A few weeks ago we noticed an error logging into Vpshere that says " Lost connectivity to the device xxxx backing the boot file system". After troubleshooting with VMware they recommended to power down and move the USB drive over to another port to see if that resolves the problem however we've had the USB drive go bad once before and I'm nervous if we power down I won't be able to boot it back up. I'd rather install the same version of ESXi 5.5 133810 on a new flash drive and keep my existing data store but I forget the steps I did last time and I want to be sure exactly what to do to keep all 20 VM's in tact.

I came across this link and it's seems pretty straight forward however are there any other steps that are no mentioned that I'll need to keep an eye on during setup to keep my existing datastore?

VMware KB: Installing ESXi 5.x on a supported USB flash drive or SD flash card

I am trying to backup our ESXi server configuration using the vicfg-cfgbackup.pl command but I keep receiving the error "bad hostname" after entering the password. Here is my screen output. What am I doing wrong?

C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware vSphere CLI\bin>vicfg-cfgbackup.pl --server

=192.168.75.18 --username=root -s c:\ESXi_test1_backup.txt

Enter password:

Error connecting to server at 'https://=192.168.75.18/sdk/webService': Bad hostn

ame

C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware vSphere CLI\bin>

I am trying to get a switch for VMs to only talk to the a server VM. While the server has two nics and talking to the closed host only network and the outside network thru the physical adapter.

I have...

Standard Switch: vSwitch0 that a physical adapter

Standard Switch: vSwitch1 with no physical adapter

I figured I was moving in the right direction until I put two client VMs on switch1 and they cannot ping each other.

Can someone help me out?

Hello,

We have upgraded to 5.5 U2 and (previously on 4.1) and the consultant I worked with said I should just upgrade the datastores that are on 1mb block sizes but clicking the button, but ones that are on 2mb or 4mb I should create new VMFS5 datastores and svMotion servers into these new datastores and delete the old datastore.

Can anyone explain why?  I think I will gain space if I do this to datastores set to 2mb or above, but not 1mb datastores, but dont understand why.

Thanks

Hi,

I have had an issue with adding a new Datastore, the new drive is a 2TB SATA drive in a test machine. When I am adding the new datastore I allocate the full drive with VMFS 5 and the drive gets added fine. When I go to deploy a VM the new data store reports that 981GB provisioned, not the the full 1.82 TB.There are no other VM's so I am confused as to how half of my drive is already provisioned.

Thanks for any help.

Hello.

I've updated my HP G7 from 5.0.0 to 5.1 (some update)... server still works and is accessible at this point.

Some days later I tried to ssh to the host system because of performance monitoring -> not accessible anymore.

I also tried to access via the ESXi console (Alt+F1) no login possible.

all i get is "Permission denied (publickey,keyboard-interactive)."

SSH is enabled and running, console is enabled...

All vms are running but even NTP sync via host isn't possible anymore.

vSphere Client connection isn't a problem either.

Reboot the system,... I have really tried all the tricks, but nothing helped.

Does anybody know y?

Thanks in advance.

I have some budget and breathing room to expand my VM environment but am struggling to understand all the available products as well as the best next step.

Budget is 10-20K.

Current Environment:

• I have 3 licensed ESXi 5 hosts running my 30+ Linux hosts using vSphere 5 Essentials.   
• All my VMs use local storage on each host for their datastore.  I use Veeam to make backups of my mission critical VMs
• 3-4 of these VMs are mission critical. They use the most CPU and RAM.   The other VMs are not as critical, use minimal CPU/RAM, but are still important as they run customer accounts.
• I also have 10 old physical servers that I'm going to virtualize and put on 1 new host.
• Everything uses 1Gb Fortinet router
• All hosts are ESX 5.1
  

Current Disaster Fears:

• If a physical machine dies and cannot be replaced
  • I can recreate/move customer data needed to other hosts.  This will be a manual and time consuming process but survivable
  • My mission critical VMs are backed up with Veeam.  I'm assuming I could quickly restore them to another host, but still a manual process.  Naturally, I've never done a restore so finger crossed it would work as expected.
  • My recovery is only as recent as my last backup
    

Goal:

• Get rid of my 10 old physical servers by virtualizing them onto a new host
• MOST IMPORANTLY --- Get my mission critical VMs into a safe configuration -- high availability, better redundancy, shared storage, whatever

Questions:

• What should my next step be?  Shared storage?  A higher level of licensing?  What product should I be focusing on?
• If I add more hosts, I'm assuming I need to buy another round of vSphere Essential licenses?
• Should I move all my VMs to shared storage instead of local storage?
  • Do I move just mission critical VMs or all of them?
  • Is there a recommended shared storage device most use?  (I have Synology NAS used via NFS in all my guests for shared data.)
• Should I upgrade to 5.5 or 6?

That's kind of it for now to start the discussion but any input is super appreciated. Thanks!

Hi All,

What are the pros and cons of VMware VMFS multi-writer flag ?

Thanks

Arumuga Raj

Hi All,

Was in a task to move the 1000's of VM's swap file location to another datastore which is newly assigned to us from the existing swap file datastore which is going to be decomissioned.

Eager to check if any one did moving VM's swap file location from one datastore to another, and what all the steps taken to move.

Does it require VM downtime?

Thanks a ton in advance.

Hi,

I am using VMware Vsphere client 5.5, and already installed 4 virtual server on HP server.

all servers connected to 2 NIC (0 &1) and management on NIC 0, installation done locally ( direct connection to server ), then NIC 0 connected to customer corporate and assigned IP 10.110.41.21

I am trying to connect to server over corporate using Vsphere client with IP address 10.110.77.124, I am trying to open any virtual system console but in vain with following error message :

unable to connect to the MKS: Login ( Username/Password ) incorrect   

I checked port 902 status and it's ok , please your kind support

Hello everyone,

I maintain a single VMWare host running vSphere 5.5 (ESXi) Update 2 OEM HP version at the moment for a mid-size charity.

The hardware in use:

HP Proliant DL380e Gen8 (bought brand new in August 2014), HP SmartArray B320i storage controller, HP H222 host bus adapter (only a HP Ultrium4 tape drive connected to that), HP Intel 4port NIC 366i, 32GB RAM, 2 Quadcore Intel Xeon E5-2407

The box was initially installed and configured in August using HP OEM vSphere 5.5 Update 1 installation CD. vSphere is installed on the RAID array configured on the B320i controller. A VMWare Essentials license is also in use/installed.

It's running 3 Windows 2008 R2 VMs (DC, Exchange 2010 and a backup server with Backup Exec 2010 R3 [I know this is not a recommended/supported configuration, but it worked with 5.5 U1 without issues]) besides 2 Debian Linux VMs.

2 weeks ago during weekend maintenance I first installed the latest HP SPP (Service Pack for Proliant) Sept. 2014 which provided several firmware updates for e.g. the B320i, the 366i NIC etc.

After that I performed an upgrade instalölation of vSphere HP OEM 5.5 Update 2 version, which was also released by HP beginning of Sept..

All those setup/update procedures went through without any issues, error messages or crashes.

The host was running fine for 3 days and suddenly crashed with a PSOD stating: PCPU 0: no heartbeat (2/2 IPIs received) [unfortunately I did not take a screenshot]

I reset/rebooted the host through iLo4 console and kept an eye on the server the next days.

The first PSOD took place during daily (nightly) backup on the connected tape drive.

On the following Friday/Saturday night (about 2 days later) it crashed again with the following PSOD - again with PCPU 0: no heartbeat (2/2 IPIs received):

So I started investigating this, found some hints here in the VMWare communities leading to recommended BIOS settings of HP Proliant servers and checked the actual settings and changed the values to the recommended ones. The server was running fine without gliutches for about 16 hours then crashed again with this PSOD:

I continued investigation, and especially took an eye on power management setting in BIOS, vSphere and in the Windows VMs.

Also checked installed firnware versions of the storage controllers and NIC and driver versions in use. All OK there (as recommended in HP VMWare recipe Sept. 2014).

Server was running fine for about a week after the reboot then another PSOD early this morning at about 3 a.m.:

The server/VMs were mostly idle at this time, no heavy I/O activity.

The first two PSODs happened during backup but not at a certain time (one at about 10 p.m. the other early in the morning between 2 and 3 a.m.).

I read through tons of hints to faulty NIC drivers/firmware, BIOS confgurations etc. but nothing helps or even everything is configured exactly as in HP recommondations for vSphere 5.x.

For the BIOS settings I followed this list/table:Recommended BIOS Settings on HP ProLiant DL580 G7 for VMware vSphere | Boerlowie's Blog

vSphere is configured to "High Performance Mode" and the Windows VMs, too.

I'm somehow stuck now, so maybe someone here has a good hint for me?

If you need any further hardware/software/configuration/whatever details, just ask.

Cheers and thanks in advance for any help,

cykVM

Hi Guys,

This is Gopal, VCP410 - 2012.

One of my DBA installed SQL 2014 std edition in the same box (Separate instance than VM SQL Express)  where we have our vCenter SQL database and after the installation of SQL 2014 we are not able to login to the vCenter via web client or desktop client. Desktop client giving bad username and password error but web client has some more descriptive error as below.

The authentication server returned an unexpected error: ns0:RequestFailed: STS token validators are not initialized. The error may be caused by a malfunctioning identity source.

Product: VMware vSphere 5 Essentials Plus Licensed for 2 physical CPUs (unlimited cores per CPU)

vCenter Version: 5.1

I can login to ESXi and manage the VMs as of now.

PLEASE HELP!

Regards,

Gopal

I have built a couple of Windows 2012 R2 servers for exchange 2013.

I've added 4 paravirtual SCSI controllers so I can spread the disks across them.

I've added disks in the following way in VMware.

0:0     60GB

0:1     40GB

1:0     2TB

2:0     2TB

3:0     450GB

In windows they all have bus Target LUN as 0:0:0 except the 40GB disk which has 0:1:0. They are all GPT bar 60GB.

I know I can edit sizes a small bit and find out which disk is which but there should be a way to match these. One of these is on slower disk and I want to know I get the exchange DB on the fast disk.

I found this http://www.50mu.net/2014/03/12/how-to-translate-windows-disk-ids-to-storage-arrays-luns/

• controller 0 = location 160
• controller 1 = location 161
• controller 2 = location 193
• controller 3 = location 225
• controller 4 = location 257

but this does not tally with what I see. I have 160, 160, 161, 224, 256 (no 193) plus there is a max of 4 paravirtual controller in vsphere 5.5.

Also what I see as 161 is the 450GB disk which is on SCSI 3:0.

I also found this http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2021947

but makes very little sense when I step through it.

Anyone help on this?

Thanks

I have an ESXi 5.5 setup where I connected my host to a management network.  I had many VM's connected to the same management network using VM Network on vswitch0.  This worked flawlessly for months.  Then something changed; another node on the management network 'took' the IP address via DHCP that was assigned to the vCenter Server Appliance.  From that point on ... nothing has worked.

For some reason, ALL the VM's lost connectivity to the management network; however, they could all reach the ESXi host address.  One particular VM was critical to my setup - vCenter Server Appliance.  I could no longer use the Web Client to reach my vCenter Server Appliance.  Since this was a lab environment, I decided to start all over.

I wiped the drives and reloaded ESXi 5.5 again.  No problem.  ESXi host boots, uses DHCP to obtain an address from the management network DHCP server.  I change the ESXi host to static address for the IP address received.  I'm up and running.  I then boot a windows PC and download the vCenter Client from the ESXi host on the same management network.  The client successfully connects to the ESXi host.  I then deploy my first VM on the host - the vCenter Server Appliance.  The ova loads from the PC onto the ESXi host and the host initializes the VM.  As I watch the VM boot via the console on the vSphere Client all looks good until we get to IP address assignment.  The vCenter Server Appliance boots and initializes Eth0, but complains about DHCP not functioning.  Then the Console alerts:  "No Networking Detected.  Please Login and Run the Command /opt/vmware/share/vami/vami_config_net".  Okay.  So I give that a try.  I log into the vCenter Server Appliance via the console and use root privileges to run the command suggested.  Since DHCP didn't work, I figured I'd statically set an IP address on Eth0 from the management subnet.  With the IP set on Eth0, I try to ping the ESXi host address associated with the management subnet.  Success.  Then I try to ping the other hosts on my management subnet.  Fail.  I try another image loaded as a VM on ESXi.  Same problem.  The VM can ping the ESXi host, but none of the other hosts on the same management network.

What's wrong with the setup?   It worked fine before, but now it's seems the ESXi host won't let any of the VM's connect outside the host.

sw

I'm I the only one who installed patch ESXi550-201504002 (build 2702864)?

As far as I can see it has been retired, actually the most recent downloadable is ESXi550-201504001.

Do I have to worry?

Is there a way to tweak permissions or a value somewhere to allow the root user to deploy an OVF directly to an ESXi host that is already attached to a vCenter?  We have a bunch of hosts that are in vCenter only for the sake of manageability, but the testers need the ability to login to them directly (without logging in through vCenter).  The testers reserve and un-reserve these systems pretty frequently so we can't give permissions as the vCenter level.

So I have been practicing enabling Flash cache in my lab environment ready for the VCAP so I can do it quickly.  One thing I have noticed is that if I enable it after a period of time the VM starts behaving like an absolute dog and steadily gets worse and worse.  It makes me wonder if I have a bad SSD but it is a enterprise grade SSD, any theory's or gotchas I am missing for those familiar with the technology?

My domain controllers are becoming unresponsive after an upgrade from VMWare ESX 5.1 to 5.5.  The only thing that fixed the issue is a hard restart.   If I look at my vconsole VMWare tools shows as not running but I'm not sure this is a symptom or part of the problem.  I've opened a ticket with Microsoft and VMWare but neither is able to figure out what the issue is.

I'm hoping someone has seen this issue and can shed some light on it.  Thanks!

Hello -

I am attempting to upgrade our vCenter 5.0 (without any Appliancea) to vCenter 5.5. When I did this I installed SSO, Web Client, Inventory Service and vCenter Server.

After the install, I could not login to either the Web Client or vSphere Client using an AD Account\ only the Local Administrator' account. Which is fine. Guessing I need to set up AD Authentication?

When I launched the Web Client and attempt to login I received the error -

https://VC IP Addrsss/:7444/lookupservice/sdk - ssl certificate verification failed

Everything I have read says to login to the VCA and Regenerate the SSL Key but we have no appliance installed; only vCenter 5.0

Should I install the VCA and Regenerate the Keys to get around this issue and then remove it? I tried to Register the new Server but no option exists.

Is it possible to go from 5.0 with no SSO to 5.5 with SSO?

Do I need to install SSO? Could I just install the other 3 components?

Any direction would be appreciated!

Thanks,

I am having a hard time finding out where my bottlenecks are and with ESXi changing quickly between 4.x to 6.0, I am a little headspun. On a 5.5 host, where is best to allocate fast and robust resources? Host Cache, System Swap or the Virtual Flash arena. I am feeling as though I am either incorrectly allocating resources (and therefore creating my own bottleneck) or that I am possibly not allocating enough resources to a given area.

I have 32GB SSD's allocated one each for Host Cache and System Swap. I also have dedicated SSDs, 60GB each, dedicated as Flash Cache resources. Within Flash Cache Resources, I have 12GB available for Virtual Flash Host Swap Cache.

Each connection is SATA-3. While the SSD's are not the most premium brands, they meet standards and benchmarks as advertised.

Thanks for any feedback.