Tag Archives: vmware infrastructure

Upgrade ESX 3 to version 4.1.0

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to upgrade ESXi to 4.1 Click here

KB ID 0000305 

Problem

I had to upgrade some ESX hosts from ESX 3.5 the other day, as they are a long way away, and version 4.1 is hot off the presses (at time of writing) that’s what I wanted to upgrade them to.

Lessons Learned

1. At first I tried with the “Host Update Utility”.

2. But no matter what version I gave it, it gave me this error,

Unsupported ESX version: esx-4.0.0 X.X-XXXXXX-release or Unsupported product ESXi Installer vx.x.x-x-x

3. That points you HERE, and the fix is “Download the latest Version of Host Update Utility” DONT BOTHER YOU WILL NOT FIND IT.

Solution

1. First I got the hosts updated to version 4.0.0 Update 2 – To do that I used the VMware Update Manager (Install on your Virtual Center it’s on the VIM setup CD).

2. Then found out I couldn’t upgrade to version 4.1 using the same method.

3. You need to download TWO update patches,

a. pre-upgrade-from-ESX4.0-to-4.1.0-0.0.260247-release.zip b. upgrade-from-ESX4.0-to-4.1.0-0.0.260247-release.zip

4. Connect to your ESX box with an SCP client I prefer Veem Fast SCP because its free.

5. Create a folder on your ESX box and copy the two patches to this folder, with your SCP client.

6. Log onto the ESX console or connect via SSH.

7. Put the host into maintenance mode with the following command,

[box]vimsh -n -e /hostsvc/maintenance_mode_enter[/box]

8. The folder I created was called UPDATE change into that folder with the following command,

[box]cd /UPDATE[/box]

9. Run the “Pre-Update” package first with the following command, (that’s one command if its gets text wrapped).

[box]esxupdate update –bundle=pre-upgrade-from-ESX4.0-to-4.1.0-0.0.260247-release.zip[/box]

It’s pretty quick don’t go anywhere

10. When it’s completed, run the following command, (that’s one command if its gets text wrapped).

[box]esxupdate update –bundle=upgrade-from-ESX4.0-to-4.1.0-0.0.260247-release.zip[/box]

11. That command takes a while, go and have a coffee, when finished it will ask for a reboot you can reboot the ESX with the following command,

[box]shutdown -r now[/box]

12 Post reboot you can either exit maintenance mode from the vi client or with the following command,

[box]vimsh -n -e /hostsvc/maintenance_mode_exit[/box]

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

VMware ESXi 5 – Applying Patches and Updates

Update VMware ESXi from 4.0 to 4.1

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for ESX click here

KB ID 0000369

Problem

You have an ESXi server running 4.0 and you want to update to 4.1

Note: This procedure is carried out on a stand along ESXi 4.0 host, if you have 4.0 ESXi servers managed by Virtual Center you MUST update your Virtual Center to version 4.1 FIRST. If you don’t you cannot connect to the updated 4.1 ESXi host post upgrade, if you try you will see the following error,

Error: HA agent disabled on {hostname}

And for Virtual Center 4.1 the host server needs to be x64 bit (at time of writing Server 2008 R2 is NOT supported).

Solution

Steps

1. Download the update upgrade-from-ESXi4.0-to-4.1.0-0.0.260247-release.zip

2. Copy the update to a datastore on your ESXi server.

3. Connect to the ESXi server via SSH.

4. Find the “simlink” for the datastore you put the update in with the following command.

[box]ls -l /vmfs/volumes/[/box]

5. Enter maintenance mode with the following command. (In a VCenter environment do this from the VCenter).

[box]vim-cmd /hostsvc/maintenance_mode_enter[/box]

6. Extract the update with the following command. (replace the simlink with your own).

[box]esxupdate –bundle=/vmfs/volumes/4c46df69-78c14cd1-7455-18a9053b3a5c/UPDATE/upgrade-from-ESXi4.0-to-4.1.0-0.0.260247-release.zip stage[/box]

7. Install the update with the following command. (replace the simlink with your own).

[box]esxupdate –bundle=/vmfs/volumes/4c46df69-78c14cd1-7455-18a9053b3a5c/UPDATE/upgrade-from-ESXi4.0-to-4.1.0-0.0.260247-release.zip update[/box]

8. Reboot the ESXi Server.

9. Exit maintenance mode either via the VI client or from command line with the follwing command.

[box]vim-cmd /hostsvc/maintenance_mode_exit[/box]

Note: If you are doing multiple ESXi hosts in a vCenter environment the simlinks will be the same on all the hosts.

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

VMware ESXi 5 – Applying Patches and Updates

Cannot Delete a Virtual Machine(Another task is already in progress)

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KB ID 0000376 

Problem

When you try and delete a Virtual Machine from ESX or VSphere you see the following error.

Error: Another task is already in progress.

In addition, if you try and remove the VM from the inventory you will see the following error.

Error: Call “VirtualMachine.Unregister” for object “{vm name}” on vCenter Server “{VCenter name}” failed.

 

Solution

In my case the VM in question was in the middle of a hardware upgrade (from version 4 to Version 7) that had failed/stalled.

Select the VM in question then open its summary tab. Simply cancel the the stalled upgrade and click OK.

You can now remove the VM as normal.

 

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

NA

VMware – Ubuntu Screen Resolution Problem

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KB ID 0000411 

Problem

I have a guest VM on my vSphere test rig that’s running Ubuntu 10.10. That I use for testing, for a while I could not get the screen resolution above 854×480 (For wide screen or 16:9 format).

 

Solution

Note I’m assuming you already have the VMware tools installed!

1. Shut down your guest machine, open the VMware VI client and go to the settings of the guest machine. go the the hardware tab and select video card. By default it will be set to auto detect, change it to a nice high resolution, and click OK.

Note: For VMware workstation the setting is under “Display” see below.

2. Power the guest VM back on again and now you should have a better range of resolutions.

 

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

NA

Possible bug in VMware Client

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KB ID 0000413

Problem

Unable to use multiple console sessions in Windows 7.

1. Seen on Windows 7 x64 Ultimate, with and without aero enabled, on two separate machines.

2. Happens if connected to VCenter OR directly to ESXi (build 4.1.0, 260247)

3. Does NOT happen with the same software from Server 2003. (Same systems, same vesion of the VI client).

4. Does NOT happen on Server 2008 R2 Standard x64 (Same systems, same version of the VI client).

5. Does NOT happen on Server 2008 R2 Standard x64 with Service Pack 1 (Same systems, same version of the VI client).

6. Does NOT happen on Server 2008 R2 Standard x64 aero Enabled with Service Pack 1 (Same systems, same version of the VI client).

7. Does NOT happen on Windows 7 Enterprise (Service Pack 1) x86 (Same systems, same version of the VI client).

Description

 

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

NA

vSphere – Guest VM is shown as (Orphaned)

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KB ID 0000414 

Problem

I’ve seen this happen a few times now, while looking at your Virtual infrastructure, one or more client machines is greyed out and shown as (Orphaned).

Solution

If you have many guests VM’s on one host with this problem, you can cure this by removing the parent host and re-adding it to the cluster, then right clicking it and select “Reconfigure for HA“.

Or you can do the following, on a machine by machine basis.

1. Right click the affected VM and select “Remove from Inventory” (nothing gets deleted don’t worry.)

2. Select one of your ESX hosts > Configuration > storage > Right click the storage that holds the virtual machine we are dealing with and select “Browse Datastore” > Locate the machines .vmx file > Right click > Add to inventory > Follow the instructions.

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

For VMware View machines click here

VMware VIM (vCenter) Where to put the sysprep files in Server 2008?

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KB ID 0000420 

Problem

For newer servers I don’t really use templates anymore, but if you are deploying a lot of 2003 Windows servers in vSphere, then they can save you some time. Back in the days of vCenter 2.5 you just uploaded those sysprep files to the relevant folder in,

[box]C:Documents and SettingsAll UsersApplication DataVmwareVmware Virtual Centersysprep[/box]

But that location no longer exists (since Server 2008).

Solution

The location for sysprep files is now,

[box]C:ProgramDataVMwareVMware VirtualCentersysprep[/box]

 

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

Download all the sys prep versions

Is Exchange 2010 Supported on VMware?

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KB ID 0000333 

Problem

At time of writing (30/09/10) it seems I cant get a definitive answer! My colleague tried to log a third line support call with Microsoft this week, as soon as they found out that Exchange 2010 was running in a VMware environment, they (literally) hung up on him.

Solution

Well Microsoft’s own documentation says it IS

Reference:

Fair enough Exchange 2010 is supported on a “Third party Hypervisor ONLY if its been validated in the “Windows Server Virtualization Validation Program“”.

Lets check that then,

Reference:

Quote ” Products that have passed the SVVP requirements for Windows Server 2008 R2 are considered supported on Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2003 SP2 and later Service Packs, both x86 (32-bit), and x64 (64-bit).”

And The platform it was running on IS listed (ESXi 4.0 U1).

When presented with this evidence the response was “We will try and fix it on a “Best Endeavour” basis” and the problem (which had nothing to do with VMware, it was actually Microsoft Threat Management Gateway that caused the problem!) was resolved.

Sorry Microsoft that is just not good enough! My company pay handsomely for their gold partnership status, and we expect to get third line support on the products we sell. The product is either supported or it is NOT, don’t publish that it is, then use the fact that is running on third party virtualisation to get the problem off your support call queue. Because somewhere there is an Engineer/Consultant who has persuaded THEIR client to part with money to buy YOUR product.

I openly invite Microsoft – Third Line Exchange Support, The Exchange Development team and anyone else to respond to me. I will publish any pertinent response.

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

Technet Exchange 2010 Requirements Windows Server Virtualization Validation Program VMware Platforms Supported and passed SVVP