Adding Windows Server NFS Shares to VMware ESX

KB ID 0000319

Problem

You have a Windows 2019/2016, 2012, or 2008 server with plenty of storage space, and you would like to present that to an ESX/ESXi server as a datastore. You can configure a folder (or drive) as an NFS share and present it to VMware vSphere, so that it can be used as a datastore.

Note: For Server 2008 and vSphere 4/5 Scroll down.

Create NFS Shares on Windows Server 2019, 2016, and 2012

Essentially you need to add the ‘Server for NFS’ role, (Below “File and Storage Services“).

Create a folder to share, on its properties > NFS Sharing > Manage NFS Sharing.

Tick to share > Permissions.

You can add each host individually here, but I’m just changing the default rule to allow Read/Write to ALL MACHINES > Tick ‘Allow root access’ > OK.

VMWare vSphere 6 Connecting to Windows NFS Shares

Make Sure you have a VMKernel port on the same network as your NFS share.

DataStore View > Right click the ‘Cluster‘ > Storage > New Datastore > NFS > Next > NFS 3 > Next.

Give the datastore a name > Select the share name (prefix it with a forward slash, and remember they are case sensitive!) > Enter the IP or FQDN of the NFS server > Next > Next > Finish.

Create NFS Shares on Windows Server 2008

Gotchas

1. The system will not work if you do not have a vmkernel port, if you already have iSCSI or vmotion working then this will already be in place.

If not you will see an error like this,

Call “HostDatastoreSystem.CreateNasDatastore” for object “ha-datastoresystem” on ESX “{name or IP of ESX server}” failed.

2. Make sure TCP port 2049 is open between the NFS share and the ESX box. On an ESX 3.x servers you may need to run ” esxcfg-firewall -e nfsClient “.

Other Points

1. You CAN boot a windows VM from any NFS store (just because Windows cannot boot from NFS – does not mean a VM can’t).

2. NFS Datastores are limited to 16TB.

3. vSphere supports up to 64 NFS Datastores (ESX supports up to 32).

4. Thin provisioned disks will “re-expand” when moved/cloned to another NFS Datastore (THOUGH NOT in a vSphere environment).

5. On Server 2008 R2 NFS can only support 16 TCP connections, to raise the limit see here.

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

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VMware ESXi Syslog Errors – ‘System logs on host {host-name} are stored on non-persistent storage.’

KB ID 0000456 

Problem

Syslog Error Seen on ESXi 6.0 and 6.5

System logs on host {host-name} are stored on non-persistent storage.

Syslog Error Seen on ESXi 5.1

Error Configuration Issues System logs on host {host-name} are stored on non-persistent storage.

Syslog Error Seen on ESXi 5

Error Configuration Issues System logging is not configured on host {host-name}.

Syslog Error Seen on ESXi 4

Error Configuration Issues Issue detected on {host-name}: Warning: Syslog not configured. Please check Syslog options under Configuration.Software.Advanced Settings.

Solution

Seen on ESXi hosts that boot from an internal SD card, (or USB Drive.)  ESXi likes to have some persistent storage to keep its logs on.

To stop this error you need to give it a location for the logs. That location is setup as follows;

ESXi (Post Version 6) Setting a Syslog Location

First, create a folder on some shared storage to save you logs into, below you can see my datastore name is [iSCSI-RAID5-SAS], and Ive created a folder called ‘Logs’

Select the host with the error > Configure > Advanced System Settings > Type ‘Global’ in the search criteria > Locate Syslog.Global.LogDir > Select it > Edit.

Once again, search for Global and change the location to [DATASTORE-NAME]Logs\HOST-NAME > OK.

The error should cease immediately, without the need to restart anything.

ESXi (Pre Version 6) Setting a Syslog Location

With an ESXi host selected, Configuration > Advanced Settings > Syslog > Syslog.global.logDir.

Here you have two options,

Option 1 Store the Syslogs on the SD Card

Note: If you have built the ESXi Server from a manufacturers ESXi DVD (the HP build for example) there may not be enough room on the SD card for the logs.

In the example below, I’ve got an ESXi host, that’s running ESXi from an SD card (4GB) and I’ve put the syslog on there by using the default entry of;

[box][]/scratch/log[/box]

Click OK > After a couple of seconds the alert will disappear (without the need to reboot).

Option 2 Store the Syslogs on Local or Shared Storage.

ESXi 5 Putting the syslog onto a DataStore

With an ESXi host selected, Configuration > Storage > On a datastore, right click > Browse Datastore > Select the new folder icon > call the folder LOGS > OK.

Note: In this example I’m storing the syslog on local storage (on the ESXi host) if you have shared storage , i.e. a SAN or NAS, I suggest you create a sub-folder for each ESXi host within the LOGS directory and set the path on each host accordingly. This will take effect without a reboot and the error should cease.

ESXi 4 Putting the syslog onto a DataStore

In this case I created a syslog area on one of the shared data stores.

With an ESX host selected, Configuration > Storage > On a datastore, right click > Browse Datastore > Select the new folder icon > call the folder syslog > OK.

Then select Advanced Settings > Syslog > Enter a value in the following format:

[datastore]/syslog/hostname.log

i.e. [Volume 3]/syslog/esx2.log

3. Click OK, you should not need to reboot, the error should cease straight away.

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

Original Article Written 22/11/12

ESXi 4/5 – Adding a license key

KB ID 0000272 

Problem

ESXi is free, however when you have installed it you will see,

Solution

1. To get your key go to the VMware web site > Products > Download > Log in > It will give you a key with the download.

2. Connect to the ESXi host with your vSphere client.

3. Select the Host > Configuration tab > Licence sd Features > Edit > Enter Key > Type in the key > OK > OK.

 

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

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