Good film about how to install PowerPath/VE

Got an excellent film about how to install PowerPath on ESX or ESXi from friends at EMC and thought it would be good to share…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDC0EQ-jM_I

VMware vSphere Firewall diagram

http://www.vreference.com/2009/09/22/firewall-diagram-updated-to-version-3/

Platespin Recon - cannot get performance counters?

Check permissions on target system:
Regedt32/hklm/currentcontrolset/control/securepipeserver/winreg. -system has full control

Hardware connectors, slots, sockets, ...

http://www.technibble.com/articlecontent/2009/07/computer-hardware-chart1.jpg

VMware Converter - P2V

Your conversion speed will vary depending on options you select during the conversion process.

VMware converter uses two types of “cloning” methods during the P2V process:

File level cloning : Performed when you make the volume smaller then original (slowest conversion speed)

Block level cloning : Performed when you maintain or make drives larger (fastest conversion speed)


If you need to see the conversion rate use the VMware Standalone. It will now report the conversion rate as well as conversion type it is using to get your data into the virtual environment.

On my last project conversion speed varied from 144GB/Hr (or 2.4GB/min block lvl copy) to 36GB/Hr (.6GB/min file lvl copy).

Installing dell openmanage 6.1 on esxi 4.0

This introduction was originally published at http://communities.vmware.com/thread/220783;jsessionid=BDA548B9B81DA124C2F62A75BC7775C6?start=30&tstart=0

...

Here are the exact steps for installing dell openmanage on ESXi 4.0. This is provided in their support site.

1) Download the appropriate RCLI (Remote Command Line Interface) package from http://www.vmware.com/http://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vcli/ depending on whether your system is running on Microsoft Windows or Linux.
2) Copy the Dell OpenManage bundle to a directory on your system.
3) Use the vihostupdate command. If you are using Microsoft Windows, navigate to the folder where you have installed the RCLI utilities to use this command. If you are using Linux, this command is installed when you install the RCLI RPM .
4) Execute the command vihostupdate --server -i -b
5) The command output displays a successful or a failed update.

You must enable CIM OEM providers on the VMware ESXi 4 system after installing the Dell OpenManage bundle to manage a system with Dell OpenManage Server Administrator.

Using vSphere Client to Enable CIM OEM Providers:
To enable CIM OEM providers using VMware vSphere Client, you need to have the vSphere Client tool installed. You can download and install the tool from https:// where is the IP address of the VMware ESXi 4 system.

To enable CIM OEM providers on the VMware ESXi 4 system using vSphere Client:
1) Log on to the VMware ESXi 4 system in which vSphere Client is installed.
2) Click the Configuration tab.
3) Under the Software section on the left side, click Advanced Settings.
4) In the Advanced Settings dialog box, click “UserVars” on the left pane.
5) Change the value of the “CIMOEMProvidersEnabled” field to 1.
6) Click OK.
7) Restart your system for the change to take effect. Use the Summary tab in vSphere Client to restart the system.

BIND 9 Configure Views To Partition External and Internal DNS Information

http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/linux-unix-bind9-named-configure-views/

DELL BladeChassis Cookbook

http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/10G+Blades+Cookbook

vCenter and MSSQL

To prepare a SQL Server database to work with vCenter Server, you generally need to create a SQL Server database user with database operator (DBO) rights. When you do this, make sure that the database user login has the db_owner fixed database role on the vCenter Server database and on the MSDB database. The db_owner role on the MSDB database is required for installation and upgrade only, and you can revoke it after installation.

If you are using SQL 2008, make sure you go to the “CMD” line and change the default ODBC from 32 to 64 Bit

Should read: If you are using Windows 2008 64 bit OS and vCenter with SQL, launch the 32 bit ODBC connector.

Create a 32-Bit DSN on a 64-Bit Operating System
You can install or upgrade to vCenter Server on both 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems.
Even though vCenter Server is supported on 64-bit operating systems, the vCenter Server system must have
a 32-bit DSN. This requirement applies to all supported databases. By default, any DSN created on a 64-bit
system is 64 bit.
Procedure
1 Install the ODBC drivers.
n For Microsoft SQL Server database servers, install the 64-bit database ODBC drivers on your Microsoft
Windows system. When you install the 64-bit drivers, the 32-bit drivers are installed automatically.
n For Oracle database servers, install the 32-bit database ODBC drivers on your Microsoft Windows
system.
NOTE The default install location on 64-bit operating systems is C:\VMware.
2 Run the 32-bit ODBC Administrator application, located at [WindowsDir]\SysWOW64\odbcad32.exe.
3 Use the application to create your DSN.
You now have a DSN that is compatible with vCenter Server. When the vCenter Server installer prompts you
for a DSN, select the 32-bit DSN.

vSphere 4 Default and CTRL-ALT-DEL

If you hit CTRL-ALT-DEL on ESX 4 console, the server will reboot even if there are running VMs and it doesn't matter if the server is not in Maintenance Mode.

To disable this yourself:

1. Edit /etc/inittab. Any text editors will do- I like nano but vi works just as well.
2. Search for "CTRL-ALT-DELETE" or "ctrlaltdel"
3. Comment out the line "ca::ctrlaltdel:/sbin/shutdown -t3 -r now" with a # symbol.

It should look like:

# Trap CTRL-ALT-DELETE

# ca::ctrlaltdel:/sbin/shutdown -t3 -r now

4. Save and exit the file.
5. To make this take effect without a reboot, run the command:

init q

Automating vSphere ESX4 host installations

http://blog.laspina.ca/ubiquitous/tag/esx-4-0