Hi everyone, new to the groups :-)

We have just purchased ESX/VSphere and are moving away from our old free esx and now i would like to upgrade our server hardware, we will be using a mix of windows servers with sql (only 2 windows guests with sql) a moodle server and some general windows 2008 servers.

i understand that more memory is always best and plan to have a minimum of 64Gig memory in each host server, might try for 128 but depends on budget.

what do i look for in terms of CPU? at the moment we have single CPU's at around 2.6 GHz each has 4 cores, things work great and normally i only have issues with amount of memory for guests (the hosts have 24Gig ram, cant upgrade any more)

Im looking at the E5645 @2.4GHz its a six core CPU, each new host will have 2 with, as stated above, between 64 and 128 Gig of RAM

any thoughts?

thanks

steve

I am trying to setup an automated install of ESXi hosts using the kickstart script and the jointovCenter python script from here http://www.virtuallyghetto.com/2011/03/how-to-automatically-add-esxi-host-to.html

Everything works great and ESXi auto-installs with the kickstart script and then after %firstboot it runs this script, or if i run it manually with # python joinvCenter.py from the service console. In the logs it lists out all of the syslog messages generated from the script saying it successfully joined vCenter but it does not actually join and I see no signs of life from vCenter or in the vCenter logs. vCenter does not appear to do anything, like sending out the agent etc.

Does anyone know why it would not be joining the host to the vCenter cluster? I am at a dead end here since all of the logs show success when running the script.

I want to monitor the raid status of my esxi 5.0 system within the vSphere client. Afaik the built in controller is an adaptec 5405 (http://www.adaptec.com/de-de/downloads/vmware/vmware_esx/productid=sas-5405&dn=adaptec+raid+5405.html). On the adaptec website are only drivers for vphere 4.1.

I searched on the vmware website and found a couple of driver packages here: https://my.vmware.com/group/vmware/searchresults/?client=my_download&site=my_download&proxystylesheet=my_download_en&gsa_lang=en&c=All&q=adaptec+5405

Does anybody know if one of these drivers will allow me to monitor the raid status within the vSphere client?

How to test this inGuestAppMonitor SDK API in vmware tools in vSphere 5.1 VM?

ballooning will eventually start reclaiming active memory or not?

I'm having an issue getting a external hard drive to pass through to a Windows 2008 VM machine.  I'm running ESXi 5.1 and have the device plugged into a USB 2.0 port.  My hosts are Proliant DL380p Gen8.

I've added the USB Controller and the USB Host Device to the machine:

When I go to Task and Event for the VM machine in Vcenter I get the following error:

I'm  at a loss for what else to try?  Everything I've found pertains to  Workstation and making sure your using a USB 2.0 port, which I am.  Any  advice would be greatly appreciated.

Is it possible to connect two multi-NIC ESXi 5 servers together with a crossover cable?

Here is my scenario. I have two ESXi servers with 2 NICs each. I want to connect one port from each box to the main network and the other port with a cable going directly from one server to the other.

I then want to setup static IP addresses for all 4 NICs, and have the 2 NICs that are directly connected running a unique subnet that is not visible from the rest of the network. Ultimately, I want to setup a unique subnet for most of the VMs on both boxes which is routed to the main network but never seen from the main network (i.e. the main network would never see this special subnet).

If this is possible, how would you configure the boxes to do it?

I can't figure out how to set static IP addresses on the secondary NICs. Neither have I found a way to configure routing so that the VMs I choose would be using this "private" subnet (the same subnet on both ESX boxes).

Hi, is there a cmd line to add ports to the existing vSwitch ?

I am trying to use a kickstart script and I would first like to add the switch and later add the ports, I don't want to create the ports and switch on the same cmd

Thanks

I am working on a solution for one of my customer and evaluting SRM 5.1 with Vsphere Replication 5.1 against array based replication.  Would like to know

1.)  How many ESX servers can I protect using vSphere 5.1 replication

2.) what are pros and cons of using vSphere 5.1 against Array based replication.  I understand that RDM,snapshots and FT VMs can't be replicated using vSpere 5.1 replicator.

Hi all,

I'm new in this forum and have just installed vSphere ESXi 5.1 (free version) for testing. Now I have tried to migrate one physical and two new virtual machines onto the server. the migrated system (SLED 10) is running but is not able to retrieve a DHCP IP . When I configure it staticaly everything is fine. But that's not the prefered way  in our infrastructure. What wrong?

Thanks in advance!

Best,

Gregor

Hi,

To begin with, sorry for my bad english.

I wish to know if it is possible to install ESXi on the material listed below :

• Motherboard :Tyan S5512GM2NR (http://www.tyan.com/product_SKU_sp [...] =600000225)
• Processor : Intel Xeon E3-1230-V2 Processeur 3.3 GHz 8 MB Cache 4 Cores Socket LGA1155 Ivy Bridge (troubleshooting with an IvyBridge on this motherboard ?) (http://ark.intel.com/products/6573 [...] e-3_30-GHz)
• RAM : 16 Gb (2*8Gb) PC3-10600 - DDR3 1333 MHz , DIMM, ECC (registered or not ?)
• DD : 2*1To SATAIII 7200RPM with 64Mb cache size (WD Caviar Black 3"5)

Is the raid 1 fully compatible with the version 5.1 of ESXi ?

Are the 2 NIC recognized without any "hacking/patching" of the installation ?

Potentially, the ESXi will virtualize 4 win2008r2 servers (one of them will be a RDS Broker with about 10 clients), 3 debian and some Win7 and 8 OS (only for testing).

Thanks a lot for your advice !

Good morning,

I just wanted to share information on how I resolved an issue with "Host Hardware Voltage" errors across several of my blades in case anyone else comes across the same issue.

One of my virtual datacenters contains the same blades we use throughout our environment, same firmware, same vSphere version(821296), and the same enclosures. However, the blades in this environment keep throwing "Host Hardware Voltage" errors in relation to the CMOS battery.

Speaking with VMware support, it was agreed that since all firmware is equal across my environment, that I should upgrade the CIM providers that IBM provides for the IBM HS22V blades. This did not resolve the issue.

Yesterday, the 11th, IBM released new firmware for the Integrated Management Module which is responsible for reporting hardware data back to the vSphere host. Despite nothing being in the release notes about resolving voltage threshold issues, I flashed to 1.35 from 1.33 this morning and my issue is resolved.

This screenshot illustrates what I was seeing. For some reason, the UpperThreshold is set to 0. You will see with 1.35 firmware, there is no longer an UpperThreshold even listed.

EDIT: I want to make a correction, at first I mentioned other blades in my environment did have the 1.33 IMM firwmare, in fact, they did not, only these new blades I built a few weeks ago did. I'm going to do some testing, but it sounds like the 1.33 IMM firmware may be the cause of this issue.

I hope this helps anyone else that comes across a similar issue.

I have some HP firmware update to perform. The downloaded HP CP.scexe script says ESXi5 support but when I run it I get alerts/errors. Checking I found that the firmware updates from HP that do work are the /bin/sh scripts. I am trying to update the firmware for the hard drives and the CP??.scexe script is based in /bin/bash. In doing some research I found were in the past you could run it with the /bin/ash but at last this is still not working for me. Anyone successfully able to run a /bin/bash on ESXi? Thanks...

Dear all,

I am reading the document Setup for Failover Clustering and Microsoft Cluster Service in order to understand to design a clustered setup spread over several ESX hosts running vSphere 5.0 Enterprise.

Any idea what is the best setup?

My suggestion was:

* 2 VM's running Win2K8 R2 -  SQL 2008 R2 Active Passive cluster - vm's are running on RAID10 iSCSI box

* Present dedicated Volume via MS iSCSI initiator to 2 vm's to host SQL Database - also running on RAID10 iSCSI box

However this guide mentioned Pass-through RMD disks on clusters across physical machines and also mentioned clustering on iSCSi disks is not supported ...

Kind regards,

Kenny

We have two ESXi 5.0 clusters that are connected to two unique HP 24K SANs and those SANS are replicated between each other.  We have a need to transfer all of the VMs from one Cluster to the other.  The idea was that we would use SAN replication to block copy the LUNs from one SAN to the other and present them to the cluster on the other side.  We have done this and the ESXi hosts can see the storage but when I try to add them as a datastore the only option I have available is to format the LUN.  It seems as if it is not reading the file system on the replicated datastore.  The DS's are formatted with VMFS 5 and the SAN is back in Simplex mode after the replication.  Has anyone seen this before or will this not work for some reason?  Any ideas?

I got a purple screen when I start up a vm with a pci device

With Esxi5 was working fine.

I tested it with 2 vm on different hosts ( but same hardware)

i7 2600 32gb

mb: dq67sw

What can I try

I have a Windows VM that I ported over from Virtual Box. I told Virtual Box to export as "OVA 9.0". Added to VM inventory on the ESXi host and booted it up. After playing with the VM for a little bit, I decided to reset the virtual machines power. Upon reset of the VM, the entire ESXi 5.1 host to PSODs on me. Any idea why this would happen? I did it 3 times in a row to make sure it was the only resaon for PSOD.

This clip below is all in the same second that the host crashes.

A vmkcore disk partition is available and/or a
network coredump server has been configured. 
Host core dumps will be saved.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Port vmk0 is now protected by Firewall.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Physical NIC vmnic0 linkstate is up.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'add' for rule set vprobeServer succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'add' for rule set remoteSerialPort succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'add' for rule set vSPC succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'enable' for rule set WOL succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'add' for rule set WOL succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'add' for rule set IKED succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'add' for rule set syslog succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'add' for rule set DVSSync succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'enable' for rule set DHCPv6 succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'add' for rule set DHCPv6 succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'add' for rule set DVFilter succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'add' for rule set gdbserver succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'add' for rule set httpClient succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'add' for rule set ftpClient succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'enable' for rule set HBR succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'add' for rule set HBR succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'enable' for rule set NFC succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'add' for rule set NFC succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'add' for rule set activeDirectoryAll succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'setrequired' for rule set vSphereClient succeeded
.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'enable' for rule set vSphereClient succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'add' for rule set vSphereClient succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'enable' for rule set vMotion succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'add' for rule set vMotion succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'enable' for rule set webAccess succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'add' for rule set webAccess succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'enable' for rule set faultTolerance succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'add' for rule set faultTolerance succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'add' for rule set updateManager succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'enable' for rule set vpxHeartbeats succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'add' for rule set vpxHeartbeats succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'add' for rule set iSCSI succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'enable' for rule set CIMSLP succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'add' for rule set CIMSLP succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'enable' for rule set CIMHttpsServer succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'add' for rule set CIMHttpsServer succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'enable' for rule set CIMHttpServer succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'add' for rule set CIMHttpServer succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'add' for rule set ntpClient succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'enable' for rule set snmp succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'add' for rule set snmp succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'enable' for rule set dns succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'add' for rule set dns succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'enable' for rule set dhcp succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'add' for rule set dhcp succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'addIP4' for rule set nfsClient succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'noallowall' for rule set nfsClient succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'enable' for rule set nfsClient succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'add' for rule set nfsClient succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'add' for rule set sshClient succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'setrequired' for rule set sshServer succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'enable' for rule set sshServer succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Firewall configuration has changed. Operation
'add' for rule set sshServer succeeded.
info
1/10/2013 2:34:18 PM
host2.domain.com

 

Hi, I have been trying to figure out why there is insufficient resources to power just one small VM in my vSphere cluster.

2 X ESXi 5.1 hosts

Each host has

2 X Processors (8 cores each) with HT enabled

192GB RAM

vSphere HA has been turned on.

Admission Control Policy set to "Host failures the cluster tolerates" with the value of 1.

Created a VM with 2GB vRAM and 1 vCPU.  No memory and CPU reservation.

I put one of the host into maintenance mode and try to power on the VM but it failed to power up with the "Insufficient resources to satisfy configured failover level for vSphere HA" error.

Am I missing something?

Thanks,

Alex

Hi Everyone,

I was hoping to replace my ESXI 5.0 host (DQ45CB Core4Quad) with a DQ57TM (Core -7 860), both systems have 8GB of memory. I was able to boot from the CD and install ESXi 5.1, but upon reboot it starts to load ESXi and it stops at Loading /onetime.tgz. The only optin at this point is a hard reboot.

I have the latest BIOS release 50 and I tried another system with BIOS release 38. BIOS is configured with defaults, but with UEFI Booting enabled. Anyone have any suggestions ?

I can upgrade the Core2Quad to ESXI 5.1 and use the Core i7 for Windows 8.

Best Regards,

Paul

I've acquired a new ESX environment with a job change, trying to wrap my head around what was done in the past so have a question re: BBWC...

vCenter 5.0

Host consists of one 3.5, most are 4.1 and some 5.0

100% Local Storage, no SAN as of yet.

Trying to determine if my hosts have BBWC installed.  Short of cracking the case which I can't do since all my hosts are at a remote location.

When I look at the "Hardware Status" some list "Battery" while some don't.

If BBWC IS INSTALLED...is there any way or reason why it wouldn't show up in the Hardware tab?

Is there a command within ESX4.1 / 5.0 that I can run that will tell me if BBWC is connected?

I was once told that "Without write-cache you might see ~5-10MB/s compared to ~80-100 MB/s with BBWC/FBWC", however what Performance counter should I be looking at.  Again, this is ALL local storage.

Datastore? - don't think this since all I see there are latency rates

Disk? - And if disk, what object? the <servername>? and then what measurement, guessing Write Rate?

If there is an easier way to find out, I am all ears...