You Do Not Have a Valid Subscription KB ID 0001870
Problem
I’m only just getting comfortable with Proxmox, whilst building a three node cluster recently I was pestered with this ‘nag’ dialog.
You do not have a valid subscription for this server. Please visit www.proxmox.com to get a list of available options.
Solution : You Do Not Have a Valid Subscription
I’m using this because it’s free, Even the community subscription has a fee (110 euros a socket?). To avoid a subscription and remove the nag dialog. Do the following.
SSH into the Proxmox host (or if you’re running it within VMware) open a console screen and logon as root.
Issue the following commands.
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cd /usr/share/javascript/proxmox-widget-toolkit
cp proxmoxlib.js proxmoxlib.js.bak
nano proxmoxlib.js
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The nano editor will open, Press CTRL+W (to search) search for locate checked_command > then directly below that line add the following text.
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orig_cmd();
return;
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Exit (CTRL+X) then press Y to save the changes, and finally {Enter} to save the file with the same name.
Then issue the following command.
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systemctl restart pveproxy.service
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IMPORTANT: At this point you will need to restart the browser connection you your Proxmox host, or the error will persist.
Repeat for your remaining Proxmox hosts.
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It has been a while since I mentioned this, but if you have a Windows server, and you would like to present an NFS Share, the process is pretty straight forward. The following procedure was carried out on Windows Server 2022, but the process is pretty much the same going all the way back to Server 2012.
Solution : Windows Create NFS Share
Install Server for NFS (GUI)
You need to add the “Server For NFS” Server role. Server Manager > Manage > Add roles and features > Next > Next > Next > Next > Expand “File and Storage Services” > Expand “File and ISCSI Services” > Server for NFS > Next > Next > Next > Install.
Note: In some instances you may be asked to reboot (post role installation.)
Windows Create NFS Share
Assuming you have a folder to share > Right Click > Properties > NFS Sharing > Manage NFS Sharing > Tick ‘Share this folder” > Permissions > Change access to ‘Read and Write” and tick allow root access > OK > Apply > OK > Apply > OK.
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I’ve mentioned before how much I like GIMP, I use it for all my graphics needs these days. And if you a regular visitor you will know I produce a lot of screenshots with/without text. To do that I use a font called ‘Avalon’. So it’s a pain when there’s been an update and the default font changes to something else. If you need to put lots of text on an image, and each time you need the set the font you can see why that would be annoying.
Solution: GIMP Default Text Tool
The correct way to fix this problem is first set the correct settings in the tool (font name and size for example). Then go to Gimp-2.10 > Preferences > Tool Options > Tick (or place a cross in) ‘save tool options on exit‘ > Press the “save tool options now‘.
That should rectify the problem.
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Proxmox Virtual Environment (Proxmox VE) is a robust open-source server virtualisation platform that merges two cutting-edge virtualisation technologies Linux Containers (LXC) and Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM).
Installing it and getting to the management console is an absolute breeze.
Solution : Proxmox on VMware
Before you start, (as with most nested virtualisation products) you will need to make some adjustments to the security on the vSwich(es) that the VM will run on and change the three security options to ‘accept‘.
Download the iso file for Proxmox VE, and upload it onto one of your VMware Datastores, then create a new VM.
Give the VM a sensible Name > Next > Select the host (or cluster) to deploy the VM into > Next > Select storage with enough free space (Note: I’m going to use 500GB but you can deploy with as little as 16GB > Next > Next.
OS Family = Linux > Guest OS Version = Debian GNU Linux 12 (64 bit) > Next > CPU (I’m using 16 but you can use as low as 2) > Tick ” Expose hardware assisted virtualisation to the guest OS‘ > Scroll down > Memory (I’m using 64GB but you can go down to 16GB) > Scroll Down > Hard Disk (I’m using 500GB but you can go down to 16GB) > Scroll Down > Select the correct Port Group > Set the CD/DVD image to the iso you uploaded earlier > Tick ‘Connect at Power On‘ > Next > Finish.
Power on the VM, and connect to its console.
Select “Install Proxmox VE (Graphical)” > Enter > At the EULA > I Accept > Ensure the disk information is correct > Next.
Set time zone and Keyboard > Next > Set the new root password and email address > Next > Set the hostname and IP address details > Next > Install > Proxmox will install and reboot.
Connect to the console via https://{ip-address}:8006 > Enter the root credentials you set earlier > Login.
And you are now at the management portal.
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In the wake of Broadcom doing its best to strangle VMware and its discontinuation of free ESX. I thought I’d look at the free alternatives. The most obvious is Nutanix CE (Community Edition) which is both free, and lets you have up to 4 nodes – which is impressive, as Free ESX does not have clustering or access to vCenter.
Honest Opinion: It’s very flaky, if you want a solution that you can just roll out and it work out of the box, then don’t attempt to run this on ESX/VMware. I accept that it’s an unusual deployment scenario, but people will want to test it first, and if you’re moving from VMware to Nutanix you are going to test it in an environment you know. I was going to deploy a three node cluster and attempt to do some VMware > Nutanix migrations. But despite about a week of trawling forums I could not get the cluster to create and launch (yes, I enabled UUID) After a week I thought – OK I’ll try a single cluster, and that’s what I’m doing below
Solution: Nutanix on VMware
You will need a beefy ESX deployment each nodes VM Requirements: 4x vCPU, 64GB vRAM and 750GB of storage.
To get access to the download for the Community Edition you need to go the Nutanix create a login and say you want to test drive Nutanix CE edition, trying to find the download on the website – is confusingly hard. Wait until you get a confirmation email and that will have the link to the page you want.
Note: Remember your Nutanix login details (you will need them later.)
Before you start, the virtual switch(es) that will connect to the Nutanix VM(s) will need to have both promiscuous mode and forged transmits enabled. Note: I run EVE-NG so I have all the security settings set to accept.
Create a New Virtual Machine.
Give the VM a sensible name i.e. Nutanix-CE-Node-1 > Next > Select a host, (or cluster if you have DRS enabled > Next > Select a Datastore with enough free space > Next.
Compatible with > ESX8 >Next > Add 4x vCPUs > Tick ‘Expose hardware assisted virtualisation to the guest OS‘ > Scroll down.
Set the memory to 64GB > Scroll Down > Set the first Hard Disk to 50Gb > Enable Thin Provisioning > Change the Controller to ‘New SATA Controller” > At this point scroll up select ‘Add Hardware” > Add a further TWO hard disks > they will appear just below the 50GB one you have already configured > Set the second disk to 200GB > Thin Provisioned > New SATA Controller > Scroll down.
Set the last disk to 500GB > Thin Provisioned > New SATA Controller > Ensure the VM is in the correct port group > Set the CD/DVD ROM drive to the Nutanix installer iso image > Select ‘Connect at Power On‘ > Next > Finish.
The following step you should not need to do for a single host cluster, but it is a requirement if your intending on creating multiple cluster hosts > Edit the VM Settings > Advanced Properties > Create a new attribute called disk.EnableUUID and set its value to TRUE > Add > OK
Power on the VM and go grab a coffee > Select AHV (the Nutanix Hypervisor) > Make sure the correct disks are set for H (boot) D (Data) and C (CVM) > Add the host and CVM IP addresses > Add the subnet and default gateway > Tick create a single cluster and add a DNS server. > Next Page.
Note: If you were not creating a single node cluster, you would obviously leave that option blank, and manually create a multi node cluster by logging into the CVM later (see notes below).
This is another flaky thing I don’t like > YOU NEED TO scroll all the way to the bottom of the EULA text then use the tab button > then select I accept with the space bar. If you dont scroll down, the following step fails and sends you back here.
Again good time for a coffee, when it’s done you will see this. Before you type ‘y’ to reboot carry out the next step.
In the VM properties disconnect the DVD iso.
It will take a while but once the VM is up you can SSH into it (use the CVM IP Address!) The default credentials are.
Username: nutanix
Password: nutanix/4u
More things I don’t like running Nutanix on VMware: The cluster didn’t come up; you can see that by running cluster status. As you can see a lot of services are listed as down. issue a cluster start command and go get another coffee. Do not proceed until all the services are up.
Browse to https://{CVM-IP-Address}:9440 > Log in with the default credentials and you will be asked to change the password > Do so, then reauthenticate with your new password. Warning this has a different username to the SSH login,
Username: admin
Password: nutanix/4u
Remember way back when we started thinking about Running Nutanix on VMware and I said you would need your Nutanix login credentials you setup on their website.
Note: If you get an error about not being able to contact the NEXT server, that because it’s not using the DNS server you setup above see the following article.
Although I could not get it to work, if you want to create a multi-node cluster then you use the following syntax using all the nodes CVM IP addresses (whilst logged into a CVM).
