08 novembre 2009
vCheck (Daily Report) V3
Initially when I started this script I wanted people to be clear that this was a report that was going to give you a daily summary of any issues which may exist in your Virtual Infrastructure, from the beta testing I did to a select few it was clear that they were expecting this to send them a full inventory of their infrastructure.
That wasn’t the point in this script and I think people now have the idea that this is more of an issue log than an audit script so I will now revert to my original name of…. vCheck.
The key thing to remember is that if an issue does not exist in a particular area then it will not show in the output, when and if issues turn up they will start appearing in the output almost like magic !
I want to thank everyone who is using this script and those who have left a comment, even if its just to say how much you like it !
I especially want to thank Raphaël SCHITZ (http://www.hypervisor.fr/) for all his contributions, he has added some great features to this version and helped me take it to a new level.
The previous version already reported on these areas:
- General Details
- Number of Hosts
- Number of VMs
- Number of Templates
- Number of Clusters
- Number of Datastores
- Number of Active VMs
- Number of Inactive VMs
- Number of DRS Migrations for the last days
- Snapshots over x Days old
- Datastores with less than x% free space
- VMs created over the last x days
- VMs removed over the last x days
- VMs with No Tools
- VMs with CD-Roms connected
- VMs with Floppy Drives Connected
- VMs stored on local datastores
- VMs with CPU ready over x%
- VMs with over x amount of vCPUs
- List of DRS Migrations
- Hosts in Maintenance Mode
- Hosts in disconnected state
- NTP Server check for a given NTP Name
- NTP Service check
- vmkernel warning messages ov the last x days
- VC Error Events over the last x days
- VC Windows Event Log Errors for the last x days with VMware in the details
- VC VMware Service details
So what is added to V3 ?
Well firstly I have fixed some bugs which existed in V2 and made things slightly faster.
The other added features are as below:
- Status report to screen whilst running interactively
- At the top of the script you can now turn off any areas you do not want to report on (this makes it faster to run)
- VMs on Local storage has been changed to report VMs stored on datastores attached to only one host
- VM active alerts
- Cluster Active Alerts
- If HA Cluster is set to use host datastore for swapfile, check the host has a swapfile location set
- Host active Alerts
- Dead SCSI Luns
- VMs with over x amount of vCPUs
- vSphere check: Slot Sizes
- vSphere check: Outdated VM Hardware (Less than V7)
- VMs in Inconsistent folders (the name of the folder is not the same as the name)
- Added the number of issues to each title line
As always please let me know if you have any comments, I already have some great ideas that I could not fit into this version so watch out for V4 !
Also a reminder that this script also checks your Windows vCenter server for services and event logs, it does this via WMI and therefore needs the correct permissions, there is still an area at the top of the script which you can give alternate credentials from the account that is running the script if needed.
If your new to this script and would like more details on how it looks or how to run it please check this post.
The script can be downloaded from here
http://www.virtu-al.net/2009/11/04/vcheck-daily-report-v3/
PCoIP, Ca donne quoi ?
Alors, PCoIP, ça donne quoi ?
Le protocole PCoIP Teradici va être intégré nativement dans la prochaine version du client léger de VMware View. et c'est juste impressionnant !
Dans la hard copy ci-dessus, je regarde une vidéo sur la VM restée à mon bureau, au travers d'un VPN sur une Box ADSL 4Mb/s. Mon portable est connecté à cette box en WIFI. Le débit mesuré sur ce dernier est de 80 Ko/s !!!! La vidéo est fluide avec une qualité moyenne et le son passe ... Inutile de dire que ça va résoudre pas mal de soucis rencontrés sur les clients légers avec toutes les applications graphiques.
http://ds45.blogspot.com/2009/11/alors-pcoip-ca-donne-quoi.html
How to access USB and Other PCI Devices in VMware ESXi4 VMs with VMDirectPath
Introduction to VMDirectPath
Although hardware independence is fundamental to many of the advantages of virtualization it also creates a problem when you need to connect a specific hardware device to a virtual machine. Although SCSI passthrough has been available in ESX for some time accessing other types of device, especially USB, has always required alternative solutions such as USB over IP hubs. With the release of vSphere4 VMware have introduced a new feature called VMDirectPath I/O which allows up to two PCI(e) devices on the host server to be connected to a Virtual Machine. Officially this is provided to reduce the latency and hence improve the performance of devices such as 10Gb NICs and Host Bus Adapters, in fact only a handful of such devices are supported by VMware. However in fact pretty much any PCI(e) device can be connected, just bear in mind that VMware will not help with any problems you may encounter
--> The rest is on :
http://www.petri.co.il/vmware-esxi4-vmdirectpath.htm
29 octobre 2009
VMware France inaugure ses 'sessions privées' avec VDI
J'ai trouvé formidable ce mail qui m'est parvenu aujourd'hui avec pour thème une présentation en 'session privée' à des utilisteurs finaux le dernier né de la gamme VDI : View 4. Vous noterez que ça n'empiète pas du tout sur les sujets abordés lors du prochain meeting du groupe utilisateur VMware France ... qui se déroulera une semaine plus tard. N'aurait-ce pas plutôt été le lieu pour l'annoncer ? Les leaders du groupe apprécient en connaisseurs .....
Pour accompagner ses clients dans leurs choix technologiques, VMware lance ses "Sessions Privées". Ces rencontres en petit comité vous accueilleront avecvos pairs d'autres organisations ou avec vos collègues, selon qu'il s'agisse d'une session multi-clients oud'une session privée réservée à votre entreprise.
Pour cette première "Session Privée", nous vous proposons de partager avec quelques autres grandes entreprises et les experts VMware, vos premières impressions surla nouvelle solution VMware pour le poste de travail virtuel.
Cette session de lancement aura lieule Jeudi 19 Novembre 2009 à Paris.
Dans un format réduit d'une demi-journée, vous découvrirez comment VMware View participe à la transformation de votre informatique en apportant une nouvelle dynamique pour vos utilisateurs. Présentation des résultats chiffrés (source IDC) sur le ROI de VMware View, annonce et démonstration de la nouvelle génération VMware View vous attendent lors de cette Session Privée
http://ds45.blogspot.com/2009/10/vmware-france-inaugure-ses-sessions.html
How-to enable PvSCSI and when
VMware Paravirtualized SCSI (PVSCSI driver)
Introduced with vSphere 4 this driver can speed up and offload CPU. VMware Paravirtual SCSI (PVSCSI) adapter is able to achieve 12% more throughput with 18% less CPU cost compared to the LSI virtual adapter.
vSphere ships with this new high performance virtual storage adapter. Bus logic and LSI logic were the only choices so far. PVSCSI is best suited to run highly I/O intensive applications in the guest more efficiently (reduced CPU cycles)
Before you activate and configure take into consideration that:
- VMware does not support PVSCSI on the operating system boot partition, VMs will need to be configured with separate virtual disks(.vmdk) for the boot drive and the data drive. It means that the only way you can use PVSCSI is on your DATA drives.
- You can’t use PVSCSI on a VM which is configured for Fault Tolerance protection. (BTW if the VM has FT enabled, it can’t use VMXNET3 either…). See the requirements and limitations of FT here.
The actual step-by-step for Windows you can follow here or Linux here.
Some good read about PVSCSI and separating the Boot and Data partitions you can find on Rich Brambley’s blog as well
For some more documentation and(or) how-to, some more links:
For linux VM:
For Windows VMs:
vSphere Performance whitepaper (VMware)
What’s new in vSphere Storage whitepaper (VMware)
http://www.vladan.fr/how-to-enable-pvscsi-and-when/
vSphere v4.? Beta coming up…
VMware employee Michael Adams just revealed that there’s a beta program for new features or a new release of vSphere.
We are looking for beta participants to test out some new vSphere features currently in development. Interested? If so, contact your VMware account team for further details.
Unfortunately there are no details disclosed at this point in time and of course I can’t comment… I suggest everyone to contact their local account team and try to be part of this beta program! There are some great new features being developed at the moment and participating in this beta is definitely worth it!
http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2009/10/28/vsphere-v4-beta-coming-up/
VMware Workstation 7 se met à l’heure 7
VMware vient de mettre à jour son hyperviseur Workstation et apporte maintenant la gestion du nouveau système d’exploitation de Microsoft.
Meilleure gestion des systèmes hôtes
Workstation 7 se destine avant tout aux développeurs et autres professionnels ayant besoin de lancer plusieurs OS simultanément, dont le nouveau Window 7, 32 bits ou 64 bits. Le nouveau logiciel gère Flip 3D, Aero, DirectX 9.0c Shader Model 3 et OpenGL 2.1.
Faciliter la vie des développeurs
Une machine virtuelle peut maintenant utiliser jusqu’à quatre CPU virtuels, contre deux auparavant, et 32 Go de mémoire au lieu de 8 Go pour l’ancienne version. VMware pense aussi aux programmeurs et à intégrer la suite d’outils SpringSource et l’IDE Eclipse pour Java et C/C++ à son environnement de développement. Concrètement, il est possible de lancer du code depuis ces sources sur une machine virtuelle Workstation 7. L’hyperviseur est aussi capable d’enregistrer un code problématique et l’exécuter automatiquement afin d’aider le développeur à faciliter sa résolution.
Une copie de Workstation 7 est vendue 153,14 € sur le site de VMware.
Source : VMware
http://www.presence-pc.com/actualite/VMware-Workstation-7-36959/#xtor=RSS-11
J'ai testé la beta, et ce n'est que du bon!!!!
22 octobre 2009
Free video from vSphere 4 Training course from TrainSignal
This free video comes from TranSignal’s best Selling course for learning vSphere 4 Virtual Infrastructure. It’s HD video so best is to watch in full screen.
Trainsignal and David Davis does great job with those courses. In easy and consistent case scenarios he takes you through the beginning up to the advanced tasks like Fault tolerance or DRS.
You can learn on your own by watching this course on your computer, iPod or MP3 player. There is more than 18 hours of videos on 3 DVDs.
If you’re just starting with virtualization or are more advanced like me, and preparing yourself for the VCP (VMware Certified Professional) Exam, you’ll find those videos really helpful. It’s my choice to promote those videos, because they really help.
http://www.vladan.fr/free-video-from-vsphere-training-course-from-trainsignal/
19 octobre 2009
Before Host Profiles there was vicfg-cfgbackup.pl
This last weekend I was reminded of a RCLI command that creates a backup of your ESXi Host configuration. A client had an ESXi host where the USB drive failed. The system didn’t entirely crash, it pinged so HA didn’t kick-in however hostd and vpxa weren’t responding so management from vCenter was impossible. Performing a reboot of the host proved it was a USB failure when it failed to boot.
So, HA kicked in finally when the host was powered off - however the remaining hosts in their cluster did not have adequate resources to power everything back on. We needed to get this failed ESX host back online and quick!
Brought in new USB stick with fresh ESXi 4.0 installed, plugged in and powered up. In the TUI configured the Management Port IP address/gateway/DNS, etc. But now what, all of the (NFS) Datastores, vSwitch configuration and advanced settings were toast…and they didn’t have Enterprise Plus.
Say Hello to vicfg-cfgbackup.pl — a RCLI command which could be found in the vMA. This utility will allow you to create a backup and restore a full ESXi configuration. Luckily we had this (backup) command running on a nightly basis so we knew the configuration was complete. A simply command and the host was online.
Seeing that ESX is going to be phased out, this RCLI command is a valid alternative for those ESXi users that do not have Enterprise Plus licensing.
The commands vicfg-cfgbackup.pl (esxcfg-cfgbackup.pl) allow you to backup and restore the configuration of your ESXi host.
To backup the host you would run the command.
vicfg-cfgbackup.pl –server <server_name> -s <backup_file_name>
To restore your backup configuration to your host you would run. This will cause the host to reboot once the process is complete. NOTE: The host must be in Maintenance Mode for this to work. The backup configuration must also match the patch level of the ESXi install. You can add a -f to force if needed.
vicfg-cfgbackup.pl –server <server_name> -l <backup_file_name>
http://vmwaretips.com/wp/2009/10/12/before-host-profiles-there-was-vicfg-cfgbackuppl/
18 octobre 2009
Active / Standby etherchannels?
I’ve seen this a couple of times already and just had a very long phone call with a customer who created the following set up:
So basically the first two nics are active with load balancing set to IP-Hash and configured as an Etherchannel on the stacked Cisco 3750’s. The second pair are “standby”. Also with load balancing set to IP-Hash and configured as a second Etherchannel on the stacked Cisco 3750’s. A diagram probably makes more sense:
Explanation: All NICs belong to the same vSwitch. Etherchannel 01 consist of “vmnic0″ and “vmnic3″ and both are active. Etherchannel 02 consists of “vmnic1″ and “vmnic4″ and both are standby.
The rest is on :
http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2009/10/12/active-standby-etherchannels/