Tag Archives: VMware

Unable to install VMware tools. Error 1606.

Today I had to virtualize several Windows 2008 R2 Terminal server. After a successful conversion I ran into a problem when installing the VMware Tools.

Error 1606. Could not access network location [servername]\[sharename]\desktop\programs\startup\.


This error is caused by a Group Policies that was redirecting the start menu to another server (also for the domain administrator and local administrator). Because I started the VM in an isolated environment it was unable to check the free disc space of the network share and gave me this error. This error is discussed in VMware KB1017886.

In my case there were two directories redirected to a server that was not reachable for this server. I also checked the Current User settings, but there was nothing directing to the unreachable server.



To solve the error change both register keys to their original settings. 

  • The “Common Startup” key should be “%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup”
  • The “Common Programs” key should be “%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs”

The original setting of all the keys. 


Restart the VMware Tools installation and now everything should work without any problems.

More information:

VCAP5-DCA Objective 8.2 – Administer vSphere Using the vSphere Management Assistant

Knowledge

  • Identify vMA prerequisites
  • Identify vMA specific commands
  • Determine when vMA is needed

Skills and Abilities 

  • Install and configure vMA
  • Add/Remove target servers
  • Perform updates to the vMA
  • Use vmkfstools to manage VMFS datastores
  • Use vmware-cmd to manage VMs
  • Use esxcli to manage ESXi Host configurations
  • Troubleshoot common vMA errors and conditions

    Continue reading

Solving the com.vmware.sps.fault.QsConnectionException error

After en APD (All Path Down) in our hosting environment I had the following error when I tried to do something with the ESXi datastores.


The VMware environment was working correctly.
I started searching the VMware Knowledge base and found KB2064174. This KB describes exactly my problem.

Symptoms 

  • Selecting/browsing a datastore, the VMware vCenter Server 5.1.x displays the error message:

com.vmware.sps.fault.qsconnectionException

  • Selecting the Storage Views of any datastore displays the error message:

cannot initiate storage service

  • vMotion or an offline migration of a virtual machines fails with the below error message:

pbm.fault.PBMFault.summary

Resolution

To resolve this issue, ensure the VMware inventory service and the VMware profile Driven Storage Service are running.

  1. Log in as an administrator to the server that is running the vCenter Server.
  2. Click Start > Run.
  3. Type services.msc
  4. From the list of services, check the status of the VMware inventory service and the VMware profile Driven Storage Service.
  5. If any of these services are not running, right-click on the service and select Start. (A restart of the services may be applicable as well).

Note: If both of the services are not running, start the Inventory service first and the Profile Driven storage service second.

For VMware vCenter Appliance 5.x

Restart virtual center server through the web interface.

  1. Log in to the vCenter Server Appliance’s VAMI (Virtual Appliance Management Interface) at http://<IP/hostname of VC>:5480
  2. Select the Summary tab under vCenter Server.
  3. Click Stop beside vCenter Server to stop the process.
  4. Click Start beside vCenter Server to start the process

In my case all the services where running, so I restarted the VMware vCenter Inventory services. After this restart the error message disappeared when browsing the datastores.

VCAP5-DCA Objective 7.1 – Secure ESXi Hosts

Knowledge

  • Identify configuration files related to network security
  • Identify virtual switch security characteristics

Skills and Abilities

  • Add/Edit Remove users/groups on an ESXi host
  • Customize SSH settings for increased security
  • Enable/Disable certificate checking
  • Generate ESXi host certificates
  • Enable ESXi lockdown mode
  • Replace default certificate with CA-signed certificate
  • Configure SSL timeouts
  • Configure vSphere Authentication Proxy
  • Enable strong passwords and configure password policies
  • Identify methods for hardening virtual machines
  • Analyze logs for security-related messages
  • Manage Active Directory integration
    Continue reading

Unable to logon VMware vCenter Appliance with Root

A couple of weeks ago the VMware vCenter 5.5.0b update was released. Time to upgrade my home lab vCenter Server Appliance from version 5.5.0a to version 5.5.0b. I am using the appliance so this should be easy.

When I was trying to login to the management environment with my root account I was getting errors. Unable to authenticate.


Also when I connected with SSH to the Appliance I’m getting error messages that my password is not correct.


I know for sure that this password is the correct one. I opened a console screen from the vSphere Webclient and that one is also giving me the error.


Also the VMware vSphere Web Client is giving an error.

I am unable to logon with the root account of the appliance.

Ok.. This is a problem. I remembered reading a blog post of William Lam about a problem with the expiration date of the Root Password. So I started searching the VirtualGhetto blog site, and found the article. See http://www.virtuallyghetto.com/2013/09/how-to-recover-vcsa-55-from-expired.html

So I followed the steps described in Williams article.

  1. Boot up vCenter Server using a current Linux live CD. I am using a Ubuntu ISO that I had.
  2. Mount the VMware vCenter Server Appliance root partition. This should be /dev/sda3
  3. Edit the /etc/shadow file with your favorite editor. Advice make a copy of the shadow file before editing it.
  4. When the root password is expired there should be an x in front of the password string. This was the case

  5. Remove the x in front of the password string and save the shadow file.
  6. Reboot the VCSA. If everything went well you are able to logon with the root account.

I was able to logon into the appliance again, but to prevent future problems with the password expiration I disabled the expiration in the management page of the VCSA. Because this is my home lab this is ok.


In production environments this is not advisable

Lessons learned:

  • Configure a SMTP server and an alert email account so you will be notified when the password is going to be expired.
  • Or in a home lab environment, disable the expiration date of the root password.

More information:

Upgrading VMware vCenter Appliance 5.x to 5.5

Last week VMware vSphere 5.5 went GA, so it is time to update the home lab to the latest version. I am using the VMware vCenter Appliance (VCSA), and it is the latest version. I never did an upgrade of the VCSA so I start searching the knowledgebase of VMware and found an article describing the upgrade process (VMware KB2058441).
Prerequisites

  • Before attempting the upgrade, if you are using custom SSL certificates, ensure that they meet the requirements as per Configuring Certificate Authority (CA) signed certificates for vCenter Server Appliance 5.5 (2057223).
  • Ensure that you have taken a backup/snapshot of your existing vCenter Server Appliance and the external database.

Procedure

  1. Deploy the new VMware vCenter Appliance.
  2. Connect to both the old and new appliances in separate browser windows. For example, use a URL similar to https://ip_address_of_vCenter_VM:5480
  3. In the new appliance, start the vCenter Server Setup wizard and accept the end user license agreement.
  4. In the Configure Options panel, select Upgrade from previous version and then click Next.
  5. Copy the key from the Import this key into the source appliance field.
  6. If you are upgrading vCenter Server Appliance 5.0.x to 5.5:
    • In the old vCenter Server Appliance 5.0, click the Appliance Upgrade tab.
    • Select source for the appliance role and click Set role.
    • Click Establish Trust.
    • Paste the local appliance key into the Remote appliance key field.
    • Click Import remote key.
    • Copy the local appliance key.
    • In the new vCenter Server Appliance 5.5, paste the local appliance key into the Remote appliance key field and click Next.
  7. If you are upgrading vCenter Server Appliance 5.1 to 5.5:
    • In the old vCenter Server Appliance 5.1, paste the key from Step 5 into the Upgrade key field.
    • Click Import key.
    • Stop vCenter Server.
    • Copy the Upgrade key.
    • In the new appliance, paste the Upgrade key to the Paste the source appliance key into the field below field and click Next.
    • If there are issues detected with your SSL certificates, select the Replace the SSL certificates option. You are prompted for SSO password for user administrator@vsphere.local.

This looks pretty easy. First I deployed a new VCSA with a new name (VCSA 5.5), configured the IP settings, different than my original VCSA (VCSA 5.1). After the OVF deployment I started the VCSA and went to the management page. I accepted the EULA on my new VCSA 5.5.
Continue reading

VMworld 2013 Sessions

If you, same as me, couldn’t go to VMworld 2013 and missed all the great sessions and presentations!! Hold your horses then, VMware put some sessions online in there Youtube Channel VMworld. These sessions are publicly available so you can watch them if you missed them or watch them again because they were awesome!

This is the publicly available collection. You could also see older sessions on the VMworld website.

 
VMworld 2013: General Session – Tuesday, August 27th



VMworld 2013: Session STO5715-S – The Next Phase in the Evolution of Enterprise Storage

Server virtualization transformed compute freeing up apps from infrastructure and delivering tremendous cost savings and flexibility. Storage hasn’t caught up yet, but things are rapidly changing. The emergence of software-defined storage as a new architectural and management approach promises to bring the next level of efficiency to storage. In the session we will review what VMware’s vision for software-defined storage is, the trends that’s leading to and key benefits.

Video Link.

VMworld 2013: Session VAPP4679 – Software-Defined Datacenter Design Panel

Designing and architecting an environment that will host many Monster VM’s requires a different approach and different considerations to smaller VM’s to ensure you get the best benefits from the platform. Mostafa Khalil (VCDX-002), Andrew Mitchell (VCDX-030), Mark Achtemichuk (VCDX-050) and Michael Webster (VCDX-066) will lead a panel discussion on the design and architecture best practices and design guidance that applies when you are virtualizing many high utilization, high performance Monster VM’s. The panel will answer your questions on topics such as host and cluster design and sizing, VM sizing, performance tuning, CPU scheduling, memory management, resource management, storage design and much more. Avoid the common traps that could derail your Monster VM virtualization project.

Video Link.

VMworld 2013: Session VSVC4944 – PowerCLI Best Practices: A Deep Dive

In previous years Alan and Luc showed you some of their best practices and how to take PowerCLI one step further. This year they will dive deeper and show you some best practices you didn’t see coming. – The Software Defined Datacenter – Taking on the MOB and winning – From vSwitch to vDS – Pimp your performance graphs – Common and Cool Community Questions.

Video Link.

VMworld 2013: Session VCM7369-S – Uncovering the Hidden Truth in Log Data

Gigabytes and even terabytes of log data are generated everyday representing an untapped source of insight to help you identify and resolve problems. What if you could aggregate, index, and identify patterns across network, storage, compute, and applications to improve your service levels? VMware’s new offering, vCenter Log Insight, can help you make sense of your unstructured data and improve availability and performance of physical, virtual and cloud environments. Join us to learn about VMware’s newest offering, hear from a successful Log Insight customer, and learn:

  • How operations management can benefit from unstructured log data
  • Overview of VMware vCenter Log Insight functionality
  • Integrations and use cases with vCenter Operations Management Suite
  • Step-by-step demonstration of problem resolution using Log Insight
  • Behind the scenes with an early adopter customer If you would like to use your existing log data to accelerate troubleshooting and reduce downtime, don’t miss this session and discover how VMware Log Insight can help boost your service levels.

Video Link.

VMworld 2013: Session SEC5893 – Changing the Economics of Firewall Services

Think of the number of physical firewalls you have in your environments today. Think about its aggregated capacity. We will show you how the NSX Distributed Firewall can provide a significantly higher firewall capacity at a fraction of the CAPEX that you currently incur, using a full scale out model. We will show a true “capacity on demand” model for firewall service, enabling you to save enormous OPEX that you currently incur to pre plan, procure, provision your firewalls. We will show you get higher visibility, reduce latency, minimize network traffic and get better overall agility. We will have a customer present the benefits and value they have realized. We will walk through DMZ segmentation methods, to highlight challenges with traditional approaches and highlight benefits of the new VMware recommended approach.

Video Link.

VMworld2013: Session PHC5605-S – Everything You Want to Know About vCloud Hybrid Service

This is a spotlight session designed by you, for you. Over weeks of social media activities we solicited your content input to design a session dedicated to answering the toughest of your vCloud Hybrid Service questions. Mathew Lodge, Vice President of VMware vCloud Hybrid Service Business Unit, will take your questions directly to Christopher Rence, CIO of Digital River, one of VMware premier Early Access Program customers to understand the challenges they faced, resolution and impact of vCloud Hybrid Service on their business. Mathew will also provide a demonstration of how moving a workload from an existing environment to vCloud Hybrid Service is as easy as 1-2-3. During the session, Attendees will receive answers to their most challenging questions, view a live demonstration and learn how to make the most out of their week at VMworld.

Video Link.

VMworld 2013: Session OPT5194 – Moving Enterprise Application Dev/Test to VMware’s Internal Cloud

The VMware IT team responsible for managing enterprise applications is moving all dev/test environments to our private cloud IaaS. We have achieved impressive cycle time and cost reduction. This session is presented by VMware Director of IT responsible for the operations transformation aspects of using an internal IaaS private cloud for critical SDLC efforts. To improve agility, SDLC throughput, and reduce costs, we have automated deployment of more than a dozen standard dev/test instances including provisioning and testing combinations of dozens of different application and middleware components. In this session, we will highlight the Operations changes we made in the areas of roles, processes, organization structure, governance and business model used to fund IT operations. We are more than half way through our operations transformation. Attend this session to hear lessons learned, and gain insights from an expert with both product and operations expertise.

Video Link.

VMworld 2013: Session NET5847- NSX: Introducing the World to VMware NSX

This session will focus on introducing NSX. It will detail the product and its components, the key use cases, partner integrations and pricing and packaging.

Video Link.

VMworld 2013: Session EUC7370-S – The Software-Defined Data Center Meets End User Computer

Today, VMware’s software defined architecture is transforming the data center into a dynamic cloud environment that can be built around a private cloud infrastructure with VMware vCloud Suite or a public or hybrid cloud service with VMware vCloud Hybrid Service. But how does VMware’s End User Computing Platform fit into all of this? Join this session with our CTO and other guest speakers as we demo and discuss how are leveraging VMware’s software-defined data center to deliver end user computing workloads including desktops as a service. We’ll look at how VMware plans to automate and manage your infrastructure and desktops and additionally explore how you can deliver policy entitled access to VMware’s next-generation virtual workspace including applications, desktops and data.

Video Link.

VMworld 2013: Session BCO5129 – Protection for All: vSphere Replication & SRM Technical Update

In this session you will hear about the latest updates to the vSphere Replication and SRM technologies from VMware. Majority of this session will cover how and where you can use these technologies for a variety of use cases. Whether you have a collection of small sites managed by a single vCenter or two large sites managed by their own vCenters there is a solution for you. In this session we will explain the implementation options, how they work and how you can use them in the various combinations to achieve the level of workload protection you need. If you have any questions about how vSphere Replication works, how SRM works, what your options are with array replication, how you can protect small/medium or large sites this is the session for you.

Video Link.

After partition extend file system displays wrong disk size in Windows

Recently I was working on a VM that has some free space problems on the Exchange partition of a Windows 2008 SBS server. So I extend the hard disk in VMware and Windows. That’s easy….

I extended the Hard disk size in VMware. Then I extended the Disk size in the Disk Management tool. All without any problems. But when I was checking the disk size in the Windows Explorer the size was incorrect. The old size was still showing. This is not good!!

 

Screenshot of the hard disk size in VMware.

 

Screenshot of the disk size in Storage Manager.

 

Screenshot of the disk size in Windows Explorer.

The fix is simple, open an elevated command prompt and start DISKPART

List all volumes of the server.

DISKPART> list volume

Select the volume that has the wrong file system size. x is the ID of the effected volume.

DISKPART> select volume [x]

Extend the file system

DISKPART> extend filesystem
 

Screenshot of the Diskpart commands.

If all went well diskpart fixes the size of the file system.

Go to the Explorer and the correct disk size is shown. Problem solved.
 

Screenshot of the corrected disk size in Windows Explorer.

VCAP5-DCA Objective 6.3 – Troubleshoot Network Performance and Connectivity

Knowledge

  • Identify vCLI commands and tools used to troubleshoot vSphere networking configurations
  • Identify logs used to troubleshoot network issues

Skills and Abilities

  • Utilize net-dvs to troubleshoot vNetwork Distributed Switch configurations
  • Utilize vSphere CLI commands to troubleshoot ESXi network configurations
  • Troubleshoot Private VLANs
  • Troubleshoot vmkernel related network configuration issues
  • Troubleshoot DNS and routing related issues
  • Use esxtop/resxtop to identify network performance problems
  • Analyze troubleshooting data to determine if the root cause for a given network problem originates in the physical infrastructure or vSphere environment
  • Configure and administer Port Mirroring
  • Utilize Direct Console User Interface (DCUI) and ESXi Shell to troubleshoot, configure, and monitor ESXi networking

Continue reading

VCAP5-DCA Objective 6.2 – Troubleshoot CPU and Memory Performance

Knowledge

  • Identify resxtop/esxtop metrics related to memory and CPU
  • Identify vCenter Server Performance Chart metrics related to memory and CPU

Skills and Abilities

  • Troubleshoot ESXi host and Virtual Machine CPU performance issues using appropriate metrics
  • Troubleshoot ESXi host and Virtual Machine memory performance issues using appropriate metrics
  • Use Hot-Add functionality to resolve identified Virtual Machine CPU and memory performance issues
    Continue reading