCenter Server systems, vSAN clusters, and solutions.
vCenter Server and Host Management View License Usage Details for a Single Product in the vSphere Web Client You can view details about the license usage and capacity of a certain product. You can filter the license usage data by time period. Prerequisites n To view and generate license use reports for the products in vSphere, you must have the Global.Licenses privilege on the vCenter Server system, where the vSphere Web Client runs.
vCenter Server and Host Management 3 Select a preconfigured or a custom time period for the license usage report from the Time period drop-down menu. 4 Click Generate CSV report. The operation takes a few seconds. 5 Click Save and specify a location where to save the file. 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.
vCenter Server and Host Management Procedure 1 Generate a CSV File in My VMware To update your vCenter license inventory with the license keys details in your My VMware environment, generate a Products, Licenses, Details, and History .CSV file in your My VMware reports section. Upload the .CSV file to vSphere.
vCenter Server and Host Management 3 Follow the prompts in the Synchronize Licenses wizard or the Import License Keys Data wizard. Client Steps vSphere Client a On the Licenses tab, click Synchronize Licenses. The Synchronize Licenses wizard opens. b On the Upload import file page, click select a file and browse to the .CSV file that you want to upload in your vSphere environment. Click Next. After you upload the .
vCenter Server and Host Management Client Steps n e To change the license key name, click the license's name in the list and enter a new name for the license key. (Optional) To remove license keys in your vCenter license inventory that have been combined, split, upgraded, or downgraded in My VMware, download the Combined_Split_Upgraded_and_Downgraded_License_Keys.csv report.
vCenter Server and Host Management Client Steps f n To view license key details, such as account name and number, order number, important dates, and support level, click a license key in the list. n To change the license key name, click the license's name in the list and enter a new name for the license key.
vCenter Server and Host Management 9 To download the .CSV file that you must import to vSphere, click the CSV icon next to your report. Do not change the formatting of the original .CSV file report. For information how to preview the .CSV file report and view the data without damaging the .CSV file, see Using CSV files.
vCenter Server and Host Management n Add to your vCenter license inventory new license keys from My VMware, along with their details. You must perform this operation manually. To select license keys to add to your vCenter license inventory, follow the prompts in Synchronize Licenses wizard. See Synchronize Licenses. Note Some of the license keys that you add might be replacement keys for inactive keys that are currently in your vCenter license inventory.
vCenter Server and Host Management Using Generated Recommendation Reports After you import the .CSV file that you generate in the My VMware reports section to your vCenter license inventory, the system analyzes the license keys details in that .CSV file and compares the information with the information in your current vSphere environment. Based on the results from the .
vCenter Server and Host Management 4 View the inactive key in the .CSV file, select that same key in the Licenses tab in the vSphere Web Client, click the Remove Licenses icon, and click Yes. You can only remove a license if it is not assigned. The inactive license key is no longer in your vCenter license inventory and the inventory now only contains up-to-date keys from My VMware.
vCenter Server and Host Management vCenter Server Domain Repoint License Considerations Domain repointing copies license keys to a new domain. Copying the license keys ensures that valid licensing of all assets is maintained after repointing. vCenter Server tracks license usage on a per domain basis. If a key is used in more than one domain, you must ensure that the aggregate use of the key does not exceed its capacity.
Working with Tasks 11 vSphere tasks are activities and actions that occur on an object within the vSphere inventory. This chapter includes the following topics: n View Tasks n Schedule Tasks View Tasks Tasks represent system activities that do not complete immediately, such as migrating a virtual machine. For example, powering off a virtual machine is a task. You can perform this task manually every evening, or you can set up a scheduled task to power off the virtual machine every evening .
vCenter Server and Host Management Table 11‑1. 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.
vCenter Server and Host Management Prerequisites Required privilege: Schedule Task.Create tasks Procedure 1 In the vSphere Web Client, navigate to the object for which you want to schedule a task. 2 Select Monitor, and select Tasks & Events. 3 Select Scheduled Tasks from the list on the left. 4 From the Schedule New Task drop-down menu, select the task to schedule. A wizard opens for the task with (scheduled) appended next to its name.
vCenter Server and Host Management 5 In the Scheduling options page, configure the required settings for the task. a Type a name and a description for the task. b To configure the scheduling settings for the task, click Change next to Configured Scheduler. Table 11‑2. Scheduler options Option Description Run this action now Runs the scheduled task immediately. Run this action after startup Runs the task after a certain number of minutes.
vCenter Server and Host Management 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. 2 Select Monitor, and select Tasks & Events. 3 Select Scheduled Tasks from the list on the left. 4 Right-click the task and select Edit. 5 Change the task attributes as necessary. 6 Click OK.
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.
vCenter Server and Host Management 3 In the confirmation dialog that appears, clickYes. The confirmation dialog also asks if you want to automatically evacuate virtual machines that are not powered on from the host. This is useful if you want those virtual machines to remain registered to a host within the cluster. The host icon changes and the term “maintenance mode” is added to the name in parentheses. 4 Select the host icon in the inventory panel, and drag it to the new location.
vCenter Server and Host Management 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. n If you select Shut Down, the ESXi host shuts down. You must manually power the system back on. Provide a reason for the shut down. This information is added to the log. VMware, Inc.
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.
vCenter Server and Host Management This chapter includes the following topics: n Cold Migration n Migration with vMotion n Migration with Storage vMotion n CPU Compatibility and EVC n Migrate a Powered-Off or Suspended Virtual Machine in the vSphere Web Client n Migrate a Virtual Machine to a New Compute Resource n Migrate a Virtual Machine to a New Compute Resource and Storage in the vSphere Web Client n Migrate a Virtual Machine to New Storage in the vSphere Web Client n Place vMotion Tr
vCenter Server and Host Management Operations During Cold Migration A cold migration consists of the following operations: 1 If you select the option to move to a different datastore, the configuration files, including the NVRAM file (BIOS settings), log files, and the suspend file, are moved from the source host to the destination host’s associated storage area. You can choose to move the virtual machine's disks as well. 2 The virtual machine is registered with the new host.
vCenter Server and Host Management When you choose to change both the host and the datastore, the virtual machine state is moved to a new host and the virtual disk is moved to another datastore. vMotion migration to another host and datastore is possible in vSphere environments without shared storage. After the virtual machine state is migrated to the alternate host, the virtual machine runs on the new host. Migrations with vMotion are transparent to the running virtual machine.
vCenter Server and Host Management vMotion Across Long Distances You can perform reliable migrations between hosts and sites that are separated by high network roundtrip latency times. vMotion across long distances is enabled when the appropriate license is installed. No user configuration is necessary. For long-distance migration, verify the network latency between the hosts and your license. n The round-trip time between the hosts must be up to 150 milliseconds.
vCenter Server and Host Management Round-Trip Time for Long-Distance vMotion Migration If you have the proper license applied to your environment, you can perform reliable migrations between hosts that are separated by high network round-trip latency times. The maximum supported network round-trip time for vMotion migrations is 150 milliseconds. This round-trip time lets you migrate virtual machines to another geographical location at a longer distance.
vCenter Server and Host Management 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 What is Encrypted For encrypted disks, the data is transmitted encrypted. For disks that are not encrypted, Storage vMotion encryption is not supported. For virtual machines that are encrypted, migration with vSphere vMotion always uses encrypted vSphere vMotion. You cannot turn off encrypted vSphere vMotion for encrypted virtual machines.
vCenter Server and Host Management 3 Click Encryption, and select an option from the Encrypted VMotion drop-down menu. Disabled Do not use encrypted vMotion. Opportunistic Use encrypted vMotion if source and destination hosts support it. Only ESXi hosts of version 6.5 and later use encrypted vMotion. Required Allow only encrypted vMotion. If the source or destination host does not support encrypted vMotion, migration with vMotion fails.
vCenter Server and Host Management The location of the virtual machine swap file affects vMotion compatibility as follows: n For migrations between hosts running ESXi 6.0 and later, vMotion and migrations of suspended and powered-off virtual machines are allowed. n During a migration with vMotion, if the swap file location on the destination host differs from the swap file location on the source host, the swap file is copied to the new location.
vCenter Server and Host Management n The virtual machines must be properly configured for vMotion. See Virtual Machine Conditions and Limitations for vMotion n Virtual machine disks must be in persistent mode or be raw device mappings (RDMs). See Storage vMotion Requirements and Limitations. n The destination host must have access to the destination storage. n When you move a virtual machine with RDMs and do not convert those RDMs to VMDKs, the destination host must have access to the RDM LUNs.
vCenter Server and Host Management The following list sums the requirements that your system must meet so that you can use migration across vCenter Server instances: 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.
vCenter Server and Host Management MAC Address Management During Migration Between vCenter Server Systems When you move a virtual machine between vCenter Server instances, the environment specifically handles MAC address migration to avoid address duplication and loss of data in the network. In an environment with multiple vCenter Server instances, when a virtual machine is migrated, its MAC addresses are transferred to the target vCenter Server.
vCenter Server and Host Management Storage vMotion is subject to the following requirements and limitations: n Virtual machine disks must be in persistent mode or be raw device mappings (RDMs). For virtual compatibility mode RDMs, you can migrate the mapping file or convert to thick-provisioned or thinprovisioned disks during migration if the destination is not an NFS datastore. If you convert the mapping file, a new virtual disk is created and the contents of the mapped LUN are copied to this disk.
vCenter Server and Host Management n ESX/ESXi version running on the host n The virtual machine's compatibility setting n The virtual machine's guest operating system To improve CPU compatibility between hosts of varying CPU feature sets, some host CPU features can be hidden from the virtual machine by placing the host in an Enhanced vMotion Compatibility (EVC) cluster.
vCenter Server and Host Management n The destination host supports the virtual machine’s feature set, plus additional kernel-level features (such as NX or XD) not found in the virtual machine’s feature set. CPU compatibility requirements are met, and migration with vMotion proceeds. The virtual machine retains its CPU feature set while it remains powered on, allowing it to migrate freely back to the original host.
vCenter Server and Host Management EVC cannot prevent virtual machines from accessing hidden CPU features in all circumstances. Applications that do not follow CPU vendor recommended methods of feature detection might behave unexpectedly in an EVC environment. VMware EVC cannot be supported with ill-behaved applications that do not follow the CPU vendor recommendations.
vCenter Server and Host Management Prerequisites Verify that the hosts you intend to add to the cluster meet the requirements listed in EVC Requirements for Hosts. 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.
vCenter Server and Host Management Change the EVC Mode for a Cluster Configure EVC to ensure that virtual machine migrations between hosts in the cluster do not fail because of CPU feature incompatibilities. Several EVC approaches are available to ensure CPU compatibility: n If all the hosts in a cluster are compatible with a newer EVC mode, you can change the EVC mode of an existing EVC cluster. n You can enable EVC for a cluster that does not have EVC enabled.
vCenter Server and Host Management 5 From the VMware EVC Mode drop-down menu, select the baseline CPU feature set that you want to enable for the cluster. If you cannot select the EVC Mode, the Compatibility pane displays the reason, and the relevant hosts for each reason. 6 Click OK. Determine the EVC Mode of a Virtual Machine The EVC mode of a virtual machine determines the CPU features that a host must have in order for the virtual machine to power on and migrate.
vCenter Server and Host Management 3 If the EVC Mode column does not appear, click the arrow in any column title, select Show/Hide Columns, and select the EVC Mode check box. The EVC Mode column shows the EVC modes of all virtual machines in the cluster or on the host. Important The EVC Mode column displays the EVC mode defined at the virtual machine level. However, if you do not configure per-VM EVC for a virtual machine, the virtual machine inherits the EVC mode of its parent cluster or host.
vCenter Server and Host Management The vCenter Server AMD Opteron Gen. 3 (no 3DNow!) EVC mode masks the 3DNow! instructions from virtual machines. You can apply this EVC mode to EVC clusters containing only AMD Opteron Generation 3 hosts. Applying this mode allows the clusters to maintain vMotion compatibility with AMD Opteron hosts that do not have 3DNow! instructions.
vCenter Server and Host Management When a choice between CPU compatibility or guest operating system features (such as NX/XD) exists, VMware provides check-box options to configure individual virtual machines. You can access the configuration options through the Advanced Settings option for the CPU of the virtual machine. For more control over the visibility of CPU features, you can edit the CPU compatibility mask of the virtual machine at the bit level.
vCenter Server and Host Management Procedure 1 Power off or suspend the virtual machine. 2 Right-click the virtual machine and select Migrate. 3 4 a To locate a virtual machine, select a data center, folder, cluster, resource pool, host, or vApp. b Click the Virtual Machines tab. Select the migration type and click Next. Option Description Change compute resource only Move the virtual machine to another host.
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. Instead, it is zeroed out on demand on first write from the virtual machine.
vCenter Server and Host Management 8 Select a destination network for all VM network adapters connected to a valid source network and click Next. You can click Advanced to select a new destination network for each VM network adapter connected to a valid source network. You can migrate a virtual machine network to another distributed switch in the same or to another data center or vCenter Server. 9 On the Ready to complete page, review the details and click Finish.
vCenter Server and Host Management Possible targets include hosts and fully automated DRS clusters in the same or another vCenter Server system. If your target is a non-automated cluster, select a host within the nonautomated cluster. Important If the virtual machine that you migrate has an NVDIMM device and virtual PMem hard disks, the destination host or cluster must have available PMem resources. Otherwise, the compatibility check fails and you cannot proceed further with the migration.
vCenter Server and Host Management Migrate a Virtual Machine to a New Compute Resource and Storage in the vSphere Web Client You can move a virtual machine to another compute resource and move its disks or virtual machine folder to another datastore. With vMotion, you can migrate a virtual machine and its disks and files while the virtual machine is powered on.
vCenter Server and Host Management If your environment has more than one vCenter Server instances, you can move virtual machines from one vCenter Server inventory to another. Important If the virtual machine that you migrate has an NVDIMM device and uses PMem storage, the destination host or cluster must have available PMem resources. Otherwise, the compatibility check fails and you cannot proceed further with the migration.
vCenter Server and Host Management 6 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 Select a Storage DRS cluster. b (Optional) To disable Storage DRS with this virtual machine, select Disable Storage DRS for this virtual machine and select a datastore within the Storage DRS cluster.
vCenter Server and Host Management Migrate a Virtual Machine to New Storage in the vSphere Web Client Use migration with Storage vMotion to relocate the configuration file of a virtual machine and virtual disks while the virtual machine is powered on. You can change the virtual machine host during a migration with Storage vMotion. Prerequisites n Verify that your system satisfies the requirements for Storage vMotion. See Storage vMotion Requirements and Limitations. n Required privilege: Resource.
vCenter Server and Host Management 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 Select a Storage DRS cluster. b (Optional) To disable Storage DRS with this virtual machine, select Disable Storage DRS for this virtual machine and select a datastore within the Storage DRS cluster.
vCenter Server and Host Management n Avoid routing table conflicts that might otherwise appear when many features are using a common TCP/IP stack. n Isolate traffic to improve security. Prerequisites Verify that the host is running ESXi 6.0 or later Procedure 1 In the vSphere Web Client, navigate to the host. 2 Click the Configure tab. 3 Select Networking, and click VMkernel adapters. 4 Click Add host networking.
vCenter Server and Host Management 10 (Optional) On the IPv6 settings page, select an option for obtaining IPv6 addresses. Option Description Obtain IPv6 addresses automatically through DHCP Use DHCP to obtain IPv6 addresses. A DHCPv6 server must be present on the network. Obtain IPv6 addresses automatically through Router Advertisement Use router advertisement to obtain IPv6 addresses. Static IPv6 addresses In ESXi 6.
vCenter Server and Host Management n Isolate traffic to improve security. Prerequisites Verify that the host is running ESXi 6.0 or later Procedure 1 In the vSphere Web Client, navigate to the host. 2 Click the Configure tab. 3 Select Networking, and click VMkernel adapters. 4 Click Add host networking. 5 On the Select connection type page, select VMkernel Network Adapter and click Next. 6 On the Select target device page, select the switch for the VMkernel adapter, and click Next.
vCenter Server and Host Management 10 (Optional) On the IPv6 settings page, select an option for obtaining IPv6 addresses. Option Description Obtain IPv6 addresses automatically through DHCP Use DHCP to obtain IPv6 addresses. A DHCPv6 server must be present on the network. Obtain IPv6 addresses automatically through Router Advertisement Use router advertisement to obtain IPv6 addresses. Static IPv6 addresses In ESXi 6.
vCenter Server and Host Management 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 Compatibility Check Results If the virtual machine is compatible, the panel displays the message Compatibility checks succeeded. If the virtual machine is not compatible with either the host’s or cluster’s configured networks or datastores, the compatibility window might display both warnings and errors: n Warning messages do not disable migration. Often the migration is justified and you can continue with the migration despite the warnings.
Automating Management Tasks Using vRealize Orchestrator 14 VMware™ vRealize Orchestrator is a platform that provides a library of extensible workflows. By using the workflow library, you can automate and configure processes to manage the vSphere infrastructure, other VMware technologies, and third-party technologies. Orchestrator exposes every operation in the vCenter Server API so that you can integrate all these operations into your own automated processes.
vCenter Server and Host Management With the vSphere Web Client, you can run and schedule workflows on selected objects from the 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.
vCenter Server and Host Management n Editing associations of workflows with vSphere inventory objects such as virtual machines, ESXi hosts, clusters, resource pools, folders, and others. n Viewing information about workflow runs and about workflows waiting for user intervention. n Running and scheduling workflows on vSphere objects. To run workflows on specific vSphere inventory objects, you must select a default Orchestrator server.
vCenter Server and Host Management Managing Associations of Workflows with vSphere Inventory Objects You can associate workflows with the different vSphere object types to see more workflows displayed in the context menu when you right-click a vSphere inventory object. You can also run these workflows on more object types. You can add and edit associations, and export and import XML files containing the associations of workflows with vSphere objects.
vCenter Server and Host Management 7 (Optional) Enable multi-selection. With multi-selection enabled, you can select multiple vSphere objects of the same type when you run the workflow. 8 Under Available types, select the vSphere object types with which you want to associate the workflow. 9 Click OK.
vCenter Server and Host Management Prerequisites n Verify that you have configured at least one Orchestrator server to work with the same Single SignOn instance to which both the vCenter Server and vSphere Web Client are pointing. You must also ensure that Orchestrator is registered as a vCenter Serverextension. You register Orchestrator as a vCenter Server extension when you specify a user account that has the necessary privileges to manage vCenter Server extensions.
vCenter Server and Host Management Orchestrator compares the two associated workflow sets and imports the missing workflow associations. Working with Workflows You can view information about Orchestrator workflows, run, and schedule workflows by using the vSphere Web Client. You can perform some scheduling and running tasks on the Orchestrator workflows from the vRealize Orchestrator view in the vSphere Web Client.
vCenter Server and Host Management 4 Click the workflow that you want to run. Note If you cannot find the expected workflows, you might need to associate them to the specified vSphere inventory object. 5 Click the Start/Schedule menu option. 6 (Optional) Select Run now to start the workflow run immediately. 7 Provide the required workflow parameters. 8 (Optional) Select Schedule to configure the workflow to run at a specified time.
vCenter Server and Host Management View Information About the Runs of a Specific Workflow You can view information about the runs of a single workflow such as start and end date, state of the workflow, and user who has started the workflow. Prerequisites n Verify that you have configured at least one Orchestrator server to work with the same Single SignOn instance to which both the vCenter Server and vSphere Web Client are pointing.
vCenter Server and Host Management What to do next You can provide values for the required parameters of workflows that are waiting for a user interaction. Searching for Workflows You can browse for workflows in the inventory of the Orchestrator server or filter the available workflows by a search keyword to find a particular workflow. Browse the Inventory of the Orchestrator Server You can view the available workflows in the inventory of each connected Orchestrator server.
vCenter Server and Host Management 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. You register Orchestrator as a vCenter Server extension when you specify a user account that has the necessary privileges to manage vCenter Serverextensions.
vCenter Server and Host Management 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. You must also ensure that Orchestrator is registered as a vCenter Server extension.
vCenter Server and Host Management Procedure 1 In the object navigator, click vRealize Orchestrator. 2 Click Scheduled workflows. A list of the scheduled workflows appears. 3 Click Scheduled workflows. 4 Right-click the workflow that you want to run and select Run now. 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.
vCenter Server and Host Management 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. You register Orchestrator as a vCenter Server extension when you specify a user account that has the necessary privileges to manage vCenter Serverextensions.
vCenter Server and Host Management Create cluster Creates a cluster in a host folder. Delete cluster Deletes a cluster. Disable DRS on cluster Disables DRS on a cluster. Disable HA on cluster Disables high availability on a cluster. Disable vCloud Distributed Storage on cluster Disables vCloud Distributed Storage on a cluster. Enable DRS on cluster Enables DRS on a cluster. Enable HA on cluster Enables high availability on a cluster.
vCenter Server and Host Management Delete directory in guest Deletes a directory from a guest virtual machine. Delete file in guest Deletes a file from a guest virtual machine. List path in guest Shows a path in a guest virtual machine. Move directory in guest Moves a directory in a guest virtual machine. Move file in guest Moves a file in a guest virtual machine.
vCenter Server and Host Management Rename datacenter Renames a data center and waits for the task to complete. Rescan datacenter HBAs Scans the hosts in a data center and initiates a rescan on the host bus adapters to discover new storage. Datastore and Files Workflows With the datastore and files workflows, you can delete a list of files, find unused files in a datastore, and others. Delete all files Deletes a list of files.
vCenter Server and Host Management Host Folder Management Workflows With the host folder management workflows, you can create, delete, or rename a host folder. Create host folder Creates a host folder. Delete host folder Deletes a host folder and waits for the task to complete. Rename host folder Renames a host folder and waits for the task to complete.
vCenter Server and Host Management Host Power Management Workflows With the host power management workflows, you can reboot or shut down a host. Reboot host Reboots a host. If the Orchestrator client is connected directly to the host, it loses the connection to the host and does not receive an indication of success in the returned task. Shut down host Shuts down a host.
vCenter Server and Host Management Distributed Virtual Port Group Workflows With the 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 Standard Virtual Switch Workflows With the standard virtual switch workflows, you can create, update, or delete a standard virtual switch, and create, delete, or update port groups in standard virtual switches. Add port group in standard virtual switch Adds a port group in a standard virtual switch. Create standard virtual switch Creates a standard virtual switch. Delete port group from standard virtual switch Deletes a port group from a standard virtual switch.
vCenter Server and Host Management Reconfigure resource pool Reconfigures CPU and memory allocation configuration for a given resource pool. Rename resource pool Renames a resource pool and waits for the task to complete. Storage Workflows With the storage workflows, you can perform storage-related operations. Add datastore on iSCSI/FC/local SCSI Creates a datastore on a Fibre Channel, iSCSI or local SCSI disk.
vCenter Server and Host Management Configure datastore cluster Configures datastore cluster setting values for automation and runtime rules. Create simple datastore cluster Creates a simple datastore cluster with default configuration. The new datastore cluster contains no datastores. Create Storage DRS scheduled task Creates a scheduled task for reconfiguring a datastore cluster. Only automation and runtime rules can be set.
vCenter Server and Host Management Get virtual machines by name Returns a list of virtual machines from all registered vCenter Server instances that match the provided expression. Mark as template Converts an existing virtual machine to a template, not allowing it to start. You can use templates to create virtual machines. Mark as virtual machine Converts an existing template to a virtual machine, allowing it to start.
vCenter Server and Host Management Clone Workflows With the clone workflows, you can clone virtual machines with or without customizing the virtual machine properties. Clone virtual machine from properties Clones virtual machines by using properties as input parameters. Clone virtual machine, no customization Clones a virtual machine without changing anything except the virtual machine UUID. Customize virtual machine from properties Customizes a virtual machine by using properties as input parameters.
vCenter Server and Host Management Linux Customization Clone Workflows With the 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.
vCenter Server and Host Management Windows Customization Clone Workflows With the Windows customization clone workflows, you can clone Windows virtual machines and customize the guest operating system. Customize a Windows machine with single NIC and credential Performs guest operating system customization, configures one virtual network card and a local administrator user account on a Windows virtual machine.
vCenter Server and Host Management Convert independent disks Converts all independent virtual machine disks to normal disks by removing the independent flag from the disks. Disconnect all detachable devices from a running virtual machine Disconnects floppy disks, CD-ROM drives, parallel ports, and serial ports from a running virtual machine. Mount CD-ROM Mounts the CD-ROM of a virtual machine. If the virtual machine has no IDE controller or CD-ROM drive, the workflow creates them.
vCenter Server and Host Management Extract virtual machine information Returns the virtual machine folder, host system, resource pool, compute resource, datastore, hard drive sizes, CPU and memory, network, and IP address for a given virtual machine. Might require VMware Tools. Find orphaned virtual machines Lists all virtual machines in an orphaned state in the Orchestrator inventory.
vCenter Server and Host Management Reset virtual machine and wait Resets a virtual machine and waits for the process to complete. Resume virtual machine and wait Resumes a suspended virtual machine and waits for the process to complete. Set guest OS to standby mode Sets the guest operating system to standby mode. VMware Tools must be running. Shut down and delete virtual machine Shuts down a virtual machine and deletes it from the inventory and disk.
vCenter Server and Host Management VMware Tools Workflows With the VMware Tools workflows, you can perform VMware Tools-related tasks on virtual machines. Mount VMware tools installer Mounts the VMware Tools installer on the virtual CD-ROM. Set console screen resolution Sets the console window's resolution. The virtual machine must be powered on. Turn on time synchronization Turns on time synchronization between the virtual machine and the ESX server in VMware Tools.
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 set up your existing headless systems to use ESXi. You can add ESXi appliances to a data center where virtual machines are managed with vSphere Virtual Center.
vCenter Server and Host Management port, the request is ignored. Dynamic switching eliminates the need to interrupt the boot process manually or to create a custom image to redirect to a serial port. It also addresses supportability issues regarding headless systems that only have one serial port, by making it possible to switch the serial port between different modes of operation. ESXi Serial Port Modes ESXi supports four serial port modes.
vCenter Server and Host Management DCUI mode: esxcfg-advcfg -s com1 /Misc/ConsolePort GDB mode: esxcfg-advcfg -s com1 /Misc/GDBPort Example: Example If the serial mode is set to logging mode, enter these two commands to switch it to DCUI mode. §. > esxcfg-advcfg –s none /Misc/LogPort §. > esxcfg-advcfg –s com1 /Misc/ConsolePort Controlling the Serial DCUI You can use alternate keystrokes to control the DCUI over a serial port. These alternate are useful when F2 or other function keys cannot be used.
Troubleshooting Overview 16 vSphere Troubleshooting contains common troubleshooting scenarios and provides solutions for each of these problems. You can also find guidance here for resolving problems that have similar origins. For unique problems, consider developing and adopting a troubleshooting methodology. The following approach for effective troubleshooting elaborates on how to gather troubleshooting information, such as identifying symptoms and defining the problem space.
vCenter Server and Host Management Guidelines for Troubleshooting To troubleshoot your implementation of vSphere, identify the symptoms of the problem, determine which of the components are affected, and test possible solutions. Identifying Symptoms A number of potential causes might lead to the under-performance or nonperformance of your implementation. The first step in efficient troubleshooting is to identify exactly what is going wrong.
vCenter Server and Host Management Recognizing the characteristics of the software and hardware elements and how they can impact the problem, you can explore general problems that might be causing the symptoms. n Misconfiguration of software settings n Failure of physical hardware n Incompatibility of components Break down the process and consider each piece and the likelihood of its involvement separately.
vCenter Server and Host Management Common Logs The following logs are common to all deployments on Windows or Linux. Table 16‑1.
vCenter Server and Host Management Table 16‑2. Management Node Log Directories (Continued) Log Directory Description vsphere-client VMware vSphere Web Client vcha VMware High Availability Service (Linux only) Platform Services Controller Logs You can examine the following logs if a Platform Services Controller node deployment is chosen. Table 16‑3.
vCenter Server and Host Management Microsoft SQL Database Set to Unsupported Compatibility Mode Causes vCenter Server Installation or Upgrade to Fail vCenter Server installation with a Microsoft SQL database fails when the database is set to compatibility mode with an unsupported version. Problem The following error message appears: The DB User entered does not have the required permissions needed to install and configure vCenter Server with the selected DB.
vCenter Server and Host Management Solution n Log in to the vSphere Web Client as a user with permissions on the vCenter Server system. The vCenter Server system will not appear in the inventory if you do not have permissions on it. For example, if you log in as the vCenter Single Sign On administrator user, you might not have permissions on any vCenter Server system. n Verify that the vCenter Server system is registered with the same Component Manager as the vSphere Web Client.
vCenter Server and Host Management Troubleshooting vCenter Server and ESXi Host Certificates Certificates are automatically generated when you install vCenter Server. These default certificates are not signed by a commercial certificate authority (CA) and might not provide strong security. You can replace default vCenter Server certificates with certificates signed by a commercial CA. When you replace vCenter Server and ESXi certificates, you might encounter errors.
vCenter Server and Host Management Cause When you add a host to vCenter Server, and vCenter Server already trusts the host's SSL certificate, VPX_HOST.EXPECTED_SSL_THUMBPRINT is not populated in the vCenter Server database. vSphere HA obtains the host's SSL thumbprint from this field in the database. Without the thumbprint, you cannot enable vSphere HA. Solution 1 In the vSphere Web Client, disconnect the host that has custom SSL certificates installed. 2 Reconnect the host to vCenter Server.
vCenter Server and Host Management Solution Determine if vCenter Server is reporting the host as not responding. If so, there is a networking problem, an ESXi host agent failure, or a total cluster failure. After the condition is resolved, vSphere HA should work correctly. If not, reconfigure vSphere HA on the host. Similarly, if vCenter Server reports the hosts are responding but a host's state is Agent Unreachable, reconfigure vSphere HA on that host.
vCenter Server and Host Management Cause This condition most often indicates that vCenter Server was unable to connect to the host while the vSphere HA agent was being installed or configured on the host. This condition might also indicate that the installation and configuration completed, but the agent did not become a master host or a slave host within a timeout period.
vCenter Server and Host Management vSphere HA Agent is in the Host Failed State The vSphere HA agent on a host is in the Host Failed state. User intervention is required to resolve the situation. Problem Usually, such reports indicate that a host has actually failed, but failure reports can sometimes be incorrect. A failed host reduces the available capacity in the cluster and, in the case of an incorrect report, prevents vSphere HA from protecting the virtual machines running on the host.
vCenter Server and Host Management Solution Resolve the networking problem that prevents the hosts from communicating by using the management networks. vSphere HA Agent is in the Network Isolated State The vSphere HA agent on a host is in the Network Isolated state. User intervention is required to resolve this situation. Problem When a host is in the Network Isolated state, there are two things to consider -- the isolated host and the vSphere HA agent that holds the master role.
vCenter Server and Host Management Problem When you enable vSphere HA on an existing cluster with a large number of hosts and virtual machines, the setup of vSphere HA on some of the hosts might fail. Cause This failure is the result of a time out occurring before the installation of vSphere HA on the host(s) completes. Solution Set the vCenter Server advanced option config.vpxd.das.electionWaitTimeSec to value=240. Once this change is made, the time outs do not occur.
vCenter Server and Host Management Cause After the host has been added to a vCenter Server system, the boot configuration is determined by the vCenter Server system. The vCenter Server system associates an image profile, host profile, or folder location with the host. Solution u Use the Test-DeployRuleSetCompliance and Repair-DeployRuleSetCompliance vSphere PowerCLI cmdlets to reevalute the rules and to associate the correct image profile, host profile, or folder location with the host.
vCenter Server and Host Management Cause Each VIB in an image profile has a stateless-ready flag that indicates that the VIB is meant for use with vSphere Auto Deploy. You get the error if you attempt to write a vSphere Auto Deploy rule that uses an image profile in which one or more VIBs have that flag set to FALSE. Note You can use hosts provisioned with vSphere Auto Deploy that include VIBs that are not stateless ready without problems.
vCenter Server and Host Management Problem A host to be provisioned with vSphere Auto Deploy boots from iPXE and displays iPXE information on the console. However, after five minutes, the host displays the following message to the console and reboots. This host is attempting to network-boot using VMware AutoDeploy. However, there is no ESXi image associated with this host. Details: No rules containing an Image Profile match this host.
vCenter Server and Host Management Cause The TFTP server might have stopped running, or a firewall might block the TFTP port. Solution n If you installed the WinAgents TFTP server, open the WinAgents TFTP management console and verify that the service is running. If the service is running, check the Windows firewall's inbound rules to make sure the TFTP port is not blocked. Turn off the firewall temporarily to see whether the firewall is the problem.
vCenter Server and Host Management 4 If the server is not accessible, a firewall problem is likely. a Try setting up permissive TCP Inbound rules for the vSphere Auto Deploy server port. The port is 6501 unless you specified a different port during installation. b As a last resort, disable the firewall temporarily and enable it again after you verified whether it blocked the traffic. Do not disable the firewall on production environments. To disable the firewall, run netsh firewall set opmode disable.
vCenter Server and Host Management 4 Set up rules to allow DHCP network traffic to the target hosts. See the firewall documentation for DHCP and for the Windows system on which the DHCP server is running for details. vSphere Auto Deploy Host Does Not Network Boot The host you provision with vSphere Auto Deploy comes up but does not network boot. Problem When you attempt to boot a host provisioned with vSphere Auto Deploy, the host does not start the network boot process.
vCenter Server and Host Management 4 Go to the vSphere Auto Deploy data directory. Operating System File Location vCenter Server appliance /var/lib/rbd Microsoft Windows %VMWARE_DATA_DIR%\autodeploy\Data The directory contains a file named db, and backup files named db-yyy-mm-dd. 5 Rename the current db file. VMware Support might ask for that file if you call for assistance. 6 Rename the most recent backup to db. 7 Restart the vSphere Auto Deploy server service.
vCenter Server and Host Management Active Directory Rule Set Error Causes Host Profile Compliance Failure Applying a host profile that specifies an Active Directory domain to join causes a compliance failure. Problem When you apply a host profile that specifies an Active Directory domain to join, but you do not enable the activeDirectoryAll rule set in the firewall configuration, a compliance failure occurs.
vCenter Server and Host Management Cause If vCenter Server is using a custom port for the reverse proxy, the custom port is not automatically enabled in the ESXi firewall and the VIB downloads fail. Solution 1 Open an SSH connection to the host and log in as root. 2 (Optional) List the existing firewall rules. esxcli network firewall ruleset list 3 (Optional) Back up the /etc/vmware/firewall/service.xml file. cp /etc/vmware/firewall/service.xml /etc/vmware/firewall/service.xml.
vCenter Server and Host Management 9 (Optional) List the updated rule set to confirm the change. esxcli network firewall ruleset list 10 (Optional) If you want the firewall configuration to persist after a reboot of the ESXi host, copy the service.xml onto persistent storage and modify the local.sh file. a Copy the modified service.xml file onto persistent storage, for example /store/, or onto a VMFS volume, for example /vmfs/volumes/volume/. cp /etc/vmware/firewall/service.
vCenter Server and Host Management n The features on the host do not match the license edition. For example, you might configure hosts with vSphere Distributed Switch and vSphere DRS while in evaluation mode. Later, you try to assign vSphere Standard license to the hosts. This operation fails because the vSphere Standard edition does not include vSphere Distributed Switch and vSphere DRS.
vCenter Server and Host Management Cause You might be unable to power on a virtual machine because of the following reasons. n The 60-day evaluation period of the host is expired. n The license of the host is expired. Solution Table 16‑4.
