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vCenter Server Appliance 5.1 Configuration

I am writing this article as I got few queries, that while they deploy appliance for vCenter 5.1 there is some issue with SSO and then vCenter service is not coming up.

So in this case I can advice one thing, once your vCenter Appliance deployment completed then power on the same, before connecting to the Web Based interface to do initial configuration configure the hostname and ip address, DNS etc, to do that connect to console of vCenter Appliance VM and then login to the appliance. Once logon after that you need to run the script given at below mentioned path:-

/opt/vmware/share/vami/vami_config_net

this will give you the choice to do hostname, ip addess, dns, gateway etc config options.
once you confirm that all the configuration is correct. Then you can restart the appliance.

Once appliance is back, now you can
https://IPorName:5480
and then logon to appliance with user root and password as you configure and then do the initial setup to make the vCenter Service up and running.

Masking a LUN from ESX and ESXi using the MASK_PATH plug-in

Caution: This procedure only applies to LUNs that are being managed by the VMwre NMP multipathing service. If you are using 3rd party multipathing plugin such as Powerpath/VE then LUNs must be excluded from the 3rd party multipathing software and put under NMP control before they can be masked again properly.

To mask a LUN from ESX/ESXi 4.x and ESXi 5.0 using the MASK_PATH plug-in:

Note: Any differences in the commands between ESX/ESX 4.x and ESXi 5.0 will be noted with the version of ESX/ESXi before the command.

1. Log into a console or SSH session on your host. For more information, see Using Tech Support Mode in ESXi 4.1 and ESXi 5.0 (1017910).
2. Look at the Multipath plug-ins currently installed on your ESX with the command:
   
   # esxcfg-mpath -G
   
   The output indicates that there are, at a minimum, 2 plug-ins: The VMware Native Multipath plug-in (NMP) and the MASK_PATH plug-in (ESXi 5.0 will only show the NMP plugin by default), which is used for masking LUNs. There may be other plug-ins if third-party software (such as EMC PowerPath) is installed. For example:
   
   # esxcfg-mpath -G
   MASK_PATH
   NMP
   
3. List all the claimrules currently on the ESX with the command:
   
   ESXi 5.0: # esxcli storage core claimrule list
   
   ESX/ESXi 4.x: # esxcli corestorage claimrule list
   
   There are two MASK_PATH entries: one of class runtime and the other of class file.
   
   The runtime is the rules currently running in the PSA. The file is a reference to the rules defined in/etc/vmware/esx.conf. These are identical, but they could be different if you are in the process of modifying the/etc/vmware/esx.conf.
   
   Note: There is already a rule of vendor=DELL model=Universal Xport. This means that pseudo or management LUNs with these attributes are masked from the ESX.
   
   The output from the command is similar to:
   
   Rule Class Type Plugin Matches
   0 runtime transport NMP transport=usb
   1 runtime transport NMP transport=sata
   2 runtime transport NMP transport=ide
   3 runtime transport NMP transport=block
   4 runtime transport NMP transport=unknown
   101 runtime vendor MASK_PATH vendor=DELL model=Universal Xport
   101 file vendor MASK_PATH vendor=DELL model=Universal Xport
   65535 runtime vendor NMP vendor=* model=*
   
4. Add a rule to hide the LUN with the command:
   
   ESXi 5.0: # esxcli storage core claimrule add --rule <number> -t location -A <hba_adapter> -C <channel> -T <target> -L <lun> -P MASK_PATH
   
   ESX/ESXi 4.x: # esxcli corestorage claimrule add --rule <number> -t location -A <hba_adapter> -C <channel> -T <target> -L <lun> -P MASK_PATH
   
   The parameters -A <hba_adapter> -C <channel> -T <target> -L <lun> define a unique path. You can leave some of them unspecified if the LUN is uniquely defined. The value for parameter --rule can be any number between 101 and 200 that does not conflict with a pre-existing rule number from step 3.
   
   Note: For a detailed command description, see esxcli corestorage Command-Line Options and vSphere Command-Line Interface Installation and Scripting Guide.
   
   This is a brief example of usage:
   
   
   • Find the naa device of the datastore you want to unpresent with the command:
     
     # esxcfg-scsidevs -m
     naa.600508b1001037383941424344450300:3 /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.600508b1001037383941424344450300:3 4b44572e-8a1c74b2-42d4-00237dde59b8 0 datastore1
     naa.600601604550250018ea2d38073cdf11:1 /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.600601604550250018ea2d38073cdf11:1 4bb21500-dc941493-2904-00237dde59ba 0 DatastoreToMask
     
   • Check all of the paths that the naa device has:
     
     # esxcfg-mpath -b -d naa.600601604550250018ea2d38073cdf11
        vmhba33:C0:T3:L0 state:active Local HBA vmhba33 channel 0 target 3
        vmhba33:C0:T2:L0 state:standby Local HBA vmhba33 channel 0 target 2
        vmhba33:C0:T1:L0 state:active Local HBA vmhba33 channel 0 target 1
        vmhba33:C0:T0:L0 state:standby Local HBA vmhba33 channel 0 target 0
     
   • As you apply the rule -A vmhba33 -C 0 -L 0, verify that there is no other device with those parameters. You can use the wildcard vmhba33:C0.*L0 (. means any character and * means zero or more times).
     
     # esxcfg-mpath -L | egrep "vmhba33:C0.*L0"
     vmhba33:C0:T3:L0 state:active naa.600601604550250018ea2d38073cdf11 vmhba33 0 3 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:cs-tse-h42-17d4ba81 00023d000001,iqn.1992-04.com.emc:cx.ckm00092300229.b2,t,4
     vmhba33:C0:T2:L0 state:standby naa.600601604550250018ea2d38073cdf11 vmhba33 0 2 0 NMP standby san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:cs-tse-h42-17d4ba81 00023d000001,iqn.1992-04.com.emc:cx.ckm00092300229.a3,t,3
     vmhba33:C0:T1:L0 state:active naa.600601604550250018ea2d38073cdf11 vmhba33 0 1 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:cs-tse-h42-17d4ba81 00023d000001,iqn.1992-04.com.emc:cx.ckm00092300229.b3,t,2
     vmhba33:C0:T0:L0 state:standby naa.600601604550250018ea2d38073cdf11 vmhba33 0 0 0 NMP standby san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:cs-tse-h42-17d4ba81 00023d000001,iqn.1992-04.com.emc:cx.ckm00092300229.a2,t,1
     
   • Add a rule for this LUN with the command:
     
     ESXi 5.0: # esxcli storage core claimrule add --rule 192 -t location -A vmhba33 -C 0 -T 0 -L 0 -P MASK_PATH
     
     ESX/ESXi 4.x: # esxcli corestorage claimrule add --rule 192 -t location -A vmhba33 -C 0 -T 0 -L 0 -P MASK_PATH
     
     Notes:
     
     • For more information about the adapter, channel, target and LUN values, see Identifying disks when working with VMware ESX (1014953).
     • For more information about the command and its options, see Managing Claim Rules with esxcli corestorage claimrule in the vSphere Command-Line Interface Documentation.
       
5. Verify that the rule is in effect with the command:
   
   ESXi 5.0: # esxcli storage core claimrule list
   ESX/ESXi 4.x: # esxcli corestorage claimrule list
   
   The output indicates our new rule. It is only of class file. You must then load it into the PSA.
   
   For example:
   
   Rule Class Type Plugin Matches
   0 runtime transport NMP transport=usb
   1 runtime transport NMP transport=sata
   2 runtime transport NMP transport=ide
   3 runtime transport NMP transport=block
   4 runtime transport NMP transport=unknown
   101 runtime vendor MASK_PATH vendor=DELL model=Universal Xport
   101 file vendor MASK_PATH vendor=DELL model=Universal Xport
   192 file location MASK_PATH adapter=vmhba33 channel=0 target=* lun=0
   65535 runtime vendor NMP vendor=* model=*
   
6. Reload your claimrules with the command:
   
   ESXi 5.0: # esxcli storage core claimrule load
   ESX/ESXi 4.x: # esxcli corestorage claimrule load
   
7. Re-examine your claimrules and verify that you can see both the file and runtime class. Run the command:
   
   ESXi 5.0: # esxcli storage core claimrule list
   ESX/ESXi 4.x: # esxcli corestorage claimrule list
   
   For example:
   
   Rule Class Type Plugin Matches
   0 runtime transport NMP transport=usb
   1 runtime transport NMP transport=sata
   2 runtime transport NMP transport=ide
   3 runtime transport NMP transport=block
   4 runtime transport NMP transport=unknown
   101 runtime vendor MASK_PATH vendor=DELL model=Universal Xport
   101 file vendor MASK_PATH vendor=DELL model=Universal Xport
   192 runtime location MASK_PATH adapter=vmhba33 channel=0 target=* lun=0
   192 file location MASK_PATH adapter=vmhba33 channel=0 target=* lun=0
   65535 runtime vendor NMP vendor=* model=*
   
8. Unclaim all paths to a device and then run the loaded claimrules on each of the paths to reclaim them.
   
   Note: Unclaiming disassociates the paths from a PSA plugin. These paths are currently owned by NMP. You need to dissociate them from NMP and associate them to MASK_PATH.
   
   Run the command:
   
   ESXi 5.0: # esxcli storage core claiming reclaim -d naa.id
   ESX/ESXi 4.x: # esxcli corestorage claiming reclaim -d naa.id
   
   Where naa.id is the naa ID used in step 3. This device is the LUN being unpresented. This command attempts to unclaim all paths to a device and runs the loaded claimrules on each of the paths unclaimed to attempt to reclaim them.
   
   For example:
   
   ESXi 5.0: # esxcli storage core claiming reclaim -d naa.600601604550250018ea2d38073cdf11
   ESX/ESXi 4.x: # esxcli corestorage claiming reclaim -d naa.600601604550250018ea2d38073cdf11
   
9. Verify that the masked device is no longer used by the ESX host.
   
   If you are masking a datastore, perform one of these options:
   
   
   • Connect the vSphere Client to the host and click Host > Configuration > Storage, then click Refresh. The masked datastore does not appear in the list.
     
   • Rescan the host by navigating to Host > Configuration > Storage Adapters > Rescan All.
     
   • Run the command:
     
     # esxcfg-scsidevs -m
     
     The masked datastore does not appear in the list.
     
     To see all the masked LUNs use the command:
     
     # esxcfg-scsidevs -c
   
   To verify that a masked LUN is no longer an active device, run the command:
   
   # esxcfg-mpath -L | grep naa.id
   
   For example:
   
   # esxcfg-mpath -L | grep 600601604550250018ea2d38073cdf11
   
   Empty output indicates that the LUN is not active.

Note: You may still see a single path to the LUN on one or more storage adapters after following the steps in this article. This disappears after the ESX host is rebooted. As long as the datastore is no longer visible, no issues are being reported in the logs, and rescans are completing in a timely fashion, the residual path can be safely ignored.

Source:- http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1009449

vSphere 5.1 Release Notes !

vSphere 5.1 is there now:-

This is really great to a have quick look on vSphere 5.1 Release Notes, I took few product support notes from:-

http://www.vmware.com/support/vsphere5/doc/vsphere-esx-vcenter-server-51-release-notes.html

Product Support Notices

• vSphere Client. In vSphere 5.1, all new vSphere features are available only through the vSphere Web Client. The traditional vSphere Client will continue to operate, supporting the same feature set as vSphere 5.0, but not exposing any of the new features in vSphere 5.1.
  vSphere 5.1 and its subsequent update and patch releases are the last releases to include the traditional vSphere Client. Future major releases of VMware vSphere will include only the vSphere Web Client.
  For vSphere 5.1, bug fixes for the traditional vSphere Client are limited to security or critical issues. Critical bugs are deviations from specified product functionality that cause data corruption, data loss, system crash, or significant customer application down time where no workaround is available that can be implemented.
• VMware Toolbox. vSphere 5.1 is the last release to include support for the VMware Tools graphical user interface, VMware Toolbox. VMware will continue to update and support the Toolbox command-line interface (CLI) to perform all VMware Tools functions.
• VMI Paravirtualization. vSphere 4.1 was the last release to support the VMI guest operating system paravirtualization interface. For information about migrating virtual machines that are enabled for VMI so that they can run on later vSphere releases, see Knowledge Base article 1013842.
• Windows Guest Operating System Customization. vSphere 5.1 is the last release to support customization for Windows 2000 guest operating systems. VMware will continue to support customization for newer versions of Windows guests.
• VMCI Sockets. Guest-to-guest communications (virtual machine to virtual machine) are deprecated in the vSphere 5.1 release. This functionality will be removed in the next major release. VMware will continue support for host to guest communications.

Committing snapshots when there are no snapshot entries in the Snapshot Manager

See below KB 1002310 article from vmware for fixing this problem.

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1002310

Rename Virtual Machine After Creating VMware vSphere

Renaming virtual Machine inventory name is much easier, just right click and rename. But in the datastore all the folder and files related to that VM keep the old name, means if you have VM with inventory name “VM001” then in the datastore this will create the folder “VM001” and within that folder all the files also start with same name like see the diagram below

Then suppose you rename the VM in the inventory VM001à db-srv-del-01 after this you can see that in the inventory you have new name but in the datastore folder and files still keep the old name. See the screen shot below:-

 

So if you want to apply the new name to all the files and folder related to that VM, you need to shutdown the VM and then remove from inventory and then manually rename all the files and folder with new name and then add back to inventory. For details on that see below:-

       Shutdown the VM and then remove from inventory.
 

      After that connect to the console of esxi/esx server and then change directory to datastore where that VM is located. Like in my example that VM is located in datastore Private02 and the folder name is VM001. I just enabled SSH in my esxi server and then connect using the Putty to esxi host. So that I can reach those files, perform the steps as in the screenshot :-

After renaming the folder, you need to rename all the files also, so do the steps as in screenshot:-

Once all the related files are renamed with new name, after that you need to modify the vmx file to point to the new name of vmdk, so edit vmx file with any editor, I used in this case vi and then rename the .vmdk name to new name .vmdk and save the file and exit.

 

After this you also need to update the .vmdk fiel to point to new –flat.vmdk.   so you need to edit the vmname.vmdk file with vi editor (or any editor you feel comfortable), and modify the name of –flate.vmdk to new name –flat.vmdk after this save and exit.

 

Once all this done now your VM is ready with new name, now you can go back to vSphere client and browse your datastore and then locate the VM name folder and then locate .vmx file and add back to inventory. Once added to inventory you can power on the VM and now all files and folder related to that VM have new name.

vSphere 5.1

With a lot of improvement and new features vsphere 5.1 is there....

VMWARE VIRTUAL DISK FORMATS

VMWARE VIRTUAL DISK FORMATS

Three types of virtual disks are available to VMs in vSphere. You should become familiar with all of them, including their similarities, differences, weaknesses, and strengths.

THICK VIRTUAL DISK

The thick virtual disk is the traditional virtual disk format that most of us have deployed with most of our VMs. This format pre-allocates the capacity of the virtual disk from the datastore at the time it is created. This format does not format the VMDK at the time of deployment. This means that data that needs to be written must pause while the blocks required to store the data are zeroed out. The operation occurs on demand any time an area of the virtual disk that has never been written to is required to store data.

Figure 5) A thick VMDK as it relates to storage blocks on an array.

THIN VIRTUAL DISK

The thin virtual disk is very similar to the thick format, with the exception that it does not preallocate the capacity of the virtual disk from the datastore when it is created. When storage capacity is required, the VMDK allocates storage in chunks equal to the size of the file system block. For VMFS, this is from 1MB through 8MB (size selected at deployment), and for NFS it is 4KB. The process of allocating blocks on a shared VMFS datastore is considered a metadata operation and as such executes SCSI locks on the datastore while the allocation operation is executed. Although this process is very brief, it does suspend the write operations of the VMs on the datastore.

Figure 6) A thin VMDK as it relates to storage blocks on an array.

Similar to the thick format, thin VMDKs are not formatted at the time of deployment. Therefore, data that needs to be written must pause while the blocks required to store the data are zeroed out. The process of allocating blocks from within the datastore occurs on demand any time a write operation attempts to store data in a block range inside the VMDK that has not been written to by a previous operation.

To summarize the zeroing out and allocation differences between a thick and thin virtual disk, just remember that both suspend I/O when writing to new areas of disk that need to be zeroed. However, before this can occur with a thin virtual disk, it might also have to obtain additional capacity from the datastore.

EAGER-ZEROED THICK VIRTUAL DISK

The eager-zeroed thick virtual disk is similar to the thick format because it preallocates the capacity of the virtual disk from the datastore when it is created. However, unlike the thick and thin formats, an eager-zeroed thick virtual disk actually formats all of its data blocks at the time of deployment. This virtual disk format does not include or require the allocation and zeroing on-demand processes.

Figure 7) An eager-zeroed thick VMDK as it relates to storage blocks on an array. 

 Sources:- http://media.netapp.com/documents/tr-3749.pdf

VMware vSphere 5 Memory Management and Monitoring diagram

The VMware vSphere 5 Memory Management and Monitoring diagram provides a comprehensive look into the ESXi memory management mechanisms and reclamation methods. This diagram also provides the relevant monitoring components in vCenter Server and the troubleshooting tools like ESXTOP,

Source:-
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2017642

Deploying and Configuring vCenter Server Appliance

Understanding VM Snapshot

See the link below for how snapshot works and it effect your current state of Virtual Machine..

http://vmfootprints.org/understanding-snapshot



On this link there is a link to download presentation download and see this, really informative and helpful to understand the snapshot concept.

Cloud Computing Private, Public and Hybrid

Public cloud:

 In Public cloud the computing infrastructure is hosted by the cloud vendor at the vendor’s premises. The customer has no visibility and control over where the computing infrastructure is hosted. The computing infrastructure is shared between any organizations (sharing the infrastructure).

Private cloud: 

The computing infrastructure is dedicated to a particular organization and not shared with other organizations. Some experts consider that private clouds are not real examples of cloud computing. Private clouds are more expensive and more secure when compared to public clouds.

 Private clouds are of two types: 

1. On-premise private clouds and externally hosted private clouds.
2.  Externally hosted private clouds are also exclusively used by one organization, but are hosted by a third party specializing in cloud infrastructure. Externally hosted private clouds are cheaper than On-premise private clouds.

Hybrid cloud 

Organizations may host critical applications on private clouds and applications with relatively less security concerns on the public cloud. The usage of both private and public clouds together is called hybrid cloud. A related term is Cloud Bursting. In Cloud bursting organization use their own computing infrastructure for normal usage, but access the cloud for high/peak load requirements. This ensures that a sudden increase in computing requirement is handled gracefully. 

Auditing ESXi Shell logins and commands in ESXi 5.x (History of executed commands in ESXi)

ESXi maintains a history of all commands entered in the ESXi Shell. This shell command history is maintained in the shell.logfile. Within the transcription of commands, the command issuer is identified only by the process or world ID, rather than by username or client address. This article describes how to correlate authentication information from the auth.log file with the history of commands executed in the ESXi Shell.

For more information on the locations of the log files described, see Location of ESXi 5.0 log files (2004201) and Location of log files for VMware products (1021806).

Procedure

To determine the commands executed in the ESXi Shell, and which user and client issued the request:

1. Obtain access to the auth.log and shell.log log files.
   
   • Log in to the ESXi Shell, and open each log using the less command.
   • Use a web browser to access https://ESXiHostnameOrIP/host/auth.log andhttps://ESXiHostnameOrIP/host/shell.log.
   • Use the vifs command line utility in the vCLI to copy the logs to a client, and review them there.
   • Read the files from within a vm-support log bundle.
     
2. Open the log file /var/log/auth.log in a text viewer.
   
3. Identify the authentication record, including the Username, Timestamp, and World ID for the session:
   
   
   • ESXi Shell login at the console appears similar to:
     
     2011-08-29T18:01:00Z login[64386]: root login on 'char/tty/1'
     
   • ESXi Shell login via interactive SSH appears similar to:
     
     2011-08-29T18:01:00Z sshd[12345]: Connection from 10.11.12.13 port 2605
2011-08-29T18:01:00Z sshd[12345]: Accepted keyboard-interactive/pam for root from10.11.12.13 port 2605 ssh22011-08-29T18:01:00Z sshd[64386]: Session opened for 'root' on /dev/char/pty/t02011-08-29T18:01:00Z sshd[12345]: Session closed for 'root' on /dev/char/pty/t0
...
2011-08-29T18:35:05Z sshd[12345]: Session closed for 'root' 2
     
   • ESXi Shell login via SSH with public key appears similar to:
     
     2011-08-29T18:01:00Z sshd[12345]: Connection from 10.11.12.13 port 2605
2011-08-29T18:01:00Z sshd[12345]: Accepted publickey for root from 10.11.12.13 port 2605ssh22011-08-29T18:01:00Z sshd[64386]: Session opened for 'root' on /dev/char/pty/t02011-08-29T18:01:00Z sshd[12345]: Session closed for 'root' on /dev/char/pty/t0
...
2011-08-29T18:35:05Z sshd[12345]: Session closed for 'root' 2
   
   Each of these authentication records indicate a successful authentication for the user root on August 29th at 18:01 GMT. The SSH methods also include the IP address tha the connection was initated from. The shell session is being handled by world 64386.
   
4. Close the log file /var/log/auth.log.
   
5. Open the log file /var/log/shell.log in a text editor or viewer.
   
6. Identify commands entered which contain the same World ID as identified in Step 3, appearing similar to:
   
   2011-08-29T18:01:01Z shell[64386]: Interactive shell session started2011-08-29T18:05:02Z shell[64386]: cd /var/log
2011-08-29T18:05:03Z shell[64386]: ls
2011-08-29T18:13:04Z shell[64386]: vmware -v
2011-08-29T18:35:05Z shell[64386]: exit
   
   Since the commands were entered in the console session handled by world ID 64386, we know that they correspond to the authentication session established by user root as described in Step 3.

Source:- http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2004810

Enabling FT on VM under nested ESXi 5 host

Note:- this article is Only for test and learning purpose not for production...

For test and development you can host esxi as a Nested VM and create HA/DRS cluster in that. But if you want to use FT in that scenario you need to 3 extra parameter under configuration parameters option 

 

Then you need three row  replay.supported true  replay.allowBTOnly true, replay.allowFT true after adding this it look like see the snap below:-

After adding the rows you can click ok and then again ok, now if all other requirement of FT are configured you can enable the FT on VM even this is running on nested esxi host.

Virtual Machine Swap file size (.vswp)

Swap File Size Calculation

Every VM have some amount of Memory configured. So when we power on the VM, vmkernel have to create the Swap file for VM (this file is different file than vmdk file), so that in case of memory contention overallocated memory can be delivered (in the storage there must be free space available to create that file otherwise we can't power on the VM).

Swap File is calculated using the below formula:-

Allocated Memory to VM - Reserve Memory to VM = Size of Swap file (.vswp)

Suppose VM is configure with 2048 MB of Memory and Reserve for that VM is 512 MB then swap file size is 1536 MB as per above formula:-

2048 - 512 = 1536 MB.

Even you reserve 100 % allocated memory to VM swap file still created but with 0KB in size.

Swap file created even you have enough memory on host, but vmkernel only use this file (in case of memory contention)  if demand of memory is more than the available amount of Memory on Host (ESXi).

Deploying and Configuring vCenter Appliance

Host Profile

What is Host Profile ?

The host profiles feature creates a profile that encapsulates the host configuration and helps to manage the host configuration, especially in environments where an administrator manages more than one host or cluster in vCenter Server.

Host profiles eliminates per-host, manual, or UI-based host configuration and maintains configuration consistency and correctness across the datacenter by using host profile policies. These policies capture the  blueprint of a known, validated reference host configuration and use this to configure networking, storage, security, and other settings on multiple hosts or clusters. You can then check a host or cluster against a profile’s configuration for any deviations.

How to Use Host Profile ?

You perform host profiles tasks in a certain workflow order.

You must have an existing vSphere installation with at least one properly configured host.

•  Set up and configure the host that will be used as the reference host.
•  A reference host is the host from which the profile is created.
• Create a profile using the designated reference host.
• Attach a host or cluster to the profile.
• Check the host's compliance to the reference host's profile. If all hosts are compliant with the  reference host, they are correctly configured.
• Apply the host profile of the reference host to other hosts or clusters of hosts (Host need to be in maintenance mode to apply the profile).

Note:- Using host profiles is only supported for VMware vSphere 4.0 hosts or later

Creating a Host Profile

You create a new host profile by using the designated reference host's configuration.

A host profile can be created from:

•  Host Profile main view
•  Host's context menu

Create a Host Profile from Host Profiles View

You can create a host profile from the Host Profiles main view using the configuration of an existing host.

Prerequisites

You must have a vSphere installation and at least one properly configured host in the inventory.

Procedure

1 In the Host Profiles main view, click Create Profile.The Create Profile wizard appears.

2 Select the option to create a new profile and click Next.

3 Select the host you want to designate as the reference host for the new host profile and click Next.

   The reference host must be a valid host.

4 Type the name and enter a description for the new profile and click Next.

5 Review the summary information for the new profile and click Finish to complete creating the     

  profile. The new profile appears in the profile list.

  

Create a Host Profile from Host

You can create a new host profile from the host's context menu in the Hosts and Clusters inventory view.

Prerequisites

You must have a vSphere installation and at least one properly configured host in the inventory.

Procedure

1 In the Host and Clusters view, select the host that you want to designate as the reference host for   

   the new host profile. The host must be a valid host to use as a reference host.

2 Right-click the host and select Host Profile > Create Profile from Host

    The Create Profile from Host wizard opens.

3 Type the name and enter a description for the new profile and click Next.

4 Review the summary information for the new profile and click Finish to complete creating the     

    profile. The new profile appears in the host's Summary tab.

Attach Profiles from the Host

Before you can apply the profile to a host you need to attach the host to the profile or the profile to the host. You can attach a profile to a host from the host's context menu in the Hosts and Clusters inventory view. When a host profile is attached to a cluster, the host or hosts within that cluster are also attached to the host profile. However, when the host profile is detached from the cluster, the association between the host or host within the cluster and that host profile remain.

Procedure

1 In the Host and Clusters view, select the host to which you want to attach a profile.

2 Right-click the host and select Host Profile > Manage Profile.

   NOTE   If no host profiles exist in your inventory, a dialog appears asking if you want to create   
   and attach the host to this profile.

3 In the Attach Profile dialog, select the profile to attach to the host and click OK.

   The host profile is updated in the Summary tab of the host.

Apply a Profile from the Host

You can apply a profile to a host from the host's context menu.

Prerequisites

The host must be in maintenance mode before a profile is applied to it.

Procedure

1 In the Host and Clusters view, select the host to which you want to apply a profile.

2 Right-click the host and select Host Profile > Apply Profile.

3 In the Profile Editor, enter the parameters and click Next.

4 Continue until all the required parameters are entered.

5 Click Finish.

Compliance Status is updated.

For more details:-
http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-50/topic/com.vmware.ICbase/PDF/vsphere-esxi-vcenter-server-50-host-profiles-guide.pdf

How to change Virtual Machine Snapshot files location (vSphere 5)

I have taken an example, I have created two datastore like below:-

VM-Datastore dedicated for VM related files like vmx,vmdk etc

Snapshot-Datastore dedicated for VM Snapshot  files like vmsn, delta.vmdk etc.

If you want to change the snapshot files location for different datastore than default, you need to shut down the VM first. Then remove the VM from inventory, and then use esxi Local Shell or SSH Shell and edit the .vmx file of that VM with vi editor and add the lines at the end of the file:- 

Snapshot.redoNotWithParent = “true”

workingDir  = “Location of your datastore”    like see the snapshot below:-

After this save the file and add the VM to inventory back using the vSphere client. When you power on the VM, and after this you will take snapshot the snapshot, files will created under the defined datastore. You can browse and confirm the snapshot file  are under the new datastore like:-

So now snapshot files location is as per your requirement.

How to change Virtual Machine swap file location VMware ESXi

I have taken an example, I have created two datastore like below:-

VM-Datastore dedicated for VM related files like vmx,vmdk etc

Swap-Datastore dedicated for VM Swap files.

If you want to change the swap file location to different datastore than default, you need to shut down the VM first. Once VM is offline then go to Edit Setting of that VM and then click on Options tab like see the screenshot below:-

Then click on Configure Parameters  button. Then you’ll get another window like below and then you need to click on add row button :-

Under the name filed you need to type “sched.swap.dir” and in the value field you need to type the path of datastore where you want swap files. Like in my case I have dedicated datastore for Swap files, so I have defined the path “/vmfs/volumes/Swap-Datastore” and the click on OK

After that when you powered in that VM the swap file get created under new datastore. You can browse and confirm thenswap file is under this like:-

So now swap file location is as per your requirement.

Security and the Virtualization Layer (esxi)

VMware designed the virtualization layer, or VMkernel, to run virtual machines. It controls the hardware that hosts use and schedules the allocation of hardware resources among the virtual machines. Because the VMkernel is fully dedicated to supporting virtual machines and is not used for other purposes, the interface to the VMkernel is strictly limited to the API required to manage virtual machines.

ESXi provides additional VMkernel protection with the following features:

Memory Hardening

The ESXi kernel, user-mode applications, and executable components such as drivers and libraries are located at random, non-predictable memory addresses. Combined with the non-executable memory protections made available by microprocessors, this provides protection that makes it difficult for malicious code to use memory exploits to take advantage of vulnerabilities.

Kernel Module Integrity

Digital signing ensures the integrity and authenticity of modules, drivers and applications as they are loaded by the VMkernel. Module signing allows ESXi to identify the providers of modules, drivers, or applications and whether they are VMware-certified.

Trusted Platform Module(TPM)

Each time ESXi boots, it measures the VMkernel and a subset of the loaded modules (VIBs) and stores the measurements into Platform Configuration Register (PCR) 20 of the TPM. This behaviour is enabled by default and cannot be disabled. Hardware support for this feature is fully tested and supported by VMware and its OEM partners.

NOTE:-  Not all VIBs are measured as part of this process.

The VMware TPM/TXT feature that leverages the fully tested hardware support is suitable for a proof-of-concept that demonstrates monitoring of certain TPM PCR values, by alerting when any values change from one boot to the next. Third-party solutions could use this feature to detect changes to VIB measurements stored in these PCRs for the following cases:

•   Corruption of the measured images          
•  Unexpected or unauthorized updates, or other types of changes to themeasured images

For more details you can see:-

http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-50/topic/com.vmware.ICbase/PDF/vsphere-esxi-vcenter-server-50-security-guide.pdf

New virtual machine capabilities (vSphere 5)  

  

ESXi 5.0 introduces a new generation of virtual hardware with virtual machine hardware version 8, which includes the following new features:- 

• 32-way virtual SMP. ESXi 5.0 supports virtual machines with up to 32 virtual CPUs, which lets you run larger CPU-intensive workloads on the VMware ESXi platform.
• 1TB of virtual machine RAM. You can assign up to 1TB of RAM to ESXi 5.0 virtual machines.
• Software support for 3D graphics to run Windows Aero. ESXi 5.0 supports nonhardware accelerated 3D graphics to run Windows Aero and Basic 3D applications in virtual machines.
• USB 3.0 device support. ESXi 5.0 features support for USB 3.0 devices in virtual machines with Linux guest operating systems. USB 3.0 devices attached to the client computer running the vSphere Web Client or the vSphere Client can be connected to a virtual machine and accessed in it. USB 3.0 devices connected to the ESXi host are not supported.
• UEFI virtual BIOS. Virtual machines running on ESXi 5.0 can boot from and use the Unified Extended Firmware Interface (UEFI).

Resource Pool Management (vSphere5)

You can create, manage and delete the Resource Pool, While you are managing stand-alone host esxi (before adding to vCenter Server). Once you add host to vCenter Server after that Resource pool management is only using vCenter, direct connection to host (esxi) do not allow resource pool management, until you remove host (esxi)  from vCenter inventory.

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