Problem solve

VMware ESX and ESXi administrative tips

• BETA: ESX 3.0 minor error in preupgrade.pl

  If you're on the beta program you might be aware that amongst the downloads for ESX 3.0, VirtualCenter 2.0 there is a pre-upgrade script called “preupgrade.pl” which you can use against an ESX 2.x server to check for any potential errors in the ... Continue Reading

• Online Backup to Windows Share using vmsnap_all and vmsnap.pl (W2K3)

  Using vmsnap_all and Windows share you can backup all your running VM’s. This does require some modifications to the default vmsnap.pl file which ships as part of VMware’s ESX Server. Continue Reading

• Displaying failed NIC’s in bonds/teams

  It’s often difficult to see if you have failed network links, especially if you have virtual switches as “bonds” where a virtual switch has more than one physical NIC patched to the switch for fault tolerance/load-balancing. Continue Reading

• Accessing Windows Shares from the service console

  Explains how you can use Windows Shares (or NFS if you wish in Linux) to hold ISOs/Scripts and possibly Virtual Disk templates Continue Reading

• Inspecting VMFS file types/formats

  It can be difficult from the MUI to see the file type/format. This is especially true of RAW Disk Mapping (RDMs) files, which look exactly like a virtual disk file. vmkfstools might give you a more forensic view of the files on a VMFS file system, ... Continue Reading

• Use “screen” to have multiple “windows” in a single PuTTy Session

  A useful and neat utility not included in ESX server is “screen”. You can connect to SSH multiple times using PuTTy.Continue Reading

• USB Device Configuration May Cause Error During System Boot

  Systems using the USB-UHCI device driver with the USB 2.0 interface cause the ESX Server to show a false warning message during the boot sequence.Continue Reading

• Changing parameters within a VM with /proc

  It is possible to change parameters of VM on the fly without a reboot from the Service Console. However, generally you are restricted to parameters that do not require a power-down in the first place.Continue Reading

• Using USB storage devices with the service console

  You might want to use a USB memory stick or USB portable hard-drive in a caddy. By default USB device drivers are loaded automatically. This can be disabled by modifying /etc/modules.conf and remarking it with the # of the line which begins alias ...Continue Reading

• Errors in the vmware-cmd command when using the “commit” option

  very brief explanation of the errors in the vmware-cmd command when using the “commit” option.Continue Reading

• Shutdown and Reboot problem with Windows 2003

  There have been, in the dim and distant past (about 18 months ago!), problems with shutting down and rebooting VMs that ran Windows 2003.Continue Reading

• Shrinking Virtual Disks and Automating Shrink with the Sdelete Tool

  VMware Tools has a “shrink disks” feature. This is used to optimize the virtual disk file within the Guest OSContinue Reading

• How ESX “Load-Balances” and Fail-Over/Back Bonds/NIC teams

  One popularly misunderstood features of ESX Bonds/Teams is how it handles “load-balancing” and fail-over and fail-back.Continue Reading

• ESX Upgrade breaks VMKusage

  Simple ESX upgrade that breaks VMKusage.Continue Reading

• Using Cron to automate reboot/shutdown of ESX

  How to shutdown/reboot the ESX server at designated time.Continue Reading