vSphere Adding iSCSI Storage

Posted on 26/03/2024 by PeteLong

vSphere Adding iSCSI KB ID 0001378

Problem

iSCSI storage is nice and cheap, so adding iSCSI 10/1Gbps storage to your virtual infrastructure is a common occurrence.

vSphere Adding iSCSI Solution (vSphere 7/8)

Add a Software iSCSI Adaptor: Select the host > Configure > Storage Adapters > Add > Software iSCSI adaptor > OK.

After a few seconds you should see it appear at the bottom of the list.

Create a vSwitch and VMKernel:If you already have this configured you can skip this section, but basically you need a vSwitch, with a VMKernel interface (that has an IP address on it that can ‘see’ your iSCSI device), and then you need to connect a physical NIC from that vSwitch the iSCSI network (or VLAN).

With the host still selected > Configure > Virtual Switches > Add Networking.

VMKernel Network Adapter > Next.

New Standard Switch > Set the MTU to 9000 to enable jumbo frames > Next.

Note: Make sure the physical switches you are connecting to also support Jumbo Frames. Each vendor will be slightly different to configure.

THIS IS CONFUSING: Select the NIC you want to add the the vSwitch, and then ‘Move Down‘ so that it is listed in Active Adapters > Next.

Give the switch a sensible name (like iSCSI) > Next.

Define the IP address of the VMKernel (this needs to be able to see the iSCSI Target IP addresses) > Next.

Note: Don’t worry about the default gateway, it will display the default gateway of the managment network, that’s fine, unless you need to route to the iSCSI devices).

Review the settings > Finish.

You should now have a new vSwitch for iSCSI.

vSphere Adding iSCSI Storage: Create Port Binging

Back on the Storage Adapters tab > Select the iSCSI adapter > Network Port Binding > Add.

Select the one you’ve just created > OK.

vSphere Adding iSCSI Storage: Add iSCSI Target

Dynamic Discovery > Add.

Add in the iSCSI Target IP for your storage device/provider > OK.

At this point it’s a good idea to do a full storage rescan.

No Storage Has Appeared? Remember at this point your iSCSI storage device probably needs to ‘allow’ this ESX server access to the storage before it will either appear (if it’s already been formatted as VMFS and is in use by other hosts) or if it’s the first host that needs to connect to format the datastore as VFMS.

How this is done varies from vendor to vendor.

If you need to add the storage manually > Host > Storage > New Datastore.

vSphere Adding iSCSI Solution (vSphere 5/6)

Add a Software iSCSI Adaptor: Select the host > Configure > Storage Adaptor > Add > Software iSCSI adaptor.

After a few seconds you should see it appear at the bottom of the list.

Note: You can add a port group to an existing switch, (or use a distributed switch!) Here I’m using a standard vSwitch and keeping my storage on its own vSwitch.

With the host still selected > Configure > Virtual Switches > Add.

VMware Kernel Adaptor > Next > New Standard Switch > Next > Add in the Physical NIC that’s connected to your iSCSI network > Next.

Give the VMKernel port a name (i.e. Storage-iSCSI) > Next > Put in the IP details* > Next > Finish.

*Note: You may need to add a gateway if your iSCSI device is on another network.

Jumbo Frames Warning: Edit the properties of the switch and set it’s MTU to 9000 to allow for jumbo frames.

vSphere Adding iSCSI Storage, make sure the physical switches you are connecting to also support Jumbo Frames. Each vendor will be slightly different in my case the switches are Cisco Catalyst 3750-X’s so I just need to enable jumbo frames universally on the switch (which requires a reload/reboot!)

Allow Jumbo Frames Cisco Catalyst 3750-X

Execute the following commands;

[box]

Petes-Switch#configure terminal
Enter configuration commands, one per line.  End with CNTL/Z.
Petes-Switch(config)#system mtu jumbo 9198
Changes to the system jumbo MTU will not take effect until the next reload is done

Then Reboot/Reload the Switch and Check

Petes-Switch#show system mtu

System MTU size is 1500 bytes
System Jumbo MTU size is 9198 bytes
System Alternate MTU size is 1500 bytes
Routing MTU size is 1500 bytes

[/box]

vSphere Configure iSCSI: Back on your vCenter, we need to ‘Bind’ the VMKernel port we created above, to our Software iSCSI adaptor. With the host selected > Configure > Storage Adaptors > Select the iSCSI Adaptor > Network Port Binding > Add.

Select the VMKernel Port > OK.

Note: If you can’t see/select anything, make sure each iSCSI port group is set to use ONLY ONE physical NIC, (i.e. move the others into ‘unused’). That’s on the port group properties NOT the failover priority of the vSwitch.

Add an iSCSI Target to vSphere: With the iSCSI Adaptor still selected > Targets Add.

Give it the IP address of your iSCSI device.

At this point, I would suggest you perform a ‘Storage Rescan’.

Ensure ALL HOSTS, have had the same procedure carried out on them. Then (assuming you have configured your iSCSI device), presented the storage, and allowed access to it from your ESX hosts. Right click the Cluster > Storage > New Datastore > Follow the instructions.

IBM Storagewize v3700 iSCSI

This article is just for configuring the VMware side, but just as a placeholder, (and to jog my memory if ever I put in another one.) The process is.

1. iSCSI IP addresses, Note: these are under Settings > Network > Ethernet Ports. (Not iSCSI confusingly.)

2. Create the Hosts (Note: you can copy the iqn in from vCenter).

3. Create MDiscs (RAID groups) from the available disks, Note: Global Spares are allocated here.

4. Create a Pool, I don’t really see the point of these, but you need one to create a volume.

5. Create the Volumes, which you will present to the Hosts, then create host mappings.

Recovering Windows Activation Keys

Posted on 01/01/2019 by PeteLong

KB ID 0001115

“Have you got one of those programs that gets the Windows key?”, My colleague asked me the other week. I said “Just download a key finder application?”, “Yeah I’ve tried that and is showing the code as all B’s”.

You may also just see ‘Product key was not found‘ on some software.

I sent him some more links and got back to what I was doing. He was having no joy with any other software, so I wandered over to have a look.

Solution

Let me save you some time: If you are trying to recover a Volume Licence Key (MAK, Multiple Activation Key) YOU CAN’T, they are deleted from the machine when the machine is activated (apart from the last five characters.)

How To Check If You are Running a Windows Volume Licensed Version;

Run the following command;

[box]

slmgr /dlv

[/box]

Volume Licenced.

You can see that this particular machine is running on a volume licence. You will all note that further down it gives you the last five characters of the actual key “BHCH3”. This is to stop people just extracting a Volume Licence, once activated, because Windows removes the key. It takes the last five characters of the key and stores them in a file called ‘tokens.dat’, You will find it at

C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\NetworkService\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\SoftwareProtectionPlatform\tokens.dat

You will see the similar information if you run the Microsoft Genuine Advantage Diagnostic Tool;

Retail

To recover a key from a retail version of Windows is easy, most free key finders will recover keys for you.

There is another curve ball, that might set you off in the WRONG DIRECTION as well, if you trawl the forums you will find scripts that will ‘tell you’ they decode the registry keys that usually hold the windows key, like this;

You will see posts that say, “no don’t use that registry key ‘DigitalProductID’ change it to ‘DigitalProductID4’ and it will work”. Well it does work! But sadly the key you get will not.

Download the scripts to see for yourself ‘GetProductKey‘

OSX: Backup ‘Sparsebundle’ is Already In Use

Posted on 06/11/2018 by PeteLong

KB ID 0001486

Problem

Thankfully I’ve never had to rely on my Mac backup, but it runs to an EMC Iomega NAS drive that I have in my house, (which also has all my media on it).

Backup Failed
The backup on “target-name” is already in use.

If I expand ‘details’;

Time Machine couldn’t complete the backup to “target-name”.
The backup disk image “/Volumes/Volume-Name/Mac-Name.sparsebundle” is already in use.

Solution

Now rebooting the NAS drive cures the problem, but (as stated) it’s got all my media on it which is then inaccessible for 10-15 minutes (not good if I’m watching a film, or TV series).

What you need to do is open System Preferences (click the ‘apple’ logo and select System Preferences) > Spotlight > Privacy > Add > Add in the backup volume.

Reboot your mac, (or dismount and remount the backup volume) > problem resolved. For example, below I’ve got a folder called ‘Movies’ mounted and it’s on the same device, If I remove that with the following command, my backup will start almost straight away.

[box]sudo umount -f Movies[/box]

Veeam Repository: ReFS with 64 KB Block Popup

Posted on 28/07/2018 by PeteLong

KB ID 0001452

Problem

When adding a ‘Backup Repository’ to Veeam you may see one of the following;

The file system on the specified volume does not support fast cloning. We recommend using ReFS volume formatted with 64 KB cluster size. Proceed anyway?

The specified ReFS volume is formatted with 4 KB cluster size. We recommend formatting the volume with 64 KB cluster size. Proceed anyway?

Solution

Without going into what ReFS is, think of it as the new NTFS. So that’s the format which you use when formatting the volume you want to use as a repository, the second error above will be seen if you did format the volume as ReFS but used the default 4 KB block size. This is what you need to do when creating the volume;

But there’s already data on the drive! Well tough, either accept and proceed, or move the data elsewhere and reformat. (At present there is no way to convert an NTFS volume to ReFS).

Windows: Enable ‘Previous Versions’

Posted on 26/01/2018 by PeteLong

KB ID 0001393

Problem

Anyone who’s ever trashed a spreadsheet, or saved a file over the top of one that they shouldn’t, will appreciate previous versions. It’s done by a technology we have had since Windows XP (and Server 2003) called ‘shadow copy’. If you are familiar with virtualisation it’s a bit like taking ‘snapshots’ of files.

It’s also great for sysadmins, as users can ‘restore’ their own files if they break them. The problem is, the first time you need it, its probably not turned on!

Solution

You enable shadow copies at a ‘volume’ level, Server Manager> Tools> Computer Management > Share Folders > Configure Shadow Copies > Select the Volume > Enable.

It will use up to 10% of the drive to store its copies, you can change this if you require (Settings), you can also change the schedule that copies are taken (Settings > Schedule).

Resizing Windows Volumes / Drives in VMware vSphere / ESX

Posted on 17/11/2015 by Migrated

KB ID 0000381

Problem

This article is primarily geared towards making your guest virtual machines hard drives LARGER, If you want to SHRINK or make the drive smaller then see the following article.

Resizing Guest Hard Drives using the VMware Converter

Solution

Re sizing a Guests Hard Drive (Make it larger)

1. On the properties of the VM select the hard disk in question and locate its size.

2. Enter the new size and hit OK. Note: Making the drive size smaller, will have no affect, if you want to do that clone the drive. If the option is “Greyed out” then make sure you DO NOT have any snapshots for this machine.

Re-sizing the guests “Volume” Option 1 – Graphically

Note: To do this using diskpart skip forward to number 10.

3. On the guest > Right click “My Computer” > Manage > Locate “Disk Management”. You will see there’s some free space that’s appeared on the end of the drive, (Click action > Re-scan if you can’t see it).

4. Simply right click the existing volume and select “Extend Volume”.

5. Next.

6. Copy in the extra space you want to assign (all of it probably) > Next.

7. Finish.

8. All the physical drive should now be committed.

9. And just to be sure, look in “My Computer” the drive is now 300 GB.

Re-sizing the guests “Volume” Option 2 – From Command Line with diskpart

10. Start > run > cmd{enter}

[box]diskpart list volume&lt select volume x –Where x is the volume number of the volume to be re sized[/box]

11. The final command is simply extend (This uses ALL the available free space.) Note the volume size in the picture below has jumped up by 40 GB.

Resizing a System (boot) Partition.

Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 can do this quite happily. Older versions of Windows do not like having their system drive re sized, you see the following error if you try,

Error: The volume you have selected may not be extended. Please select another volume and try again.

Option 1 (Connect this drive to another machine)

In a virtual environment this is much simpler, but even if its a real physical hard drive, you can put it into another server and re size it. In an ESX environment simply do the following,

1. Shut down the machine that needs its drive re sizing, then go to another virtual machine’s properties and select add.

2. Hard Disk > Next.

3. Select “Use existing virtual disk” > Next.

4. Browse to the the drive we want to re size > Next.

5. Next.

6. Finish.

7. Now on the VM (Action > Re-scan disks). You will see the drive, and it’s not listed as a system drive, so you can extend it using any of the methods listed above.

8. For example, heres the drive re sized using disport.

9. when you have re sized the drive go back to the properties of the machine you have connected it to, and remove it.

10. OK.

11. Now power on the original VM and drive will be re sized.

Option 2 (Re size the Windows volume with GParted)

Note: This will work for a physical server as well.

1. Here’s our system drive with some nice shiny free space.

2. Make sure the server in question can boot from CD, in VMware do the following to boot to the machines BIOS, for a real server watch the screen as the server boots for instructions (Usually F10, F1 or Esc but differs depending on vendor).

3. Locate the boot order and make sure CD/DVD is at the top of the list.

4. Download GParted burn the image to CD, if you are working on a real server (use ImgBurn if your stuck). Or simply point the VM to the iso image, and boot the machine in question from it. At the welcome screen press Enter.

5. Use your arrow and tab keys to select Don’t touch the keymap > OK.

6. Pick a language.

7. We want to launch the GUI (X Windows), so select 0 (Zero).

8. Select Re size/Move > Drag the arrow to include the free space > Re size/Move.

9. Apply

10. Apply.

11. Close.

12. Click GParted > Quit.

13. Exit > Reboot/Shutdown > OK.

14. Remove the CD/ISO and press Enter.

15. The guest will run chkdsk the firs time it boots. This is normal don’t panic.

16. Once booted the volume will be re sized.

Shrink a Windows Partition with diskpart

1. To actually make the volume smaller with diskpart, the initial commands are the same.

2. If you use “shrink” on its own is will shrink the drive as much as it can (I cannot think of any situation where you would do this!). So to shrink the volume by 10 GB simply issue a “shrink minimum 10240”. (The figure in in MB).

Windows – Adding Unallocated Drive Space “From the left”

Posted on 17/11/2015 by Migrated

KB ID 0000678

Problem

On my Windows Dual boot machine I wanted to give some more drive space to the Windows 8 installation. After shrinking the Windows 7 volume, I found out that I could not extend the Windows 8 partition to take up the free space.

If the unallocated space was on the right of my partition it would have been fine.

Solution

This is a problem with Windows and cannot be done via ‘Disk Management’ or using Diskpart.

1. Download a copy of AOMEI Partition Assistant, and install it.

Step 1 Move the Windows Partition to the left

2. Launch the software, select the partition you want to move> Right click > Move Partition.

3. Click and drag the required partition all the way over to the left > OK.

Step 2 Resize the Partition

4. Now the partition is in the right place, you will want to add the free space > Right click > Resize Partition.

5. This time click and drag the handle on the right hand side of the drive to take up all the fee space > OK.

6. To commit the changes > Apply > OK.

7. You will be prompted to reboot, do so.

8. After the reboot the software will launch and make the partition changes (THIS CAN TAKE A LONG TIME!).

9. When complete press any key to reboot, don’t panic if either Windows Startup Repair launches, or Windows chkdisk runs, just let it do its own thing. When you are back in Windows your partitions should have resized and be in the right place.

Windows Server – Setup Home Folders and Profile Folders

Posted on 17/11/2015 by Migrated

KB ID 0000739

Problem

A while back I got an email,

Message: Hallo Pete,

Can you make a tutorial for me for sharing a Home Folder or Profile Path folder for every user?
It’s hard to get one.

Thanks in advance.

Sincerely,
Matthew Wittenberg </br

Well it’s taken me a while (sorry!) But here you go,

Solution

Creating and Allocating Home Folders to Users

1. Create a folder that is on a drive or volume with plenty of room.

2. I’ve simply used ‘Home’ as the folder name, open the folder’s properties.

3. Sharing Tab > Advanced Sharing.

4. Tick to share > put a dollar ‘$’ symbol onto the end of the share name (this just stops the folder being visible to someone browsing the network) > Permissions.

5. Grant Everyone ‘Full Control’, Don’t worry we will lock it down with NTFS permissions (Remember permissions are cumulative, and most restrictive apply) > Apply > OK.

6. Security tab > Advanced.

7. Change Permissions.

8. Untick ‘Include inheritable permissions……’ > Add.

9. Select CREATOR OWNER > Edit > Permissions should apply to ‘Subfolders and files only’ > Full control.

10. Select SYSTEM > Edit > Permissions should apply to ‘This Folder, subfolders and files only’ > Full control.

11. Select DOMAINNAMEAdministrators > Edit > Permissions should apply to ‘This Folder, subfolders and files only’ > Full control.

12. Remove the Users (the one with Read & Execute).

13. Remove the Users (the one with Special).

14. Add.

15. Everyone > check Name (make sure it underlines Everyone) > OK

16. Sett Apply to = This folder only > Allow the following.

Traverse Folder / execute file
List Folder / read data
Read attributes
Create Folders / append data

Allocate the Home Folder to the Domain Users

1. From within Active Directory Users and Computers locate your users, (you can press Windows Key+A to select them all).

2. Open their properties.

3. Profile tab > You can connect a drive letter (I usually use H:) and connect that to the users home drive. Set the path like so;

[box]

\\Server-name\Folder-name\%username%
e.g.
\\PNL-DC\Home$\%username%

[/box]

4. This is what the users will see.

5. On the server the folders are all created straight away.

Creating and Allocating Roaming Profile Folders to Users

The process for setting up the folder is identical to the one above for the home folders.

1. Create a folder that is on a drive or volume with plenty of room.

2. I’ve simply used ‘Profile’ as the folder name, open the folder’s properties > Sharing Tab > Advanced Sharing > Tick to share > put a dollar ‘$’ symbol onto the end of the share name (this just stops the folder being visible to someone browsing the network) > Permissions.

3. Grant Everyone ‘Full Control’, Don’t worry we will lock it down with NTFS permissions (Remember permissions are cumulative, and most restrictive apply) > Apply > OK.

4. Security tab > Advanced.

5. Change Permissions > Untick ‘Include inheritable permissions..’ > Add.

6. Remove the Users (the one with Read & Execute).

7. Remove the Users (the one with Special).

8. Add.

9. Everyone > check Name (make sure it underlines Everyone) > OK.

10. Set Apply to = This folder only > Allow the following.

Traverse Folder / execute file
List Folder / read data
Read attributes
Create Folders / append data

Allocate the Roaming Profile Folder to the Domain Users

1. From within Active Directory Users and Computers locate your users, (you can press Windows Key+A to select them all).

2. Open their properties > Profile Tab > Tick ‘Profile path’ > Set the path as follows;

[box]

\\Server-name\Folder-name\%username%
e.g.
\\PNL-DC\Profiles$\%username%

[/box]

3. Unlike home folders, profile folders are only created when the users log onto the network, here you can see this profile has a V2 on the end of it (a version 2 profile means it has come from a Windows Vista or newer machine). For this reason if your users use Windows XP (or older) clients, AND Windows Vista (or newer) clients they will get TWO DIFFERENT profiles.

No Speakers or Headphones with HDMI Device Connected

Posted on 17/11/2015 by Migrated

KB ID 0000961

Problem

My laptop does not have RGB or DVI on it for an external monitor, it has just got an HDMI connector. While I was working in the office I thought I’ll pop my headphones in and listen to some music, and was met with silence?

Solution

When you connect an HDMI device windows ‘assumes’ that you will be outputting sound to that device, (great thanks).

1. Open Control Panel (Window Key+X on Windows 8) > Sound. Below you can see it has set the monitor as the default playback device.

2. Select your speakers (even if you want headphones, that’s what the HP is for!) > Set Default > Apply > OK.

Dual Booting Windows 8 with Windows 7

Posted on 17/11/2015 by Migrated

KB ID 0000653

Problem

In the next couple of months Windows 8 will go RTM. For those of you with Technet, MSDNor Open Value subscriptions you can already get your hands on it. For anyone not wanting to take the ‘plunge’ and reinstall your OS, you can simply ‘Dual Boot’. Then you can get used to Windows 8 in your own good time. If you suddenly find you need Windows 7 simplify reboot and it will still be there.

Solution

Create a Partition for Windows 8

1. From within Windows 7 > Start > Right Click ‘Computer’ > Manage.

2. Launch Disk Management.

3. This machine has one large C: (System Drive). I’m going to ‘Shrink’ the volume that’s on it to free up room for a Windows 8 Partition, but first I’m going to rename it so we know what it is > Right click > Properties.

4. Call it ‘Windows 7’ > Apply > OK.

5. Now Right click > Shrink Volume.

6. Pick the amount to shrink the volume by, Note: Windows 8 needs 20 GB (Minimum) > Shrink.

7. Once complete, right click the newly created ‘free space’ > New Simple Volume.

8. Accept all the defaults and name the volume ‘Windows 8’.

9. Now we have a partition to install to.

Install Windows 8

10. Note: To install from DVD the computer MUST be set to boot from CD/DVD before it’s hard drive. This is set in the computers BIOS, how this is done varies from model to model.

11. Boot the machine and when prompted press any key to boot from DVD. Select your language options > Next.

12. Enter your Windows 8 unlock code > Next.

13. Accept the EULA > Next.

14. Select CUSTOM.

15. Now you can see why I named the partitions, select Windows 8 > Next.

16. Ignore this for now and let Windows 8 install.

17. It will run setup then reboot.

18. At this point Windows 8 will be the OS that boots by default, you will probably want it to be Windows 7 so select “Change defaults or choose other options”

19. Choose the default operating system.

Note: The ‘Change the timer’ Setting changes the seconds countdown shown at boot, as illustrated in step 27 below.

20. Set it to Windows 7 > Back.

21. Now Select Windows 8 to boot into that OS.

22. Run through the ‘Personalise’ steps.

23. I don’t want to login with a Microsoft account so I’m selecting “Sign in without a Microsoft account” > Next.

24. Local account.

25. Create an account to login with > Finish.

26. There’s Windows 8!

27. When you reboot you can now choose which OS you want to use.

Note: The seconds counter below is set to the default of 30 seconds.

28. If you select nothing Windows 7 will boot by default.

Problem

vSphere Adding iSCSI Solution (vSphere 7/8)

vSphere Adding iSCSI Storage: Create Port Binging

vSphere Adding iSCSI Storage: Add iSCSI Target

vSphere Adding iSCSI Solution (vSphere 5/6)

Allow Jumbo Frames Cisco Catalyst 3750-X

IBM Storagewize v3700 iSCSI

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

Solution

How To Check If You are Running a Windows Volume Licensed Version;

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

Problem

Solution

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

Problem

Solution

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

Problem

Solution

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

Problem

Solution

Re sizing a Guests Hard Drive (Make it larger)

Re-sizing the guests “Volume” Option 1 – Graphically

Re-sizing the guests “Volume” Option 2 – From Command Line with diskpart

Resizing a System (boot) Partition.

Option 1 (Connect this drive to another machine)

Option 2 (Re size the Windows volume with GParted)

Shrink a Windows Partition with diskpart

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

Problem

Solution

Step 1 Move the Windows Partition to the left

Step 2 Resize the Partition

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

Problem

Solution

Creating and Allocating Home Folders to Users

Allocate the Home Folder to the Domain Users

Creating and Allocating Roaming Profile Folders to Users

Allocate the Roaming Profile Folder to the Domain Users

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

Problem

Solution

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

Problem

Solution

Create a Partition for Windows 8

Install Windows 8

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links