VMware KB: Default behavior of DRS has been changed to make the feature less aggressive.
VMware has released vCenter Server 5.5 Update 2 version D today. In the release notes, VMware called out that a new configuration parameter has been added to adjust DRS aggressiveness when a host is going into maintenance mode.

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October 28, 2014

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Networking, Troubleshooting, Updates, vCenter, vSphere

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VMware KB: Unable to open a virtual machine console using the vSphere Web client in VMware vCenter Server 5.5 update 2

VMware KB: Unable to open a virtual machine console using the vSphere Web client in VMware vCenter Server 5.5 update 2.

This KB article restates an item from the vCenter 5.5 Update 2 release notes:

Virtual machines with HTML 5 console in vSphere 5.5 open connections with http:// instead of https://
When the HTML 5 console is launched on a virtual machine, it uses connections like http:// and web sockets like ws:// instead of secure connections like https:// and wss://.

This release resolves the issue by launching the virtual machine console with secure connection over port 7343 instead of the connection over port 7331.

This was a welcome change, but it introduces a potential connectivity issue for those who don’t read the release notes!

Here is a link to the release notes: https://www.vmware.com/support/vsphere5/doc/vsphere-vcenter-server-55u2-release-notes.html#networkingissues

Here is the top level KB article for required TCP and UDP ports for vSphere products. Notice the left hand column where the version numbers are listed!
TCP and UDP Ports required to access VMware vCenter Server, VMware ESXi and ESX hosts, and other network components

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September 24, 2014

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Updates, vCenter, vSphere

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vSphere Client 5.5 Update 2 now has the capability to edit VMs with VM hardware version 10

With the release of vSphere 5.5 Update 2 last week, the vSphere client now has the ability to edit the properties of VMs with hardware compatibility level set to version 10.

With previous versions of the vSphere Client ( aka as the “C# Client”), the following error message is displayed when you attempt to edit a VM with hardware version 10:

You cannot use the vSphere client to edit the settings of virtual machines of version 10 or higher. Use the vSphere Web Client to edit the settings of this virtual machine.

The VMware vSphere Blog article: http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2014/09/using-vsphere-5-5u2-client-edit-settings-virtual-machines-version-10-higher.html describes the capabilities and includes a link with a typo for the following KB article: http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2061336.

For more information on the resolved and known issues with vCenter 5.5 Update 2, see the release notes at: https://www.vmware.com/support/vsphere5/doc/vsphere-vcenter-server-55u2-release-notes.html

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November 26, 2013

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ESXi, training, vCenter, vSphere

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VMware KB: VMware vSphere 5 Memory Management and Monitoring diagram

While digging through VMware’s Knowledge Base for articles for a future blog post I ran across this and couldn’t wait to share.

This has the most brilliant diagram of the various memory management features and their instrumentation in the various interfaces available to vSphere admins.

VMware KB: VMware vSphere 5 Memory Management and Monitoring diagram.

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vminstructor

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November 26, 2013

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Updates, vCenter, VMware, vSphere

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Upgrading vCenter Server to 5.5 in my lab – part5

Upgrading Update Manager

Read the following KB article:

Upgrading to vSphere Update Manager 5.5 on a Microsoft Windows platform (2058423)

Upgrade procedure:

Mount the vSphere 5.5 installation media. The installation wizard appears.

In the left pane, under VMware vCenter Support Tools, click vSphere Update Manager and then click Install.

Note: If any of the prerequisites are not met, they are listed in the right pane under Prerequisites.

Select the appropriate language from the dropdown and click OK.

If a previous version of vSphere Update Manager is already installed, the installer displays the message:
An earlier version of VMware vSphere Update Manager is already installed on this computer. Click OK to upgrade to 5.5.0

Click OK.

In the welcome screen, click Next.

Review the End User License Agreement. If you agree, select the I accept the terms in the license agreement option and click Next.

Optionally, select the Download updates from default sources immediately after installation option and click Next.

Note: This option automatically checks for downloading updates. If you want to review the default download sources or configure vSphere Update Manager to use a shared repository, deselect this option.

Enter the vCenter Server URL and a username and password and then click Next.

Notes:
If the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) or IP address of the vCenter Server and/or the username are not auto-populated, enter the FQDN and/or username manually.
Ensure that the username entered has a minimum of Register extension privilege to be able to register vSphere Update Manager with vCenter Server.

When prompted, enter the database user name and password for the existing database and click Next.

Select one of these options when prompted with a database upgrade warning:

Upgrade existing Update Manager database
Note: You must acknowledge that a backup has been taken of the Update Manager database.
Do not upgrade the existing Update Manager database

Click Next.

Optionally, from the dropdown, select either the IP address or the FQDN of vSphere Update Manager and then, check if the alternative TCP port numbers for the SOAP, Web, and SSL ports of vCenter Server appear and then click Next.

Note from the KB article: These fields are automatically populated with the appropriate URL and port numbers if the service is installed in the current system. The default ports are 8084, 9084, and 9087 respectively. Ensure that vCenter Server and the ESXi/ESX hosts can resolve the vSphere Update Manager.

Note: The next few steps from the Upgrade procedure were not required in my upgrade. The settings from my previous installation were reused including the patch repository location.

Optionally, select the Yes, I have Internet connection and I want to configure proxy settings now option and click Next.

Provide the proxy server address and the proxy server port and then click Next.

Optionally, select the Authenticate proxy using the credentials below option if your proxy server requires authentication and then click Next.

Optionally, provide an alternative installation location and then click Next.
Note: If the current system does not have 120 GB of disk space available, a warning is displayed when you click Next. Click OK to acknowledge the warning.

In the Ready to Install screen, click Install to start the installation.

Installing…

When the installation completes, click Finish.

Installed programs shows the upgraded vCenter Update Manager:

Update Manager Client Plug-in Install

Connect the vSphere Client to a vCenter Server system with which Update Manager is registered.

Select Plug-ins > Manage Plug-ins.

In the Plug-in Manager window, click Download and install for the VMware vSphere Update Manager extension.

If you receive a security warning, click Run.

Choose the appropriate language.

On the Welcome screen, click Next.

Review the End User License Agreement. If you agree, select the I accept the terms in the license agreement option and click Next.

On the Ready to install page, click Install.

If you are prompted by User Access Control, Click Yes.

Installing…

Complete the Update Manager Client installation, and click Finish.

The status for the Update Manager extension is displayed as Enabled.

Click Close to close the Plug-in Manager window.

With vSphere Update Manager upgraded, I can now experiment with upgrading ESXi hosts from 5.1 to 5.5 automatically. There are still a few components left to upgrade, including the vSphere ESXI dump collector, the vSphere Syslog collector and vShere Auto Deploy. More posts to follow!

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November 22, 2013

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Upgrading vCenter Server to 5.5 in my lab – part 4

Upgrade to vCenter Server 5.5

This is the fourth post in a series of articles chronicling the process of upgrading my personal vSphere lab system from 5.1 to 5.5.

Before you get started with the upgrade, you should read the following KB article:

Upgrading to vCenter Server 5.5 on a Microsoft Windows platform (2058275)

Information Required for vCenter Server Installation or Upgrade

Upgrade procedure:

Mount the vSphere 5.5 installation media. The installation wizard appears.

In the left pane, under Custom Install, click vCenter Server and then click Install.

Note: If any of the prerequisites are not met, they are listed in the right pane under Prerequisites.

Select the appropriate language from the dropdown and the click OK.

In the welcome screen, click Next.

If a previous version of vCenter Server is installed, the welcome screen displays the message:
An earlier version of vCenter Server is already installed on this computer and will be upgraded to vCenter Server 5.5.0

Review the End User License Agreement. If you agree, select the I accept the terms in the license agreement option, and click Next.

In the license key screen, enter your license key and then click Next. (If you have a valid vCenter 5.x license and are performing an upgrade, your existing key will work when the install is completed.)

Note from the KB article: You can view your license keys in My VMware. For more information, see Viewing license keys in My VMware (2006831). If you do not enter a license key, you can proceed with a 60 Day Evaluation license and you see a popup, which prompts you to acknowledge that you are proceeding without a license.

Click Yes to proceed.

Enter the database user name and password for the existing database and click Next.

If you receive a warning about registered extensions like VMware vCenter Update Manager, Click OK. You will need to install compatible versions after the vCenter server install is complete.

Select Upgrade existing vCenter Server database when prompted with the database upgrade warning:

Note: You must acknowledge that a backup has been taken of the vCenter Server database and SSL certificates.
Click Next.

Select automatic or manually upgrade the vCenter Agents that are installed on ESXi hosts. Click Next.

Select the user type that the vCenter Server should run with and click Next.
You can use one of these options:

Use Windows Local System Account
Use an alternate account (In production deployments, I always use a specific account for the vCenter Server service.)

In this lab instance, I have used the Windows Local System Account.

Optionally, provide an alternative TCP port number for the VMware VirtualCenter Server service and click Next.

Note: Changing the default ports is recommended only if you have an unchangeable port conflict on the same system.

Select one of these inventory sizes, Click Next.

Small is sufficient for my lab environment.

Enter the SSO Lookup Service URL and SSO administrator username and password. You may be prompted to install the Lookup Service Certificate.

Note: You must use the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) and not the IP address. Using the IP may result in certificate related errors when starting vCenter Server. For more information, see vCenter Server 5.x fails to start after upgrading Single Sign-On configuration from vSphere 5.1 to vSphere 5.5 (2058080).

Click Next.

When prompted, verify the fingerprint of the certificate and click Yes.

In the vCenter Inventory Service Information dialog, check if the FQDN of the vCenter Inventory Service URL and port number are displayed. These fields are auto-populated.

Notes:

If the FQDN is not auto-populated, enter the FQDN manually.
The default port is 10443.

Click Next.
Optionally, provide an alternative installation location and then click Next. (The installer used the path from my existing vCenter server install.)

Notes from the KB article:

The installation path of vCenter Server must be compatible with the installation requirements for Microsoft Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM/AD LDS). The installation path cannot contain non-ASCII characters, commas (,), periods (.), exclamation marks (!), pound signs (#), at signs (@), or percentage signs (%).
The path must conform to NTFS naming restrictions. For more information, see the Microsoft TechNet article Naming Files, Paths, and Namespaces.
The installation requires 4 GB of disk space to be available. For more information, see the Hardware Requirement for vCenter Server, the vSphere Web Client, vCenter Inventory Service, and vCenter Single Sign-On section in the vSphere Installation and Setup Guide.

In the Ready to Install screen, click Install.