Aggregated RSS feed from all uw.cz blogs

Bloguju, blogujes, blogujeme ...

Sat, 24 Jun 2006 08:08:00 +0000

Již delší dobu čtu v různých časopisech a webech, že psát blogy je in. Ono se řekne psát blogy! Začít je celkem jednoduché, ale pravidelně o něčem psát, a ještě aby to mělo hlavu a patu, to už tak jednoduché nebude. A o čem, že bych to chtěl vůbec psát? Bude to, jak jinak, hlavně o IT, které je již dlouhá léta a dalo by se říct i desetiletí mým koníčkem i povoláním. Takže uvidíme jak to s tím

Professional milestone / Profesní milník

Sat, 24 Jun 2006 08:12:00 +0000

ENGLISH TRANSLATION by Google TranslateJust today (April 8, 2006), actually yesterday, I received the final offer from one large multinational IT company (Dell) for the position of solution consultant. The job description sounds very interesting and the financial conditions in combination with other benefits are more than pleasant. Therefore, I decided to hang my own IT startup after five years

Dell, as you may not know it / Dell, jak ho možná neznáte

Sat, 24 Jun 2006 08:15:00 +0000

English translation by Google TranslateMy new employer will be Dell from May 15, 2006. Dell is known as a hardware vendor. Dell servers, desktops, laptops, PDAs, etc. are renowned for their stability and quality. Dell is less known as a solution provider. However, Dell has a special division - Dell Professional Services (DPS) - which provides services in areas such as large SANs (storage area

Modern Software / Moderní software

Sat, 24 Jun 2006 08:55:00 +0000

UPDATE: This English translation was produced by ChatGPT on 2025-05-17 from the original blog post dated 2006-06-24. The original Czech version appears below the translation.We often talk about a “working application,” but today’s applications—or more precisely, software systems—are no longer as simple as single-user DOS applications once were. Today, we expect software systems to handle a high

DELL | EMC storage products

Sat, 24 Jun 2006 21:15:00 +0000

I have just passed all EMC eLearning tests which are necessary to get EMC sales certification. Since 15 May till 20 May I was in EMC New Hire Trainig in Cork, Ireland to get first overview of DELL | EMC storage products. I was really impressed what is possible to do with inteligent disk arrays. The true is that products are pretty expensive for small busines but on the other hand the

Business proceses and Workflow Software

Sun, 25 Jun 2006 14:09:00 +0000

I believe to process-driven business to be successfull in long term perspective. The main key are right designed core and supported business proceses. When proceses exists you have to follow up them. There isn't big issue to design BPs but you need some tool for be sure and have a full control if everything is going on the right way. So you need some workflow software. The basic idea of workflow

DELL & JBoss Partnership

Sun, 25 Jun 2006 16:21:00 +0000

Do you known that DELL and JBoss have a partnership? See at http://www.jboss.com/partners/dell and http://www.dell.com/jbossMarc Fleury's (JBoss Founder, Chairman and CEO) published at his blog a really funny and absolutly typical DELL story because this is the way how DELL is working. DELL is always waiting until particular technology is standards based, commoditized, with business

Business proceses and Workflow Software - Part II.

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 21:57:00 +0000

Continued from part I. ... We found (with my collegue Juraj) much more enterprise software suits for BPM. It looks that BPM is trendy and lot of vendors try to catch market share. You can find these vendors in Gartner Magic Quadrant: Tibco Software, Lombardi, Savvion, Pegasystems, Fuego, IBM, and others. After our "hot" discussion about the best tool to use for workflow application we decide to

Fedora Core 5 on USB hard disk

Sun, 20 Aug 2006 14:07:00 +0000

I have DELL notebook Latitude D610 with preinstaled company standard image. We have lot of restrictions and security constraints in this image. It's absolutly correct from security and company's point of view. But because I'm working as solution/system consultant I have to test a lot of systems, softwares and solutions to have a practical experiences with latest technologies. So I had two

Monitoring server

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 20:47:00 +0000

Server for monitoring IT services is crucial for effective management of IT infrastructure and to guarantee SLA. Two years ago we developed something like that and in the end it was realy usefull piece of software. ZABBIX is very interesting open-source project for network and service monitoring. For further information check out http://www.zabbix.com

Speed of disk subsystem can be business critical

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 17:51:00 +0000

INTRODUCTIONAs a DELL System/Solution Consultant I designed hardware infrastructure for one Czech commercial ISP which wants to provide IPTV and VoD. ISP choosed software IPTV/VoD/DRM solution based on Linux OS. Together with software provider we choosed several servers PE 2970 which are AMD (x86_64) based servers. Streamer server needs cost-effective however fast enough disk subsystem.

How to build VMWare image for VMWare Player free of charge

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 20:25:00 +0000

Very good howto is available at this link.Here is copy of this article ...If you haven't done so yet, download the Free VMware Player.Next, you need the qemu-img.exe program that comes with QEMU. If you are using Windows (like I do) you can download QemuInstall-0.7.2.exe. After downloading this program, install it. Start a command prompt and go to the installation directory of QEMU, for

Excelent documentation for Soekris

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 10:57:00 +0000

Soekris is extremely good hardware for embedded computing and applications.Documentation and howto scenarios are available at Ultradesic website. FreeBSD configuration of serial console is documented at Handbook

FreeBSD 6.2 and CDMA modem Eurotel Any Data

Tue, 04 Sep 2007 07:30:00 +0000

Howto setup CDMA in FreeBSD 6.2

VMWare Certified Professional

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 16:56:00 +0000

I have passed VMWARE VCP Exam on 12-Dec-2007. CANDIDATE ID: VCP026715

Internet FailOver script for FreeBSD written in Perl

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 20:34:00 +0000

I wrote Perl script to automatically detect internet uplink failure and switch over to backup internet link. When primary link is up again script will switch it back. Script must be run in crontab as often as you wish. #!/usr/bin/perluse Net::Frame::Device;use Net::Ping;$uplink1_interface="sis0";$uplink2_interface="sis1";$lan_interface="sis2";$primary_gateway="10.0.3.1";$secondary_gateway="

VMWare appliances with pre-installed Operating Systems

Sun, 02 Dec 2007 14:52:00 +0000

Pre-installed OS images for VMWare should speed up deployment of particular OS. You can find out some images at http://www.thoughtpolice.co.uk/vmware/

AJAX suite

Sun, 09 Dec 2007 13:47:00 +0000

I found very interesting AJAX suite of dynamic web components. See at Zapatec web site.

Very interesting blog about DB & STORAGE performance

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 10:54:00 +0000

Christian has a lot of practical experiences with DB & Storage performance tunning. Look at http://christianbilien.wordpress.com/ and read some articles there. I have similar practical experiences.

Apple advertisment

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 12:59:00 +0000

Very nice Apple advertisment against Microsoft ;-)

System Management & Monitoring server - ZENOSS

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 16:30:00 +0000

Looks interesting http://www.zenoss.com I would like to practically test it. Hope to have time soon.

Eth0 disappears after cloning

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 13:55:00 +0000

When I used VMWare Cloning of Debian Gold image everything was OK except networking. Eth0 disappeared and Eth1 came up. It's due to MAC address persistent association in /etc/udev/rules.d/z25_persistent-net.rules. Solution is to avoid persistent association. If you open this file you'll see that old MAC address is associated with eth0 so you can change this MAC address. However, the easiest

@@VMWARE@@ UTS_RELEASE

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 20:30:00 +0000

Paolo Conti wrote how to hack VMware tools to work on linux kernels 2.6.18[CITATION FROM http://www.atlink.it/~conti/2007/12/19/vmware-uts_release/]Well, VMWare tools sometimes fails to install into a Linux guest with recent kernel. The error is something like this: The directory of kernel headers (version @@VMWARE@@ UTS_RELEASE) does not match your running kernel (version 2.6.18.2-34-default).

X Window Servers

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 19:29:00 +0000

"X Server" for Windows XP and Vistahttp://mediakey.dk/~cc/x11-for-windows-xp-and-vista/X Ming "X Server"http://www.straightrunning.com/XmingNotes/"X Server" for Mac OS Xhttp://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/macosx_updates/x11formacosx.html

How to Set up VNC on Debian GNU/Linux

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 21:22:00 +0000

Installation and usageYou've just installed Debian, but your wife wants her monitor back. That's OK, you were planning on running it headless, anyway. But, wouldn't it be nice to check out some of those groovy GUI apps? Don't fret, VNC will let you interact with a desktop environment from just about any platform available. Install vncserver (as root): apt-get install vncserverChoose your desired

SSH Tunel - howto (Czech Language)

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 16:30:00 +0000

http://www.cryptofest.cz/2003/slajdy/sshtunel/ssh.html

ESX Server, NIC Teaming, and VLAN Trunking

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 19:47:00 +0000

Following article is from blog.scottlowe.org...There are actually two different pieces described in this article. The first is NIC teaming, in which we logically bind together multiple physical NICs for increased throughput and increased fault tolerance. The second is VLAN trunking, in which we configure the physical switch to pass VLAN traffic directly to ESX Server, which will then distribute

TeamViewer

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 07:24:00 +0000

I have to tryhttp://www.teamviewer.com/index.aspx

DELL Professional Services aneb GICS

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 20:12:00 +0000

Presne 15.5.2006 jsem nastoupil do DELLu a psal jsem o tom, ze DELL krome produktu nabizi i profesionalni konzultanty, architekty a inzenyry. Viz.http://davidpasek.blogspot.com/2006/06/dell-jak-ho-mon-neznte.htmlPresne 15.5.2008 jsem se stal clenem byvaleho DPS - DELL Professional Services, ktere se dnes jmenuje GICS - Global Infrastructure Consulting Services. Moje zamereni je primarne na

Unix Notes

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 13:32:00 +0000

http://unixnotes.wordpress.com/

Sysprep Virtual Center integration for Win 2003 SP3

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 18:13:00 +0000

http://virtualizationinformation.com/?p=28

VMware: configuring a static MAC address in a VM

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 09:52:00 +0000

Original article from http://virtrix.blogspot.com/2007/04/vmware-configuring-static-mac-address.htmlSometimes it can be necessary to configure a static MAC address in a VM. A typical issue during P2V is an application that has its licensing based on the MAC address.VMware has defined that VirtualCenter does not use the following range: 00:50:56:00:00:00 to 00:50:56:3F:FF:FF where 00:50:56 is the

Understanding and fixing VMware ESX problems without pulling the plug

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:55:00 +0000

VMWARE MANAGEMENT, MIGRATION AND PERFORMANCEUnderstanding and fixing VMware ESX problems without pulling the plugEric Siebert, Contributor06.24.2008LINK TO ARTICLE

100,000 I/O Operations Per Second, One ESX Host

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 09:35:00 +0000

See http://blogs.vmware.com/performance/2008/05/100000-io-opera.html for full text.

VirusTotal

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:35:00 +0000

Virustotal is a service that analyzes suspicious files and facilitates the quick detection of viruses, worms, trojans, and all kinds of malware detected by antivirus engines. More information...

How to crimp RJ45 connector?

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 18:43:00 +0000

There are two norms EIA TIA 568A and 568B. Look at picture.Nice article with more information is at http://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/ethernetcables.html

Citrix XenServer & EqualLogic Storage Integration

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:03:00 +0000

No words are needed. Just watch demo at http://bits.xensource.com/demo/Dell/eql/xenserver_equallogic_demo.htm

New VMware technologies are comming ...

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:05:00 +0000

Look at web-casts bellow to see what new technologies are coming from VMware.VMware FT (Fault Tolerance)http://download3.vmware.com/vdcos/demos/FT_Demo_800x600.htmlVMWare Distributed Virtual Switchhttp://download3.vmware.com/vdcos/demos/DVS_Demo_800x600.htmlHost Profileshttp://download3.vmware.com/vdcos/demos/Hostprofiles_Linked_VC_800x600.htmlStorage vMotion (GUI)http://download3.vmware.com/

System Information for Windows

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:31:00 +0000

SIW is an advanced System Information for Windows tool that gathers detailed information about your system properties and settings and displays it in an extremely comprehensible manner.http://www.gtopala.com/This tool is extremely useful when you need to get your activation code from already installed Windows OS. When this tool does not work you can try

UBNT Wispstation - default config

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 09:36:00 +0000

UBNT: WispStation board - 22 dBm AP/klient (5 GHz)Default IP 192.168.1.20 Default name ubnt Default password ubnt

ESX Server, IP Storage, and Jumbo Frames

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:54:00 +0000

Very good article about setting end-to-end Jumbe Frames on VMware environment.http://blog.scottlowe.org/2008/04/22/esx-server-ip-storage-and-jumbo-frames/Note: even it's not supported solution yet

Running FreeBSD 7.0 on ESX Server

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 23:05:00 +0000

Good resources ...http://ivoras.sharanet.org/freebsd/vmware.htmlandhttp://scottf.wordpress.com/2008/01/17/running-freebsd-70-on-esx-server/

iSCSI on FreeBSD

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 20:28:00 +0000

FreeBSD iSCSI howtohttp://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/freebsd-iscsi-initiator-howto/FreeBSD network link agregationhttp://www.freebsd.org/doc/en/books/handbook/network-aggregation.html

Top 10 PowerShell scripts that VMware administrators should use

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 12:19:00 +0000

Top 10 PowerShell scripts that VMware administrators should useBy Eric Siebertpublished: Wednesday, December 10 2008http://www.virtual-strategy.com/Eric-Siebert-s-Top-10/Top-10-PowerShell-scripts-that-VMware-administrators-should-use.html

EMC Cellera Simulator

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 10:05:00 +0000

http://virtualgeek.typepad.com/virtual_geek/2008/08/celerra-virtual.html

Newbie SysAdmin Guide to Solaris

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:20:00 +0000

http://www.unixville.com/~moazam/stories/2004/05/17/newbieSysadminGuideToSolaris.html

How to print to a network printer from an MS-DOS-based program in Windows XP

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 17:36:00 +0000

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314499

Creating the 64 KB aligned partition with Diskpart.exe

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 18:38:00 +0000

Once you are at the command prompt, use Diskpart.exe to create an aligned partition. To do so, type in the following: diskpartselect disk 0create partition primary align=64 You can now exit diskpart by typing 'exit'.

Scripting reference manuals

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 19:41:00 +0000

Command line reference for Windows, Bash, Oracle, and SQL Serverhttp://www.ss64.com/index.html

Configuration Point-to-Point OpenVPN link

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 23:10:00 +0000

I like OpenVPN because it's simple and it does what you need - VPN.Let's assume that we have two un*x like servers with OpenVPN software and regular OS user openvpn in group openvpn. One server has IP address 192.168.4.10 and second 192.168.4.100.In server 192.168.4.10 use following configuration file (openvpn.conf):remote 192.168.4.100ifconfig 10.0.0.1 10.0.0.2dev tun0port 5001proto udpsecret /

DR & BC of virtualized datacenters

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 06:15:00 +0000

Virtualization significantly helps to implement Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity scenarios. But some one can think that he can install VMware SRM software and DR&BC solution is ready. It's common mistake. VMware SRM is just arround 5% of DR&BC solution. You have to concider right technology and proper proceses with respect of your particular environment. Right technology means

On demand VNC server with GDM

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 17:57:00 +0000

Each user can login (via ssh) to *nix server and start vncserver. Then he can login to X11 desktop via VNC viewer with defined vnc password. But it's far far away from nice solution. Much better solution is to setup vncserver as xinetd service.First of all you have to define new service in particular port. Add line bellow into /etc/servicesvnc1024 5901/tcp # VNC &

Using Linux shell scripts to automatically create VMware ESX 3.5 hosts

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:45:00 +0000

http://searchvmware.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid179_gci1351853_mem1,00.html?track=NL-915&ad=697266&asrc=EM_NLN_6437813

How to copy (backup) files from ESX3i?

Sat, 09 May 2009 18:58:00 +0000

You can use RCLI and vifs command. More info athttp://www.vm-help.com/esx/esx3i/esx_3i_rcli/vifs.phpExamples:List files in datastore directory:vifs --server 192.168.4.4 --username root --password ***** --dir "[Datastore1]/win2k3"Download file from ESX3i Datastore:vifs --server 192.168.4.4 --username root --dc ha-datacenter --password ***** --get "[Datastore1] /win2k3/win2k3-flat.vmdk"

Howto install Windows XP on ESX3

Wed, 13 May 2009 13:01:00 +0000

http://virtrix.blogspot.com/2007/09/vmware-installing-windows-xp-on-esx.html

How to shutdown windows from linux

Thu, 14 May 2009 13:01:00 +0000

If you have samba you can use "net rpc SHUTDOWN -C "some comment here" -f -I x.x.x.x -U user_name%password"

Ultimate Deployment Appliance

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:42:00 +0000

Unattended OS installations (Windows, Linux, ESX, Solaris) over the network set-up in minutes! Look at http://www.ultimatedeployment.org/

PERL Getopt and GetOptions

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:35:00 +0000

When you code unix program first of all you need to get user options. Two Perl modules (Getopt and Getoptions::Long) work to extract program flags and arguments much like Getopt and Getopts do for shell programming. The Perl modules, especially GetOptions::Long, are much more powerful and flexible.See full article at http://aplawrence.com/Unix/perlgetopts.html

Killing a frozen VM on a vSphere ESX host

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:40:00 +0000

http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/virtualization-pro/killing-a-frozen-vm-on-a-vsphere-esx-host/?track=NL-915&ad=710968HOUSE&asrc=EM_NLN_8048495&uid=5373778

Howto use VMware esxtop

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:55:00 +0000

Official documentation http://www.vmware.com/info?id=193Nice article http://www.hypervizor.com/2009/06/interactive-replay-batch-esxtop-modes/

Understanding VirtualCenter Performance Statistics

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:07:00 +0000

http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-5230

20 Linux System Monitoring Tools Every SysAdmin Should Know

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 17:37:00 +0000

http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/top-linux-monitoring-tools.html

MS Windows Virtual Memory Management on consolidated virtual workloads

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:19:00 +0000

When you virtualize lot of MS Window workloads you can observe lot of "Memory Pages/s" from virtual machines to physical disk subsystem (system swaping inactive memory pages to hard drive) . If you haven't enough IO performance in your storage your virtual machines becomes slow. For virtualization is normaly used SAN environment. Don't forget design capacity and performance on your storage for

Platespin Recon 3.6 - bugs and issues

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:10:00 +0000

Platespin Recon 3.6 have big issues with hardware inventory of some servers. It can hang your server during CPU model checking!!! Platespin released hotfix for that. But that's not all. When you use database PostgreSQL 8.3 which is bundled with Recon it has significant performance issues. I was waiting for some reports several hours!!! I have troubleshooted and realized that there is some problem

A “Multivendor Post” to help our mutual iSCSI customers using VMware

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:36:00 +0000

Very nice article explaining iSCSI in ESX environmenthttp://virtualgeek.typepad.com/virtual_geek/2009/01/a-multivendor-post-to-help-our-mutual-iscsi-customers-using-vmware.html

Virtualization Performance Benchmark

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:30:00 +0000

Virtualization Performance Benchmark VMmark can help for hardware platform comparison.Public results are available at http://www.vmware.com/products/vmmark/results.html

LiveCD list

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:45:00 +0000

http://www.livecdlist.com

Infrastructure MS Visio Stnecils

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 04:38:00 +0000

All Infrastructure MS Visio Stencilshttp://www.visiocafe.com/DELL Infrastructure MS Visio Stencilshttp://www.visiocafe.com/dell.htm

Vmware Linux Guest Add a New Hard Disk Without Rebooting Guest

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 08:22:00 +0000

http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/vmware-add-a-new-hard-disk-without-rebooting-guest.html

Shell Script While Loop Examples

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 09:02:00 +0000

http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/shell-script-while-loop-examples/

DELL PowerConnect technical documents

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 20:41:00 +0000

Very good - deep technical documents for DELL PowerConnect switches.http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/solutions/en/pwcnt_papers?c=us&cs=555&l=en&s=biz

Mike Liverick's virtualisation blog

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 07:46:00 +0000

http://www.rtfm-ed.co.uk/Training videos for vSphere4:http://www.rtfm-ed.co.uk/?page_id=1442

HA “Deepdive”

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 21:58:00 +0000

Article at http://www.yellow-bricks.com/vmware-high-availability-deepdiv/ very deeply describe VMware HA functionality.Article clearly explains:Primary and Secondary nodesIsolation ResponseSlot sizes/Admission ControlAdvanced settings

Configure BIND DNS to Answer Active Directory Queries

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:02:00 +0000

How to configure BIND DNS to Answer Active Directory Queries ...http://www.linuxquestions.org/linux/answers/Networking/Configure_BIND_DNS_to_Answer_Active_Directory_QueriesQuick Setup:If you have an Address Record (A) that identifies your server name like this:dc1.example.com. A 111.222.333.444Then your SRV records for this DC would be as follows_ldap._tcp.example.com. SRV 0 0 389 dc1.

Články o administraci CISCO switchů

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:38:00 +0000

http://www.samuraj-cz.com/clanky-kategorie/cisco-admin/Článek o konfiguraci CISCO a ESX teaminguhttp://www.samuraj-cz.com/clanek/vmware-esxi-a-nic-teaming-aneb-pripojeni-pres-vice-sitovek/

FreeBSD and multiple gateways

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:37:00 +0000

Question: How to add multiple gateways to a FreeBSD?Answer: No you can not do this (at least directly) on FreeBSD. FreeBSD don't support multiple gateways.Workaround solution: If you have a server with 2 set of IPs and each set have there own gateway. First, you must select one of the gateway to be a default gateway. Then, You need ipfw (or any FreeBSD firewall solution),Check that your kernel

A couple important (ALUA and SRM) notes for VMware and EMC Storage

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:55:00 +0000

http://virtualgeek.typepad.com/virtual_geek/2009/09/a-couple-important-alua-and-srm-notes.html

Capacity Planning Tools

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:34:00 +0000

Platespin ReconVMware Capacity PlannerCIRBALANAMARK

VMware vSwitch and Cisco switch configuration

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:03:00 +0000

These are field configurations that have been in-use for years and have their origin from both VMware and Cisco Best Practice documents regarding VMware integration. We use these configurations as reference when working with customer’s network teams in setting up any new Cisco network equipment for VMware.Standard trunk port Best Practice switchport configuration:interface GigabitEthernet#/#

20 Linux System Monitoring Tools Every SysAdmin Should Know

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:26:00 +0000

20 Linux System Monitoring Tools Every SysAdmin Should Know

Automating vSphere ESX4 host installations

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:52:00 +0000

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

vSphere 4 Default and CTRL-ALT-DEL

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:42:00 +0000

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 #

vCenter and MSSQL

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:47:00 +0000

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

DELL BladeChassis Cookbook

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:40:00 +0000

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

BIND 9 Configure Views To Partition External and Internal DNS Information

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:44:00 +0000

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

Installing dell openmanage 6.1 on esxi 4.0

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 11:51:00 +0000

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/

VMware Converter - P2V

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:31:00 +0000

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

Hardware connectors, slots, sockets, ...

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 20:36:00 +0000

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

Platespin Recon - cannot get performance counters?

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 20:42:00 +0000

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

VMware vSphere Firewall diagram

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:06:00 +0000

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

Good film about how to install PowerPath/VE

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 11:10:00 +0000

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

IP relé + teploměr

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 15:48:00 +0000

http://www.papouch.com/shop/scripts/_detail.asp?katcislo=0236

Physical to Virtual Conversion of Linux Servers with VMware Converter BootCD

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:08:00 +0000

http://www.petri.co.il/physical-to-virtual-conversion-of-linux-servers-with-vmware-converter-bootcd.htm

CPU Benchmark

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 13:55:00 +0000

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/

Failover with ISC DHCP

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:24:00 +0000

http://www.madboa.com/geek/dhcp-failover/

EMC Celerra - Virtual Appliance

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:52:00 +0000

Good for test lab environment ...http://virtualgeek.typepad.com/virtual_geek/2009/04/new-celerra-vsa.html

VCP 4 Certification

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:57:00 +0000

I have passed VMWARE VCP 4 Exam on 30-Nov-2009.

Excelent blog about virtualization, VMware, EMC, ...

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:19:00 +0000

http://virtualgeek.typepad.com/

HowTo: Create sar Graphs With kSar [ Identifying Linux Bottlenecks ]

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:19:00 +0000

http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/identifying-linux-bottlenecks-sar-graphs-with-ksar.html

Turning an opensolaris host into a fibre channel storage array

Sat, 09 Jan 2010 23:00:00 +0000

http://prefetch.net/blog/index.php/2009/05/11/turning-an-opensolaris-host-into-a-fibre-channel-storage-array/

UPS, Motorgenerators, A/C, ...

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 12:43:00 +0000

http://www.elteco-ups.cz/

Mepis Linux

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 19:21:00 +0000

LiveCD, System Recovery CD, Linux USB Boot Keyhttps://www.mepis.org/

RAID 10 or RAID 5

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 09:04:00 +0000

This is a common question in every storage consultation. Right answers for such questions is - It depends. Lot of people don't like RAID 5 and they have good reasons ... Look at BAARF (http://www.baarf.com/) initiative Battle Agains Any RAID Five, Four, F(T)hree. Very nice RAID5 versus RAID10 comparison is at http://www.miracleas.com/BAARF/RAID5_versus_RAID10.txtI think that good choice depends

Storage fundamentals

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 10:16:00 +0000

Throughput part 1: The Basicshttp://www.vmdamentals.com/?p=266Throughput part 2: RAID types and segment sizeshttp://www.vmdamentals.com/?p=296

OpenVPN - The Easy Tutorial

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 06:55:00 +0000

http://openmaniak.com/cz/openvpn.php

Nice syslog explenation

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:40:00 +0000

http://content.hccfl.edu/pollock/AUnix2/Logging.htm

CFM to BTU formula

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:22:00 +0000

Citation from: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_BTU%27s_are_in_a_CFM A BTU is a British thermal unit, which is the measure of energy to raise one CC of water one degree Celsius. But you probably want to know about airflow in CFM (not water), and the amount of cooling (or heating) available in 1 cfm or airflow. In Houston, we tend to cool things more than heat. We also try to drive moisture out

VMware ESX 4 can even virtualize itself

Sat, 27 Mar 2010 22:30:00 +0000

Running VMware ESX inside a virtual machine is a great way to experiment with different configurations and features without building out a whole lab full of hardware and storage. It is pretty common to do this on VMware Workstation nowadays — the first public documentation of this process that I know of was published by Xtravirt a couple of years ago. But what if you prefer to run ESX on ESX

How to remove Cisco Nexus 1000V plugin

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 08:47:00 +0000

This is just a copy from original post at http://malaysiavm.com/blog/how-to-remove-cisco-nexus-1000v-plugin/--- COPY STARTS HERE ---The Cisco Nexus 1000V switch is a pure software implementation of a Cisco Nexus switch. It resides on a server and integrates with the hypervisor to deliver VN-Link virtual machine-aware network services. The Cisco Nexus 1000V switch takes advantage of the VMware

Equinix Announces Third Sydney Data Center

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 09:00:00 +0000

Full article athttp://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2010/06/28/equinix-announces-third-sydney-data-center/?utm-source=feedburner&utm-medium=feed&utm-campaign=Feed%3A+DataCenterKnowledge+%28Data+Center+Knowledge%29

NIMSOFT - flexible monitoring solution

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 09:08:00 +0000

http://www.nimsoft.com/solutions/index.php

Removing orphaned Nexus DVS

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 09:27:00 +0000

http://frankdenneman.nl/2010/03/removing-orphaned-nexus-dvs/

ITaaS - EMC Ionix UIM 2.0 and VMware Project Redwood Preview

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 09:53:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0BbPmX64Kc&feature=related

Cisco UCS Networking Best Practices

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 08:11:00 +0000

http://bradhedlund.com/2010/06/22/cisco-ucs-networking-best-practices/

EMC Unified Storage – Next Generation Efficiency Details

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 08:29:00 +0000

http://virtualgeek.typepad.com/virtual_geek/2010/05/emc-unified-storage-next-generation-efficiency-details.html

VMDK Handbook - Basics

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 07:07:00 +0000

http://sanbarrow.com/vmdk-basics.html

Oracle Forms

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 09:41:00 +0000

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/forms/overview/index.html

Microsoft NLB Cluster on VMware

Sun, 19 Sep 2010 17:19:00 +0000

Microsoft Resources:http://support.microsoft.com/kb/323437http://support.microsoft.com/kb/323431VMware Resourceshttp://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/implmenting_ms_network_load_balancing.pdfhttp://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1006580http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1556

Celerra VSA UBER v2

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 19:45:00 +0000

http://nickapedia.com/2010/05/19/besser-uber-celerra-vsa-uber-v2/

LANAMARK

Thu, 23 Sep 2010 22:25:00 +0000

Another datacenter capacity planning toolhttp://www.lanamark.com/I would like to install it and compare against Platespin Recon.

How CISCO UCS can help to Disaster and Recovery

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 10:31:00 +0000

Here is the video recording of Harpreet Singh presentation at Cisco booth at VMWorld 2010.Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R9oWMBOAowPart 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pEtR8eNUYI

Disaster Recovery Plan

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 20:24:00 +0000

http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2010/09/28/disaster-recovery-scenario-stick-to-the-plan/?utm-source=feedburner&utm-medium=feed&utm-campaign=Feed%3A+DataCenterKnowledge+%28Data+Center+Knowledge%29

VMware HA Deepdive

Wed, 13 Oct 2010 19:10:00 +0000

http://www.yellow-bricks.com/vmware-high-availability-deepdiv/

Open source, ITIL-aligned IT change management tool

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 07:31:00 +0000

http://www.otrs.com/en/products/

VCAP-DCA and VCAP-DCD Live Lab Tutorials

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 19:38:00 +0000

http://www.linkedin.com/news?viewArticle=&articleID=239190681&gid=51214&type=news&item=239190681&articleURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ntpro.nl%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F1628-VCAP-DCA-Live-Lab-Tutorial.html&urlhash=2XoB&goback=.gde_51214_news_239190681VCAP-DCA and VCAP-DCD Live Lab Tutorials

NetApp multitenancy

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 19:09:00 +0000

NetApp’s MultiStore functionality allows storage partitioning for multiple tenants.It supporst up to 130 vFiler instances (128 vFilers plus 2 vFiler0 instances) but only for NFS, CIFS, iSCSI, HTTP, and NDMP. Fibre Channel is not supported. You can only use Fibre Channel with vFiler0.More info:http://blog.scottlowe.org/2009/04/08/3010-a-multistore-primer/

PPTPD on FreeBSD

Mon, 08 Nov 2010 12:07:00 +0000

http://faded.org/2009/02/freebsd_pptp_server.html

How to configure HSRP in Cisco IOS Routers

Thu, 11 Nov 2010 13:25:00 +0000

http://www.itsyourip.com/cisco/how-to-configure-hsrp-in-cisco-ios-routers/

Open Source VMFS Driver

Sun, 21 Nov 2010 10:27:00 +0000

This driver enables read-only access to files and folders on partitions formatted with the Virtual Machine File System (VMFS). VMFS is a clustered file system that is used by the VMware ESX hosts to store virtual machines and virtual disk files. http://code.google.com/p/vmfs/

VCDX BrownBags

Sun, 21 Nov 2010 11:38:00 +0000

BrownBags are a series of online webinars held using GotoMeeting and covering various VMware Certification topics. On this page you’ll find a sign-up for the live series, as well as links to past recordings.http://professionalvmware.com/brownbags/

Getting the network adapters’ order in Windows

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 16:29:00 +0000

http://saltwetbytes.wordpress.com/2009/10/17/getting-network-adapter-order-in-windows/

VMware NFS Best Practices

Sun, 28 Nov 2010 23:20:00 +0000

http://vmware.com/files/pdf/techpaper/VMware-NFS-BestPractices-WP-EN.pdf

get 2 free VEEAM products for VCP

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 19:30:00 +0000

Get 2 free VEEAM products for VCP, vexpert people (NFR licence only)http://www.veeam.com/nfr/free-nfr-license

ESXi 4.1 - Scripted Installation Via PXE and Kickstart!

Fri, 17 Dec 2010 10:45:00 +0000

http://communities.vmware.com/blogs/vmwareinsmb/2010/07/13/esxi-41-scripted-installation-via-pxe-and-kickstart

PPTP VPN in FreeBSD

Thu, 06 Jan 2011 22:52:00 +0000

This post is based on article athttps://www.dan.me.uk/blog/2010/02/07/pptp-vpn-in-freebsd-for-windows-xpvista7-clients/Here’s a simple guide to setting up a VPN server on FreeBSD so that Windows clients can connect using their built-in VPN clients…First, make sure your ports collection is up-to-date, then build poptop in /usr/ports/net/poptop: # cd /usr/ports/net/poptop/ # make # make

Comparison of Cisco UCS Service profiles vs HP BladeSystem to manage user interface settings

Thu, 06 Jan 2011 22:59:00 +0000

http://www.mseanmcgee.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/2010-08-25-Cisco-vs.-HP-Server-Identities.jpg

VMware: Timekeeping best practices for Windows

Sun, 16 Jan 2011 21:31:00 +0000

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1318

VCAP-DCA Index

Mon, 17 Jan 2011 21:15:00 +0000

http://www.seancrookston.com/vcap-dca/

How to Install Microsoft SQL Server 2008 for VMware vCenter 4

Thu, 20 Jan 2011 21:51:00 +0000

Very nice article how to Install Microsoft SQL Server 2008 for VMware vCenter 4 ...http://lonesysadmin.net/2010/10/21/how-to-install-sql-server-vmware-vcenter/If you need to know wwhat TCP/UDP ports are used by MS-SQL then checkhttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc646023%28SQL.100%29.aspx

Synchronize the Time Server for the Domain Controller with an External Source

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 22:06:00 +0000

Original article: Synchronize the Time Server for the Domain Controller with an External Source Updated: March 28, 2003 Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2 By default, the primary domain controller (PDC) emulator gets its time from the BIOS clock. In a network with a single DC, that DC automatically has this

32 bit DSN on 64 bit Windows Server

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 22:30:00 +0000

c:\windows\SysWOW64\odbcad32.exe

VMware Converter - Summary of Snapshot Errors and Fixes

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 12:46:00 +0000

http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-6842P2V tips

Project Management Software

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 10:26:00 +0000

Project Management Software As a Servicehttp://basecamphq.com/

GroupDrive Collaboration Suite

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 21:26:00 +0000

GroupDrive Collaboration Suitehttp://webdrive.com/products/groupdrive/index.htmlhttp://webdrive.com/products/webdrive/Shared network disk as a service.

EATON Intelligent Power Software Suite

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 08:45:00 +0000

Eaton’s Intelligent Power® Software Suite gives you all the tools you need to monitor and manage power devices on your network, even in a virtualized environment. This innovative software solution combines the most critical applications in ensuring system uptime and data integrity: not only power monitoring and management, but also graceful shutdown during an extended power outage. Both

PowerGUI

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 20:03:00 +0000

PowerGUI is an extensible graphical administrative console for managing systems based on Windows PowerShell. These include Windows OS (XP, 2003, Vista), Exchange 2007, Operations Manager 2007 and other new systems from Microsoft. The tool allows to use the rich capabilities of Windows PowerShell in a familiar and intuitive GUI console.Introduction to PowerGUI demohttp://www.powergui.org/

Cloud storage

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 23:23:00 +0000

Client software for mounting cloud storage to OS as a local drivehttp://www.gladinet.com/p/moreaboutDesktop.htmTech Wiki http://www.gladinet.com/gladwiki/moin.cgi/Install_Cloud_Desktop_2_0Cloud storage can be from simple FTP, through Google Docs, up to EMC Atmos.

VCAP-DCA Objective 2.2 : Configure and Maintain VLANs, PVLANs and VLAN settings

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 19:34:00 +0000

http://virtual-vargi.blogspot.com/2011/02/vcap-dca-section-2-22.html

VCAP4-DCD Exam Simulation

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 19:38:00 +0000

http://www.ntpro.nl/blog/archives/1698-VCAP4-DCD-Exam-Simulation.htmlhttp://mylearn.vmware.com/courseware/82525/VCAPDCD_Tutorial.swf

Oracle on VMware

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 18:43:00 +0000

http://virtualgeek.typepad.com/virtual_geek/2011/03/more-on-oracle-and-vmwareincluding-other-must-see-resources.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2FdsAV+%28Virtual+Geek%29

The gateway to cloud storage

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 10:08:00 +0000

http://www.nasuni.com/

Zenoss Zenpacks

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 08:43:00 +0000

http://community.zenoss.org/community/zenpacks

NEXENTA Storage - NFS, iSCSI, CIFS

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 19:49:00 +0000

Enterprise class Open StorageNexentaStor provides enterprise class unified storage capabilities via a software solution that ends vendor lock-in while delivering superior storage management functionality with a particular focus on virtualized environments.http://www.nexenta.com/corp/

VMware Support - Advanced Root Cause Analysis

Sat, 19 Mar 2011 19:08:00 +0000

http://www.ntpro.nl/blog/archives/1717-Behind-the-scenes-at-VMware-Support-Advanced-Root-Cause-Analysis.htmlhttp://www.slideshare.net/esloof/advanced-root-cause-analysis

Simplify Virtualization Management

Sat, 19 Mar 2011 19:19:00 +0000

http://www.toutvirtual.com/index.php

Orion solarwinds

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 09:35:00 +0000

Orion Network Performance Monitor (NPM) makes it easy to quickly detect, diagnose, and resolve performance issues within your ever-changing corporate or data center network. It delivers real-time views and dashboards that enable you to visually track network performance at a glance. Plus, with our dynamic network topology maps and automated network discovery features, you can keep up with

Rack Tables

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 10:01:00 +0000

Asset management of datacenterhttp://racktables.org/

BixData

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 04:30:00 +0000

http://www.bixdata.com/ixData is a comprehensive management solution for new, dynamic IT infrastructures being built with mixed virtualization. Bix's platform represents a profound innovation in management science, uniquely suited to the complex demands of this technology. Breakthrough p2p architecture condenses a full-feature management suite into a single streamlined, self-installing

VMware VSS Explained

Sun, 15 May 2011 18:34:00 +0000

http://www.vmguru.com/articles/data-protection/8-vmware-vss-explained

Windows Server 2008 R2 Downgrade

Thu, 26 May 2011 18:15:00 +0000

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/downgrade-TC.aspx

Gateway to VMware resources

Sat, 04 Jun 2011 11:14:00 +0000

Your gateway to the VMware universe http://vlp.vsphere-land.com/

VMware Virtual Machine Remote Console

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 21:31:00 +0000

VMware vmrc (Virtual Machine Remote Console) http://communities.vmware.com/thread/156057?start=15&tstart=0 http://www.no-x.org/?p=458 VMware player as a remote console http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-8840 VMRC to ESXi Guest http://traviskensil.posterous.com/vmrc-to-esxi-guest VMware-esxi-server vmware-vmrc console linux vmware-vmrc vmware console for esxi-server via linux because

Install Dell OpenManage on ESXi 4.1 using vSphere CLI or vMA

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 20:21:00 +0000

http://defaultreasoning.wordpress.com/2011/05/09/install-dell-openmanage-on-esxi-4-1-using-vsphere-cli-or-vma/

vSphere 5 Details - unofficial

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 05:38:00 +0000

In February this year, virtualization.info reported about VMware which exposed some of the upcoming features of vSphere 5 during its Partner Exchange. Last week even more details appeared online, these details leaked on a Turkish Web Forum, but were removed later. The post itself can still be retrieved from Google Cache though.Besides, Distributed Resource Scheduling (DRS) for Storage,

How to mount vmware virtual disk (vmdk)

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 10:36:00 +0000

The Virtual Disk Development Kit (VDDK) is a collection of C libraries, code samples, utilities, and documentation to help you create or access VMware virtual disk storage. The kit includes: The Virtual Disk and Disk Mount libraries, sets of C function calls to manipulate virtual disk files.C++ code samples that you can build with either Visual Studio or the GNU C compiler.Documentation about

SpiceWorks - Free network management software & IT community

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 19:17:00 +0000

What do you get when you take network monitoring, a helpdesk, PC inventory tools, IT Reporting and more… and combine it with an online community of IT pros exchanging practical how-tos and vendor reviews? Spiceworks! The free “everything IT” network management software and IT community that 1.5 million IT pros worldwide use to simplify – and become better at – their jobs.http://

M. Sean McGee blog about UCS and HP Virtual Connect

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 06:37:00 +0000

Sean,is proven SME in this area and he has really good articles about UCS and other server/networking topics ...http://www.mseanmcgee.com/about/

Windows Server 2008 RADIUS server

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 19:52:00 +0000

Using Windows Server 2008 as a RADIUS Server for a Cisco ASAhttp://fixingit.wordpress.com/2009/09/08/using-windows-server-2008-as-a-radius-server-for-a-cisco-asa/RADIUS test and monitoring clienthttp://www.iea-software.com/products/radlogin4.cfm

ESXi 4.1 - Scripted Installation Via PXE and Kickstart!

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 05:58:00 +0000

http://communities.vmware.com/blogs/vmwareinsmb/2010/07/13/esxi-41-scripted-installation-via-pxe-and-kickstart

Add additional drivers to ESXi

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 13:04:00 +0000

http://www.vmguru.nl/wordpress/2010/03/add-additional-drivers-to-esxi/

Running VMWare Remote Console outside the browser

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 20:52:00 +0000

I found this solution athttp://www.geeklab.info/2010/02/running-vmware-remote-console-outside-the-browser/cd /tmpIP=the.esx.srv.ip # < fill in esx server ip address herewget --no-check-certificate https://$IP/ui/plugin/vmware-vmrc-linux-x86.xpimv vmware-vmrc-linux-x86.xpi vmware-vmrc-linux-x86.zipcd ~mkdir -p bin/vmwareconsole # make directory bin in your own homedircd bin/vmwareconsoleunzip

CentOS: Configuring a VNC Server

Sun, 04 Sep 2011 12:38:00 +0000

http://wiki.centos.org/HowTos/VNC-Server

NUTANIX

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 08:27:00 +0000

http://www.nutanix.com/

EMC Storage and Backup solutions for VMware

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 06:52:00 +0000

ftp://Bloglink:vgeekb1og@vspecialist.emc.com/Events/VMworld/2011/Americas/Sessions/SPO3977/SPO3977_sakac_final_v1.2_w_fonts.pptx

Hidden VAAI Command

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 06:57:00 +0000

Link to original Scott Lowe article. COPY As some of you are probably already aware, one of the storage-related features added to vSphere 5 is support for the SCSI UNMAP command. While you would normally want this functionality enabled, there could be instances where you might want to disable this functionality. Unfortunately, there’s no option

Adding a VM as an unmanaged desktop in VMware View

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 19:58:00 +0000

Copy of article athttp://virtualisedreality.com/2011/01/29/adding-a-vm-as-an-unmanaged-desktop-in-view-4-5/I have just come across a situation where I wished to add a VM from one environment (completely separated test and dev environment) to VMware View in another enviorment as an unmanaged desktop. To do this with a physical server you simply install the agent and enter the connection server

VCP 5.0 exam

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 20:47:00 +0000

Test 1: Posthttp://www.linkedin.com/redirect?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eclassmarker%2Ecom%2Fonline-test%2Fstart%2F%3Fquiz%3Dkmh4e272723524e2&urlhash=t-rM&_t=tracking_anetTest 2:http://www.aiotestking.com/vmware/category/vmware-certified-professional-on-vsphere5/

UBERAlign - disk partition alignment

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 08:08:00 +0000

UBERAlign is vSphere tool automating disk partition alignment and disk space reclamation.

VMware vSphere Health Check Report v5.0.0

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 00:45:00 +0000

http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9842This script generates a health check report for the new vSphere release of VMware ESX(i) 4.x/5.x and VMware vCenter 4.x/5.x and it's managed entities. User's can now fully customize the report based on the categories that are of importance to their operating environment, including selecting specific set of ESX(i) hosts and/or Virtual Machines.

DELL Visio Templates

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 06:42:00 +0000

http://www.dell.com/content/topics/topic.aspx/global/products/pvaul/topics/en/visio?c=us&l=en

10G SR Fiber Optics Specs

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 19:46:00 +0000

UCS 2.0: Cisco Stacks the Deck in Las Vegas

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 11:59:00 +0000

http://www.mseanmcgee.com/2011/07/ucs-2-0-cisco-stacks-the-deck-in-las-vegas/

Data Center Interconnect: Layer 2 Extension Between Remote Data Centers

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 06:43:00 +0000

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/switches/ps5718/ps708/white_paper_c11_493718.htmlThis document is intended to help network managers and systems managers understand the various solutions and recommendations that Cisco offers to geographically extend Layer 2 networks over multiple distant data centers. These offerings address the requirements of high performance and fast convergence

CentOS / Redhat Iptables Firewall Configuration Tutorial

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 08:40:00 +0000

http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/rhel-fedorta-linux-iptables-firewall-configuration-tutorial/

Linux: 20 Iptables Examples For New SysAdmins

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 08:41:00 +0000

http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/linux-iptables-examples.html

TINTRI - VM-aware storage appliance for VMs

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 09:08:00 +0000

http://www.tintri.com

VMware View Client for Mac OS X Technology Preview

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 08:47:00 +0000

http://www.vmware.com/downloads/download.do;jsessionid=B7E5ABE5FA738051C60941B10362525D

HP Virtual Connect for the Cisco Network Administrator

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:57:00 +0000

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c01386629/c01386629.pdf

Data Center Networking – Victor Lama's White Paper Series

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:58:00 +0000

http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/extras/w/wiki/2841.aspx

Cisco impresses with UCS

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 12:59:00 +0000

http://www.networkworld.com/reviews/2011/121911-cisco-ucs-test-253603.html?page=1

What's new in performance in VMware vSphere 5

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 22:59:00 +0000

http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/techpaper/Whats-New-VMware-vSphere-50-Performance-Technical-Whitepaper.pdf

VMware vSphere Advanced Troubleshooting

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 12:02:00 +0000

http://www.ntpro.nl/blog/uploads/AdvancedTroubleshooting.pdf

PassMark - CPU, disk, net benchmark software

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 12:27:00 +0000

http://www.passmark.com/download/pt_download.htm

Apache PaaS - Hadoop

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 13:44:00 +0000

http://hadoop.apache.org/

MDS Fibre Channel Switching Basics for Network Engineers

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 13:46:00 +0000

http://routerjockey.com/2011/12/23/mds-fiber-channel-switching-basics-for-network-engineers/

Scaling VMware deployments with Cisco UCS and VMware Auto Deploy

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 13:57:00 +0000

http://infrastructureadventures.com/2011/12/11/scaling-vmware-deployments-with-cisco-ucs-and-vmware-auto-deploy/

vCD Custom Portals and Backend Integrations in a Service Provider Environment

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:14:00 +0000

http://blogs.vmware.com/vcloud/2011/11/vcd-custom-portals-and-backend-integrations-in-a-service-provider-environment.html

VMware vCenter Orchestrator

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:17:00 +0000

http://www.vcoteam.info/newsflash/vmware-released-the-vcenter-orchestrator-plug-in-update-for-vcloud-director-15.html

CISCO LISP - Google Talk - Part 1

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 21:21:00 +0000

DELL racadm on CentOS 5.7

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:08:00 +0000

Here are 4 simple steps to get, setup and use DELL RACADM cli tool.Install and configure minimal installation of CENTOS 5.7 x86_64wget http://linux.dell.com/repo/hardware/OMSA_6.1/platform_independent/rh50_64/racadm/mgmtst-racadm-6.1.0-648.i386.rpmyum install compat-libstdc++-33rpm -i mgmtst-racadm-6.1.0-648.i386.rpmand here we go ...You can use racadm to query for example DELL M1000e CMCracadm

vSphere 5.0 Features

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 20:51:00 +0000

http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2011/08/vsphere-50-features.html

How to install Apache with perl modules on CENTOS

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 11:44:00 +0000

1/ Install Apache yum install httpd2/ Configure Apache on startup chkconfig httpd on3/ Allow port 80 and 443 in IPTABLES firewall edit conf file /etc/sysconfig/iptables and add folowing lines before last reject line -A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -m state --state NEW -m tcp -p tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT-A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -m state --state NEW -m tcp -p tcp --dport 443 -j ACCEPT4/ Install PERL

Cody Bunch blog

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 08:06:00 +0000

http://professionalvmware.com/VCAP-DCD brown bagsVMware vCenter Orchestrator

VMware diagrams

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 08:11:00 +0000

http://www.hypervizor.com/diagrams/

“All aboard” the Nexus 1000v 1.5 train

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 08:13:00 +0000

http://www.vnephos.com/index.php/2012/02/all-aboard-the-nexus-1000v-1-5-train/

Migrating to vCenter Server 5.0 using the Data Migration Tool

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 13:32:00 +0000

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2005328

MD5/SHA1 calculation

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 23:01:00 +0000

http://www.mydigitallife.info/hash-calculator-to-get-compute-and-calculate-md5-and-sha1-file-checksum-or-hash-value/SlavaSoft HashCalc - HASH, CRC, AND HMAC CALCULATORhttp://www.slavasoft.com/hashcalc/index.htm

VMware Linked Clones

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 09:47:00 +0000

Blog post about linked clones:https://vwade.wordpress.com/2010/02/28/linked-clones/Linked clone script with Perl SDK:http://engineering.ucsb.edu/~duonglt/vmware/vGhettoLinkedClone.htmlLinked clone script with PowerCLI:http://www.vmdev.info/?p=40

How to create and send disk image over ssh

Sun, 11 Mar 2012 15:02:00 +0000

dd bs=4m if=/dev/ad0 | ssh accontrol@192.168.4.185 'cat > image.dd'

ESX, NUMA and "Node Interleaving"

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 13:38:00 +0000

Node interleaving disabled equals NUMA which is the best practice for ESX. That's usually default setting in BIOS of NUMA capable servers.NUMA can be disabled by enabling Node Interleaving in the BIOS of the ESX host but that's not good practice for NUMA systems.Full explanation at http://frankdenneman.nl/2010/12/node-interleaving-enable-or-disable/

DELL PCT 6224 (EQL configuration)

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 07:50:00 +0000

Enable the RSTP on the switch Enable “spanning-tree portfast” on all ports connected to the SAN Enable Jumbo Frame support on ports connected to the SAN Disable the “storm control” feature on ports connected to the SAN When you have dedicated SAN network enable Flow Control on the switchConfiguration: Switch(config)# spanning-tree mode rstp Switch(config)# interface range

vSphere PowerCLI Administration Guide

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 09:34:00 +0000

http://www.vmware.com/support/developer/PowerCLI/PowerCLI41/doc/viwin_admg.pdf

How Vblock is built

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 06:33:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SCrO0kAVWA&feature=player_embedded

The Trouble with CA SSL Certificates and vCenter 5

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 18:01:00 +0000

http://longwhiteclouds.com/2012/02/07/the-trouble-with-ca-ssl-certificates-and-vcenter-5/ Automated way how to set default PSP for particular SATP. vCLI example: esxcli --server myESXi --username user1 --password 'my_password' storage nmp satp set --default-psp=VMW_PSP_RR --satp=VMW_SATP_DEFAULT_AA PowerCLI example: $esxcli=Get-EsxCli -VMHost $esxcli.storage.nmp.satp.set($null,"VMW_PSP_RR","VMW_ SATP_DEFAULT_AA") Please

Introduction to the Dell S6000 Layer 2 Gateway for VMware NSX

Tue, 12 Nov 2013 21:59:00 +0000

On following video you can see DELL Force10 S6000 integration with VMware NSX. That's beginning of real and usable software defined networking (SDN) or network virtualization if you wish. I'm looking forward for hands-on experience in the future.

VMware ESXi vim-cmd Command: A Quick Tutorial

Tue, 12 Nov 2013 23:10:00 +0000

Very nice blog post on www.doublecloud.org ... Command lines are very important for system administrors when it comes to automation. Although GUIs are more likely (not always as I’ve seen too many bad ones) to be more intuitive and easier to get started with, sooner or later administrators will use command lines more for better productivity. There are a few command line options in VMware ESXi,

Qlogic HBA adapter Queue depth in windows 2008 r2

Thu, 21 Nov 2013 09:27:00 +0000

Here is interesting discussion about the topic ... bellow are the most valuable statements from the thread: By default a QLogic HBA Execution Throttleis set to 16. This setting specifies the maximum number of outstanding (SCSI / Fiber Channel) commands that can execute on any single Target port(WWPN). When a Target port’sExecution Throttleis reached, the host computer will not

Site Recovery Manager and vSphere Replication Network Ports Required - Simplified!

Sat, 23 Nov 2013 17:21:00 +0000

Sunny Dua published very usefull blog post describing SRM network ports among different SRM software components. When you need to known what ports are required for SRM look at http://vxpresss.blogspot.cz/2013/11/site-recovery-manager-and-vsphere.html

Local and shared storage performance comparison

Wed, 04 Dec 2013 07:15:00 +0000

Original blog post and full text is here. All credits go to http://kickingwaterbottles.wordpress.com Here is the PowerCLI script that will set the ‘

VMware vSphere: Migration of RDM disk to VMDK

Sun, 09 Feb 2014 00:36:00 +0000

I have received following question from my customer ... "We have business critical application with MS-SQL running in virtual machine on top of VMware vSphere. OS disk is vmdk but data disk is on RDM disk. We want to get rid of RDM and migrate it into normal vmdk disk. We know there are several methods but we would like to know the safest method. We cannot accept too long service downtime but

Reserved IP addresses

Wed, 12 Feb 2014 17:13:00 +0000

Very useful Wikipedia page with list of all "Reserved IP addresses". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserved_IP_addresses

Performance Data charts for datastore LUNs report the message: No data available

Sun, 16 Feb 2014 18:25:00 +0000

Performance Data charts for datastore LUNs are extremely useful to have clue to understand storage performance trend. However sometimes you can see message like this "Performance Data charts for datastore LUNs report the message: No data available" I didn't know the root cause. Recently colleague of mine told me he has found what is the root cause which is described at VMware KB 2054403.

Good or Bad Backup Job?

Sun, 16 Feb 2014 20:43:00 +0000

Veeam is very good backup software specialized on agent-less VM backups. But we all know that bugs are everywhere and Veeam is not the exception. If you have VMware vSphere VM with independent disk Veeam cannot successfully perform a backup. That's logical because independent disks cannot have snapshots which are mandatory for agent-less VM backups leveraging VMware API for Data Protection

VMware vShiled Manager - VXLAN limit

Mon, 24 Feb 2014 10:45:00 +0000

We all know that all technologies has some limits. Only important thing is to know about particular limits limiting your solution. Do you know VMware vShield Manager has limit for number of virtual networks? There is the limit 5,000 networks even you use VXLAN network virtualization. So even VXLAN can have theoretically up to 16M segments (24-bit segment ID) you are effectively limited to

DELL Force10 S4810 fans

Wed, 26 Feb 2014 09:41:00 +0000

The S4810 comes from the factory with one power supply and two fan modules installed in the chassis. Both the fan module and the integrated fan power supply are hot-swappable if a second (redundant) power supply is installed and running. With redundant power supplies, traffic will not be interrupted if a fan module is removed. In addition to the integrated fan power-supply modules, fan modules

VMware vSphere 5 Memory Management and Monitoring

Fri, 28 Feb 2014 05:34:00 +0000

Do you think you fully understand VMware vSphere ESXi memory management? Compare your understanding with memory diagram at VMware KB 2017642. Now another question. Do you still think you are able to exactly know how much memory is used and how much is available? Do you? It is very important to know that this task is complex in any operating system because of lot of memory

Storage design verification - performance test

Fri, 28 Feb 2014 05:47:00 +0000

I had a unique chance to work with relatively big customer on VMware vSphere Architecture Design from the scratch. I prepared vSphere Architecture Design based on their real business and technical requirements and the customer used the outcome to prepare hardware RFI and RFP to buy the best hardware technology on the market from technical and also cost point of view. Before design I did capacity

VMware Site Recovery Manager network ports

Fri, 28 Feb 2014 14:04:00 +0000

Here are documented network port numbers and protocols that must be open for Site Recovery Manager, vSphere Replication, and vCenter Server. Very nice and useful VMware KB article however during my last SRM implementation I have realized that some ports are not documented on KB article mentioned above. We spent some time with customer's network admin to track what other ports are required so

Script to create VMware SRM database

Sat, 08 Mar 2014 09:36:00 +0000

VMware SRM installer creates tables in database automatically but you must prepare MS-SQL database, DB schema and ODBC data source before SRM installation. Note: SRM has technical requirement to use database schema having the same name as DB user. Here is the script to prepare MS-SQL database (SITE-A-SRM), schema (SRMlogin) and DB user (SRMlogin) with password (SRMpassword) for SRM: CREATE

Difference between ESXi Shell time-outs

Mon, 10 Mar 2014 20:48:00 +0000

ESXi Advanced Settings have two timeout parameters to manage ESXi Shell timeout: UserVars.ESXiShellTimeOut UserVars.ESXiShellInteractiveTimeOut Both parameters are by default set to 0 which means the time-outs are disabled. However, it is good practice to set these timeouts as it has a positive impact on security. But what values should be set there? What is the difference between

PRTG alerts phone call notifications

Tue, 08 Apr 2014 07:32:00 +0000

I have been asked by someone how to do phone call notification of critical alerts in PRTG monitoring system. Advantage of phone call notification against Email or SMS is that it can wake up sleeping administrator in night when he has support service and critical alert appears in central monitoring system. My conceptual answer was ... use PRTG API to monitor alerts and make a phone call when

Code Formatter

Mon, 14 Apr 2014 06:13:00 +0000

From time to time i'm publishing programming code source or configurations on my blog running on google blog platform blogger.com. I'm always struggling with formatting the code. I've just found http://codeformatter.blogspot.com/ and I'll try it next time when needed.

DELL official response to OpenSSL Heartbleed

Tue, 15 Apr 2014 07:21:00 +0000

The official Dell response to OpenSSL Heartbleed for our entire portfolio of products is listed here.

Long network lost during vMotion

Tue, 15 Apr 2014 12:36:00 +0000

We have observed strange behavior of vMotion during vSphere Design Verification tests after successful vSphere Implementation. By the way that's the reason why Design Verification tests are very important before putting infrastructure into production.But back to the problem. When VM was migrated between ESXi hosts leveraging VMware vMotion we have seen long network lost of VM networking

DELL recommended BIOS Settings for VMware vSphere Hypervisor

Sat, 19 Apr 2014 07:56:00 +0000

Here are a list of BIOS settings specifically regarding Dell PowerEdge servers: Hardware-Assisted Virtualization: As the VMware best practices state, this technology provides hardware-assisted CPU and MMU virtualization.In the Dell PowerEdge BIOS, this is known as “Virtualization Technology” under the “Processor Settings” screen. Depending upon server model, this may be Disabled by

How to fix broken VMFS partition?

Sat, 19 Apr 2014 21:33:00 +0000

I had a need of more storage space in my lab. The redundancy was not important so I changed RAID configuration of local disk from RAID 1 to RAID 0. After this change the old VMFS partition left on the disk volume. That was the reason I have seen just half of all disk space when I was trying to create new datastore. Another half was still used by old VMFS partition. You can ssh to ESXi host end

Potential Network Black Hole Issue

Sun, 20 Apr 2014 09:28:00 +0000

When I do vSphere and hardware infrastructure health checks very often I meet misconfigured networks usually but not only in blade server environments. That's the reason I've decided to write blog post about this issue. The issue is general and should be considered and checked for any vendor solution but because I'm very familiar with DELL products I'll use DELL blade system and I/O modules to

DELL Force10 : Series Introduction

Mon, 05 May 2014 14:42:00 +0000

I have just decided to write dedicated blog post series about DELL Force10 networking. Why? Who knows me in person is most probably aware that my primary professional focus is on VMware vSphere infrastructure and datacenter enterprise hardware. Sometimes I have discussion with infrastructure experts, managers and other IT folks what is the most important/complex/critical/expensive vSphere

DELL Force10 : Initial switch configuration

Mon, 05 May 2014 14:58:00 +0000

[ Previous | DELL Force10 : Series Introduction ] I assume you have serial console access to the switch unit to perform initial switch configuration. I guess it will not impressed you that to switch from read mode to configuration mode you have to use command conf ... before continue I would like to recap some important basic FTOS commands we will use later in this blog post. If you

Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS) support on VMware vSphere

Mon, 05 May 2014 20:13:00 +0000

Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS) is Microsoft cluster technology required shared storage supporting SCSI reservation mechanism. Microsoft has introduced new - perhaps more modern and more descriptive - name for the same technology. New name is "Microsoft Failover Cluster" so don't be confused with different names. VMware has supplementary documentation called "Setup for Failover Clustering and

IGMP snooping on Force10 IOA

Mon, 05 May 2014 20:47:00 +0000

Here is how IGMP snooping is implemented on the IOA.

IGMP snooping is enabled by default on the switch.

FTOS supports version 1, version 2, and version 3 hosts.
FTOS IGMP snooping is based on the IP multicast address (not on the Layer 2 multicast MAC address). IGMP snooping entries are stored in the Layer 3 flow table instead of in the Layer 2 forwarding information base (FIB).
FTOS IGMP snooping is based on draft-ietf-magma-snoop-10.
IGMP snooping is supported on all M I/O Aggregator stack members.
A maximum of 8k groups and 4k virtual local area networks (VLAN) are supported.
IGMP snooping is not supported on the default VLAN interface.
Flooding of unregistered multicast traffic is enabled by default.
Queries are not accepted from the server sideports and are only accepted from the uplink LAG.
Reports and Leaves are flooded by default to the uplink LAG irrespective of whether it is an mrouter port or not

Of course if you disable a vlan that has been configured with IGMP snooping, any multicast traffic that hits this vlan will be ignored.

The variants of the VLAN configurations on ports with PowerConnect switches and F10

Mon, 05 May 2014 21:24:00 +0000

##############################################################################################################################################

FORCE 10

##############################################################################################################################################

By default, all interfaces are in Layer 3 mode and not belonging to any Vlan. So you could configure an IP address on the port concerned, as on a classical router.

RVL-S4810-1# show int ten 0/46 status

Port Description Status Speed Duplex Vlan

Te 0/46 Down Auto Auto -- -> member in none Vlan

##############################################################################################################################################

To configure the port in a Vlan, you must make a change to Layer2 / switch port Mode. It also falls automatically to the default untagged Vlan. This is by default Vlan 1. It can be be changed if necessary RVL-S4810-1(conf)#default vlan-id xxx.

A Default VLAN IP address can not be given. To obtain an IP interface to Vlan 1 you must change the default Vlan to another Vlan first

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-te-0/46)#switchport

RVL-S4810-1#show int ten 0/46 status

Port Description Status Speed Duplex Vlan

Te 0/46 Down Auto Auto 1 -> untagged member in default Vlan

To change untagged Vlan:

RVL-S4810-1(conf)# int vlan 2

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-vl-2)#untagged tengigabitethernet 0/46

RVL-S4810-1#show int ten 0/46 status

Port Description Status Speed Duplex Vlan

Te 0/46 Down Auto Auto 2 -> now untagged member in Vlan 2

##############################################################################################################################################

To make the port to trunk port and to tag multiple Vlans without a untagged native VLAN.

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-te-0/46)#switchport

RVL-S4810-1#show int ten 0/46 status

Port Description Status Speed Duplex Vlan

Te 0/46 Down Auto Auto 1 -> untagged member in default Vlan (will be changed/removed when adding the first tagged Vlan)

To add tagged Vlans (here you can see, that the native vlan is removed and the the switch tag all Vlans):

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-te-0/46)#int vlan 3

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-vl-3)#tagged tengigabitethernet 0/46

RVL-S4810-1#show int ten 0/46 status

Port Description Status Speed Duplex Vlan

Te 0/46 Down Auto Auto 3

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-te-0/46)#int vlan 4

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-vl-4)#tagged tengigabitethernet 0/46

RVL-S4810-1#show int ten 0/46 status

Port Description Status Speed Duplex Vlan

Te 0/46 Down Auto Auto 3-4

With RVL-S4810-2# show vlan you can see which Ports are tagged and untagged Members on the Vlans:

RVL-S4810-2# show vlan

Codes: * - Default VLAN, G - GVRP VLANs, R - Remote Port Mirroring VLANs, P - Pimary, C - Community, I - Isolated

O - Openflow

Q: U - Untagged, T - Tagged

x - Dot1x untagged, X - Dot1x tagged

o - OpenFlow untagged, O - OpenFlow tagged

G - GVRP tagged, M - Vlan-stack, H - VSN tagged

i - Internal untagged, I - Internal tagged, v - VLT untagged, V - VLT tagged

NUM Status Description Q Ports

1 Active

2 Active

3 Active T Te 0/46 -> 0/46 now tagged member in Vlan 3

4 Active T Te 0/46 -> 0/46 now tagged member in Vlan 4

No untagged native VLAN !!! Port is not in hybride Mode !!

##############################################################################################################################################

To make the port to trunk port and to tag multiple Vlans or to make double tagging on it, it must be configured in the Port Mode Hybrid.

Is it not in the default mode (Layer 3, see above) you have to configure it in these default configure mode:

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-te-0/46)#portmode hybrid

% Error: Port is in Layer-2 mode Te 0/46.

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-te-0/46)#int vlan 2

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-vl-2)#no untagged tengigabitethernet 0/46

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-te-0/46)#no switchport

Now you can change the port mode:

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-te-0/46)#portmode hybrid

RVL-S4810-1#show int tengigabitethernet 0/46 status

Port Description Status Speed Duplex Vlan

Te 0/46 Down Auto Auto -- -> member in none Vlan

Now you can add Vlans tagged and untagged to the Port:

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-te-0/46)#switchport

RVL-S4810-1#show int ten 0/46 status

Port Description Status Speed Duplex Vlan

Te 0/46 Down Auto Auto 1 -> untagged member in default Vlan

To change the untagged Vlan:

RVL-S4810-1(conf)# int vlan 2

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-vl-2)#untagged tengigabitethernet 0/46

RVL-S4810-1#show int ten 0/46 status

Port Description Status Speed Duplex Vlan

Te 0/46 Down Auto Auto 2 -> now untagged member in Vlan 2

To add additional tagged Vlans:

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-te-0/46)#int vlan 3

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-vl-3)#tagged tengigabitethernet 0/46

RVL-S4810-1#show int ten 0/46 status

Port Description Status Speed Duplex Vlan

Te 0/46 Down Auto Auto 2-3

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-te-0/46)#int vlan 4

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-vl-4)#tagged tengigabitethernet 0/46

RVL-S4810-1#show int ten 0/46 status

Port Description Status Speed Duplex Vlan

Te 0/46 Down Auto Auto 2-4

With RVL-S4810-2# show vlan you can see which Ports are tagged and untagged Members on the Vlans:

RVL-S4810-2# show vlan

Codes: * - Default VLAN, G - GVRP VLANs, R - Remote Port Mirroring VLANs, P - Pimary, C - Community, I - Isolated

O - Openflow

Q: U - Untagged, T - Tagged

x - Dot1x untagged, X - Dot1x tagged

o - OpenFlow untagged, O - OpenFlow tagged

G - GVRP tagged, M - Vlan-stack, H - VSN tagged

i - Internal untagged, I - Internal tagged, v - VLT untagged, V - VLT tagged

NUM Status Description Q Ports

1 Active U Te 0/1-45,47-48

2 Active U Te 0/46 -> 0/46 now untagged member in Vlan 2

3 Active T Te 0/46 -> 0/46 now tagged member in Vlan 3

4 Active T Te 0/46 -> 0/46 now tagged member in Vlan 4

##############################################################################################################################################

PowerConnect

##############################################################################################################################################

• Access — The port belongs to a single untagged VLAN.

Configure a Vlan Untagged to a Port, In the Example VLAN 23.

console(config)# interface gi1/0/8

console(config-if)# switchport mode access

console(config-if)# switchport access vlan 23

##############################################################################################################################################

Trunk vs. General Mode

· In General Mode are egress more then one untagged Vlans possible

##############################################################################################################################################

• General — The port belongs to VLANs, and each VLAN is user-defined as tagged or untagged (full 802.1Q mode).

Several Vlans tagged and / or untagged configured on a port, eg Uplink (the Vlans 23, 25 are the tagged Vlans, Vlans 24, 27 are untagged, untagged packets that are received in the example will be switched on VLAN 24 (PVID).

The port configuration must be in respect of the tagged / untagged Vlans the same as its counterpart, switch, server can be established). If Only the Command console(config-if)# switchport mode general

is configured then the following Defaults are present:

General Mode PVID: 1 (default) -> Vlan 1 untagged

General Mode Ingress Filtering: Enabled

General Mode Acceptable Frame Type: Admit All

General Mode Dynamically Added VLANs:

General Mode Untagged VLANs: 1

General Mode Tagged VLANs: -> NO Vlan Tagged

General Mode Forbidden VLANs:

console(config)# interface gi1/0/11

console(config-if)# switchport mode general

console(config-if)# switchport general allowed vlan add 23,25 tagged

console(config-if)# switchport general allowed vlan add 24,27 untagged

console(config-if)# switchport general pvid 24

##############################################################################################################################################

• Trunk — The port belongs to VLANs on which all ports are tagged (except for one per port that can be untagged).

Several Vlans tagged plus one untagged configured on a port, eg Uplink (the Vlans 23, 24, 25 are the tagged Vlans, Vlan 22 is untagged, untagged packets that are received in the example will be switched on VLAN 22.

is configured then the following Defaults are present:

Trunking Mode Native VLAN: 1 (default) -> Vlan 1 untagged

Trunking Mode Native VLAN Tagging: Disabled

Trunking Mode VLANs Enabled: All -> ALL Vlans Tagged, except Native Vlan 1

console(config)# interface gi1/0/9

console(config-if)# switchport mode trunk

console(config-if)# switchport mode trunk native vlan 22

console(config-if)# switchport mode trunk allowed vlan add 22-25

##############################################################################################################################################

Simple TFTP server for windows

Tue, 06 May 2014 09:55:00 +0000

Anybody working with networking equipment need simple tftp server. Typical use case is to download and/or upload switch configuration and to perform firmware upgrades. I generally like simple tools which allow me to do my work quickly and efficiently. That's the reason I really like portable version of TFTP32. Fore more information about TFTP32 go here.

Recovering from a Forgotten Password on the Force10 S series switch

Tue, 06 May 2014 16:03:00 +0000

I've just spent several hours to find the recovery procedure from forgotten password. Google returned just one relevant result to the Force10 tech tip page "How Do I Reset the S-Series to Factory Defaults?". However the procedure doesn't work because there is not "Option menu" during system boot. It is most probably old and deprecated procedure. Here is the new procedure so I hope google

DELL versus CISCO server firmware management

Wed, 07 May 2014 13:07:00 +0000

DELL and CISCO firmware management philosophies are very different.

DELL has server oriented approach (similar to HP) and CISCO has network centric approach.

DELL System and Firmware Management

DELL System and Firmware Management Approach is year by year better and better but in my opinion still not optimal. But the future is bright and happy J

We have lot of possibilities how to do firmware update and unfortunately sometimes you have to test all of them to be successful L

12-th generation of servers is far the best because lifecycle controller is significantly faster and less problematic than in 11^th generation.

I don’t want to go to deeply into specific firmware update problems – and usually there are some ;-) - so I’ll keep it in more general.

CISCO System and Firmware Management

CISCO UCS has single management software for servers embedded in the hardware UCSM (UCS Manager). It is running inside network interconnects (Fabric Interconnects) and because they are two interconnects it is in high availability cluster (active/passive). UCS Manager allow you to do all UCS configurations and also firmware management of all components (Server adapters, Server BIOSes, IO Modules, Fabric Interconnects and UCS Manager itself).

CISCO release firmware packages which must be downloaded into UCS and these firmware’s can be applied. Upgrade order is very important – starting from IOMs, then Fabric Interconnects and lastly UCS Manager.

Server and server adapter firmware management can be included into server profiles. Server profiles is something like AIM personas. It is a logical representation of the server and BIOS + firmware versions can be specified there. When Server profile is applied (associated) to the server then BIOS + firmware is upgraded or downgraded as defined in the profile.

Server upgrade procedure is done out-of-band and server cannot run operating system – therefore maintenance window has to be planned. It takes a while. Internally it works over PXE boot. Server is automatically reconfigured to boot over PXE where PXE and TFTP is provided internally by UCS Manager. Upgraded server boot special linux distribution (CISCO call it PNU linux) and firmware packages are applied in this temporarily running linux system. After upgrade the server boot order is changed back and server boots normal operating system.

COMPARISON

Both firmware management approaches are totally different. CISCO has centralized system leveraging internal PXE/TFTP where DELL has distributed system where lot of lifecycle controllers are orchestrated by some 1:many management software.

When I work for CISCO lot of customers were really scare to do UCS upgrade by them self. I can understand it because CISCO UCS is not simple system. CISCO UCS is unified system and when you make mistake during fabric interconnect upgrade you can be in troubles. Therefore customers usually engaged CISCO Advanced Services or certified partners.

When I work for DELL Services I had also several engagements for firmware upgrades because DELL customers are not aware about OpenManage framework and various firmware possibilities.

If DELL customer want to do firmware management by them self I usually do 3 day System Management workshop engagement to explain them practically the architecture and system management possibilities.

CISCO advantage

· Unified and centralized firmware management

· Firmware can be defined in Service Profiles

CISCO disadvantages

· Centralized and complex system – therefore customers are afraid to do upgrade by them self

· Proprietary system even inside using standard protocols like PXE/TFTP

· Longer server downtime – I don’t know how it is today but 3 years ago CISCO hadn’t operating system update packages for BIOS and firmware (something like DUPs) – disadvantage mitigation: they expect some form of cluster to eliminate downtimes

DELL advantage

· Advantages of distributed system – if one server upgrade fails it doesn’t impact whole system

· Dell Update Packages (DUP) which can be applied via running operating system – OMSA

· Out-of-band upgrades via lifecycle controller – firmware staging and application after next server reboot

· Open system from management point of view – WS-MAN, racadm

DELL disadvantage

· Lot of software components customer must be aware (DELL Repository Manager, Open Manage Essentials, Lifecycle controller, CMC, …) – but it is necessary to support all environments

· Sometimes it doesn’t work as expected and you have to use another tool or upgrade Lifecycle controller to higher version and so on – it is much better on 12^th server generation and iDrac 7 and OME 1.2+

Hopefully we will do continuous improvements in this area.

The best and most optimal DELL Firmware management strategy really depends on customer environment. It depends on following:

How many servers do they have?

Do they want to use 1:many firmware management like OpenManage Essentials, Altiris, MS System Center, VMware OpenManage Integration?

Do they want to integrate it with some existing system management (Microsoft, VMware) and configuration management?

And we have to show to our customers how it works. Think about Proof of Concepts.

I understand benefits of both approaches and nobody can say exactly one is better than other. As always – it depends.

Understanding Fibre Channel (FC) and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) Terminology

Fri, 09 May 2014 14:26:00 +0000

To understand the Fibre Channel (FC) and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) capabilities of the, you should become familiar with some basic terminology. I have just found excellent single page explaining all important terms from FC and FCoE worlds. It is here. Thanks Juniper to prepare it. I'm sure I will come back later for some abbreviation explanation.

Unable unmout ESX datastore

Fri, 16 May 2014 16:58:00 +0000

I've just been notified about annoying problem by customer for whom I did vSphere 5.5 Design. The datastore was not posible to unmount. In ESX logs were something similar to message below. Cannot unmount volume 'Datastore Name: vm3:xxx VMFS uuid: 517c9950-10f30962-931f-00304830a1ea' because file system is busy. Correct the problem and retry the operation. There is KB about this

Hardware Infrastructure Monitoring Proxy

Sun, 18 May 2014 11:12:00 +0000

Every enterprise infrastructure product like server, blade system, storage array, fibre-channel or ethernet switch has some kind of CLI or API management. Lot of products support SNMP but it usually doesn't return everything what CLI/API offers. This project is set of connectors to different enterprise systems like DELL iDRAC and blade Chassis Management Controller, VMware vCenter and/or

A/C Controller

Sun, 18 May 2014 11:17:00 +0000

A/C Controller is FreeBSD based appliance which monitors environmental temperature and automatically power on/off Air Conditioning units to achieve required temperature. It's distributed as 2GB (204MB zip) pre-installed FreeBSD image. Project page: https://sourceforge.net/projects/accontrol/ Author: David Pasek

How to convert thick zeroed virtual disk to thin and save storage space

Sun, 18 May 2014 19:47:00 +0000

Last week I've been notified by my colleague about long term VMware vSphere issue described in VMware KB 2048016. The issue is that vSphere Data Protection restores a thin-provisioned disk as a thick-provisioned disk. This sounds like relatively big operational impact. However after reading VMware KB I've explained to my colleague that this is not typical issue or bug but it is rather expected

Locally Administered Address Ranges

Wed, 28 May 2014 08:53:00 +0000

MAC Addresses There are 4 sets of Locally Administered Address Ranges that can be used on your network without fear of conflict, assuming no one else has assigned these on your network: x2-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx x6-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx xA-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx xE-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx Replacing x with any hex value. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAC_address for more information. Update 2014-10-27:

DELL Force10 : VLT - Virtual Link Trunking

Wed, 28 May 2014 11:50:00 +0000

Do you know CISCO's Virtual port Channel? Do you want the same with DELL datacenter switches. Here we go. General VLT overview Virtual Link Trunking or VLT is a proprietary aggregation protocol developed by Force10 and available in their datacenter-class or enterprise-class network switches. VLT is implemented in the latest firmware releases (FTOS from 8.3.10.2) for their high-end switches

Egress-Interface-Selection Feature F10

Sun, 06 Jul 2014 20:35:00 +0000

If you use the ooB Management Interface you configure an “ip management-route”.

For the IP Vlan Interfaces you use the normal Routing Table by adding routs with” ip route” command.

But if you make an SSH connection or an ICMP Ping to the ooB Management IP-Address the Switch will answer via an Interface that is closes to your Source by looking into both Routing Tables. Means, it could happen that you Ping the Switch on ooB IP and the Switch will Answer with an Vlan In terface as Source. That could cause Problems because of unsycrone Rounting, it will make Problems if IP ACLs are used to regulate Management Access or if an Firewall is in the Traffic Path,……

Egress Interface Selection (EIS)

EIS allows you to isolate the management and front-end port domains by preventing switch-initiated traffic routing between the two domains. This feature provides additional security by preventing flooding attacks on front-end ports. The following protocols support EIS: DNS, FTP, NTP, RADIUS, sFlow, SNMP, SSH, Syslog, TACACS, Telnet, and TFTP. This feature does not support sFlow on stacked units. When you enable this feature, all management routes (connected, static, and default) are copied to the management EIS routing table. Use the management route command to add new management routes to the default and EIS routing tables. Use the show ip management-eis-route command to view the EIS routes.

Important Points to Remember

· Deleting a management route removes the route from both the EIS routing table and the default routing table.

· If the management port is down or route lookup fails in the management EIS routing table, the outgoing interface is selected based on route lookup from the default routing table.

· If a route in the EIS table conflicts with a front-end port route, the front-end port route has precedence.

· Due to protocol, ARP packets received through the management port create two ARP entries (one for the lookup in the EIS table and one for the default routing table).

management egress-interface-selection

application dns

application ftp

application http

application icmp

application ntp

application radius

application sflow-collector

application snmp

application ssh

application syslog

application tacacs

application telnet

application tftp

VCDX Defense Timer

Mon, 07 Jul 2014 12:25:00 +0000

If you are prepering for VCDX and you want to do VCDX mock defense you can use the exact timer which is used during real VCDX defense. The timer is available online at https://vcdx.vmware.com/vcdx-timer Good luck with your VCDX journey!!!

How social media and community sharing help entrprise customers

Mon, 07 Jul 2014 15:08:00 +0000

I'm always happy when someone finds my blog article or shared document useful. Here is one example of recent email communication from one DELL customer who Googled

Why use VMware VM virtual disk IOPS limit?

Sat, 12 Jul 2014 18:52:00 +0000

What is VM IOPS limit? Here is explanation from VMware documentation .... When you allocate storage I/O resources, you can limit the IOPS that are allowed for a virtual machine. By default, these are unlimited. If a virtual machine has more than one virtual disk, you must set the limit on all of its virtual disks. Otherwise, the limit will not be enforced for the virtual machine. In this case,

Heads Up! VMware virtual disk IOPS limit bad behavior in VMware ESX 5.5

Sun, 13 Jul 2014 19:41:00 +0000

I've been informed about strange behavior of VM virtual disk IOPS limits by one my customer for whom I did vSphere design recently. If you don't know how VM vDisk IOPS limits can be useful in some scenarios read my another blog post - "Why use VMware VM virtual disk IOPS limit?". And because I designed this technology for some of my customers they are very impacted by bad vDisk IOPS

ESX disk scheduler vDisk behavior

Mon, 14 Jul 2014 14:40:00 +0000

vDisk IOPS limit = 400 IOPS


IO Block Size	# of threads	vDisk IOPS limit	vDisk IOPS achieved
512B	1	400	400
512B	4	400	400
512B	8	400	400
512B	16	400	400
2kB	1	400	400
2kB	4	400	400
2kB	8	400	400
2kB	16	400	400
4kB	1	400	300
4kB	4	400	400
4kB	8	400	400
4kB	16	400	400
16kB	1	400	240
16kB	4	400	400
16kB	8	400	400
16kB	16	400	400
32kB	1	400	200
32kB	4	400	400
32kB	8	400	400
32kB	16	400	400
64kB	1	400	150
64kB	4	400	320
64kB	8	400	400
64kB	16	400	400
256kB	1	400	115
256kB	4	400	185
256kB	8	400	240
256kB	16	400	380
256kB	32	400	380
1MB	1	400	80
1MB	8	400	180
1MB	16	400	180
1MB	24	400	180
1MB	32	400	180

vSphere Advanced Settings

Mon, 14 Jul 2014 15:50:00 +0000

ESX Host Advanced Settings

ESX Advanced parameter	Default value	Changed Value	Justification
Syslog.global.logHost	empty	Syslog servers See. Table 122 SYSLOG Servers	Centralized syslog for troubleshooting and security audits.
Syslog.global.logDirUnique	false	true	Creates unique subdirectories in shared datastore scratch location.
Syslog.global.logDir		[TEMPLATES-01] /scratch/log/	We use SD cards in ESX hosts where ramdisk is used for logs and core dumps. This setting instructs ESXi to use shared datastore instead local ramdisk for scratch location.
UserVars.ESXiShellInteractiveTimeOut	0	1800	ESXi Shell (SSH, concole) log out time-out value in seconds. Changed value 1800 seconds (30 min) increase security.
UserVars.SuppressShellWarning	0	1	Disables warning message that SSH is enabled.
Config.HostAgent.plugins.hostsvc.esxAdminsGroup	ESX Admins	PPOD-TEC-NG-Admins PPOD-TEC-CH-Admins	We have two AD groups of ESX Admins managing pPODs in different datacenters.
VMkernel.Boot.terminateVMOnPDL	no	yes	Terminates VMs in case LUN device is permanently lost.
Disk.AutoremoveOnPDL	enabled	disabled	Don't remove datastores in PDL automatically.

vSphere HA Advanced Settings

HA Cluster Advanced parameter	Default value	Changed Value	Justification
das.vmcpuminmhz	32MHz	570MHz	Defines the default CPU resource value assigned to a virtual machine if its CPU reservation is not specified or zero. This is used for the Host Failures Cluster Tolerates admission control policy. Default min reservation 570MHz per VM solves vCloud Director CPU Max OverBooking Ratio. Single ESX host can serve 29GHz. 50 * 570MHz = 28.5GHz
das.maskCleanShutdownEnabled	false	true	This is an accompanying configuration that helps vSphere HA distinguish between VMs that were once powered on and should be restarted versus VMs that were already powered off when a PDL occurred therefore these are VMs that don’t need to be and more importantly probably should not be restarted

EMC VNX SRM

Wed, 16 Jul 2014 08:57:00 +0000

Implementation Plan
http://www.cosonok.com/2012/11/implementing-vmware-site-recovery.html

Force10 IOM VLT

Thu, 17 Jul 2014 07:27:00 +0000

Stack-unit 0 iom-mode vlt uplink-speed 40

CISCO UDLD alternative on Force10

Wed, 23 Jul 2014 09:44:00 +0000

I've been asked by one DELL System Engineer if we support CISCO's UDLD feature because it was required in some RFI. Well, DELL Force10 Operating System have similar feature solving the same problem and it is called FEFD. Here is the explanation from FTOS 9.4 Configuration Guide ... FEFD (Far-end failure detection) is supported on the Force10 S4810 platform. FEFD is a protocol that senses

Compellent Serial Console over iDRAC

Fri, 25 Jul 2014 17:44:00 +0000

To get it working a few steps have to be taken on both Controllers:

1. Configure iDRAC

a. Go to Network->Serial

b. Set IPMI’s Baud Rate to 115.2 kbps (Compellent Serial Port Baud Rate)

c. Apply Settings

2. During boot enter the Controller’s BIOS

a. Go to “Serial Communication”

b. Switch from “Off” to “On without Redirection”

c. Switch Port Configuration from “Serial Device1=COM1;Serial Device2=COM2” to “Serial Device1=COM2;Serial Device2=COM1”

d. Save Settings and Reboot Controller

After these steps the Compellent’s serial console is available via iDRAC:

Login to iDRAC using SSH and type “connect” at the prompt. After that the SSH session shows the serial console as if directly connected to the system’s serial port.

Force10 VLT - Design Verification Test Plan

Tue, 29 Jul 2014 00:05:00 +0000

One my philosophical rule is "Trust, but Verify". Design Verification Test Plan is good approach to be sure how the system you have designed behaves. Typical design verification test plan contains Usability, Performance and Reliability tests. Force10 VLT domain configuration is actually two node cluster (the system) providing L2/L3 network services. What network services your VLT domain should

Routed VLT vs VRRP

Fri, 01 Aug 2014 07:18:00 +0000

There were a lot of queries on how R-VLT can be used in place of VRRP and what are the advantages and disadvantages. Further to this I had a call with some of you and provided answers to all these queries. I am summarizing the details here. If there are further questions please email me.

R-VLT or peer-routing (as it is called in configuration guides) provide the ability to do the default gateway functionality similar to VRRP. Apart from that, one can run any IPv4 / IPv6 routing protocols in a VLT based core with R-VLT turned on. Please note this is a unique capability among vendors that offer MLAG type solutions. For more information on benefits of R-VLT, please refer to ‘VLT Overview 2.0’ AND ‘VLT reference architecture 2.0” in sales edge.

Ø R-VLT is recommended where larger # of L3 VLANs are required. VRRP has a limitation of 255 L3 VLANs, so if the customer requires more than 255 L3 VLANS please recommend R-VLT. Today we support 512 L3 VLANs in R-VLT and we are going to increase this number to 2,500 L3 VLANs in OS 9.7 (Klamath) release

Ø There was a limitation when a peer-node goes down the other peer was not responding to ARP requests sent to default gateway address. This was fixed when “Proxy ARP” functionality for peer-VLT nodes was introduced in OS 9.3

Ø VRRP-v4 and R-VLT can co-exist together. Certain set of VLANs can be using VRRP and other set can be using R-VLT. This is required during migration from VRRP to R-VLT and the customer is not willing to convert all VLANs to R-VLT in one shot

Ø Caveat with R-VLT: In a VLT setup between switches A and B, where A’s IP is configured as default gateway, when both the nodes go down and only B comes up, the gateway functionality will not be available. R-VLT requires a handshake between A and B at least once. Hence in such cases the network will not have a gateway until the other node comes up.

o This is a corner case that can happen when both the nodes go down and only one comes up (power outage with other issues) or when software is upgraded on both VLT node (upgrade done one after other). The former will have other network issues like convergence etc. as there is a DC wide power outage and the later will likely be done during a maintenance window.

o We are exploring ways to solve this issue in the future OS 9.x release, but there are no simpler ways of solving this issue. So unlikely to get fixed in the near future.

For all the functionalities introduced in VLT since OS 9.2, please refer to corresponding DNL slides available on DNL playback site. For any other queries please reach out to me or ASK-NETWORKING-PLM alias.

Thanks & regards,

Shankar Vasudevan

-------------------------------------------------------

Product Manager | Dell Networking | Enterprise Solutions Group

office: +91-44-3920-8451, mobile: +91-9500018850

Chennai, India

M1000e CMC and IDRAC on separate subnets via CLI

Fri, 01 Aug 2014 09:23:00 +0000

Here is a script to set the VLAN IDs and IP addresses on elements of the chassis via CLI (when you want different VLANs, that is).

(Caveat: I haven't found a successfully tested method of setting server iDRAC IP addresses via CLI, although the VLAN takes.)

# Configuring CMC/Chassis management elements with separate VLANs via CLI

# Assign CMC IP, place on VLAN 5 with no dot1p priority

setniccfg -s 10.10.5.2 255.255.255.0 10.10.5.1

setniccfg -v 5 0

# (Alternative syntax)

# config -g cfgLanNetworking -o cfgNicVLanEnable 1

# config -g cfgLanNetworking -o cfgNicVlanID 5

# Place iDRACs on VLAN 10, dot1p priority 0

setniccfg -m server-1 -v 10 0

setniccfg -m server-2 -v 10 0

setniccfg -m server-3 -v 10 0

setniccfg -m server-4 -v 10 0

setniccfg -m server-5 -v 10 0

setniccfg -m server-6 -v 10 0

setniccfg -m server-7 -v 10 0

setniccfg -m server-8 -v 10 0

setniccfg -m server-9 -v 10 0

setniccfg -m server-10 -v 10 0

setniccfg -m server-11 -v 10 0

setniccfg -m server-12 -v 10 0

setniccfg -m server-13 -v 10 0

setniccfg -m server-14 -v 10 0

setniccfg -m server-15 -v 10 0

setniccfg -m server-16 -v 10 0

# Place switch management interfaces on VLAN 15, dot1p priority 0

setniccfg -m switch-1 -v 15 0

setniccfg -m switch-2 -v 15 0

setniccfg -m switch-3 -v 15 0

setniccfg -m switch-4 -v 15 0

setniccfg -m switch-5 -v 15 0

setniccfg -m switch-6 -v 15 0

# Assign switch management static IP addresses

setniccfg -m switch-1 -s 10.10.15.3 255.255.255.0 10.10.15.1

setniccfg -m switch-2 -s 10.10.15.4 255.255.255.0 10.10.15.1

setniccfg -m switch-3 -s 10.10.15.5 255.255.255.0 10.10.15.1

setniccfg -m switch-4 -s 10.10.15.6 255.255.255.0 10.10.15.1

setniccfg -m switch-5 -s 10.10.15.7 255.255.255.0 10.10.15.1

setniccfg -m switch-6 -s 10.10.15.8 255.255.255.0 10.10.15.1

# Clear VLAN settings for any interfaces

setniccfg -v

setniccfg -m server-1 -v

setniccfg -m switch-3 -v

DELL Usefull Links

Fri, 01 Aug 2014 09:25:00 +0000

Name	URL	Ref (or Logon)	Password
American Express Online	https://www.americanexpress.com
Brocade - MyBrocade	http://my.brocade.com
Brocade Switches	http://www.brocade.com/products/all/switches/index.page?
Changepoint (Internal)	http://changepoint.dell.com
Changepoint (External)	https://changepoint-dpmf-external.dell.com
Chatter	https://login.salesforce.com/?ec=302&startURL=%2Fhome%2Fhome.jsp
Cisco Partner Central	http://www.cisco.com/web/partners/index.html
Citrix Outside US	https://outside.us.dell.com
Concur (Expenses &Travel)	http://inside.euro.dell.com/emea/travel/cliqbook.html
Compellent Access Request	http://intranet.dell.com/dept/aes/stg_nos/Compellent/Lists/CMLCRMAccessRequests/Newform.aspx
Compellent Business Partner Portal	http://portal.compellent.com/login.aspx?item=%2fdefault&user=extranet%5cAnonymous&site=portal
Compellent Knowledge Center	http://kc.compellent.com/_layouts/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fpages%2fhome.aspx
Compellent Tech Wiki	http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/storage/w/wiki/5018.compellent-technical-content.aspx
Data Centre Capacity Planner (DCCP)	http://www.dell.com/content/topics/topic.aspx/global/products/pedge/topics/en/config_calculator?c=us&cs=555&l=en&s=biz
GSS KBase	http://intranet.dell.com/dept/mvfs/GIDShome/global/kb/Pages/main.aspx
Dell Cable Selector	http://moss.dell.com/sites/cables_selector/Shared%20Documents/1/index.html
Dell EMEA Webex	https://dell-emeaeec.webex.com/
Dell MVFS Webex	https://dellmvfs.webex.com/mw0401l/mywebex/default.do?siteurl=dellmvfs
Dell Partner Direct	http://www.dell.com/html/global/topics/partnerdirect/index.html
Dell Onsite Parts Service (For Microsoft DCS)	https://ois.dell.com/	Given when Trained
Dell TechCenter Wiki	http://www.delltechcenter.com/
Dell Demos Portal	https://demos.dell.com (some very useful Force 10,PoweredgeVTRX,& Compellent demo’s) Paul Bray	can use your corporate login
Dell Storage Compatibility Matrix	http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/storage/w/wiki/5069.dell-storage-compatibility-matrix.aspx
Dell UPS & rPDU (Eaton)	http://powerquality.eaton.com/dell/default.asp?ResetCountryID=1
Dell Webex Request	http://dellmvfs.webex.com/	Click Request Host Account
Educate Dell	https://educate.dell.com/Saba/Web/Internal
EDT UK Holiday Planner	http://intranet.dell.com/sites/UKISA_PSD/Shared%20Documents/Forms/AllItems.aspx
EFRC Labs	http://intranet.dell.com/dept/mvfs/efrc/default.aspx
EMC AX4-5	http://www.emc.com/microsites/clariion-support/ax45-support.htm
EMC Powerlink	https://powerlink.emc.com
EMC Education	https://education.emc.com/powerlinkauth.asp
EMC Proven Professional	https://i7lp.integral7.com/durango/do/login?ownername=emc&channel=emc&basechannel=prometric
Employee Purchase	http://www.euro.dell.com/content/topics/topic.aspx/emea/topics/epp/internal_epp?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1	New Scheme Dec2011	Vouchers Emailed
Emulex	http://www.emulex.com/downloads/emulex/
EQL Demo Tool	http://salesedge.dell.com/detailsearch?type=DT-CustomerPres&cust=AD-VSK_equallogic&path=cust:AD-Tools%3Bcust:AD-VSK%3Bcust:AD-VSK_equallogic%3Btype:DT-Presentations%3Btype:DT-CustomerPres&root=/detailsearch&ll=VSK&WT.mc_id=equallogic_support5
EQL Tech Content Wiki	http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/storage/w/wiki/2660.equallogic-technical-content.aspx
EQL Website	https://eqlsupport.dell.com/secure/login.aspx (Now needs your email address as Username)
EQL Sizing Tool	http://salesedge.dell.com/tools/Sizing_Tools/ToolsApp.html#
Field Identified Opportunities	http://gics.dell.com/EMEA/Lists/Field%20Identified%20Opportunities/Submission%20View.aspx
Fluid FS - Fuidiki	http://fluidiki.dub.emea.dell.com/index.php/Main_Page
Force 10	http://www.force10networks.com/CSPortal20/Main/SupportMain.aspx
HR 4U	http://intranet.dell.com/dept/hr/Local/UK/Pages/Home.aspx
Java Archive Downloads	http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/archive-139210.html
Laptop Admin Rights Request	http://srm.us.dell.com/arsys/forms/svmgtprdapp.us.dell.com/SRS%3AServiceRequestConsole/enduser	Select IT Services-search for local admin -right item appears. -“Request Now” button to submit your request
Lasso	http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/555?c=us&l=en&s=biz	Top RHS – Search – enter Lasso
Local Admin Request View	http://localadmin.dell.com/newrequest.aspx
Annual Leave Form	http://intranet.dell.com/dept/hr/Local/UK/HR4HR/Policies/Leave/AnnualLeave/Pages/AnnualLeave.aspx	Links for Req & Cancel on RHS
Live Meeting Installation	http://livemeeting.dell.com/Pages/default.aspx
Microsoft iSCSI Initiator	http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=12CB3C1A-15D6-4585-B385-BEFD1319F825&displaylang=en
Microsoft TechNet	http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/default.aspx
MSDN	https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/manage/aa336858.aspx
Novell	https://secure-www.novell.com/partners/secure/index.php
Novell Downloads	http://download.novell.com/index.jsp
Orbit-Bluefin (Dell UK Employee Financial Security Pension Plan)	https://orbit.orbitbenefits.com/
Outlook Web Access	https://mail.dell.com
OWA - Corp Smartphone	https://mymail.euro.dell.com/OWA	Exchange 2010
Platespin Support	http://www.novell.com/support/product/products.do (to place a support call Email – support@Platespin.com (quote Act Code)	Select Platespin Recon
Platespin Off Line Act	http://www.platespin.com/productactivation/ActivateOrder.aspx	Reqs Novell login
ProSupport Tag to express service code utility	http://www.creativyst.com/Doc/Articles/HT/Dell/DellPop.htm
QLogic	http://driverdownloads.qlogic.com/QLogicDriverDownloads_UI/DefaultNewSearch.aspx
Rapid EQL	http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/storage/w/wiki/3615.rapid-equallogic-configuration-portal-by-sis.aspx
Global Ethics and Compliance (Saba)	http://mylearningworld.dell.com/Saba/Web/Main (cut & paste)
Salesedge Doc Dashboard	http://salesedge.dell.com/dboard?id=12699
SD Lookup Tool	http://scm-data-central.us.dell.com/DominoItemLookup/DominoLookup.aspx?tabidx=1&search_str=683-*&search_type=0&region_id=2
Service Agreements/Descriptions	http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/topics/topic.aspx/emea/topics/services/en/installation_serv_desc?c=uk&l=en&s=bsd
SkillPort	https://learnit.skillport.com/skillportfe/login.action
Solutions Innovation Centre Demo	http://intranet.dell.com/dept/sic/demos/Pages/Default.aspx
Storage Tech Calls Archive	http://intranet.dell.com/pg/EMEA-ENT/collaboration/storage/Shared%20Documents/Forms/AllItems.aspx
Storage Networking Industry Association	https://www.snia.org/
SRM (IT Issues)	http://srm.us.dell.com/arsys/forms/svmgtprdapp.us.dell.com/SRS%3AServiceRequestConsole/enduser/?cacheid=24d6c413&wait=0
Storage News to Use (N2U)	http://moss.dell.com/sites/Storage_N2U/default.aspx
Taleo Performance	https://pf.us.dell.com/idp/startSSO.ping?PartnerSpId=Taleo-NON-VPN&TargetResource=https://dell.taleo.net/orion/flex.jsf (copy & paste into browser)
TMC Mileage	https://secure.tmcuk.co.uk/customer/EmpConfirm.aspx
VMware Downloads	http://www.vmware.com/download/
VMware Prod Eval Center	https://www.vmware.com/tryvmware/pa/activate.php?p=vsphere&k=6e5e7afece8b9bacad925b9ee7cff125&cmp=PE-vSphereEvalActivation
VMware Partner Central	http://www.vmware.com/partners/partners.html
Wage Slips (iPayView)	https://dell.logicapayroll.com/formslogin.aspx	Pre May 2010
Wage Slips (SAP Netweaver)	https://pf.us.dell.com/idp/startSSO.ping?PartnerSpId=https://portal0012.globalview.adp.com/federate2&targetresource=https://portal0012.globalview.adp.com/irj/portal?mdt=722	Post May 2010
SRMS (was WOW)	https://srms.dell.com/arsys/shared/login.jsp?/arsys/ (cut & paste into browser)

Enterprise Tech Support

Name	URL
Turbo tech	http://intranet.dell.com/dept/aes/links/turbo-tech/home/default/default.aspx
Pro Support Server Department	http://intranet.dell.com/TS/DUBTECHSP/DEPARTMENTS/SERVER/Pages/Default.aspx
Storage 24x7 Services	http://intranet.dell.com/ts/dubtechsp/Departments/Storage/stgteams/Storage%2024x7%20Services/Pages/Default.aspx
Dispatch Links And Templates	http://intranet.dell.com/ts/dubtechsp/dispatch/default.aspx
EMEA Global Command Centre	http://intranet.dell.com/dept/globalcc/EMEA/default.aspx
EMEA Expert Centre Cherrywood	http://intranet.dell.com/ts/dubtechsp/Pages/Default.aspx

Visio Templates

Name	URL
Dell Specific:(PowerEdge,PowerVault,EMC,EqualLogic etc.)	http://www.visiocafe.com/dell.htm
Microsoft Exchange 2010 (incl new SP1 features)	http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/confirmation.aspx?FamilyID=901d471c-8bd9-47ad-b6db-452309f12ebe
Microsoft Lync	http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=65b5a396-2c87-445d-be23-d324727d19cb&displaylang=en
Microsoft Hyper-V Stencils (Tim Bicknelle)	http://www.jonathancusson.com/visio-stencils/ http://blogs.technet.com/b/tonyso/archive/2008/07/21/hyper-v-visio-stencils-and-rack-visualization.aspx http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40732
Novell	http://www.novell.com/communities/node/5784/novell-visio-stencils-groupwiseclusteringedirectory
Compellent	http://www.visiocafe.com/downloads/dell/Dell-Compellent.zip
VMware	http://www.vmguru.nl/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/VMware.zip
Symantec EV	http://www.symantec.com/connect/sites/default/files/Enterprise_Vault-Visio_0.zip
Juniper	http://www.juniper.net/us/en/products-services/icons-stencils/
Network Equipment Shapes (3COM,APC,Cisco,Dell,HP,Compaq,IBM,Nortel,Panduit,Sun)	http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?familyid=46C2E389-F4C2-44DB-8E50-2DF45116151A&displaylang=en
Altiris	http://www.symantec.com/connect/sites/default/files/Altiris%20Visio%20Stencil.zip
Geographical Map Shapes	http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=8BB43B9C-6E1F-4E5C-84A6-86C326A0D025#Overview
IT Pro Posters	http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=08105458-1D92-44AD-B7E0-744AA853A7BF#Overview
Barracuda	http://www.barracudanetworks.com/ns/support/documentation.php
Citrix Netscaler	http://community.citrix.com/download/attachments/155618053/Citrix+NetScaler+Product+Line.zip?version=2
Kemp	http://www.kemptechnologies.com/en/loadmaster-documentation#c7842

Network communications between virtual machines

Sun, 17 Aug 2014 20:49:00 +0000

I was contacted by colleague of mine who pointed to very often mentioned statement about network communication between virtual machines on the same ESXi host. One of such statement is cited below. "Network communications between virtual machines that are connected to the same virtual switch on the same ESXi host will not use the physical network. All the network traffic between the

VLT Domain Failure Scenarios

Sun, 24 Aug 2014 21:23:00 +0000

I did some investigation tonight in my Lab running OS 9.5.0.1 with VLT and taking down the VLTI and Heartbeat Links. Here is what I found out in case your customers ask you "What happens when…?"

Scenario 1: All link up

Results : All links from the end-devices to the 2 VLT switches are up.

Scenario 2: VLTI link between switches goes down but Heartbeat Link is up

Results: The End-devices link(s) to the Secondary switch will go down to prevent a Loop but continue to pass traffic through the Primary switch. If there are any Non-VLT configured interfaces they will not be effected by the VLTI link going down and continue to pass traffic normally. The Heartbeat connection is still passing the hello packet.

Scenario 3: VLTI Link up but Heartbeat link goes down

Results: Everything continues to pass traffic normally without taking any interfaces down. The reason is that the only thing that the Heartbeat link does is pass a 56 Byte hello Packet stating "I'm here".

Scenario 4: VLTI and Heartbeat Link go down but the switches are still up

Results: Each switch within the VLT Domain will become the Primary with the End-devices connection still up passing traffic as normal. This is call a Split Brain scenario where there is a loop within the Network as the End-Devices are passing traffic down each interface to the switches within the VLT Domain. This is a reason to have RSTP or PVST+ (future Klamath release) configured in conjunction to VLT so in case a Split Brain Scenario happens we can have some type of backup to help prevent loops within the Network.

So the bottom line is that we want the Customers to use the OOB interface to support the Heartbeat due to the fact that if they used the VLTI and Heartbeat as the same interconnection and it went down they would cause a Split Brain scenario and cause more issues within their Network.

JOHN BECK, Enterprise Technologist | Networking

Dell | Office of Technology & Architecture | CTO

Office #: (847) 515-5910

Cell / SMS #: (847) 207-6348

Fax Number #: (847) 515-5921

E-mail: j_beck@Dell.com

Force10 VRRP

Fri, 29 Aug 2014 09:22:00 +0000

[ s4810-01 ]
interface Vlan 777 
 description [Dell_vrrp]
ip address 192.168.102.1/24
ip address 10.11.6.1/24 secondary
untagged gigabitethernet 2/24-35
tagged gigabitethernet 2/42-47
!
vrrp-group 30
  priority 150
  virtual-address 192.168.102.3
!
vrrp-group 31
  priority 150
  virtual-address 10.11.6.3
no shutdown
!
 
 
[ s4810-02]
interface Vlan 777 
 description [Dell_vrrp]
ip address 192.168.102.2/24
ip address 10.11.6.2/24 secondary
untagged gigabitethernet 2/24-35
tagged gigabitethernet 2/42-47
!
vrrp-group 30
  priority 100
  virtual-address 198.168.102.3
!
vrrp-group 31
  priority 100
  virtual-address 10.11.6.3
no shutdown
!

How to clear all jobs on DELL Lifecycle Controller via iDRAC

Fri, 29 Aug 2014 09:29:00 +0000

When you have problem with DELL Lifecycle Controller jobs you can delete all jobs by single iDRAC command. This command racadm -r ip address -u user name -p password jobqueue delete -i JID_CLEARALL_FORCE deletes all of the jobs plus the orphaned pending and restarts the data manager service on the iDRAC. It will take about 90-120 secs before the iDRAC is able to process another job.

EVO:RAIL Introduction Video

Fri, 05 Sep 2014 19:56:00 +0000

EVO:RAIL introduction video is quite impressive. Check it your self at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J30zrhEUvKQ I'm really looking forward for first EVO:RAIL implementation.

vSphere HA Cluster Redundancy

Sun, 07 Sep 2014 07:35:00 +0000

All vSphere administrators and implementers know how easily vSphere HA Cluster can be configured. However sometimes quick and simple configuration doesn't do exactly what is expected. You can, and typically you should, enable Admission Control in vSphere HA Cluster configuration settings. VMware vSphere HA Admission Control is control mechanism checking if another VM can be powered on

Redirect ESXi syslog and coredump over network

Mon, 08 Sep 2014 08:47:00 +0000

Let's assume we have syslog server on IP address [SYSLOG-SERVER] and coredump server at [COREDUMP-SERVER]. Here are CLI commands how to quickly and effectively configure network redirection. REDIRECT SYSLOG esxcli system syslog config set --loghost=udp://[SYSLOG-SERVER]esxcli network firewall ruleset set --ruleset-id=syslog --enabled=trueesxcli network firewall refreshesxcli system

Biggest challenges with most of the service providers are facing today

Mon, 08 Sep 2014 15:27:00 +0000

Biggest challenges with most of the service providers are facing today :
- No way / poor feedback capturing
- Lack in Product Management experience to improve based on the 3 party feedback (Internal, Customer and Partners/investors/vendors)
- Competing with Big fishes/crocs i.e. Azure and Amazon against their strongest game i.e. IAAS and PAAS and still trying to be competitive
- Not realizing which market to target or which one to avoid
- Considering Technology as the game changer for their offerings
- Forgetting the importance of Enterprise Architecture / SOA within this environment which will become the important part to innovate later
- Poor analytics on the market requirements, their marketing campaigns, long term market shift
- Doing large CAPEX instead of considering Partner model (use companies i.e. ServiceNow etc which can provide SAAS based Service Management Solution instead of investing money from their pocket)
- Lacking domain expertise and lacking domain and country regulations
- Lacking architecture experience in such a massive and complex environments
- Resources capabilities and Roadmap
- Running operations in a similar fashion the way they run in single organization. Lacking understanding of ISO 27000:7
- Forgetting International Standards and importance of them to bring competitiveness : ISO 27001/2 , ISO 27005, ISO 22301, ISO 24762, ISO 27031, PDPA, SSAE SOC 1 / 2, Data Sovereignty, Auditing, Pan Tests
- Losing Governance internally
- Forgetting importance of Domain and IT Compliance : SOX, HIPAA, PDPA, MCTS, PCI DSS etc.
- Missing BCP and DR as key backbones for their business
- Weak Marketing

Few ways you can impress your customers:

1. Architecture
Pulling back the curtain on the architecture of the vendor’s cloud hosting platform will help you evaluate if it is right for your business. For companies looking to host business-critical applications, the cloud vendor’s underlying datacenter, network, storage, and compute infrastructure should mirror the features of a typical enterprise-class computing platform as well as offer the advanced capabilities associated with cloud computing, such as elastically scalable computing resources.
Key Datacenter Infrastructure should include:

Fully Independent “A” and “B” Power Systems to all Physical Devices
Fully Redundant Cooling Systems

Key Network Infrastructure should include:

Complete Network Redundancy to the Physical Host
Dedicated Public, Private, Backup, Administrative Networks
SWIP and RWhois Support (i.e. ability to re-assign IPs to Customers)
Network Layer Load Balancing
Network Layer Intrusion Detection and Prevention
Network Layer Firewalls
MPLS and Virtual Private Networking Support
Geographically Redundant DNS Service
Edge Caching and Routing Service Options (i.e. CDN Services)

Key Storage Infrastructure should include:

Elastically Scalable Tier0, Tier1 and Tier 2 Enterprise SAN Storage
Fully Redundant Multi-Gbps Fibre Network
Proven Ability to Handle High I/O Applications

Key Compute Infrastructure should include:

Elastically Scalable CPU and Memory Resources
Live Migration Across Physical Hosts
Automated Recovery from Failed Physical Hosts
Support for Oracle, SQLServer, and MySQL Clustering

Commodity cloud offerings – such as Amazon and RackSpace – lack many (if not all) of these building-blocks necessary to support enterprise-class hosting environments.Without these fundamental building blocks, the ability of the vendor’s cloud platform to adequately address core ITSM requirements and satisfy the IT requirements of medium to large organizations over the life of the project is compromised. For example, the ability to schedule application-level backups or accessing persistent data storage without impacting network performance and causing application latency is a straight forward requirement of most business-critical applications but are not supported in Amazon’s mono-network EC2 architecture.
Integrated policy and workflow engines and other advanced service management toolsets are another way enterprise cloud hosting platforms set themselves apart from their consumer-oriented counterparts.
2. Tools
Do far more, far better, and with far less IT resources! To realize this universal goal, an enterprise-class cloud hosting platform must reinforce the integrity of ITSM best practices around application development, staging, production, and disaster recovery while streamlining the necessary IT resources required to support these best practices. This requires an advanced administrative toolset to drive efficient and effective service delivery (e.g. capacity, continuity, and availability management) and support (e.g. incident, change and release management). Key ITSM tools that should be part of an enterprise-class cloud hosting offering include:

Web Based Control Panel/Customer Service Center
Web Based Incident, Change, and Request Management System
Integrated Change Auditing and Control Systems
System Templates for Rapid re-deployment of your Application and OS Configuration
Incremental System Snapshots with Roll Forward and Back Capability
VM and Application Level Data Backup and Archiving
System and Application Performance and Availability Monitoring and Reporting Tools
Local and Remote Data Replication Tools
Benchmark Performance and Security Testing Tools
Service Level Agreement (SLA) Management Tools
Web Services APIs for integration with Cloud Tools and Resources

Few cloud hosting offerings currently include all of these ITSM tools. And while it is possible to combine the services of multiple vendors to create an equivalent suite of management tools, as we saw with Amazon’s mono-network architecture, it is not always certain the underlying architecture of the vendor’s cloud will support them.
ITSM best-practice also dictates that production systems are replicated to a disaster recovery site to ensure business continuity. Although very important, the cost of implementing and maintain this best practice is extremely high.
3. Security
Information security is the most significant barrier CIOs see to adopting cloud hosting services. While this is a multi-faceted issue, from a technology point of view there are no inherent security risks or benefits associated with cloud computing relative to other Internet accessible computing platforms. The same principles and toolsets apply. CIOs must do the same due diligence with a cloud hosting platform as they would with their own internal IT departments or traditional IT outsourcer to make sure their Information Security Management System (ISMS) is being supported. In fact, a trustworthy enterprise-cloud vendor should enhance an organization’s ability to protect the integrity of its business information and navigate ever rougher regulatory waters. Ways this can be achieved include:
A. Requiring the cloud vendor to be certified against internationally recognized information security standards, such as SAS 70/SSAE 16, ISO 27001 and PCI. Certification against one or more of these standards is normally required of IT outsourcers to meet the regulatory requirements governing Ecommerce transactions or the management of personal and financial information.
B. Requiring the Cloud vendor to have a multi-layered information security infrastructure integrated into its cloud hosting infrastructure to protect against data intrusion, corruption, and loss. These systems include:

Flexible Service Agreements that address Risk and Accountability
Integrated Vulnerability and Compliancy Assessment Tools
Integrated Change Auditing and Control Systems
Local and Off-Site Data Backup and Archiving Services
Integrated Network Layer Intrusion Detection and Prevention
Integrated Network Layer Firewalls
Integrated Virtual Private Networking (VPN)
Support for Private MPLS Network Connections
Strict Access Control and Acceptable Use Policies
DDOS Mitigation Tools and Policies

C. Avoiding mass-market Cloud services. At some level, every cloud hosting service, like the Internet itself, is a shared network. As a result, what others do on that network can and will, at some point, affect your business. The risk increases exponentially if the cloud vendor is targeting the mass-market with cheap prices and automated sign ups. On this type of cloud hosting platform you can be certain that network abuse is a significant issue and customers are routinely sideswiped by Denial of Service (DoS) type attacks and blacklisted IP blocks. This is a well-publicized problem on Amazon EC2 but the problem is universal.[5] The best protection is to choose a vendor who caters to businesses and organizations conducting real business over the Internet and subscribing to sound ISMS principles.
Hosting facilities must be SSAE 16 SOC 1/2 certified with security status
5. Support Services
The majority of the cloud hosting offerings on the market are essentially self-help services. At best, organizations can subscribe to a “live” help desk service that is reactive and focused on request and incident management. This may be enough for organizations with solid web hosting experience and adequate IT staffing. However, many organizations need much more. They need a partner who is an expert in the delivery of business-critical applications over the Internet. They need someone to understand their business and application requirements in detail and work proactively through the entire IT lifecycle to achieve their goals. If this is your organization then key things to look for in a managed cloud hosting vendor, include:

Support for all aspects of service delivery, including the application stack
Ability to work proactively through the complete IT lifecycle
Service Level Agreement (SLA) with end-user centric performance objectives
Adoption of ITIL best-practices, particularly around change management
Technical Account Managers dedicated to your account
24x7x365 Service Desk coverage
Feedback collection team
Feedback Processing Team

As one would expect, the shape of cloud hosting computing is fuzzy and changing rapidly. It is still early days and new vendors are entering the market regularly with different service philosophies, target markets, and solutions all under the same cloud hosting banner. In this environment, it is particularly important for CIOs to analyze carefully the underlying objective, architecture, tools, security, and support behind a vendor’s cloud hosting platform. Only then can they evaluate if a particular cloud can achieve the optimal balance between affordability and system availability, capacity, security, scalability, and manageability that is right for their business requirements in the short and longer term.

DELL Force10 switch and NIC Teaming

Tue, 09 Sep 2014 20:53:00 +0000

NIC teaming is a feature that allows multiple network interface cards in a server to be represented by one MAC address and one IP address in order to provide transparent redundancy, balancing, and to fully utilize network adapter resources. If the primary NIC fails, traffic switches to the secondary NIC because they are represented by the same set of addresses. Let's assume we have the

iSCSI and Ethernet

Wed, 10 Sep 2014 15:18:00 +0000

Each manufacturer of Ethernet switch may implement features unique to their specific model. Below are some general tips to look for when implementing an iSCSI network infrastructure. Each tip may or may not apply to a specific installation. Be aware that this is list is inspired by DELL Compellent iSCSI bets practices and it is not an all-inclusive list. Bi-Directional Flow Control enabled

Tool for Network Assessment and Documentation

Wed, 10 Sep 2014 17:01:00 +0000

Do you need tool for Automated Network Assessment and Documentation? Try NetBrain and let me know how do you like it. I'm writing this tool to my todo list I need to test in my lab so I'll write another blog post after test. NetBrain's deep network discovery will build a rich mathematical model of the network’s topology and underlying design. The data collected by the system is automatically

Compellent Storage Center Live Volume and vSphere Metro Cluster

Tue, 16 Sep 2014 11:48:00 +0000

Are you interested in metro clusters (aka stretched clusters)? Watch this video which introduces the new Synchronous Live Volume features available in Dell Compellent Storage Center 6.5. And if you need more technical deep dive use this guide focuses on two main data protection and mobility features available in Dell Compellent Storage Center: synchronous replication and Live Volume. In

Emulex OCm14102-u2-d in M620 and vSphere 5.5 Issue

Fri, 19 Sep 2014 08:42:00 +0000

If you use the latest 5.5u2 DELL iso from our ftp, boot up the host with either NPAR on or off, the nic’s in iDRAC will show up/up, the switch will say up/up, however vSphere will say Down, half-duplex.

To resolve this issue run esxcfg-vnics –a <vnic> to set it to auto-negotiation (the driver seems to have overridden this). This will make the nic’s come online. It seems to survive reboots.

DELL OME Download

Sat, 20 Sep 2014 20:38:00 +0000

DELL OpenManage Essentials download link. http://marketing.dell.com/ome-software

Creating group of VLANs and assign ports to it

Fri, 26 Sep 2014 15:02:00 +0000

Creating Vlans should not be a problem. Try this:

interface group vlan 120-125, vlan 130-135

Once you created the VLANs, you can use the following command to tag a port to all VLANs you want:

int range vlan 1-4000

tag <port#>

DELL Storage SC4020 800GB Tier 1 SSD

Tue, 07 Oct 2014 15:39:00 +0000

We are pleased to announce the availability of a new drive – 800GB Tier 1 (Mixed Use) SSD – the first of its kind in an SC system. This drive type is to be used as a Tier 1 SSD similar to the existing 200GB/400GB write intensive (WI) drives. The SCOS will identify this drive with the same WI classification and will use the same tier as the 200GB and 400GB WI SSDs. The industry is referring to these drives types as “mixed use (MU)” drives but from a Dell Storage perspective, these are used and tiered the same way as the Write Intensive (WI) SSDs.

Dell Storage is shifting to mixed use drives for a number of reasons:

1. As new generations of SSDs are released, WI and MU drives will offer similar write performance.

2. As capacity grows, MU drives offer similar endurance as the smaller WI drives when comparing total petabytes written in the drive’s life.

3. Field and customer data has helped determine that MU drives offer sufficient write endurance for even the most write intensive environments.

4. Mixed use drives offer higher capacity at a lower $/GB than comparable WI drives.

5. The broader SSD market is making a shift to MU drives.

Table 1: Comparison of WI/MU/RI Drives for Dell Compellent

Dell Storage Use	Write Intensive		Read Intensive
Market Terminology	Write Intensive (WI)	Mixed Use (MU)	Read Intensive (RI)
Workload	Mainstream Applications Any usage		Mostly Read 90/10 R/W Mix
Used with Compellent	Yes		Yes
Capacities	200/400 GB	800GB	1.6 TB
Endurance (Full writes / Day)*	10-30		<3
Endurance (written PBs)*	Up to 30PB		8PB
Random Read IOPS*	Up to 20K +		14K +
Random Write IOPS*	11K +	8K +	4K +
Sustained Write Bandwidth*	200-250 MB/s	150-225 MB/s	50-100 MB/s
List $/GB	Up to $31	$16.60	$5.25

* These performance values are for individual drives during benchmark testing. These values do not reflect actual system performance values. Values are expected to differ once drives are managed in the system with RAID virtualization and other system functions.

It is important to note that we recently moved to a new warranty policy that protects SSDs in Compellent Systems for the full length of a system’s warranty, regardless of wear or maximum rated life.

M630 NIC Options

Thu, 09 Oct 2014 12:04:00 +0000

4x1Gb – Broadcom & intel (new for 13g)

2 x 10Gb - qlogic 57810, intel x520, and Emulex (same as available on m620)

4x10Gb - qlogic 57840 (same as on m620)

In Q1cy15 we add new intel “Fortville” x710 controllers

2x10Gb

4x10Gb

iDRAC 8

Thu, 09 Oct 2014 19:23:00 +0000

iDRAC8 with Lifecycle Controller – summary

iDRAC8 with Lifecycle Controller delivers revolutionary systems management capabilities:

- Quick Sync bezel provides at-the-server management through NFC-enabled Android devices using the free DELL OpenManage Mobile app. Configure a server and collect server inventory with a simple “tap” between the server bezel and mobile device.

- Zero-Touch Auto Configuration can deploy a server out of the box with no intervention required; reducing server configuration time by as much as 99%. Just rack, cable, and walk away.

- iDRAC Direct lets customers use a USB cable or a USB key to provide configuration information to the iDRAC. No more crash cart!

- Simplify motherboard replacement with Easy Restore: key settings, such as BIOS, NIC, and iDRAC as well as licenses are automatically restored from the front panel.

- Agent-free, real-time RAID management and configuration: use iDRAC to create and manage virtual disks, without reboots!

- Increase datacenter security: Support for UEFI Secure Boot, and new System Erase capabilities for server repurpose/retirement, and new SNMP v3 Trap support.

- Built-in Tech Support Report replaces the need for downloaded support tools; health reports are built right into iDRAC and can be uploaded to Dell Support.

The BEST PLACE TO START for Technical Papers/blogs/videos

www.delltechcenter.com/idrac - updated with latest iDRAC and LC information

Customer facing presentation – on SalesEdge

http://salesedge.dell.com/doc?id=0901bc828089d547&ll=md

iDRAC8 Quick Sync with OpenManage Mobile

http://youtu.be/vcWf6ukLpTo

note – OMM 1.1 is now available on the Google Play store

also – this video is available on www.delltechcenter.com/idrac

Sketch videos on you tube – as well as on www.delltecenter.com/idrac

http://youtu.be/ayEZXCL6Zdw - Freedom (OpenManage Mobile and iDRAC8 Quick Sync)

http://youtu.be/deNJDD3mLkY - Staying above the flood (Big Data)

http://youtu.be/ru-3Gc-t_UM - Simplified Management at the box (iDRAC Direct)

Tech Papers to support Dell 13G Systems Management claims – as well as on www.delltecenter.com/idrac

Report: http://www.principledtechnologies.com/Dell/13G_systemsmgmt_0914.pdf

Infographic: http://www.principledtechnologies.com/Dell/13G_Systemsmgmt_infographic_0914.pdf

On Tech Center - http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/systems-management/w/wiki/4317.white-papers-for-idrac-with-lifecycle-controller-technology#general

Support Docs on www.dell.com/support

http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/product-support/product/integrated-dell-remote-access-cntrllr-8-with-lifecycle-controller-v2.00.00.00/research#./manuals?&_suid=141156885922403905889197697563

Here you will find

· iDRAC8 User Guide

· iDRAC8 Release Notes

· Lifecycle Controller User Guide

· Racadm User Guide

· iDRAC Service Module (iSM) Install Guide

· SNMP and EEMI Guides

iDRAC – CMC – OME Trial/Evaluation Licenses are NOW ON SALESEDGE

OpenManage Trial Evaluation Licenses

· 30 day eval for iDRAC7 Enterprise

· 30 day eval for iDRAC8 Enterprise

· 30 day eval for CMC Enterprise for FX2

· 30 day eval for CMC Enterprise for VRTX

· 90 day eval for OME Server Configuration Management

· See 411 for more details http://salesedge.dell.com/doc?id=0901bc82808a7078&ll=sr

· Yes, you can send these to your customer

INTERNAL

Train the trainer deck – on SalesEdge

http://salesedge.dell.com/doc?id=0901bc828089d545&ll=md

Dell internal only SourceBook - on SalesEdge

http://salesedge.dell.com/doc?id=0901bc8280881bf6&ll=md

Did you know? Mixing of FCoE and iSCSI on the same converged fabric...

Thu, 09 Oct 2014 22:40:00 +0000

Mixing of FCoE and iSCSI on the same converged fabric is not recommended and not supported by Dell.

Fibre Channel NPV and NPIV

Mon, 13 Oct 2014 09:59:00 +0000

I'm often asked by customers and colleagues what is the difference between NPV and NPIV. I don't want to write information which are already well written and explain by someone else. So please read this Tony Bourke blog post which is IMHO very well written. Just quick summary. NPV is CISCO term doing the same thing like Brocade Access Gateway or DELL Force10 NPG (NPIV Proxy Mode). All these

PoE max power loss

Wed, 15 Oct 2014 18:40:00 +0000

This is how you would calculate the max power loss on a 100m Cat6 Cable:

Typical DC power resistance loss in CAT6

Typical Cat6 UTP has a 7ohm/100m conductor resistance, resulting in a 7ohm/100m loop resistance. This is 1/3 the (worst case) loop resistance the 802.3af standard will accept.

Voltage Drop in typical data cable

2* (0.175)*7 =2.5V

@Power dissipated (Pd) in typical data cable

Pd per wire is (0.175A)2 * 7 ohms = 0.214 W per wire

Power dissipated on 2 wires on 2 pairs is:

4 * 0.214 = 0.858 W maximum typical power dissipated per data cable

Note that the 802.3af standard tolerates a 2.45W cable loss, but typical Cat6 UTP cable will result

in only 0.858 W DC power loss over 100m.

Force10 Internal Firmware repository

Wed, 15 Oct 2014 19:04:00 +0000

The below link has all the patch releases – but not sure u can access it.

http://intranet.dell.com/dept/aes/Tools/Force10GS/Force10TAC/Force10Esc/Lists/Patch%20release%20repository/AllItems.aspx

vCenter, Windows 2012 R2, .NET 3.5 issue

Fri, 17 Oct 2014 11:31:00 +0000

It is well know that vCenter Server 5.5 requires .NET Framework 3.5. It is quite easy to install it by Server Manager GUI or by following command: dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:NetFX3 /all /Source:d:\sources\sxs /LimitAccess Command above assumes Windows 2012 DVD in drive d: ... but i had an issue with installation getting following error. PS C:\

USB serial adapter in FreeBSD

Thu, 23 Oct 2014 21:59:00 +0000

Last modified: Jun. 13, 2009

Contents
1 - Summary
2 - Kernel options
3 - Plug in USB serial adapter
4 - Connect to router

1 - Summary

This guide explains how to use a USB serial adapter in FreeBSD. It also
explains how to connect to a device like a router over a serial connection.
As an example we will connect to a Cisco router. This has been tested in
FreeBSD 7.0 and 7.1.

2 - Kernel options

You will need to have the following options in your kernel.
device uhci # UHCI PCI->USB interface
device ohci # OHCI PCI->USB interface
device ehci # EHCI PCI->USB interface (USB 2.0)
device usb # USB Bus (required)
device ugen # Generic
device ucom # USB serial support
device uplcom # USB support for Prolific PL-2303 serial adapters
If you didn't already have them in your kernel you will need to reboot before
using the USB serial adapter.

3 - Plug in USB serial adapter

Log in with a normal user account. Plug in the USB serial adapter into the
computer and check to make sure it was detected properly.
# dmesg | tail -n 1
ucom0: Prolific Technology Inc. USB-Serial Controller, class 0/0, rev 1.10/3.00,
addr 2 on uhub0

Find what the actual device is listed as.
# ls -l /dev/cuaU*
crw-rw---- 1 uucp dialer 0, 116 Mar 2 18:54 /dev/cuaU0
crw-rw---- 1 uucp dialer 0, 117 Mar 2 18:54 /dev/cuaU0.init
crw-rw---- 1 uucp dialer 0, 118 Mar 2 18:54 /dev/cuaU0.lock
In our example it's listed as /dev/cuaU0.

4 - Connect to router

Connect a serial cable from the USB serial adapter to the console port on
the back of the Cisco router. Type the following and press [Enter] to connect.
# sudo cu -l /dev/cuaU0 -s 9600
Connected

User Access Verification

Username: xxx
Password: xxx
Welcome to router.test.com!
router>

When you are done type exit.

router>exit

router con0 is now available
Press RETURN to get started.

Type '~.' to exit. Press 'Shift+~' then period.

~
[EOT]

FreeBSD with multiple Serial Adapters acting as Access Console Server

Mon, 27 Oct 2014 07:36:00 +0000

I play a lot with network equipment like switches, routers and firewalls. It is very useful to have local serial access to consoles of such devices. When I say local, I mean remote access to local serial console. I can use some commercial Access Console Servers from companies like Avocent but these devices are usually very expensive and don't do anything else than linux box with multiple serial

Force10: 40GB to 4 X 10GB breakout cable

Mon, 27 Oct 2014 10:28:00 +0000

From: Bean, Bob
Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2014 09:08 AM Central Standard Time
To: Cassels, George; Beck, J; Pereira, Jacobo; WW Networking Domain
Subject: RE: 40GB to 4 X 10GB breakout cable

On the FTOS side use:

intf-type cr4 autoneg

-----Original Message-----
From: Cassels, George
Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2014 08:28 AM Central Standard Time
To: Beck, J; Pereira, Jacobo; WW Networking Domain
Subject: RE: 40GB to 4 X 10GB breakout cable

So far, we've used the following commands...

service unsupported-transceiver
no errdisable detect cause gbic-invalid

Now it doesn't errdisable, but still goes down/down with the same error as mentioned below.

________________________________________
From: Beck, J
Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2014 9:20 AM
To: Cassels, George; Pereira, Jacobo; WW Networking Domain
Subject: RE: 40GB to 4 X 10GB breakout cable

Have you set the command on the Cisco side to support noncertified transcievers?

Excuse any misspelled words as this is sent from a smart phone.

John Beck | Dell
Office of Technology and Architecture | CTO

-----Original Message-----
From: Cassels, George
Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2014 08:17 AM Central Standard Time
To: Pereira, Jacobo; WW Networking Domain
Subject: RE: 40GB to 4 X 10GB breakout cable

Jacobo,
It is Option A below...
________________________________________
From: Pereira, Jacobo
Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2014 9:09 AM
To: Cassels, George; WW Networking Domain
Subject: RE: 40GB to 4 X 10GB breakout cable

What type of breakout are you using?

a) QSFP+ to 4xSFP+ ?
b) QSFP+ Transceiver with MTP to 4xLC cable?

-----Original Message-----
From: Cassels, George
Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2014 07:59 AM Central Standard Time
To: WW Networking Domain
Subject: 40GB to 4 X 10GB breakout cable

I am doing some testing at a customer site with the Z9000 to Cisco 10GB switch. When we try to use the 40GB to 10GB breakout cable we are getting the following error that disables the ports on the cisco side.

Duplicate vendor-id and serial number

Setup is a two port connection setup in a LAG using LACP.

Is there any known fixes around this issue? Also there is no issue if you plug in just one of the ports on the 10GB side.

Thanks,
George

Force10: restore factory-defaults

Mon, 03 Nov 2014 08:50:00 +0000

This command can be used to remove stack information. Yes, even the sticky stuff left in NVRAM. This is much, much easier for our customers to convert stacked units (especially those remote to the equipment).

Upgrade the stack to 9.5 or 9.6 and then abort BMP when prompted

1) Use the following command to set the switch to factory default, including the stacking ports

#restore factory-defaults stack-unit all clear-all

Proceed: yes

2) When prompted about BMP, select A:

To continue with the standard manual interactive mode, it is necessary to abort BMP.

Press A to abort BMP now.

Press C to continue with BMP.

Press L to toggle BMP syslog and console messages.

Press S to display the BMP status.

[A/C/L/S]: A

3) Check to make sure that after the reboot the reload-type will be normal-reload

Dell#

Dell#show reload-type

Reload-Type : bmp [Next boot : normal-reload]

auto-save : disable

config-scr-download : enable

dhcp-timeout : disable

vendor-class-identifier :

retry-count : 0

4) reload

Details on the command included here (can be found in the most recent Program Status).

In OS 9.5, we introduced a new command to reset the switch to factory default mode. The command is Dell# restore factory-defaults stack-unit all clear-all It does the following:

•Deletes the startup configuration

•Clears the NOVRAM and Boot variables, depending on the arguments passed

•Enables BMP

•Resets the user ports to their default native modes (ie., non-stacking, no 40G to 4x10G breakouts, etc.)

•Removes all CLI users Then, the command reloads the switch in a similar state to a brand new device Restore does not change the current OS images and partition from which the switch will boot up. Likewise, restore does not delete any of the files you store in the SD (except startup-config)

Resetting DELL Force10 to factory defaults

Mon, 03 Nov 2014 08:53:00 +0000

In OS 9.5, DELL introduced a new command to reset the switch to factory default mode. The command is Dell# restore factory-defaults stack-unit all clear-all It does the following: Deletes the startup configuration Clears the NOVRAM and Boot variables, depending on the arguments passed Enables BMP Resets the user ports to their default native modes (ie., non-stacking, no 40G to 4x10G breakouts

DELL and VMware VSAN

Wed, 05 Nov 2014 07:07:00 +0000

Midway through the year, VMware changed their storage controller certification by requiring all of it to process through their lab, which is a bottle-neck. PERC9 certification, including the H330, is in process but will not likely be approved before Q4. In addition to the H330 having slightly less than a 256 queue depth, VMware is not entirely ready for 12gb SAS, so the testing / validation is taking more time than expected. Keep in mind 13G vSphere support requires v5.5 U2 at the minimum for VSAN (v5.1 U2 will also work, but does not support VSAN). Tom, I’d recommend syncing that customer up with the Solutions Center to do a 13G POC with the H730 if they want to test now. Until we get a successful engineering check on the configuration, I’d be reluctant to tell them what to purchase at present.

On pass-through, the thing you will run into from VMware is them pushing pass-through since it enables single-drive replacement in the event of failure, instead of having to take down an entire node to replace one drive as would be the case for RAID0. Considering it is still difficult to identify the physical location of a failed drive in a VSAN environment without either OME or the OpenManage integration into vCenter, you can argue that either way for the benefits of PERC.

We have a VSAN information guide posted to the documentation for ESXi, out at dell.com/virtualizationsolutions under VMware ESXi v5.x. Page 7 of the VSAN information guide lists the storage controllers we’ve tested, which includes the H710, H710P, and the LSI 9207-8i.

For 11G servers, we have done NO certification of that generation as a “Ready Node”, meaning no Dell engineering has stood up an 11G cluster. The VSAN compatibility list only requires certification of the storage controller, HDDs, and SSDs, so as long as all of those components are there, and the server is v5.5 U1 or higher certified (which most 11G are) VMware at least will support it. VSAN OEM will only be available on 12G and newer.

And, since this is the Blades-Tech forum, I’d restate DAS still isn’t officially supported by VSAN (even if it works), so neither Blades nor VRTX are recommended VSAN targets at present. The next major release of vSphere in 2015 will support JBOD, and we’ll look at certifications again in that time frame.

Damon Earley

Hypervisor Product Marketing

Dell | Product Group – Systems Management

office + 1 800 289 3355 x7242458, direct 1 512 724 2458

damon_earley@dell.com

DELL FX2 is comming

Thu, 06 Nov 2014 07:47:00 +0000

Michael Dell announced FX2 yesterday at DellWorld 2014. FX2 is new 2U flexible chassis for sleds. Sleds are basically hardware cartridges having one of three roles listed below flexible server (FC) - FC630, FC430, FC830 flexible micro servers (FM) - FM120X4 flexible disk enclosures (FD) - FD332 You can look at FX2 overview video below. It is marketing video however it is nice

ESXi Network Troubleshooting

Thu, 06 Nov 2014 10:01:00 +0000

Introduction As VMware vExpert, I had a chance and privilege to use VMware Learning Zone. There are excellent training videos. Today I would like to blog about useful commands trained on video training “Network Troubleshooting at the ESXi Command Line”. If you ask me I have to say that Vmware Learning Zone has very valuable content and it comes really handy during real troubleshooting.

40Gb over existing LC fiber optics

Fri, 07 Nov 2014 11:14:00 +0000

Do you know DELL has QSFP+ LM4 transciever allowing 40Gb traffic up to 160m on LC OM4 MMF (multi mode fiber) or up to 2km on LC SMF (single mode fiber)? Use Case: This optic has an LC connection and is ideal for customers who want to use existing LC fiber. It can be used for 40GbE traffic up to 160m on MultiMode Fiber OR 2km on Single Mode fiber. Specification Periferal Type:

ESX 5.x and Broadcom/Intel CNA - FCoE issue

Mon, 10 Nov 2014 08:22:00 +0000

Please note that we are currently seeing a problem with VMware ESX and FCoE deployments. Following are the details of the problem.

What is the problem

VMWare ESX servers may fail to establish FCoE sessions with storage devices when Software FCoE adapter capability is enabled on the servers. When CNA/NIC modules that support partial FCoE offload (Broadcom and Intel only) are used, VMware ESX server’s Software FCoE adapter has to be enabled to access LUNs over FCoE. ESX’s Software FCoE adapter has a software defect that triggers the FCoE connectivity problems when connected to the S5000.

How does it impact the customer environment

VMware ESX servers may take a long time or fail to connect to storage devices after rebooting the S5000, the server, or disabling/enabling the interfaces between the server and the S5000.

Who gets impacted by this problem

Any customer with the following environment will get impacted.

- VMware ESX server with Broadcom or Intel CNA connecting to the S5000 either directly or through MXL/IOA (FSB).

This issue does not affect VMWare ESX servers deployed with QLogic or Emulex CNAs, which have hardware FCoE offload capability enabled by default.

What is being done

Dell Networking engineering team is actively engaged with VMware to fix this issue. VMware support has already reproduced and acknowledged that this is a problem with ESX 5.x. Furthermore, they have forwarded the problem to VMware engineering for a fix. So far VMware has not given us an expected time to provide the fix.

What is the recommendation

We are fully engaged with VMware to resolve this issue. However, until the issue is resolved by VMware, we will have to pursue the following options.

- Any FCoE deployments using VMware ESX, please use QLogic or Emulex CNA instead of Broadcom or Intel.

o Also, please ensure that there is a case open for it with Dell support and VMware support.

- If the customer does not have VMware ESX servers then it is ok to use Broadcom or Intel CNAs in the environment.

Saleem Muhammad

Dell | Product Management

5480 Great America Parkway | Santa Clara, CA 95054

Desk: (408) 571-3118 | Saleem_Muhammad@dell.com

Virtualisation Design & Project Framework

Fri, 14 Nov 2014 21:19:00 +0000

Gareth Hogarth wrote excellent high level plan (aka methodology, framework) how to properly deliver virtualization project as a turn key solution. I used very similar approach and not only for virtualization project but to any IT project where I have a role of Leading Architect. I have never written a blog post about this particular topic because it is usually internal intellectual property &

Force10 - group command to create multiple vlans

Sat, 15 Nov 2014 00:05:00 +0000

· “group” command can be used to create multiple vlans and apply any common bulk configuration to all the vlans

· “range” command is used to apply bulk configuration to range of existing vlans(if they are already created)

Sample,

Creating vlan and adding the interface to it	Adding interface to existing vlan
New_MXL_iSCSI_C1(conf)#interface group vlan 10 - 12 New_MXL_iSCSI_C1(conf-if-group-vl-10-12)#tag te 0/2	New_MXL_iSCSI_C1(conf)#interface range vlan 10 - 15 New_MXL_iSCSI_C1(conf-if-range-vl-10-15)#tag te 0/2

Please note that “,”(comma) can be used for non-consecutive vlans.

How to quickly get changed ESXi advanced settings?

Sat, 15 Nov 2014 00:19:00 +0000

Below is esxcli command to list ESXi Advanced Settings that have changed from the system defaults: esxcli system settings advanced list -d Here is real example form my ESXi host in lab ... ~ # esxcli system settings advanced list -d Path: /UserVars/SuppressShellWarning Type: integer Int Value: 1 Default Int Value: 0 Min Value: 0

azure pack vs vcac

Thu, 20 Nov 2014 21:28:00 +0000

Hi Scott,

I will make some comments based on my personal experience. We have implemented both solutions for different customers in Australia, both have their strengths and weaknesses.

Windows Azure Pack

The good

- Portal is great, same as Azure

- Pretty simple to set up, basic implementation requires just Windows and Virtual Machine Manager.

- Provides most of the private cloud functions customers are looking for

- Great story for Azure public cloud integration, machine migration is seamless

- With Hyper-V recovery manager you can use Hyper-V replicas directly to Azure and to secondary data centre

- WAP includes Azure Service Bus

- The Scale Out File Server architecture on the MS platform is pretty solid, scalability is not bad

- Licensing is simple, per processor for Windows and all System Centre products.

The not so good

- No multi tenancy

- No ability to customise the portal

- The chargeback is very basic, you need to implement Service Manager for detailed reports (and SM is still pretty terrible)

- Orchestration is fairly basic, you need SCO for custom orchestration.

- Needs SCOM for monitoring and alerting, third party ticketing integration is complex.

- Not possible with the MS virtual networking stack to do automated provisioning of multi tier applications, virtual load balancers and VLAN provisioning.

- Locked in to MS cloud, poor integration with other cloud vendors.

- If customer is existing VMware customer then migration of virtual machines can require significant effort. P2V migration functionality is no longer available in VMM 2012 R2, VMware integration is limited.

vRealize Automation (AKA vCAC)

The good

- True multi tenancy

- SDN integration is excellent, with NSX vCAC is able to do very complex provisioning and management of network services

- Integrates with vCentre Orchestrator, with a couple of hundred workflows available out of the box

- Good chargeback functionality out of the box

- Portal is somewhat customisable.

- VMware have announced full support for OpenStack, and have an OpenStack distribution in beta

- VMware have announced support for Docker, Jenkins and Kubernetes, so is a good platform for open source cloud application development

The not so good

- Complex to set up

- vCloud Air public cloud is still fairly limited availability, and currently integration is rudimentary.

- VSAN v1 is fairly basic at the moment, will need to wait for vSphere v6 for significant improvements

- Needs vCOps for monitoring and alerting

- Licensing is complex and pricing of the solution depends on the size and complexity of the implementation

- DR options are more complex than MS, SRM is better for Enterprise DR but is not cloud ready.

Hope this helps.

Dean Gardiner

Practice Lead – Data Centre and Cloud

Australia and New Zealand

Dell | Global Infrastructure Consulting Services

mobile +61 409315591

email Dean_Gardiner@dell.com

ISCSI Best Practices

Thu, 20 Nov 2014 23:56:00 +0000

General ISCSI Best Practices Separate VLAN for iSCSI traffic. Two separate networks or VLANs for multipath iSCSI. Two separate IP subnets for the separate networks or VLANs in multipath iSCSI. Gigabit (or better) Full Duplex connectivity between storage targets (storage front-end ports) and all storage initiators (server ports) Auto-Negotiate for all switches that will

Announcing the VMware Learning Zone

Fri, 21 Nov 2014 20:45:00 +0000

As a VMware vExpert I had a chance to use beta access to VMware Learning Zone. I blogged about my experience here. VMware Learning Zone has been officially announced today. VMware Learning Zone is a new subscription-based service that gives you a full year of unlimited, 24/7 access to official VMware video-based training. Top VMware experts and instructors discuss solutions, provide tips and

IOA and 40Gb Add-In Module Default Behavior

Thu, 27 Nov 2014 19:07:00 +0000

4*10G mode is the default.

You change the uplink speed by changing the opmode with an argument:

stack-unit 0 iom-mode standalone 40G

(Requires reload)

show system stack-unit unit-number iom-uplink-speed

The ZALMAN ZM VE200 SATA hard disk caddy with DVD/HDD/FDD emulation

Sat, 29 Nov 2014 13:53:00 +0000

I have just bought external USB drive with DVD emulation from ISO file. That's should be pretty handy for OS installs. I'm looking forward for first ESXi installation directly from ISO file. Here is nice and useful tutorial how to use it.

Force10 switch port iSCSI configuration

Wed, 03 Dec 2014 11:58:00 +0000

Here is snippet of Force10 switch port configuration of port facing storage front-end port or host NIC port dedicated just for iSCSI. In other words this is non-DCB switch port configuration. interface TenGigabitEthernet 0/12 no ip address mtu 12000 switchport flowcontrol rx on tx off spanning-tree rstp edge-port spanning-tree rstp edge-port bpduguard

Force10: How to prepare logs and configs for DELL tech support

Wed, 03 Dec 2014 13:51:00 +0000

The command show tech-support will show you all configurations and logs required for troubleshooting on the console. It is usually not what you want because you have to transfer support file somewhere. Therefore you can simply save it to internal flash device as an file and transfer it via ftp, tftp or scp to some computer. F10-S4810-A#show tech-support | save flash://tech-supp.

Disk queue depth in an ESXi environment

Mon, 15 Dec 2014 09:07:00 +0000

On the internet, there are a lot of information and documents about ESXi and Disk Queue Depth but I didn't find any single document explained all details I would like to know and in the format for easy consumption. Different vendors have their specific recommendations and best practices but without deeper principal explanation and holistic view. Some documents are incomplete and some others have

MXL and Vmware dvS PVLAN

Tue, 16 Dec 2014 10:05:00 +0000

From: Jayson_Block [mailto:bounce-Jayson_Block@kmp.dell.com]
Sent: venerdì 12 dicembre 2014 21:26
To: Cloud_Virtualization@kmp.dell.com
Subject: RE: MXL and Vmware dvS PVLAN

Dell Customer Communication

The feature you are actually looking for, to support VMware and PVLAN together, is PVLAN trunking. I get into why here in just a second.

FTOS does indeed support this feature in the majority of the 10/40 lineup, which is actually a pretty significant thing as many other vendors (like Brocade Ethernet for example) do not support or are just now introducing support for PVLAN trunking today. Almost all vendors now support an implementation of PVLAN, that’s not at issue; VMware specifically requires PVLAN trunking and those trunks must support the ability to tag both normal VLAN IDs as well as PVLAN IDs.

Here is a link to the MXL FTOS 9.6.0.0 CLI reference guide – beware, it’s pretty big.

http://www.force10networks.com/CSPortal20/KnowledgeBase/DOCUMENTATION/CLIConfig/FTOS/MXL_9.6.0.0_CLI_Sept_23_2014.pdf

Details start at page 41.

We’re all used to presenting trunks to ESX hosts and these trunk switchports are configured to support multiple VLAN IDs which have been set to ‘tagged’ on those particular ports or port-channels. Private VLAN for VMware is handled the same way. You can configure those same trunks to support private-VLAN trunking and then tag both the primary PVLAN and the secondary (isolated, community, etc) PVLAN IDs onto those trunks.

In the dvS top-level when you configure Private VLAN it will ask for both the primary VLAN ID as well as the attached secondary IDs. Once configured at the top-level you can then create port groups for the primary (if desired) and secondary PVLAN IDs as necessary.

At the physical switch level you create VLAN IDs as normal but then go into each VLAN interface you want to be a PVLAN and start defining their modes.

Below is purely an example:

All 32 of the internal switchports.

- int range tengigabitethernet 0/0-31

- description ESXi-host-trunk-ports

- switchport

- portmode hybrid

- mtu 12000

- flowcontrol rx on tx off

- switchport mode private-vlan trunk

- int vlan 10

- description Just-a-regular-vlan

- mtu 12000

- tagged TenGigabitEthernet 0/0-31

- int vlan 450

- description PVLAN-primary

- mtu 12000

- private-vlan mode primary

- private-vlan mapping secondary-vlan 451

- tagged TenGigabitEthernet 0/0-31

- int vlan 451

- description PVLAN-secondary-isolated

- mtu 12000

- private-vlan mode isolated

- tagged TenGigabitEthernet 0/0-31

Note that vlan 10 above is still tagged on 0/0-15 in addition to the PVLAN primary and secondary VLANs, though the addition of the line ‘switchport mode private-vlan trunk’ is what enables this feature; the ability to tag PVLAN IDs on a trunk.

Hope this helps!

Jayson Block

Senior Technical Design Architect

Dell | Datacenter, Cloud and Converged Infrastructure – C&SI

+1 443-876-3366 cell – Maryland – USA

From: Matteo_Mazzari [mailto:bounce-Matteo_Mazzari@kmp.dell.com]
Sent: Friday, December 12, 2014 1:27 PM
To: Cloud_Virtualization@kmp.dell.com
Subject: MXL and Vmware dvS PVLAN

Hi all,

Are there any guideline to configure FTOS and ESXi to use PVLAN? Experience? Suggestion?

Thanks a lot

Kind regards

Matteo Mazzari

Solution Architect

Dell | Global Storage Services

mobile +39 340 9312022

Galera Cluster for MySQL vs MySQL (NDB) Cluster: A High Level Comparison - Webinar Replay & Slides

Fri, 19 Dec 2014 07:47:00 +0000

http://www.severalnines.com/blog/galera-cluster-mysql-vs-mysql-ndb-cluster-high-level-comparison-webinar-replay-slides

Galera Cluster for MySQL vs MySQL (NDB) Cluster

Fri, 19 Dec 2014 07:57:00 +0000

In the past, I used to use MySQL database for lot of projects so I was really interested what is the progress in MySQL clustering technologies and what is possible today. Therefore I have attended very interesting webinar about MySQL clustering possibilities. Official webinar name is "Galera Cluster for MySQL vs MySQL (NDB) Cluster. A High Level Comparison" and Webinar Replay & Slides

Mon, 29 Dec 2014 22:48:00 +0000

HP H222 SAS Controller has AQLEN=600
Best is just to go with HP P420i embedded with AQLEN=1020
***Enable HBA mode/passthrough on P420i using HPSSACLI and following ESXi commands
-Make sure disks are wipe clean and no RAID exists
-Make sure FW is latest v5.42
-Make sure ESXi device driver is installed v5.5.0-44vmw.550.0.0.1331820 http://www.vibsdepot/hpq/feb2014-550/esxi-550-devicedrivers/hpsa-5.5.0-1487947.zip

-Put host in MM, from ilo of ESXi in support mode (Alt+F1) execute the following

To View controller config using HPSSACLI with ESXCLI
~ # esxcli hpssacli cmd -q “controller slot=0 show config detail”
To enable HBA mode on P420i using HPSSACLI
~ # esxcli hpssacli cmd -q “controller slot=0 modify hbamode=on forced”

Reboot the host & perform a scan and walah … disks will show up in vSphere web client on each host>devices>before you enable vSAN

esxcli formatters

Tue, 30 Dec 2014 23:03:00 +0000

I have just read great blog post "Hidden esxcli Command Output Formats You Probably Don’t Know" where the author (Steve Jin) exposed undocumented esxcli options to choose different formatters of esxcli output. Following esxcli formatters are available: xml csv keyvalue Here is example of one particular esxcli command without formatter. ~ # esxcli system version get Product:

Dell Virtual Racks

Thu, 08 Jan 2015 11:27:00 +0000

Virtual racks with Dell equipment are available at http://esgvr.dell.com/ Dell Server Virtual Rack Direct link to DELL Server Virtual Rack where you can see how particular compute systems physically looks. Dell Storage Virtual Rack Direct link to DELL Storage Virtual Rack where you can see how particular storage systems physically looks. Dell Networking Virtual Rack Direct link

Can you please tell me more about VN-Link?

Thu, 08 Jan 2015 15:19:00 +0000

Back in 2010 when I have worked for CISCO Advanced Services as UCS Architect, Consultant, Engineer I compiled presentation about CISCO's virtual networking point of view in enterprise environments. Later I published this presentation on Slideshare as "VMware Networking, CISCO Nexus 1000V, and CISCO UCS VM-FEX". I used this presentation to educate CISCO partners and customers because it was

VMware’s Software FCoE (Fibre Channel over Ethernet) Adapter

Sun, 11 Jan 2015 22:21:00 +0000

Blog post is here.

ESXi and Flow Control

Sun, 11 Jan 2015 22:22:00 +0000

Blog post is here.

ethtool –show-pause vmnic2

BPDU filter and Forged Transmit on VMware vSwitch to prevent loops

Fri, 16 Jan 2015 16:11:00 +0000

Do you know there is a potential risk of Spanning Tree loop when someone will do virtual bridging between two vNICs inside VMware vSphere VM? Or there can be rogue tool in VM guest OS to send BPDUs from VM to your physical network? Let's assume we have Rapid STP enabled on our network. Below is typical Force10 configuration snippet for server access ports. interface TenGigabitEthernet 0/2

DELL Force10 : DCB configuration - design decision justification and configuration

Mon, 19 Jan 2015 16:56:00 +0000

Introduction to DCB Datacenter bridging (DCB) is group of protocols for modern QoS mechanism on Ethernet networks. There are four key DCB protocols described with more details here. In this blog post I'll show you how to configure DCB ETS, PFC and DCBX on Force10 S4810. ETS (Enhanced Transmission Selection) is bandwidth management allowing reservations of link bandwidth resources when

vCenter SSO: Active Directory as a LDAP Server

Mon, 26 Jan 2015 12:25:00 +0000

Recently I had a need to use secondary Active Directory (VPOD02.example.com) to my vCenter SSO in the lab which is already integrated with Active Directory (VPOD01.example.com). Here are several facts just to give you brief overview of my lab. I have two independent vPODs in my lab. Each vPOD has everything what's needed for VMware vSphere infrastructure. I have there dedicated hardware (

DELL 13G servers with PERC H730 finally certified for VSAN

Mon, 26 Jan 2015 21:14:00 +0000

I'm reading and learning about VMware's VSAN a lot. I really believe there will be lot of use cases in the future for software defined distributed storage. However I don't see VSAN momentum right now because of several factors. Three most obvious factors are mentioned below: Maturity TCO Single point of support - if you compare it to traditional SAN based storage vendors support That's the

VSAN performance monitoring and tunning

Wed, 28 Jan 2015 08:14:00 +0000

Ruby vSphere Console (rvc)

VSAN Observer

http://vmexplorer.com/2014/09/16/vsan-setting-up-vsan-observer-in-my-home-lab/

The fastest vMotion over Force10 MXL?

Wed, 28 Jan 2015 09:32:00 +0000

Here is the question I have got yesterday ... My customer has two M1000e chassis in a single rack with MXL blade switches in fabrics A and B. MXL fabric B is connected to 10G EQL SAN. The goal is to allow vmotion to occur very fast between the two chassis using fabric A without going to the top of rack 10G switch. The question is what interconnect between the A fabric is both

Prevent Logging for ARP-move logs in VLT Domains

Thu, 29 Jan 2015 19:48:00 +0000

Hello,

If you use a VLT Domain, then you will certainly see a lot of the following Messages in your Logging. %STKUNIT0-M:CP %ARPMGR-6-MAC_CHANGE: IP-4-ADDRMOVE

Station-move refers to an event where a host with an unique mac/IP combination is moved from one interface to another. ARP-move refers to an event where ARP entry for an IP address is moved from one Mac (say mac1) to another (mac2). FTOS logs such ARP move message.

Example: %STKUNIT0-M:CP %ARPMGR-6-MAC_CHANGE: IP-4-ADDRMOVE: IP address 10.1.3.10 is moved from MAC address 00:0c:29:18:ca:3c to MAC address 00:50:56:aa:ed:6a

So it is a normal behavior but fills your Logging File with an unnecessary number of Messages. There is no way to prevent a single type of log message (ARP) from reporting.

But as you can see above ARP-move syslog is logged with severity-level of 6 (informational). So, if you don’t want to display above ARP-move logs set the logging severity option to 5 so that only logs with severity level 5 and below will be logged.

Commands:

sw1(conf)#logging console ?

<0-7> Logging severity level (default = 7)

alerts Immediate action needed (severity=1)

critical Critical conditions (severity=2)

debugging Debugging messages (severity=7)

emergencies System is unusable (severity=0)

errors Error conditions (severity=3)

informational Informational messages (severity=6)

notifications Normal but significant conditions (severity=5)

warnings Warning conditions (severity=4)

<cr>

sw1(conf)#logging console 5 << for console line.

sw1(conf)#logging monitor 5 << for terminal line

sw1(conf)#logging history 5 << for syslog history table

sw1(conf)#logging trap 5 << for syslog

sw1(conf)#logging buffered 5 << for buffer

Force10 VLT terminology

Fri, 30 Jan 2015 21:27:00 +0000

For the terminology here are the items below to make sure we are on the same page.

VLT – is a combined Port-Channel (multiple physical interfaces) between the VLT Peer devices and the attached device. These Port-channels can come from either a Host or another switch and are just regular Port-Channels (Static or Dynamic) which connect to the pair of VLT peer devices within the VLT Domain.
VLT Port – is a physical port on a VLT device configured to be part of a VLT Domain.
VLT peer device – is one of the pair of matching devises (today) that are connected with a Virtual Link Trunk Interconnect (VLTI)
VLTI – Is the link used to synchronize states between the VLT peer devices. Needs to be a Static Port-channel or there could be issues per the configuration Documentation and Engineering.

ESX claim disk as SSD

Mon, 02 Feb 2015 07:26:00 +0000

Configuration:

esxcli storage nmp satp rule add --satp VMW_SATP_LOCAL --device mpx.vmbha0:C0:T0:L0 --option=enable_ssd

Application:

esxcli storage core claiming reclaim -d mpx.vmbha0:C0:T0:L0

or just restart ESXi

Verification:

esxcli storage core device list --device=mpx.vmbha0:C0:T0:L0

Which SFP+ Modules, SFP Modules, and Cables Can I Use with the X520 Series?

Mon, 02 Feb 2015 08:23:00 +0000

Link for more information.

vSphere 6 Announcements

Mon, 02 Feb 2015 22:28:00 +0000

Bellow is a brief transcript of VMware vSphere 6 related announcements. The list of new features may not be complete because I have noted just features important and interesting for me as vSphere Architect designing datacenter infrastructures. Disclaimer: I'm not responsible for any errors and inaccuracies in the transcript bellow. vSphere 6 New Features vSphere HA (High Availability)

vSphere Data Protection (VDP) Troubleshooting Commands

Tue, 03 Feb 2015 08:00:00 +0000

Source: http://www.virten.net/2015/02/vsphere-data-protection-vdp-troubleshooting-commands/

You have to connect to the VDP appliance with SSH as root (password was set during initial configuration)

status.dpn
Display VDP status information

dpnctl status
Display service status information

capacity.sh
Analyse space consumption from the last 30 backup jobs. Displays the amount of new data and how much space the garbage collection has recovered.

df -h
Display free partition space. This is not an equivalent to the free space displayed in the GUI but can reveal issues if partitions are full.

cplist
Display Checkpoint status

mccli server show-prop
Display VDP appliance properties. This is an equivalent to the information shown in the vSphere Web Client

mccli activity show
Display backup jobs information. Each activity is a backup job from a single virtual machine. If you have one daily backup job with 10 VMs configured in VDP, you will see 10 activities per day.

mccli activity get-log –id=<ID>
Get the activity log from a backup job. If a backup job failed, you might find useful information here. Produces lots of information, so it’s better to pipe it to a file.

mccli activity show –name=/<VCENTER>/VirtualMachines/<VM>
Display backup jobs information from a single Virtual Machine

How to change VM Network using linux command line?

Mon, 09 Feb 2015 10:32:00 +0000

Yesterday I read this Cormac's blog post and one of his reader (Philip Orleans) posted following comment ... Just a personal favor, can you ask from the Vmware managers to enforce parity of functionality between management command line tools in Linux and Windows? It is a shame that the Linux tools are so far behind Power Shell. Very well known PowerCLI scripting guru and VMware's Product

Dell networking optics and cables connectivity guide

Wed, 11 Feb 2015 08:11:00 +0000

DELL Product Management has just released eternally available guide fro DELL networking optics and cables connectivity. It is very valuable for me so I believe it will be helpful for broader IT infrastructure community. I have published the document on Slideshare at http://www.slideshare.net/davidpasek/dell-networking-optics-and-cables-connectivity-guide Dell networking optics and

general port vs trunk port

Thu, 12 Feb 2015 14:59:00 +0000

On a Port in General Mode you can have more than one untagged Vlan. So it is used for 802.1x Ports or Mac based Vlan configuration.

If you want only one untagged Vlan use you can also use the Trunk Mode. With Switchport mode trunk the Switch tagges all vlans (exept the native) so it is not necessary to have a allow list like in general mode.

N Series

##############################################################################################################################################

• Access — The port belongs to a single untagged VLAN.

Configure a Vlan Untagged to a Port, In the Example VLAN 23.

console(config)# interface gi1/0/8

console(config-if)# switchport mode access

console(config-if)# switchport access vlan 23

##############################################################################################################################################

Trunk vs. General Mode

· In General Mode are egress more then one untagged Vlans possible

##############################################################################################################################################

• General — The port belongs to VLANs, and each VLAN is user-defined as tagged or untagged (full 802.1Q mode).

is configured then the following Defaults are present:

General Mode PVID: 1 (default) -> Vlan 1 untagged

General Mode Ingress Filtering: Enabled

General Mode Acceptable Frame Type: Admit All

General Mode Dynamically Added VLANs:

General Mode Untagged VLANs: 1

General Mode Tagged VLANs: -> NO Vlan Tagged

General Mode Forbidden VLANs:

console(config)# interface gi1/0/11

console(config-if)# switchport mode general

console(config-if)# switchport general allowed vlan add 23,25 tagged

console(config-if)# switchport general allowed vlan add 24,27 untagged

console(config-if)# switchport general pvid 24

##############################################################################################################################################

• Trunk — The port belongs to VLANs on which all ports are tagged (except for one per port that can be untagged).

is configured then the following Defaults are present:

Trunking Mode Native VLAN: 1 (default) -> Vlan 1 untagged

Trunking Mode Native VLAN Tagging: Disabled

Trunking Mode VLANs Enabled: All -> ALL Vlans Tagged, except Native Vlan 1

console(config)# interface gi1/0/9

console(config-if)# switchport mode trunk

console(config-if)# switchport mode trunk native vlan 22

console(config-if)# switchport mode trunk allowed vlan add 22-25

##############################################################################################################################################

FORCE 10

##############################################################################################################################################

By default, all interfaces are in Layer 3 mode and not belonging to any Vlan. So you could configure an IP address on the port concerned, as on a classical router.

RVL-S4810-1# show int ten 0/46 status

Port Description Status Speed Duplex Vlan

Te 0/46 Down Auto Auto -- -> member in none Vlan

##############################################################################################################################################

A Default VLAN IP address can not be given. To obtain an IP interface to Vlan 1 you must change the default Vlan to another Vlan first

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-te-0/46)#switchport

RVL-S4810-1#show int ten 0/46 status

Port Description Status Speed Duplex Vlan

Te 0/46 Down Auto Auto 1 -> untagged member in default Vlan

To change untagged Vlan:

RVL-S4810-1(conf)# int vlan 2

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-vl-2)#untagged tengigabitethernet 0/46

RVL-S4810-1#show int ten 0/46 status

Port Description Status Speed Duplex Vlan

Te 0/46 Down Auto Auto 2 -> now untagged member in Vlan 2

##############################################################################################################################################

To make the port to trunk port and to tag multiple Vlans without a untagged native VLAN.

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-te-0/46)#switchport

RVL-S4810-1#show int ten 0/46 status

Port Description Status Speed Duplex Vlan

Te 0/46 Down Auto Auto 1 -> untagged member in default Vlan (will be changed/removed when adding the first tagged Vlan)

To add tagged Vlans (here you can see, that the native vlan is removed and the the switch tag all Vlans):

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-te-0/46)#int vlan 3

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-vl-3)#tagged tengigabitethernet 0/46

RVL-S4810-1#show int ten 0/46 status

Port Description Status Speed Duplex Vlan

Te 0/46 Down Auto Auto 3

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-te-0/46)#int vlan 4

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-vl-4)#tagged tengigabitethernet 0/46

RVL-S4810-1#show int ten 0/46 status

Port Description Status Speed Duplex Vlan

Te 0/46 Down Auto Auto 3-4

With RVL-S4810-2# show vlan you can see which Ports are tagged and untagged Members on the Vlans:

RVL-S4810-2# show vlan

Codes: * - Default VLAN, G - GVRP VLANs, R - Remote Port Mirroring VLANs, P - Pimary, C - Community, I - Isolated

O - Openflow

Q: U - Untagged, T - Tagged

x - Dot1x untagged, X - Dot1x tagged

o - OpenFlow untagged, O - OpenFlow tagged

G - GVRP tagged, M - Vlan-stack, H - VSN tagged

i - Internal untagged, I - Internal tagged, v - VLT untagged, V - VLT tagged

NUM Status Description Q Ports

1 Active

2 Active

3 Active T Te 0/46 -> 0/46 now tagged member in Vlan 3

4 Active T Te 0/46 -> 0/46 now tagged member in Vlan 4

No untagged native VLAN !!! Port is not in hybride Mode !!

##############################################################################################################################################

To make the port to trunk port and to tag multiple Vlans or to make double tagging on it, it must be configured in the Port Mode Hybrid.

Is it not in the default mode (Layer 3, see above) you have to configure it in these default configure mode:

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-te-0/46)#portmode hybrid

% Error: Port is in Layer-2 mode Te 0/46.

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-te-0/46)#int vlan 2

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-vl-2)#no untagged tengigabitethernet 0/46

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-te-0/46)#no switchport

Now you can change the port mode:

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-te-0/46)#portmode hybrid

RVL-S4810-1#show int tengigabitethernet 0/46 status

Port Description Status Speed Duplex Vlan

Te 0/46 Down Auto Auto -- -> member in none Vlan

Now you can add Vlans tagged and untagged to the Port:

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-te-0/46)#switchport

RVL-S4810-1#show int ten 0/46 status

Port Description Status Speed Duplex Vlan

Te 0/46 Down Auto Auto 1 -> untagged member in default Vlan

To change the untagged Vlan:

RVL-S4810-1(conf)# int vlan 2

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-vl-2)#untagged tengigabitethernet 0/46

RVL-S4810-1#show int ten 0/46 status

Port Description Status Speed Duplex Vlan

Te 0/46 Down Auto Auto 2 -> now untagged member in Vlan 2

To add additional tagged Vlans:

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-te-0/46)#int vlan 3

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-vl-3)#tagged tengigabitethernet 0/46

RVL-S4810-1#show int ten 0/46 status

Port Description Status Speed Duplex Vlan

Te 0/46 Down Auto Auto 2-3

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-te-0/46)#int vlan 4

RVL-S4810-1(conf-if-vl-4)#tagged tengigabitethernet 0/46

RVL-S4810-1#show int ten 0/46 status

Port Description Status Speed Duplex Vlan

Te 0/46 Down Auto Auto 2-4

With RVL-S4810-2# show vlan you can see which Ports are tagged and untagged Members on the Vlans:

RVL-S4810-2# show vlan

Codes: * - Default VLAN, G - GVRP VLANs, R - Remote Port Mirroring VLANs, P - Pimary, C - Community, I - Isolated

O - Openflow

Q: U - Untagged, T - Tagged

x - Dot1x untagged, X - Dot1x tagged

o - OpenFlow untagged, O - OpenFlow tagged

G - GVRP tagged, M - Vlan-stack, H - VSN tagged

i - Internal untagged, I - Internal tagged, v - VLT untagged, V - VLT tagged

NUM Status Description Q Ports

1 Active U Te 0/1-45,47-48

2 Active U Te 0/46 -> 0/46 now untagged member in Vlan 2

3 Active T Te 0/46 -> 0/46 now tagged member in Vlan 3

4 Active T Te 0/46 -> 0/46 now tagged member in Vlan 4

##############################################################################################################################################

Oracle licensing

Sun, 15 Feb 2015 16:09:00 +0000

Gerry is correct, Oracle *explicitly* does NOT support BIOS core disabling for the purposes of Oracle core licensing, since the cores can easily be re-enabled after initial installation config. Likewise, core restriction via VMware/Hyper-V/KVM are also NOT recognized for licensing purposes, for the same reason. There are some customers who have struck one-off side-deals with their Oracle reps to recognize BIOS core disabling, but there is not an official lic. policy allowing this. To avoid future audits = *extremely* expensive Oracle lic. "true-ups" I wouldn't even suggest this option for customers to pursue unless they can get that side deal in writing from their Oracle reps.

To restrict cores for Oracle lic. purposes, one must either:

* use fixed lower core count/higher clockspeed processor models e.g. E5-2637v3 4C@3.5GHz
* use OracleVM, ie. Oracle's Xen-based hypervisor. OracleVM implements a feature called "core binding" aka "core pinning", which locks specific CPU core serial #'s to VMs, so one can create e.g. 2C VMs which cannot be modified, i.e. cannot add CPU's without destroying/recreating the VM from scratch, and therefore are recognized for Oracle lic. purposes.

From a market best practice perspective, many customers who've already standardized on VMware/Hyper-V etc. simply opt to pay the full core count cost for the system, then load as many Oracle workloads as possible onto the system/cluster, however for customers with smaller Oracle installs, OracleVM is a quite useful to control core costs, and has quite low compute perf overhead.

Peter Bailey
ET- Linux/Solaris/Oracle
512.800.9792
________________________________________
From: Gonzalez, Gerry
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2015 7:47 AM
To: Drunen, Marcel van; Sharma10, Ashish; Akkalyoncu, Serhat; Blades-Tech; BladeMasters
Subject: RE: Is it possible for Dell to disable cores?

Dell - Internal Use - Confidential
All,

From my experience within my set of US Global accounts, Oracle does NOT sanction disabling cores on X86 systems to forego licensing cores…Yes, once the cores are disabled they are electrically isolated and can NOT be seen by the OS until the next reboot but Oracle ONLY allows certain x86 systems that support hard partitioning as well as RISC and SPARC systems leveraging LPARs to support disabling cores…

That said, I do have an account that worked a deal with their Oracle rep but that is on an account by account basis…Speaking from experience, I attempted to leverage this arrangement at another account and they were audited and were told they would have to entitle ALL cores in their Dell servers whether they were turned on or off…Moral of the story…Let your account take the fight to Oracle and NOT you…Dell will NOT officially support this due to our relationship with Oracle and they advise to move the customer to OVM and OEL to mitigate licensing costs…however, most customers will NOT want to stand up another virtualized environment to satisfy Oracle licensing…

Attached is the Oracle document explaining how Oracle defines core partitioning as Soft or Hard…Dell would fall under the ‘Soft’ definition according to Oracle although Intel would support that when cores are turned off in our systems, they are electrically isolated and cannot be used until they are turned back on in the bios on a subsequent reboot…

This is one of the reasons Intel continues to build and provide low core count processors, so your approach of using 4C procs is the way to go…

Don’t want to ramble here (as this brings up OLD scars) but if you would like more information just let me know…

Thanks…

Gerry Gonzalez
Enterprise Domain Specialist - Global - SouthEast
Dell Enterprise Products and Solutions
305-274-8982 Office
305-987-4395 Cell
305-274-0503 Fax

How am I doing? Please contact my manager, Richard Schultze at Richard_Schultze@Dell.com<mailto:Richard_Schultze@Dell.com> with any feedback.

From: Drunen, Marcel van
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2015 7:14 AM
To: Sharma10, Ashish; Akkalyoncu, Serhat; Blades-Tech; BladeMasters
Subject: RE: Is it possible for Dell to disable cores?

Dell - Internal Use - Confidential
Hi Ashish,

This is news to me. Can we get an official statement from Oracle about that?

Using one of the frequency optimized CPU’s will be a better choice most of the time because of the higher frequency. If disabling cores is not allowed, than the CPU’s with the lowest amount of cores are the E5-2637v3 (@3.5 GHz) and E5-2623v3 (@3.0 GHz). Both have four cores, so if the customer has a 8-core license these will be the CPU’s of choice in a dual socket Intel system.

Kind regards,

Marcel van Drunen
Senior Manager EMEA HPC
Dell ESG
+31-206744313

From: Sharma10, Ashish
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2015 12:26 PM
To: Akkalyoncu, Serhat; Blades-Tech; BladeMasters
Subject: RE: Is it possible for Dell to disable cores?

Hi Serhat,

You can go and disable the cores in the bios and OS will see only the enabled cores.

One of my customer had taken a letter from Oracle that their licensing will be only for active cores and he was able to leverage this feature.

Thanks & Regards

Ashish Sharma
Enterprise Technologist
Dell |Enterprise Solution Organisation
+919833630569
Ashish_sharma10@dell.com<mailto:Ashish_sharma10@dell.com>

From: Akkalyoncu, Serhat
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2015 4:30 PM
To: Blades-Tech; BladeMasters
Subject: Is it possible for Dell to disable cores?

Dell - Internal Use - Confidential
Hi,

I have a RFP and in one of the requirements it says “There should be a possibility to disable physical cores in server”. Is it possible? Our customer will use these systems in Oracle deployment and so because of the core licensing they want to disable cores.

Best Regards,

Serhat Akkalyoncu
CSE (Customer Sales Engineer)
Dell | EMEA Emerging Markets / Turkey
Office : +90 216 570 8700, mobile : +90 532 426 2386, faks : +90 216 570 8798
e-mail : serhat_akkalyoncu@dell.com<mailto:serhat_akkalyoncu@dell.com>
adress: Icerenkoy mah. Askent sok. no:3/A Atasehir / Istanbul PK:34752 Turkey

SQL commands for information of vCenter Server Database usage

Thu, 19 Feb 2015 16:59:00 +0000

Let's assume we have simple installation of vCenter Server database leveraging MS SQL Express and we want to know how much database space is currently used. The simplest way is to use existing sqlcmd program. Connect to MS Windows server where vCenter is installed. Open command prompt or PowerShell and use following SQL commands ... sqlcmd -E -Slocalhost\VIM_SQLEXP 1>use VIM_VCDB 2> go

Recovering a Locked Administrator Account in Storage Center OS v6.5

Fri, 20 Feb 2015 18:59:00 +0000

Tech Tip: Recovering a Locked Administrator Account in Compellent Storage Center OS v6.5
If all accounts are inaccessible because they have been disabled or locked‐out, use this procedure to reestablish a local Administrator account and reset passwords.

Prerequisites
This procedure requires a USB device that contains a partition table with one partition formatted with an MSDOS/FAT32 filesystem. USB devices vary by vendor as to whether they are formatted with or without partitions. Use Windows disk management or other third‐party tools to create a partition if the USB device does not have an MSDOS/FAT32 partition.

Steps
1 Create a text file containing the following line of text:
unlock <username>
where <username> is typically the Admin username. The Admin account is always on the system and it has the required Administrator privileges to reset passwords.

2 Save the file and name it:
unlock.phy

3 Copy the file to a MSDOS/FAT32 formatted USB drive.

4 Insert the USB drive into a port on the lead controller. When the media is recognized, System Manager allows the specified account to log on.

5 Log on to System Manager using the account specified on the USB drive. The password cannot be blank, but any text entered will be ignored.

6 Unlock locked accounts.

7 Reset passwords on accounts.

8 Remove the USB drive from the port.

Same MAC address on DNOS9 switches for switch-internal and OOB/management interfaces

Mon, 02 Mar 2015 08:25:00 +0000

Many times in this group questions came up why the S-Series and MXL/MIOA switches do use the same burnt in MAC addresses for the switch internal (data plane) and management interface interfaces and the problem that causes; especially on the MIOA/MXL switches.

Many different examples have been given when this gives problems for customers, especially the people who have used PowerConnect M-series switches earlier and suddenly have huge packet-loss when they try to connect to the switch management – all being caused by the same MAC address being used by vlan-interfaces and OOB/management interfaces.

Also on rack switches like S4810 or S4820 people run in same problem even if they have a dedicated OOB LAN but that does terminate on same core and the VLAN is also available on the core.

That it might be hard to change on S-series I can follow as there might be only 1 burnt-in MAC address available per switch; but on MXL and MIOA there are at least 3 MAC addresses available/reserved: so changing the address used by the physical management interfaces should be pretty simple and straightforward and the impact of the change for installed base should be minimal: only if they would use static ARP’s or similar a very small number of users might have issues: but that can be avoided by making it configurable via CLI command like:

config

interface ma0/0

mac-address alternative #this would use next available burnt-in MAC address or

no mac-address alternative # this would use same MAC on ma0/0 as on any SVI inside the switch

mac-address user nn:nn:nn:nn:nn #this would make it user-configurable, which could be used on older hardware that only has one burnt in MAC address available

end

I’m really surprised that all these discussions here in the past only led to one single Feature Request from Harvey Lang for the S4810: after reading all the communication in these groups I would have expected many more FR’s on this subject and for sure also on MIOA/MXL.

As I –as tech-support- can’t open FR’s I have to rely on commercial colleagues to open FR’s: so if you do think it would greatly help your customer if we can change the MAC address used for the management interfaces please do open Feature requests for your customers situation. Without requests from sales it will never be changed.

Regards,

Jan Tonkens

Enterprise Technical Support Advisor

Brocade Certified FCoE Professional

Dell | EMEA Solutions Support Team

phone: +353 12792295

mail: jan_peter_tonkens@dell.com

Dell Inc. Innovation House, Cherrywood Science & Technology Park, Dublin, Rep of Ireland

FTOS 9.7

Thu, 05 Mar 2015 07:01:00 +0000

411: Release-To-Web of Dell Networking OS 9.7 for Data Center Switches

Dell Confidential – For Internal Use Only

Overview

Dell Networking OS 9.7(0.0) delivers many new features such as support for Open Networking platforms including S6000-ON, S6000 Stacking, new automation features like Puppet, increased scale, VRF and VLT enhancements, and support for new hardware (future launches such as the 10GBaseT module for S5000 and new optics).

Note: for RTS actual shipping time will vary as 9.6 stock exhausts.

Features and Updates

This release adds the following new features:

VRF Enhancement:

ü VRF aware IPv4 multicast protocols

ü Support for IPv6 unicast routing protocols per VRF

ü Support for IS-IS for v4 and v6 VRF

ü Route leaking across VRF instance using dynamic protocol routes

ü Introduce VRF support on Z9500

VLT Enhancement:

ü Support PVST+ protocol in VLT context to interop with existing

ü PVST enabled networks

ü Support for Q-in-Q (aka VLAN stacking) in VLT context to provide multi-tenancy in hosted service provider networks

Scaling Improvements:

ü OS 9.7 supports a new Forwarding table mode which increases the number

ü of IPv4 routes to 128K. This feature is applicable on S6000 and Z9500

ü Increase in number of VRF from 64 (current) to 510

ü 2500 L3 vLANs

ü Network Load Balancing (NLB) cluster increased from 8 (current) to 64 clusters.

Enhancements to MXL/IOA

ü F port support on FC Flex IO - Enables direct connectivity to FC equipment through Fibre channel ports provided by FC Flex IO optional module rather than through a FC switch

ü Secure management mode support on MXL to enable Federal certifications

ü like UCR and CC for MXL

ü New Hardware Support

ü Dell Networking OS 9.7 supports S6000-ON platform. With this support, customers have the option of choosing one of the supported alternate operating systems or Dell Networking OS.

ü Dell Networking OS 9.7 supports 12x10GBase-T module on S5000.

Z9500 Enhancement: This features enables customers to deploy Z9500 with predictable end-to-end RRoCE performance and DCB lossless Ethernet support

RRoCE Support

ü ECN Enhancement

ü Dynamic Load Balancing

ü VLT scaling – Up to 512 LAG interfaces supported in a VLT config

Open Automation Enhancement

ü BMP: Supported on IOA, Best practices upgrades: Automated failback to previous image and configuration if the SW upgrade is not committed

ü Scripting and CLI automation: Ruby, Support for NFS, CLI command to copy OS images between partitions, TCL script on IOA

ü DevOps: Puppet with support for NetdevOps model (Hostname, Physical Interface, VLAN, Layer 2 Interface, Link Aggregation (static))

ü REST: Support for: Static Routes, ACL, IPv6, WECMP, IP tunnel

Other Features:

ü S6000 stacking (up to 6 members)

ü Dynamic config for Fan-out of 40G ports to 4x10G – Supported on S6000 and Z9500

ü LACP Link fallback on IOA

ü BGP Link bandwidth and Weighted ECMP support for unequal cost load sharing

ü OpenFlow 1.3 Compliance

ü IPv6 RA Guard

ü DHCPv6 Snooping

ü Ingress SFLOW

ü MIB support per VLAN

ü Optics support – SFP+ ZR, QSFP+ LM4 support on S4810, S4820T, S5000 (ZR optic launch pending)

How to Download

Dell Networking OS 9.7(0.0) software is currently available for download to customers with an active Support Contract at the following Dell Networking Data Center iSupport download site. URL (requires login credentials):

S-Series:

https://www.force10networks.com/CSPortal20/Software/SSeriesDownloads.aspx

ZSeries:

https://www.force10networks.com/CSPortal20/Software/ZSeriesDownloads.aspx

MXL/IOA: https://www.force10networks.com/CSPortal20/Software/MSeriesDownloads.aspx

Shipping Timeline

The factory will begin cutting in 9.7 in the coming months, however stock in the hubs will still be 9.6 for some time. Please expect your customers to receive 9.6 in the near future.

Exception

Dell Networking Z9000 NOT supported

VMware Virtual SAN Diagnostics and Troubleshooting Reference Manual

Sat, 14 Mar 2015 15:25:00 +0000

Well known VMware's storage evangelist Cormac Hogan wrote and published another VMware VSAN related document. Well, it is the book having almost 300 pages. And the nice thing is that this document/book/manual is publicly available for free. Snip from document Introduction Chapter ... VMware’s Virtual SAN is designed to be simple: simple to configure, and simple to operate. This simplicity

DELL Force10 : mVLT – Ethernet Loop Free Topology Design

Sun, 15 Mar 2015 19:46:00 +0000

Last week I have received following question from one of my reader … I came to your blog post http://blog.igics.com/2014/05/dell-force10-vlt-virtual-link-trunking.html and I am really happy that you shared this information with us. However I was wondering if you have tested a scenario with 4 S4810 with VLT configured on 2 x 2 and connected together (somewhere called mLAG). How do you continue

Force10 Scheduling the script

Mon, 23 Mar 2015 10:18:00 +0000

Below is the example how to use scheduler in Force10 FTOS 9.7+

Restore Point Simulator

Thu, 26 Mar 2015 10:39:00 +0000

http://rps.dewin.me/

Backup/Restore

EqualLogic - connection load balancing

Fri, 27 Mar 2015 15:37:00 +0000

grpparams conn-balancing disable

Other settings having impact

TCP Offload Engine v nastavení karet – OFF

Flow Control – On resp. Auto

Ze sitovek odstraneny nepotrebne bindy a protokoly: Client MS Network, QOS, File&Print a IPV6

Nastaveny JUMBO frames

Instalace MS KB974909 (The network connection of a running Hyper-V virtual machine is lost under heavy outgoing network traffic on a Windows Server 2008 R2-based computer)

Switche – STP off (can cause port off up to 50sec)

– RSTP on (can cause port off up to 12sec), je akceptovatelne to se tusim nechalo ON

VCDX Application submitted - time for mock defenses

Tue, 31 Mar 2015 09:38:00 +0000

I have just submitted my VCDX application for June defense in Frimley, UK. I assume all my readers know what VCDX stands for. For those who don't look at VCDX.vmware.com for further details. I don't want to write about VCDX defense process, preparation, etc. because there are lot of other blog posts and resources available on the internet. I think that VCDX is about continuous lifelong

N-Series Poe

Fri, 03 Apr 2015 08:55:00 +0000

Did you open a case with tech-support

I’ve seen issues where devices did report as Class2 or 3 devices while they should be 0 or even high-power (POE+) and that it was just slightly over the limit and some ports seemed to be a little bit more stringent then others.

Consider indeed:

· Setting the (lower) port on interface level as ‘power inline high-power’

· On global or stack-unit level set ‘power inline management static’

· Remove ‘legacy’ as dynamic method

· Or set it indeed as ‘class based’ power

And else: open a case with tech-support to fully investigate and maybe use debug commands to find exact reason why it did go off.

The ‘work-around’ for removing ISDP is only applicable on Cisco devices that refuse to use industry standard methods if it thinks it is connected to a Cisco device – mainly Cisco multi-radio AP’s. Because they do receive ISDP info they do think they should also get POE info over CDP – but that part is ‘closed code’ and not open part of CDP (which is thus ISDP).

You can also work around that in another way then removing/disabling ISDP: you can tell the Cisco device it should accept POE negotiation form a specific device (MAC address of the switch/stack in question). This last behavior is imho clearly a Cisco problem – it does NOT check if it is talking to a device that supports full CDP including Cisco proprietary POE negotiation over CDP: it just sees ‘something that looks like CDP’ and then refuses to use the industry standard unless specifically told to do so (via command on Cisco box like: power inline negotiation injector <attached> which will then be replaced by the switch MAC address in the Cisco startup-config).

Jan

From: Malone, Jim
Sent: Thursday, April 02, 2015 3:36 PM
To: Meister, Benjamin; WW Networking Domain
Subject: RE: N-Series Poe - Ahhhh . . .

Dell - Internal Use - Confidential

Well, I am out of guesses

The only other option is go to 6.2.0.5.

Nothing specific on Release Notes.

Jim Malone

Network Sales Engineer

Dell | Networking | VA, DC

571-232-0340

Jim_malone@dell.com

From: Meister, Benjamin
Sent: Thursday, April 02, 2015 10:22 AM
To: Malone, Jim; WW Networking Domain
Subject: RE: N-Series Poe - Ahhhh . . .

Dell - Internal Use - Confidential

6.1.2.4

~ Benjamin R. Meister

Networking & Converged Infrastructure Sales

Dell | Enterprise Solutions, Networking

Office + 1.646.409.1330

Mobile + 1.646.489.2035

From: Malone, Jim
Sent: Thursday, April 02, 2015 10:19 AM
To: Meister, Benjamin; WW Networking Domain
Subject: RE: N-Series Poe - Ahhhh . . .

Dell - Internal Use - Confidential

What version of OS are you running?

Release 6.1.0.6 Summary	User Impact	Resolution	Affected Platforms
Issues powering up POE devices on certain switch port interfaces.	When dot13af and legacy mode is enabled and the first 12/24 switch ports are in error status, the last 12/24 ports are stay off.	Fixed high port powering issue by updating the PoE controller firmware version to 263_75. Please wait for few minutes for PoE controller firmware update to complete on switch boot-up. You will see the below log messages on switch boot-up after switch firmware upgrade. <187> Jun 17 04:51:57 172.25.136.215-1 POE[144021428]: hpc_poe_pwrdsne.c(6733) 582	N2xxxP/N3xxxP

Jim Malone

Network Sales Engineer

Dell | Networking | VA, DC

571-232-0340

Jim_malone@dell.com

From: Meister, Benjamin
Sent: Thursday, April 02, 2015 10:06 AM
To: Malone, Jim; WW Networking Domain
Subject: RE: N-Series Poe - Ahhhh . . .

Dell - Internal Use - Confidential

According to the Show tech:

Power.......................................... On

Total Power.................................... 1800 Watts

Threshold Power................................ 1620 Watts

Consumed Power................................. 82 Watts

Usage Threshold................................ 90%

Power Management Mode.......................... Dynamic

Power Detection Mode........................... dot3af+legacy

Unit Description Status Average Current Since

Power Power Date/Time

(Watts) (Watts)

---- ----------- ----------- ---------- -------- -------------------

1 System OK 0.2 39.8

1 PS-1 OK N/A N/A 03/14/2015 06:40:57

1 PS-2 OK N/A N/A 03/14/2015 06:40:57

~ Benjamin R. Meister

Networking & Converged Infrastructure Sales

Dell | Enterprise Solutions, Networking

Office + 1.646.409.1330

Mobile + 1.646.489.2035

From: Malone, Jim
Sent: Thursday, April 02, 2015 9:59 AM
To: Meister, Benjamin; WW Networking Domain
Subject: RE: N-Series Poe - Ahhhh . . .

Dell - Internal Use - Confidential

Question: do you have the default 750watt power supply?

Question: is this the only powered device plugged in?

Something to check and work with.

Power Inline Priority – by default all ports are set the same and here is what that means to you.

Priority is always enabled for all ports. If all ports have equal priority in an

overload condition, the switch will shut down the lowest numbered ports

first.

To test this you could change the priority of a low numbered port and retest the phone.

It may be preferable, if not already done, to use the 1100 watt power supplies.

Hope this helps

Jim Malone

Network Sales Engineer

Dell | Networking | VA, DC

571-232-0340

Jim_malone@dell.com

From: Meister, Benjamin
Sent: Thursday, April 02, 2015 9:23 AM
To: WW Networking Domain
Subject: N-Series Poe - Ahhhh . . .

Dell - Internal Use - Confidential

Ok folks,

N-series 3048p:

Customer has poe phones, no problems any port.

Customer plus in a Polycom CP7937G phone [15.4w] into a lowered number port, gets ‘ethernet disconnect’ errors. But when he switches from say port 1/0/1-14 to port 1/0/47 the phone comes up and stays up no problem. Same configuration on all ports.

This is unique to 1 or 2 of his switches, the remaining switches work just fine (all stand alones)

Would this be an indication of a bad ASIC? (which would be really weird since the lower ports also have PoE phones on them)

Point of fact: we did try ‘no ISDP enable’ trick – no luck.

~ Ben

~ Benjamin R. Meister

Networking & Converged Infrastructure Sales

Dell | Enterprise Solutions, Networking

Office + 1.646.409.1330

Mobile + 1.646.489.2035

Tools for network monitoring

Fri, 03 Apr 2015 19:34:00 +0000

Smokeping - jitter monitoring

Observium - on top of NAGIOS

sFlowTrend - sFlow/netFlow monitoring

http://www.inmon.com/products/sFlowTrend.php

FlowMon - netFlow monitoring
https://www.invea.com/en/products/flowmon

sFlow + LogStash
https://github.com/NETWAYS/sflow

NetFlow Monitoring Tools
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/ios-nx-os-software/ios-netflow/networking_solutions_products_genericcontent0900aecd805ff728.html

ESXi root password complexity

Sat, 04 Apr 2015 08:41:00 +0000

Warning: This is just for lab experimenting and not for production use. When experimenting with ESXi in the lab sometimes you have to reset ESXi to default settings. After "Reset System Configuration"from DCUI your password is removed and you have to set the new one. I prefer to have simple root password in the lab. However ESXi requires pretty strength password complexity and

How To Install the Root Self-Signed Certificate from vCenter 6.0

Sun, 05 Apr 2015 07:44:00 +0000

http://virtualizationreview.com/articles/2015/04/02/install-root-self-signed-certificate-vcenter-6.aspx

http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2015/03/vmware-certificate-authority-overview-using-vmca-root-certificates-browser.html

Use ATS for Heart Beat on VMFS?

Wed, 08 Apr 2015 12:27:00 +0000

To disable

esxcli system settings advanced set -o /VMFS3/UseATSForHBOnVMFS5 -i 0

To enable

esxcli system settings advanced set -o /VMFS3/UseATSForHBOnVMFS5 -i 1

Force10 Link Dampening

Wed, 08 Apr 2015 13:25:00 +0000

First of all let's explain why we should use Link Dampening? Interface state changes occur when interfaces are administratively brought up or down or if an interface state changes. Every time an interface changes a state or flaps, routing protocols are notified of the status of the routes that are affected by the change in state. These protocols go through the momentous task of re-converging.

vSphere 3.5 to 6.0 Upgrade procedure

Tue, 14 Apr 2015 06:03:00 +0000

Basic Assumptions:

The customer does not necessarily need access to historical performance or event data and is willing to sacrifice that.

The customer is willing to accept minimal downtime so long as it is planned.

1. Backup the entire environment, including the VMs and the supporting systems and databases. (!)

2. Stand-up the new hosts with either 5.5 or 6.0

3. Stand-up new datastore storage for your new 5.5 or 6.0 cluster.

4. Designate one of your new hosts to be the transition host or ‘landing zone’

5. Add an FC HBA to this landing zone host and have it zoned so that it can see the existing VMFS3 datastores.

DO NOT UPGRADE VMFS if prompted or offered!

6. Select a number of non-essential virtual machines to serve as a proof-of-concept.

7. Take note of which datastore(s) the identified virtual machines reside.

8. Systematically schedule the shutdown of the identified virtual machines.

9. Once the virtual machines are powered-off, right-click and remove from inventory.

DO NOT DELETE. Remove from inventory.

10. On the landing zone or transition host, browse the datastore where the VM to be migrated resides, open the folder and find the configuration (.vmx) file. Right-click on that file and choose Add to Inventory.

11. Once the VM shows up in the new cluster, attempt to power it on. Verify that the power-on works and the system is available on the customer’s network. Note that the network port-group labels and such may be different between the old cluster and new, so you might have it edit the VM’s settings to ensure the correct port-group(s) are selected.

DO NOT UPGRADE VIRTUAL HARDWARE OR VMWARE TOOLS AT THIS TIME.

12. Repeat as necessary until all virtual machines are moved to the new cluster.

13. Plan an upgrade of the VMware tools (requires a reboot) on each virtual machine.

14. Plan an upgrade of the VM virtual hardware level (requires a second reboot) on each virtual machine.

15. Utilize VMware’s Storage vMotion to move all of the VMs to the new datastores.

16. Remove the legacy VMFS3 datastores.

17. Shutdown and decommission the old hardware.

I have done this before with 5.5 and assume that it would operate the same way with 6.0, but that is another risk that would need to be identified with going right to 6.x. You could upgrade to 5.5 and then, once completed, upgrade to 6.0.

Note that if any VM has an RDM, that will need to be handled separately. You can use the same process, but before you are able to decommission the old storage you will need to either migrate the external RDM to a new virtual VMDK (create new VMDK, use guest OS tools to move the data) or another form of storage based on the new array’s capabilities.

MXL -- Can't ping management IP when MXL is installed in Fabric A

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 12:16:00 +0000

Thanks to all of you who responded to this problem I presented on Wednesday. I’m not sure if anyone provided a solution that is consistent with the resolution we used, but here’s a brief summary that I shared with the customer. You could very well encounter this problem in the future and you could spend hours working on the MXL when in its actually a problem with the CMC. After spending several hours trouble-shooting with two different TAC engineers, they escalated to a Master Engineer who was quite confident he knew what the fix would be and sure enough it worked. Note that we were trying to ping the management IP and the customer was using only a LOM for Fabric A. No mezz cards were installed.

The problem is a known issue and the Master Engineer said they have not been able to debug the root cause, so the what was provided is really a preventative work around. BTW, we also did a factory reset on the MXL and configured it from scratch while inserted in Fabric A but this didn’t work. The only solution that worked was to use the rack rest command on the CMC. Before executing the rack reset command, TAC collected several logs in an attempt to determine the root cause.

Summary for the Customer:

-------------------------------------

Re: Dell TAC Case 910245438 – Cannot access management IP of MXL when installed in Fabric Slots A1 or B1

The problem as reported to us yesterday has been resolved on the M1000e chassis in question, but I look forward to the customer confirming this at your earliest convenience by moving the MXLs back into Fabric slots A1 and A2. Please also confirm that the CMC is configured as expected since we did an upgrade and a re-configuration. I left the MXLs installed in the B1/B2 fabric slots and the B22s installed in the A1/A2 slots since this is how I found them when we started trouble shooting this morning (Thursday, April 23) and wasn’t sure if I would impact any ongoing traffic testing traversing Fabric A1/A2. Before leaving this evening, I moved the MXLs from Slots C1 /C2 to B1/B2 to A1/A2 and was able to successfully ping the management IP addresses (10.26.17.240/241) with each move. If there is any problem please contact me immediately.

Resolution:

The problem was resolved by running a rack reset command and then reconfiguring the CMC. Our Dell support staff advises that this is a one-time event on a M1000e chassis and it can easily be prevented for any subsequent deployments of the M1000e chassis.

Additional notes:

The MXLs were upgraded from firmware Release 9.4 to 9.6.

The CMC was upgraded to 5.01.

These upgrades should have no effect on the capabilities of the CMC or the MXLs in context of the testing being performed by Robert and Tommy, but I recommend moving the MXLs to 9.7 in the not too distant future since OpenFlow 1.3 is supported on 9.7 while OpenFlow 1.0 is supported on 9.6. Although 9.7 was released earlier this year, we would like to see a few more weeks of field exposure before recommending DirecTV move to this release.

Bill Tozer

Network Systems Engineer

Office: 805-498-2959

Mobile: 805-490-7409

Dell | Enterprise Solutions, Networking

Bill_Tozer@Dell.com

From: Tozer, Bill
Sent: Wednesday, April 22, 2015 4:59 PM
To: Cereijo, Manny; WW Networking Domain; Arrata, William
Subject: RE: MXL -- Can't ping management IP when MXL is installed in Fabric A

Thanks Manny,

I’ll try that when I’m on site tomorrow morning.

Bill

From: Cereijo, Manny
Sent: Wednesday, April 22, 2015 4:57 PM
To: Tozer, Bill; WW Networking Domain; Arrata, William
Subject: RE: MXL -- Can't ping management IP when MXL is installed in Fabric A

Dell - Internal Use - Confidential

Bill,

Is the MXL connecting to the same management network when in Fabric A, B and C?

Can they connect to the MXL via the CMC? Try to SSH or telnet to the CMC, then connect to the MXL with the connect switch-a1 command.

Manny

From: Tozer, Bill
Sent: Wednesday, April 22, 2015 7:48 PM
To: WW Networking Domain; Arrata, William
Subject: MXL -- Can't ping management IP when MXL is installed in Fabric A

Has anyone seen any issues with not being able to ping the management IP (or access via SSH) of an MXL when installed in Fabric A? My customer has reported that everything works fine when the MXL is installed in Fabric B or C, but when the MXL is moved to Fabric A, they can no longer connect to it.

Midplane Version of the M1000e is 1.1

Release of the MXL is 9.4, but we will be upgrading it to Release 9.7 ASAP and opening a support case.

Bill Tozer

Network Systems Engineer

Office: 805-498-2959

Mobile: 805-490-7409

Dell | Enterprise Solutions, Networking

Bill_Tozer@Dell.com

OS Windows Security Hardening

Wed, 29 Apr 2015 14:44:00 +0000

The best practice is to avoid “manual by document OS hardening” at all cost, especially with the latest Windows 2012 and 2012 R2 OSs. From my experience each company usually creates its own hardening guidance/procedures in accordance with Microsoft’s Baseline Server Hardening: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc526440.aspx. However, I personally do not recommend manual Server hardening, because IT could follow to non-standard (and sometimes unsupported) settings which are picked from outdated hardening guides, and it can cause the server to misbehave, result into breakdown of various operating system related components and failure of critical applications. I always advice my customers to use these two tools (urls are below) for ‘hardening’ Windows Server 2012/2012-R2. Any other method to harden the server might result in unforeseen results.

· Security Compliance Manager (https://technet.microsoft.com/en-in/solutionaccelerators/cc835245.aspx)

· Security Configuration Wizard (https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc754997.aspx )

The SCW tool has server roles templates, but some templates for some server roles would need to be downloaded and configured separately.

Example: By default, the SCW does not include support for the TMG 2010 role nor TMG Enterprise Management Server (EMS) role. To support these roles, download and install TMGRolesForSCW.exe included in the TMG 2010 Tools and Software Development Kit (SDK), available here.

Sincerely,

Andrei Vassiliev

Systems Integration Consultant – “Microsoft Infrastructure Services Team”

Dell | Consulting & Systems Integration
lync +1 512 723-8974

Customer feedback | How am I doing? Please contact my manager Tim_Alvey@Dell.com

ESXi dell-configuration-vib for use with ImageBuilder

Wed, 29 Apr 2015 15:07:00 +0000

As of ESXi 6.0 release, we are now providing an offline bundle.zip containing our custom image.

http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=HJFY8

As for ESXi 5.5 and earlier, the only way to do this would be to utilize VMware’s Image Builder and create your own customized offline bundle.

Here’s a whitepaper that goes through the procedure:

http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/extras/m/white_papers/20135932

Here’s a youtube video that goes through the process:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfjEyB2FTwc

Cheers,

Jim White
Senior ProSupport Engineer – Virtualization

Certifications: VCP 3 / 4 / 5, LPIC-3 Core, LPIC-3 Virtualization

Dell | Enterprise Solutions
Phone 1-800-945-3355 Option 1 Ext 723-8649

Office Hours | 8:30 am - 5:30 pm (CST) Monday - Friday

Customer feedback | How am I doing? Please contact my manager: Scott_Stout@dell.com

CISCO UCS Product Poster

Wed, 06 May 2015 07:51:00 +0000

Here is nice poster depicting CISCO Unified Compute System components.

DELL Force10 VLT and vSphere Networking

Wed, 06 May 2015 12:01:00 +0000

DELL Force10 VLT is multi chassis LAG technology. I wrote several blog posts about VLT so for VLT introduction look at http://blog.igics.com/2014/05/dell-force10-vlt-virtual-link-trunking.html. All Force10 related posts are listed here. By the way DELL Force10 S-Series switches has been renamed to DELL S-Series switches with DNOS 9 (DNOS stands for DELL Network Operating System) however

vSphere VSAN: Notes From The Field and VMware Support

Sat, 09 May 2015 09:08:00 +0000

VMware vSAN 5.5 (and now 6.0) is a software-defined storage solution developed by VMware and integrated into the kernel of its premier virtualization platform, allowing for the creation and management of shared object-based storage using the local solid-state and spinning media in the physical host servers themselves.

Note that vSAN is not the same animal as VMware’s vSphere Storage Appliance (vSA), though the underlying value proposition is the same. The two are implemented and managed very differently. vSA is now end-of-life/availability, though still supported through 2018. vSAN has been integrated directly into the kernel, so it is there whether you use it or not, and no longer requires the deployment of controller appliances. Storage appears as a single unified ‘datastore’ across all hosts in the cluster and is managed entirely through vCenter’s web client.

vSAN is licensed separately from vSphere but in the same familiar fashion, on a per socket basis. When you enable vSAN on the cluster you are initially allowed a 60-day evaluation period but must assign a proper license to the cluster before this evaluation period expires.

The purpose of this email is to provide notes from both field deployments and from working with VMware support.

General notes:

1. All hosts should be configured to report to a syslog server

2. All hosts should be configured to synchronize their time to the same valid time source

3. The minimum number of hosts supported in a vSAN cluster is three

4. The maximum number of hosts supported in a vSAN cluster is thirty-two (in 5.5)

5. The maximum number of VMs per host is currently limited to 100 (in 5.5)

6. The maximum number of VMS per datastore to be protected by HA is 2048.*

7. The sweet-spot for cluster sizing is up-to sixteen hosts.

*This is important since vSAN storage appears as a single ‘datastore’.

On the host side:

1. vSAN hosts must be comprised of certified controllers and disks

Note: Make sure and verify that the controller and disks in-use in the design appear on the VMware HCL! This is key to the supportability of the solution and must be followed. Note that the controller must support pass-through or pseudo-pass-through disk access modes, furthermore the controller must have sufficient queue depth. A minimum depth of 256 is required for vSAN (5.5), though a higher queue depth (>512) is recommended.

2. You can have multiple disk groups per host

3. A disk group is made up of at-least one SSD and at-least one HDD

4. A disk group can contain up-to one SSD and up-to seven HDD each

5. There is a maximum of five disk groups per host

6. Utilize 10GbE interfaces for the best performance

7. Dedicate 10GbE interfaces if you can, especially if using Broadcom adapters (see note on Network I/O Control below)

8. If you do not have 10GbE interfaces, consider physically dedicated 1GbE interfaces for vSAN

9. SSDs are used for caching – do not count them towards your capacity

10. When sizing your vSAN cluster, ensure that you take into account the resiliency level (replicas) you intend to support and ensure that your SSD to HDD ratio is at-least 1:10 respectively. SSD capacity should be sized to at-least 10% of the capacity of HDDs in the disk group. An example would be if you are building a disk group of four 1.2TB 10K SAS disks, giving you’re a disk group capacity of 4.8TB, your SSD selection should be at-least 480GB.

11. Keep in mind that by default 70% of the SSD capacity per disk group will be used as a read cache and 30% will be used as a write buffer. Using SSDs with the right bias (Read or Write Intensive) or a non-bias (Mixed Use) will make a significant difference in performance based on your intended workload so take this into account. For general purpose virtualization, the recommendation would be to use Mixed Use SSDs because of their non/even-bias.

12. Also note that when sizing your host memory, keep in mind the ideal workload and consolidation ratios you hope to achieve. Given storage is more finite with vSAN clusters, large amounts of physical memory (>256GB) are certainly supported but may be underutilized in many environments. Keep in mind that IF you are sizing a host with 512GB or more of physical memory, the embedded SD cards are not supported and ESXi must be installed on physical media.

On the virtualization side:

1. Both the standard and distributed virtual switches are supported.

2. Use of the web client is required. You cannot configure vSAN using the thick client.

3. Use of vCenter is also required. This will need to be taken into consideration on green field deployments. You will need to format one of the HDD disks on the first host and create a local datastore, install vCenter and configure it, configure vSAN and then use storage vMotion to move the VM to the new vSAN storage. Once storage vMotion is complete, you can then remove the ‘legacy’ datastore and move the disk into the vSAN disk group.

4. vSAN storage is presented as a single common ‘datastore’ but the utilization and expression of the objects (VMs) on that store are controlled through storage policies. vSAN storage policies must be defined as they control the resiliency level (FTT, number of replicas) and other tuning parameters.

5. When configuring HA for use with vSAN, choose ‘Power Off’ as your isolation response.

6. When configuring HA for use with vSAN, ensure that your ‘host failures to tolerate’ setting aligns with your vSAN availability strategy and settings.

7. vSAN does NOT (in 5.5) support FT, DPM, Storage DRS or Storage I/O Control.

8. vSAN does support Network I/O Control and if you are using Intel adapters and the distributed virtual switch, the recommendation would be to enable and configure it for optimal performance.

Note: DO NOT enable Network IO Control (in 5.5, with or without vSAN) with Broadcom adapters! http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2065183

On the (physical and virtual) networking side:

1. Layer-2 Multicase IS required for vSAN.

2. It is a recommended practice to create a separate, segregated, VMkernel for vSAN data

3. The VMkernel interface created for vSAN can utilize private IP space

4. At-least one VLAN per vSAN cluster. vSAN clusters should NOT share the same broadcast domain

5. It is a recommended practice to create two VLANs per vSAN cluster for maximum performance. It is however not supported to have a VMkernel for vSAN active on more than one NIC, therefore the recommendation is to set this up similarly to iSCSI. It is key that each separate VMkernel have its own IP subnet.

a. VMkernel called vSAN0 attached to VLAN 92 with IP 192.168.92.10 and vmnic1 as active and vmnic3 as standby.*

b. VMkernel called vSAN1 attached to VLAN 93 with IP 192.168.93.10 and vmnic3 as active and vmnic1 as standby.*

Note: Because of the Active/Standby (as opposed to Active/Unused) and the use of two different subnets, these physical switch ports must be configured as trunks and be tagged for both VLANs.

6. The current recommended practice from VMware is to avoid the use of Jumbo Frames with vSAN

Jumbo Frames are officially supported however there was an issue discovered with jumbo frames and multicast, which vSAN makes extensive use of, in vSphere 5.5 update 2. Not sure if this has been fixed in update 3 or not but something to be aware of. The consensus from VMware support is that jumbo frames does not make a significant difference in performance with vSAN. You may utilize Jumbo Frames elsewhere in the environment, however the VMkernel(s) for vSAN should be configured for the default 1500.

7. IP HASH link aggregation is supported by vSAN but keep in mind that since traffic will be flowing to and from the same IPs, it is unlikely that you will drive the link utilization desired using this method.

8. For our physical switches, the same quick configuration guides for EqualLogic can be used as reference, the cabling recommendations are the same, however do not enable DCB or iSCSI optimization. You may also need to create additional VLANs and provision switch ports as trunks instead of access (tagged instead of untagged) depending on your host and cluster design.

5.5 Reference:

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2058424

https://www.vmware.com/pdf/vsphere5/r55/vsphere-55-configuration-maximums.pdf

http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2013/09/09/vmware-vsphere-virtual-san-design-considerations/

http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2014/06/09/queue-depth-matters/

http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2014/04/17/disk-controller-features-and-queue-depth/

http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/products/vsan/VMware-TMD-Virtual-SAN-Hardware-Guidance.pdf

https://partnerweb.vmware.com/programs/vsan/Virtual%20SAN%20Hardware%20Quick%20Start%20Guide.pdf

6.0 Reference:

What’s New in vSAN 6.0?

http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/products/vsan/VMware_Virtual_SAN_Whats_New.pdf

Configuration Maximums for vSphere 6:

https://www.vmware.com/pdf/vsphere6/r60/vsphere-60-configuration-maximums.pdf

VMware Virtual SAN 6.0 Design and Sizing Guide:

http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/products/vsan/VSAN_Design_and_Sizing_Guide.pdf

Hope this helps!

IT Operations definition

Wed, 13 May 2015 09:36:00 +0000

IT Operations is responsible for the smooth functioning of the infrastructure and operational environments that support application deployment to internal and external customers, including the network infrastructure; server and device management; computer operations; IT infrastructure library (ITIL) management; and help desk services for an organization.

Full article here.

QLogic / Broadcom CNA valid naming

Mon, 18 May 2015 12:09:00 +0000

Let’s be clear…QL did NOT buy Broadcom. They bought Broadcom’s CNA product technology. Broadcom still exists and still sells Ethernet NICs…NOT CNA…basic NICs (5719/20, etc.) that do not have HW offload functionality.

QL also bought all of BROCADE’s FC adapter technology (Brocade 8xx series).

Both have been rebranded.

We can continue to use the Broadcom name or at least “BRCM” as in “Qlogic BRCM578xx Family” .

Alternatively, as long as you are providing clear product name identification to differentiate between QL legacy and QL-BRCM families, we should be OK…but everyone needs to be more specific moving forward.

Valid naming could include:

Broadcom 57xxx based products:

· QL 578xx,

· QL 57810/57840,

· Broadcom 578xx or 57810

· BRCM 578xx or 57810

· QL BRCM 578xx, etc.

· Etc.

QLogic Legacy Products:

· QL 82xx or QL8262

· QL QMe82xx etc.

· Etc.

BROCADE based products:

· QL 815/825

· Brocade 815/825

· QL Brocade 815/825

· Etc.

Force10 VLT Proxy Gateway - how to find remote MAC addresses

Tue, 19 May 2015 07:10:00 +0000

Dell# show cam mac stack-unit 0 port-set 0

VlanId Mac Address Region Interface

4094 ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff STATIC 00001

0 ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff STATIC 00001

0 00:10:18:ff:ff:ff STATIC Invalid

0 5c:f9:dd:ef:1b:02 LOCAL_DA 00001

4094 5c:f9:dd:ef:1b:02 LOCAL_DA 00001

How large is my ESXi core dump partition?

Thu, 28 May 2015 11:36:00 +0000

Today I have been asked to check the core dump size on ESXi 5.1 host because this particular ESXi experienced PSOD (Purple Screen of Death) with a message that the core dump was not saved completely because out of space. To be honest, it took me some time to find the way how to find core dump partition size therefore I documented here. All commands and outputs are from my home lab where I have

No data visibility for vSphere Admin

Mon, 15 Jun 2015 21:33:00 +0000

Recently I did very quick (time constrained) conceptual/logical design exercise for one customer who had virtualization first strategy and was willing to virtualize his Tier 1 business critical applications. One his requirement was to preclude data visibility for VMware vSphere admins. I was quickly thinking how to fulfill this particular requirement and my first general answer was ENCRYPTION.

VMware HA Error During VLT Failure

Sat, 20 Jun 2015 11:14:00 +0000

I have received following message in to my mailbox ... Hi.I have a customer that has been testing Force10 VLT with peer routing and VMWare and has encountered the warning message on all hosts during failover of the switches (S4810’s) only when the primary VLT node is failed“vSphere HA Agent, on this host couldn’t not reach isolation address 10.100.0.1”Does this impact HA at all? Is there

DELL Compellent Best Practices for Virtualization

Sat, 20 Jun 2015 19:55:00 +0000

All DELL Compellent Best Practices has been moved here. The most interesting best practice document for me is "Dell Storage Center Best Practices with VMware vSphere 6.x".

How to display DCB settings on ESXi

Wed, 24 Jun 2015 09:50:00 +0000

May be it is possible with vsish undocumented tool.

vsish -e get /config/Net/intOpts/DCBEnable
vsish -e get /config/Net/intOpts/NetUplinkDCBPollIntrvl

vsish configurations

Other potential possibility is to change some setting to increase log verbosity:

vsish -e set /system/modules/vmklinux_9/loglevels/LinCNA 4
vsish -e set /system/modules/libfc_92/loglevels/libfc 31
vsish -e set /system/modules/libfcoe_92/loglevels/libfcoe 255;

DELL Force10 : Virtual Routing and Forwarding (VRF)

Mon, 29 Jun 2015 11:36:00 +0000

VRF Overview Virtual Routing and Forwarding (VRF) allows a physical router to partition itself into multiple Virtual Routers (VRs). The control and data plane are isolated in each VR so that traffic does NOT flow across VRs. Virtual Routing and Forwarding (VRF) allows multiple instances of a routing table to co-exist within the same router at the same time. DELL OS 9.7 supports up 64 VRF

DELL Force10 : Interface Configuration and VLANs

Tue, 07 Jul 2015 15:07:00 +0000

Physical interface configuration Physical switch interface configuration is a basic operation with any switch device. DELL Force10 switch is no exception. However, one thing is very unique on Force10 switches. Everything, including physical interfaces, on Force10 switch, is disabled by default, therefore, interfaces are in downstate and must be configured before any use. Someones are

Force10 - Full Switch to Aggregator (Simple MUX)

Thu, 16 Jul 2015 12:59:00 +0000

FTOS>enable

FTOS>force10
FTOS#start shell
Login: root
Password: abracadabra31
SStk-0 # writefru
Pick option 8 "Update Programmed fields"
Change "Board Product Name" to "PowerEdge M I/O Aggregator"
Skip changing other fields with "." and "Enter" until you reach “Software Manageability”
èThis is important! If you do not follow this, it may corrupt the FRU and brick your board! If you make a mistake here, press Ctrl-C to abort and type “writefru” again.
Change "Software Manageability" to ”4”
Skip changing other fields with "." and "Enter" èThis is important! If you do not follow this, it may corrupt the FRU and brick your board! If you make a mistake here, press Ctrl-C to abort and type “writefru” again.

Do you
want to program: Y

Password: abracadabra31
This takes ~4 minutes.
After it's done, check the value of the FRU Board Product Name typing "writefru" again and selecting option 1 "Read FRU Contents"
Reboot the board, when FTOS prompt comes back do a "show system brief".

You should see "ReqTyp" and "CurTyp" as "I/O Aggregator".

Force10 - Aggregator (Simple MUX) to Full Switch

Thu, 16 Jul 2015 13:00:00 +0000

FTOS>enable

FTOS>force10
FTOS#start shell
Login: root
Password: abracadabra31
SStk-0 # writefru
Pick option 8 "Update Programmed fields"
Change "Board Product Name" to "MXL 10/40GbE"
Skip changing other fields with "." and "Enter" èThis is important! If you do not follow this, it may corrupt the FRU and brick your board!
èIf you make a mistake here, press Ctrl-C to abort and type “writefru” again.

èNOTE: Leave “Software Manageability set to 4

Do you
want to program: Y

Password: abracadabra31
This takes ~4 minutes.
After it's done, check the value of the FRU Board Product Name typing "writefru" again and selecting option 1 "Read FRU Contents"
Reboot the board, when FTOS prompt comes back do a "show system brief".
You should see "ReqTyp" and "CurTyp" as "MXL-10/40GbE".

How you understand documenting Conceptual, Logic, Physical?

Tue, 28 Jul 2015 11:07:00 +0000

I have just read following question in Google+ "VCDX Study Group 2015" As a fellow writer (we architects are not readers, but writers! :) ) wanted to ask you how you understand documenting Conceptual, Logic, Physical.Can you add all these in a single Architecture design document with all 3 parts as 3 sections or you are better off creating 3 separate documents for each type of design? I'm

DELL Force10 : BPDU Guard vs BPDU Filtering

Wed, 05 Aug 2015 19:05:00 +0000

Spanning tree should be enabled on any enterprise switch during initial switch configuration. That's the reason I have mentioned spanning tree configuration in blog post "Initial switch configuration". On the latest FTOS version following spanning tree protocols are supported: STP (Spanning Tree Protocol) RSTP (Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol) MSTP (Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol) PVSTP+ (

Storage related problems with LSI 12Gb SAS HBA card

Wed, 02 Sep 2015 13:16:00 +0000

Our Dell field engineer experienced strange storage problems with SAS storage connected to ESXi hosts having LSI 12Gb SAS HBAs. Datastores were inaccessible after ESXi reboot, paths were temporarily unavailable, etc. In this particular case it was DELL Compellent storage with SAS front-end ports but the problem was not related to particular storage and similar issue can be experienced on other

Force10 ECMP & static Routes

Wed, 09 Sep 2015 12:51:00 +0000

Hi,

Just to clarify for group (as I got few email on this)

When a static route is configured it will be loaded in the routing table if the next interface (physical or vlan) is up but they won’t be any arp check on the next-hop (unless you set the PBR rules for that)

So a use case would be :

SW1 : static route to reach Lo(Sw2) / next hop = SW2 IP (in int vlan 2)

SW2 : static route to reach Lo(Sw1) / next hop = SW1 IP (in int vlan 2)

Lo(Sw1) ----- Sw1_Ten 0/1 --- (vlan inter 2)--- Sw2_Ten 0/2 ----- Lo(Sw2)

if the vlan 2 has other ports that are up, even though the link that interconnects sw1 and sw2 goes (physically) down, the packet to the loopback get black hole (no route re-calculation since the static route is still in the routing table)

Regards,

Stéphane

From: Aich, Stephane
Sent: mardi 1 septembre 2015 22:42
To: Guerrero, Martin; WW Networking Domain
Subject: RE: ECMP & static Routes

Hi,

We’re not checking next hop availability (thought arp) for static routes you need to use PBR rules for that.

All of this being not related to ECMP.

Regards,

Stéphane

From: Guerrero, Martin
Sent: mardi 1 septembre 2015 20:27
To: WW Networking Domain
Subject: ECMP & static Routes

Dell - Internal Use - Confidential

Hi All,

I´m doing test with ECMP and static routes in order to provide route redundancy.

I configured the following:

ip ecmp weighted

ip route 12.1.1.9/32 10.197.107.235 weight 10

ip route 12.1.1.9/32 10.197.107.234 weight 20

It is not working when the first gateways goes down

It is something wrong on my configuration?

Any comment will be very appreciated

Regards.

Martin…

VMware PowerCLI update

Sat, 12 Sep 2015 20:58:00 +0000

$esxcli = Get-EsxCli -VMhost 192.168.123.123

$esxcli.software.sources.profile.list("/vmfs/volumes/PRG0100-NETAPP02B-ISOARCHIVE01/ISO/VMware/5.5/ESXi550-201505002-build2718055.zip")

#$esxcli.software.profile.update($null, "/vmfs/volumes/PRG0100-NETAPP02B-ISOARCHIVE01/ISO/VMware/5.5/ESXi550-201505002-build2718055.zip", $null, $null, $null, $null, $null, "ESXi-5.5.0-20150504001-standard", $null)

VMware’s Online Depot for VMware Image Builder

Wed, 23 Sep 2015 07:08:00 +0000

I am posting this because for some odd reason it seems nearly impossible to find this in any of Vmware’s documentation on ImageBuilder. It mentions you can add online repo’s but never gives a link to their online repo with all the ESXi builds.

I recently ran across some links and blogs that listed that path. So, in order to get the online depot imported use this:

Add-EsxSoftwareDepot https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml

esxcli software vib install -d Update-Depot

VMware VM Template deployment and MS Windows product license activation

Thu, 01 Oct 2015 13:00:00 +0000

In the past I have been informed from some of my customers that MS Windows Server license was not properly applied and activated during VMware VM template deployment even the Product Key was properly entered in "Customization Specification". I don't know if this issue still exists in the latest vSphere version however there was always pretty easy work around my customer is using since

How to restore deleted vmdk from VMFS5

Wed, 07 Oct 2015 06:51:00 +0000

Yesterday I have got an E-mail from somebody asking me how to restore deleted vmdk from VMFS5. They deleted VM but realised there are very important data. Typical answer would be - "Restore from backup" - however they wrote that they don't have backup. Fortunately, I have never had a need to restore deleted vmdk so I was starting to do some quick research (aka googling :-) ) I found VMware KB

VMware Tools 10 and "shared productLocker"

Fri, 06 Nov 2015 13:34:00 +0000

VMware tools (aka VM tools, vmtools) were always distributed together with ESXi image however it changed with VMware Tools 10. VMware is now shipping VM tools also outside of the vSphere releases. For more information look at this blog post. Where can I get VMware Tools? Option 1/ VMware Tools 10 can be downloaded from my.vmware.com. More specifically from this direct URL. Please be aware

Creating a Capacity & Performance Management Dashboard in vRealize Operations 6.x

Mon, 16 Nov 2015 08:02:00 +0000

I'm long time proponent of performance SLAs in modern virtual datacenters. Performance SLAs is nothing else than mutual agreement between service provider and service consumer. Agreement describes what performance of particular resource consumer can expect and provider should guarantee. The performance SLA is important mainly on shared resources. On dedicated resources consumer knows exactly

List of all "advanced" DRS options

Wed, 09 Dec 2015 08:09:00 +0000

In this blog post you can see various adavanced DRS options ...

/*
      9  * drmOptions.h --
     10  *
     11  *    List of all "advanced" DRS options. These are configurable via the
     12  *    advanced settings dialog in the VC UI, or via the drmoptions config
     13  *    file supplied to the dummy test harness.
     14  *
     15  *    There are currently three types of options:
     16  *    1. string options (DrmStringOption),
     17  *    2. integer options (DrmIntOption),
     18  *    3. enum options (DrmEnumOptions).
     19  *    New options can be added to any list following the format as described
     20  *    below.
     21  *
     22  *    DrmStringOption
     23  *      SOPT(<ID>, <Key>, <Description>, <Default>)
     24  *
     25  *    DrmIntOption
     26  *      IOPT(<ID>, <Key>, <Description>, <Min>, <Max>, <Default>)
     27  *
     28  *      <Minimum>, <Maximum>
     29  *      - Specify the range for the option.
     30  *
     31  *    DrmEnumOption
     32  *      EOPT(<ID>, <Key>, <Description>,
     33  *           EOPTN(<id>, <val1) EOPTN(<id>, <val2>) ..., <Default>)
     34  */
     35 
     36 #include <vmomi/array.h>
     37 #include <array>
     38 #include "vpxDrmPublicTypes.h"
     39 
     40 namespace Vim {
     41    namespace Option {
     42       class OptionValue;
     43    }
     44 }
     45 
     46 #ifdef DRM_APPS
     47 #define DRM_OPT_DUMP_DIR_DEFAULT "drmdump"
     48 #else
     49 #define DRM_OPT_DUMP_DIR_DEFAULT ""
     50 #endif
     51 
     52 #ifdef VMX86_DEBUG
     53 #define DRM_OPT_DUMP_SPACE_DEFAULT 100
     54 #define DRM_OPT_COMPRESS_DRMDUMP_FILES_DEFAULT 0
     55 #define DRM_OPT_DUMP_RES_ACTION_DEFAULT 1
     56 #define DRM_OPT_DUMP_MAP_VM_DEFAULT 1
     57 #else
     58 #define DRM_OPT_DUMP_SPACE_DEFAULT 20
     59 #define DRM_OPT_COMPRESS_DRMDUMP_FILES_DEFAULT 1
     60 #define DRM_OPT_DUMP_RES_ACTION_DEFAULT 0
     61 #define DRM_OPT_DUMP_MAP_VM_DEFAULT 0
     62 #endif
     63 
     64 #define DRM_OPT_MIN_PWR_CPU_DEFAULT 1
     65 #define DRM_OPT_MIN_PWR_MEM_DEFAULT 1
     66 
     67 // Default host boot time in seconds for hosts that do not return it.
     68 #define DRM_OPT_DEFAULT_HOST_BOOT_TIME 300
     69 // Default shut down time for ESX hosts.
     70 #define DRM_OPT_DEFAULT_HOST_SHUT_DOWN_TIME 100
     71 
     72 /*
     73  * Various levels of enforcing correlation for fixing anti-affinity
     74  * rules.
     75  */
     76 
     77 // Correlations have no effect to fix anti-affinity rule violations.
     78 #define NO_CORRELATION    0
     79 
     80 /*
     81  * Try fixing anti-affinity with correlations first. In case this is
     82  * not possible, drop all correlations and try again.
     83  */
     84 #define SOFT_CORRELATION  1
     85 
     86 /*
     87  * Correlations are strictly enforced while fixing anti-affinity rule
     88  * violations.
     89  */
     90 #define HARD_CORRELATION  2
     91 
     92 #define DRM_CONFIG_ENUM_OPTS                                                  \
     93                                                                               \
     94    EOPT(GOODNESS_METRIC, "GoodnessMetric",                                    \
     95         "Goodness metric for evaluating migration decisions",                 \
     96         EOPTN(JAIN) EOPTN(STDEV) EOPTN(FREE), STDEV)                          \
     97                                                                               \
     98    EOPT(ENABLE_VM_ACTIVE_ADJUST, "EnableVmActiveAdjust",                      \
     99         "Enable Adjustment of VM Cpu Active",                                 \
    100         EOPTN(DISABLE) EOPTN(ALWAYS) EOPTN(NEWERBUILDS), DISABLE)             \
    101                                                                               \
    102    EOPT(SEVERE_IMBALANCE_RELAX_COST_BENEFIT,                                  \
    103         "SevereImbalanceRelaxCostBenefit",                                    \
    104         "Retry correcting severe load imbalance with relaxed costBenefit "    \
    105         "and downTime filters",                                               \
    106         EOPTN(DISABLE) EOPTN(RELAX_CB) EOPTN(RELAX_DOWNTIME)                  \
    107         EOPTN(RELAX_CB_DOWNTIME), RELAX_CB_DOWNTIME)                          \
    108                                                                               \
    109    EOPT(INFRA_UPDATE_HA_MAINTENANCE_MODE_VSAN_DECOMMISSION_MODE,              \
    110         "InfraUpdateHaMaintenanceModeVsanDecommissionMode",                   \
    111         "VSAN decommission mode for host maintenance mode task",              \
    112         EOPTN(NO_ACTION) EOPTN(ENSURE_OBJECT_ACCESSIBILITY)                   \
    113         EOPTN(EVACUATE_ALL_DATA), ENSURE_OBJECT_ACCESSIBILITY)                \
    114 
    115 #define DRM_CONFIG_INT_OPTS                                                   \
    116                                                                               \
    117    IOPT(GOODNESS_PER_STAR, "GoodnessPerStar",                                 \
    118         "Maximum goodness in 1/1000 required for a 1-star recommendation",    \
    119         1, 1000, 100)                                                         \
    120    IOPT(MIN_GOODNESS, "MinGoodness",                                          \
    121         "Minimum goodness in 1/1000 required for any balance recommendation; "\
    122         "if <=0, min set to abs value; if >0, min set to lessor of option & " \
    123         "value set proportionate to running VMs, hosts, & rebal resources",   \
    124         -1000, 1000, 5)                                                       \
    125    IOPT(MIN_IMBALANCE, "MinImbalance",                                        \
    126         "Minimum cluster imbalance in 1/1000 required for any "               \
    127         "recommendations",                                                    \
    128         0, 1000, 50)                                                          \
    129    IOPT(RELOCATE_THRESH, "RelocateThresh",                                    \
    130         "Threshold in stars for relocation",                                  \
    131         0, 5, 1)                                                              \
    132    IOPT(SECONDARY_METRIC_WEIGHT, "SecondaryMetricWeight",                     \
    133         "Weight for secondary metric in overall metric",                      \
    134         0, 50, 25)                                                            \
    135    IOPT(IDLE_TAX, "IdleTax",                                                  \
    136         "Idle tax percentage. When set to 0, idle tax is completely disabled.",\
    137         0, 99, 75)                                                            \
    138    IOPT(AVG_STAT_PERIOD, "AvgStatPeriod",                                     \
    139         "Statistical sampling period in minutes",                             \
    140         1, 15, 5)                                                             \
    141    IOPT(DUMP_SPACE, "DumpSpace",                                              \
    142         "Disk space limit in megabytes for dumping module and domain state, " \
    143         "set to 0 to disable dumping, set to -1 for unlimited space",         \
    144         -1, MAX_INT32, DRM_OPT_DUMP_SPACE_DEFAULT)                            \
    145    IOPT(FAKE_VM_ACTIVE_CPU_PCT, "PowerOnFakeActiveCpuPct",                    \
    146         "Fake active CPU percentage to use for initial share allocation",     \
    147         0, 100, 100)                                                          \
    148    IOPT(FAKE_VM_ACTIVE_MEM_PCT, "PowerOnFakeActiveMemPct",                    \
    149         "Fake active memory percentage to use for initial share allocation",  \
    150         0, 100, 100)                                                          \
    151    IOPT(CPU_ACTIVE_PCT_THRESH, "CpuActivePctThresh",                          \
    152         "Active percentage threshold above which the VM's CPU entitlement "   \
    153         "cap is increased to cluster maximum Mhz. Set it to 125 to disable "  \
    154         "this feature.",                                                      \
    155         80, 125, 125)                                                         \
    156    IOPT(MAX_MOVES_PER_HOST, "MaxMovesPerHost",                                \
    157         "Max number moves per host returned in each invocation; 0->unlimited "\
    158         "if <0, max set to abs value; if >0, max set to greater of option & " \
    159         "value set wrt avg migration time, num simultaneous moves per host, " \
    160         "& DRS polling interval",                                             \
    161         MIN_INT32, MAX_INT32, 8)                                              \
    162    IOPT(EWMA_WEIGHT, "EwmaWeight",                                            \
    163         "Weight for newer samples in exponential weighted moving average"     \
    164         "in 1/100's",                                                         \
    165         0, 100, 50)                                                           \
    166    IOPT(UTIL_RATIO_TARGET, "DemandCapacityRatioTarget",                       \
    167         "DPM: utilization target",                                            \
    168         40, 200, 63)                                                          \
    169    IOPT(UTIL_RATIO_TOLERANCE_HOST, "DemandCapacityRatioToleranceHost",        \
    170         "DPM: Compare host demand/capacity ratio with "                       \
    171         "DemandCapacityRatioTarget-/+DemandCapacityRatioToleranceHost; if "   \
    172         "below, consider powering hosts off; if above, consider powering "    \
    173         "hosts on",                                                           \
    174         10, 40, 18)                                                           \
    175    IOPT(VM_DEMAND_HISTORY_SECS_HOST_ON, "VmDemandHistorySecsHostOn",          \
    176         "DPM: Consider recent demand history over this period in making host "\
    177         "power on decisions",                                                 \
    178         0, 3600, 300)                                                         \
    179    IOPT(VM_DEMAND_HISTORY_SECS_HOST_OFF, "VmDemandHistorySecsHostOff",        \
    180         "DPM: Consider recent demand history over this period in making host "\
    181         "power off decisions",                                                \
    182         0, 3600, 2400)                                                        \
    183    IOPT(VM_DEMAND_HISTORY_NUM_STDDEV, "VmDemandHistoryNumStdDevAboveAve",     \
    184         "DPM: Compute demand for history period as mean plus this many "      \
    185         "standard deviations, capped at maximum demand observed",             \
    186         0, 5, 2)                                                              \
    187    IOPT(IGNORE_DOWN_TIME, "IgnoreDownTimeLessThan",                           \
    188         "Ignore down time less than this value in seconds",                   \
    189         0, 100, 1)                                                            \
    190    IOPT(NUM_UNRESERVED_SLOTS, "NumUnreservedSlots",                           \
    191         "Number of unreserved capacity slots to maintain",                    \
    192         0, 1024, 2)                                                           \
    193    IOPT(MEM_OVERHEAD_GROWTH, "MemOverheadGrowth",                             \
    194         "default memory overhead growth in MB per minute",                    \
    195         1, 50, 4)                                                             \
    196    IOPT(MEM_OVERHEAD_GROWTH_MAX, "MemOverheadGrowthCap",                      \
    197         "memory overhead growth cap in MB per minute",                        \
    198         0, 50, 20)                                                            \
    199    IOPT(MEM_OVERHEAD_GROWTH_MIN, "MemOverheadGrowthMin",                      \
    200         "default memory overhead growth min in MB per minute",                \
    201         0, 50, 2)                                                             \
    202    IOPT(MAX_FT_VMS, "MaxFtVmsPerHost",                                        \
    203         "Maximum number of FT VMs supported on a host",                       \
    204         -1, 512, 4)                                                           \
    205    IOPT(MAX_RECURSION_DEPTH, "MaxRecursionDepth",                             \
    206         "Maximum depth in the recursive algorithm for forced placement",      \
    207         0, 5, 1)                                                              \
    208    IOPT(POWER_STAR_THRESHOLD, "PowerStarThreshold",                           \
    209         "[OBSOLETE] DPM: Specify star threshold for power recommendations",   \
    210         1, 5, DPM_REC_RATING_DEFAULT)                                         \
    211    IOPT(POWER_PERFORMANCE_RATIO, "PowerPerformanceRatio",                     \
    212         "DPM: Set Power Performance ratio",                                   \
    213         0, 500, 40)                                                           \
    214    IOPT(POWER_PERFORMANCE_PERCENTILE_MULT,                                    \
    215         "PowerPerformancePercentileMultiplier",                               \
    216         "DPM: Set percentile for stable time for power performance",          \
    217         0, 100, 10)                                                           \
    218    IOPT(POWER_PERFORMANCE_VM_DEMAND_HISTORY_NUM_STDDEV,                       \
    219         "PowerPerformanceVmDemandHistoryNumStdDev",                           \
    220         "DPM/DRS: Compute demand for history period as mean plus this many "  \
    221         "standard deviations, capped at maximum demand observed",             \
    222         0, 5, 3)                                                              \
    223    IOPT(POWER_PERFORMANCE_HISTORY_SECS, "PowerPerformanceHistorySecs",        \
    224         "DPM/DRS: Consider recent demand history over this period for DPM "   \
    225         "power performance & DRS cost performance decisions",                 \
    226         0, 3600, 3600)                                                        \
    227    IOPT(VM_RELOCATION_SECS, "VmRelocationSecs",                               \
    228         "DPM: Amount of time it takes to relocate a VM",                      \
    229         0, 100, 6)                                                            \
    230    IOPT(MIN_POWERED_ON_CPU_CAPACITY, "MinPoweredOnCpuCapacity",               \
    231         "DPM: min cpu capacity in MHz comprised by powered on hosts",         \
    232         0, MAX_INT32, DRM_OPT_MIN_PWR_CPU_DEFAULT)                            \
    233    IOPT(MIN_POWERED_ON_MEM_CAPACITY, "MinPoweredOnMemCapacity",               \
    234         "DPM: min mem capacity in MB comprised by powered on hosts",          \
    235         0, MAX_INT32, DRM_OPT_MIN_PWR_MEM_DEFAULT)                            \
    236    IOPT(HOSTS_MIN_UPTIME_SECS, "HostsMinUptimeSecs",                          \
    237         "DPM: min uptime in secs of all hosts before DPM will consider any "  \
    238         "host as power-off candidate",                                        \
    239         0, MAX_INT32, 600)                                                    \
    240    IOPT(MIN_STARS_FOR_MAND_MOVES, "MinStarsForMandMoves",                     \
    241         "Minimum star rating for mandatory recommendations",                  \
    242         1, 5, 3)                                                              \
    243    IOPT(RAW_CAP_DIFF_PERCENT, "RawCapDiffPercent",                            \
    244         "Percent by which RawCapacity values need to differ to be signicant", \
    245         0, 100, 5)                                                            \
    246    IOPT(MAX_VCPUS_PER_CORE, "MaxVcpusPerCore",                                \
    247         "Maximum number of vcpus per physical core. This will apply only to " \
    248         "ESX5.x hosts and above",                                             \
    249         4, 2048, 2048)                                                        \
    250    IOPT(MAX_HOST_MEM_OVERCOMMIT_PCT, "MaxHostMemOvercommitPct",               \
    251         "Maximum percentage of memory overcommitment allowed per host",       \
    252         -1, 500, -1)                                                          \
    253    IOPT(MAX_VCPUS_PER_CLUSTER_PCT, "MaxVcpusPerClusterPct",                   \
    254         "Maximum ratio of cluster vcpus to pcpus, expressed as a percent",    \
    255         -1, 500, -1)                                                          \
    256    IOPT(MAX_CLUSTER_MEM_OVERCOMMIT_PCT, "MaxClusterMemOvercommitPct",         \
    257         "Maximum memory overcommit percent at cluster level",                 \
    258         -1, 500, -1)                                                          \
    259    IOPT(NUM_AGENT_VMS_REQUIRED, "NumAgentVmsRequired",                        \
    260         "Number agent (per-host pinned service) VMs required on each host",   \
    261         0, 1024, 0)                                                           \
    262    IOPT(VM_MAX_DOWNTIME_FT, "VmMaxDownTimeFT",                                \
    263         "Reject the moves if the predicted downTime will exceed the max (in " \
    264         "Secs) for FT VM",                                                    \
    265         0, 150, 5)                                                            \
    266    IOPT(VM_MAX_DOWNTIME, "VmMaxDownTime",                                     \
    267         "Reject the moves if the predicted downTime will exceed the max (in " \
    268         "secs) for non-FT VM",                                                \
    269         0, 150, 50)                                                           \
    270    IOPT(VM_DEMAND_HISTORY_SECS_SOFT_RULES, "VmDemandHistorySecsSoftRules",    \
    271         "Consider recent demand history over this period in making decisions "\
    272         "to drop soft rules",                                                 \
    273         0, 3600, 300)                                                         \
    274    IOPT(MIN_SPACE_UTILIZATION_DIFFERENCE, "MinSpaceUtilizationDifference",    \
    275         "Threshold below which space load balancing will not kick in",        \
    276         0, 100, 5)                                                            \
    277    IOPT(IO_LB_IMBL_THRESHOLD, "IoLoadBalancingImblThreshold",                 \
    278         "Threshold below which IO load balancing will not kick in",           \
    279         0, 100, 4)                                                            \
    280    IOPT(IO_LB_LAT_THRESHOLD, "IoLoadBalancingLatThreshold",                   \
    281         "Lat Threshold below which IO load balancing will not kick in",       \
    282         5, 100, 10)                                                           \
    283    IOPT(SPACE_LB_IMBL_THRESHOLD, "SpaceLoadBalancingImblThreshold",           \
    284         "Threshold below which Space load balancing will not kick in",        \
    285         0, 100, 80)                                                           \
    286    IOPT(MAX_IO_MODIFICATIONS, "IoLoadBalancingMaxMovesPerHost",               \
    287         "Maximum number of moves from or to a datastore per round",           \
    288         0, 10, 3)                                                             \
    289    IOPT(MIN_IO_HIST_SECS, "IoLoadBalancingMinHistSecs",                       \
    290         "Minimum number of seconds that should have passed before using "     \
    291         "current stats",                                                      \
    292         0, MAX_INT32, 43200)                                                  \
    293    IOPT(DEFAULT_MIGRATION_TIME, "DefaultMigrationTime",                       \
    294         "Migration time (secs) to use for VMs without history "               \
    295         "(-1 -> unspecified)",                                                \
    296         -1, MAX_INT32, -1)                                                    \
    297    IOPT(DEFAULT_DOWN_TIME, "DefaultDownTime",                                 \
    298         "Down time (millisecs) to use for VMs without history "               \
    299         "(-1 -> unspecified)",                                                \
    300         -1, MAX_INT32, -1)                                                    \
    301    IOPT(SPACE_GROWTH_SECS, "SpaceGrowthSecs",                                 \
    302         "The length of time to consider in the space growth risk analysis. "  \
    303         "Should be an order of magnitude longer than the typical storage "    \
    304         "vmotion time.",                                                      \
    305         0, 604800, 108000)                                                    \
    306    IOPT(DEFAULT_SIO_CAPACITY_IOPS, "DefaultSioCapacityInIOPS",                \
    307         "Default peak IOPS to be used for datastore with zero slope",         \
    308         200, 100000, 1000)                                                    \
    309    IOPT(DEFAULT_SIO_DEVICE_INTERCEPT, "DefaultSioDeviceIntercept",            \
    310         "Default intercept parameter in device model for SDRS in x1000",      \
    311         1, 100000, 5000)                                                      \
    312    IOPT(BASE_GOODNESS_FOR_SPACE_VIOLATION, "SetBaseGoodnessForSpaceViolation",\
    313         "-1*Goodness value added for a move exceeding space threshold on "    \
    314         "destination",                                                        \
    315         -100, 0, -2)                                                          \
    316    IOPT(IO_LOADBAL_PERCENTILE, "IoLoadBalancingPercentile",                   \
    317         "IO Load balancing default percentile to use ",                       \
    318         50, 100, 90)                                                          \
    319    IOPT(SECONDARY_METRIC_WEIGHT_MULTIPLIER, "SecondaryMetricWeightMult",      \
    320         "Weight multiplier for secondary metric in overall metric",           \
    321         0, 100, 100)                                                          \
    322    IOPT(IO_STABLE_TIME_SECS, "IOLBStableTimeSecs",                            \
    323         "Stable Time to consider in IO Load Balancing cost benefit",          \
    324         0, 2629743, 86400)                                                    \
    325    IOPT(CORRELATION_FOR_AFFINITY, "EnforceCorrelationForAffinity",            \
    326         "Use datastore correlations while fixing anti-affinity rules "        \
    327         "(0 = disabled, 1 = soft enforcement, 2 = hard enforcement)",         \
    328         0, 2, 1)                                                              \
    329    IOPT(SDRS_MAX_NUM_VMX_FILES_ON_DATASTORE, "SdrsMaxNumVmxFilesOnDatastore", \
    330         "Max num VMX files allowed on datastore (respected by SDRS)",         \
    331         0, MAX_INT32, 2048)                                                   \
    332    IOPT(LOG_DRS_LB_FAULTS, "LogDrsLbFaults",                                  \
    333         "Log faults encountered during DRS LB; 0: never, [default] 1: only "  \
    334         "in case of severe imbalance, 2: in case of regular and severe "      \
    335         "imbalance", 0, 2, 1)                                                 \
    336    IOPT(LIMIT_VMS_PER_ESX_HOST, "LimitVMsPerESXHost",                         \
    337         "Limit on number of VMs DRS will place/move to any host in cluster; " \
    338         "0 means no limit",                                                   \
    339         0, MAX_INT32, 0)                                                      \
    340    /* See PR 860033 for more details */                                       \
    341    IOPT(MAX_LB_PASSES, "MaxLBPasses",                                         \
    342         "Maximum number of passes before breaking out of the main loop of "   \
    343         "the DRS LB algorithm",                                               \
    344         0, MAX_INT32, 500)                                                    \
    345    IOPT(LIMIT_VMS_PER_ESX_HOST_PERCENT, "LimitVMsPerESXHostPercent",          \
    346         "Limit number of VMs DRS will place/move to any host in cluster to "  \
    347         "(number of VMs)/(number of ESX hosts) + "                            \
    348         "(number of VMs)/(number of hosts) * "                                \
    349         "(1 + LimitVMsPerESXHostPercent/100 ",                                \
    350         0, MAX_INT32, MAX_INT32)                                              \
    351    IOPT(PERCENT_IDLE_MB_IN_MEM_DEMAND, "PercentIdleMBInMemDemand",            \
    352         "Percentage of idle MB to be included as part of memory demand "      \
    353         "DRS option: percentage is of idle (consumed but not active) memory ",\
    354         0, 100, 25)                                                           \
    355    IOPT(PERCENT_IDLE_MB_IN_SPACE_DEMAND, "PercentIdleMBInSpaceDemand",        \
    356         "Percentage of idle MB to be included as part of space demand "       \
    357         "SDRS option: percentage is of idle (uncommitted) space ",            \
    358         0, 100, 25)                                                           \
    359    IOPT(MAX_DRS_ALGO_THREADS, "MaxDrsCalcThreads",                            \
    360         "Maximum number of threads DRS algorithm should use ",                \
    361         1, 128, 4)                                                            \
    362    IOPT(CALC_PER_THREAD, "DrsCalcPerThread",                                  \
    363         "Number of moves to be evaluated per thread ",                        \
    364         1, MAX_INT32, 4000)                                                   \
    365    IOPT(CLUSTER_POWER_CAP, "DrmClusterPowerCap",                              \
    366         "By default DrmClusterPowerCap is set as -1, which means no power "   \
    367         "cap for the cluster.  If this option is set, DrmClusterPowerCap "    \
    368         "will instead be as the power cap of the cluster",                    \
    369         -1, MAX_INT32, -1)                                                    \
    370    IOPT(MAX_FT_VCPUS, "MaxFtVcpusPerHost",                                    \
    371         "Maximum number of FT vCPUs supported on a host",                     \
    372         -1, 512, 8)                                                           \
    373    IOPT(SPACE_FREE_THRESHOLD_GB, "SpaceLoadBalancingFreeThreshold",           \
    374         "Threshold in GB below which Space load balancing will kick in",      \
    375         0, MAX_INT32, 0)                                                      \
    376    IOPT(CPU_DEMAND_PERCENTILE_IN_XDRS, "CpuDemandPercentileInXdrs",           \
    377         "Percentile of CPU active demand used in XDRS placement",             \
    378         0, NUM_PERCENTILES-1, DRM_PERCENTILE_90)                              \
    379    IOPT(MEM_DEMAND_PERCENTILE_IN_XDRS, "MemDemandPercentileInXdrs",           \
    380         "Percentile of memory active demand used in XDRS placement",          \
    381         0, NUM_PERCENTILES-1, DRM_PERCENTILE_90)                              \
    382    IOPT(MAX_IO_MOVES, "MaxConcurrentIOMoves",                                 \
    383         "Maximum number of SDRS storage vmotions per datastore",              \
    384         1, INT_MAX, 3)                                                        \
    385    IOPT(AGGRESSIVE_CPU_ACTIVE, "AggressiveCPUActive",                         \
    386         "Set to 1 to use the larger of these two values to predict the CPU "  \
    387         "demand of VMs in the DRS cluster: "                                  \
    388         "1. The 5-minute average value of CPU active "                        \
    389         "2. The 80th percentile (second largest) of the last five 1-minute "  \
    390         "   average values of CPU active",                                    \
    391         0, 1, 0)                                                              \
    392    IOPT(VM_DEMAND_PERIOD, "AvgDemandForVM",                                   \
    393         "Statistical sampling period in minutes for VM Demand",               \
    394         1, 120, 15)                                                           \
    395    IOPT(ENFORCE_STORAGE_PROFILES, "EnforceStorageProfiles",                   \
    396         "If set to 1, storage profile requirements are enforced during "      \
    397         "initial placement and IO load-balancing. If set to 2, profiles "     \
    398         "are strictly enforced. If set to 0, no enforcement takes place.",    \
    399         0, 2, 0)                                                              \
    400    IOPT(INFRA_UPDATE_HA_MAINTENANCE_MODE_TIMEOUT,                             \
    401         "InfraUpdateHaMaintenanceModeTimeout",                                \
    402         "Timeout value for host maintenance mode task",                       \
    403         0, 3600, 1800)                                                        \
    404 
    405 #define DRM_CONFIG_BOOL_OPTS                                                  \
    406                                                                               \
    407    BOPT(FORCE_AFFINE_POWERON, "ForceAffinePoweron",                           \
    408         "Only allow power-on on hosts with affine virtual machines",          \
    409         0)                                                                    \
    410    BOPT(COST_BENEFIT, "CostBenefit",                                          \
    411         "Enable/disable the use of cost benefit metric for filtering moves",  \
    412         1)                                                                    \
    413    BOPT(DOWN_TIME, "UseDownTime",                                             \
    414         "Enable/disable the use of downtime in cost benefit metric",          \
    415         1)                                                                    \
    416    BOPT(POWER, "Power",                                                       \
    417         "Enable DPM",                                                         \
    418         0)                                                                    \
    419    BOPT(ENABLE_POWER_PERFORMANCE, "EnablePowerPerformance",                   \
    420         "DPM: Enable Power Performance metric",                               \
    421         1)                                                                    \
    422    BOPT(ENABLE_MINIMAL_DUMPING, "EnableMinimalDumping",                       \
    423         "Enable or Disable minimal dumping",                                  \
    424         0)                                                                    \
    425    BOPT(COMPRESS_DRMDUMP_FILES, "CompressDrmdumpFiles",                       \
    426         "Set to 1 to compress drmdump files & to 0 to not compress them",     \
    427         DRM_OPT_COMPRESS_DRMDUMP_FILES_DEFAULT)                               \
    428    BOPT(NETWORK_RESERVATION_RULES, "NetworkReservationRules",                 \
    429         "Set to 1 to consider fixing Vm network reservation violations &"     \
    430         "to 0 to not do so ",                                                 \
    431         1)                                                                    \
    432    BOPT(IO_ALWAYS_USE_CURRENT, "IoLoadBalancingAlwaysUseCurrent",             \
    433         "Always use current stats for IO load balancing",                     \
    434         1)                                                                    \
    435    BOPT(ENABLE_IO_LB, "EnableIoLoadBalancing",                                \
    436         "Enable IO load balancing",                                           \
    437         1)                                                                    \
    438    BOPT(CAP_RP_RESERVATION, "CapRpReservationAtDemand",                       \
    439         "Caps the RP entitled reservation at demand during reservation "      \
    440         "divvying",                                                           \
    441         1)                                                                    \
    442    BOPT(USE_PEAK_IOPS, "UsePeakIOPSCapacity",                                 \
    443         "Use peak IOPS as the capacity of a datastore",                       \
    444         0)                                                                    \
    445    BOPT(USE_IO_SHARES_FOR_ENT, "UseIoSharesForEntitlement",                   \
    446         "Use vmdk IO shares for entitlement computation",                     \
    447         1)                                                                    \
    448    BOPT(IGNORE_AFFINITY_FOR_MAINT, "IgnoreAffinityRulesForMaintenance",       \
    449         "Ignore affinity rules for datastore maintenance mode",               \
    450         0)                                                                    \
    451    BOPT(DISABLE_IO_LB_INTERNAL, "DisableIoLoadBalancingInternal",             \
    452         "Disable IO load balancing internally irrespective of user-set value",\
    453         0)                                                                    \
    454    BOPT(CLEAR_IO_STATS, "ClearIoStatsOnSdrsRun",                              \
    455         "Clear datastore and Vmdk IO stats each time SDRS is invoked",        \
    456         0)                                                                    \
    457    BOPT(DISABLE_IO_FILTERS, "DisableIOLBFilters",                             \
    458         "Disable IO filters comparing source, destination latency and load",  \
    459         0)                                                                    \
    460    BOPT(FORCE_RUN_DRS_SDRS_FAIL, "ForceRunDrsSdrsFail",                       \
    461         "Force Run Drs/Sdrs to report failure; used to test failure handling",\
    462         0)                                                                    \
    463    BOPT(DROP_SOFT_VM_HOST_RULES_OVERUTILIZED,                                 \
    464         "DropSoftVmHostRulesOverutilized",                                    \
    465         "Set to 1 to if soft Vm/Host affinity/anti-affinity rules should be " \
    466         "dropped if respecting them increases the amount of host utilization "\
    467         "above 100% (default); set to 0 if such rules should not be dropped " \
    468         "if respecting them increases the amount of host utilization >100%",  \
    469         1)                                                                    \
    470    BOPT(SEVERE_IMBALANCE_RELAX_MIN_GOODNESS,                                  \
    471         "SevereImbalanceRelaxMinGoodness",                                    \
    472         "Retry correcting severe load imbalance with minGoodness set to 0 ",  \
    473         1)                                                                    \
    474    BOPT(SEVERE_IMBALANCE_DROP_COST_BENEFIT, "SevereImbalanceDropCostBenefit", \
    475         "Retry correcting severe load imbalance with costBenefit set to 0",   \
    476         0)                                                                    \
    477    BOPT(FIX_SEVERE_IMBALANCE_ONLY, "FixSevereImbalanceOnly",                  \
    478         "Be conservative while handling severe load imbalance and only "      \
    479         "perform LB moves till the cluster is out of severe imbalance.",      \
    480         1)                                                                    \
    481    BOPT(PLACE_VM_ON_REGISTERED_HOST, "PlaceVmOnRegisteredHost",               \
    482         "If =1 and VM's registered host is a placement choice, make it top "  \
    483         "choice even if it will contribute to significant imbalance. If =0, " \
    484         "order choices using preference for registered host if it will not "  \
    485         "introduce significant imbalance relative to another choice",         \
    486         0)                                                                    \
    487    BOPT(DRM_DIAGNOSE_DYNAMIC_ENTITLEMENT, "DrmDiagnoseDynamicEntitlement",    \
    488         "By default DrmDiagnose targets static entitlement.  If this option " \
    489         "is set, DrmDiagnose will instead target dynamic entitlement",        \
    490         0)                                                                    \
    491    BOPT(NETWORK_RESERVATION_CORRECTION, "NetworkReservationCorrection",       \
    492         "Set to 1 to consider fixing VM network reservation violations & "    \
    493         "to 0 to not do so ",                                                 \
    494         1)                                                                    \
    495    BOPT(ALLOW_UNLIMITED_CPUMAX, "AllowUnlimitedCpuLimitForVms",               \
    496         "If set to 1, VMs are not capped at num vCPUs * core MHz during "     \
    497         "Limit divvying for CPU.",                                            \
    498         0)                                                                    \
    499    BOPT(ENFORCE_IO_RESERVATIONS, "EnforceIOReservations",                     \
    500         "If set to 1, IO reservation settings are strictly enforced "         \
    501         "during initial placement and IO load-balancing.",                    \
    502         0)                                                                    \
    503    BOPT(VUM_DPM_CALL, "VUMDPMCall",                                           \
    504         "If set to 1, aggressive DPM is used to provide VUM remediation "     \
    505         "recommendations.",                                                   \
    506         0)                                                                    \
    507    BOPT(DRMDUMP_RES_ACTIONS, "DrmdumpResActions",                             \
    508         "If set to 1, drmdump includes resActions.",                          \
    509         DRM_OPT_DUMP_RES_ACTION_DEFAULT)                                      \
    510    BOPT(DRMDUMP_MAP_VM, "DrmdumpMapVm",                                       \
    511         "If set to 1, drmdump includes mapVm.",                               \
    512         DRM_OPT_DUMP_MAP_VM_DEFAULT)                                          \
    513    BOPT(NETWORK_AWARE_DRS, "NetworkAwareDrs",                                 \
    514         "If set to 1 DRS considers host network utilization ",                \
    515         1)                                                                    \
    516    BOPT(NETWORK_AWARE_LOAD_BALANCING, "NetworkAwareLoadBalancing",            \
    517         "If set to 1 DRS considers host network utilization"                  \
    518         "in load balancing.",                                                 \
    519         0)                                                                    \
    520    BOPT(INFRA_UPDATE_HA_MAINTENANCE_MODE_REREGISTER_POWERED_OFF_VMS,          \
    521         "InfraUpdateHaMaintenanceModeReregisterPoweredOffVms",                \
    522         "If set to 1, powered off vms will be reregistered for host "         \
    523         "maintenance mode task",                                              \
    524         1)

End to End QoS solution for Vmware vSphere with NSX on top of Cisco UCS

Thu, 17 Dec 2015 16:31:00 +0000

I'm engaged on a private cloud project where end to end network QoS is required to achieve some guarantees for particular network traffics. These traffics are FCoE Storage vSphere Management vSphere vMotion VM production VM guest OS agent based backup <== this is the most complex requirement in context of QoS Compute and Network Infrastructure is based on CISCO UCS CISCO Nexus 7k and

Code Samples

Mon, 21 Dec 2015 14:45:00 +0000

FYI posilam odkaz na novou iniciativu, kde VMware developeri a komunita sdileji priklady svych scriptu, workflows apod. pro ruzne ulohy, muze se hodit..

https://developercenter.vmware.com/samples

VMware NSX useful resources

Mon, 28 Dec 2015 10:45:00 +0000

THESE INFORMATION ARE OBSOLETE AS IT IS FOR VMWARE NSX-V, LATER REPLACED BY VMWARE NSX-T AND NOW REPLACED JUST BY VMWARE NSX.Keeping the page just as a list of internet links to historical NSX-V and NSX-T resources.================================================================== I'm trying to deep dive into VMware Network Virtualization (NSX) and I have decided to collect all useful

Github / Git

Mon, 04 Jan 2016 09:16:00 +0000

GithHud Identification

git config --global user.email "david.pasek@gmail.com"

git config --global user.name "davidpasek"

GithHub SSH authentication

// *********** github SSH public key

ssh-keygen -C "david.pasek@gmail.com"

Add pub key (.ssh/id_rsa/id_rsa.pub) to GitHub ... Settings > SSH and GPG keys > New SSH key

// *********** Test if your ssh authentication works

ssh -T git@github.com

// *********** Clone your existing repostiory - davidpasek/uw.cz-gitops

git clone git@github.com:davidpasek/uw.cz-gitops

git clone git@github.com:davidpasek/uw.cz-gitops.git

Create new GitHub repository

// *********** Create new git repository from directory

Create a directory to contain the project.

Go into the new directory.

Type git init

Write some code.

Type git add -A to add all the files from current directory.

Type git commit

// *********** You must create the repository on GitHub manually

Type git remote add origin git@github.com:davidpasek/[REPOSITORY-NAME].git
Type git push push --set-upstream origin main

Clone existing GitHub repository

// *********** Clone existing github repository with username and token
git clone https://github.com/davidpasek/math4kids

// *********** Clone existing github repository with SSH key

git clone git@github.com:davidpasek/uw.cz-gitops.git

// *********** Add file to github

git status
git add file.html
git commit -m "Commit comment"

// push back to github
git push

// pull out from github
git pull

// *********** Add all files in local directory to github

git add -A

git commit -m "Initial add of files into the repository"

git push

// *********** Working with github - commit changes
git status
git pull
... working with files
git commit -a
git push
git status

GLOBAL CONFIG
git config --global user.name "David Pasek"
git config --global user.email david.pasek@gmail.com

Save credentials
$ git config credential.helper store
$ git push http://example.com/repo.git
Username: <type your username>
Password: <type your password>

[several days later]
$ git push http://example.com/repo.git
[your credentials are used automatically]

Q&A
Q: What is the difference between git clone and git checkout?
A:
The man page for checkout: http://git-scm.com/docs/git-checkout

The man page for clone: http://git-scm.com/docs/git-clone

To sum it up, clone is for fetching repositories you don't have, checkout is for switching between branches in a repository you already have.

Links:
Visual GIT reference - http://marklodato.github.io/visual-git-guide/index-en.html
GIT Simple Guide - http://rogerdudler.github.io/git-guide/
How To Use Git Effectively - https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-use-git-effectively

Architecture Design

Wed, 06 Jan 2016 08:49:00 +0000

Software Design - http://sce2.umkc.edu/BIT/burrise/pl/design/
Software Requirements Specification - http://sce2.umkc.edu/BIT/burrise/pl/requirements/

SSH Bastion Host

Sun, 10 Jan 2016 21:05:00 +0000

Based on blog post here - http://blog.scottlowe.org/2015/11/21/using-ssh-bastion-host/

THis works for me on FreeBSD

Host fbsd01.dc01
Hostname 95.80.241.17
Port 2222
User cdave
ForwardAgent yes

Host fbsd02.dc01
User cdave
Hostname fbsd02.dc01.uw.cz
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa
#ProxyCommand ssh cdave@fbsd01.dc01 nc %h %p
ProxyCommand ssh cdave@fbsd01.dc01 -W %h:%p

Shell Prompt with Username and Hostname

Sun, 10 Jan 2016 21:14:00 +0000

export PS1="[${LOGNAME}@$(hostname)]$ "

In .profile >>

PS1="[${LOGNAME}@$(hostname)]$ "; export PS1

VMware Distributed Virtual Switch (DVS) Test Plan

Mon, 11 Jan 2016 11:23:00 +0000

Category	Name	Description	Test Method	Expected Result	Pass/Fail
Operations	Implementation	Create a new virtual switch.	Create a new virtual switch within a specified vCenter and migrate hosts to it. Specific steps are required here based on environment specific variables.	New virtual switch is created successfully and is available for use.
Operations	Upgrade	Upgrade a virtual switch.	Upgrade the virtual switch to the latest version based on vCenter/ESXi host versions.	Virtual switch is upgraded with no impact to applications/users.
Operations	Cross virtual switch vMotion	Migrate a VM from one virtual switch to another.	Dynamically migrate a VM from one virtual switch to another.	VM is migrated with no impact to applications/users.
Operations	Config Backup	Backup configuration.	Backup and save virtual switch configuration.	Configuration is exported and saved.
Operations	Config Restore	Restore configuration.	Delete or change virtual switch configuration then restore to a previous version.	Configuration is restored successfully to a previous version.
Operations	Network IO Control	Designate different network IO properties for different types of VM workloads.	Create Network Resource Pools to associate port groups with specific network SLAs.	VM traffic is treated differently depending on identified SLAs configured.
Operations	LACP	Ensure virtual switch communicates properly across LACP enabled uplinks.	Configure LAGs for host uplinks ports to match upstream switch LACP configurations.	Network traffic successfully traverses the LAG.
Operations	RBAC	Ensure appropriate operations resources are able to manage/configure/monitor the virtual switch.	Create a "network" specific role and apply permissions to the appropriate AD security group.	Operations resources have the proper access required.
Operations	VLAN Updates via PowerCLI	Add additional VLANs to Port Groups	Leverage PowerCLI script(s) to add one or more VLANs to an existing Port Group or create a new Port Group.	Port Group is successfully created or updated and is configured to leverage the specified VLAN(s).
Operations	Maximum Transfer Unit (MTU)	Configure MTU per virtual switch.	Specify the required MTU per virtual switch to support network traffic requirements.	MTU is successfully configured and network traffic behaves properly.
Failover	Host Failure	Validate VMs are successfully restarted via HA on another host in the cluster.	Power off a host with a test VM running on it.	VM is restarted on another host and network traffic resumes normal operation. An alert is also generated.
Failover	vCenter Failure	Validate normal network operations continue without the vCenter server.	Power off vCenter.	No network traffic from ESXi hosts or VM is impacted. Any virtual switch modifications will not be available until vCenter is available. An alert is also generated.
Failover	Physical Switch Failure	Validate physical network redundancy.	Power off a physical upstream switch.	No network traffic from ESXi hosts or VM is impacted because of redundant network uplink configuration and load balancing algorithms. An alert is also generated.
Failover	Physical NIC Failure	Validate physical network redundancy.	Unplug a physical NIC from the blade/chassis or virtually disable one via blade virtualization (Virtual Connect/UCS Manager).	No network traffic from ESXi hosts or VM is impacted because of redundant network uplink configuration and load balancing algorithms. An alert is also generated.
Troubleshooting	NetFlow	Send NetFlow data to a collector for analysis purposes.	Configure and enable virtual switch to send flows to NetFlow collector. Specific steps required here based on environment specific variables.	NetFlow collector receives and analyzes the configured object(s). Data is clean and usable.
Troubleshooting	Port Mirroring	Mirror a VM vNIC to an Layer 3 IP address for the analysis purposes.	Configure and enable port mirroring to send traffic to a designated IP address. Specific steps required here based on environment specific variables.	Designated IP address receives specified network traffic from mirrored port and can be captured via 3rd party tools. Data is clean and usable.
Troubleshooting	Packet Capture	Capture network packets for specific objects for analysis purposes.	Configure a packet capture session for a specified workload and save/export the capture file in a ".pcap" file format.	Packet capture is successfully generated and is able to be opened in a 3rd party packet capture analysis tool.
Troubleshooting	Traffic Filtering	Allow or Drop traffic from a specified object.	Configure and enable traffic filtering to allow or drop specific types of traffic from specific objects.	Designated traffic is allowed or dropped.
Troubleshooting	Traffic Tagging	Tag specific traffic via Cos or DSCP standards.	Configure and enable traffic tagging to tag specific types of traffic from specific objects.	Designated traffic is tagged.
Troubleshooting	Monitor Statistics	Connect via CLI to gather network statistics (dropped packets)	Connect to ESXi via SSH or vCenter via PowerCLI to gather virtual switch statistics.	Network statistics are viewed/gathered via CLI methods.

Datacenter Infrastructure Architectural Rules

Tue, 12 Jan 2016 16:17:00 +0000

It is always more complex but in general following rules applies to any datacenter infrastructure architecture transforming to cloud principles ... Compute Rule Compute performance is relatively cheap, but CPU context switching is pricey. In other words, vCPU/pCPU ratio drives your consolidation. Storage Rule Storage capacity is relatively cheap, but I/O performance and response time is

Don't use 4K Native drives for VMware vSphere ESXi nor VSAN

Wed, 13 Jan 2016 09:37:00 +0000

First of all, let's be absolutely clear. Disks with 4K sector size are not currently supported by VMware. See VMware KB- Support statement for 512e and 4K Native drives for VMware vSphere and VSAN (2091600) UPDATE: vSphere 6.5 and VSAN 6.5 introduced 512e support so 4K native drives with 512 emulation (512e) are supported. In other words, 4K native drives without 512e are still not

UCS VIC Performance

Mon, 18 Jan 2016 16:39:00 +0000

Davind & Alex,

Here are recommended settings for VIC1240. When I will be in the US next week, I’ll check status of VIC 1340 perf testing for you.

Begin forwarded message:

From: Samuel Kommu <skommu@vmware.com>

Subject: Re: [nsbu-se] Fortinet & NetX

Date: 21 Dec 2015 22:02:02 CET

To: Anthony Burke <aburke@vmware.com>

Cc: Scott Clinton <sclinton@vmware.com>, Ray Budavari <rbudavari@vmware.com>, Leena Merciline <lmerciline@vmware.com>, ask-nsx-pm <ask-nsx-pm@vmware.com>

Anthony,

Is it VIC 1240 or VIC 1340? We haven’t tested VIC 1340 yet. Ray (copied) has tested VIC 1240 and recommends the following tuning for performance:

NetQueue	UCS Ethernet Adapter Policy & VMQ Connection Policy	8	Provides additional queues for traffic using different DST Acs (benefits when there is a mix of both VXLAN and VLAN traffic)
NIC interrupt timers & TCP LRO	UCS Ethernet Adapter Policy	64us & Disabled	Reduce NIC adapter interrupt timers to enable faster processing of receive traffic
Multiple VTEPs using Load Balance - SRC ID policy	NSX VXLAN Configuration	2 VTEPs	Multiple VTEPs enables balanccing of network traffic processing across two CPU contexts
Network IO Control	VDS	Enabled	Provide additional TX contexts / CPU resources foor transmit traffic

Also,

ESXi power management should be disabled
UCS Firmware must be at a minimum version of 2.2(2c)
ESXi hosts require ENIC driver 2.1.2.50 or newer

Above tuning is critical to improve performance.

Like all components within NSX, dvFilter’s performance is also influenced by the hardware offloads etc.,. Check out the NSX Performance slides from Vmworld that I sent earlier. Feel free to setup up a quick sync up call to discuss, if still in doubt.

Regards,

Samuel.

From: Anthony Burke <aburke@vmware.com>

Date: Monday, December 21, 2015 at 12:00 PM

To: Samuel Kommu <skommu@vmware.com>

Cc: Leena Merciline <lmerciline@vmware.com>, ask-nsx-pm <ask-nsx-pm@vmware.com>, Scott Clinton <sclinton@vmware.com>

Subject: Re: [nsbu-se] Fortinet & NetX

Hi Samuel,

The following setup is as follows:

vSphere 6.0

NSX 6.1.5 / NSX 6.2 (both have been tested)

UCSB200 M3 UCSB200M4

VIC1240/VIC1340 - Latest drivers.

Test VMs have VMXNET3 drivers running.

Please correct me if I am wrong but hardware offloads and NICs should not be an issue when utilising dvFilter as this is purely done in software. This is purely a performance requirement The test bed of two workloads on a VLAN backed port-group on the same host or different hosts are not utilising VXLAN.

The test criteria below has outlined:

Same host for two VMs
Same network (no routing)
Any to Any with no FW rules = 22.x Gbit sustained.
Any to Redirect

Having deploying PAN with NSX on UCS I do believe this is a Fortinet issue. Given the sensitivity to the customer I am pursing this internally.

If I a missing something and we are leveraging our NIC cards please let me know

As an aside I have a different customer (NSX friendly deployed in prod) who may give me access to a lab of M3 and M4 UCS but I cannot guarantee access.

Regards,

Anthony Burke - Systems Engineer

Network Security Business Unit

aburke@vmware.com

VMware Australia & New Zealand

Level 7, 28 Freshwater Place, Southbank VIC 3006

+61 415 595 098

On 22 Dec 2015, at 6:09 AM, Samuel Kommu <skommu@vmware.com> wrote:

Anthony,

Haven’t received any hardware setup details yet. If you have already sent, could you please send it over again?

Note on NetX Performance: Close to line rate throughput is achievable with the use of hardware offloads and jumbo MTU etc., Check out VMworld 2015 slides: https://vault.vmware.com/group/nsx/document-preview?fileId=16312906

Regards,

Samuel.

From: <ask-nsx-pm-bounces@vmware.com> on behalf of Leena Merciline <lmerciline@vmware.com>

Date: Monday, December 21, 2015 at 10:55 AM

To: Anthony Burke <aburke@vmware.com>, ask-nsx-pm <ask-nsx-pm@vmware.com>

Cc: Scott Clinton <sclinton@vmware.com>

Subject: Re: [nsbu-se] Fortinet & NetX

Hello Anthony, a performance report on this is being done by Samuel K (TPM) using a sample service VM. This will be for internal use. We plan to publish this soon (by early Jan) on Vault.

Leena

From: Anthony Burke <aburke@vmware.com>

Date: Sunday, December 20, 2015 at 6:35 PM

To: ask-nsx-pm <ask-nsx-pm@vmware.com>

Cc: Scott Clinton <sclinton@vmware.com>

Subject: Re: [nsbu-se] Fortinet & NetX

Hi team,

Is there any comments around this? This is having an impact on a lighthouse customer for us in Australia federal government. There are other customers watching these situation closely to see which way this customer progresses.

I cannot provide the customer clear information about dvFilter, performance, and commentary around the NetX framework. Can anyone comment here? Has any testing been done? Can we please have an official comment.

I have sent Sam Kommu details on hardware setup per a seperate unicast request.

Regards,

Anthony Burke - Systems Engineer

Network Security Business Unit

aburke@vmware.com

VMware Australia & New Zealand

Level 7, 28 Freshwater Place, Southbank VIC 3006

+61 415 595 098

On 14 Dec 2015, at 9:28 AM, Anthony Burke <aburke@vmware.com> wrote:

Hi team,

In a familiar discussion about NetX again. This time it is with Fortinet. Customer of mine has raised a high concern over the lack of throughput when leveraging NSX net-x and Fortinet VMX 2.0.

Fortinet were quick to blame our single-threaded DVfilter plugin. Whilst we are managing expectations with partner and customer can we have an official comment around expected speeds of redirection alone (without 3rd party features enabled) ? Could we also have official communication to partners about this?

We’ve done this with Checkpoint locally and now Fortinet are piping up. I know we can do ~1.3Gbps with Palo Alto (customer is in production locally) and I heard rumours Fortinet could do a lot more.

Attached is customers rudimentary tests with iPerf. Will raising a SR on mysids help progress this?

Performance Testing (iperf between RHEL client<>servers):

Test Scenario	Throughput	Comment
Network Introspection = None VMX FW = Not Applicable VMX IPS = Not Applicable DFW = Allow any<>any ESX1 only // 3x client->server in parallel with 10 threads each, 1 min test	22.6 Gbit 23.0 Gbit 23.4 Gbit 69.0 Gbit	VM<>VM on the same ESX host eliminates any influence from the physical network and should represent ideal conditions for maximum throughput... As we can see...
Network Introspection = Redirect traffic to VMX appliance VMX FW = Allow any<>any VMX IPS = No policy applied to traffic rule DFW = Allow any<>any ESX1 only // 3x client->server in parallel with 10 threads each, 1 min test	322 Mbit 282 Mbit 355 Mbit 959 Mbit -repeat- 326 Mbit 312 Mbit 358 Mbit 996 Mbit -repeat- 352 Mbit 354 Mbit 372 Mbit 1078 Mbit	Just forwarding through the VMX with no IPS or enforcement...Slow as hell
Network Introspection = Redirect traffic to VMX appliance VMX FW = Allow any<>any VMX IPS = No policy applied to traffic rule DFW = Allow any<>any ESX1 only // 1x client->server in parallel with 10 threads, 1 min test	1.27 Gbit -repeat- 1.16 Gbit -repeat- 1.25 Gbit	As above but just with a single client->server instance. Shows there's a bottleneck and it's not with the test VM's as they were clearly fighting for bandwidth before.
Network Introspection = Redirect traffic to VMX appliance VMX FW = Allow any<>any VMX IPS = Inspect across all signatures (~4700 or so, non-blocking) DFW = Allow any<>any ESX1 only // 3x client->server in parallel with 10 threads each, 1 min test	311 Mbit 369 Mbit 365 Mbit 1045 Mbit -repeat- 338 Mbit 370 Mbit 381 Mbit 1089 Mbit	3x client->server instances with IPS detection enabled (pass mode no blocking). Odd that this appears to beat the test before with no IPS mode in some cases. Then again a handful of sessions may not strain the inspection engine and iperf cannot scale over a hundred sessions.
Network Introspection = Redirect traffic to VMX appliance VMX FW = Allow any<>any VMX IPS = Inspect across all signatures (~4700 or so, blocking mode) DFW = Allow any<>any ESX1 only // 3x client->server in parallel with 10 threads each, 1 min test	359 Mbit 331 Mbit 358 Mbit 1048 Mbit	As above but in IPS blocking mode.
Tests between ESX hosts pending...	<19572080.gif>	<19572080.gif>
Assessment	<19572080.gif>	NSX network introspection seems to hit a ceiling around 1Gbit for connectivity on the same ESX host where conditions are predisposed towards maximum throughput. Obviously a ~70 fold reduction in performance with open routing/forwarding through the appliance and no enforcement is hard to understand and performance is comparable on lightly loaded and heavily loaded ESX hosts. These metrics suggest an issue with NSX network introspection itself or with the specific VMX reciprocation of this redirection.

Regards,

Anthony Burke - Systems Engineer

Network Security Business Unit

aburke@vmware.com

VMware Australia & New Zealand

Level 7, 28 Freshwater Place, Southbank VIC 3006

+61 415 595 098

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Password for VMware beta presentations and recordings.

Mon, 18 Jan 2016 20:46:00 +0000

According to the community pages the password should be:

Recording Password: hostedbeta

Networking stack to increase parallelism and improve performance for multi-processor systems

Sat, 23 Jan 2016 15:07:00 +0000

Cisco UCS, multi-queue NICs, and RSS

VMQ Deep Dive

http://blogs.technet.com/b/networking/archive/2013/09/10/vmq-deep-dive-1-of-3.aspx http://blogs.technet.com/b/networking/archive/2013/09/24/vmq-deep-dive-2-of-3.aspx http://blogs.technet.com/b/networking/archive/2013/09/24/vmq-deep-dive-3-of-3.aspx

RSS Deep Dive - Tech Talks

Introduction to Receive Side Scaling

Scaling in the Linux Networking Stack

This document describes a set of complementary techniques in the Linux
networking stack to increase parallelism and improve performance for
multi-processor systems.
The following technologies are described:
RSS: Receive Side Scaling
RPS: Receive Packet Steering
RFS: Receive Flow Steering
Accelerated Receive Flow Steering
XPS: Transmit Packet Steering

CISCO UCS VIC 1240 and VIV 1340

Mon, 25 Jan 2016 11:06:00 +0000

Is it VIC 1240 or VIC 1340? We haven’t tested VIC 1340 yet. Ray (Ray Budavari <rbudavari@vmware.com>) has tested VIC 1240 and recommends the following tuning for performance:

NetQueue	UCS Ethernet Adapter Policy & VMQ Connection Policy	8	Provides additional queues for traffic using different DST Acs (benefits when there is a mix of both VXLAN and VLAN traffic)
NIC interrupt timers & TCP LRO	UCS Ethernet Adapter Policy	64us & Disabled	Reduce NIC adapter interrupt timers to enable faster processing of receive traffic
Multiple VTEPs using Load Balance - SRC ID policy	NSX VXLAN Configuration	2 VTEPs	Multiple VTEPs enables balanccing of network traffic processing across two CPU contexts
Network IO Control	VDS	Enabled	Provide additional TX contexts / CPU resources foor transmit traffic

Also,

ESXi power management should be disabled
UCS Firmware must be at a minimum version of 2.2(2c)
ESXi hosts require ENIC driver 2.1.2.50 or newer

Above tuning is critical to improve performance.

VMware vSphere Profile-Driven Storage Service.......

Tue, 26 Jan 2016 08:25:00 +0000

VMware vSphere Profile-Driven Storage Service.......

service vmware-sps restart
service vmware-sps status

How to identify from the guest OS on which vCenter is virtual machine registered?

Wed, 17 Feb 2016 00:58:00 +0000

One my customer asked me how to identify - from the VM guest operating system - in which vCenter server is that particular virtual machine registered. They use VM deployment from VM Templates with Customization Specifications and they would like to use vCenter locality information for additional tasks during VM deployment process. I was thinking about several possibilities. Considered

LogInsight

Sat, 27 Feb 2016 11:54:00 +0000

LogInsight event alert time range based on timestamps from alert mails.

Log Insight just found the following 7 events matching the criteria for alert "ESX/ESXi: Cannot power on a VM":

[2016-02-27 12:00:58.737+0000] [ScheduledQueryServiceThread/192.168.4.51 INFO] [com.vmware.loginsight.piql0.parser.PIQLParser] [Parsed legacy PIQL0 query: SELECT COUNT(item0) FROM ((timestamp>=1411786576066 & timestamp<=1411786876065) & text:"vmware esx cannot find the virtual disk") AS item0 GROUP BY item0.timestamp/5000.000000, item0.hostname ORDER BY item0.timestamp DESC, COUNT(item0) DESC LIMIT 1, 100]

[2016-02-27 12:00:58.737+0000] [ScheduledQueryServiceThread/192.168.4.51 INFO] [com.vmware.loginsight.piql0.parser.PIQLParser] [Parsed legacy PIQL0 query: SELECT item0 FROM ((timestamp>=1411786576066 & timestamp<=1411786876065) & text:"vmware esx cannot find the virtual disk") AS item0 ORDER BY item0.timestamp DESC]

[2016-02-27 12:00:58.737+0000] [ScheduledQueryServiceThread/192.168.4.51 INFO] [com.vmware.loginsight.piql0.parser.PIQLParser] [Parsed legacy PIQL0 query: SELECT COUNT(item0) FROM ((timestamp>=1411786576066 & timestamp<=1411786876065) & text:"vmware esx cannot find the virtual disk") AS item0 GROUP BY item0.timestamp/5000.000000, item0.hostname ORDER BY item0.timestamp DESC, COUNT(item0) DESC LIMIT 1, 100]

Example ....

1411786876065-1411786576066

$sec=1411786876065-1411786576066;
print $sec;
299999 seconds

$h = 299999/3600
print $h;
83.3330555555556 hours

$days=83.3330555555556/24;
print $days;
3.47221064814815 days

VMware vRealize Orchestrator Plug-Ins Documentation Center

Tue, 01 Mar 2016 19:44:00 +0000

Link.

Cisco Virtual Switch Update Manager

Fri, 04 Mar 2016 13:32:00 +0000

Do you have Cisco Nexus 1000V in your vSphere environment? Then VSUM can be pretty handy toll for you. VSUM is a free virtual appliance from Cisco that integrates into the vSphere Web Client. Once deployed, VSUM allows you to do the following actions from the web client: Deploy Nexus 1000v and Application Virtual Switch (AVS) Upgrade the 1000v and AVS Migrate virtual networking from vSwitch/

How to show vCenter Instance configuration?

Fri, 04 Mar 2016 21:16:00 +0000

Login to vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) via ssh. Enable BASH access: "shell.set --enabled True" Launch BASH: "shell" Run following command to list vCenter Instance configuration. vc01:/etc/vmware-vpx # cat /etc/vmware-vpx/instance.cfg applicationDN=dc\=virtualcenter,dc\=vmware,dc\=int instanceUuid=b7cc1468-6d27-4117-943f-7b1b4485028b ldapPort=389 ldapInstanceName=VMwareVCMSDS

http get

Mon, 07 Mar 2016 19:41:00 +0000

GET / HTTP/1.1
Host: www.vmware.com
User-Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1)

GET / HTTP/1.1
Host: kb.vmware.com
User-Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1)

vCPU Hot Add and Hot Remove

Thu, 10 Mar 2016 18:15:00 +0000

To enable vCPU Hot Remove, you'll need to enable vCPU Hot Add.

I was able to do so by adding both of these settings into the VMX (or just enable Hot Add via UI and then add Hot Remove option into VM Adv Settings)

vcpu.hotadd = "TRUE"
vcpu.hotremove = "TRUE"

General recommendations for stretched vSphere HA Cluster aka Metro Cluster Storage (vMSC)

Wed, 16 Mar 2016 07:37:00 +0000

This is just a brief blog post with general recommendations for VMware vSphere Metro Cluster Storage (aka vMSC). For more holistic view, please read white paper "VMware vSphere Metro Storage Cluster Recommended Practices" vSphere HA Cluster Recommended Configuration Settings: Set Admission Control - Failover capacity by defining percentage of the cluster (50% for CPU and Memory) Set Host

What's new in PowerCLI 6.3 R1

Fri, 18 Mar 2016 11:19:00 +0000

PowerCLI 6.3 R1 introduces the following new features and improvements:

Get-VM is now faster than ever!

The Get-VM Cmdlet has been optimized and refactored to ensure maximum speed when returning larger numbers of virtual machine information. This was a request which we heard time and time again, when you start working in larger environments with thousands of VMs the most used cmdlet is Get-VM so making this faster means this will increase the speed of reporting and automation for all scripts using Get-VM. Stay tuned for a future post where we will be showing some figures from our test environment but believe me, it’s fast!

New-ContentLibrary access

New in this release we have introduced a new cmdlet for working with Content Library items, the Get-ContentLibraryItem cmdlet will list all content library items from all content libraries available to the connection. This will give you details and set you up for deploying in our next new feature….

The New-VM Cmdlet has been updated to allow for the deployment of items located in a Content Library. Use the new –ContentLibrary parameter with a content library item to deploy these from local and subscribed library items, a quick sample of this can be seen below:

$CLItem = Get-ContentLibraryItem TTYLinux
New-VM -Name "NewCLItem" -ContentLibraryItem $CLItem -Datastore datastore1 -VMHost 10.160.74.38

Or even simpler….

Get-ContentLibraryItem -Name TTYLinux | New-VM -Datastore datastore1 -VMHost 10.160.74.38

ESXCLI is now easier to use

Another great feature which has been added has again come from our community and users who have told us what is hard about our current version, the Get-Esxcli cmdlet has now been updated with a –V2 parameter which supports specifying method arguments by name.

The original Get-ESXCLI cmdlet (without -v2) passes arguments by position and can cause scripts to not work when working with multiple ESXi versions or using scripts written against specific ESXi versions.

A simple example of using the previous version is as follows:

$esxcli = Get-ESXCLI -VMHost (Get-VMhost | Select -first 1)

$esxcli.network.diag.ping(2,$null,$null,“10.0.0.8”,$null,$null,$null,$null,$null,$null,$null,$null,$null)

Notice all the $nulls ? Now check out the V2 version:

$esxcli2 = Get-ESXCLI -VMHost (Get-VMhost | Select -first 1) -V2

$arguments = $esxcli2.network.diag.ping.CreateArgs()

$arguments.count = 2

$arguments.host = "10.0.0.8"

$esxcli2.network.diag.ping.Invoke($arguments)

Get-View, better than ever

For the more advanced users out there, those who constantly use the Get-View Cmdlet you will be pleased to know that a small but handy change has been made to the cmldet to enable it to auto-complete all available view objects in the Get-View –ViewType parameter, this will ease in the use of this cmdlet and enable even faster creation of scripts using this cmdlet.

Updated Support

As well as the great enhancements to the product listed above we have also updated the product to make sure it has now been fully tested and works with Windows 10 and PowerShell v5, this enables the latest versions and features of PowerShell to be used with PowerCLI.

PowerCLI has also been updated to now support vCloud Director 8.0 and vRealize Operations Manager 6.2 ensuring you can also work with the latest VMware products.

More Information and Download

For more information on changes made in vSphere PowerCLI 6.3 Release 1, including improvements, security enhancements, and deprecated features, see the vSphere PowerCLI Change Log. For more information on specific product features, see the VMware vSphere PowerCLI 6.3 Release 1 User’s Guide. For more information on specific cmdlets, see the VMware vSphere PowerCLI 6.3 Release 1 Cmdlet Reference.

You can find the PowerCLI 6.3 Release 1 download HERE. Get it today!

What's new in PowerCLI 6.3 R1?

Fri, 18 Mar 2016 11:21:00 +0000

PowerCLI 6.3 R1 introduces the following new features and improvements: Get-VM is now faster than ever! The Get-VM Cmdlet has been optimized and refactored to ensure maximum speed when returning larger numbers of virtual machine information. This was a request which we heard time and time again, when you start working in larger environments with thousands of VMs the most used cmdlet is

How to update ESXi via CLI

Mon, 21 Mar 2016 00:09:00 +0000

If you don't want to use VMware Update Manager (VUM) you can leverage several CLI update alternatives. First of all you should download patch bundle from VMware Product Patches page available at http://www.vmware.com/go/downloadpatches. It is important to know that patch bundles are cumulative. That means you need to download and install only the latest Patch Bundle to make ESXi fully

VMtools - parameters

Sat, 26 Mar 2016 20:37:00 +0000

/v /qb-! REINSTALLMODE=vomus ADDLOCAL=All REMOVE=Hgfs,WYSE,Audio,BootCamp,Unity,VShield REBOOT=ReallySuppress

/v /qb-! REINSTALLMODE=vomus ADDLOCAL=All REBOOT=ReallySuppress
/S /v "/qn /l*v ""%TEMP%\vmtools-inst.log"" REBOOT=ReallySuppress ADDLOCAL=ALL REMOVE=Hgfs,WYSE,Audio,BootCamp,Unity,FileIntrospection,NetworkIntrospection"

/S /v "/qn /l*v ""%TEMP%\vmtools-inst.log"" REBOOT=ReallySuppress ADDLOCAL=ALL REMOVE=Hgfs,WYSE,Audio,BootCamp,Unity"

FCoE Notes

Tue, 29 Mar 2016 11:54:00 +0000

QLA HBA -

http://www.qlogic.com/OEMPartnerships/Dell/Documents/ds_QLE8152.pdf

Host Connectivity

On QLogic CNAs, set the Link Down Timeout to 60 seconds (the default is 30 seconds) in the Advanced HBA Parameters. This is necessary to ensure proper recovery or failover if a link fails or becomes unresponsive.

Switch Configuration

fka-adv-period

VFC down due to FIP keepalive misses
The VFC goes down due to FIP keepalive misses.
Possible Cause
When FIP keepalives (FKA) are missed for a period of approximately 22 seconds, this means that approximately three FKAs are not continuously received from the host. Missed FKAs can occur for many reasons, including congestion or link issues.
FKA timeout : 2.5 * FKA_adv_period.
The FKA_adv_period is exchanged and agreed upon with the host as in the FIP advertisement when responding to a solicitation.
Observe the output from the following commands to confirm FKA misses:

show platform software fcoe_mgr info interface vfc <id>
show platform software fcoe_mgr event-history errors
show platform software fcoe_mgr event-history lock
show platform software fcoe_mgr event-history msgs
show platform fwm info pif ethernet <bound-ethernet-interface-id>

Solution
Sometimes when congestion is relieved, the VFC comes back up. If the symptom persists, then additional analysis is required. The possible considerations are:

The host stopped sending the FKA.
The switch dropped the FKA that was received.

ESXi host vCPU/pCPU reporting via PowerCLI to LogInsight

Wed, 06 Apr 2016 14:17:00 +0000

Some time ago I had a discussion with one of my customers how to achieve vCPU/pCPU ratio 1:1 on their Tier 1 cluster. Unfortunately, there is not any out-of-the box vSphere policy to achieve it. You can try to use vSphere HA Cluster admission control with advanced settings to achieve such requirement but it is based on CPU reservations in MHz so it would be tricky settings anyway with some

PowerCLI - Recent servers file is corrupt

Fri, 15 Apr 2016 12:44:00 +0000

This is just short post because I have experiences PowerCLI warning "Recent servers file is corrupt" depicted below. PS C:\Users\Administrator> C:\Users\Administrator\Documents\scripts\Cluster_hosts_vCPU_pCPU_report.ps1 WARNING: Recent servers file is corrupt: C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Roaming\VMware\PowerCLI\RecentServerList.xml UTC date time: 04/15/2016 12:32:52 Cluster:

VM samples and VMX core dump on a running VM

Wed, 20 Apr 2016 13:39:00 +0000

A virtual machine is composed of several processes or userworlds that run in the VMkernel. Combined, the processes collectively make up a group. The following is a summary of components of a virtual machine:

Virtual Machine Executable (VMX) process - A process that runs in the VMkernel that is responsible for handling I/O to devices that are not critical to performance. The VMX is also responsible for communicating with user interfaces, snapshot managers, and remote console.
Virtual Machine Monitor (VMM) process - A process that runs in the VMkernel that is responsible for virtualizing the guest OS instructions, and manages memory. The VMM passes storage and network I/O requests to the VMkernel, and passes all other requests to the VMX process. There is a VMM for each virtual CPU assigned to a virtual machine.
Mouse Keyboard Screen (MKS) process - A process that is responsible for rendering the guest video and handling guest operating system user input.

*************************************

To set vmsamples up on a running VM, use "vmdumper -l" to list world IDs of running VMs and then "vmdumper <worldid> samples_on" to turn it on for that VM. This will last until the VM is power cycled/powered off or until a samples_off command is run.

Turn VM sample on
#vmdumper <worldid>samples_on

VMM core dump ...
vmdumper <worldid> unsync
vmdumper <worldid> sync

VMX core dump ...
vmdumper <worldid> vmx
vmdumper <worldid> vmx_force

VMkernel core dump ...
You can collect the live dump without crashing the box using -
localcli --plugin-dir /usr/lib/vmware/esxcli/int/ debug livedump perform

Turn VM sample off
#vmdumper <worldid>samples_off

Refer https://wiki.eng.vmware.com/DebuggingEsx#Creating_a_Live_Crash_Dump_for_ESXi

***************************************
Additional info:
Interpreting virtual machine monitor and executable failures (1019471)

Tags:
esxi, vmkernel, debug, coredump

VMware Tools 10.0.8 is now GA

Fri, 22 Apr 2016 09:14:00 +0000

VMware Tools 10.0.8 is now GA and live on www.vmware.com and available to all Customers. Resolved Issues Virtual machine performance issues after upgrading VMware tools version to 10.0.x in NSX and VMware vCloud Networking and Security 5.5.x While upgrading VMware Tools version to 10.0x in a NSX 6.x and VMware vCloud Networking and Security 5.5.x environment, the performance of the guest

NSX multiple VTEPs load balancing

Mon, 25 Apr 2016 16:12:00 +0000

From: Kevin Barrass <kbarrass@vmware.com>

Date: Mittwoch, 24. Februar 2016 10:31

To: Yves Fauser <yfauser@vmware.com>, David Pasek <dpasek@vmware.com>, Emanuele Mazza <emazza@vmware.com>, Dimitri Desmidt <ddesmidt@vmware.com>

Subject: Re: NSX Question

Hi Yves, David.

Short answer is yes VM’s on the same logical switch on a host with two VTEP’s will most likely be balanced across those two VTEPs. Longer answer below :)

When you configure load balance SRCID or SRC MAC. We map dvPorts VM’s are attached to by either dvPort ID or MAC address of VM to one of the dvUplinks on the dvSwitch.

We also statically map each VTEP vmkernel interface to a dvUplink on the dvSwitch. This results in an approximate even split of VM’s across both uplinks.

Each VM will then be encapsulated in VXLAN by the IOChain of the dvUplink the VM is mapped to, the SRC IP of that encapsulation will be the VTEP vmkernel IP address that is mapped to the same dvUplink.

The Local Control Plane (netcpa) will report up to the central control plane this VM dvPort (MAC address) to VTEP mapping.

If a dvUplink on the dvSwitch should fail, all VM’s that were mapped to that dvUplink and the associated VTEP vmkernel interface will be re-mapped to one of the remaining dvUplinks. Also the Local Control Plane agent will report this re-mapping up to the central control plane.

You can view this mapping on the ESXi dataplane from using either esxtop or esxcli as well as on the central control plane as below,:

ESXTOP

9:12:12am up 13 days 17:46, 492 worlds, 3 VMs, 4 vCPUs; CPU load average: 0.03, 0.03, 0.03

PORT-ID USED-BY TEAM-PNIC DNAME PKTTX/s MbTX/s PKTRX/s MbRX/s %DRPTX %DRPRX

33554433 Management n/a vSwitch0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

33554434 vmnic0 - vSwitch0 76.29 0.19 53.41 0.06 0.00 0.00

33554435 Shadow of vmnic0 n/a vSwitch0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

33554436 vmk0 vmnic0 vSwitch0 76.29 0.19 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

50331649 Management n/a DvsPortset-0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

50331650 vmnic3 - DvsPortset-0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

50331651 Shadow of vmnic3 n/a DvsPortset-0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

50331652 vmnic2 - DvsPortset-0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

50331653 Shadow of vmnic2 n/a DvsPortset-0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

50331654 vmk1 vmnic3 DvsPortset-0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

50331655 vdr-vdrPort vmnic3 DvsPortset-0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

50331660 52305:Palo Alto Netw vmnic2 DvsPortset-0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

50331661 37661:Dom-Ubuntu01.e vmnic3 DvsPortset-0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

50331662 41267:Dom-Windows02. vmnic3 DvsPortset-0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

67108865 Management n/a DvsPortset-1 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

67108866 vmnic1 - DvsPortset-1 0.00 0.00 129.70 0.25 0.00 0.00

67108867 Shadow of vmnic1 n/a DvsPortset-1 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

ESXCLI

To view VM to dvUplink mapping

~ # esxcli network vm list

World ID Name Num Ports Networks

-------- --------------------------- --------- ---------------

37661 Dom-Ubuntu01 1 dvportgroup-540

41267 Dom-Windows02 1 dvportgroup-585

52305 Palo_Alto_Networks_NGFW_(1) 1 dvportgroup-520

~ # esxcli network vm port list -w 37661

Port ID: 50331661

vSwitch: DSwitch-Res01

Portgroup: dvportgroup-540

DVPort ID: 222

MAC Address: 00:50:56:87:6f:a9

IP Address: 0.0.0.0

Team Uplink: vmnic3

Uplink Port ID: 50331650

Active Filters: dvfilter-generic-vmware-swsec, vmware-sfw, serviceinstance-1

To View VM to vmkernel VTEP mapping

~ # esxcli network vswitch dvs vmware vxlan network port list --vds-name=DSwitch-Res01 --vxlan-id=5007

Switch Port ID VDS Port ID VMKNIC ID

-------------- ----------- ---------

50331655 vdrPort 0

50331661 222 0

~ #

~ # esxcli network vswitch dvs vmware vxlan vmknic list --vds-name=DSwitch-Res01

Vmknic Name Switch Port ID VDS Port ID Endpoint ID VLAN ID IP Netmask IP Acquire Timeout Multicast Group Count Segment ID

----------- -------------- ----------- ----------- ------- ---------- ------------- ------------------ --------------------- ----------

vmk1 50331654 20 0 10 172.16.1.4 255.255.255.0 0 0 172.16.1.0

~ #

Central Control Plane

htb-1n-eng-dhcp10 # show control-cluster logical-switches mac-table 5007

VNI MAC VTEP-IP Connection-ID

5007 00:50:56:87:6f:a9 172.16.1.4 51

5007 00:50:56:87:92:b1 172.16.1.5 52

5007 00:50:56:87:6e:32 172.16.1.3 45

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have anymore questions.

Kind Regards

Kev

Kevin Barrass – VCDX#191

Senior NSX Solutions Architect

Network and Security Business Unit

+44 (0)7825 034393

From: Yves Fauser <yfauser@vmware.com>

Date: Wednesday, 24 February 2016 08:59

To: David Pasek <dpasek@vmware.com>, Emanuele Mazza <emazza@vmware.com>, Dimitri Desmidt <ddesmidt@vmware.com>, Kevin Barrass <kbarrass@vmware.com>

Subject: Re: NSX Question

{Adding Emanuele, Dimitri and Kev}

Hi David,

I must admit that I don’t know the logic of how VM traffic gets placed onto the different VTEPs in a setup where multiple VTEPs are deployed per ESXi Host.

So I can’t tell you if we pin whole logical switches or individual VMs to the different VTEPs.

I’m sure one of our colleagues I added knows this and will educate me and yourself on it ;-)

Cheers,

Yves

Yves Fauser

Senior Solutions Architect

yfauser@vmware.com

Mobile: +49 172 254 7415

From: David Pasek <dpasek@vmware.com>

Date: Dienstag, 23. Februar 2016 12:17

To: Yves Fauser <yfauser@vmware.com>

Subject: NSX Question

Hi Yves.

I have a simple question but so far I have get several contradictory answers from different VMware’s NSX experts.

Let’s assume I have NSX with multiple VTEPs (2) per ESXi host.

Is there a chance that each VM connected to the same logical switch will be load balanced across these two VTEPs?

Of course, it depends on hash algorithm result, but let’s assume hash result is unique for each VM.

Thanks in advance.

—

David Pasek, Senior Technical Account Manager

NSX Edge Services Gateway Form Factors

Fri, 29 Apr 2016 10:18:00 +0000

NSX ESGs are automatically deployed from NSX Manager and are available in following form factors: Compact 1 vCPU 512 MB RAM 4,5 GB vDisk + 4 GB swap vDisk 64K Connections 2K Firewall rules 50 concurrent sessions Up to 50 users can be authenticated/login via SSL VPN Plus Large 2 vCPU 1 GB RAM 1M Connections 2K Firewall rules Up to 100 users can be authenticated/login via SSL VPN Plus Quad

vSphere object migration within vROPS

Fri, 06 May 2016 12:36:00 +0000

https://kb.vmware.com/kb/2136216

How to manage VCSA services via CLI

Sun, 08 May 2016 17:57:00 +0000

VMware vCenter Server Appliance (aka VCSA) is composed from several services. These services are manageable through Web Client but in case you would need or want to use CLI here are some tips. First of all you have to connect to VCSA via ssh and enable shell. shell.set –enabled Trueshell Run the below command to list the services currently present on the VCSA. service-control --list If

RENAMING A WINDOWS DOMAIN WITH RENDOM

Sun, 15 May 2016 17:07:00 +0000

http://www.bauer-power.net/2011/05/renaming-windows-domain-with-rendom.html

ESXi 6 - manual partitioning for multiple VMFS filesystems on single disk device

Wed, 18 May 2016 22:30:00 +0000

I have to test SDRS initial placement exact behavior (blog post here) therefore I need multiple VMFS datastores to form an Datastore Cluster with SDRS. Unfortunately, I'm constraint with storage resources in my home lab therefore I would like to use one local 220GB SSD to simulate multiple VMFS datastores. Warning: This is not recommended practice for productional systems. It is recommended to

VMware vSphere SDRS - test plan of SDRS initial placement

Thu, 19 May 2016 11:55:00 +0000

VMware vSphere Storage DRS (aka SDRS) stands for Storage Distributed Resource Scheduler. It continuously balances storage space usage and storage I/O load while avoiding resource bottlenecks to meet application service levels. Lab environment: 5x10GB Datastores formed into Datastore Cluster with SDRS enabled. It is configured to balance based on storage space usage and also I/O load. Storage

Storage DRS Design Considerations

Mon, 23 May 2016 08:52:00 +0000

This blog post follows blog post "VMware vSphere SDRS - test plan of SDRS initial placement" and summarizes several facts having an impact on SDRS design decisions. If you want to see results of several SDRS tests I did in my home lab read my previous blog post. SDRS design considerations: SDRS Initial Placement algorithm does NOT take VM swap file capacity into account. However, Subsequent

VMware Snapshot improvements in vSphere 6

Tue, 24 May 2016 06:11:00 +0000

A snapshot removal can stop a virtual machine for long time (1002836)

https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1002836

KB je aplikovatelne jak na vSphere 5.x tak i 6.x. Cili jak jsem rikal na webexu, u vSphere 6.x byla consolidace snapshotu vylepsena o pouziti mirror driver technologii (stejna se pouziva napriklad u storage vMotion) – zdokumentovana a vysvetlena je treba zde: http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2011/07/14/vsphere-5-0-storage-vmotion-and-the-mirror-driver/

Porovnani consolidace snapshotu na vSphere 5.x a vSphere 6.x je zde:

http://www.virtualtothecore.com/en/vsphere-6-snapshot-consolidation-issues-thing-past/

(To co na vsphere 5.x trvalo 12.6 sekund trvalo na vSphere 6.x 1 sekundu – tedy mnohonasobne vylepseni. Jak jsem vsak rikal, zalezi to hodne na use-case, aplikaci atp. Urcite bych nespolehal na to, ze vSphere 6.x zcela vyresi problem.)

ESXi : How to mask storage device causing some issues

Wed, 25 May 2016 10:55:00 +0000

I have heard about the issue with ESXi 6 Update 2 and HP 3PAR storage where VVOLs are enabled. I have been told that the issue is caused by issuing unsupported SCSI command to PE LUN (256). PE stands for Protocol Endpoint and it is VVOL technical LUN for data path between ESXi and remote storage system. Observed symptoms: ESX 6 Update 2 – issues (ESXi disconnects from vCenter, console is very

Force10 Operating System 9.10 changes maximum MTU size

Wed, 01 Jun 2016 21:29:00 +0000

Force10 operating system (aka FTOS, DNOS) always had the maximal configurable MTU size per port 12000 bytes. I have just been informed by former colleague of mine that it is not the case since FTOS 9.10 and above. Since FTOS 9.10 the maximum MTU size per switch port is 9216. If you used MTU 12000 then after upgrade to firmware 9.10 the MTU should be adjusted automatically. But I have been told

vSphere 6 SSL Certificates

Wed, 08 Jun 2016 20:25:00 +0000

INTRODUCION VIDEO

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid2296383276001?bctid=ref:video_vsphere6_cert_infrastructure

Certificate Management Overview

https://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-60/index.jsp#com.vmware.vsphere.security.doc/GUID-3D0DE463-D0EC-442E-B524-64759D063E25.html

Certificate management CLIs

Perform all certificate management tasks with dir-cli, certool, and vecs-cli.

VCSA files and tools

Template file for a CSR request is at /usr/lib/vmware-vmca/share/config/certool.cfg

VMCA – VMware Certificate Authority

VMCA Certificate Manager - /usr/lib/vmware-vmca/bin/certificate-manager

VMCA Certificate Tool - /usr/lib/vmware-vmca/bin/certool

VECS - VMware Endpoint Certificate Store

VECS CLI - /usr/lib/vmware-vmafd/bin/vecs-cli

Other resources:

vSphere 6 SSL certificate Replacement / Implementation using the Certificate-Manager automation tool

http://www.virtually-limitless.com/certificates/replacing-or-implementing-ssl-certificates-in-vsphere-6/

Understanding and using vSphere 6.0 Certificate Manager (2097936)

https://kb.vmware.com/kb/2097936

Using vecs-cli to manage VMware Certificate Endpoint Store (VECS) instances

http://www.virtually-limitless.com/certificates/using-vecs-cli-to-manage-vmware-certificate-endpoint-store-vecs-instances/

Role and responsibility of IT Infrastructure Technical Architect

Thu, 16 Jun 2016 10:06:00 +0000

In this article, I would like to describe the infrastructure architect role and his responsibility. Any architect generally leads the design process with the goal to build the product. The product can be anything the investor would like to build and use. The architect is responsible to gather all investor's goals, requirements, constraints and try to understand all use cases of the final

problem s DVS po export/import DVS do noveho vCentra - padajici VPXD proces

Tue, 21 Jun 2016 18:45:00 +0000

Hi.

The vpx process was crashing with the following error in /storage/log/vmware/vpx/vpxd.log
mem> 2016-06-13T09:05:57.713Z [7F4B0DC39700 error 'commonvpxCommon' opID=49A39FF7-0000006E-b6] [Vpxd_HandleVmRootError] Received unrecoverable VmRootError. Generating minidump ...
mem> 2016-06-13T09:05:57.713Z [7F4B0DC39700 error 'Default' opID=49A39FF7-0000006E-b6] An unrecoverable problem has occurred, stopping the VMware VirtualCenter service. Error: Error[VdbODBCE
rror] (-1) "ODBC error: (23505) - ERROR: duplicate key value violates unique constraint "pk_vpx_dvport_membership"
mem> --> Key (dvs_id, dvport_key)=(354, 152) already exists.;
mem> --> Error while executing the query" is returned when executing SQL statement "INSERT INTO VPX_DVPORT_MEMBERSHIP (DVS_ID, DVPORT_KEY, DVPORTGROUP_ID, HOST_ID, LAG_KEY) VALUES (?, ?, ?,
?, ?)"
mem> 2016-06-13T09:05:57.713Z [7F4B0DC39700 verbose 'commonvpxCommon' opID=49A39FF7-0000006E-b6] Backtrace:
mem> -->
mem> 2016-06-13T09:05:57.728Z [7F4B0DC39700 panic 'Default' opID=49A39FF7-0000006E-b6] (Log recursion level 2) Unrecoverable VmRootError. Panic!

Solution:
http://www.hivmr.com/db/skz3713kkp8kssmszcj8jsxckds8fczj how to log into PostgreSQL DB on VCSA
/opt/vmware/vpostgres/current/bin/psql -d VCDB -U postgres

https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&externalId=2092070&sliceId=2&docTypeID=DT_KB_1_1&dialogID=120672744&stateId=1%200%20120684601 how to change values in PostgreSQL DB, but error messages are different
UPDATE VPX_DVS SET PORT_COUNTER=((SELECT MAX(CAST(DVPORT_KEY AS INT)) FROM VPX_DVPORT_MEMBERSHIP WHERE DVS_ID='DVS_ID')+1) WHERE ID='DVS_ID';
Repeat for every DVS, with different DVS_ID.

http://vninja.net/virtualization/vpostgres-database-backup-vcsa-5-5/ how to backup PostgreSQL DB on VCSA
/opt/vmware/vpostgres/1.0/bin/pg_dump EMB_DB_INSTANCE -U EMB_DB_USER -Fp -c > VCDBBackupFile

After import of DVS settings (only thing that comes to mind that could have caused this, since the VCSA is a new installation, but DVS were imported from previous vCenter instance), the values in port_counter column in table VPX_DVS were zero instead of the correct value.
When creating a new port (e.g. when creating a new portgroup with static binding), vpxd picks too-small port numbers for new ports. Those number are already in use in VPX_DVPORT_MEMBERSHIP and cause primary key violation.

ESXi boot mode - UEFI or BIOS

Mon, 27 Jun 2016 19:39:00 +0000

Legacy BIOS bootstrapping along with a master boot record (MBR) is uses with x86 compatible systems for ages. The concept of MBRs was publicly introduced in 1983 with PC DOS 2.0. It is unbelievable that we are still using the same concept after more then 30 years. However, there must be some limitations in 30 years old technology, isn't it? BIOS limitations (such as 16-bit processor mode, 1 MB

SDRS Q&A

Wed, 29 Jun 2016 15:29:00 +0000

Question 1: whether SDRS violates space threshold?

Answer: Yes, SDRS may violate space threshold when there is no datastore in the cluster which is below space threshold. Storage Space threshold is just a threshold (soft limit) used by SDRS for balancing and defragment. It is not hard limit. SDRS tries to keep free space on datastores based on space threshold but SDRS does not guarantee you will have always some amount of free space in datastores. SDRS affinity rules also can lead to threshold violation.

Question 2: Whether VM swap file is considered by SDRS?

Answer: Initial placement algorithm does not consider swap file. SDRS Initial Placement algorithm does not take VM swap file capacity into account. However subsequent rebalance calculations are based on space usage of all datastores, therefore if a virtual machine is powered on and has a swap file, it is counted toward the total space usage.

More information: Swap file size is dependent on VM RAM and reserved RAM. If reserved RAM is equal to RAM assigned to VM, there will be no swap file for that VM. Also there is a way to dedicate one of the datastores as swap file datastore where all the swap files from all the VMs will be stored.

SDRS uses the construct “DrmDisk” as the smallest entity it can migrate. This mean that SDRS creates a DrmDisk for each VMDK belonging to the VM. The interesting part is how it handles the collection of system files and swap file belonging to the VM. SDRS creates a single DrmDisk representing all the system files. If, however, an alternate swap file location is specified, the vSwap file is represented, as a separate DrmDisk and SDRS will be disabled on this swap DrmDisk.

Ex. VM with 2 VMDKs and no alternate swap file location specified, SDRS creates 3 DrmDisks as follows.

1. A separate DrmDisk for each VM Disk file

2. A DrmDisk for system files (VMX, Swap, logs etc)

Above technical details show that swap file is considered for load balancing when a VM is in powered on state, and when swap file is located in the same directory as other disks of the VM.

Question 3: Which VM files does SDRS consider in both Initial Placement and Subsequent Rebalance Calculations?

Answer: SDRS has a concept of 'system-files' even during initial-placement. 'system-files' includes VM configuration file i.e. VMX, snapshot files etc. Size may not be 100% accurate but we do take system-files into considerations for initial placement. Initial placement and rebalance, both take all the VM's system files/snapshot files into consideration.

Question 4: How does the initial placement of VM with multiple disks treat the disks – is calculation on the VM – or on the individual disks?

Answer: Disks are considered individually but depending on VM’s disk affinity. They can be on a same datastore or placed on different datastores. But disks are considered individually.

Question 5: In a healthy balanced environment I would expect that SDRS rebalances would only occur ever interval (8 hours or whatever is selected) We were seeing SDRS rebalancing happening during an initial deploy my suspicion was this was due to imbalance moving VM’s in order to “fit” the vm in. Can you confirm when we would expect rebalancing to occur – should it be at the interval and only outside that if balancing is required to “fit” vm in – or is there any other scenario that could account for this behaviour?

Answer: Rebalancing happens 1) at regular interval (default 8 hours); 2) when threshold violation is detected like above; 3) user requests a configuration change 4) API call like clicking run sdrs via client.

If datastore threshold is crossed, we will do re-balance but we are conservative as the cost of storage-vmotion is high and we don't want to penalize other VMs. so behavior is geared for not doing too many svmotions.

Initial deployment itself does not trigger a load balance run but it can generate a placement recommendation with prerequisite svmotion recommendations (to make room for the VM that is to “fit” in). That said, in our past releases, threshold violation can trigger excessive frequent load balance run. That issue will be fixed in our vsphere 6.0 update 3 and vSphere 2016 releases.

Question 6: - For a sample message like below – can you assist me with by pointing to the equations used to device value 0.961178 and 0.9

- 2016-05-17T08:25:34.586+02:00 info vpxd[06784] [Originator@6876 sub=MoDatastore opID=HB-host-297603@165862-40f6dc1c] [CheckForThresholdViolationInt] Datastore LIT005_032 utilization(0.961178) > threshold(0.9); scheduling SDRS

Answer: Such message will be generated when the sum of disk usage is greater than the threshold, for a datastore.  Both values are percentage values.  The former is the actual disk space on the datastore over capacity

   double utilization = (double) dsUsedSpace / dsCapacity;

the later the threshold value that has been set for the datastore cluster.

Question 7: If I start multiple VM deployment (either cloneVM or createVM opration) from vRA, how does SDRS process each request?

Answer: SDRS uses “RecommendDatastores() API for initial placement request, this API processes one VM at a time. For any given cluster, this API call will be processed sequentially; regardless it is for cloning a VM, or creating a VM, or other type of operation.

Additional information: SDRS is an intelligent engine, which prepare placement recommendations for initial placement and recommendations for continuous load balancing as well (Based on space and I/O load). That means other software component (C# Client, Web Client, PowerCLI, vRealize Automation, vCloud Director, etc) are responsible for initial placement provisioning and SDRS gives them recommendations where is the best place to put a new storage objects (vmdk file or VM system files).

Question 8: With I/O thresholds turned off is it expected that the decision is based only on free space – i.e Should we always pick the datastore with most free space – or do we account for other things. The motivation of this question is that they have noted that it is not always the datastore with the most free space that is selected since I/O thresholds have been turned off.

Answer: Yes, rebalance and initial placement decision is based on free space, affinity /anti-affinity rules configured, growth rate of the VMDKs etc. It needs not to pick the datastore with most free space always. When selecting a datastore, Initial placement takes both DRS and SDRS threshold metrics into account. It will select the host with the least utilization and highest connectivity to place the VM.

Question 9: How simultaneous initial placement requests are handled? Customer scenario was: They requested initial placement for 2 VMs (2 VMDKs) on the same datastore (not sure how they selected) but that datastore had space for only one VMDK. SDRS recommended same datastore for both VMDKs and eventually one of that VMDKs failed with insufficient space fault.

Answer: We don't support real simultaneous initial placement requests. Recommenddatastores API accepts one vm as the input parameter. And when calling the API for placement, you can't specify datastore in the Input spec.

Multiple VM provisioning can behave differently less deterministically because of other SDRS calculation factors (I/O load, space load, growth rate of the disk (in case of thin provisioned type disk)), also because of particular provisioning workflow, exact timing when SDRS recommendation is called and when datastore space is really consumed. Recall that datastore reported free capacity is one of the main factor for next SDRS recommendations.

Question 10: The datastore selected by SDRS was unpredictable – if anything it seemed to favor the smaller datastores (We disabled I/O metric as I assumed that was cause for this (smaller Datastores having smaller I/O) – also added storage as usage of around 90% would account for many problems)

- I am finding it difficult to find information on the balancing algorithm – the main source I am using is below but is quite old. (https://wiki.eng.vmware.com/DRSMN/Storage-IO-LoadBalancing) – is this still relevant with 6.x – is there any newer information?

Answer: Yes, above resource still holds good though it looks old. We haven't changed the core-logic of SDRS algo. We have fixed some problems. We have soft-constraints based on profiles, space-threshold, HBR replication, SRM etc, also we look at the expected space-growth, IO saturation, space threshold. Overall, many factors contribute in order to calculate “goodness” value of the datastore to recommended.

Question 11: What are the soft constraints on SDRS.

Answer: Soft-constraints or soft-rules are used by SDRS to determine that if there is no ideal match available for the initial placement, which rules should be dropped. We have multiple categories of soft-rules. If a user is using SRM and has placed disks on a data-store which is part of consistency group, we ideally would like to move that disk to the disk which is part of the same consistency group. Another use-case is related to storage-profiles. If a user wants to place VMDK on say, Storage-Profile1, we attempt to place it on datastore which can satisfy the ‘Storage-Profile1’. So in case of ideal placement is not possible due to hard rules (affinity-rule and anti-affinity rules), we will start to drop constraints in order of severity and re-run the algo to find a better match.

Soft constraints are constraints that can be dropped during initial placement and datastore maintenance workflow in the second run, when we fail to make recommendation for the first run. SDRS will try to correct soft rule violation during load balancing run.

SOFT_CONSTR_STOR_OVRHD_VERY_HIGH, // SRM protected datastore->nonprotected

SOFT_CONSTR_STOR_OVRHD_HIGH, // SRM protected1 datastore->protected2

SOFT_CONSTR_STOR_OVRHD_MEDIUM, // SRM replication group1->group2

SOFT_CONSTR_STOR_OVRHD_TRIVIAL, // SRM replicated1 datastore->replicated2

SOFT_CONSTR_STORAGE_PROFILE, // Across different storage profiles

SOFT_CONSTR_SPACE_THRESH, // Space threshold violation

SOFT_CONSTR_IO_RESERV, // Honor IO reservations when balancing

SOFT_CONSTR_DATASTORETAG, // Across datastore dedup/TP pool

SOFT_CONSTR_CORRELATION, // Across correlated datastores

SOFT_CONSTR_STOR_OVRHD_INFO, // SRM nonprotected->nonprotected

Question 12: Can we get more detail on this – I was under impression it was just I/O and Space thresholds that were accounted for – can we get details of how we account for SRM and HBR also (or are they sub components of the I/O calculation). Also, is there a threshold priority – for example if both I/O Threshold and Space Threshold cannot be satisfied on 1 datastore which Threshold would SDRS drop first in order to try and place the VM.

Answer: SRM and HBR are not considered for IO calculations but they are considered for not breaking consistency-group or replication availability. Space-Threshold is first dropped. IO threshold are important as it affects existing VMs on that datastore.

For more details on SDRS interop with SRM and HBR (VR) : Refer: http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2015/02/09/what-is-new-for-storage-drs-in-vsphere-6-0/

Either threshold violation (space or IO) will cause SDRS to run load balancing algorithm and SDRS will try best to correct it. When SDRS runs, it is possible that both space and I/O thresholds are violated and SDRS will try to correct both of them. Correction is not guaranteed to be successful.

Question 13: is SDRS I/O metric and SIOC are same things? (Optional)

Answer: No, SIOC != SDRS I/O Metric. SIOC can be used without SDRS enabled.

There is a component of SIOC (sdrsinjector) which is used for ‘stats’ collections. We do use that for SDRS IO load balancing.

For more details on SIOC (Storage IO control): http://www.vmware.com/in/products/vsphere/features/storage-io-control

Question 14: is it recommended to have datastore cluster where all the datastores are connected to all the contributing hosts? (Optional)

Answer: Yes, it is recommended to have fully connected datastore cluster (i.e. POD which contains only datastores that are available to all contributing ESXi hosts). Partially connected datastores can be added to SDRS cluster as well but it impose mobility constraints on SDRS from initial placement and load balancing perspective. SDRS always prefers fully connected datastores.

Question 15. How thin provisioned type VMDKs are considered by SDRS ? (Optional)

Answer: VMFS datastore accurately reports ‘committed’, ‘uncommitted’ and ‘unshared’ blocks. NFS datastore by-default is always thin provisioning, as we do not know how NFS server is allocating blocks.

Thin-provisioned disks and thick provisioned disks use same calculated space and IO metrics. One aspect, which we use, is while load balancing, we look at growth rate.

NOTE - from Sarat Kakarla <skakarla@vmware.com>
Only one thing I would like to add to the final doc is that space calculation of the SWAP space, during the initial placement, reserved memory is added to the committedMB and remaining space is added to the uncommittedMB, after that when calculating the entitled space requirement, following formula would be used.

drmStorageIO.cpp
678 int idlePercentInt =
679 GetModule()->OptVal(DRM_OPT_PERCENT_IDLE_MB_IN_SPACE_DEMAND);
680 ASSERT(0 <= idlePercentInt && idlePercentInt <= 100);
681 _entitledMB = int(vd->GetCommittedMB() +
682 vd->GetUncommittedMB() * (idlePercentInt / 100.0));

By default DRM_OPT_PERCENT_IDLE_MB_IN_SPACE_DEMAND is set to 25%, which means 25% of the swap space is accounted for entitled space, same goes for thin provisioned space too.

DELL Force10 : DNS, Time and Syslog server configuration

Fri, 15 Jul 2016 16:14:00 +0000

It is generally good practice to have time synchronized on all network devices and configure remote logging (syslog) to centralized syslog server for proper troubleshooting and problem management. Force10 switches are not exceptions therefore let's configure time synchronization and remote logging to my central syslog server - VMware LogInsight in my case. I would like to use hostnames instead

ESXi PSOD and HeartbeatPanicTimeout

Sat, 23 Jul 2016 22:05:00 +0000

A Purple Screen of Death (PSOD) is a diagnostic screen with white type on a purple background that is displayed when the VMkernel of an ESX/ESXi host experiences a critical error, becomes inoperative and terminates any virtual machines that are running. For more info look here. Nobody is happy to see PSOD in ESXi host but it is important to say that it is just another safety mechanism

How to read BIOS settings from HP server

Mon, 25 Jul 2016 15:13:00 +0000

Sometimes it is pretty handy how to read BIOS settings from modern HP server. Let's assume you have server ouf-of-band remote management card (aka HP iLO). HP iLO 4 and above supports RESTful API. Here is the snippet from "HPE iLO 4 User Guide". iLO RESTful API iLO 4 2.00 and later includes the iLO RESTful API. The iLO RESTful API is a management interface that server

Kodi TV

Tue, 26 Jul 2016 14:55:00 +0000

Add Ons

http://srp.nu/
http://kodi-czsk.github.io/repository/

sosac
http://movies.sosac.tv/cs/

AppleTV AirPlay and Avahi

Thu, 28 Jul 2016 09:16:00 +0000

FreeBSD with two interfacex (vmx0,vmx1)

/usr/local/etc/avahi/avahi-daemon.conf

[server]
allow-interfaces=vmx0,vmx1

[publish]
publish-workstation=yes

[reflector]
enable-reflector=yes

BIND configuration file - reverse zone

Thu, 28 Jul 2016 22:34:00 +0000

$TTL 10800
4.168.192.in-addr.arpa. IN SOA ns1.home.uw.cz. dpasek.home.uw.cz. (
2016072808 ; Serial
10800 ; Refresh
3600 ; Retry
604800 ; Expire
300 ; Negative Response TTL
)

4.168.192.in-addr.arpa. IN NS ns1.home.uw.cz.
4.168.192.in-addr.arpa. IN NS ns2.home.uw.cz.

100 IN PTR vc01.home.uw.cz.
101 IN PTR esx01.home.uw.cz.
102 IN PTR esx02.home.uw.cz.

BIND configuration file (named) - forward zone

Thu, 28 Jul 2016 22:34:00 +0000

named.conf

options {
// All file and path names are relative to the chroot directory,
// if any, and should be fully qualified.
directory "/usr/local/etc/namedb/working";
pid-file "/var/run/named/pid";
dump-file "/var/dump/named_dump.db";
statistics-file "/var/stats/named.stats";
allow-query { any; };
allow-transfer { any; };

// If named is being used only as a local resolver, this is a safe default.
// For named to be accessible to the network, comment this option, specify
// the proper IP address, or delete this option.
listen-on { 127.0.0.1; 192.168.4.4; };
...
forwarders {
8.8.8.8; 8.8.4.4;
};

...

zone "home.uw.cz" {
type master;
file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/home.uw.cz.db";
};

zone "4.168.192.in-addr.arpa" {
type master;
file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/4.168.192.in-addr.arpa.db";
};

ZONE CONF

SOA entry

Serial number
Serial number of the database file. It is maintained automatically and cannot be changed.

Administrator
E-mail address of the person responsible for data. Cannot be changed.

TTL
This value refers to all DNS entries of the given domain. It determines how long the other (non-authoritative) name files can keep the given entry in their cache memory. The lower the value the sooner the changes in the entries fully show on the whole Internet. It is recommended to be set to 1 day.

recovery (refresh)
Determinates how often the secondary name servers check its data.

Repetition (retry)
If the secondary name server cannot contact the primary server after the expiration of the Recovery interval, the next attempts follow in an interval determined by the value of Repetition in seconds.

Validity expiration (expire)
If the secondary name server cannot contact the primary servers until the Validity expiration, it will stop providing any information. The validity expiration must have a higher value than Recovery.

DNS entries

Name
Domain name within your domain. If the domain name is given without full stop at the end, the current domain will be automatically added. If the domain name is entered with a full stop at the end, it is held for an absolute name. You can enter as domain name the commercial sign @, which refers to the current domain, or the asterisk *, which refers to all domain names not explicitly defined.

Type
Entry type A, MX, CNAME or NS.

Database
Data depending on the type of entry. If you use full domain name, do not forget to put a full stop behind it, otherwise the name will be completed with the current domain.

MX
Mail server priority. Makes sense only with MX type entries. The e-mails are delivered to the server with the lowest priority first.

Bind DNS Server Web interface,Frontend or GUI Tools
http://www.debianadmin.com/bind-dns-server-web-interfacefrontend-or-gui-tools.html

Examples:

$TTL 3h
vsphere.local. SOA ns1.vshere.local. vsphere.local. 45 1d 12h 1w 3h
; Serial, Refresh, Retry, Expire, Neg. cache TTL

NS ns1.vsphere.local.

ns1 A 192.168.14.1
dns CNAME ns1
gw CNAME ns1
vc A 192.168.14.100
nsxm A 192.168.14.99

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

$TTL 10800
example.com. IN SOA ns1.example.uw.cz. dpasek.example.com. (
2016072806 ; Serial
10800 ; Refresh
3600 ; Retry
604800 ; Expire
300 ; Negative Response TTL
)

; DNS Servers
IN NS ns1.example.com.
IN NS ns2.example.com.

; MX Records
; IN MX 10 mx.example.com.
; IN MX 20 mail.example.com.

; Machine Names
ns1 IN A 192.168.4.4
ns2 IN A 192.168.4.20
;
server1 IN A 192.168.4.60
server2 IN A 192.168.4.61

; Aliases
web1 IN CNAME server1.example.com.
web2 IN CNAME server2.example.com.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

$TTL 86400
@       IN      SOA     ns1.p6.uw.cz. admin.p6.uw.cz. (
                        2024030902 ; Serial
                        3600        ; Refresh
                        1800        ; Retry
                        1209600     ; Expire
                        86400 )     ; Minimum TTL

        IN      NS      ns1.p6.uw.cz.

gw1     IN      A       10.160.4.254
ns1     IN      A       10.160.4.254
mwin01 IN      A       10.160.4.24
mlin01 IN      A       10.160.4.26
nsxm    IN      A       10.160.4.99
vc01    IN      A       10.160.4.100
esx11   IN      A       10.160.4.111
esx12   IN      A       10.160.4.112
esx13   IN      A       10.160.4.113
esx14   IN      A       10.160.4.114

Test DNS

to resolve forward record
dig +noall +answer www.gnu.org

to resolve reverse lookup
dig +noall +answer -x 199.232.41.10

VMware Virtual Machine Hardware Version and CPU Features

Tue, 06 Sep 2016 23:54:00 +0000

I always thought that only device not virtualized by VMware ESXi is the CPU. It is generally true but I have just been informed by someone that available CPU instructions sets (Features) are dependent on VM hardware version. CPU Features are generally enhanced CPU Instruction sets for special purposes. For more information about CPUID and Features read this. My regular readers knows that I

VMworld 2016 US sessions worth to watch

Tue, 13 Sep 2016 23:24:00 +0000

Here is the list of VMworld 2016 sessions from US event I watched or still have to watch during next days and weeks. After watching the session I do categorization and brief description of sessions. I'm also assigning category labels and technical level to each session. Category labels: Strategy Architecture Operations High Level Product Overview Deep Dive Product Overview Technology

How to change default policy of VMware Virtual Distributed Switch (VDS)

Mon, 26 Sep 2016 21:40:00 +0000

The main advantage of VMware virtual distributed switch (VDS) over VMware virtual standard switch (VSS) is the centralized configuration which is pushed to ESXi hosts. This centralized management provides uniform virtual switch configuration across all ESXi hosts in VDS scope. Virtual switch specific settings can be generally reconfigured for each port-group. In other words, port-group is a

Leveraging VMware LogInsight for VM hardware inventory

Sun, 02 Oct 2016 12:03:00 +0000

There is no doubt that VMware LogInsight is a must for any properly managed vSphere environment. I'm explaining LogInsight benefits to all my customers. The main use case for LogInsight is troubleshooting but there are infinite number of other use cases where LogInsight can help. During last LogInsight presentation to one of my customers I have got an interesting question if LogInsight can be

SIOC Normalizovana latence a velikost IO

Sat, 08 Oct 2016 10:13:00 +0000

Nasel jsem to tady

https://opengrok.eng.vmware.com/source/xref/esx60-hp4.perforce/bora/apps/storageRM/scsi.cpp

   /* COMPUTE IO size and adjust avgLatency accordingly */

   1326    latStats->blocksRead = overall_stats.blocksRead - priv->prevBlocksRead;

   1327    latStats->blocksWritten = overall_stats.blocksWritten - priv->prevBlocksWritten;

   1328    totalblocks = latStats->blocksRead + latStats->blocksWritten;

   1330    priv->prevBlocksRead = overall_stats.blocksRead;

   1331    priv->prevBlocksWritten = overall_stats.blocksWritten;

   1332    avgIOSize = (totalblocks * pd->blkSize) / latStats->ioCount;

   1333    if (avgIOSize > 1024) {

   1334       // compute size in KB, blkSize is in Bytes

   1335       avgIOSize = avgIOSize / 1024;

   1336    } else {

   1337       // Assume 1 KB as minimum

   1338       avgIOSize = 1;

   1339    }

   1341    /* adjust latency based on avg IO size */

   1342    latStats->avgLatency /= (1.0 + (avgIOSize / IOSIZE_ADJUST));

IOSIZE_ADJUST je 512

Viz. https://opengrok.eng.vmware.com/source/xref/esx60-hp4.perforce/bora/apps/storageRM/rateControlShared.h#IOSIZE_ADJUST

avgIOSize je v KB

Takze latence treba pro I/O o velikosti 128kB by bylo adjustovano na namerenou latency vydelenou 1+(128/512), takze by se latence vydelila 1.25, takze by se latence snizila o 20%.

U I/O o velikosti 1024kB by to se latence delila 1+(1024/512), takze cislem 3 a tam by se latence snizila na 33%.

Takze je to jinak, nez jsem nekde cetl, a mozna proto to ten nekdo (myslim, ze Frank Denneman) dal pryc ;-)

A dalsi vec je, ze to mohlo byt jinak v ESXi 4 a ted je to takto v ESXi 6. Jeste jsem koukal, ze je to takto I v ESXi 5, ale zdrojaky ESXi 4 uz tam nejsou.

SIOC v ESXi 5 bylo oproti ESX 4.1 vyrazne vylepseno. Ve 4.1 bylo SIOC uvedeno poprve.

Kazdopadne tam probiha urcity adjustment v zavislosti na velikosti I/O.

Metro Cluster High Availability or SRM Disaster Recovery?

Thu, 13 Oct 2016 20:06:00 +0000

Several years I continuously try to explain my customers that metro cluster is not disaster recovery. I have finally found some time and summarize my thoughts into slide deck which I published on SlideShare. I'm planning to present it at Czech VMUG local meeting on 6 December this year. More info about this particular Czech VMUG event is here. The goal of my presentation is to explain the

VMware SIOC quick configuration in datacenter scale

Mon, 17 Oct 2016 08:50:00 +0000

I'm currently troubleshooting one weird high kernel latency (KAVG) issue and there is a suspicion that the issue can be somehow related to VMware SIOC which is widely use in customer's environment. To confirm or disprove the issue is really related to SIOC we can simply disable SIOC on all datastores and observe if it has positive impact on kernel latency. Customer has lot of production

vSphere 6.5 announced so what is coming?

Tue, 18 Oct 2016 11:36:00 +0000

vSphere 6.5 has been announced on VMworld 2016 so you can ask yourself what it brings and why consider upgrade or at least upgrade plan. It is obvious and expected that almost all vSphere 6.5 scalability limits will be increased. Configuration maximums like hosts per vCenter, powered on VMs per vCenter, hosts per cluster, VMs per cluster, vCenters in linked mode, etc are expected to increase

mutt configuration - ~/.muttrc

Sun, 23 Oct 2016 10:36:00 +0000

set realname="David Pasek"

# IMAP

set imap_user = 'david.pasek@gmail.com'

set imap_pass = 'Alicka4me..'

set folder = imaps://imap.gmail.com/

set spoolfile = +INBOX

set record = "+[Gmail]/Sent Mail"

set postponed = "+[Gmail]/Drafts"

# SMTP

set smtp_authenticators = 'gssapi:login'

set smtp_url = 'smtps://david.pasek@smtp.gmail.com'

#set smtp_url = 'smtp://david.pasek@smtp.gmail.com:587/'

set smtp_pass = 'Alicka4me..'

set record=""

# SORT

set sort = reverse-date-received

# KEYS

# imap-fetch-mail

#macro compose I 'imap-fetch-mail'

# COLORS

color normal white black

color attachment brightyellow black

color hdrdefault cyan black

color indicator black cyan

color markers brightred black

color quoted green black

color signature cyan black

color status brightgreen blue

color tilde blue black

color tree red black

color index red black ~D

color index magenta black ~T

PowerShell - hints

Fri, 11 Nov 2016 07:36:00 +0000

Display table of PowerShell and subcomponents versions

$PSVersionTable

PowerShell ExecutionPolicy Execution Policy

For Remote Signed, run Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned
For Unrestricted, run Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted

List all object properties

get-vmhost -name esx02.home.uw.cz | Format-List -Property *

Measure-object .... sum, avg, etc. from objects in pipeline

Get-member ... get info about objects in pipeline. All Properties are displayed.

Select-object ... https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/reference/5.1/microsoft.powershell.utility/select-object

Sort-Object ... sort objects in the pipeline

PowerCLI script to report VMtools version(s)

Fri, 25 Nov 2016 19:47:00 +0000

UPDATE 2018-02-05: I have just been told about very nice PowerCLI command-lets allowing to manage VMtools. Leveraging command-lets Get-VMToolsInfo, Get-VMToolsGuestInfo and Get-VMByToolsInfo is definitely the better way then my script below. All VMtools management command-lets are available on GitHub here https://github.com/vmware/PowerCLI-Example-Scripts/blob/master/Modules/

UNMAP from guest OS

Fri, 09 Dec 2016 12:53:00 +0000

Podpora UNMAP funkcionality ve vSphere 6.0 urcite je: viz clanek od Cormaca Hogana: http://cormachogan.com/2015/05/07/vsphere-6-0-storage-features-part-8-vaai-unmap-changes/

Pozadavky:

VMDK must be thin provisioned
Virtual Machine Hardware version must be 11 (ESXi 6.0)
The advanced setting EnableBlockDelete must be set to 1 – toto je v zakladu vypnuto!
The Guest OS must be able to identify the disk as thin (Windows 2012 [updated 30-Oct-2015] uses the B2 mode page to achieve this)

- Manualne se da unmap spustit viz. KB https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2057513

- Relevantni mi prijde pozadavek na korektni alignment filesystemu vuci lunu. Viz kb: https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2048466

Pro viditelnost prodavam i Davida Paska, posledni dobou toto tema hodne diskutujeme. Jinak i ohledne te funkcionality pro vSphere 6.5 je to zavisle na tom, jestli storage unmap korektne umi - http://cormachogan.com/2016/12/05/determining-array-supports-automated-unmap-vsphere-6-5/, mela by pro to byt spravne oznacena na VMware HCL.

Volume specific unmap information

Sun, 11 Dec 2016 15:29:00 +0000

vsish -e get /vmkModules/vmfs3/auto_unmap/volumes/Syno-LUN1/properties

The OVF package is invalid or could not be read.

Sun, 11 Dec 2016 19:27:00 +0000

I have just tried to deploy NSX Manager 6.2.4 virtual appliance downloaded from VMware site through WebClient. Following error message popup ... "The OVF package is invalid or could not be read." It sounds like corrupted file but it is very rare as it was successfully downloaded directly from my.vmware.com. I have double checked download and quickly realize what is wrong. OVF file should

ESXi sched-stats command

Tue, 20 Dec 2016 00:30:00 +0000

Frank Denneman has shared on twitter very interesting ESXi command to show CPU scheduling statistics and information. @FrankDenneman tweet There are not so much information about this command so one have to rely on command help ... [root@esx01:~] sched-stats -h Usage: -c : use vsi-cache instead of live kernel -t : specify the output type from the following list &

Using esxtop to identify storage performance issues for ESX / ESXi

Wed, 11 Jan 2017 15:42:00 +0000

ESXi performance are exposing to administrators through vSphere Clients. You can see real-time performance statistics which are collected in 5 minute intervals where each interval consists of fifteen 20 seconds samples. It is obvious that 20 second sample is pretty large for storage performance where we are working in mili or even micro second scale. 20 seconds contains 20,000

WordPress - migrace

Mon, 23 Jan 2017 08:08:00 +0000

postup při přesunu wordpress webu:

zkopírovat wordpress složku
importovat databázi

export originální databáze do souboru
najít a vyměnit v souboru všechny instance domény
ve wp-config.php jsou informace o databázi, změnit prefix podle originální db
importovat tabulky originální db do čisté db

nastavit web server

zapnout php a rewrite moduly
změnit vlastníka wordpress složky na uživatele web serveru
vygenerovat .htaccess (ve wordpress adminovi - nastavení -> trvalé odkazy)

Useful VMware KB article before upgrade to vSphere 6.5

Tue, 24 Jan 2017 10:55:00 +0000

I have just found following very useful VMware KB articles and blog posts which should be read before any vSphere 6.5 upgrade and design refresh. Update sequence for vSphere 6.5 and its compatible VMware products (2147289) https://kb.vmware.com/kb/2147289 Important information before upgrading to vSphere 6.5 (2147548) https://kb.vmware.com/kb/2147548 Best practices for upgrading to

VMware vSphere 6.0 PSC and SSO Domain useful resources

Tue, 24 Jan 2017 22:05:00 +0000

I do not have real numbers but it seems obvious and logical that SMB and midrange customers are adopting the latest VMware software much quicker then large enterprise customers. To be more precise, they are probably already running vSphere 6.0 and planing to upgrade to 6.5 now or soon. Some of them just waiting for 6.5 U1 which is expected soon. On the other hand, the largest VMware customers

FreeBSD (FAMP) + Wordpress Installation RunBook

Sun, 26 Feb 2017 00:02:00 +0000

FreeBSD + Apache (apache24) + MySQL + PHP5 (php-fpm) + Wordpress

Procedures in this KB are based on articles

FreeBSD OS Configuration

/etc/rc.conf

hostname="fbsd01.dpasek.com"
ifconfig_vmx0="inet 192.168.58.1 netmask 255.255.255.0"
defaultrouter="192.168.58.254"

sshd_enable="YES"
ntpd_enable="YES"
ntpdate_enable="YES"

#VMware Tools
vmware_guest_vmblock_enable="YES"
vmware_guest_vmhgfs_enable="YES"
vmware_guest_vmmemctl_enable="YES"
vmware_guest_vmxnet_enable="YES"
vmware_guestd_enable="YES"

apache24_enable="YES"
mysql_enable="YES"
php_fpm_enable="YES"

Restart the network configuration:
/etc/rc.d/netif restart
/etc/rc.d/routing restart

Software installation
pkg update
pkg install open-vm-tools-nox11
pkg install git
pkg install apache24 mysql56-server php56 php56-extensions php56-zlib mod_php56 php56-mysql php56-mysqli php56-curl php56-mbstring
# php info http://www.blackies.net/info.php

OS Tuning

Edit .profile
PS1="[${LOGNAME}@$(hostname)]$ "; export PS1

Prepare .gitconfig
For more info See. http://intkb.blogspot.cz/2016/01/github.html

// *********** github config
git config --global user.name "davidpasek"
git config --global user.email "david.pasek@gmail.com"
// *********** Clone existing github repository
git clone https://github.com/davidpasek/math4kids

MySQL Start service and DB Configuration
service mysql-server start
mysql_secure_installation

# Login to database as administrator
mysql -u root -p
# Show databases
show databases;
# Create databases - kayak
CREATE DATABASE kayak CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_bin;
# Create DB username - kayak with password kayak
grant all privileges on kayak.* to 'kayak'@'localhost' identified by "kayak";

Apache Configuration
service apache24 stop

/usr/local/etc/apache24/httpd.conf

ServerAdmin david.pasek@gmail.com
ServerName c4c.dpasek.com:80

<Directory />
AllowOverride none
# Require all denied
# Allow from all
Require all granted
</Directory>

DocumentRoot "/usr/local/www/apache24/data"

# Virtual hosts
Include etc/apache24/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf

LoadModule rewrite_module libexec/apache24/mod_rewrite.so

/usr/local/etc/apache24/Includes/php.conf
<IfModule dir_module>
DirectoryIndex index.php index.html

<FilesMatch "\.php$">
Sethandler application/x-httpd-php
</FilesMatch>
<FilesMatch "\.phps$">
Sethandler application/x-httpd-php-source>
</FilesMatch>
</IfModule>

/usr/local/etc/apache24/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf

<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerAdmin david.pasek@gmail.com
DocumentRoot "/usr/home/cdave/web/math4kids/"
ServerName m4k.dpasek.com
ServerAlias m4k.dpasek.com
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks Includes
ErrorLog "/var/log/m4k.dpasek.com-error.log"
CustomLog "/var/log/m4k.dpasek.com-access_log" common
</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerAdmin david.pasek@gmail.com
DocumentRoot "/usr/home/cdave/web/flexbook-examples/"
ServerName flexbook.dpasek.com
ServerAlias flexbook.dpasek.com
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks Includes
ErrorLog "/var/log/flexbook.dpasek.com-error.log"
CustomLog "/var/log/flexbook.dpasek.com-access_log" common
</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerAdmin david.pasek@gmail.com
DocumentRoot "/usr/home/cdave/web/kayak/"
ServerName kayak.dpasek.com
ServerAlias kayak.dpasek.com
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks Includes
ErrorLog "/var/log/kayak.dpasek.com-error.log"
CustomLog "/var/log/kayak.dpasek.com-access_log" common
</VirtualHost>

PHP Configuration

/usr/local/etc/php-fpm.conf
listen = /var/run/php-fpm.sock
listen.owner = www
listen.group = www

listen.mode = 0660

# Create /usr/local/etc/php.ini
cp /usr/local/etc/php.ini-production /usr/local/etc/php.ini

Edit /usr/local/etc/php.ini
cgi.fix_pathinfo=0

session.save_path = "/tmp"
session.use_cookies = 1
session.use_only_cookies = 1
session.name = PHPSESSID
session.auto_start = 0
session.cookie_lifetime = 0
session.cookie_path = /
session.cookie_domain =
session.cookie_httponly =
session.serialize_handler = php

Final Apache restart and avalidation
# apache restart
service apache24 restart

# show current apache settings
apachectl -S

WordPress

# Change owner for directory where WordPress files exist
chown -R www:www kayak

Guidelines pro presun WordPressu (Lukas Frei)
(1)
zkopírovat wordpress složku

(2)
importovat databázi

export originální databáze do souboru
najít a vyměnit v souboru všechny instance domény
ve wp-config.php jsou informace o databázi, změnit prefix podle originální db
importovat tabulky originální db do čisté db

(3)
nastavit web server

zapnout php a rewrite moduly
změnit vlastníka wordpress složky na uživatele web serveru
vygenerovat .htaccess (ve wordpress adminovi - nastavení -> trvalé odkazy)

How to install VMware tools on FreeBSD server

Sun, 26 Feb 2017 00:54:00 +0000

FreeBSD is my favorite operating system. All my FreeBSD servers (except embedded systems on physical microcomputers) run as virtual machines. VMware officially supports FreeBSD as GuestOS, so nothing stops virtualizing FreeBSD even for production use. VMware Tools is a suite of utilities that enhances the performance of the virtual machine's guest operating system and improves its management of

Maximum client sessions vCenter server can accept

Tue, 28 Feb 2017 11:53:00 +0000

I work as VMware TAM (Technical Account Manager) and one my customer had recently significant incident when clients (vSphere admins) was not able connect to vCenter server. It did not work nighter from old C# client nor new Web Client. It was interesting that sometimes some admins were able to connect and stay connected but others where not able to connect. The error message was very general

ESXi localcli

Sun, 05 Mar 2017 20:31:00 +0000

I have just read very informative blog post "Adding new vNICs in UCS changes vmnic order in ESXi". The author (Michael Rudloff) is using localcli with undocumented functions to achieve correct NIC order. So what is this localcli? All vSphere admins probably know esxcli command for ESXi configuration. esxcli manages many aspects of an ESXi host. You can run ESXCLI commands remotely or in the

High level introduction to VMware products

Fri, 10 Mar 2017 08:07:00 +0000

My blog posts usually go to low level technical details and are targeted to VMware subject matter experts. However, sometime is good to step back and watch things from high level perspective. It can be especially helpful when you need to explain VMware products to somebody who is not an expert in VMware technologies. vSphere Overview Video https://youtu.be/EvXn2QiL3gs What is vCenter (Watch

vSphere SSL Certificate Management

Fri, 10 Mar 2017 08:30:00 +0000

INTRODUCION VIDEO

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid2296383276001?bctid=ref:video_vsphere6_cert_infrastructure

Certificate Management Overview

https://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-60/index.jsp#com.vmware.vsphere.security.doc/GUID-3D0DE463-D0EC-442E-B524-64759D063E25.html

Certificate management CLIs

Perform all certificate management tasks with dir-cli, certool, and vecs-cli.

VCSA files and tools

Template file for a CSR request is at /usr/lib/vmware-vmca/share/config/certool.cfg

VMCA – VMware Certificate Authority

VMCA Certificate Manager - /usr/lib/vmware-vmca/bin/certificate-manager

VMCA Certificate Tool - /usr/lib/vmware-vmca/bin/certool

VECS - VMware Endpoint Certificate Store

VECS CLI - /usr/lib/vmware-vmafd/bin/vecs-cli

Other resources:

vSphere 6 SSL certificate Replacement / Implementation using the Certificate-Manager automation tool

http://www.virtually-limitless.com/certificates/replacing-or-implementing-ssl-certificates-in-vsphere-6/

Understanding and using vSphere 6.0 Certificate Manager (2097936)

https://kb.vmware.com/kb/2097936

Using vecs-cli to manage VMware Certificate Endpoint Store (VECS) instances

http://www.virtually-limitless.com/certificates/using-vecs-cli-to-manage-vmware-certificate-endpoint-store-vecs-instances/

VMware vSphere 6.5 products enhancements and basic concepts behind

Sat, 18 Mar 2017 10:44:00 +0000

VMware Tech Marketing have produced a bunch of cool vSphere 6.5 related whiteboard videos. Great stuff to review to understand VMware products enhancements and basic concepts behind. vCenter Server High Availability vCenter Server Topology Considerations vCenter Server Upgrade and Migration PowerCLI API Access Methods Secure Boot for ESXi VM Encryption and vMotion Encryption It is

ESXi Host Power Management

Sun, 02 Apr 2017 11:38:00 +0000

I have just listened to Qasim Ali's VMworld session "INF8465 - Extreme Performance Series: Power Management's Impact on Performance" about ESXi Host Power Management (P-States, C-States, TurboMode and more) and here are his general recommendations Configure BIOS to allow ESXi host the most flexibility in using power management features offered by the hardware Select "OS Control mode", "

VM Max Snapshots

Wed, 19 Apr 2017 12:46:00 +0000

get-vm | New-AdvancedSetting -Name snapshot.MaxSnapshots -Value 0

Back to the basics - VMware vSphere networking

Thu, 20 Apr 2017 11:51:00 +0000

As a software-defined networking (VMware NSX) is getting more and more traction I have been recently often asked to explain the basics of VMware vSphere networking to networking experts who do not have experience with VMware vSphere platform. First of all, networking team should familiarize them self with vSphere platform at least from a high level. Following two videos can help them to

vSphere 6.5 - backup

Fri, 21 Apr 2017 07:40:00 +0000

I would like to follow up on the vSphere workshop we had on 9.3 and answer questions about vCenter 6.5 backup:

Q1: Is the backup single file? What is approximately a size?

A1: Backup is multiple files (screen1 attached) one per specific service. Approximate backup size might differ base on the number of components you are using (VUM, image builder and their data). During the backup process, it is calculated how much space it will approximately need (screen2), the portal in latest available version seems to be still unable to include amount of data from VUM and Imagebuilder, therefore 1.2GB expected by the tool differs by about 500GB from the real situation.

Q2: Best practice for backup of VCSA in HA mode

A2: VCSA in HA mode supports standard configuration backup through VCSA VAMI. In such case only configuration of the primary appliance is backed up. During the restore process VCSA is properly restored with HA mode being disabled -> afterwards HA mode should be re-enabled. In this case this was expected behavior as the VCSA VAMI backup is in-guest backup therefore it is not fully aware of the configuration of the other VCSA nodes (like Image level backup would be).

More information can be found: http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-65/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.vmware.vsphere.install.doc%2FGUID-AFF34FA6-B7CF-4AE0-9C12-C674F160682C.html andhttp://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-65/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.vmware.vsphere.install.doc%2FGUID-F02AF073-7CFD-45B2-ACC8-DE3B6ED28022.html.

Test observations

During the tests I noticed strange problem, which was so far identified as a bug. For initial placement of the Secondary and Witness appliance is not supported to choose SDRS Cluster. Further in the deployment you can choose specific datastores (can be part of the SDRS Cluster) and that should be supported configuration – but it is still not accepted and you are not allowed to proceed with the deployment (screen3). I’m currently working with the PM team and engineering to clarify the setup and resolve the problem.

WordPress - mod_rewrite na staticke stranky

Thu, 27 Apr 2017 14:31:00 +0000

# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>

# END WordPress
# BEGIN EWWWIO

# END EWWWIO

VCSA HA heartbeating

Fri, 12 May 2017 12:49:00 +0000

Q: What method is used for VCSA HA heartbeating (to validate that the primary VC is really not available)?

A:
There is a TCP hearbeat that happens every second between the nodes (initiated from the Active node). We monitor the active node via that heartbeat and ping. A failover is triggered when there are 3 lost heartbeats followed by 5 failed pings. Therefore, the node (or network) would need to be down for at least 8 seconds for a failover to be triggered.

The heartbeating technology that we use is based off of FDM (which is what vSphere HA uses) so it is a mature methodology that should work quite well.

VM Snapshots Deep-Dive

Sun, 14 May 2017 20:19:00 +0000

Author: Stan JurenaA while ago I received interesting question regarding snapshot consolidation from one of my customers and as I was not 100% sure about the particular details (file naming, consolidation, pointers, etc.) I went to do some testing in a lab. The scenario was pretty simple; create a virtual machine with non-linear snapshot tree and start removing the snapshots. Lessons learned:

PowerCLI installation

Wed, 24 May 2017 21:42:00 +0000

Find-Module VMware.PowerCLI
Install-Module VMware.PowerCLI

Get-Module -ListAvailable VMware*

Update-Module VMware.PowerCLI

WordPress - instalace

Thu, 25 May 2017 11:28:00 +0000

su -l [webmaster]
cd [web-document-root-directory]
fetch https://wordpress.org/latest.zip
unzip latest.zip
mv wordpress [site-name]

su -l root
cd /usr/local/etc/apache24/extra/
vi httpd-vhosts.conf

<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerAdmin david.pasek@gmail.com
DocumentRoot "/usr/home/[webmaster]/[site-name]/"
ServerName [site-name].dpasek.com
ServerAlias [site-name].dpasek.com
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks Includes
ErrorLog "/var/log/[site-name]-error.log"
CustomLog "/var/log/[site-name]-access_log" common
</VirtualHost>

apachectl restart

mysql -u root -p
CREATE DATABASE wp_[site-name] CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_bin;
grant all privileges on wp_[site-name].* to 'wp_[site-name]'@'localhost' identified by "pwd-[site-name]";

Installing PSC SSL Cert from machine certificate

Tue, 30 May 2017 15:58:00 +0000

In relation to the action plan provided by Paul, it would be indeed beneficial to replace the Lookup Service SSL certificate on a Platform Services Controller 6.0 to be the same as the PSC Machine SSL Certificate.

I would recommend to use below steps - they are based on provided KB article, however, the difference is that we are not going to generate new certicate for Lookup Service SSL certificate - we are going to use the same certificate like for PSC Machine SSL Certificate. By doing this, it will be no difference in certificate that is present on port 443 (Machine SSL certificate) and 7444 (Lookup service SSL certificate).

Please find below the procedure to change the lookupservice certificate (presented on port 7444) to be the same as the PSC Machine SSL Certificate (presented on port 443):

1. Connect to PSC server as root through SSH session.

2. Make a new directory

mkdir /ssl

3. Run the following VECS-CLI commands to export the PSC Machine SSL Cert

/usr/lib/vmware-vmafd/bin/vecs-cli entry getcert --store MACHINE_SSL_CERT --alias __MACHINE_CERT --output /ssl/machine_ssl.crt

/usr/lib/vmware-vmafd/bin/vecs-cli entry getkey --store MACHINE_SSL_CERT --alias __MACHINE_CERT --output /ssl/machine_ssl.key

4. Run this command to generate a .p12 file consisting of both the ssoserver.cer and ssoserver.key file:

openssl pkcs12 -export -in /ssl/machine_ssl.crt -inkey /ssl/machine_ssl.key -name "ssoserver" -passout pass:changeme -out /ssl/ssoserver.p12

Note: Do not modify the -passout value. This must remain as changeme.

5. Run this command to backup the existing ssoserver.p12 file:

cp /usr/lib/vmware-sso/vmware-sts/conf/ssoserver.p12 /usr/lib/vmware-sso/vmware-sts/conf/ssoserver.p12.backup

6. Run this command to replace the old ssoserver.p12 with the newly generated ssoserver.p12 file:

cp /ssl/ssoserver.p12 /usr/lib/vmware-sso/vmware-sts/conf/ssoserver.p12

7. Run this command to restart the Platform Services Controller services:

service-control --stop --all

service-control --start --all

vROps & vSphere Tags, Custom Attributes

Wed, 31 May 2017 07:58:00 +0000

As many of my customers started to recently customize their vROps and together we are working on various use-cases I find it useful to summarize my notes here and possibly help others during their investigation and customization. This time I will focus on custom descriptions for the objects in vROps. When you are providing an access to vRealize Operations to your company management, many times

VMware VVOLs scalability

Tue, 06 Jun 2017 20:36:00 +0000

I'm personally a big fan of VMware Virtual Volumes concept. If you are not familiar with VVOLs check this blog post with the recording of VMworld session and read VMware KB Understanding Virtual Volumes (VVols) in VMware vSphere 6.0 We all know that the devil is always in details. The same is true with VVOLs. VMware prepared the conceptual framework but implementation always depends on

VMware Photon OS with PowerCLI

Wed, 07 Jun 2017 15:32:00 +0000

Photon OS is linux distribution maintained by VMware with multiple benefits for virtualized form factor, therefore any virtual appliance should be based on Photon OS. I have recently tried to play with Photon OS and here are some my notes. IP Settings Network configuration files are in directory /etc/systemd/network/ IP settings are leased from DHCP by default. It is configured

Storage DRS integration with storage profiles

Tue, 13 Jun 2017 08:42:00 +0000

This is a very quick blog post. In vSphere 6.0, VMware has introduced Storage DRS integration with storage profiles (aka SPBM - Storage Policy Based Management). Here is the link to official documentation. Generally, it is about SDRS advanced option EnforceStorageProfiles. Advanced option EnforceStorageProfiles takes one of these integer values, 0,1 or 2 where the default value is 0.

CLI for VMware Virtual Distributed Switch

Thu, 22 Jun 2017 10:01:00 +0000

A few weeks ago I have been asked by one of my customers if VMware Virtual Distributed Switch (aka VDS) supports Cisco like command line interface. The key idea behind was to integrate vSphere switch with open-source tool Network Tracking Database (NetDB) which they use for tracking MAC addresses within their network. I have been told by customer that NetDB can telnet/ssh to Cisco switches and

Start order of software services in VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.0 U2

Sun, 25 Jun 2017 16:56:00 +0000

vCenter Server Appliance 6.0 U2 services are started in the following order ... vmafdd (VMware Authentication Framework) vmware-rhttpproxy (VMware HTTP Reverse Proxy) vmdird (VMware Directory Service) vmcad (VMware Certificate Service) vmware-sts-idmd (VMware Identity Management Service) vmware-stsd (VMware Security Token Service) vmware-cm (VMware Component Manager) vmware-cis-license (

Ach ti mladi

Thu, 06 Jul 2017 21:21:00 +0000

„Naše mládež je nevychovaná, vysmívá se autoritám a nemá žádný respekt ke starcům. Naše děti dnes nevstávají, když vstoupí do místnosti kmet, odmlouvají rodičům a místo práce se vybavují. Jsou docela prostě špatní.“ Sokrates (469-399 př. Kr.)

„Ztrácím veškerou naději v budoucnost naší země, pokud ji zítra povede dnešní mládež, protože tahle omladina je nesnesitelná, nezkrotná, prostě strašná.“ Hesiodos (720 př. Kr.)

„Náš svět dosáhl kritického stadia. Děti už neposlouchají rodiče. Konec světa nemůže být daleko.“ Egyptský kněz (2000 př. Kr.)

„Tato mládež je prohnilá skrz naskrz. Mladí lidé jsou zlomyslní a leniví. Nikdy nebudou jako mladí kdysi. Ti dnešní nedokážou zachovat naši kulturu.“ Hliněná tabulka nalezená v troskách Babylonu, stará 3000 let

Notifikace na mobil

Sat, 12 Aug 2017 11:44:00 +0000

https://pushover.net/

Remote text based console to ESXi over IPMI SOL

Sun, 13 Aug 2017 23:10:00 +0000

I have just bought another server into my home lab. I already have 6 Intel NUCs but a lot of RAM is needed for full VMware SDDC with all products like LogInsight, vROps, vRNI, vRA, vRO, ... but that's another story. Anyway, I have decided to buy used Dell rack server (PowerEdge R810) with 256 GB RAM mainly because of the amount of RAM but also because of all Dell servers older than 9

NSX Basic Concepts, Tips and Tricks

Tue, 15 Aug 2017 10:28:00 +0000

NSX and Network Teaming There are multiple options how to achieve network teaming from ESXi to the physical network. For more information see my another blog post "Back to the basics - VMware vSphere networking". In a nutshell, there are generally three supported methods how to connect NSX VTEP(s) to the physical network Explicit failover - only single physical NIC is active at any given

VMworld 2017 interesting sessions available online

Fri, 01 Sep 2017 17:55:00 +0000

This week, VMworld 2017 happened in US, Las Vegas. For those, who were not able to attend, several session were recorded and published on YouTube. Here is the list of sessions covering topics I'm interested in ... COMPUTE vSphere 6.5 Host Resources Deep Dive: Part 2 (SER1872BU) available here STORAGE VMworld 2017 STO1264BU - The Top 10 Things to Know About vSAN https:

ESXi Physical NIC Capabilities for NSX VTEP

Fri, 01 Sep 2017 18:12:00 +0000

NSX VTEP encapsulation significantly benefits from physical NIC offload capabilities. In this blog post, I will show how to identify NIC capabilities. Check NIC type and driver esxcli network nic get -n vmnic4 [dpasek@esx01:~] esxcli network nic get -n vmnic4 Advertised Auto Negotiation: false Advertised Link Modes: 10000BaseT/Full Auto

x86 boot proces FreeBSD

Wed, 13 Sep 2017 09:11:00 +0000

Mozna bude jednodussi, kdyz, co mozna strucne, popisu jak takovy boot vlastne vypada. Pro jednoduchost se budu venovat pouze klasickemu BIOSu a nikoliv UEFI firmware.

1. BIOS nainicializuje zakladni desku s prislusenstvim a pristoupi k bootovani operacniho systemu - z jakeho zarizeni se pokusi system nabootovat je zalezitosti konfigurace BIOSu. Pro jednoduchost budeme vybranemu bootovacimu zarizeni rikat systemovy disk.

2. BIOS precte obsah prvniho sektoru systemoveho disku, okontroluje, ze na pozicich 510 a 511 jsou hodnoty 55h a AAh (takzvana "boot signature", znamka toho, ze obsah sektoru je platny), placne ho do pameti a preda rizeni programovemu kodu na zacatku sektoru. A co se bude dit dal je uz zalezitosti toho kodu.

Uz jen FreeBSD dava na vyber dve varianty co do tohoto sektoru dat. "Klasicky" a FreeBSD interaktivni. V trifazovem bootovani, ktere je pro FreeBSD typicke, je toto faze 1.

3a. klasicky kod prohrabe partition table, ktera je v tom sektoru taky, najde prvni aktivni partition, z ni precte precte prvni sektor, okontroluje, ze je platny, flakne ho do pameti a preda mu rizeni

3b. Interaktivni, z partition table a dalsich kofniguracnich informaci, ktere ma v sektoru ulozene vytvori "seznam kandidatu", necha z nich uzivatele vybrat (to je ten Fn... prompt), z vybraneho oddilu precte precte prvni sektor, okontroluje, ze je platny, flakne ho do pameti a preda mu rizeni.

Pokud se systemovy disk jmenuje ada0, pak jednotlive partition jsou s1..s4 a mluvime tedy o precteni prvniho sektoru z, napriklad, ada0s1

4. V pripade, ze partition vybrana (v 3a nebo 3b) je FreeBSD, pak ma na zacatku BSDLABEL - a jeji soucasti je znovu kod, ktery se po jeho umisteni do pameti spusti udela velmi podobnou vec co kod z MBR. Kod tabulku, ktera oddil dale deli (oddily oznacene pismenky - a,b,c,d,...) a vybere, ktera z nich bude bootovaci. Tady se na zadne "active" nehraje, tenhle kod si "konfiguraci" precte v souboru /boot.config, krome toho je interaktivni (FreeBSD/x86 boot) takze ho muze ovlivnit i uzivatel. Vysledkem rozhodovaciho procesu je "co a odkud natahnout dal".

To o cem ted mluvim je "faze 2".

Natahnout se da ledacos z ledakdes, obvykle to ale je /boot/loader z oddllu 'a'. A pote co se natahne mu je predano rizeni. Tim vstupujeme do faze 3.

5. Loader za pouziti informaci v /boot/loader.conf a pripadne take dalsich vcetne interaktivniho vstupu uzivatele (menu a/nebo prompt) rozhodne co natahne a odkud. Typicky /boot/kernel/kernel - ten se natahne a preda se mu rizeni, cimz je okonceno zavadeni systemu a zacina jeho vlastni beh.

Dobu kdy bezel kod 'loader' hovorime o fazi 3.

No a to je ze zakladu vsechno. Ano, da se to komplikovat - napriklad vynechavat faze (fyzicky disk muze rovnou zacinat BSDLabel a nemit vubec zadnou MBR a navic nemusi natahnout /boot/loader ale klidne rovnou /boot/kernel/kernel) ale ja myslim, ze to je komlikovay dost i bez toho ;-)

Ted bys uz mel tusit jak se v jednotlivych fazich vybira "kudy dal" a jak teda dosahnout toho, co potrebujes.

CLI for VMware Virtual Distributed Switch - implementation procedure

Sun, 17 Sep 2017 12:14:00 +0000

Some time ago I have blogged about perl scripts emulating well known physical network switch CLI commands (show mac-address-table and show interface status) for VMware Distributed Virtual Switch (aka VDS). See the blog post here "CLI for VMware Virtual Distributed Switch". Now is the time to operationalize it. My scripts are written in Perl leveraging vSphere Perl SDK which is distributed by

What is the difference between VMware vRealize Suite and vCloud Suite

Tue, 19 Sep 2017 18:54:00 +0000

Several times I have been asked by my customers what is the difference between VMware vRealize Suite and vCloud Suite. Both are actually licensing packaging suits. VMware vCloud Suite suite is the superset of VMware vRealize Suite. In other words, vCloud Suite includes everything as vRealize Suite plus vSphere Infrastructure (ESXi Enterprise Plus licenses). VMware vRealize Suite is a

How to downsize vCenter Server Appliance 6.5 storage?

Sun, 24 Sep 2017 18:49:00 +0000

Last week I have been asked by one partner how to downsize vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) 6.5 storage. Well, let's start with upsizing. To add CPU and RAM resources is very easy. VCSA 6.5 supports CPU Hot Add and Memory Hot Plug, therefore you do not need to even shut down VCSA to increase CPU and RAM resources. CPU Hot Add and RAM Hot Plug Storage expansion though is a little bit

vCenter TCP/UDP ports

Sat, 28 Oct 2017 05:38:00 +0000

Service	Port	Notes
vCenter Server	443	• Listens for connections from the vSphere Web Client • Monitors data transfer from SDK clients
Platform Services Controller (PSC)	389, 636	• LDAP port number for the Directory Services for the vCenter Server and PSC • Single Sign-On LDAPS
DNS	53	• Resolves on-prem Identity Source and PSC from VMC
Active Directory / OpenLDAP	389, 636, 3268, 3269	• Identity Source used for HLM • Configured in VMC vSphere Client
ESXi	902, 903	• Host access to other hosts for migration and provisioning • Status update (heartbeat) connection from ESXi to vCenter Server • Remote console traffic generated by user access to virtual machines on a specific host • Required for cold migration

VMware vSphere DVS LACP timers

Fri, 03 Nov 2017 09:39:00 +0000

I have a customer who was planning a migration from Nexus 1000V (N1K) to VMware Distributed Virtual Switch (aka DVS). I assist their network team in testing DVS functionality and all was nice and shiny. However, they had few detailed LACP related questions because they would like to use LACP against Cisco vPC. I would like to highlight two questions for which I did not find any info in official

Windows vCenter 5.5/6.0 upgrade/migration to VCSA 6.5

Sat, 04 Nov 2017 10:21:00 +0000

VMware clearly announced that windows based vCenter server is deprecated and future versions will be released only as a virtual appliance known as vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA). I have helped one of my customers with upgrade / migration of their vCenter 5.5 to 6.5 and I have documented few points which can be useful for others.

Before migration following points should be validated

All ESXi hosts managed by old vCenter must be at least 5.5 because ESXi 5.1 is not supported by vCenter 6.5
All external solutions previously integrated with vCenter must be compatible with vCenter 6.5

Migration process

If you want migrate VMware Update Manager (VUM) configuration you must run migration assistant on VUM windows server. We have experienced some issues with VUM migration therefore we have decided to unregister VUM (VUM extension name = com.vmware.vcIntegrity) and continue with vCenter migration without VUM data migration.
Unregister all external vCenter extensions like (SRM, vSphere Replication, Backup Softwares, Storage Extensions, etc.) which must be registered later back to new vCenter (VCSA)
Run Upgrade/Migration assistant on Windows where vCenter service is running
Run Upgrade/Migration wizard on administrator workstation and follow upgrade wizard
If vCenter is joined into Active Directory, Migration Wizard ask you for AD account which is used to join new VCSA 6.5 host into AD. AD account is entered without domain so account DOMAIN\USER must be entered only as USER.

Stages of data migration from source to target vCenter (approx. 35 minutes)

41% - Exporting VMware vCenter Server data - this is the most time consuming part of data migration and progress bar is the whole time in 41%
42% - vCenter Orchestrator data
50% - vCenter Authentication Framework
50% - Shutting down source machine
75% - Applying Active Directory configuration
??

Setup target vCenter Server and services

2% - Starting vCenter Authentication Framework
5% - Starting VMware Identity Management Service
17% - Starting VMware Component Manager
20% - Starting License Manager
25% - Starting VMware ervice Control Agent
28% - Starting VMware API Endpoint
31% - ???
45% - Starting VMware Postgres - takes a long time
??% - Starting Web Client
62% - Starting vCenter Server
65% - Starting Content Library Service
68% - Starting ESX Agent Service
77% - Starting VMware Update Manager
80% - Starting vCenter High Availability
85% - Starting VSAN
97% - Starting Vmware performance Charts
100% - ???

Importing copied data to target vCenter Server

14% - Importing Vmware vCenter Inventory Service data
??
50% - Import vSphere Web Client data
??

After migration

If you upgraded from vCenter 5.5 you do not have vCenter 6.5 license therefore you have to upgrade your 5.5 license to 6.x on my.vmware.com license portal

Conclusion

We have migrated just vCenter inventory without Events and Performance data. Source vCenter inventory had approx. 1700 virtual machines and around 65 ESXi hosts and the whole migration took 70 minutes. It is not bad if you ask me.

ESXi host script - list all VM files and check lock status

Thu, 09 Nov 2017 19:05:00 +0000

VM=DLR

VMX=`esxcli vm process list | grep -A 6 $VM | grep "Config" | cut -c 17-300`

for cf in `cat /tmp/files.txt`; do

echo "the next config file is $cf"

vmfsfilelockinfo -p $cf -v 192.168.4.100 -u administrator@uw.cz

done

Jeste je potreba doladit cesty k souborum, ktere jsou relativni a ne absolutni.

Associate UTAG with VM on Secondary NSX Managers.

Tue, 28 Nov 2017 14:56:00 +0000

Here is the API call you can use on the Primary NSX Manager to assign tags to VMs (which could also be running on the secondary):

POST /api/2.0/services/securitytags/tag/{tag-id}/vm?action=attach

The request body will depend on the Unique ID selection criteria. If you are using instance UUID use:

<key>instance_uuid</key>

</tagParameter>

</securityTagAssignment>

You can determine the appropriate security tag-id using:

GET /api/2.0/services/securitytags/tag

vSphere Switch Independent Teaming or LACP?

Fri, 01 Dec 2017 12:50:00 +0000

I have answered this question lot of times during the last couple of years, thus I have finally decided to write a blog post on this topic. Unfortunately, the answer always depends on specific factors (requirements and constraints) for the particular environment so do not expect the short answer. Instead of the simple answer, I will do the comparison of LBT and LACP. I assume you (my reader) is

Start order of software services in VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.5 U1

Tue, 12 Dec 2017 10:29:00 +0000

In the past, I have documented start order of services in VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.0 U2. In the past, I simply stopped all services in VCSA, started them again and document the order. Commands to do that are service-control --stop --all service-control --start --all I did the same in vCenter Server Appliance 6.5 U1, and below are documented services started in the following

No Storage, No vSphere, No Datacenter

Sun, 17 Dec 2017 11:30:00 +0000

In the past, I have had a lot of discussions with different customers and partners about various storage issues with VMware vSphere. It was always identified as a physical storage or SAN issue and VMware support recommendation was to contact the particular storage vendor. It was always true and correct recommendation, however such storage issues always have the catastrophic or at least huge

What ESXi command will create kernel panic and result in a PSOD?

Mon, 18 Dec 2017 23:00:00 +0000

This is a very short post but I want to publish it at least for myself to find this trick much quickly next time. Sometimes, especially during testing of vSphere HA, it can be useful to simulate PSOD (Purple Screen of Death). I did some googling and found the article "What ESXi command will create kernel panic and result in a PSOD?". Long story short, PSOD can be accomplished by following ESXi

SDRS Initial Placement - interim storage lease between recommendation and provisioning

Thu, 21 Dec 2017 08:29:00 +0000

Every day we learn something new. In the past, I blogged about SDRS behavior on these blog posts Storage DRS Design Considerations VMware vSphere SDRS - test plan of SDRS initial placement VMware vSphere SDRS VM provisioning process Storage DRS integration with storage profiles Recently (a few months ago), I have been informed about interesting SDRS behavior which is not exposed

PowerCLI - VM Resource Configuration

Thu, 21 Dec 2017 13:54:00 +0000

READ CURRENT SETTING

Get-VM -name NSX-FBSD-01 | Get-VMResourceConfiguration | Format-Table -Property VM, CpuReservationMhz

CHANGE SETTING

Get-VM -name NSX-FBSD-01 | Get-VMResourceConfiguration | Set-VMResourceConfiguration -CpuReservationMhz 2000 | Format-Table -Property VM, CpuReservationMhz

FCoE

Sun, 07 Jan 2018 21:55:00 +0000

FCoE

QLA -

http://www.qlogic.com/OEMPartnerships/Dell/Documents/ds_QLE8152.pdf

Host Connectivity

On QLogic CNAs, set the Link Down Timeout to 60 seconds (the default is 30 seconds) in the Advanced HBA Parameters. This is necessary to ensure proper recovery or failover if a link fails or becomes unresponsive.

Switch Configuration
fka-adv-period

VFC down due to FIP keepalive misses

The VFC goes down due to FIP keepalive misses.

Possible Cause

When FIP keepalives (FKA) are missed for a period of approximately 22 seconds, this means that approximately three FKAs are not continuously received from the host. Missed FKAs can occur for many reasons, including congestion or link issues.

FKA timeout : 2.5 * FKA_adv_period.

The FKA_adv_period is exchanged and agreed upon with the host as in the FIP advertisement when responding to a solicitation.

Observe the output from the following commands to confirm FKA misses:
- show platform software fcoe_mgr info interface vfc <id>
- show platform software fcoe_mgr event-history errors
- show platform software fcoe_mgr event-history lock
- show platform software fcoe_mgr event-history msgs
- show platform fwm info pif ethernet <bound-ethernet-interface-id>
Solution

Sometimes when congestion is relieved, the VFC comes back up. If the symptom persists, then additional analysis is required. The possible considerations are:
- The host stopped sending the FKA.
- The switch dropped the FKA that was received.

Admission Control "Dedicated fail-over hosts"

Tue, 09 Jan 2018 19:36:00 +0000

More then three years ago I published the blog post about "vSphere HA Cluster Redundancy". There are three algorithms Define fail-over capacity by static number of hosts Define fail-over capacity by reserving a percentage of cluster resources Use dedicated fail-over hosts I discussed first two algorithms very well but the third one "dedicated fail-over hosts" was described briefly by

VMware Response to Speculative Execution security issues, CVE-2017-5753, CVE-2017-5715, CVE-2017-5754 (aka Spectre and Meltdown)

Fri, 12 Jan 2018 11:25:00 +0000

Since January 3, 2017, the whole IT industry is mitigating the impact of SPECTRE and MELTDOWN vulnerabilities and administrators are updating their infrastructures. Three different CVEs have been identified related to the media described issues: CVE-2017-5753 (Spectre - Variant 1) - Branch target injection CVE-2017-5715 (Spectre - Variant 2) - Bounds check bypass CVE-2017-5754 (

vSphere 6.5 - DRS CPU Over-Commitment

Wed, 24 Jan 2018 10:47:00 +0000

A lot of VMware vSphere architects and engineers are designing their vSphere clusters for some overbooking ratios to define some level of the service (SLA or OLA) and differentiate between different compute tiers. They usually want to achieve something like Tier 1 cluster (mission-critical applications) - 1:1 vCPU / pCPU ratio Tier 2 cluster (business-critical applications)

ESXi - optical diagnostic information from VMNIC

Sun, 28 Jan 2018 13:21:00 +0000

I have been asked by one customer how to get optical diagnostic information from NIC which is Intel X540 10GbE Controller. NIC was identified by ESXi host as vmnic6 and more info about VNMIC can show command esxcli network nic get -n vmnic6 esxcli network nic get -n vmnic6: Advertised Auto Negotiation: true Advertised Link Modes: 1000baseT/Full, 10000baseT/Full

PowerCLI - attach baseline

Thu, 01 Feb 2018 16:00:00 +0000

$vms = get-content c:\PS\MK\A1Category.txt
Get-Baseline -Name "VMware Tools Upgrade to Match Host (Predefined)" | Attach-Baseline -Entity $vms
Get-Baseline -Name "VM Hardware Upgrade to Match Host (Predefined)" | Attach-Baseline -Entity $vms

Storage QoS with vSphere virtual disk IOPS limits

Wed, 07 Feb 2018 12:19:00 +0000

I'm a long time protagonist of storage QoS applied per each VM virtual disk (aka vDisk). In the past, vSphere virtual disk shares and IOPS limits were the only solutions. Nowadays, there are new architectural options - vSphere virtual disk reservations and VVols QoS. Anyway, whatever option you will decide to use, the reason to use QoS (IOPS limits) is the architecture of all modern shared

How to check I/O device on VMware HCL

Fri, 09 Mar 2018 08:47:00 +0000

VMware has Hardware Compatibility List of supported I/O devices is available here https://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php?deviceCategory=io VMware HCL for I/O devices The best identification of I/O device is VID (Vendor ID), DID (Device ID), SVID (Sub-Vendor ID), SSID (Sub-Device ID). VID, DID, SVID and SSID can be simply entered into VMware HCL and you will find if

Deploying vCenter High Availability with network addresses in separate subnets

Fri, 23 Mar 2018 10:47:00 +0000

VMware vCenter High Availability is a very interesting feature included in vSphere 6.5. Generally, it provides higher availability of vCenter service by having three vCenter nodes (active/passive/witness) all serving the single vCenter service. This is written in the official vCenter HA documentation vCenter High Availability (vCenter HA) protects vCenter Server Appliance against host and

Blog.iGICS.com moved to www.vcdx200.com

Sun, 08 Apr 2018 15:23:00 +0000

This Friday, I have got a very nice e-mail from one my long-time reader. I'm not going to publish the e-mail but the reader has mentioned that he was shocked and panicked when he realized that blog.iGICS.com does not exist. Fortunately, this particular reader found the new address of my blog which is www.VCDX200.com. The e-mail forced me to stop for a moment and think about my blogging history.

What is vCenter PNID?

Mon, 09 Apr 2018 09:37:00 +0000

Today I have got the question what is PNID in vCenter. Well, PNID (primary network identifier) is a VMware internal term and it is officially called "system name". But my question to the questioner was why he needs to know something about PNID. I have got the expected answer. The questioner did some research how to change vCenter IP address and hostname. So let's discuss these two

How to disable Spectre and Meltdown mitigations?

Wed, 11 Apr 2018 07:39:00 +0000

Today, I have been asked again "How to disable Spectre and Meltdown mitigations on VMs running on top of ESXi". Recently I wrote about Spectre and Meltdown mitigations on VMware vSphere virtualized workloads here. So, let's assume you have already applied patched and updates to ... Guest OS (Windows, Linux, etc.) Hypervisor - ESXi host (VMSA-2018-0004.3 and VMSA-2018-0002) BIOS

What's new in vSphere 6.7

Wed, 18 Apr 2018 10:36:00 +0000

VMware vSphere 6.7 has been released and all famous VMware bloggers released their blog posts about new features and capabilities. It is worth to read all of these blog posts as each blogger is focused on a different area of SDDC so it can give you a broader context to newly available product features and capabilities. Anyway, industry veterans should start reading product Release

MySQL Administration

Fri, 27 Apr 2018 07:51:00 +0000

HOW TO RESET MYSQL ROOT PASSWORD

# start MySQL without permissions
/usr/local/bin/mysqld_safe --skip-grant-tables &

# login to mysql as root without password
mysql -uroot

# flush privileges
flush privileges;

# change root password
set password for 'root'@'localhost' = PASSWORD('new-password');

OTHER COMMANDS

# show version
select version();

# change root password
set password for 'root'@'localhost' = PASSWORD('new-password');

VMware Response to Speculative Execution security issues, CVE-2018-3639 and CVE-2018-3640

Tue, 22 May 2018 20:18:00 +0000

This will be a relatively short blog post. The whole industry is aware of Spectre/Meltdown security vulnerabilities. I wrote recently the blog post "VMware Response to Speculative Execution security issues, CVE-2017-5753, CVE-2017-5715, CVE-2017-5754 (aka Spectre and Meltdown)". A few days ago NCF announced additional CPU vulnerabilities (CVE-2018-3639 and CVE-2018-3640) and VMware released

MultiNIC vMotion

Thu, 24 May 2018 20:05:00 +0000

Posílám info k MultiNIC

AdvSystemSettings	Default	Tunning	Desc
Migrate.VMotionStreamHelpers	0	8	Number of helpers to allocate for VMotion streams
Net.NetNetqTxPackKpps	300	600	Max TX queue load (in thousand packet per second) to allow packing on the corresponding RX queue
Net.NetNetqTxUnpackKpps	600	1200	Threshold (in thousand packet per second) for TX queue load to trigger unpacking of the corresponding RX queue
Net.MaxNetifTxQueueLen	2000	10000	Maximum length of the Tx queue for the physical NICs

Undocumented SDRS Advanced Options

Fri, 15 Jun 2018 20:21:00 +0000

Almost two years ago, I was challenged by one VMware customer who has experienced failed VM's provisioning in case of parallel VM deployments. SDRS default behavior is not optimized for fast multiple parallel deployments because it returns just SDRS recommendations (step 1) and later (step 2) these recommendations are applied by someone else who is executing VM provisioning. Back in the days,

vRealize Orchestrator 7.x - Unlocking vRO Root Account after too many failed login attempts

Fri, 15 Jun 2018 20:45:00 +0000

When you did too many failed login attempts as root account, your vRO root account will be locked. As SSH does not work, you need console access to the vRO server. Step 1 - Gain access vRO server root shell via Console Step 2 - Reboot server Step 3 - When the GRUB bootloaders appear, press spacebar to disable autoboot. Step 4 - Select VMware vRealize Orchestrator Appliance and type “e”

vRealize Orchestrator - useful tips and commands

Fri, 15 Jun 2018 21:18:00 +0000

This week I have worked with one my customer on vRealize Orchestrator (vRO) Proof of Concept. vRealize Orchestrator is a pretty good tool for data center orchestration but it is a very hidden tool and customers usually do not know they are entitled to use such great way how to automate and orchestrate not only their infrastructure but almost anything. Here are some good vRO resources vRO

VMworld 2018 announcements

Mon, 27 Aug 2018 21:51:00 +0000

In this post, I would like to summarize the coolest VMworld 2018 announcements. Project Dimension On-premise managed vSphere infrastructure in a cloudy fashion. Project Dimension will extend VMware Cloud to deliver SDDC infrastructure and hardware as-a-service to on-premises locations. Because this will be a service, it means that VMware can take care of managing the infrastructure

VMworld US 2018 - VIN2416BU - Core Storage Best Practices

Sat, 01 Sep 2018 12:15:00 +0000

As in previous years, William Lam (www.virtuallyghetto.com) has published URLs to VMworld US 2018 Breakout Sessions. William wrote the blog post about it and created GitHub repo vmworld2018-session-urls available at http://vmwa.re/vmworld2018. Direct link to US sessions is here https://github.com/lamw/vmworld2018-session-urls/blob/master/vmworld-us-playback-urls.md I'm going

New with vSphere 6.7 U1 - Enhanced Load Balancing Path Selection Policy

Sat, 01 Sep 2018 13:42:00 +0000

With the release of vSphere 6.7 U1, there are now sub-policy options for VMW_PSP_RR to enable active monitoring of the paths. The policy considers path latency and pending IOs on each active path. This is accomplished with an algorithm that monitors active paths and calculates average latency per path based on either time and/or the number of IOs. When the module is loaded, the latency logic

Password expires in X days notification in web client

Fri, 21 Sep 2018 08:43:00 +0000

Password expires in X days notification in web client

This is configurable as part of the vSphere Web (Flex) / H5 (HTML) Client configuration

Web Client - /etc/vmware/vsphere-client/webclient.properties

H5 Client - /etc/vmware/vsphere-ui/webclient.properties

The default is 30 days

# The number of days before the notification about expiring password appears.

sso.pending.password.expiration.notification.days = 30

You'll probably need to restart the service for the change to take affect

VMware virtual disk (VMDK) in Multi Write Mode

Thu, 11 Oct 2018 00:12:00 +0000

VMFS is a clustered file system that disables (by default) multiple virtual machines from opening and writing to the same virtual disk (vmdk file). This prevents more than one virtual machine from inadvertently accessing the same vmdk file. This is the safety mechanism to avoid data corruption in cases where the applications in the virtual machine do not maintain consistency in

Skyline - collected data

Tue, 06 Nov 2018 21:21:00 +0000

Before sending collected data to VAC, Skyline Collector (ccf-collector) store cache files to local.
These cache files (formatted by JSON) are located under "/usr/local/skyline/ccf/output" directory. These cache files are compressed in gzip format.
For example, output_<TIMESTAMP>_Topology.json.gz is a full topology data of endpoints.
These files are retained until the number of total files reaches 1000 OR the size of total files reaches 500 MB.

Dohoda o provedeni prace

Thu, 08 Nov 2018 09:58:00 +0000

https://muj-pravnik.cz/dohoda-provedeni-prace-2018-vzor-ke-stazeni/

https://www.legito.cz/dohoda-o-provedeni-prace?ref=mujpravnik&utm_source=muj-pravnikcz

Intel Software Guard Extensions (SGX) in VMware VM

Sun, 11 Nov 2018 02:35:00 +0000

Yesterday, I have got a very interesting question. I have been asked by a colleague of mine if Intel SGX can be leveraged within VMware virtual machine. We both work for VMware as TAMs (Technical Account Managers), therefore we are the first stop for similar technical questions of our customers. I'm always curious what is the business reason behind any technical question. The question

VCSA - This appliance cannot be used or repaired ...

Tue, 13 Nov 2018 08:39:00 +0000

I have just got an email from my customer describing the weird issue with VMware vCenter Server Appliance (aka VCSA). The customer is doing weekly native backups of VCSA manually via VAMI. He wanted to run VCSA native backup again but when he tried to log into virtual appliance management interface (VAMI) he is getting the following error message Error message - This appliance

ESXi NIC information

Thu, 29 Nov 2018 09:29:00 +0000

Run this command to check if the legacy driver "ixgbe" has been loaded for 10 Gigabit Network card: /usr/lib/vmware/vm-support/bin/nicinfo.sh | less

You see output:

NIC: vmnic4

NICInfo:
Advertised Auto Negotiation: false
Advertised Link Modes: 10000BaseX/Full
Auto Negotiation: false
Cable Type: FIBRE
Current Message Level: -1
Driver Info:
NICDriverInfo:
Bus Info: 0000:04:00:0
Driver: ixgbe (or similar)
Firmware Version: 0x80000838
Version: 1.0.0.0

ESXi update over internet

Sun, 02 Dec 2018 22:27:00 +0000

Sources:
http://www.virtubytes.com/2017/07/10/online-upgrade-esxi-6-5-using-esxcli/
https://cloudhat.eu/update-esxi-6-5-command-line/

esxcli software sources profile list -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml | grep -
i ESXi-6.5 | grep 201811

ESXi-6.5.0-20181104001-standard VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported 2018-11-30T06:47:01 2018-11-30T06:47:01
ESXi-6.5.0-20181104001-no-tools VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported 2018-11-30T06:47:00 2018-11-30T06:47:00
ESXi-6.5.0-20181101001s-no-tools VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported 2018-11-30T06:47:00 2018-11-30T06:47:00
ESXi-6.5.0-20181103001-standard VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported 2018-11-30T06:47:00 2018-11-30T06:47:00
ESXi-6.5.0-20181101001s-standard VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported 2018-11-30T06:47:00 2018-11-30T06:47:00
ESXi-6.5.0-20181103001-no-tools VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported 2018-11-30T06:47:00 2018-11-30T06:47:00

esxcli software profile update -p ESXi-6.5.0-20181104001-standard -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml

Configure Cisco SG300 Switch Layer 3 Mode

Tue, 04 Dec 2018 22:39:00 +0000

https://www.bytesizedalex.com/configure-cisco-sg300-switch-layer-3-mode/

The Cisco SG300 switch series can act as a standard layer 2 switch or be enabled for layer 3 functionality. Typically the switch will come in layer 2 mode (also called switch mode in the CLI). There are a couple of ways layer 3 functionality can be enabled and I will demonstrate them both below.

Command Line Configuration

To configure the SG300 to layer 3 or router mode through the command line is very easy. Log in through your SSH client of choice and leverage the ‘set system mode’ command. Here you see I have entered part of the command and then hit enter so that it shows the possible options for command completion.

SG300-20#set system mode
router System will run as a IP router
switch System will run as a switch

In our case, we want to enable router mode which is of course layer 3 functionality.

SG300-20#set system mode router

VMware Metro Storage Cluster - is it DR solution?

Thu, 06 Dec 2018 16:29:00 +0000

Yesterday morning I had a design discussion with one of my customers about HA and DR solutions. We were discussing VMware Metro Storage Cluster topic the same day afternoon within our internal team, therefore it inspired me to write this blog article and use it as a reference for future similar discussions. By the way, I have presented this topic on local VMUG meeting two years ago so you

ESXi : This host is potentially vulnerable to issues described in CVE-2018-3646

Fri, 07 Dec 2018 09:41:00 +0000

This is a very short post in reaction to those who asked me recently. When you update to the latest ESXi builds you can see the warning message as depicted on the screenshot below. Warning message in ESXi Client User Interface (HTML5) This message just informs you about Intel CPU Vulnerability described in VMware Security Advisory 2018-0020 (VMSA-2018-0020). You have three choices to

MS Windows 10 ISO

Mon, 10 Dec 2018 08:04:00 +0000

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10ISO

VMware Change Block Tracking (CBT) and the issue with incremental backups

Tue, 11 Dec 2018 18:56:00 +0000

One of my customers is experiencing a weird issue when using a traditional enterprise backup (IBM TSM / Spectrum Protect in this particular case) leveraging VMware vSphere Storage APIs (aka VDDK) for image-level backups of vSphere 6.5 Virtual Machines. They observed strange behavior on the size of incremental backups. IBM TSM backup solution should do a full backup once and incremental

NSX troubleshooting commands

Thu, 20 Dec 2018 12:44:00 +0000

summarize-dvfilter
vsipioctl
nsxcli

New Home Lab managed by containerized PowerCLI and RACADM

Sat, 29 Dec 2018 23:35:00 +0000

Christmas holidays are a perfect time to rebuild the home lab. I have got a "Christmas present" from my longtime colleague knowing each other from times when we were both Dell employes. Thank you, Ondrej. He currently works for local IT company (Dell partner) and because they did a hardware refresh for one of their customers, I have got from him 4 decommissioned, but still good enough, Dell

Virtual Machine with physical Keyboard, Video and Mouse

Tue, 22 Jan 2019 09:10:00 +0000

ESXi

ESXi 6.5
Virtual Machine with MS Windows 10
USB PassThrough

USB Display Port

USB Display Port i-Tec

Windows 10 initial release does not work, it requires some recent updates
VMtools SVGA driver does not support screen mirroring

USB Keyboard and Mouse to VM

https://kb.vmware.com/kb/1033435

Additional info:

usb.autoConnect.device1 = "0x0529: 0x0001"
usb.generic.autoconnect = "TRUE"
usb.generic.allowHID= "TRUE"

where 0x0529 is the Vendor ID of the hardlock, and 0x0001 is the Product ID. (Information obtained from device manager).

Other resources

https://blog.rylander.io/2016/12/01/passthrough-usb-keyboard-and-mouse-to-vm-on-esxi/

CISCO UCS VIC and RSS

Sun, 27 Jan 2019 19:02:00 +0000

Research

I’ve done a quick research on CISCO UCS VIC and RSS.

This is written in for Cisco UCS Virtual Interface Card Drivers Release Notes 3.1

Cisco UCS Manager 3.1(2) release now supports VXLAN with Receive Side-Scaling (RSS) stateless offload on VIC adapters 1340, 1380, 1385, 1387, and SIOC on Cisco UCS C3260 for ESXi 6.0 and later releases. VXLAN offload is not supported for IPv6.

3.1(s) was released at September 6, 2016 so RSS should work with ESXi nowadays. The last time I work / design samething with Cisco UCS was at beginning of 2015, so it is the new information for me.

However, it definitely needs configuration or at least validation on UCS Manager and probably also driver configuration or validation on ESXi host.

See. very nice blog post here

https://toreanderson.github.io/2015/10/08/cisco-ucs-multi-queue-nics-and-rss.html

The blog above is not about ESXi but nicely covering “ethernet adapter policy” on Cisco UCS profile.

The profile should have “ethernet adapter policy” with something like

ucs1-osl3-B# scope org

ucs1-osl3-B /org # enter eth-policy default

ucs1-osl3-B /org/eth-policy # set recv-queue count 8

ucs1-osl3-B /org/eth-policy* # set trans-queue count 8

ucs1-osl3-B /org/eth-policy* # set rss receivesidescaling enabled

ucs1-osl3-B /org/eth-policy* # set comp-queue count 16

ucs1-osl3-B /org/eth-policy* # set interrupt count 18

I would double check on UCS if RSS is enabled on “ethernet adapter” because it can be disabled by default.

I would also double check that RSS is enabled on ESXi Driver

esxcli system module parameters list -m <DRIVER-MODULE-NAME>

Historically I wrote the blog post how to identify NIC capabilities.

It is available here ESXi Physical NIC Capabilities for NSX VTEP

https://www.vcdx200.com/2017/09/esxi-physical-nic-capabilities-for-nsx.html

You probably found this CISCO white paper

https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/products/collateral/interfaces-modules/unified-computing-system-adapters/vic-tuning-wp.pdf

Summary from CISCO

It was really great working with you all today! You had some tricky questions but it looks like we were able to get most of it identified. You are doing application testing in a new data center and were trying to enable RSS but couldn’t verify if it was working or not. VMWare was running this command and said there must be a problem with the driver:

[root@duus-esxvs-05:~] esxcli network nic queue loadbalancer list

NIC RxQPair RxQNoFeature PreEmptibleQ RxQLatency RxDynamicLB DynamicQPool MacLearnLB RSS LRO GeneveOAM

------- ------- ------------ ------------ ---------- ----------- ------------ ---------- --- --- ---------

vmnic0 UA ND UA UA NA UA NA UA UA UA

vmnic1 UA ND UA UA NA UA NA UA UA UA

vmnic10 UA ND UA UA NA UA NA UA UA UA

vmnic11 UA ND UA UA NA UA NA UA UA UA

vmnic12 UA ND UA UA NA UA NA UA UA UA

vmnic13 UA ND UA UA NA UA NA UA UA UA

vmnic14 UA ND UA UA NA UA NA UA UA UA

vmnic15 UA ND UA UA NA UA NA UA UA UA

vmnic2 UA ND UA UA NA UA NA UA UA UA

vmnic3 UA ND UA UA NA UA NA UA UA UA

vmnic4 UA ND UA UA NA UA NA UA UA UA

vmnic5 UA ND UA UA NA UA NA UA UA UA

vmnic6 UA ND UA UA NA UA NA UA UA UA

vmnic7 UA ND UA UA NA UA NA UA UA UA

vmnic8 UA ND UA UA NA UA NA UA UA UA

vmnic9 UA ND UA UA NA UA NA UA UA UA

The first thing I did was use this guide to change your VMWare adapter policy:

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/unified_computing/ucs/ucs-manager/GUI-User-Guides/Network-Mgmt/3-1/b_UCSM_Network_Mgmt_Guide_3_1/b_UCSM_Network_Mgmt_Guide_3_1_chapter_0111.html

I followed this section:

Configuring an Ethernet Adapter Policy to Enable Stateless Offloads with VXLAN

Cisco UCS Manager supports VXLAN TSO and checksum offloads only with Cisco UCS VIC 1340, 1380, 1385, 1387, adapters that are running on ESXi 5.5 and later releases. Stateless offloads with VXLAN cannot be used with NetFlow, usNIC, VM-FEX, Netqueue, or VMQ.

VXLAN with Receive Side-Scaling (RSS) support starts with the Cisco UCS Manager 3.1(2) release. RSS is supported with VXLAN stateless offload on VIC adapters 1340, 1380, 1385, 1387, and SIOC on Cisco UCS S3260 system for ESXi 5.5 and later releases.

https://www.cisco.com/content/dam/en/us/td/i/templates/note.gifNote

VXLAN stateless hardware offloads are not supported with Guest OS TCP traffic over IPv6 on UCS VIC 13xx adapters. To run VXLAN encapsulated TCP traffic over IPV6, disable the VXLAN stateless offloads feature.

To disable the VXLAN stateless offload feature in UCS Manager, disable 'Virtual Extensible LAN’ field in the Ethernet Adapter Policy.

Procedure

Step 1

In the Navigation pane, click Servers.

Step 2

Expand Servers > Policies.

Step 3

Expand the node for the organization where you want to create the policy.

If the system does not include multitenancy, expand the root node.

Step 4

Right-click Adapter Policies and choose Create Ethernet Adapter Policy.

In the Resources area, set the following options:

Transmit Queues = 1

Receive Queues = n (up to 16)

Completion Queues = # of Transmit Queues + # of Receive Queues

Interrupts = # Completion Queues + 2

In the Options area, set the following options:

Receive Side Scaling = Enabled

Virtual Extensible LAN = Enabled

Interrupt Mode = Msi-X

For more information on creating an ethernet adapter policy, see Creating an Ethernet Adapter Policy.

Step 5

Click OK to create the Ethernet adapter policy.

Step 6

Install an eNIC driver Version 2.1.2.59 or later.

For more information, see the Cisco UCS Virtual Interface Card Drivers Installation Guide.

Step 7

Reboot the server.

Once we made this change on host duus-esxvs-05, I was able to confirm RSS was working by using vsish:

cat /net/pNics/vmnic6/stats

device {

-- General Statistics:

Rx Packets:47652

Tx Packets:21

Rx Bytes:3740492

Tx Bytes:1344

Rx Errors:0

Tx Errors:0

Rx Dropped:686

Tx Dropped:0

Rx Multicast:5307

Rx Broadcast:0

Tx Multicast:0

Tx Broadcast:0

Collisions:0

Rx Length Errors:0

Rx Over Errors:0

Rx CRC Errors:0

Rx Frame Errors:0

Rx Fifo Errors:0

Rx Missed Errors:0

Tx Aborted Errors:0

Tx Carrier Errors:0

Tx Fifo Errors:0

Tx Heartbeat Errors:0

Tx Window Errors:0

Module Interface Rx packets:0

Module Interface Tx packets:0

Module Interface Rx dropped:0

Module Interface Tx dropped:0

-- Driver Specific Statistics:

tx_frames_ok: 21

tx_unicast_frames_ok: 0

tx_multicast_frames_ok: 0

tx_broadcast_frames_ok: 21

tx_bytes_ok: 1344

tx_unicast_bytes_ok: 0

tx_multicast_bytes_ok: 0

tx_broadcast_bytes_ok: 1344

tx_drops: 0

tx_errors: 0

tx_tso: 0

rx_frames_ok: 47652

rx_frames_total: 48338

rx_unicast_frames_ok: 0

rx_multicast_frames_ok: 5307

rx_broadcast_frames_ok: 43031

rx_bytes_ok: 3740492

rx_unicast_bytes_ok: 0

rx_multicast_bytes_ok: 728011

rx_broadcast_bytes_ok: 3061266

rx_drop: 0

rx_no_bufs: 686

rx_errors: 0

rx_rss: 9238

rx_crc_errors: 0

rx_frames_64: 12204

rx_frames_127: 32935

rx_frames_255: 3162

rx_frames_511: 37

rx_frames_1023: 0

rx_frames_1518: 0

rx_frames_to_max: 0

tx_queue_[0]_frames_ok: 21

rx_rss_queue_[0]_frames_ok: 39155

rx_rss_queue_[1]_frames_ok: 757

rx_rss_queue_[2]_frames_ok: 2338

rx_rss_queue_[3]_frames_ok: 473

rx_rss_queue_[4]_frames_ok: 1192

rx_rss_queue_[5]_frames_ok: 797

rx_rss_queue_[6]_frames_ok: 1234

rx_rss_queue_[7]_frames_ok: 1706

}

/> cat /net/pNics/vmnic6/stats | grep vxlan

device {

-- General Statistics:

Rx Packets:48188

Tx Packets:21

Rx Bytes:3782139

Tx Bytes:1344

Rx Errors:0

Tx Errors:0

Rx Dropped:686

Tx Dropped:0

Rx Multicast:5354

Rx Broadcast:0

Tx Multicast:0

Tx Broadcast:0

Collisions:0

Rx Length Errors:0

Rx Over Errors:0

Rx CRC Errors:0

Rx Frame Errors:0

Rx Fifo Errors:0

Rx Missed Errors:0

Tx Aborted Errors:0

Tx Carrier Errors:0

Tx Fifo Errors:0

Tx Heartbeat Errors:0

Tx Window Errors:0

Module Interface Rx packets:0

Module Interface Tx packets:0

Module Interface Rx dropped:0

Module Interface Tx dropped:0

-- Driver Specific Statistics:

tx_frames_ok: 21

tx_unicast_frames_ok: 0

tx_multicast_frames_ok: 0

tx_broadcast_frames_ok: 21

tx_bytes_ok: 1344

tx_unicast_bytes_ok: 0

tx_multicast_bytes_ok: 0

tx_broadcast_bytes_ok: 1344

tx_drops: 0

tx_errors: 0

tx_tso: 0

rx_frames_ok: 48188

rx_frames_total: 48874

rx_unicast_frames_ok: 0

rx_multicast_frames_ok: 5354

rx_broadcast_frames_ok: 43520

rx_bytes_ok: 3782139

rx_unicast_bytes_ok: 0

rx_multicast_bytes_ok: 733433

rx_broadcast_bytes_ok: 3097491

rx_drop: 0

rx_no_bufs: 686

rx_errors: 0

rx_rss: 9340

rx_crc_errors: 0

rx_frames_64: 12308

rx_frames_127: 33343

rx_frames_255: 3186

rx_frames_511: 37

rx_frames_1023: 0

rx_frames_1518: 0

rx_frames_to_max: 0

tx_queue_[0]_frames_ok: 21

rx_rss_queue_[0]_frames_ok: 39598

rx_rss_queue_[1]_frames_ok: 762

rx_rss_queue_[2]_frames_ok: 2354

rx_rss_queue_[3]_frames_ok: 479

rx_rss_queue_[4]_frames_ok: 1194

rx_rss_queue_[5]_frames_ok: 800

rx_rss_queue_[6]_frames_ok: 1256

rx_rss_queue_[7]_frames_ok: 1745

}

VSISHPath_Form():Extraneous '|' in path.

VSISHCmdGetInt():mal-formed path

Error: Error in command cat: Bad parameter

/> cat /net/pNics/vmnic6/stats | grep vxlan

device {

-- General Statistics:

Rx Packets:49024

Tx Packets:21

Rx Bytes:3845846

Tx Bytes:1344

Rx Errors:0

Tx Errors:0

Rx Dropped:686

Tx Dropped:0

Rx Multicast:5413

Rx Broadcast:0

Tx Multicast:0

Tx Broadcast:0

Collisions:0

Rx Length Errors:0

Rx Over Errors:0

Rx CRC Errors:0

Rx Frame Errors:0

Rx Fifo Errors:0

Rx Missed Errors:0

Tx Aborted Errors:0

Tx Carrier Errors:0

Tx Fifo Errors:0

Tx Heartbeat Errors:0

Tx Window Errors:0

Module Interface Rx packets:0

Module Interface Tx packets:0

Module Interface Rx dropped:0

Module Interface Tx dropped:0

-- Driver Specific Statistics:

tx_frames_ok: 21

tx_unicast_frames_ok: 0

tx_multicast_frames_ok: 0

tx_broadcast_frames_ok: 21

tx_bytes_ok: 1344

tx_unicast_bytes_ok: 0

tx_multicast_bytes_ok: 0

tx_broadcast_bytes_ok: 1344

tx_drops: 0

tx_errors: 0

tx_tso: 0

rx_frames_ok: 49024

rx_frames_total: 49710

rx_unicast_frames_ok: 0

rx_multicast_frames_ok: 5413

rx_broadcast_frames_ok: 44297

rx_bytes_ok: 3845846

rx_unicast_bytes_ok: 0

rx_multicast_bytes_ok: 740281

rx_broadcast_bytes_ok: 3154350

rx_drop: 0

rx_no_bufs: 686

rx_errors: 0

rx_rss: 9504

rx_crc_errors: 0

rx_frames_64: 12474

rx_frames_127: 33989

rx_frames_255: 3210

rx_frames_511: 37

rx_frames_1023: 0

rx_frames_1518: 0

rx_frames_to_max: 0

tx_queue_[0]_frames_ok: 21

rx_rss_queue_[0]_frames_ok: 40278

rx_rss_queue_[1]_frames_ok: 769

rx_rss_queue_[2]_frames_ok: 2451

rx_rss_queue_[3]_frames_ok: 482

rx_rss_queue_[4]_frames_ok: 1201

rx_rss_queue_[5]_frames_ok: 806

rx_rss_queue_[6]_frames_ok: 1273

rx_rss_queue_[7]_frames_ok: 1764

}

Once I saw these RSS values in the output, I put these commands together to validate RSS was working:

[root@duus-esxvs-05:~] vsish -e get /net/pNics/vmnic6/stats | grep rss

rx_rss: 23986

rx_rss_queue_[0]_frames_ok: 102199

rx_rss_queue_[1]_frames_ok: 1978

rx_rss_queue_[2]_frames_ok: 6385

rx_rss_queue_[3]_frames_ok: 1252

rx_rss_queue_[4]_frames_ok: 3109

rx_rss_queue_[5]_frames_ok: 2058

rx_rss_queue_[6]_frames_ok: 3221

rx_rss_queue_[7]_frames_ok: 4299

[root@duus-esxvs-05:~] vsish -e get /net/pNics/vmnic7/stats | grep rss

rx_rss: 1863743

rx_rss_queue_[0]_frames_ok: 252893

rx_rss_queue_[1]_frames_ok: 432140

rx_rss_queue_[2]_frames_ok: 367045

rx_rss_queue_[3]_frames_ok: 194409

rx_rss_queue_[4]_frames_ok: 181221

rx_rss_queue_[5]_frames_ok: 164989

rx_rss_queue_[6]_frames_ok: 175065

rx_rss_queue_[7]_frames_ok: 196022

[root@duus-esxvs-05:~]

After we saw RSS was working, you ran another application test but it failed again. I logged into the adapter on this host and saw rx drops due to buffer overflow:

DUUM-FI01-A# connect adapter 8/1

adapter 0/8/1 # connect

No entry for terminal type "dumb";

using dumb terminal settings.

adapter 0/8/1 (top):1# attach-mcp

No entry for terminal type "dumb"

adapter 0/8/1 (mcp):5# lifstats -a 25

DELTA TOTAL DESCRIPTION

160269561 160269561 Tx unicast frames without error

157 157 Tx multicast frames without error

40973 40973 Tx broadcast frames without error

62791977101 62791977101 Tx unicast bytes without error

13476 13476 Tx multicast bytes without error

2787208 2787208 Tx broadcast bytes without error

0 0 Tx frames dropped

0 0 Tx frames with error

174076 174076 Tx TSO frames

247638401 247638401 Tx TSO bytes without error

169439268 169439268 Rx unicast frames without error

14488012 14488012 Rx multicast frames without error

724925 724925 Rx broadcast frames without error

63731052924 63731052924 Rx unicast bytes without error

8444893765 8444893765 Rx multicast bytes without error

50420513 50420513 Rx broadcast bytes without error

0 0 Rx frames dropped

3860 3860 Rx rq drop pkts (no bufs or rq disabled)

0 0 Rx frames with error

183898235 183898235 Rx good frames with RSS

0 0 Rx frames with Ethernet FCS error

22427524 22427524 Rx frames len == 64

85447437 85447437 Rx frames 64 < len <= 127

28201512 28201512 Rx frames 128 <= len <= 255

8806746 8806746 Rx frames 256 <= len <= 511

5568237 5568237 Rx frames 512 <= len <= 1023

2721570 2721570 Rx frames 1024 <= len <= 1518

31479179 31479179 Rx frames len > 1518

50.960kbps Tx rate

58.618kbps Rx rate

To reduce these drops, I went to UCS Central and changed your Tx ring size to 512 and Rx ring size to 2048:

DUUM-FI01-A /org/eth-policy # show expand detail

Eth Adapter Policy:

Name: global-VMWare

Description: Recommended adapter settings for VMWare

Policy Owner: Global

VMMQ Resource Pool: Disabled

ARFS:

Accelarated Receive Flow Steering: Disabled

Ethernet Completion Queue:

Count: 9

Ethernet Failback:

Timeout (sec): 5

Ethernet Interrupt:

Coalescing Time (us): 125

Coalescing Type: Min

Count: 11

Driver Interrupt Mode: MSI-X

NVGRE:

NVGRE: Disabled

Ethernet Offload:

Large Receive: Enabled

TCP Segment: Enabled

TCP Rx Checksum: Enabled

TCP Tx Checksum: Enabled

Ethernet Receive Queue:

Count: 8

Ring Size: 2048

ROCE:

RoCE: Disabled

RoCE QOS priority: Best Effort

Resource Groups: 32

Memory Regions: 131072

Queue Pairs: 256

RoCE Version 1: Disabled

RoCE Version 2: Disabled

VXLAN:

VXLAN: Enabled

Ethernet Transmit Queue:

Count: 1

Ring Size: 512

RSS:

Receive Side Scaling: Enabled

DUUM-FI01-A /org/eth-policy #

After changing the adapter policy to use only 1 transmit queue and increasing the rx buffers, it looks like RSS is working and you no longer have Rx drops on the host. However, your application tests are still failing. Currently you suspect the F5 load balancer VMs are too much of a bottleneck for the network.

FreeBSD - add disk, create partition, create filesystem

Thu, 14 Feb 2019 17:18:00 +0000

Command to list of all block disk devices

camcontrol devlist

You can see devices in /var/log/messages ...

root@c4c:~ # tail -f /var/log/messages
Dec 18 19:54:08 c4c kernel: da1 at mpt0 bus 0 scbus2 target 1 lun 0
Dec 18 19:54:08 c4c kernel: da1: <VMware Virtual disk 1.0> Fixed Direct Access SCSI-2 device
Dec 18 19:54:08 c4c kernel: da1: 300.000MB/s transfers
Dec 18 19:54:08 c4c kernel: da1: Command Queueing enabled
Dec 18 19:54:08 c4c kernel: da1: 10240MB (20971520 512 byte sectors)
Dec 18 19:54:08 c4c kernel: da1: quirks=0x40<RETRY_BUSY>
...
...
...
Dec 18 20:29:46 c4c kernel: da1 at mpt0 bus 0 scbus2 target 1 lun 0
Dec 18 20:29:46 c4c kernel: da1: <VMware Virtual disk 1.0> detached
Dec 18 20:29:46 c4c kernel: (da1:mpt0:0:1:0): Periph destroyed

Takze jsem na produkcni server pridal druhy disk stejny jako prvni.
Je to /dev/da1
ma 20 GB a 500 IOPSu.

Todle uricte vis, ale pro jistotu ... na pridanem blokovem disku pak GPT, UFS partition a filesystem vytvoris takto
gpart create -s GPT da1
gpart add -t freebsd-ufs -a 1M da1
newfs -U /dev/da1p1
no a pak uz jen mount.

Notes:

To get more information about disk and basic performance benchmark you can use

diskinfo -t

Pro totalni zruseni partitions je mozne pouzit prikaz
gpart destroy -F /dev/ad0

VMware VDS Healthcheck enhancement

Wed, 27 Feb 2019 15:09:00 +0000

Overview

Scope and requests

Detail design

Provide UI interface in order to do customizing vlan/MTU check:

Changes for management plane:

Changes in data plane:

Original vlanMTU check model:

New VLANMTUCHECK steps:

Figure. 1 New model of vlan MTU check

ACK model change:

Risk and assumptions:

Test cases

Overview

Customer give the feedback for healthcheck about scalability issues. There are two things here:

1. Currently, each uplink will send out broadcast packets for each vlan, if vlan range is big, then that will cause physical switch flushes its port’s lookup table and the normal traffic will be flooding, and cause performance issue.

2. Currently, we send out quite a lot broadcast packets at the same time, and those broadcast will introduce a lot of ACK packets followed, and thus it causes traffic bursted for this healthcheck.

We need to work out a way to reduce multicast packets number sending by healthcheck and resolve the lookup table flush issue.

Scope and requests

The scope is for vSphere-2016 release.

The requests are:

1. Can do one time check for specific vlan.

2. Resolve the physical switch flush lookup table issue.

3. Reduce the broadcast packets as much as possible.

Detail design

In the new design, healthcheck will provide:

● User can specified vlan checking range instead of whole vlan range of DVS.

● User can specified vlan checking at certain host instead of all hosts within same DVS.

● Using unicast packet instead of broadcast to avoid broadcast storm and response packets(same host might not need to send back the ACK packets) when there are more than two physical uplinks connected to this DVS on this host.

● Change the ACK mode: there will be no ACK packets send out from the same host. If the receiving packet is sending from the same host, just mark the session is ACK’ed directly instead of sending back the ACK packets to physical host to the same host.

Provide UI interface in order to do customizing vlan/MTU check:

User can specify the vlan range and select the hosts to run the check, and the results listed per host as well. From the UI side, we need to provide following interface to let customer initiate his customized vlan MTU check.

For the result showing, we can use the current format to show result for both one time checking and periodical checking.

Changes for management plane:

From MP side, the original code get VLAN settings from all DVPorts and DVPortgroups, we need to provide VIMAPI to accept inputted VLAN range from UI side and to initialize the one time checking.

The way to fetch result does not need to change.

Changes in data plane:

Change the way to send out probing packets.

Original vlanMTU check model:

In the original design, each uplink will send out broadcast packets for each configured vlanID. And the ACK’ed packets will received from both same host and other hosts within one same DVS.

New VLANMTUCHECK steps:

In the new design, all uplinks of the same vswitch will be treated as one same checking group instead of sending out packets separately in order to reduce the number of packets sending to the physical switch. Here is the reasons:

- If the unicast packet of specific vlanID sending from uplink0 to uplink1 is ACK’ed by uplink1, it indicates that this vlanID configuration is correct on both uplink0 and uplink1; if it is not ACK’ed by uplink1, but the same vlanID is ACK’ed by another uplink2, it indicates that vlanID is setting correct on uplink0 and uplink2 and is wrong on uplink1.

The overall design is:

- If the vswitch has only one uplink, it will send out broadcast packet as it did in old version.

- If there are more than 1 linkup uplinks, it will choose the first linkup uplink, and make all other linkup uplinks are destination ports and send out unicast packet for each vlanID to each other uplink.

- If the ticket get all ACK’ed packets from all other uplinks, mark all vlanID setting is corret.

- If received only from part of all other uplinks, picked each ACK uplink and mark both vlanID correct for the source uplink and ACK’ed uplink.

- If there are vlanIDs did not receive ACK packet from any other uplinks, choose the next uplink as source uplink, send unicast packets to all following uplinks for all non-ACK’ed vlanIDs. Recording ACK’ed vlanID for each uplink and repeat this until: 1) there is no untrunked vlanID; 2) the last uplink.

- Comparing all trunked vlan bitmap of all uplinks with configured vlan bitmap, if there are still vlanIDs untrunked, trigger another round of broadcast phase for each uplink for each untrunked vlanID just as previous version. Doing this, in order to reduce the chance that the vlanID settings in correct at only one of the uplinks or there is LAG configured at physical switch side. If there is a LAG configured at physical switch side, unicast packets sending among uplinks within one LAG will not be received by the targeted port, but broadcast packets can be responsed by remote hosts. So we need to send out broadcast packets as second round of checking.

Please refer to figure.1 below:

Figure. 1 New model of vlan MTU check

Detailed flowchart is:

ACK model change:

In the new design, if the request packets sending among uplinks belong to same DVS and the same host, will not send back ACK packets and will updated the ticket’s ACK’ed list directly in order to reduce the unicast packet packet amount and reduce the possibility to flush the MAC table of physical switch.

Risk and assumptions:

The new design uses unicast packets replacing the broadcast packets, that makes the ways to sending packets and checking process change totally, vlanmtucheck module will be re-architectured, it will introduce code changes at most of the places. So need QE team to run healthcheck testing for good quality.

Part of this change requests UI and MP resource, without that, customized checking request is not possible to implement for most of that changes is in UI and MP side.

Test cases

For this design will change the way to run vlan MTU check, uplinks with the same DVS at the same host will interact together, so need to design new test cases to cover this.

APD - ExtendAPDCondition

Wed, 27 Feb 2019 15:55:00 +0000

Good To Know about this advanced setting.

[root@esx24:~] esxcli system settings advanced list -o /Scsi/ExtendAPDCondition
Path: /Scsi/ExtendAPDCondition
Type: integer
Int Value: 0
Default Int Value: 0
Min Value: 0
Max Value: 1
String Value:
Default String Value:
Valid Characters:
Description: Trigger APD condition when paths are in unavailable states

VMware vSphere Memory Hot Add scalability limitation

Fri, 01 Mar 2019 12:14:00 +0000

VMware vSphere Hot Add CPU/Memory feature has specific requirements and limits. To mention some Virtual machines minimum hardware is version 7. It is not compatible with Fault Tolerance vSphere Enterprise Plus license Hot Remove is not supported Hot-Add/Hot-plug must be supported by the Guest operating system (check at http://vmware.com/go/hcl) Guest-OS technical and licensing limitations had

What motherboard chipset is used in VMware Virtual Hardware?

Thu, 14 Mar 2019 11:08:00 +0000

Today I have been asked by one of my customers what motherboard chipset is used in VMware Virtual Hardware. The answer is clearly visible from the screenshot below ... Motherboard chipset Motherboard chpset is Intel 440BX (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_440BX). This chipset was released by Intel in April 1998. In the same year, VMware Inc. was founded. The screenshot above was

How to transfer large ISO files to ESXi Datastore with USB disk?

Thu, 14 Mar 2019 18:52:00 +0000

I'm participating in one VMware virtualization PoC and we had a need to transfer large ISO file to VMFS datastore on standalone ESXi host. Normally you would upload ISO files over the network but PoC network was only 100Mbps so we would like to use USB disk to transfer ISOs to ESXi host. There is William Lam blog post "Copying files from a USB (FAT32 or NTFS) device to ESXi"

VMware SSO domain design and operational management

Thu, 21 Mar 2019 23:26:00 +0000

Before we will deep dive into VMware SOO management, it is good to understand its architecture and discuss some design considerations. I highly recommend watching the following video If you have not watched the video yet, do NOT continue and watch it. The video is great but it is worth to mention that vSphere 6.7 and 6.7U1 come up with few significant improvements in terms of PSC. You

vSAN : Number of required ESXi hosts

Fri, 05 Apr 2019 10:31:00 +0000

As you have found this article, I would assume that you know what vSAN is. For those who are new to vSAN, below is the definition from https://searchvmware.techtarget.com/definition/VMware-VSAN-VMware-Virtual-SAN VMware vSAN (formerly Virtual SAN) is a hyper-converged, software-defined storage (SDS) product developed by VMware that pools together direct-attached storage devices

Datastore capacity expansion issue

Tue, 09 Apr 2019 08:41:00 +0000

TAM recommended to create new additional 4TB datastore, format it to VMFS 6 and use storage migration from old datastore (ibm103-xx) to new datastore (ibm104-xx).

Old datastore (ibm103-xx) will be empty and next week we will do further troubleshooting of old datastore (ibm103-xx) and will try datastore expansion in Host Client (HTML5).

TROUBLE SHOOTING COMMANDS

Checking VMFS Metadata Consistency with VOMA - https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.5/com.vmware.vsphere.storage.doc/GUID-6F991DB5-9AF0-4F9F-809C-B82D3EED7DAF.html

voma -m vmfs -f check -d /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.00000000000000000000000000000703:3

Running the esxcli storage core device list command shows the size of the extended LUN.
Running the vmkfstools -Ph /vmfs/volumes<datastore name> command shows the original size of datastore

Command partedUtil - Using the partedUtil command line utility on ESXi and ESX (1036609) - https://kb.vmware.com/kb/1036609

The whole runbook procedure is describe in VMware KB: Growing a local datastore from the command line in vSphere ESXi (2002461) - https://kb.vmware.com/kb/2002461

What NSX-T Manager appliance size is good for your environment?

Tue, 09 Apr 2019 09:39:00 +0000

NSX-T 2.4 has NSX Manager and NSX Controller still logically separated but physically integrated within a single virtual appliance which can be clustered as a 3-node management/controller cluster. So the first typical question during NSX-T design workshop or before NSX-T implementation is what NSX-T Manager appliance size is good for my environment. In NSX-T 2.4 documentation (NSX Manager

vMotion and Virtual Switches

Tue, 09 Apr 2019 15:41:00 +0000

vMotion vSwitche N-VDS VDS VSS

----------------
BUG DESCRIPTION:
----------------
Live migration of a VM from one NVDS to another NVDS was failing and Powering off the VM.


-----------
ROOT CAUSE:
-----------
VC
 thinks LS with same network name across datacenter to be different 
networks and send a deviceBackingChange in the migrateSpec even if the 
vMotion is over same LS.

-------
OUTPUT:
-------
1). Live migration of a VM from NVDS to same NVDS within same Datacenter and across Datacenters is now PASSING.
2). Live migration of a VM from one NVDS to another NVDS within same Datacenter and across Datacenters is now BLOCKING.
3). Live migration of a VM from VSS to NVDS and vice-versa within same Datacenter and across Datacenters is now PASSING.


-----------------------------
BUILDS USED FOR VERIFICATION:
-----------------------------
VC: 12713247 (vSphere67u2)
ESXi: 12698103 (vSphere67u2)


------------------
SCENARIOS COVERED:
------------------

(1). Live migration of VM across VSS, DVS and NVDS(OPN) both in single and across VC/Datacenters.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
       Network-Path                          Same-DC       Across-DC       XVC (Across VC)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  VSS1 -> VSS1 (different PG)                 PASS(E1)        NA                NA
  VSS1 -> VSS2 (within same host)             PASS(E1)        NA                NA
  VSS1 -> VSS2 (with different configs)       PASS           PASS              PASS
  VSS1 -> VSS2                                PASS           PASS              PASS
  DVS1 -> DVS1 (same port group)              PASS            NA                NA
  DVS1 -> DVS1 (different port group)         PASS            NA                NA
  DVS1 -> DVS2 (with different configs)       PASS           PASS              PASS
  DVS1 -> DVS2                                PASS           PASS              PASS
  OPN1 -> OPN1                                PASS           PASS              PASS
  OPN1 -> OPN2                                PASS(B1)       PASS(B1)          PASS(B1)
  DVS -> VSS                                  PASS(B1)       PASS(B1)          PASS(B1)
  VSS -> DVS                                  PASS           PASS              PASS
  VSS -> OPN                                  PASS           PASS              PASS
  OPN -> VSS                                  PASS           PASS              PASS
  DVS -> OPN                                  PASS           PASS              PASS
  OPN -> DVS                                  PASS           PASS              PASS
  VSS, DVS, OPN -> OPN, DVS, VSS              PASS           PASS              PASS
  VSS, DVS, OPN -> OPN, OPN, DVS              PASS           PASS              PASS
  VSS, DVS, OPN -> VSS, OPN, DVS              PASS           PASS              PASS
  VSS, DVS, OPN -> OPN, OPN, OPN              PASS           PASS              PASS
  VSS, DVS, OPN -> VSS, OPN, OPN              PASS           PASS              PASS
  VSS, DVS, OPN -> OPN, DVS, OPN              PASS           PASS              PASS
  VSS, DVS, OPN -> DVS, DVS, OPN              PASS           PASS              PASS
  VSS, DVS, OPN -> DVS, OPN, OPN              PASS           PASS              PASS
  VSS, DVS, OPN -> VSS, OPN, VSS              PASS           PASS              PASS
  VSS, DVS, OPN -> OPN, DVS, DVS              PASS           PASS              PASS
  VSS, DVS, OPN -> DVS, OPN, VSS              PASS           PASS              PASS
  VSS, DVS, OPN -> OPN, OPN, VSS              PASS           PASS              PASS
  VSS, DVS, OPN -> DVS, OPN, DVS              PASS           PASS              PASS
  With Disconnected Network Adapter           PASS           PASS              PASS
  Different NVDS with Same Name               PASS           PASS              PASS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

E1 -> Error stack:
Migrating
 VM standalone-cbd6dd057-esx.2-vm.0 to different network without 
changing its host is not supported. Please use Reconfigure API to change
 VM's network.

B1 -> "Currently connected network interface" 
'Network adapter 1' cannot use network 'LogicalNetwork2 
(nsx.LogicalSwitch:00021250-382c-995d-2ae4-56c5c6fbe603)', because "the 
type of the destination network is not supported for vMotion based on 
the source network type".
See KB article 56991 for more details.


(2). Compatibility checks for scenarios where destination switch is without PNIC.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
       Network-Path                        Same-DC         XVC (Across VC)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  VSS1 -> VSS2 (without pnics)            BLOCK(CE)         BLOCK(CE)
  VSS1 (without pnics) -> VSS2              PASS               PASS
  VSS -> DVS (without pnics)              BLOCK(CE)         BLOCK(CE)
  VSS (without pnics) -> DVS                PASS               PASS
  DVS1 -> DVS2 (without pnics)            BLOCK(CE)         BLOCK(CE)
  DVS1 (without pnics) -> DVS2              PASS               PASS
  OPN -> VSS (without pnics)              BLOCK(CE)         BLOCK(CE)
  VSS (without pnics) -> OPN                PASS               PASS
  OPN -> DVS (without pnics)                (NE)               (NE)
  DVS (without pnics) -> OPN                PASS               PASS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Compatibility
 Error (CE) -> Currently connected network interface 'device' uses 
network 'network', which is a 'virtual intranet'.

Not Expected (NE) -> Allowing migration without CE. Raised Bug – 2289453


(3). Destination network not accessible cases.
Delete the destination network before migration process starts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Network-Path              Result
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  VSS -> DVS                PASS(E1)
  OPN -> VSS                PASS(E1)
  OPN -> DVS                PASS(E1)
  VSS -> OPN                PASS(E2)
  DVS -> OPN                PASS(E2)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Task Error (E1) - "currently connected network interface 'device' uses network 'network', which is not accessible."

Task Error (E2) - "A general system error occurred: Invalid fault"


(4). Suspended VM migration cases.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Network-Path              Same-DC      XVC (Across VC)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  VSS -> DVS                PASS             PASS
  VSS -> OPN                PASS             PASS
  DVS -> OPN                PASS             PASS
  OPN -> DVS                PASS             PASS
  OPN -> VSS                PASS             PASS
  DVS -> VSS                (CW)             (CW)
  OPN1 -> OPN2              PASS             PASS
  VSS1 -> VSS2              PASS             PASS
  DVS1 -> DVS2              PASS             PASS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Compatibility
 Warning (CW) -> Network interface" 'Network adapter 1' cannot use 
network 'VM Network', because "the type of the destination network is 
not supported for vMotion based on the source network type.

PSC Convergence from External to Embedded mode & Network Ports

Thu, 02 May 2019 08:06:00 +0000

TCP/UDP 389
TCP/UDP 636
TCP 443
TCP 2012
TCP 2014
TCP 2015
TCP/UDP 2020
TCP 5480
TCP 8281
TCP/UDP 902

Storage and Fabric latencies - difference in order of magnitude

Fri, 03 May 2019 10:53:00 +0000

It is well known, that the storage industry is in a big transformation. SSD's based on Flash is changing the old storage paradigma and supporting fast computing required nowadays in modern applications supporting digital transformation projects. So the Flash is great but it is also about the bus and the protocol over which the Flash is connected. We have traditional storage protocols SCSI, SATA

The SPECTRE story continues ... now it is MDS

Thu, 16 May 2019 12:37:00 +0000

Last year (2018) started with shocked Intel CPU vulnerabilities Spectre and Meltdown and two days ago was published another SPECTRE variant know as Microarchitectural Data Sampling or MDS. It was obvious from the beginning, that this is just a start and other vulnerabilities will be found over time by security experts and researchers. All these vulnerabilities are collectively known as

Syslog.global.logHost is invalid or exceeds the maximum number of characters permitted

Fri, 24 May 2019 08:51:00 +0000

I have a customer who has a pretty decent vSphere environment and uses VMware vRealize LogInsight as a central syslog server for advanced troubleshooting and actionable loging. VMware vRealize LogInsight is tightly integrated with vSphere so it configures syslog configuration on ESXi hosts automatically through vCenter API. Everything worked fine but one day customer realized there is the issue

How to get more IOPS from a single VM?

Wed, 05 Jun 2019 09:40:00 +0000

Yesterday, I have got a typical storage performance question. Here is the question ... I am running a test with my customer how many IOPS we can get from a single VM working with HDS all flash array. The best that I could get with IOmeter was 32K IOPS with 3ms latency at 8KB blocks. No matter what other block size I choose or outstanding IOs, I am unable to have more then 32k.

vMotion multi-threading and other tuning settings

Thu, 06 Jun 2019 13:54:00 +0000

When you need to boost overall vMotion throughput, you can leverage Multi-NIC vMotion. This is good when you have multiple NICs so it is kind of scale-out solution. But what if you have 40 Gb NICs and you would like to do scale-up and leverage the huge NIC bandwidth (40 Gb) for vMotion? vMotion is by default using a single thread (aka stream), therefore it does not have enough CPU performance

How to show HBA/NIC driver version

Mon, 10 Jun 2019 12:34:00 +0000

How to find the version of HBA or NIC driver on VMware ESXi? Let's start with HBA drivers. STEP 1/ Find driver name for the particular HBA. In this example, we are interested in vmhba3. We can use following esxcli command to see driver names ... esxcli storage core adapter list So now we have driver name for vmhba3, which is qlnativefc STEP 2/ Find the driver version. The

Kubernetes Training

Tue, 11 Jun 2019 13:40:00 +0000

Lab
https://github.com/azurecz/java-k8s-workshop/

Key Vault
Safeguard cryptographic keys and other secrets used by cloud apps and services
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/services/key-vault/

vSAN logical design and SSD versus NVMe considerations

Tue, 02 Jul 2019 17:34:00 +0000

I'm just preparing vSAN capacity planning for PoC of one of my customers. Capacity planning for traditional and hyper-converged infrastructure is principally the same. You have to understand TOTAL REQUIRED CAPACITY of your workloads and USABLE CAPACITY of vSphere Cluster you are designing. Of course, you need to understand how vSAN hyper-converged system conceptually and logically works

VMware Skyline

Wed, 03 Jul 2019 10:45:00 +0000

VMware Skyline is a relatively new Phone Call or Home Call functionality developed by VMware Global Services. It is a proactive support technology available to customers with an active Production Support or Premier Services contract. Skyline automatically and securely collects, aggregates and analyzes customer specific product usage data to proactively identify potential issues and improve

Updating Firmware in vSAN Clusters from VUM

Fri, 02 Aug 2019 08:53:00 +0000

If you operate vSAN you know that correct firmware and drivers are super important for system stability as vSAN software heavily depends on IO controller and physical disks within the server. Different server vendors have different system management. Some are more complex than other but typical vSphere admin is using vSphere Update Manager (VUM) so would not it be cool to do firmware management

vSAN Capacity planning - Understanding vSAN memory consumption in ESXi

Thu, 08 Aug 2019 07:58:00 +0000

It is very clear that VMware vSAN (VMware's software-defined storage) has the momentum in the field, as almost all my customers are planning and designing vSAN in their environments. Capacity planning is an important part of any logical design, so we have to do the same for vSAN. Capacity planning is nothing else than simple math, however, we need to know how the designed system works and what

VMware vSAN 6.7 U3 has been released

Tue, 20 Aug 2019 20:18:00 +0000

VMware vSAN 6.7 U3 is GA as of August 20, 2019! This is a great release. I was waiting mainly for Native support for Windows Server Failover Clusters which is now officially supported so no more vSAN iSCSI targets and in-Guest iSCSI for shared disks across the WSFC as vSAN VMDKs now support SCSI-3 persistent reservations. This is a great improvement and significant simplification

VMware vSphere 6.7 Update 3 is GA

Tue, 20 Aug 2019 22:08:00 +0000

VMware vSphere 6.7 Update 3 is GA as of August 20, 2019. The most interesting new feature is the possibility to change the Primary Network Identifier (PNID) of vCenter Server Appliance With vCenter Server 6.7 Update 3, you can change the Primary Network Identifier (PNID) of your vCenter Server Appliance. You can change the vCenter Server Appliance FQDN or hostname, and also modify the IP

VMware Ports and Protocols

Wed, 28 Aug 2019 10:47:00 +0000

VMware recently released a very interesting tool. The tool documents all network ports and protocols required for communication from/to some VMware products. At the moment, there are the following products vSphere vSAN NSX for vSphere vRealize Network Insight vRealize Operations Managers vRealize Automation I believe other products will follow. See the screenshot of the tool below. The

New job role - vSAN rulez

Wed, 11 Sep 2019 09:47:00 +0000

Hey, my readers. Long-time readers of my blog know that I'm working with VMware datacenter technologies since 2006 when I moved from software development to data center infrastructure consulting. In June 2006, VMware released VMware Virtual Infrastructure 3 and it was for me the first production-ready version for hosting business applications. Back in the days, it was a very simple platform (at

Datacenter Fabric for HCI in scale

Thu, 12 Sep 2019 12:21:00 +0000

I'm currently designing a brand new data center based on VMware HCI for one of my customers. Conceptually, we are planning to have two sites in the metro distance (~10 km) for disaster avoidance and cross-site high availability. For me, a cross-site high availability (stretched metro clusters) is not a disaster recovery solution, so we will have the third location (200km+ far from the primary

Access to systems

Sun, 29 Sep 2019 18:41:00 +0000

Homelab SSH Tunnel

ssh -L 3389:192.168.4.23:3389 -p 2233 cdave@83.208.153.96

Putty config - https://blog.devolutions.net/2017/4/how-to-configure-an-ssh-tunnel-on-putty

FlexBook Production

ssh cdave@95.80.241.19 -p 2222

Windows XP ISO a serial license key

Sun, 20 Oct 2019 08:44:00 +0000

Windows XP Home And Professional X86 (32-bit) Free Download Disc Image ISO Files - GetMyOS

https://www.getmyos.com/windows-xp-home-professional-x86-32

How to use vSAN Observer

Sun, 03 Nov 2019 20:59:00 +0000

1/ SSH somewhere where you have RVC. It can be for example VCSA or HCIbench appliance

ssh root@vc01.robo-p6.uw.cz

2/ Run RVC command-line interface and connect to your vCenter where you have vSphere cluster with vSAN service enabled

rvc administrator@vc01.robo-p6.uw.cz

3/ In RVC CLI go to your vSphere cluster with vSAN service enabled

cd localhost/
cd ROBO-P6
cd computers
cd vSAN

4/ Start vSAN Observer

vsan.observer ./ --run-webserver --force

or one-liner

vsan.observer -r /localhost/ROBO-P6/computers/vSAN

5/ Go to vSAN Observer web interface

vSAN Observer is available at https://[IP-ADDRESS-OF-RVC-HOST]:8010

In my case, it is running at https://vc01.robo-p6.uw.cz:8010

For further info
https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2064240

Power Cycle a VM on Guest OS Reboot

Sun, 10 Nov 2019 20:50:00 +0000

There are a number of times in a virtual machine’s life where it needs to be power cycled (graceful OS shut down, VM powered off, and then powered on again). For example:

Remediations for CPU vulnerabilities like Spectre, Meltdown, L1TF, and MDS all require a customer to power a VM off and then back on to pick up CPU instruction updates (MDCLEAR, etc.).
EVC changes, where a customer wants to alter cluster EVC settings but would require large-scale effort and/or downtime, which is untenable.
EVC changes, where a customer wishes to make a VM able to migrate seamlessly between discrete vSphere installations and/or VMware Cloud on AWS locations.
Changed-Block Tracking (CBT) enablement on VMs, where VMs need to be power-cycled to start CBT as part of a backup system install (Veeam, Rubrik, Cohesity, et al all require this).

For most customers this is the hardest part of any of these tasks because our products don’t make it easy to do. To get it done the customer needs to do it manually or automate it themselves (difficult for many), and then schedule & coordinate it outside of other maintenance windows, which is almost impossible for many of our customers.

Many customers do have regular maintenance windows, though, where patching of guest OSes occurs. However, guest OS patching causes the OS to reboot, but does not change the power state of the virtual machine/virtual machine monitor itself.

The scheduled VM hardware upgrade shows us that there’s already something in vSphere that can do this. That hardware upgrade process WILL power-cycle a VM when the guest OS is rebooted, and the customer, when scheduling the upgrade, has the choice to only do it on graceful shutdowns. That’s wonderful because it can then be seamlessly worked into regular OS patching cycles and it's low risk.

What if that power-cycle-on-shutdown functionality were exposed more generally to customers, as something they could ask vSphere to do for them at any time, for whatever reason the customer might have? It would certainly solve the four huge examples above, as well as enable what Mr. Blair Fritz dubbed “lazy EVC changes” which would make EVC more flexible and improve its use. VAC shows 21% EVC usage, which is staggeringly low considering how powerful a tool EVC is for expansion, migration, and vulnerability mitigation.

Let’s make EVC changes, CBT enablement, and all these CPU vulnerabilities – present and future – be frictionless for our customers and their millions of VMs!

Just a note. James Yarbrough did the engineering to add this to 6.7U3.

This powerCLI snippet should do it for you:

Get-VM | New-AdvancedSetting -Name “vmx.reboot.powerCycle" -value $true

It will be included in upcoming releases of 6.5 and 6.0 patches as well.

How To Find My Public IP Address From Command Line

Sat, 16 Nov 2019 21:50:00 +0000

https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/how-to-find-my-public-ip-address-from-command-line-on-a-linux/

dig +short myip.opendns.com @resolver1.opendns.com

vSAN Components on ESXi host

Sat, 23 Nov 2019 11:01:00 +0000

[root@esx11:~] esxcli vsan debug limit get
Component Limit Health: green
Max Components: 9000
Free Components: 8982
Disk Free Space Health: green
Lowest Free Disk Space: 55 %
Used Disk Space: 216048599040 bytes
Used Disk Space (GB): 201.21 GB
Total Disk Space: 480092618752 bytes
Total Disk Space (GB): 447.12 GB
Read Cache Free Reservation Health: green
Reserved Read Cache Size: 0 bytes
Reserved Read Cache Size (GB): 0.00 GB
Total Read Cache Size: 0 bytes
Total Read Cache Size (GB): 0.00 GB

2-Node vSAN design and performance test

Sun, 01 Dec 2019 18:41:00 +0000

2-node vSAN
capacity planning
sizing
performance

ESXi Logical Specification

ESXi Logical Specification

vSAN Logical Design

Results of performance tests generated by IOmeter

Results of performance tests

vSAN Encryption and Core Dumps

Wed, 11 Dec 2019 14:56:00 +0000

I was on three days vSAN training (VMware vSAN: Deploy and Manage [V6.7]) which is very useful even for someone like me, who is observing vSAN since the beginning (2013) and did a lot of self-study and home lab practicing during the last year or so. The trainer (Jiri Viktorin) is very knowledgable and ready to answer any question. To be honest, I personally prefer class trainings over on-line

Clone Nested ESXi

Mon, 16 Dec 2019 14:40:00 +0000

The easiest and cleaner way after the clone, is to completely reset ESXi system configurations

I find the "reset system configuration" in DCUI very useful for this task.
There is also a way to perform this task via SSH:

# /sbin/firmwareConfig.sh --reset (this will automatically reboot your host)
# /sbin/firmwareConfig.sh --reset-only (this will not reboot host and needs to be done manually)

However, if you do not want to start from scratch you can tweek cloned system. The process is inspired by https://www.virtuallyghetto.com/2013/12/how-to-properly-clone-nested-esxi-vm.html

# to inherit vmknic MAC addresses from hardware NICs (actually vNICs)

esxcli system settings advanced set -o /Net/FollowHardwareMac -i 1

#verification
esxcli system settings advanced list -o /Net/FollowHardwareMac

# change IP settings and DNS hostname
Do it in DCUI

# reset ESXi UUID

sed -i 's/system\/uuid.*//' /etc/vmware/esx.conf
reboot

# Verification of ESXi UUID - esxcli
esxcli system uuid get

# Verification of ESXi UUIDs for all ESXi hosts within vCenter - powercli
Get-VMHost | Select Name,@{N='ESXi System UUid';E={(Get-Esxcli -VMHost $_).system.uuid.get()}}

# if the ESXi host was cloned from the ESXi host already connected to vCenter reset VPXA config

edit file /etc/vmware/vpxa/vpxa.cfg
locate section <vpxa></vpxa> and delete all content inside

reboot

# just in case local datastore was cloned along with ESXi

esxcli storage vmfs snapshot resignature -l datastore1

# NOTE: to have nested vSAN on native vSAN, you have to add following settings into your physical vSAN nodes
esxcli system settings advanced set -o /VSAN/FakeSCSIReservations -i 1

UNDERLINE INFO

# Historicky se pry pouzivala tato nastaveni

esxcli system settings advanced set -o /VMFS3/HardwareAcceleratedLocking -i 1
esxcli system settings advanced set -o /LSOM/VSANDeviceMonitoring -i 0
esxcli system settings advanced set -o /LSOM/lsomSlowDeviceUnmount -i 0
esxcli system settings advanced set -o /VSAN/SwapThickProvisionDisabled -i 1
esxcli system settings advanced set -o /VSAN/FakeSCSIReservations -i 1

esxcli system settings advanced list -o /VMFS3/HardwareAcceleratedLocking
esxcli system settings advanced list -o /LSOM/VSANDeviceMonitoring
esxcli system settings advanced list -o /LSOM/lsomSlowDeviceUnmount
esxcli system settings advanced list -o /VSAN/SwapThickProvisionDisabled
esxcli system settings advanced list -o /VSAN/FakeSCSIReservations

# Default hodnoty jsou
esxcli system settings advanced set -o /VMFS3/HardwareAcceleratedLocking -i 1
esxcli system settings advanced set -o /LSOM/VSANDeviceMonitoring -i 1
esxcli system settings advanced set -o /LSOM/lsomSlowDeviceUnmount -i 1
esxcli system settings advanced set -o /VSAN/SwapThickProvisionDisabled -i 1
esxcli system settings advanced set -o /VSAN/FakeSCSIReservations -i 1

VMware NSX-T and vIDM licensing question

Wed, 18 Dec 2019 22:46:00 +0000

Time to time customers are asking the following NSX-T & vIDM question ... Do I need license for VMware Identity Manager? The aim for using VIDM is RBAC for NSX-T. There is the community discussion in the VMTN at https://communities.vmware.com/thread/616803 with the correct answer ... You may use vIDM for free with NSX-T if you bought NSX. No license required. vIDM may not be

How to remove VMFS datastore and reuse local disks for vSAN

Sun, 22 Dec 2019 20:03:00 +0000

I'm upgrading the hardware in my home lab to to leverage vSAN. I have 4x Dell PowerEdge R620, each having 2x 500 GB SATA disks but no SSD for cache disks. The cost is always the constraint for any home lab but I've recently found the M.2 NVMe PCI-e adapter for M.2 NVMe SSD in my local computer shop. The total cost of 1x M.2 NVMe PCI-e adapter + 1x M.2 NVMe 512 GB SSD is just $100.

How to Use Netcat Commands

Tue, 24 Dec 2019 16:02:00 +0000

Sources:

root@flxb-node-01:~ # nc -z -v www.google.com 80
Connection to www.google.com 80 port [tcp/http] succeeded!

root@flxb-node-01:~ # nc -z -v www.google.com 443
Connection to www.google.com 443 port [tcp/https] succeeded!

How to configure Jumbo Frames not only for vSAN

Sat, 18 Jan 2020 21:40:00 +0000

Not only vSAN but also vMotion, NFS and other types of traffic can benefit from Jumbo Frames configured on an ethernet network as the network traffic should consume fewer CPU cycles and achieve higher throughput. Jumbo Frames must be configured end-to-end, therefore we should start the configuration in the network core on Physical Switches, then continue to Virtual Switches and finish on

Windows 10 - ICMP Allow incoming V4 echo request

Sun, 26 Jan 2020 22:00:00 +0000

Command

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="ICMP Allow incoming V4 echo request" protocol=icmpv4:8,any dir=in action=allow

Source: https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/allow-pings-icmp-echo-request-through-your-windows-vista-firewall/

Alternativ way over GUI

Windows Firewall
Search for Windows Firewall, and click to open it.
Click Advanced Settings on the left.
From the left pane of the resulting window, click Inbound Rules.
In the right pane, find the rules titled File and Printer Sharing (Echo Request - ICMPv4-In).
Right-click each rule and choose Enable Rule.

Source: https://kb.iu.edu/d/aopy

VMware Cloud Foundation - Overview

Thu, 30 Jan 2020 18:04:00 +0000

Overview

VCF lze postavit ve dvou deployment modelech

Standardní – to je jedna Management domain (minimum 4 hosty, maximum 64) + až 15 oddělených Workload domains (minimum 3 hosty per pro každou, maximum 64).

V tomto modelu je tedy potřeba mimimálně 7 hostů (4 + 3), oddělení workloadu ja na úrovni samotných hostů.

Konsolidovaný - Management a Workload domains je společná, minimální počet jsou 4 hosty a lze rozšiřovat až na 64 hostů.

Oddělení workloadu je v tomto modelu na úrovni Resource pool-ů.

Tento model nepodporuje automatický deployment VMware Enterprise PKS a VMware Horizon.

V budoucnu lze přejít z konsolidovaného modelu na standardní.

vCenter

Licence vCenter není součástí balíku VCF a je potřeba zajistit samostatně
Pro VCF je potřeba jedna licence vCenter (platí pro oba deployment modely).

V případě Standardního modelu je součástí každé Workload domain vlastní instance vCenter serveru (ty se ale nelicencují, opět stačí jedna licence).

Není podporováno použití existujícího/externího vCenter serveru.

Hardware

Management domain případně Konsolidovaný model musí mít pod sebou vSAN. Ve Standardním modelu jsou pro Workload domény podporovány i externí storage (NFS, FC SAN).
Do verze VCF 3.9.1 bylo možné pro komunikaci mezi hosty (management, vSAN, vMotion) vyžít pouze dvě fyzické NIC, od verze 3.9.1 je možné použít až 4 pNICs, pokud je použito NSX-V nebo až 6 pNICs, pokud je použito NSX-T.

Networking

Management domain a obecně konsolidovaný model podporuje pouze NSX-V
Do Workload domain lze zvolit zda bude použito NSX-V nebo NSX-T
VCF od verze 4.0 by měl podporovat již pouze NSX-T (Přechod z NSX-V by měl být vyřešen při upgrade)

VMware vSphere Replication

Fri, 31 Jan 2020 13:12:00 +0000

VMware vSphere Replication is a software-based replication solution for virtual machines running on vSphere infrastructure. It is storage agnostic so it can replicate VMs from any source storage to any target storage. Such flexibility and simplicity is the biggest value of vSphere Replication. It doesn't matter if you have Fibre Channel, DAS, NAS, iSCSI or vSAN based datastores you can simply

vSphere Integrated Containers - PoC in my home lab

Sat, 01 Feb 2020 10:49:00 +0000

vSphere Integrated Containers (aka VIC) is VMware Enterprise Container Infrastructure. Any VMware customer having VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus can get enterprise container infrastructure to help IT Ops run traditional and containerized applications side-by-side on a common platform with vSphere Integrated Containers. Supporting containers in your virtualized environments means IT teams get the

macOS – SSH Error ‘No Matching Exchange Method Found’

Sat, 01 Feb 2020 22:00:00 +0000

Davids-MacBook-Pro:~ dpasek$ ssh admin@192.168.4.253
Unable to negotiate with 192.168.4.253 port 22: no matching key exchange method found. Their offer: diffie-hellman-group1-sha1,

Solution ...
https://www.petenetlive.com/KB/Article/0001245

Solution

This is not Apple’s fault, it’s OpenSSH version 7. SHA1 is weak, so support for it has been removed. Which is fine, but all my clients Cisco Firewalls/Routers/Switches are probably all using RSA/SHA1. So until they re all updated I’m going to need to re-enable SHA1.

Open a terminal windows and execute the following;

sudo nano /etc/ssh/ssh_config
ENTER YOUR PASSWORD

Locate the line ‘ # MACs hmac-md5,hmac-sha1,umac-64@openssh.com,hmac-ripemd160′ and remove the Hash/Pound sight from the beginning.

Locate the line ‘ # Ciphers aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr,aes128-cbc,3des-cbc’ and remove the Hash/Pound sight from the beginning.

Then paste the following on the end;

HostkeyAlgorithms ssh-dss,ssh-rsa

KexAlgorithms +diffie-hellman-group1-sha1

Jak resetovat SMC vašeho Macu

Fri, 07 Feb 2020 22:34:00 +0000

https://support.apple.com/cs-cz/HT201295

Host cannot communicate with one or more other nodes in the vSAN enabled cluster

Mon, 10 Feb 2020 22:31:00 +0000

Ping between nodes was working so it was not a physical network issue. This is the lab environment so all services (mgmt, vMotion, vSAN) are enabled on single VMKNI (vmknic0).

So what's the problem?

I did some google searching and found that some people were experiencing problems with vSAN unicast agents.

Here is the command to list of unicast agents on vSAN node

esxcli vsan cluster unicastagent list

Grrrr. The list is empty!!!! On all ESXi hosts in my 3 nodes vSAN cluster.

Let's try to configure it manually.

Each vSAN node should have a connection to agents on other vSAN nodes in the cluster.

For example, one vSAN node from 4-node vSAN Cluster should have 3 connections

 [root@n-esx04:~] esxcli vsan cluster unicastagent list  
 NodeUuid               IsWitness Supports Unicast IP Address    Port Iface Name Cert Thumbprint  
 ------------------------------------ --------- ---------------- -------------- ----- ---------- -----------------------------------------------------------  
 5e3ec640-c033-7c7d-888f-00505692f54d     0       true 192.168.11.105 12321       18:F3:B7:9F:66:C4:C4:3E:0F:7D:69:BB:55:92:BC:A3:AC:E4:DD:5F  
 5df792b0-f49f-6d76-45af-005056a89963     0       true 192.168.11.107 12321       20:4C:C1:48:F5:2D:04:16:55:F1:D3:F1:4C:26:B5:C4:23:E5:B4:12  
 5e3e467a-1c1b-f803-3d0f-00505692ddc7     0       true 192.168.11.106 12321       53:99:00:B8:9D:1A:97:42:C0:10:C0:AF:8C:AD:91:59:22:8E:C9:79

We need the get local UUID of the cluster node.

 [root@n-esx08:~] esxcli vsan cluster get  
 Cluster Information  
   Enabled: true  
   Current Local Time: 2020-02-11T08:32:55Z  
   Local Node UUID: 5df792b0-f49f-6d76-45af-005056a89963  
   Local Node Type: NORMAL  
   Local Node State: MASTER  
   Local Node Health State: HEALTHY  
   Sub-Cluster Master UUID: 5df792b0-f49f-6d76-45af-005056a89963  
   Sub-Cluster Backup UUID:  
   Sub-Cluster UUID: 52c99c6b-6b7a-3e67-4430-4c0aeb96f3f4  
   Sub-Cluster Membership Entry Revision: 0  
   Sub-Cluster Member Count: 1  
   Sub-Cluster Member UUIDs: 5df792b0-f49f-6d76-45af-005056a89963  
   Sub-Cluster Member HostNames: n-esx08.home.uw.cz  
   Sub-Cluster Membership UUID: f8d4415e-aca5-a597-636d-005056997c1d  
   Unicast Mode Enabled: true  
   Maintenance Mode State: ON  
   Config Generation: 7ef88f9d-a402-48e3-8d3f-2c33f951fce1 6 2020-02-10T21:58:16.349

So here are my nodes
n-esx08 - 192.168.11.108 - 5df792b0-f49f-6d76-45af-005056a89963
n-esx09 - 192.168.11.109 - 5df792b0-f49f-6d76-45af-005056a89963
n-esx10 - 192.168.11.110 - 5df792b0-f49f-6d76-45af-005056a89963

And the problem is clear. All vSAN nodes have the same UUID.
Why? Let's check ESXi system UUIDs on each ESXi host.

 [root@n-esx08:~] esxcli system uuid get  
 5df792b0-f49f-6d76-45af-005056a89963  
 [root@n-esx08:~]

 [root@n-esx09:~] esxcli system uuid get  
 5df792b0-f49f-6d76-45af-005056a89963  
 [root@n-esx09:~]

 [root@n-esx10:~] esxcli system uuid get  
 5df792b0-f49f-6d76-45af-005056a89963  
 [root@n-esx10:~]

So the root cause is obvious. I use nested ESXi to test vSAN and I forgot to regenerate system UUID after the clone. The solution is easy. Just delete UUID from /etc/vmware/esx.conf and restart ESXi hosts.

ESXi system UUID in /etc/vmware/esx.conf

You can do it from command line as well

sed -i 's/system\/uuid.*//' /etc/vmware/esx.conf
reboot

So we have identified the problem and we are done. After ESXi hosts restart vSAN Cluster Nodes UUIDs are changed automatically and vSAN unicastagents are automatically configured on vSAN nodes as well.

However, if you are interested in how to manually add a connection to a unicast agent on a particular node, you would execute the following command

esxcli vsan cluster unicastagent add –a <ip address unicast agent> –U <supports unicast> –u <Local UUID> -t < type>

Anyway, such a manual configuration should not be necessary and you should do it only when instructed by VMware support.

Hope this helps someone else in VMware community.

Host cannot communicate with one or more other nodes in the vSAN enabled cluster

Tue, 11 Feb 2020 09:48:00 +0000

I work as VMware HCI Specialist, therefore I have to do a lot of vSAN testing and demonstrations in my home lab. The only reasonable way how to effectively test and demonstrate different vSAN configurations and topologies is to run vSAN in a nested environment. Thanks to a nested virtualization, I can very easily and quickly build any type of vSAN cluster. Recently I have experienced the issue

Routing - Administrative distance

Thu, 20 Feb 2020 08:17:00 +0000

Administrative distance

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_distance

External BGP - 20
Internal BGP - 200

Domaci automatiazce SONOFF

Fri, 21 Feb 2020 11:29:00 +0000

https://sonoff.tech/

MobaXterm Xserver with SSH, telnet, RDP, VNC and X11 - Features

Fri, 21 Feb 2020 11:33:00 +0000

https://mobaxterm.mobatek.net/features.html

vSphere Support for Intel Optane Persistent Memory

Fri, 21 Feb 2020 11:40:00 +0000

VMware and Intel are working closely to develop the market and use-cases for Intel’s Optane Persistent Memory (PMEM).

This technology is available in two modes:

App-direct mode (AD in short, also known as Persistent Memory): vSphere 6.7 U3 enables Intel®Optane™ DC Persistent Memory in “App-Direct” mode. You can take advantage of the large capacity, affordability and persistence benefits offered in this mode and deploy in production any supported 3rd party application without any restriction with full VMware support. VMware encourages its customers to leverage this technology in “App-Direct” mode. For more information on the App-Direct mode performance benefits in virtualization environment, please refer to PMEM App-Direct WP.
Memory-Mode (MM): vSphere 6.7 Update 3 enable Intel® Optane™ DC Persistent Memory in“Memory” mode. vSphere usage of Intel® Optane™ DC Persistent Memory in “Memory mode”can offer increased memory capacity and TCO improvements for relevant workloads. Initially, VMware will support “Memory” mode for appropriate use-cases in production deployments (refer toPMEM memory-mode WP); such a deployment should go through RPQ process to secure VMware support.

Specific vSphere and VSAN support statement for this technology is available in this KB articlevSphere Support for Intel's Optane DC Persistent Memory (PMEM) (67645). Please note the recommended version to use is vSphere is 6.7u3.

If customers are using this technology in App-Direct Mode, there is no explicit approval needed. VMware support this technology on certified hardware. You can find the list of certified hardwarehere.

If customers are using this technology in Memory-Mode, customer need to procure an RPQ approval from VMware.

It is important to highlight that VMware is supporting the Intel Optane Persistent Memory in memory mode and committed to develop the use-cases and market in close collaboration with Intel
As this technology is new and runs at slower speed than DDR memory, we want to educate the market and develop the right use-cases and expectation. Due to this reason, VMware wants to work closely with early customers and help them succeed
To address the above requirement, VMware is leveraging the existing RPQ process for early customers, VMware representative need to file the RPQ for interested customers. VMware request specific information from the customer environment. You can find the detailed information about filing the customer RPQ for Intel Optane Persistent Memory-mode here
It is important to note that RPQ process is only for early customers. Once we develop the early success stories and use-case, VMware has all the intent to remove the RPQ requirements and make this technology as generally supported.

Please note, VMware is committed to support Intel Optane Persistent Memory in both modes “App-Direct” and “Memory-mode”. If you have any question, please feel free to reach out to @Sudhanshu Jain

Sudhanshu (Suds) Jain

Product Management – Cloud Infrastructure

3401 Hillview Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94304

Office: 650.427.7672 | Mobile: 408.393.7668

Home Lab 2019/2020

Thu, 19 Mar 2020 16:16:00 +0000

First thing first. Why I have the home lab(s)? Well, I really need at least one home lab to test and demonstrate VMware vSphere, vSAN, NSX and other components of VMware SDDC stack. The other reason is, that from time to time I have discussions with other VMware folks discussing our home lab configurations and some of these people have the blog post about their labs. I have never written the

What's new in VMware vSphere 7

Sat, 21 Mar 2020 16:30:00 +0000

vSphere 7 has been announced and will be GA and available to download into our labs very soon. Let's briefly summarize what's new in vSphere 7 and put some links to other resources. vSphere with Kubernetes Project Pacific evolved into Integrated Kubernetes and Tanzu. vSphere has been transformed in order to support both VMs and containers. Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Service is how customers

vSAN/DRS awareness to be introduced in vSAN/vSphere 7.0! (NOT RELEASE in 7.0)

Sun, 22 Mar 2020 11:14:00 +0000

Originally piblished here ...

http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2020/03/19/vsan-drs-awareness-to-be-introduced-in-vsan-vsphere-7-0/

It was briefly mentioned here, but I figured I would elaborate on this new cool feature for vSAN Stretched Clusters which is DRS Awareness of vSAN Stretched Clusters. So what does this mean? Well, it is fairly straight forward. DRS will take vSAN resync traffic into consideration when the DRS algorithm runs. I can probably explain best by talking through a scenario:

vSAN Stretched Cluster environment with 4 hosts and a witness
VMs running in Preferred and in Secondary
VMs configured with "should rules" to stay within their fault domain
ISL between "data locations" is impacted
HA has restarted the VMs of the secondary site in the preferred site
ISL is now restored

What would happen without DRS awareness of vSAN stretched clusters is that DRS would automatically migrate VMs back to the Secondary site as soon as it becomes available. DRS runs every minute in vSphere 7.0 so it is very likely that vSAN is still resyncing data. The problem with this is two-fold:

The vMotion process will slow down the resync of data temporarily
Blocks which have not been resynced and are being read by the VM will need to be fetched from the remote location

As you can imagine this is an undesired situation. As such in vSphere / vSAN 7.0 a whole new level of integration is introduced between DRS and vSAN. Now DRS will be aware of what is happening on the vSAN layer. If vSAN is syncing a particular component of a virtual machine, then DRS will not move the VM back! It will wait until the resync has completed and then move the VM back. This ensures that the migration won't conflict with the resync, and of course that when the VM is migrated that it will have "site read locality".

It is a feature our team had been asking for and which was tested within VMware Cloud on AWS, and I am happy to see it made it into the "regular" vSphere release.

vLCM versus VxRAIL

Wed, 25 Mar 2020 15:37:00 +0000

Q: with the introduction of vLCM with readynodes, what would the value out of selling VxRail ?

A: Though vLCM provides firmware support, it doesn’t provide pre-validated and pre-integrated bundles, which VxRail does. Our customers have told us that this is a big pain point. VxRail images are getting customer from one valid image/driver/firmware state to another valid state.

VxRail provides other value such as enhanced phone home support and additional automation such as auto-buildout of clusters.

vCenter http request rate

Sat, 28 Mar 2020 06:09:00 +0000

PR: https://bugzilla.eng.vmware.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2088939

Resil jsem dneska limitaci vCentra pro spousteni API (ansible/powercli) prikazu. Reseni je relativne jednoduche - navysit v souboru: /etc/vmware-vapi/endpoint.properties hodnotu http.request.rate.count=360 na treba 1000 a restartovat vmware-vapi-endpoint sluzbu

Number of vCenter API requests
Pocet API volani do vCentra

ESXi NIC driver update procedure - esxcli

Mon, 06 Apr 2020 08:22:00 +0000

List NIC adapters ...

esxcli network nic list

[root@esx21:~] esxcli network nic list

Name PCI Device Driver Admin Status Link Status Speed Duplex MAC Address MTU Description

------ ------------ ------ ------------ ----------- ----- ------ ----------------- ---- -------------------------------------------------------

vmnic0 0000:01:00.0 ntg3 Up Up 1000 Full 90:b1:1c:13:fc:14 9000 Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme BCM5720 Gigabit Ethernet

vmnic1 0000:01:00.1 ntg3 Up Up 1000 Full 90:b1:1c:13:fc:15 9000 Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme BCM5720 Gigabit Ethernet

vmnic2 0000:02:00.0 ntg3 Up Down 0 Half 90:b1:1c:13:fc:16 1500 Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme BCM5720 Gigabit Ethernet

vmnic3 0000:02:00.1 ntg3 Up Down 0 Half 90:b1:1c:13:fc:17 1500 Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme BCM5720 Gigabit Ethernet

List of drivers

esxcli software vib list | grep ntg3

[root@esx21:~] esxcli software vib list | grep ntg3

ntg3 4.1.3.2-1vmw.670.1.28.10302608 VMW VMwareCertified 2018-12-15

Driver details

vmkload_mod -s ntg3

[root@esx21:~] vmkload_mod -s ntg3

vmkload_mod module information

input file: /usr/lib/vmware/vmkmod/ntg3

Version: 4.1.3.2-1vmw.670.1.28.10302608

Build Type: release

License: BSD

Required name-spaces:

com.vmware.vmkapi#v2_5_0_0

Parameters:

initRingSzRxJmb: ushort

RX Jumbo Ring Size

initRingSzRxStd: ushort

RX Standard Ring Size

intrMode: ushort

Interrupt mode: 0=IntX, 1=MSI(Default)

Update driver version

esxcli software vib update -d. file.vib

Reboot server

MTU 9000 vs 9216

Mon, 06 Apr 2020 12:04:00 +0000

On the host side, you should always use an MTU of 9000 for jumbo frames and not try to match the 9216 value you're seeing on your switch. On the other hand, you see 9216 on a network switch because it's allowing overhead of different encapsulations.

FreeBSD & Xorg & LXDE

Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:18:00 +0000

https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/beginners-guide-how-to-set-up-a-freebsd-desktop-from-scratch.61659/

https://wiki.freebsd.org/LXDE

pkg install xorg

Intall & Configure X Display Manager
https://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/x-xdm.html

pkg install xdm
# vi /etc/ttys
ttyv8 "/usr/local/bin/xdm -nodaemon" xterm off secure

pkg install lxde-meta

# cd /usr/home/dpasek
# vi .xinitrc
ck-launch-session dbus-launch --exit-with-session startlxde

exec startlxde

Linux Desktop distributions

Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:21:00 +0000

Velmi dobra a jednoducha Linux distribuce
https://linuxmint.com/

XUbuntu
https://xubuntu.org/

Logical design - storage performance sizing

Thu, 16 Apr 2020 07:04:00 +0000

Storage performance is always a kind of magic because multiple factors come in to play and not all disks are equal, however, in logical design, we have to do some math because capacity (and performance) planning is a very important part of logical design. How I do it? I do math with some performance assumptions. Here are assumptions about various disk type performance I use for my capacity

VCF 4 on VxRail : Consolidated architecture support

Thu, 16 Apr 2020 14:49:00 +0000

VCF Consolidated architecture is now supported on VxRail (VCF 4.0)

This is great news !

Please find relevant statement in the VCF on VxRail release note here :https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Cloud-Foundation/4.0/rn/vmware-cloud-foundation-on-dell-emc-vxrail-17-release-notes.html#What's%20New

Support for consolidated architecture: Standard architecture is recommended for most deployments, but for smaller system requirements the consolidated architecture is now supported.

Talking about VCF on VxRail, there are few limitations that you need to know :

vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM) is not supported on VMware Cloud Foundation on Dell EMC VxRail è Decision to use vLCM or VUM applies at cluster level. VxRail manager needs VUM so it can’t co-exist with vLCM (at the moment).
VCF on VxRail supports stretching workload domain clusters over L3 only. There is no support for L2 stretching è Usually not a real problem
System and overlay traffic isolation through a separate distributed virtual switch is not supported è This means we support only NSX-T deployed on converged VDS and I understand we don’t support separate VDS topology (VDS + N-VDS) anymore.

vSAN File Services considerations

Fri, 17 Apr 2020 05:49:00 +0000

http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2020/04/15/vsan-file-services-considerations/

Targeted use case: Cloud Native Applications and file services for traditional apps
NFS v3 and NFS v4.1 are both supported
A minimum of 3 hosts within a cluster
A maximum of 64 hosts within a cluster
Not supported today on 2-node
Not supported today on a stretched cluster
Not supported in combination with vLCM (Lifecycle Manager)
It is not supported to mount the NFS share from your ESXi host
Maximum of 8 active FS containers/protocol stacks and 8 FS VMs are provisioned
FS VMs are provisioned by vSphere ESX Agent Manager
- You will have one FS VM for each host up to 8 hosts
FS VMs are tied to a specific host from a compute and storage perspective, and they align of course!
FS VMs are not integrated with vSAN Fault Domains
FS VMs are powered off and deleted when going into maintenance mode
FS VMs are provisioned and powered on when exiting maintenance mode
On a standard vSwitch, the following settings are enabled on the port group automatically: Forged Transmits, Promiscuous Mode
On a Distributed Switch the following settings are enabled on the port group automatically: Forged Transmits, MAC Learning
vSAN automatically downloads the OVF for the appliance, if vCenter Server cannot connect to the internet you can manually download it
- The ovf is stored on the vCenter Appliance here, if you ever want to delete it: /storage/updatemgr/vsan/fileService/
The FS VM has its own policy (FSVM_Profile_DO_NOT_MODIFY), which should not be modified!
- The appliance is not protected across hosts, it is RAID-0 as resiliency is handled by the container layer!

MySQL / MariaDB Server

Fri, 17 Apr 2020 12:05:00 +0000

pkg install --yes mariadb104-server-10.4.10

/etc/rc.conf
# MySQL
mysql_enable=“YES”

/usr/local/etc/rc.d/mysql-server start

# create db user
CREATE USER 'admin' IDENTIFIED BY 'Passw0rd.';

SELECT User FROM mysql.user;

# allow access from anywhere

grant all privileges on *.* to 'admin' identified by 'Passw0rd.';
flush privileges;

What's New in vSAN 7

Mon, 20 Apr 2020 19:50:00 +0000

vSAN 7.0 introduces the following new features and enhancements. vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM). vLCM enables simplified, consistent lifecycle management for your ESXi hosts. It uses a desired-state model that provides lifecycle management for the hypervisor and the full stack of drivers and firmware. vLCM reduces the effort to monitor compliance for individual components and helps maintain

vSAN Experience Day Q&A

Mon, 27 Apr 2020 21:42:00 +0000

Q1: Dlouhodobý provoz - jak se řeší upgrade ESXi/vsan ?
A1:

Krátká odpověď:

Update/upgrade se řeší standardně jako upgrade ESXi, takže většinou pomocí VMware Update Manageru.
vSphere a vSAN jsou svázané v rámci jednoho ESXi image.

Dlouhá odpověď:

Jednoduchý management včetně dlouhodobého provozu (tzv. Day2 operací) je oblast na kterou se VMware hodně zaměřuje. vSAN je velmi jednoduchá platforma na používání a navíc velmi robustní a výkoný storage system. To, na čem je ale každá infrastrukturní platforma závislá jsou drivery a firmwary component, jako jsou Storage Controlery, disky a síťové karty.

Pojďme si nejdříve říct, jakým způsobem se zajišťuje udržování driverů a firmware u vSphere 6.x.

vSphere administrátor typicky používá VMware Update Manager pro update ESXi softwaru (VMware hypervisor). Drivery jsou většinou součástí ESXi image, který je buď vanilla image of VMwaru a nebo Custom image od dodavatele hardwaru. V případě potřeby jiných validovaných driverů je možné takové drivery stáhnou jako tzv. VIB Depot (zip file) a buď použít VMware Update Manager (GUI) nebo esxcli (příkazovou řádku).

Problematičtější je to s firmwary, které VUM neřeší a administrator je musí řešit nástroji serverového vendora.

Navíc si VMware administrator musí udělat vlastní analýzu validovaných kombinace driverů a verzí firmware v rámci VMware vSAN HCL.

Dell EMC OpenManage Integration for VMware vCenter je rozšíření vCentra o lepší visibilitu na serverový hardware a s možností update firmware.

Je to dobré vylepšení pro správu systému, ale nezbavuje to administrátora zodpovědnosti a práce s výběrem validní kombinace driverů a verzí firmware v rámci vSphere updatování.

Toto je jedna z největších přidaných hodnot VxRAILu, kde je verze hypervizoru, driver a všechny firmwary včetně BIOSu a firmware síťových karet dodávána jako jeden jediný validovaný image, který se dá celému VxRAIL clusteru a VxRAIL manager zajistí rolling update nebo upgrade celého clusteru.

JAK JE TO VE VSPHERE 7?

VMware si uvědomuje potřebu zjednodušení driver a firmware managementu, který je ještě vice důležitý právě při provozu vSAN.

Vylepšení v oblasti životního cyklu (update/upgrade) je spojeno s funkcionalitou ve vSphere 7, ve které byl uveden tzv. vSphere Lifecycle Manager.
vLCM je z dlouhodobého hlediska náhrada VMware Update Manageru, nicméně je dobré si uvědomit, že vLCM je ve vSphere 7 uvedeno ve verzi 1, takže do doby než se vLCM plně ujme, zákazníci si na něj zvyknou a VMware technologii doladí na základě reálného feedbacku zákazníků, tak je možné nadále používat VUM. Mimochodem VxRAIL s vSphere 7 bude v prvních verzích používat VUM a na vLCM přejde postupně. vLCM je zasadní změna v konceptu updatu a upgradu vSphere. VUM pracuje s ESXi hostama, vLCM pracuje s vSphere Clusterama.
Další změna je použití principu tzv. Desired State (očekávaný stav), takže vSphere administrátor si pomocí centrálních vLCM politik definuje požadovaný profil, který se vLCM snaží aplikovat a udržet konzistentní na celém vSphere / vSAN Clusteru a ne pouze na konkrétním ESXi hostu.

V případě odchylky reálného od požadovaného stavu je administrátor informován pomocí warningu a může to začít řešit a iniciovat nápravu primo pomocí vLCM.

vLCM profilem je definovaný
• Základní ESXi image, ve kterém jsou nativní drivery hardwarových komponent
• Druhá část profilu jsou Vendor add-ony, ve kterých mohou být specifická rozšíření konkrétního vendora jako je např. OpenManage Administrator agent
• Třetí části profilu jsou Firmware a Driver add-ony, ve kterém jsou i BIOSy a firmwary ke konkretním hardwarovým komponentám. Je potřeba si uvědomit, že VMware do verze vSphere 7 nikdy neřešil napřímo firmware management a v oblasti firmwarů se spoléhal na systém management hardwarových vendorů

Takže z těchto třech věcí se skládá vLCM DESIRED IMAGE, který se automaticky aplikuje na ESXi hosty v rámci vSphere clusteru, na kterém je profil nastaven.

Na co bych chtěl upozornit ...
• vLCM ve vSphere 7.0 už sice pokrývá celý HW stack, ale automatizovaná validace oproti HCL je zatím jen na storage I/O controllery, takže updaty BIOSu a firmwaru hardwarových komponent mohou být sice aplikovány přes vLCM, ale nejsou validovány oproti HCL a zodpovědnost za správnou kombonaci driverů a firmwarů je stále na vSphere administrátorovi
• vLCM sice podporuje update vSAN clusteru, ale nepodporuje update vSAN witness appliancí v rámci 2-node vSAN a stretchovaných clusterů.
• vLCM také nedělá update vCenter serveru, to řeší případně až SDDC Manager v rámci VCF

Takže nemějte od této první verze extrémní očekávání. Podobnou funkionalitu je již roky možné dosáhnout na Dell hardwaru pomocí OpenManage Integration for VMware vCenter. Mimochodem vLCM využívá pro firmware management právě OMIVV, nicméně vLCM je řešení přímo od VMware v dalších verzích půjde dál a bude zjednodušovat systém managementu pro vSphere adminy. vLCM ve vSphere/vSAN 7 je první verze end-to-end system managementu, který je integrovan přímo Vmwarem do vSphere, takže je to velmi dobrý signál pro zákazníky, že VMware to se zjednodušováním system managementu myslí vážně.

Ono to je totiž extrémně důležité právě pro vSANu, kde špatné drivery nebo firmwary řadičů, disků nebo síťových karet mají negativní vliv na stabilitu a výkon celého distribuovaného storage systému.

Nakonec je potřeba si říct, že VxRAIL lifecycle management je pořád někde úplně jinde. Single IMAGE BUNDLE zvalidovaný a supportovaný DellEMC by měli zákazníci ocenit. A když už se bavíme o VxRAILu, tak v rámci VxRailu se i v první verzi vSphere/vSAN 7 používá klasický VUM přístup, nikoliv vLCM desired state. Do budoucna VxRAIL přejde na vLCM, ale pro zákazníka to bude absolutně transparentní.

Q2: Jelikož jde v AF konfigurací 100% zápisů do cache disku, prochází jím všechny zápisy, jak se zde řeší škálovatelnost ?
A2:

Krátká odpověď:

Je potřeba si uvědomit, že Write Intensive disk zvládne teoreticky až 100 000 IOPS (4KB IO), nicméně v případě potřeby škálovatelnosti je možné v rámci jednoho vSAN nodu použít více diskových group (až 5), jelikož každá disková group má vlastní cache disk. Větším počtem disk group se zvětšuje výkon jednoho vSAN nodu. vSAN je ale distribuovaná scale-out storage, takže dalším způsobem škálování je přidání dalšího nodu do vSAN clusteru.

Dlouhá odpověď:

Ve vSAN jse 100% zápisů do cache disků nejen u All Flash (AF), ale i u Hybridní vSAN. U hybridní vSAN se cache disk používá i pro cachování read operací, což se nedělá u All Flash vSANy, jelikož kapacitní SSD, nemají s read operacemi žádný problém a navíc je jich většinou v diskové skupině více, takže agregovaná read performance je větší než výkon jednoho cache disku. Write operace jdou přes write cache/buffer proto, aby se šetřila životnost kapacitních disků, které jsou většinou Read Intesive a neposkytují tak velké TBW jako Write Intensive disky.

vSAN disková skupina se skládá vždy z jednoho cache disku (typicky Write Intensive) a maximálně 7-mi kapacitních (typicky Read Intensive) disků. Jako cache disk se používají write intensive disky, které fungují vždy jako Write Buffer.

SASové Write Intensive disky podle technických specifikací zvládají více jak 120 000 IOPS (4KB IO), takže každá disková skupina zvládne takovýto zápisový výkon a po zápisu I/O do cache se posílá ACK k iniciátoru a tím je z jeho pohledu I/O odbaveno, takže write latence a response time je dána cachovým diskem. Kapacitní disky by pak měly být vyladěny tak, aby zvládly destaging z cache do kapacitního tieru. Destaging je optimalizovaný pro minimalizaci write operací, aby se prodlužovala životnost Read Intensive disků v kapacitním tieru.

Nestačí-li výkon write cache SSD disku, tak je možné v rámci jednoho vSAN nodu použít více diskových group (až 5), jelikož každá disková group má vlastní cache disk. Větším počtem disk group se zvětšuje výkon jednoho vSAN nodu. vSAN je ale distribuovaná scale-out storage, takže dalším způsobem škálování je přidání dalšího nodu do vSAN clusteru.

Q3: Jaký vliv na výkon má resync dat při výpadku/maintenance nodů v reálném prostředí a s jakou délkou resync se musí počítat ?
A3:

Krátká odpověď:

Záleží na více faktorech, takže odpověď je ... IT DEPENDS.
Viz dlouhá odpověď.

Dlouhá odpověď:

Při maintenance módu je možné zvolit, jestli chci vSAN data na backendu přesunout a tím zajistit stejnou ochranu dat I během maintenance módu a nebo jestli se jedná o krátkodobý maintenance a zariskuju nižší a nebo žádnou ochranu dat. V případě, že mám storage politikou nastavenou ochranu dat, proti výpadku dvou nodů FTT=2, pak se nejedná o velké riziko.

V případě, že se rozhodnu vSAN data z maintenance nodu přesouvat, pak je délka resyncu daná rychlostí diskového čtení na zdrojovém nodu a rychlostí sítě. Jiná rychlost tedy bude na Hybridní vSAN na gigabitové sítí a jiná rychlost na All Flash vSAN s 25 Gb sítí.

vSAN má nástroj “Data Migration Pre-check”, která umí ukázat kolik dat je potřeba přesunou z nodu, který se přepíná do maintenance módu.

Níže uvádím příklad z mého labu, kde mám hybridní vSAN připojenou na gigabitovou síť a v případě přechodu do maintenance módu s plnou migrací dat by vSAN musela na backendu přesunout 338 GB dat, což by při rychlosti sítě 1 Gb a předpokladu propustnosti 100MB/s trvalo řádově hodinu.

vSAN Data Migration Pre-check

Z tohoto důvodu je vhodné ve fázi designu vSAN zvažovat ALL FLASH variantu a 25Gb networking, což má pozitivní vliv i na rychlost případné evakuace dat.

Dalším design rozhodnutím je případná dvojitá ochrana dat FTT=2, která zajišťuje dostupnost disku i při nedostupnosti dvou vSAN nodů.

Je dobré si uvědomit, že FTT=2 potřebuje 5 vSAN nodů pro ochranu RAID 1 a nebo 6 nodů pro ochranu RAID 6

Druhou možností je použití stretchovaného clusteru a tím zajištění primární a sekundární dostupnosti dat.

Q4: Jak se řeší rozpad vsan clusteru, tj. pokud padne více node než je politika ochrany, jak pak probíhá uvedení do provozu

A4: Disky se přepnou do nedostupného módu podobného stavu APD (All Path Down) na tradiční storage a VM disky nejsou dostupne. Viz. screenshot níže, kde je nasimulovaná takováto chyba a chování uvnitř operačního systému FreeBSD, kde je vidět, že systém sice běží, ale nemá k dispozici disk.

Nedosutpný vDisk na vSAN z pohledu Guest OS

Je potřeba zmínit, že každý operační systém se s takovýmto stavem vyrovnává jinak. Například MS Windows se do nekonečna pokoušejí o kontaktování nedostupného disku a věří, že se disk vrátí. Linuxové operační systémy většinou přepínají afektovaný disk do read/only modu. Operační systém FreeBSD, který jsem použil pro nasimulování tohoto problému se při nedostupnosti pokoušel o přístup k disku, který nebyl k dispozici. Po uvedení disku do provozu se operační systém vrátil k běžnému provozu. Je potřeba si uvědomit, že nedostupnost disku může mít různý dopad na různé aplikace uvnitř operačního systému.

Q5: Jsou preferované NIC, které mají pro vsan optimální výkon?

A5: vSAN pracuje s jakoukoliv supportovanou síťovou kartou na HCL ESXi. Pro All Flash vSAN je minimum 10 Gb NIC, ale v dnešní době bych rozhodně zvažovat 25 Gb NIC. vSAN pro optimální provoz potřebuje stabilní a výkonou síť, ale žádné jiné pereference vSAN nemá.

Q6: Jsou dostupné testy výhody použití 25g vs. 10ge pro vsan (myslím na oddělených NIC)?

A6: Našel jsem prezentaci z VMworldu 2017, kde jsou vedeny výsledky z performance testů, kde je vidět, že vSAN umí saturovat 25 Gb.

Prezentace je dostupná zde

https://static.rainfocus.com/vmware/vmworldus17/sess/1489529911389001s06n/finalpresentationPDF/STO2591BU_FORMATTED_FINAL_1507843677375001rJUp.pdf

Q7: NVMe vs. SAS SSD, tady je volba asi jasná, že?

A7: Úplně jasná volba to není, jelikož rozhodnutí většinou není jen o výkonu, ale i o škálovatelnosti a ceně celého řešení.

NVMe mají výhodu v tom, že jsou připojeny přímo do PCI a každé NVMe má vlastní storage controller. Navíc NVMe mají typicky větší výkon jak pro čtení, tak pro zápis. Specifikace SAS SSD, SATA SSD a NVMe je dostupná zde

https://www.slideshare.net/davidpasek/dell-power-edge-ssd-performance-specifications

Nicméně je potřeba si uvědomit, že Intel CPU Cascade Lake podporují maximálně 48 PCIe lanes per socket, takže 24 NVMe disků je na serveru PE R740 podporováno, ale musí být osazen oběma CPU a NVMe mohou teoreticky saturovat plných 96 lanes, což se reálně asi nestane, ale máme li v systému ještě 4x 25 Gb síťové karty a například 3 GPU, pak už by ve špičkách mohla být PCIe sběrnice přetížená.

Intel Cascade Lake PCIe architektura je znázorněna na následujícím schématu.

Dalším aspektem je cena. SAS SSD disky jsou v současné době cca o 30% dražší než SATA SSD disky a NVMe disky jsou ještě asi o 30% dražší než SAS SSD disky, takže je potřeba zvážit, jestli mám extrémní požadavky na diskový výkon a nižší latency.

Q8: Jak udělat sizing ssd cache ? je možné využití monitorovat ? co se stane, když je cache málo -> write jdou na kapacitní disky a sníží se jejich životnost ? Jak lze pak cache rozšířit ?

A8:

Informace nutné pro technický design, sizing a škálovatelnost SSD cache už jsem do většího detailu zodpověděl v odpovědi na otázku Q2.

vSAN cache je distibuovaná v rámci celého vSAN clusteru, každopádně všechny cache disky je možné monitorovat přímo z vSphere clienta a nebo ještě detailněji v dalších nástrojích. Níže je screenshot z vSphere Clienta.

Že je cache málo, se pozná u All Flash řešení tím, že se hodně destaguje z cache do kapacitních disků a tím pádem se zvyšuje congestion a tím pádem i response time pro disky ve virtuálních serverech.

vSAN umožňuje monitorovat congestion (přetížení) nižších vSAN vrstev (subsystémů). Congestion je ukazatelem přetížení určitého subsystému a v takovém případě dochází ke queueingu I/O operací a zvýšení response timů. Ukázka congestion grafu z vSAN monitoringu je na screenshotu níže.

Write I/O nikdy nejdou napřímo na kapacitní disky, takže jejich životnost se nesnižuje.

Velkou zátěž na cache nebo její nedostatečnou kapacitu je možné vyřešit několika způsoby
1. rozložením backendu na více diskových skupin, kde každá disková skupina má vlastní cache disk (SCALE UP)
2. rozložením celkového vSAN workloadu na více nodů (SCALE OUT)
3. zrychlením destagingu, což je možné docílit pomocí více kapacitních disků
4. v případě malého cache disku je možné cache disk vyměnit za větší, nicméně vSAN efektivně nepoužívá více jak 600 GB pro aktivní cachování a vyšší kapacita se začne využívat po odumření starých SSD buněk takže větším kapacitním diskem se docílí delší životnosti cache disku.

Q9: Je použitelný raid5 ? Jaký má vliv použití raid5 na výkon ?
A9:

Krátká odpověď:

Ano. vSAN podporuje RAID 5 (single parity erasure coding) a dokonce i RAID 6 (double parity erasure coding).

Jakákoliv implementace RAID 5 má write penalty 4, takže každé frontendové write I/O potřebuje na backendu 4 I/O operace.

Dlouhá odpověď:

Striktně technicky se nejedná o RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks), ale o RAIN (Redundant Array of Independent Nodes), jelikož redundance se nazajišťuje v rámci jednotlivých fyzických serverů (vSAN nodů), ale napříč nody.

vSAN RAID 5 je tedy ochrana proti výpadku jednoho nodu a vSAN RAID 6 proti výpadku až dvou nodů.

vSAN RAID 5 je technicky RAID 3+1, takže technické minimum pro RAID 5 jsou 4 nody a doporučených nodů je 5, aby v případě dlouhodobého výpadku jednoho z nodů bylo možné data zrebuildovat (resynchronizovat) na nějaký další node a zajistit ochranu dat.

vSAN RAID 6 je technicky RAID 4+2, takže technické minimum je 6 nodů a doporučovaných je 7 nodů.

Dlužno říci, že vSAN RAID 5 i RAID 6 jsou podporované jen na All Flash vSAN, takže na Hybridní vSAN, kde se používají v kapacitním tieru rotační disky, byste erasure coding hledali marně. Důvodem jsou vyšší nároky na I/O operace na backendu a rychlost rebuildu v případě výpadku jednoho z nodů.

Tím se dostáváme k podotázce ohledně výkonu. Každá implementace RAID 5 má negativní vliv na write operace, protože je při každé zápisové operaci potřeba dopočítat paritu. Zapisuje-li se jedna nová I/O operace, pak je potřeba před zapsáním segmentu na disk, přečíst původní segment (+1 I/O) a odpovídající paritu (+1 I/O) a při zápisu zapsat nejen nový segment (+1 I/O), ale i nově dopočítanou paritu (+1 I/O), takže celkově je pro 1 write I/O v RAID 5 potřeba 4 write I/O operace, čemuž se říká tzv. write penalty.

RAID 5 má tedy write penalty 4 a RAID 6 má write penalty 6.

vSphere 7 - Storage Requirements for the vCenter Server Appliance

Sat, 02 May 2020 22:10:00 +0000

I have upgraded vSphere in my home lab and realized that VCSA 7.0 storage requirements increased significantly. Here are the requirements of vCenter Server Appliance 6.7 Here are the requirements of vCenter Server Appliance 7.0 You can see the difference by yourself. VCSA 7.0 requires roughly 30%-60% more storage than VCSA 6.7. It is good to know it especially for home labs where

CPU capacity planning and sizing

Fri, 08 May 2020 19:38:00 +0000

During infrastructure capacity planning and sizing, the technical designer has to calculate CPU, RAM, Storage, and Network resource requirements. Recently, I had an interesting discussion with my colleagues on how to estimate CPU requirements for application workload. Each computer application requires some CPU resources for computational tasks and additional resources for I/O tasks. It is

PowerCLI - get moref

Sun, 10 May 2020 18:48:00 +0000

Connect-VIServer

Get-VM -name test-mo-02 | ft -Property Name,ID -AutoSize

HPE vSAN & VMware Lifecycle Manager (vLCM)

Mon, 11 May 2020 15:09:00 +0000

HPE project Juno, now called HPE Integrated vSAN ReadyNodes

ILO Smart Update Manager
https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/docDisplay?docId=emr_na-c04637181

ILO Amplifier Pack
https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/docDisplay?docId=emr_na-a00025385en_us

vSAN ReadyNode questions ...

krystine.taylor@hpe.com
ken_gott@hpe.com

Undocumented HA Advanced Option - das.restartVmsWithoutResourceChecks

Mon, 11 May 2020 16:15:00 +0000

Some time ago, a colleague of mine (@stan_jurena) was challenged by one VMware customer who experienced APD (All Path Down) storage situation in the whole HA Cluster and he expected that VMs will be killed by VMware Hypervisor (ESXi) because of HA Cluster APD response setting "Power off and restart VMs - Aggressive restart policy". To be honest, I had the same expectation. However, after the

Latency Sensitivity Setting

Wed, 17 Jun 2020 20:09:00 +0000

Virtualizing NFV is always a fun challenge, especially the data-plane telco workloads. It helped me back in my Vodafone Netherlands days, to have a thorough understanding of what the applications really require when talking ‘latency sensitivity’. For example, an EPC node would require CPU pinning for the vCPU’s that are dedicated for DPDK packet processing. Control-plane workloads are typically not relying on latency that much, but for logging purposes are more interested in storage I/O.

The host resources deep dive book goes into details on various constructs within the ESXi networking stack that could introduce, or lower, latency. Stuff like Interrupt Coalescing. Also, preferHT settings helped me to virtualize telco apps and keep them within NUMA nodes. Etc. Etc.

In vSphere 7, we also introduced something called Selective CPU Latency Sensitivity. This allows you to pin certain vCPU’s to a CPU core within a VM, and not all vCPU’s like with the ‘normal’ Latency Sensitive setting. This feature is only exposed as a VMODL API call which is being used by vCloud Director to expose it to telco customers. We have a backlog item to add this to the vCenter UI along with documentation. That’s why you won’t see it mentioned in any of the public materials.

I’m not sure if the performance team, or Telco NFV team, is looking into updating the whitepaper about latency sensitive applications. Maybe @Mark Achtemichuk can provide more details on that?

Niels Hagoort <nhagoort@vmware.com>

================================================

The most important piece to this is ensuring there is enough compute cycles, without contention, for vSphere network worlds.

VS7 would be the preferred platform due to various enhancements.

I have a whitepaper here I helped with for Media & Entertainment but it’s about network tuning and low latency really when using vmxnet3:
https://www.vmware.com/techpapers/2018/media-workloads-on-vsphere67-perf.html

More NFV here:
https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vCloud-NFV/2.0/vmware-tuning-vcloud-nfv-for-data-plane-intensive-workloads.pdf
https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vCloud-NFV-OpenStack-Edition/3.3/vmwa-vcloud-nfv-performance-tuning-guide/GUID-2B34AD95-F8F9-4837-9521-D426E2E01B9F.html

Depending on the workload they might need/consider N-VDS:
https://blogs.vmware.com/networkvirtualization/2018/10/accelerated-data-plane-performance-using-enhanced-data-path-in-numa-architecture.html/

Mark Achtemichuk <machtemichuk@vmware.com>

==================================================

What's new in VxRail 7.0

Mon, 22 Jun 2020 20:56:00 +0000

This is a very short blog post about VxRail 7.0 which has been launched today. First of all, VxRail naming has been aligned with vSphere versioning, hence VxRail 7.0. Here is the summary of the announcement: VxRail 7.0 includes the vSphere 7.0 and vSAN 7.0 Customers can now run vSphere Kubernetes on the Dell Tech Cloud Platform, VMware Cloud Foundation 4.0 on VxRail 7.0. With a more

vCenter Server Appliance - Update installation is in progress

Mon, 06 Jul 2020 20:52:00 +0000

A few days ago, I have updated my home-lab VCSA vCenter Server 7.0 GA (15952498) to vCenter Server 7.0.0a (16189094). Everything seemed ok from the vCenter (vSphere Client) perspective. I was seeing there vCenter build 16189207, which is obviously VCSA 16189094. The only problem I had was the fact, that I was not able to log in to VCSA VAMI. After user authentication into VAMI, I was

Could not connect to one or more vCenter Server Systems: https://vCenterFQDN: 443/sdk"

Wed, 12 Aug 2020 15:08:00 +0000

When I have logged in vCenter 7 vSphere Client in my home lab, I have experienced the message"Could not connect to one or more vCenter Server Systems: https://vCenterFQDN: 443/sdk"Below is the screenshot from vSphere Client ...The message is very clear but such an issue can be caused by various reasons, therefore vpxd.log in vCenter Server appliance should be checked to identify the specific

iSCSI Best Practices - 2020 review

Wed, 26 Aug 2020 14:09:00 +0000

I have just listened to the Virtually Speaking podcast episode Back to Basics: iSCSI Back in 2014, I wrote a blog post about iSCSI Best Practices, but it was about general iSCSI best practices for any operating system or hypervisor. All these old best practices should be still considered in full-stack design but four design considerations have been highlighted in the above podcast. These four

Why NUMA matters?

Tue, 01 Sep 2020 13:17:00 +0000

This is a very short blog post because more and more VMware customers and partners are asking me the same question ... "Why NUMA matters?"If you want to know more I would highly recommend reading Frank Denneman's detailed blog posts or books about NUMA, however, the table below is worth 1000 words.Source: https://frankdenneman.nl/2016/07/07/numa-deep-dive-part-1-uma-numa/Local memory

Datacenter Network Topology - Dell OS10 MultiDomain VLT

Fri, 11 Sep 2020 11:28:00 +0000

Yesterday, I have got the following e-mail from one of my blog readers ...Hello David,Let me introduce myself, I work in medium size company and we began to sell Dell Networking stuff to go along with VxRail. We do small deployments, not the big stuff with spine/leaf L3 BGP, you name it. For a Customer, I had to implement this solution. Sadly, we are having a bad time with STP as you can see on

Apache .htaccess rewrite rule

Tue, 15 Sep 2020 18:44:00 +0000

RewriteEngine ON

RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.vcdx200.com/$1 [R=301,L]

PHP redirect to location - alternative to rewrite

Tue, 15 Sep 2020 18:45:00 +0000

<?php

header("Location: https://dpasek.webnode.cz/");

die();

FreeBSD Performance Observability Tools

Thu, 17 Sep 2020 14:57:00 +0000

vSAN - vLCM Capable ReadyNode

Tue, 22 Sep 2020 07:54:00 +0000

VMware vSphere Lifecycle Manager (aka vLCM) is one of the very interesting features in vSphere 7. vLCM is a powerful new approach to simplified consistent lifecycle management for the hypervisor and the full stack of drivers and firmware for the servers powering your data center.There are only a few server vendors who have implemented firmware management with vLCM.At the moment of writing

VMware vSphere GPU

Sat, 10 Oct 2020 15:15:00 +0000

Contacts:

Justin Muray, jmurray@vmware.com
shawnk@vmware.com

QLogic Adapter FCoE Performance Tunning

Thu, 15 Oct 2020 08:33:00 +0000

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/512667/Qlogic-8100-Series.html?page=276

Operation Mode (ZIO)

The Operation Mode (ZIO) parameter specifies the reduced interrupt operation modes. ZIO modes allow the posting of multiple command completions in a single interrupt. Values below describe the Operation Mode parameter values in detail.

0 - Disables ZIO mode.

5 - Enables ZIO mode 5. DMA transfers response queue entries into the response queue. No interrupt is generated unless the Interrupt Delay Timer updates the Response Queue-Out Pointer register.

6 - Enables ZIO mode 6. DMA transfers response queue entries into the response queue and generates an interrupt when the firmware has no active exchanges (even if the interrupt delay timer has not expired).

NSX-T Edge Node performance profiles

Thu, 05 Nov 2020 10:24:00 +0000

It is good to know that NSX-T Edge Node has multiple performance profiles. Those profiles will change the # of vCPU for DPDK and so leave more or less vCPU for other services such as LB:default (best for L2/L3 traffic)LB TCP (best for L4 traffic)LB HTTP (best for HTTP traffic)LB HTTPS (best for HTTPS traffic)Now you can ask how to choose Load Balancer Performance profile. SSH to the edge node and

IOVP Program in VMware

Mon, 16 Nov 2020 13:56:00 +0000

I/O Vendor Program (IOVP) program allow I/O device vendor to collaborate with VMware to release the new driver for device aka VIB file. Most of the driver will be tested out by VMware and partner in the cyclic manner before releasing to public.

Read https://deepakkanda.wordpress.com/2016/11/15/iovp-program-in-vmware/ for further details about the process.

Understanding vSAN Architecture Components for better troubleshooting

Sat, 21 Nov 2020 15:35:00 +0000

VMware vSAN becomes more and more popular, thus more often used as primary storage in data centers and server rooms. Sometimes, as with any IT technology, is necessary to do the troubleshooting. Understanding of architecture and components interactions is essential for effective troubleshooting of vSAN. Over years, I have collected some vSAN architectural information into a slide deck I made

Why HTTPS is faster than HTTP?

Mon, 23 Nov 2020 12:43:00 +0000

Recently, I was planning, preparing, and executing a network performance test plan, including TCP, UDP, HTTP, and HTTPS throughput benchmarks. The intention of the test plan was the network throughput comparison between two particular NICsIntel X710QLogic FastLinQ QL41xxxThere was a reason for such exercise (reproduction of specific NIC driver behavior) and I will probably write another blog post

vSAN 7 Update 1 - What's new in Cloud Native Storage

Tue, 24 Nov 2020 03:58:00 +0000

vSAN 7 U1 comes with new features also in Cloud Native Storage area, so let's look at what's new.PersistentVolumeClaim expansionKubernetes v1.11 offered volume expansion by editing the PersistentVolumeClaim object. Please note, that volume shrink is not supported and extension must be done offline. Online expansion is not supported in U1 but planned on the roadmap. Static

Vtip - internet versus elektrika

Sat, 28 Nov 2020 20:17:00 +0000

Povídají si Google, Facebook, Wikipedie, internet a elektřina.

Google říká: "Já všechny najdu!!!"

Facebook: "Já všechny znám!!!"

Wikipedie: "Já všechno vím!!!"

Internet: "Kdyby nebylo mě, tak tu nejste!!!"

Elektřina: "Tak se všichni uklidníme..."

Virtual Machine Advanced Configuration Options

Sun, 29 Nov 2020 00:03:00 +0000

First and foremost, it is worth mentioning, that it is definitely not recommended to change any advanced settings unless you know what you are doing and you are fully aware of all potential impacts. VMware default settings are the best for general use covering the majority of use cases, however, when you have some specific requirements you might need to do the VM tuning and change some advanced

How to get the storage Array and Vendor Model Type for a datastore (NNA idetifier)

Wed, 09 Dec 2020 15:40:00 +0000

Source: https://communities.vmware.com/t5/VMware-PowerCLI-Discussions/How-to-get-the-storage-Array-and-Vendor-Model-Type-for-a/m-p/1405958

I am trying to build a script to run for each cluster in our environment and there is a challenge in it that we run multiple different types of storage in our environment . we have an EMC FC Array VNX 5000 and an EMC VMAX and an ISCSI storage from another vendor .

IS there a way to run a powercli script to publish a report that can identify what is the type and version of storage array it is from ?.

Below is the good description of the naa id naming convention that i managed to get from google and some of my own research .

The naa identifier comes in the form of naa.aaaaaaaabbbbbbbbbbbbccdddddddddd .Below is some information that i have gathered for the following parts and not sure about C in it .

The breakdown is as follows:

aaaaaaaa is an 8 digit vendor identifier, and I’ve listed the vendors we use below, as well as others I’ve been able to find online:
- 60060480 <— EMC
- 60000970 <- EMC VMAX
- 600508b1 < Hp local storage
- 60060e80 <— HDS
- 60a98000 <— NetApp
- 514f0c59 - Xtreme I/O EMC
- 60060160 <— DGC (Clarrion or VNX storage array )
- 6090a038 <— EQL
bbbbbbbbbbbb is a 12 digit serial # of the device providing the storage. This may differ from device to device, but matches up perfectly to the id’s from our Symm. Our mileage may vary, but it’s held up so far.
cc is a 2 digit code for something not sure what it is .
dddddddddd is a 10 digit LUN identifier. This differed based on the device on how the device ID is actually represented.
- HDS – was the most straightforward. It represented in the naa id, the actual device ID being used on the array side.
- EMC – was very confusing. You will have to take the 10 digits in pairs, that will give you the ASCII code in hex, for the pair, which after being concatenated give you the device id. Very straightforward, I know. Here’s an example:
  - 60060480bbbbbbbbbbbb533031464446
  - 60060480 makes this EMC
  - bbbbbbbbbbbb serial number which I’ll keep to myself.
  - 53 which will drive me crazy
  - 3031464446 –> which will break down to 30 31 46 44 46 –> which gives us a device id of 01FDF
    - 30 –> converted to decimal from hex= 48 –> which in ASCII = 0
    - 31 –> converted to decimal from hex= 49 –> which in ASCII = 1
    - 46 –> converted to decimal from hex= 70 –> which in ASCII = F
    - 44 –> converted to decimal from hex= 68 –> which in ASCII = D
    - 46 –> converted to decimal from hex= 70 –> which in ASCII = F

We can get the naa id for all the luns that we have presented to our hosts but not sure how can i publish the report in the below coloumn format .

under storage type i want to publish if its a vmax or vnx or extreme I/O in the below screenshot i can only get the vendor type .

Requesting Engineering RPQ for all our products

Wed, 09 Dec 2020 16:56:00 +0000

Team,

As I promised today, below you can find all information how to file extend supportability for products features/limitations etc.

We as a TAM, have new dedicated form: https://onevmw.sharepoint.com/sites/EngineeringRPQ/RPQs/, then we should use “Submit new RPQ link and answer on questions from the form. Then the RPQ request will be assigned to the respective BU PM.

Also on the same page you can track progress, be in contact with particular PM.

Proces flow we can se hre: https://onevmw.sharepoint.com/sites/EngineeringRPQ/RPQs/Shared%20Documents/Forms/AllItems.aspx?id=%2Fsites%2FEngineeringRPQ%2FRPQs%2FShared%20Documents%2FRPQ%20Process%20Flow%20v4%5Fnew%2Epdf&parent=%2Fsites%2FEngineeringRPQ%2FRPQs%2FShared%20Documents

Here are the guys who is managing the site:

Kutbuddin Abbas Kothari (c) <kkothari@vmware.com>

Shaik Sarvar Basha (c) <ssarvarbasha@vmware.com>

PM Managers of RPQs from area of:

vSphere is Ajith Urva aurva@vmware.com

NSX-T is Andrew Voltmer avoltmer@vmware.com

Enjoy!

Pozdrawiam/Regards

Przemysław Tomaszewski

Senior Technical Account Manager

ptomaszewski@vmware.com

Inflancka 4, Building B, 1st. floor

00-189 Warsaw, Poland

+48 668 819 728 Mobile

vELP (VMware Employee License Program)

Fri, 08 Jan 2021 05:55:00 +0000

The VMware Employee License Program (vELP) was created to address the needs for our people to have easy access to Internal Use Licenses (IULs) for use cases, such as Interoperability Testing and QA, Product Training and Familiarization, Solution and Engagement Development and Testing, and Temporary Customer environment assessment where customers have no access to the licenses (i.e. vRNI, vROps), such as VOA.

NOTE: These licenses CANNOT be used for Customer POCs or any other use where the customer has access to licenses. For Legal and Compliance issues, these use cases, unique licenses MUST be assigned to the customer through the Customer New/Extension license request process.

Visit https://velp.eng.vmware.com/my/licenses to apply for vELP activation.

Server rack design and capacity planning

Mon, 11 Jan 2021 20:00:00 +0000

Our VMware local SE team has got a great Christmas present from regional Intel BU. Four rack servers with very nice technical specifications and the latest Intel Optane technology. Here is the server technical spec: Node ConfigurationDescriptionQuantityCPUIntel Platinum 8280L (28 cores, max memory 4.5TB)

ISO to USB MacOSX

Sun, 17 Jan 2021 10:44:00 +0000

Flash OS images to SD cards & USB drives, safely and easily.

https://www.balena.io/etcher/

vSphere With Tanzu network architecture

Mon, 25 Jan 2021 20:12:00 +0000

Three VDS port groups

Management (supervisor cluster - K8S Control Plane)
Frontend (Load Balancer - Ingress Controller)
Workload (K8S pods)

Solution Architecture of vSphere with Tanzu

NSX-T for vSphere with Tanzu feature

NSX IPAM

Segmented Network Topology

Isolation via Firewall

LoadBalancing

VCF Deployment

Mon, 25 Jan 2021 21:16:00 +0000

Network Planning - Deployment

Seven networks are required

Management
vMotion
vSAN
NSX-T Host Overlay
NSX-T Edge Uplink 1
NSX-T Edge Uplink 2
NSX-T Edge Overlay

Application Virtual Networks (AVN)

Multi-NIC Support

Support up to 6 pNICs

3 VDS profiles

Profile 1 - supports adding additional pNICs to a signle default VDS for more bandwidth
Profile 2 - supports separated NSX-T traffic to a second VDS
Profile 3 - supports separated vSAN Trafic to a second VDS

New GS Lightning Feature For TAMs | EA Member Notification & Automatically Be Added Into SR Emails

Wed, 27 Jan 2021 22:14:00 +0000

Hello fellow TAMs.

A few months ago on our TAM Chat #337: Latest Updates from GS Lightning for TAMs, a feature request was asked of our GS Lightning PM. This past week, I have been working our PM & SFDC Helpdesk on the new feature. Thanks to a few TAMs who helped test, we can confirm that this new feature is working and available for all TAMs if you wish to activate it.

Our New EA Member Notification Feature

All TAMs have the ability inside GS Lightning to associate themselves with our customers’ Entitlement Account Number. As part of this process there are two check boxes. Subscribe & Opting For Case Emails.

By checking both boxes your email address will be automatically cc’d into the email chains and visible to your customer from the first outbound email.

Feedback has already been positive; “Other than me adding myself to the EA per your instructions, I have absolutely no idea why I’m added to the SR email chain. Which is a good thing….we want to be tagged on the SRs”

Show your value and dedication to your customer by automatically & effortlessly including your name into every SR.

How To Set Up This New Feature

From inside GS Lightning, open up one of the most recent SRs for your customer
Using the left-hand pane. Scroll down and look for the Entitlement Account Number (which is a hyperlink). If your SR does not display an Entitlement Account Number, the SR might be a non-technical SR (License, portal etc.) or has been opened outside of the EA. Try another SR or search for the EA Number via a report.
Click on the Entitlement Account Number hyperlink.

The Entitlement Account page should be displayed, at the top click on EA Members

On the righthand side of the EA Members page, click New

Next enter the information in the New EA Members screen

A meaningful reference that you will recognize
Start to type out your full name until your account is listed below (email/username does not work).
Click & Select your name from the populated dropdown

Each completed section will highlight in yellow.

Ensure you have selected both check boxes to enable the account & automatically add the email into the Additional Email field for any new SRs created under that EA.
Click Save

FAQ (AKA All I know so far).

The above process needs to be performed to add your email into the SR Feed/Chain. This is optional, but who doesn’t like to demonstrate value and a one team effort to your customers?

For customers with multiple EAs. The above process needs to be performed for each Entitlement Accounts (EAs) that your customer has. (I feel for you).

This is a similar process to the former SFDC Add Account Member; whereas you received a text based GSS Portal email of a case being open. This new feature inserts your email address into the SR email chain.

I believe that former SFDC process was disabled but this functionality is still inside GS Lightning which results in receiving only the truncated opening summary of the SR. I could be wrong and maybe the Subscribe button here acts in the same manner, but for the EA Member not Account. Feel free to test and report back,

The first email you get cc’d into is the first outbound email from the assigned TSE, you do not receive the initial automated outbound email (aka) the receipt of opening an SR.

How much value is demonstrated here? A customer opens an SR, when they receive their initial TSE email and you are already part of that correspondence chain. I know many TAMs manually add themselves into each case just to provide that value. Now this can be automated.

I am happy to hear feedback or questions and funnel any questions to our PM and Helpdesk.

I wish you and your family well.

Thank you,

Hadleigh Rush

Sr VMware TAM

hrush@vmware.com

480.848.6059

Hipster Shop Architecture - micro services

Fri, 29 Jan 2021 15:34:00 +0000

Nice application architecture

RDF & OWL - the basic framework for modern information scientist

Sun, 31 Jan 2021 16:18:00 +0000

There is no doubt, the biggest public information network nowadays is the Internet, especially, World Wide Web (aka WWW, or simply the Web). It can change over time, however, this is where we are now. We can find a lot of interesting resources on the Web, however, the biggest problem is to find the relevant resource (digital object) and the knowledge in the minimum time effort. This is the reason why the semantic web has been invented.

The Semantic Web is an extension of the World Wide Web through standards set by the World Wide Web Consortium. The goal of the Semantic Web is to make Internet data machine-readable. To enable the encoding of semantics with the data, technologies such as Resource Description Framework (RDF) and Web Ontology Language (OWL) are used. These technologies are used to formally represent metadata. [source]

RDF

RDF stands for Resource Description Framework. RDF is a framework for describing resources on the web. RDF is designed to be read and understood by computers. RDF is not designed for being displayed to people. RDF is written in XML. [source]

SPARQL is an RDF query language—that is, a semantic query language for databases—able to retrieve and manipulate data stored in Resource Description Framework (RDF) format. [source]

If you want to know how SPARQL works, I recommend the training available at [video link] which teaches the basics of SPARQL. It is intended for those who are brand new to working with SPARQL, the core query language of Stardog's Enterprise Knowledge Graph.

Example of RDF Model ...

[source]

The Resource Description Framework, more commonly known as RDF, is a graph data model that formally describes the semantics or meaning of information. It also represents metadata, that is, data about data.

RDF consists of triples. These triples are based on an Entity Attribute Value (EAV) model, in which the subject is the entity, the predicate is the attribute, and the object is the value. Each triple has a unique identifier known as the Uniform Resource Identifier or URI. URIs look like web page addresses. The parts of a triple, the subject, predicate, and object, represent links in a graph.

Multiple triples link together to form an RDF model. The graph above describes the characters and relationships from the Flintstones television cartoon series. We can easily identify triples such as “WilmaFlintstone livesIn Bedrock” or “FredFlintstone livesIn Bedrock”. We now know that the Flintstones live in Bedrock, which is part of Cobblestone County in Prehistoric America.

The rest of the triples in the Flintstones graph describe the characters’ relations, such as hasSpouse or hasChild, as well as their occupational association (worksFor).

Fred Flintstone is married to Wilma and they have a child Pebbles. Fred works for the Rock Quarry company and Wilma’s mother is Pearl Slaghoople. Pebbles Flintstone is married to Bamm-Bamm Rubble who is the child of Barney and Betty Rubble. Thus, as you can see, many triples form an RDF model.

RDFS

RDF Schema, more commonly known as RDFS, adds schema to the RDF. It defines a metamodel of concepts like Resource, Literal, Class, and Datatype and relationships such as subClassOf, subPropertyOf, domain, and range. RDFS provides a means for defining the classes, properties, and relationships in an RDF model and organizing these concepts and relationships into hierarchies.

RDFS specifies entailment rules or axioms for the concepts and relationships. These rules can be used to infer new triples, as we show in the following diagram.

Looking at this example, we see how new triples can be inferred by applying RDFS rules to a small RDF/RDFS model. In this model, we use RDFS to define that the hasSpouse relationship is restricted to humans. And as you can see, human is a subclass of mammal.

If we assert that Wilma is Fred’s spouse using the hasSpouse relationship, then we can infer that Fred and Wilma are human because, in RDFS, the hasSpouse relationship is defined to be between humans. Because we also know humans are mammals, we can further infer that Fred and Wilma are mammals.

All credits of RDF and RDFS examples go to GraphDB Ontotext [source]

OWL

The W3C Web Ontology Language (OWL) is a Semantic Web language designed to represent rich and complex knowledge about things, groups of things, and relations between things. OWL is a computational logic-based language such that knowledge expressed in OWL can be exploited by computer programs, e.g., to verify the consistency of that knowledge or to make implicit knowledge explicit. OWL documents, known as ontologies, can be published on the World Wide Web and may refer to or be referred from other OWL ontologies. OWL is part of the W3C’s Semantic Web technology stack, which includes RDF, RDFS, SPARQL, etc. [source]

RDF vs OWL

Now you can ask what is the difference between RDF and OWL.

RDF is the data model of the Semantic Web
OWL is the knowledge representation languages for authoring ontologies

[source]

Ontology

In computer science and information science, an ontology encompasses a representation, formal naming, and definition of the categories, properties, and relations between the concepts, data, and entities that substantiate one, many, or all domains of discourse. More simply, an ontology is a way of showing the properties of a subject area and how they are related, by defining a set of concepts and categories that represent the subject. [source]

An ontology formally defines a common set of terms that are used to describe and represent a domain. An ontology is domain-specific, and it is used to describe and represent an area of knowledge. It contains terms and the relationships among these terms. There is another level of relationship expressed by using a special group of terms: properties. These property terms describe various features and attributes of the concepts, and they can also be used to associate different classes together.

By having the terms and the relationships among these terms clearly defined, ontology encodes the knowledge of the domain in such a way that the knowledge can be understood by a computer. This is the basic idea of ontology. [Source]

Taxonomy

Taxonomy is the science of classification. Originally, it referred only to the classifying of organisms. Now, it is often used in a more general setting, referring to the classification of things or concepts, as well the schemes underlying such a classification. In addition, taxonomy normally has some hierarchical relationships embedded in its classifications. [Source]

Thesaurus

Thesaurus can be understood as an extension to taxonomy: it takes taxonomy as described above, allowing subjects to be arranged in a hierarchy, and in addition, it adds the ability to allow other statements to be made about the subjects. [Source]

KOS

Knowledge Organization Schemes or KOS, is a general term that refers to a set of elements, often structured and controlled, that can be used for describing objects, indexing objects, browsing collections, etc. They are also used in many scientific areas, examples include biology and chemistry, where naming and classifying are important. Both Taxonomy and Thesaurus, are Knowledge Organization Schemes. [Source]

SKOS

SKOS is an area of work developing specifications and standards to support the use of knowledge organization systems (KOS) such as thesauri, classification schemes, subject heading systems, and taxonomies within the framework of the Semantic Web.

SKOS provides a standard way to represent knowledge organization systems using the Resource Description Framework (RDF). Encoding this information in RDF allows it to be passed between computer applications in an interoperable way.

Using RDF also allows knowledge organization systems to be used in distributed, decentralized metadata applications. Decentralized metadata is becoming a typical scenario, where service providers want to add value to metadata harvested from multiple sources.

[Source]

Tools

There are a variety of tools in the modeling and construction of semantic systems. A very nice list of tools is available at https://thematix.com/tools/

SKOSMOS

Open-source web-based SKOS browser and publishing tool - https://skosmos.org/
Demo available at http://skosmos.dev.finto.fi/en/
Publishing SKOS Concept Schemes with SKOSMOS - video

CONCLUSION

RDF is a standard format for the presentation of data having a network structure. The data network structures are close to oriented graphs known from mathematics.

The basic RDF is a statement in the form of a trinity of subject, predicate, object.

subject = URL of the entity we are claiming/defining
predicate = property (characteristics) to which the entity statement relates
object = property value

An ontology identifies and distinguishes concepts and their relationships; it describes content and relationships. [source]. This is where OWL comes into play.

A taxonomy formalizes the hierarchical relationships among concepts and specifies the term to be used to refer to each; it prescribes structure and terminology. [source] This is where facet classification and thesauruses come into play and significantly improve search relevance.

Back to basics - MTU & IP defragmentation

Thu, 04 Feb 2021 13:26:00 +0000

This is just a short blog post as it can be useful for other full-stack (compute/storage/network) infrastructure engineers.I have just had a call from my customer with the following problem symptom. Symptom:When ESXi (in ROBO) is connected to vCenter (in Datacenter), TCP/IP communication overloads 60 Mbps network link. In such a scenario, huge packet retransmit is observed. IP packets

My iPad Pro - A1652

Sat, 13 Feb 2021 20:14:00 +0000

https://support.apple.com/cs-cz/HT201471

iPad Pro (12,9palcový)

Rok: 2015
Kapacita: 32 GB, 128 GB, 256 GB
Číslo modelu (na zadním krytu):
A1652 na iPadu Pro Wi-Fi + Cellular
Bílý nebo černý přední rám
Zásuvka na nano-SIM kartu je na iPadu Pro Wi-Fi + Cellular na pravé straně.
Kamera FaceTime HD a fotoaparát iSight*
Snímač Touch ID v tlačítku plochy

Top Ten Things VMware TAM should have on his mind and use on a daily basis

Sat, 13 Feb 2021 23:52:00 +0000

The readers may or may not know, that I work for VMware as a TAM. For those who do not know, TAM stands for Technical Account Manager. VMware TAM is the billable consulting role available for VMware customers who want to have an on-site dedicated technical advisor/consultant/advocate for long term cooperation. VMware TAM organization historically belonged under VMware PSO (Professional Services

VMware Tanzu Kubernetes links

Wed, 17 Feb 2021 09:10:00 +0000

https://tanzu.vmware.com/tanzu/standard

https://tanzu.vmware.com/tanzu/compare

https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/7.0/vmware-vsphere-with-tanzu/GUID-152BE7D2-E227-4DAA-B527-557B564D9718.html

https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Tanzu-Kubernetes-Grid/1.2/vmware-tanzu-kubernetes-grid-12/GUID-index.html

https://kube.academy/

VMware Short URLs

Wed, 17 Feb 2021 18:59:00 +0000

VMware has a lot of products and technologies, here are few interesting URL shortcuts to quickly get resources for a particular product, technology, or other information.VMware HCL and Interophttps://vmware.com/go/hcl - VMware Compatibility Guidehttps://vmwa.re/vsanhclc or https://vmware.com/go/vsanvcg - VMware Compatibility Guide vSAN https://vmware.com/go/

Resource Theories, Ontology and Digital Transformation

Mon, 01 Mar 2021 08:47:00 +0000

When you study the various subjects in various disciplines there is the point when you ask yourself what all entities in the widest sense have in common. This is closely associated with Aristotle's question of "being qua being" and is the basic foundation of Ontology [12]. The question of questions is, what is the most abstract object? What is the thing of things?

It seems the resource is used as a thing of things and the most abstract conceptual object applicable in any discipline. Any concept can be based on resources and all other more concrete things can be inherited from the more general resource.

Let's describe the basic characteristics of the Resource

The resource can have various properties describing the more concrete object attributes
The more general resource can be more precisely specified to be more particular. This is often called inheritance
The resource can be uniquely identified
Resources can be related to each other in various taxonomies

hierarchical inheritance
nonhierarchical relations

Resources can be ontologically dependent on each other

An entity ontologically depends on another entity if the first entity cannot exist without the second entity.

Resources can be classified in various taxonomies

hierarchical classification (aka categories)
nonhierarchical classification (aka facets)

Resources can have the real semantic and not the only description of facts describing the resource. Facts description is leading to misunderstandings and wrong expectations of the real resource semantic.

Various resource theories have been discovered and researched in all science disciplines including

Physics [4] [7],
Politics [8],
Sociology [1] [6],
Psychology [1] [5],
Economy [6],
Marketing [6],
Mathematics [10],
Computer Science [9] [13] [14],
Information Science [11],
etc.

The general concept of resources is very well described in [6].

Different conceptualizations of resources also exist within the psychology and social psychology literature, where the focus is on personal resources (see Törnblom and Kazemi’s [2012, 34–35] boxes 3.1 and 3.2 for definitions of resource and types of resource designations by a variety of theorists). More specifically, resources have been described in terms of their features, usage contexts, value in attaining personal goals, and exchangeability. For example, resources have been described in terms of their inherent properties and situational/contextual conditions in which they are used (Törnblom and Kazemi 2012). A resource’s inherent properties are its intrinsic characteristics, which may consist of its stickiness (Bothner, Godart, and Lee 2010), fungibility (Galvin and Lockhart 1990), divisibility (Blalock 1991), and depletion (Blalock 1991). When described in relation to their situational/contextual conditions, resources have been characterized in terms of their assembly, valence, availability, and exchangeability.

The current trend of Resource Digitalization and Digital Transformation is using computer-based automation. Computers understand only two states, typically represented by 0 and 1. For effective resource digitalization and artificial intelligence leveraging neural networks (aka ANN [17]), we have to digitalize the semantic of resources and not only facts without the context. This is nothing new. For such exercise, philosophers in Ancient Greece leveraged Metaphysics, which is very well described in [15].

Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the fundamental nature of reality, including the relationship between mind and matter, between substance and attribute, and between potentiality and actuality. The word "metaphysics" comes from two Greek words that, together, literally mean "after or behind or among [the study of] the natural". It has been suggested that the term might have been coined by a first-century CE editor who assembled various small selections of Aristotle’s works into the treatise we now know by the name Metaphysics (ta meta ta physika, 'after the Physics ', another of Aristotle's works).

Metaphysics studies questions related to what it is for something to exist and what types of existence there are. Metaphysics seeks to answer, in an abstract and fully general manner, the questions:

What is there?
What is it like?

Topics of metaphysical investigation include existence, objects and their properties, space and time, cause and effect, and possibility. Metaphysics is considered one of the four main branches of philosophy, along with Epistemology (Theory of knowledge), Logic, and Ethics. This is the reason why the digitalization of the physical world objects and the knowledge require all those four main philosophy branches.

Sources (aka resources):

[1] Cognitive resource theory, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_resource_theory

[2] Power resource theory, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_resource_theory

[3] Foa, U. G., Converse, J., Jr., Törnblom, K. Y., & Foa, E. B. (Eds.). (1993). Resource theory: Explorations and applications. Academic Press., ISBN-13: 978-0122613104, ISBN-10: 0122613104, https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1993-97038-000

[4] Eric Chitambar, Gilad Gour. Quantum Resource Theories, https://arxiv.org/abs/1806.06107

[5] Cognitive resource theory and the utilization of the leader's and group members' technical competence, https://doi.org/10.1016/1048-9843(92)90014-7

[6] Michael J. Dorsch, Kjell Y. Törnblom, and Ali Kazemi . (2016). A Review of Resource Theories and Their Implications for Understanding Consumer Behavior. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/688860, https://doi.org/10.1086/688860

[7] Hlér Kristjánsson, Giulio Chiribella, Sina Salek, Daniel Ebler and Matthew Wilson . (2020). Resource theories of communication, https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1367-2630/ab8ef7

[8] Julia S. OʼConnor, Gregg M. Olsen . (1998) . Power Resource Theory and the Welfare State: A Critical Approach, https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3138/9781442678675

[9] Computational resource, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computational_resource

[10] BobCoecke, TobiasFritz, Robert W. Spekkens . (2016) . A mathematical theory of resources, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0890540116000353, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ic.2016.02.008

[11] T. F. Berestova . (2016). The concept of information resources and other components of the theory of information-resource science, https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.3103/S0147688216020027, https://doi.org/10.3103/S0147688216020027

[12] Ontology, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontology

[13] Object-oriented programming, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object-oriented_programming

[14] Object-oriented ontology, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object-oriented_ontology

[15] Metaphysics, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphysics

[16] Faceted classification, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faceted_classification

[17] Artificial neural network, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_neural_network

Aligning Architecture Framework and Technologies Stack - Benoit Sarda

Thu, 04 Mar 2021 13:56:00 +0000

TOGAF Architecture Development Method (ADM)

TOP-DOWN or BOTTOM-UP Approach?

It depends ....

BDAT

Business Architecture
Data Architecture
Application Architecture
Technology Infrastructure

Infrastructure Focus Approach

I would personally switch How and What in the figure above.

Technology - The Where

B.D.A.T

BDAT process

3 Key Takeaways

Description versus Meaning

Sun, 07 Mar 2021 17:19:00 +0000

Description and Specification

What is description?

In [3], the description is described as ...

By the 'description' of an object, we mean an acc full and so definite that one to whom the object unfamiliar can nevertheless, given skill and mater construct it from the verbal formula.

The best object description is the specification ...

Every discriminable part or feature of the object unambiguously named; there is a one-to-one correlation of symbols and the empirical items symbolized; and the logical order of the specification is the order of easiest reconstruction.

Titchener in [3] describes "Psychological description" in the following words ...

The psychological description is analytical, in that the given consciousness or part-consciousness or part-consciousness is analyzed into its elementary constituents, into sensation, images, attitudes, etc.; it is also abstractive, in that the inseparable attributes of these elements or of their groups (quality, intensity, a form of combination, etc.) are specified in the report.

Description and specifications are used in any science and technology discipline. The specification is the form of description.

However, description and specification are never easy; the verbal formulas of the most highly trained observers are likely to be imperfect; every new investigation leads to a new result. Moreover, descriptions and specifications are often warped assumptions. Titchener is correctly pointing that we have several conditions like secondary criteria, stimulus error, logical reflection, laboratory atmosphere, education tradition, pleasure-pain dogma, associationism, sensationalism, intellectualism, and many more.

Meaning and Truth

There are multiple theories of meaning described in [5], however, the meaning is the truth about some objects, affairs or phenomenons. The meaning is typically described by Description using words or symbols in human language supported by pictures, drawings, figures, formulas, graphs, etc. trying to use as full as possible Specification to specified the meaning as close as possible to the truth observed from the external reality.

The next question is what is the truth. Consensus theory holds that meaning and truth are whatever is agreed upon—or, in some versions, might come to be agreed upon—by some specified group. Such a group might include all human beings, or a subset thereof consisting of more than one person, typically subject matter experts.

Sources:

[1] Metaphysics, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphysics

[2] Ontology, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontology

[3] E. B. Titchener. (1912). Description vs. Statement of Meaning, The American Journal of Psychology, Vol. 23, No. 2 (Apr., 1912), pp. 165-182 (18 pages) Published by University of Illinois Press, https://www.jstor.org/stable/1412839, https://doi.org/10.2307/1412839

[4] Karl Pearson. (1900). The Grammar of Science, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grammar_of_Science, https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139878548

[5] Meaning (philosophy), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meaning_(philosophy)

TAM Hierarchy of needs for sales

Tue, 09 Mar 2021 08:29:00 +0000

FreeBSD unattended package installation

Wed, 10 Mar 2021 21:35:00 +0000

env ASSUME_ALWAYS_YES=YES pkg

vIDM Kerberos

Sun, 21 Mar 2021 06:55:00 +0000

VRA 7.4

/usr/local/horizon/conf/domain_krb.properties

https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/65172?lang=en_US

VRA 8.3

/usr/local/horizon/conf/domain_krb.properties

What's new in vSphere 7 Update 2

Wed, 24 Mar 2021 20:59:00 +0000

vSphere 7 is not only about server virtualization (Virtual Machines) but also about Containers orchestrated by Kubernetes orchestration engine. VMware Kubernetes distribution and the broader platform for modern applications, also known as CNA - Cloud Native Applications or Developer Ready Infrastructure) is called VMware Tanzu. Let's start with enhancements in this area and continue with more

RSYNC

Fri, 26 Mar 2021 19:16:00 +0000

rsync –a SourceDirectory DestinationDirectory

When you use rsync, the files that get copied will have a modification date of the same date that the rsync command was run. To overcome this, there is another option that you can specify in the rsync command that will preserve the timestamps during the synchronization process.

Without preserving the timestamp, the files will display the modification date and time as the time that the rsync command was run.

To do this, use the –a option instead of –r, like we used in the command above. The –a option will use recursive mode, preserve any symbolic links, preserves file and directory permissions, preserves the timestamp, and preserve the owner and group.

Source: https://www.techradar.com/how-to/computing/apple/using-rsync-to-keep-your-files-in-sync-1305698

Install NGINX on FreeBSD + Letsencrypt SSL Certificates

Sun, 11 Apr 2021 18:19:00 +0000

OS Update

freebsd-update fetch

freebsd-update install

Package update

pkg update

Install and configure NGINX

pkg install nginx

sysrc nginx_enable=YES

NGINX configuration - /usr/local/etc/nginx/nginx.conf

Web content location - /usr/local/www/nginx

Configuration of virtual hosts is documented at https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/freebsd-nginx-namebased-virtual-hosting-configuration/

Config Example

# m4k.dpasek.com

server {

listen 80;

listen 443 ssl;

server_name m4k.dpasek.com;

ssl_certificate /usr/local/etc/letsencrypt/live/m4k.dpasek.com/fullchain.pem;

ssl_certificate_key /usr/local/etc/letsencrypt/live/m4k.dpasek.com/privkey.pem;

ssl_session_cache shared:SSL:1m;

ssl_session_timeout 5m;

ssl_ciphers HIGH:!aNULL:!MD5;

ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;

location / {

root /home/dpasek/www/math4kids;

index index.html index.htm;

}

Other NGINX Resources

Rewrite rules - https://www.nginx.com/blog/creating-nginx-rewrite-rules/

rewrite ^(.*) https://www.example.com $1 permanent;

SSL Certificates with Letsencrypt.org

# Install certbot

pkg install py37-certbot

# Stop NGINX - this is needed to create new SSL certifiacate

service nginx stop

# Create new SSl Certificate

certbot certonly --standalone

certbot certonly --standalone -d example.com

or more domains

certbot certonly --standalone -d yourdomain.com -d www.yourdomain.com

# start NGINX

service nginx start

# SSL Certification renewal automation

put in /etc/periodic.conf

weekly_certbot_enable="YES"

weekly_certbot_service="nginx" # this will stop and start NGINX service during certification renewal

# for more info look at file /usr/local/etc/periodic/weekly/500.certbot-3.7

# Add the script to restart NGINX in case of certificate renewal

cd /usr/local/etc/letsencrypt/renewal-hooks/deploy/

vi reload_nginx.sh

#!/bin/sh

service nginx reload

:q!

chmod 755 reload_nginx.sh

TAM request for Escalation SR

Fri, 16 Apr 2021 10:33:00 +0000

Escalation request must be send to

GS-TS-CRK-REM <GS-TS-CRK-REM@VMWARE.COM>
GS-TS-AMER-REM <gs-ts-amer-rem@vmware.com>
Technical Support Engineer (TSE) owning SR
Manager of TSE
Manager of TAM

EMAIL TEMPLATE

Email Subject Line: Account Name/ SR Number/ Situation
Example: ABC Bank/ 1234567/ VC Down P1
Email Body:
VMware SR Number:
EA Name:
Product Name:
Customer Temperature:
Support Entitlement:
Issue Description/ Issue summary:
Escalation Justification/ Business impact (Example: Production Down situation/ Deal Pending/ Executive Visibility/ Critical Timeline or Deadline/ Any other important information):
Customer ask/ requested action:

Email should looks like following example ...

Hello REM teams,

I work as TAM for Ceske Radiokomunikace and I’m in touch with TSE (Danijel).

We need traction on this PR 2742319 from Engineering team.

[SR#] 21207723903

[SR Severity]: P1

[PR#] 2742319

[PR Priority]: P0

[SR Open Date]: 3/24/2021 5:59 AM CET

[PR/JIRA Open Date]: 2021-03-25 04:48:13 Pacific

[Customer Account Name] Czech Radiocomunications

[Entitlement]: Production Support Agreement

[Product Name]: vSphere with Kubernetis

[Product Version]: vCenter version 7.0U2 with NSX-T 3.1.1

[Environment Type]: Production

[Production down?]: No but new deployments impacted

[Brief description of the issue / customer background]:
The customer is the biggest Cloud Service Provider here in Czechia offering also CaaS with VMware vSphere Tanzu.

His end users creating TKG guests clusters via vCloud Director are impacted.

It was identified that it is not the vCloud Director problem but vSphere with Tanzu problem.

The problem is with creating new clusters directly in vcenter via kubectl.

Some TKG clusters are deployed successfully, but some deployments fail.

[Business Justification and Impact]: It has a business visibility and impacting cloud provider significantly. It is negatively impacting growth of CaaS service and also the brand name of VMware Tanzu (Kubernetes) product.

[Has EE Reviewed?]: yes

[Manager & Sr. Manager]:

GSS Org - Kevin Garland, Donal Hosey EMEA

TAM Org - David Ginzberg, Amanda Hill EMEA

Thank you
David

David Pasek, VMware - Staff TAM (Technical Account Manager)

Email: dpasek@vmware.com Mobile: +420 602 525 736

Zoom Personal Meeting Room: https://VMware.zoom.us/my/dpasek Password: 344040

Personal blog: http://vcdx200.com

Customer Experience is very important to us.

Please forward any feedback about myself to my manager David Ginzberg (dginzberg@vmware.com)

VMware Process for obtaining Internal Use Licenses from March, 2021

Mon, 26 Apr 2021 20:19:00 +0000

General Information:

· Greetings, if you need licenses for Internal use, there are two programs to be aware of as an alternative to licenses previously furnished on BuildWeb
that are approved by Legal and Compliance:

For Internal licenses for individual use, I suggest that you apply for a set of individual licenses through the VMware Employee License program (vELP)
portal at https://velp.eng.vmware.com, that provides a set of over 40 uniquely assigned licenses for allowed internal uses, as explained on the Portal.
Over 2,100 employees already participate and have been assigned over 95,000 unique licenses.

For Internal licenses for individual use that are not in the package that vELP Participants receive, or need special entitlements, you can apply for
Internal Use licenses through an application process. This same application process is followed if you need long-expiration licenses, such as for PM/PMM
or GSS Labs, or Permanent licenses for our Production Systems.

· To apply for an Internal use license for cases where the vELP Licenses are not appropriate for the reasons cited above, you:

Fill out the form downloaded from https://onevmw.sharepoint.com/teams/WWSSO-License-Management-Info/Shared%20Documents/Forms/AllItems.aspx
The latest available License SKU guidance is always at
https://onevmw.sharepoint.com/teams/WWSSO-License-Management-Info/SitePages/WWSSO-License-Management-Guide.aspx

Obtain your Manager’s approval

Email both the form and your manager’s approval to wwbo-license-management@vmware.com ^✉

There is no charge to your BU/Cost Center to participate in the vELP program or to request Internal use licenses.

Thank you,

Bob Slovick

Senior Program Manager - License Management

Worldwide Sales Strategy & Operations WWSSO - License Management (he/him/his)

VMware Inc - slovick@vmware.com Home Office-Colorado USA MDT/UTC -6 AD0HI

VCP #489 VCP 2-4 VCP-DCV 5-6

VMware Social Internal Evaluation License Support Space: https://social.vmware.com/spaces/18438/feed

The latest available License SKU guidance is always at https://onevmw.sharepoint.com/teams/WWSSO-License-Management-Info/SitePages/WWSSO-License-Management-Guide.aspx

The latest available License Request form is always at https://onevmw.sharepoint.com/teams/WWSSO-License-Management-Info/Shared%20Documents/Forms/AllItems.aspx

To escalate a request, please forward the case information and the reasons for the escalation to license-management-escalations@vmware.com

If you have a confidential license request, or information about licensing of a confidential nature, please email it to WWBO-License-Management-Confidential-Requests@vmware.com

VMware Employee License Program

#489 VCP 2-4 VCP-DCV 5-6

How to create a file in unix like system?

Mon, 10 May 2021 20:25:00 +0000

How to create a file in unix like system?

# cat > text.txt << EOF
This is the file.
EOF

AWS - deploy apache web server

Sat, 15 May 2021 19:20:00 +0000

#!/bin/bash
# Install Apache Web Server and PHP
yum install -y httpd mysql amazon-linux-extras install -y php7.2
chkconfig httpd on
service httpd start

AWS, FreeBSD AMIs and WebScale application FlexBook

Sat, 15 May 2021 21:42:00 +0000

I've started to play with AWS cloud computing. When I'm starting with any new technology, the best way how to learn it, is to use it for some project. And because I participate in one open-source project, where we develop multi-cloud application which can run, scale and auto migrate among various cloud providers, I've decided to do a Proof of Concept in AWS. The open-source software I'm

What are the available pciSlotNumbers for RHEL8 VMs?

Wed, 26 May 2021 12:44:00 +0000

Summary

What are the available pciSlotNumbers for RHEL8 VMs?

Cause

All normally created Virtual Machines with Virtual Hardware version 7 to 19 will have the same configuration:

pciBridge0: pciBridge, 1 function

pciBridge4: pcieRootPort, 8 functions

pciBridge5: pcieRootPort, 8 functions

pciBridge6: pcieRootPort, 8 functions

pciBridge7: pcieRootPort, 8 functions

VMs with this configuration can have up to 32 PCIe devices with the slot number sequence.

160, 192, 224, 256,

1184, 1216, 1248, 1280,

2208, 2240, 2272, 2304,

3232, 3264, 3296, 3328,

4256, 4288, 4320, 4352,

5280, 5312, 5344, 5376,

6304, 6336, 6368, 6400,

7328, 7360, 7392, 7424,

Resolution

It is possible to manually configure a VM to have a different pciBridge configuration, and therefore different pciSlotNumbers but this should only be performed in cooperation with VMware Engineering.

How to monitor / report UNMAP bandwidth for particular datastore

Wed, 26 May 2021 13:48:00 +0000

The following command brings the correct information by using UnmapBandwidthSpec instead of UnmapGranularity.

Get-Datastore LCD002_001 | % {$_.ExtensionData.Info.Vmfs.UnmapBandwidthSpec | Select Policy,FixedValue}

Generate a CSEK key

Thu, 03 Jun 2021 09:46:00 +0000

AES-256 base-64 key.

Run the following command to create a key:

python3 -c 'import base64; import os; print(base64.encodebytes(os.urandom(32)))'

Google Cloud - how to get my IP address

Thu, 03 Jun 2021 11:16:00 +0000

Here is the command

curl -H "Metadata-Flavor: Google" http://169.254.169.254/computeMetadata/v1/instance/network-interfaces/0/access-configs/0/external-ip && echo

Google Cloud : TerraForm

Fri, 04 Jun 2021 13:38:00 +0000

Google Terraform Provider initialization

file provider.tf

provider "google" {}

In shell, run:

terraform init

NOW YOU CAN WORK ON TERRAFORM LOGICAL SPECIFICATIONS.

SEE EXAMPLE BELOW IN THE BOTTOM OF PAGE.

Other commands ...

To rewrite the Terraform configuration files to a canonical format and style, run the following command:

terraform fmt

To initialize Terraform, run the following command

terraform init

To create an execution plan, run the following command:

terraform plan

To apply the desired changes, run the following command:

terraform apply

RESOURCE TEMPLATE

TerraForm Google RESOURCE TEMPLATE

# Create the mynetwork network
resource [RESOURCE_TYPE] "mynetwork" {
name = [RESOURCE_NAME]
#RESOURCE properties go here
}

DOCUMENTATION

Google Cloud TerraForm provider documentation

https://registry.terraform.io/providers/hashicorp/google/latest/docs

Terraform Module variables

https://learn.hashicorp.com/tutorials/terraform/aws-variables

EXAMPLE OF GOOGLE INFRASTRUCTURE AS A CODE

mynetwork.tf

# Create the mynetwork network
resource "google_compute_network" "mynetwork" {
name = "mynetwork"
#RESOURCE properties go here
auto_create_subnetworks = "true"
}

# Add a firewall rule to allow HTTP, SSH, RDP and ICMP traffic on mynetwork
resource "google_compute_firewall" "mynetwork-allow-http-ssh-rdp-icmp" {
name = "mynetwork-allow-http-ssh-rdp-icmp"
#RESOURCE properties go here
network = google_compute_network.mynetwork.self_link
allow {
    protocol = "tcp"
    ports    = ["22", "80", "3389"]
    }
allow {
    protocol = "icmp"
    }
}

# Create the mynet-us-vm instance
module "mynet-us-vm" {
source           = "./instance"
instance_name    = "mynet-us-vm"
instance_zone    = "us-central1-a"
instance_network = google_compute_network.mynetwork.self_link
}

# Create the mynet-eu-vm" instance
module "mynet-eu-vm" {
source           = "./instance"
instance_name    = "mynet-eu-vm"
instance_zone    = "europe-west1-d"
instance_network = google_compute_network.mynetwork.self_link
}

instance/main.tf

variable "instance_name" {}
variable "instance_zone" {}
variable "instance_type" {
default = "n1-standard-1"
}
variable "instance_network" {}

resource "google_compute_instance" "vm_instance" {
name         = "${var.instance_name}"
zone         = "${var.instance_zone}"
machine_type = "${var.instance_type}"
boot_disk {
    initialize_params {
      image = "debian-cloud/debian-9"
      }
}
network_interface {
    network = "${var.instance_network}"
    access_config {
      # Allocate a one-to-one NAT IP to the instance
    }
}
}

vSphere 7 - ESXi boot media partition layout changes

Tue, 15 Jun 2021 17:08:00 +0000

VMware vSphere 7 is the major product release with lot of design and architectural changes. Among these changes, VMware also reviewed and changed the layout of ESXi 7 storage partitions on boot devices. Such change has some design implications which I'm trying to cover in this blog post. Note: Please, be aware that almost all information in this blog post are sourced from external resources

Meeting Minutes format

Wed, 23 Jun 2021 09:16:00 +0000

Dear Team,

Thank you for attending today’s regular bi-weekly call. As always, we really appreciate your update regarding the current status of all on-going activities connected with XXXXXXX.

Below you can find my very short meeting minutes:

Meeting: TBD

Participants: @

Recording: URL

Agenda / discussed topics:

Topic 1: description
Topic 2: description

Next steps / follow-ups:

step1
step2
step3

Thank you and have a great evening!

Kind Regards,

likewise Active Directory - black list of domain controllers

Fri, 25 Jun 2021 13:55:00 +0000

1. Set the black listed DCs
/opt/likewise/bin/lwregshell set_value '[HKEY_THIS_MACHINE\Services\netlogon\Parameters]' BlacklistedDCs ip1,ip2 Eg # /opt/likewise/bin/lwregshell set_value '[HKEY_THIS_MACHINE\Services\netlogon\Parameters]' BlacklistedDCs 10.108.124.21,10.108.124.23

2. Restart the lwregistry.
# /opt/likewise/bin/lwsm restart lwreg

VMcrypt

Thu, 01 Jul 2021 08:41:00 +0000

Data At Rest Encryption with VM & vSAN Encryption

https://vault.vmware.com/group/vault-main-library/document-preview/-/document_library/6KC5yhh3TpWl/view_file/38417227

vSphere 6.5 - VM and vSAN Encryption FAQ

https://confluence.eng.vmware.com/display/VSPHERETECHRESOURCES/vSphere+6.5+-+VM+and+vSAN+Encryption+FAQ

VMcrypt

https://wiki.eng.vmware.com/VMcrypt

VMcrypt technicke podrobnosti

https://wiki.eng.vmware.com/TechPubs/9595VMcryptDocPlan

oficialna dokumentacia k vSphere

https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/7.0/com.vmware.vsphere.security.doc/GUID-E6C5CE29-CD1D-4555-859C-A0492E7CB45D.html

VMware Kubernetes Strategy

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 12:22:00 +0000

Kubernetes (K8s) Stack

Operations and Observability

vSAN Capacity and Performance Sizer

Thu, 15 Jul 2021 12:48:00 +0000

VMware vSAN is enterprise production-ready software-defined storage for VMware vSphere. After several (7+) years on the market, it is a proven storage technology especially for VMware Software-Defined Data Centers aka SDDC. As a seasoned vSphere infrastructure designer, I had a need for vSAN sizer I would trust and that was the reason to prepare just another spreadsheet with my own

FreeBSD DHCP & DNS Server

Mon, 16 Aug 2021 10:50:00 +0000

FreeBSD OS Configuration

FILE /etc/rc.conf

hostname="fbsd01.dpasek.com"
ifconfig_vmx0="inet 192.168.58.1 netmask 255.255.255.0"
defaultrouter="192.168.58.254"

sshd_enable="YES"
ntpd_enable="YES"
ntpdate_enable="YES"

# VMware Tools
vmware_guest_vmblock_enable="YES"
vmware_guest_vmhgfs_enable="YES"
vmware_guest_vmmemctl_enable="YES"
vmware_guest_vmxnet_enable="YES"
vmware_guestd_enable="YES"

# DNS Server
named_enable="YES"
# DHCP Server
dhcpd_enable="YES"
dhcpd_ifaces="vmx0"

Restart the network configuration:
/etc/rc.d/netif restart
/etc/rc.d/routing restart

Software installation
pkg update
pkg install -y open-vm-tools-nox11
pkg install -y isc-dhcp44-server
pkg install -y bind916

OS Tuning

Edit FILE $HOME/.profile
PS1="[${LOGNAME}@$(hostname)]$ "; export PS1

FILE /usr/local/etc/dhcpd.conf

# dhcpd.conf
#
# Sample configuration file for ISC dhcpd
#

# option definitions common to all supported networks...
option domain-name "example.org";
option domain-name-servers ns1.example.org, ns2.example.org;

default-lease-time 600;
max-lease-time 7200;

# Use this to enble / disable dynamic dns updates globally.
#ddns-update-style none;

# If this DHCP server is the official DHCP server for the local
# network, the authoritative directive should be uncommented.
#authoritative;

# Use this to send dhcp log messages to a different log file (you also
# have to hack syslog.conf to complete the redirection).
log-facility local7;

####################################################
# DC-MGMT subnet declaration
####################################################
subnet 192.168.4.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
range 192.168.4.148 192.168.4.198;
option routers 192.168.4.254;
option domain-name-servers 192.168.4.5;
option domain-search "home.uw.cz";
option broadcast-address 192.168.4.255;
}

####################################################
# CAMPUS subnet declaration
####################################################
subnet 192.168.5.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
range 192.168.5.100 192.168.5.199;
option routers 192.168.5.254;
option domain-name-servers 192.168.4.5;
option domain-search "home.uw.cz";
option broadcast-address 192.168.5.255;
}

####################################################
# HOME-AUTOMATION subnet declaration
####################################################
subnet 192.168.7.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
range 192.168.7.100 192.168.7.199;
option routers 192.168.7.254;
option domain-name-servers 192.168.4.5;
option domain-search "home.uw.cz";
option broadcast-address 192.168.7.255;
}

####################################################
# STATIC ASIGNMENTS
####################################################

host printer {
# MX350 - lan
# hardware ethernet 00:1e:8f:89:59:4e;
# wifi
# MX350 - wifi
# hardware ethernet 00:1e:8f:df:e0:f5;
# MB2750 - lan
# hardware ethernet f8:0d:60:24:ab:85;
# MB2750 - wifi
hardware ethernet 00:1e:8f:89:59:4e;
fixed-address 192.168.5.10;
}

host apc01 {
hardware ethernet 00:C0:B7:CE:40:D9;
fixed-address 192.168.4.11;
option host-name "apc01";
option domain-name "home.uw.cz";
}

host apc02 {
hardware ethernet 00:C0:B7:60:D6:93;
fixed-address 192.168.4.12;
option host-name "apc02";
option domain-name "home.uw.cz";
}

FILE /usr/local/etc/namedb/named.conf

options {
        // All file and path names are relative to the chroot directory,
        // if any, and should be fully qualified.
        directory       "/usr/local/etc/namedb/working";
        pid-file        "/var/run/named/pid";
        dump-file       "/var/dump/named_dump.db";
        statistics-file "/var/stats/named.stats";
        allow-query     { any; };
        allow-transfer { any; };

// If named is being used only as a local resolver, this is a safe default.
// For named to be accessible to the network, comment this option, specify
// the proper IP address, or delete this option.
        listen-on       { 127.0.0.1; 192.168.4.5; };

// These zones are already covered by the empty zones listed below.
// If you remove the related empty zones below, comment these lines out.
        disable-empty-zone "255.255.255.255.IN-ADDR.ARPA";
        disable-empty-zone "0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.IP6.ARPA";
        disable-empty-zone "1.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.IP6.ARPA";

// If you've got a DNS server around at your upstream provider, enter
// its IP address here, and enable the line below. This will make you
// benefit from its cache, thus reduce overall DNS traffic in the Internet.
        forwarders {
                8.8.8.8; 8.8.4.4;
        };
};

// The traditional root hints mechanism. Use this, OR the slave zones below.
zone "." { type hint; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/named.root"; };

// RFCs 1912, 5735 and 6303 (and BCP 32 for localhost)
zone "localhost"        { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/localhost-forward.db"; };
zone "127.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/localhost-reverse.db"; };
zone "255.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };

// RFC 1912-style zone for IPv6 localhost address (RFC 6303)
zone "0.ip6.arpa"       { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/localhost-reverse.db"; };

// "This" Network (RFCs 1912, 5735 and 6303)
zone "0.in-addr.arpa"   { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };

// Private Use Networks (RFCs 1918, 5735 and 6303)
zone "10.in-addr.arpa"     { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "16.172.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "17.172.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "18.172.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "19.172.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "20.172.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "21.172.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "22.172.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "23.172.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "24.172.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "25.172.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "26.172.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "27.172.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "28.172.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "29.172.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "30.172.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "31.172.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "168.192.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };

// Shared Address Space (RFC 6598)
zone "64.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "65.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "66.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "67.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "68.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "69.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "70.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "71.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "72.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "73.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "74.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "75.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "76.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "77.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "78.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "79.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "80.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "81.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "82.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "83.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "84.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "85.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "86.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "87.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "88.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "89.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "90.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "91.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "92.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "93.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "94.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "95.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "96.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "97.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "98.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "99.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "100.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "101.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "102.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "103.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "104.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "105.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "106.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "107.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "108.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "109.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "110.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "111.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "112.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "113.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "114.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "115.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "116.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "117.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "118.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "119.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "120.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "121.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "122.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "123.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "124.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "125.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "126.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "127.100.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };

// Link-local/APIPA (RFCs 3927, 5735 and 6303)
zone "254.169.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };

// IETF protocol assignments (RFCs 5735 and 5736)
zone "0.0.192.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };

// TEST-NET-[1-3] for Documentation (RFCs 5735, 5737 and 6303)
zone "2.0.192.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "100.51.198.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "113.0.203.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };

// IPv6 Example Range for Documentation (RFCs 3849 and 6303)
zone "8.b.d.0.1.0.0.2.ip6.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };

// Router Benchmark Testing (RFCs 2544 and 5735)
zone "18.198.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "19.198.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };

// IANA Reserved - Old Class E Space (RFC 5735)
zone "240.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "241.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "242.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "243.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "244.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "245.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "246.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "247.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "248.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "249.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "250.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "251.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "252.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "253.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "254.in-addr.arpa" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };

// IPv6 Unassigned Addresses (RFC 4291)
zone "1.ip6.arpa"       { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "3.ip6.arpa"       { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "4.ip6.arpa"       { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "5.ip6.arpa"       { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "6.ip6.arpa"       { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "7.ip6.arpa"       { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "8.ip6.arpa"       { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "9.ip6.arpa"       { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "a.ip6.arpa"       { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "b.ip6.arpa"       { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "c.ip6.arpa"       { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "d.ip6.arpa"       { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "e.ip6.arpa"       { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "0.f.ip6.arpa"     { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "1.f.ip6.arpa"     { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "2.f.ip6.arpa"     { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "3.f.ip6.arpa"     { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "4.f.ip6.arpa"     { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "5.f.ip6.arpa"     { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "6.f.ip6.arpa"     { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "7.f.ip6.arpa"     { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "8.f.ip6.arpa"     { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "9.f.ip6.arpa"     { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "a.f.ip6.arpa"     { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "b.f.ip6.arpa"     { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "0.e.f.ip6.arpa"   { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "1.e.f.ip6.arpa"   { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "2.e.f.ip6.arpa"   { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "3.e.f.ip6.arpa"   { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "4.e.f.ip6.arpa"   { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "5.e.f.ip6.arpa"   { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "6.e.f.ip6.arpa"   { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "7.e.f.ip6.arpa"   { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };

// IPv6 ULA (RFCs 4193 and 6303)
zone "c.f.ip6.arpa"     { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "d.f.ip6.arpa"     { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };

// IPv6 Link Local (RFCs 4291 and 6303)
zone "8.e.f.ip6.arpa"   { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "9.e.f.ip6.arpa"   { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "a.e.f.ip6.arpa"   { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "b.e.f.ip6.arpa"   { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };

// IPv6 Deprecated Site-Local Addresses (RFCs 3879 and 6303)
zone "c.e.f.ip6.arpa"   { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "d.e.f.ip6.arpa"   { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "e.e.f.ip6.arpa"   { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };
zone "f.e.f.ip6.arpa"   { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };

// IP6.INT is Deprecated (RFC 4159)
zone "ip6.int" { type master; file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/empty.db"; };

zone "home.uw.cz" {
type master;
file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/master/home.uw.cz.db";
};

zone "robo-p6.uw.cz" {
        type slave;
        file "/usr/local/etc/namedb/slave/robo-p6.uw.cz.slave";
        masters {
                192.168.162.250;
        };
        notify yes;
};

FILE /usr/local/etc/namedb/master/home.uw.cz.db

$TTL 10800
home.uw.cz.    IN      SOA      ns1.home.uw.cz. dpasek.home.uw.cz. (
                                2022011101      ; Serial
                                10800           ; Refresh
                                3600            ; Retry
                                604800          ; Expire
                                300             ; Negative Response TTL
                        )

; DNS Servers
                IN      NS      ns1.home.uw.cz.

; MX Records
;                IN      MX 10   mx.example.org.
;                IN      MX 20   mail.example.org.

; Segment VLAN 4 - 192.168.4.0/24
is01            IN      A       192.168.4.4
ns1             IN      A       192.168.4.5
apc01           IN      A       192.168.4.11
apc02           IN      A       192.168.4.12
;ns2             IN      A       192.168.4.20
nas-sata        IN      A       192.168.4.21
nas-ssd         IN      A       192.168.4.22
mwin01          IN      A       192.168.4.23
mwin02          IN      A       192.168.4.25
syslog          IN      A       192.168.4.51
vro             IN      A       192.168.4.53
vrepl           IN      A       192.168.4.54
backup          IN      A       192.168.4.55
temp-garage     IN      A       192.168.4.94
nsxm            IN      A       192.168.4.99
vc01            IN      A       192.168.4.100
esx01           IN      A       192.168.4.101
esx02           IN      A       192.168.4.102
esx03           IN      A       192.168.4.103
esx04           IN      A       192.168.4.104
esx21           IN      A       192.168.4.121
esx22           IN      A       192.168.4.122
esx23           IN      A       192.168.4.123
esx24           IN      A       192.168.4.124

esx01-oob       IN      A       192.168.4.201
esx02-oob       IN      A       192.168.4.202
esx03-oob       IN      A       192.168.4.203
esx04-oob       IN      A       192.168.4.204
esx21-oob       IN      A       192.168.4.221
esx22-oob       IN      A       192.168.4.222
esx23-oob       IN      A       192.168.4.223
esx24-oob       IN      A       192.168.4.224

sw-dc-access    IN      A       192.168.4.253
sw-dc-core      IN      A       192.168.4.254

; Segment VLAN 5 - 192.168.5.0/24
printer         IN      A       192.168.5.10

; Segment VLAN 8 - 192.168.8.0/24
tdm             IN      A       192.168.8.1
vha        IN    A    192.168.8.2
shd        IN    A    192.168.8.3

; Segment VLAN 31 - 192.168.31.0/24
n-vc01          IN      A       192.168.31.100
n-esx01         IN      A       192.168.31.101
n-esx02         IN      A       192.168.31.102
n-esx03         IN      A       192.168.31.103
n-esx04         IN      A       192.168.31.104
n-esx05         IN      A       192.168.31.105
n-esx06         IN      A       192.168.31.106
n-esx07         IN      A       192.168.31.107
n-esx08         IN      A       192.168.31.108
n-esx09         IN      A       192.168.31.109
n-esx10         IN      A       192.168.31.110

; Aliases
loginsight      IN      CNAME   syslog.home.uw.cz.

FILE /usr/local/etc/namedb/master/p6.uw.cz.db

ESXi, Intel NICs and LLDP

Thu, 02 Sep 2021 12:35:00 +0000

This will be a very short blog post because Dusan Tekeljak has already written a blog post about this topic. Nevertheless, I was not aware about such Intel NIC driver behavior which is pretty interesting, thus writing this blog post for broader awareness.My customer who is modernizing their physical networking and implementing Cisco ACI, therefore moving from CDP (Cisco Discovery Protocol) to

vSphere design : ESXi protection against network port flapping

Thu, 09 Sep 2021 16:06:00 +0000

I've just finished a root cause analysis of VM restart in customer production environment, so let me share with you the symptoms of the problem, current customer's vSphere design and recommended improvement to avoid similar problems in the future. After the further discussion with customer we have identified following symptoms:VM was restarted in different ESXi hostoriginal ESXi host, where

Read IO spike every 5 minutes for 7.0U1 (84220)

Thu, 16 Sep 2021 16:26:00 +0000

Symptoms

Storage array experiencing continuous 5 minute read spike and high CPU utilization.
Other storage computations like deduplication and compression can be delayed or stalled.
In our case it was huge environment (200-300 host) connected to Pure storage array

Purpose

This article will explain the reason and provide workaround or fix.

Cause

A change was made ( in 7.0U1):

In hostd to make API call every 5 minutes.
In VMFS a new lighter API was added to get the required stat.

Impact / Risks

Storage overutilization in case of large amount o hosts and large amount of datastores.

Resolution

Not available yet

Workaround

Changing /etc/vmware/hostd/config.xml on each host.
We can recommend to try to 12 hours for customer . Changing vmfsStatsIntervalInSecs=43200.

A one liner to perform this task:

sed -i -e 's/<vmfsStatsIntervalInSecs>.*>/<vmfsStatsIntervalInSecs>21600<\/vmfsStatsIntervalInSecs>/g' /etc/vmware/hostd/config.xml;/etc/init.d/hostd restart

Related Information

30 mins = vmfsStatsIntervalInSecs=1800
1 hour = vmfsStatsIntervalInSecs=3600
3 hours = vmfsStatsIntervalInSecs=10800
6 hours = vmfsStatsIntervalInSecs=21600
12 hours = vmfsStatsIntervalInSecs=43200

Default setting in etc/vmware/hostd/config.xml

<vmfsStatsIntervalInSecs> 300 </vmfsStatsIntervalInSecs>

Confidential or Internal Information

https://bugzilla.eng.vmware.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2580232 change was made ( in 7.0U1)

The relevant PR for this KB https://bugzilla.eng.vmware.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2788282

- Note: hostd datastore refresh invoking VMFS datastore refresh
Vol3GetAttributesVMFS6 -> Res3StatVMFS6 can end up in reading a lot of VMFS
metadata.

- The amount of VMFS metadata read would be proportional to both size of VMFS
datastore and the number of VMFS datastores on ESXi server.

NUMA tunning

Fri, 17 Sep 2021 07:09:00 +0000

Advanced Virtual NUMA Attributes

VM settings

https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/7.0/com.vmware.vsphere.resmgmt.doc/GUID-89C52376-60C3-452A-A269-9F4F7FE489C6.html

NUMA nodes are heavily load imbalanced causing high contention for some virtual machines (2097369) - https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2097369

/Numa/LocalityWeightActionAffinity as 0

RedHat - SCSI adapter

Fri, 17 Sep 2021 12:55:00 +0000

Troubleshooting commands

lspci -nnvv | grep -i SCSI -A 1

lsscsi

lsblk

dmesg | tail -40

dmesg | grep -i scsi

VMware Distributed Switch - vSphere 6.7 versus 7.0

Thu, 30 Sep 2021 15:45:00 +0000

This will be a really quick heads-up for those upgrading vSphere 6 to vSphere 7.I've been informed by one colleague, that his customer had an network outage when he upgraded VMware Distributed Switch (aka VDS) from version 6.6.0 (vSphere 6.7 U3) to 7.0.2 (vSphere 7.0 U2).That was a surprise, as we were not aware about any VDS upgrade issues in the past.The network outage was observed on Microsoft

Enhanced Load Balancing Path Selection Policy

Fri, 01 Oct 2021 09:09:00 +0000

This blog post will be very short.Few years ago I wrote the blog post about this topic. It is available here so read it for further details.What we have today realized with my colleagues, this VMW_PSP_RR sub-policy options is enabled by default, therefore VMware Round Robin multi-pathing policy is considering I/O latency for optimal storage path selection.The ESXi setting can be validated in ESXi

2-Node vSAN Direct Connect and LACP

Sun, 03 Oct 2021 22:54:00 +0000

One of my customers is using 2-node vSANs on multiple branch offices. One of many reasons of using 2-node vSAN is the possibility to leverage existing 1 Gb network and use 25 Gb Direct Connect between ESXi hosts (vSAN nodes) without the need of 25 Gb Ethernet switches. Generally they have very good experience with vSAN, but recently they have experienced vSAN Direct Connect outages when testing

Kubernetes vSphere CSI Driver

Wed, 20 Oct 2021 03:47:00 +0000

The main reason why I do blogging is to document some technical details and design patterns I discuss with my customers. Usually, I decide to write the blog post about some topic, when there are more then two customers wanting to know some technical details or experiencing some technical challenge.Today I will write a first blog about Kubernetes. It seems to me that Kubernetes has finally reached

NSX-T 3.2 What's New

Wed, 20 Oct 2021 14:49:00 +0000

vSAN license not applied correctly

Thu, 21 Oct 2021 16:09:00 +0000

Summary
After the evaluation license expired the enterprise license was applied
The licensed features do not get passed down to the host

Cause
Engineering is aware of this issue in 6.7 and they are actively working to implement a fix for it in 6.7p06

Resolution
We manually applied the licensed features by using the following commands -

esxcfg-advcfg -s vit,allflash,stretchedcluster,erasurecoding,iopslimit,storageefficiency /VSAN/LicensedFeatures

Task & Project Management nástroje

Tue, 09 Nov 2021 07:48:00 +0000

Seznam evaluovaných nástrojů pro Task & Project Management
•   ClickUp
•   Asana
•   Monday.com
•   Smartsheet
•   Trello (Atlassian)

Osobně používám Monday.com několik měsíců za účelem task managementu pro všechny mé TAM zákazníky včetně PČR. Pro osobní task management jsem zkoušel jsem ClickUp, který nabízí omezenou variantu zdarma a viděl jsem prezentace a dema na všechny nástroje přímo od vendorů.

Kdybyste chtěli znát můj osobní žebříček nástrojů, tak zatím to mám takto

1.   Asana, ClickUp, Monday.com
2.   Trello (Atlassian)
3.   Smartsheet

Tři nástroje na prvním místě mají velmi podobnou koncepci a umožňují velmi agilní projektový management včetně managementu utilizace (lidských) zdrojů.

Můj osobní názor je, že pro moje konkrétní potřeby jsem schopen použít jakýkoliv ze třech nástrojů na prvním místě, ale nejtěžší je zavést správný process a metodiku k používání jakéhokoliv z těchto nástroju, protože to není pouze o jednom člověku, ale o týmové spolupráci, takže to musí používat všichni v týmu a to je vlasntě nejsložitější, jelikož to vyžaduje trénink, dril a morálku.

FreeBSD NAT redirect_port

Fri, 12 Nov 2021 22:41:00 +0000

/etc/rc.conf

gateway_enable="YES"
firewall_enable="YES"
firewall_type="OPEN"

nat_enable="YES"

nat_interface="em1"

/etc/rc.firewall

For automatic configuration edit /etc/rc.firewall, search for ${firewall_type}=[Oo][Pp][Ee][Nn] and in section firewall_nat_enable add following two lines.

${fwcmd} nat 1 config if ${firewall_nat_interface} redirect_port tcp 192.168.100.252:80 80
${fwcmd} add 50 nat 1 ip4 from any to any via ${firewall_nat_interface}

NSX-T North-South Performance

Fri, 26 Nov 2021 15:23:00 +0000

Here is the slide from internal testing ...

VMware vSphere Replication - performance tests

Fri, 26 Nov 2021 15:40:00 +0000

FreeBSD - OpenVPN

Sat, 27 Nov 2021 20:16:00 +0000

Client behind NAT establishing connection

file /etc/rc.conf

openvpn_enable="YES"
openvpn_configfile="/usr/local/etc/openvpn/client/client.conf"

gateway_enable="YES"

file /usr/local/etc/openvpn/client/client.conf

client
tls-client

cipher AES-256-CBC

pull
dev tun
proto udp
remote 104.248.252.189 1194
nobind
user nobody
group nogroup
persist-key
persist-tun
key-direction 1
tls-auth /usr/local/etc/openvpn/client/ta.key 1
comp-lzo
verb 3
ca /usr/local/etc/openvpn/client/ca.crt
cert /usr/local/etc/openvpn/client/client.crt
key /usr/local/etc/openvpn/client/client.key
remote-cert-tls server

Server in cloud

file /etc/rc.conf

openvpn_enable="YES"
openvpn_configfile="/usr/local/etc/openvpn/server/server.conf"

nginx_enable="YES"

file /usr/local/etc/openvpn/server/server.conf

port 1194

proto udp

dev tun

ca /usr/local/etc/openvpn/server/ca.crt
cert /usr/local/etc/openvpn/server/issued/server.crt
key /usr/local/etc/openvpn/server/private/server.key

dh /usr/local/etc/openvpn/server/dh.pem

topology subnet

server 172.16.166.0 255.255.255.0

ifconfig-pool-persist ipp.txt

client-config-dir /usr/local/etc/openvpn/server/ccd
route 192.168.4.0 255.255.255.0
route 192.168.7.0 255.255.255.0
route 192.168.9.0 255.255.255.0

keepalive 10 120

tls-auth /usr/local/etc/openvpn/server/ta.key 0 # This file is secret

cipher AES-256-CBC

comp-lzo

persist-key
persist-tun

status /var/log/openvpn/openvpn-status.log

log-append /var/log/openvpn/openvpn.log

verb 3

/usr/local/etc/openvpn/server/ccd/client

iroute 192.168.4.0 255.255.255.0
iroute 192.168.7.0 255.255.255.0
iroute 192.168.9.0 255.255.255.0

Sources:

OpenVPN How To Guide: https://openvpn.net/community-resources/how-to/
Static Key Mini-HOWTO: https://openvpn.net/community-resources/static-key-mini-howto/

Public Cloud Pre-Sales Experts

Thu, 16 Dec 2021 21:50:00 +0000

AWS - Vladimir Simek
Azure - Tomáš Kubica
GCP - Marek Brazina

VMware NSX-T & Cisco ACI - VMware KB 57780

Thu, 16 Dec 2021 22:26:00 +0000

Vyjádření k VMware KB 57780 - https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/57780

Vyjádření k technické integraci

Cisco ACI VMM integrace využívá pro integraci mezi Cisco APIC (ACI management) a NSX -T Managerem (NSX management) veřejné NSX-T API.

Přes to veřejné API Cisco APIC vytváří NSX-T segmenty (L2 segmenty), které jsou backované VLANama (Cisco VLANám říká EPG – Endpoint Groups), které jsou routované fyzickými prvky ACI.

Takováto síťová architektura může naprosto bez problému koexistovat s NSX-T segment, kter0 jsou backované

Vyjádření k VMware supportu

Komentáře k jednotlivým odstavcům z KB článku.

“VMware supports vSphere, NSX-T, and all features available through public APIs.“

Z tohoto pohledu je výše uvedená integrace podporována.

“Any API level integration implemented by a third-party vendor/editor outside of a certified partner program is a customer’s responsibility and is not supported by VMware.“

Z tohoto pohledu je zodpovědnost za výše uvedenou integraci na zákazníkovi, případně jeho dodavateli automatizace využívající veřejné VMware API. V tomto případě Cisco, které se tomu vůbec nevyhýbá, ba naopak. Viz. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6brL3taS6V8&t=224s a komentáře pod školícím modulem.

Jinak K VMware API lze dokoupit speciální support (https://www.vmware.com/cz/support/services/sdk.html), ale to je v tomto případě zbytečné, jelikož takovou podpouru zajišťuje Cisco. Zákaznící si takový support add-on kupují v případě, že si nějakou integraci vyvíjí sami.

“Cisco ACI VMM and related ACI integrations leverage the vSphere and NSX-T APIs but developed outside of any formal partner program and not supported by VMware.”

Znovu je tu řečeno, že ACI VMM integrace používá veřejné VMware API, ke kterému reálně ani neexistuje žádný formální certifikační program, takže to VMware Support ani nemůže supportovat.

“For Support Requests directly related to the ACI VMM and related ACI integrations with NSX-T components and how it interacts with vSphere and NSX-T, VMware will request removal of the Cisco VMM component for troubleshooting purposes as per support policy https://www.vmware.com/support/policies/thirdparty.html.

If the issue is reproducible without the Cisco VMM component, VMware will support and investigate as normal.
If the issue is not reproducible after removing the ACI VMM component, VMware will not investigate further.

”

Když by zákazník měl otevřený supportní případ, kde by mohla být nějaká souvislost s ACI VMM integrací, tak support může požádat o odinstalování integrace z důvodu troubleshootingu. To by v tomto případě vůbec ničemu nevadilo, protože Cisco ACI VMM pouze automatizuje vytváření NSX-T segmentů, které by tam zůstaly a vše co na nich běží by fungovalo. Cisco ACI VMM Integrace pouze zjednodušuje (automatizuje) přidávání NSX-T segmentů a ACI VLAN (EPG), což by během troubleshootingu nebylo možné, ale to není nic kritického.

Závěr

Obě řešení

(1) VMware NSX-T software-defined routing i

(2) Cisco ACI VMM hardware routing

jsou validní a supportovaná řešení.

Řešení (1) je plně supportováno VMwarem bez třetích stran.

Řešení (2) je supportováno společnostmi VMware a Cisco, takže v případě potřeby je potřeba mít otevřeny supportní případy u obou vendorů.

VMware si myslí, že v dnešní době je software-defined network routing výhodnější pro většinu případů použití v rámci moderních data center.

Cisco si myslí, že hardware routing je výhodnější pro většinu případů použití v rámci data center.

Obě řešení mohou co-existovat na jedné infrastructure a mohou být zvolena dle konkrétních potřeb zákazníka.

Pouze praxe dokáže pravdivost výše uvedených tvrzení.

Je to velmi podobná diskuse, jestli určité aplikace je nebo není možné provozovat ve virtualizovaných serverech.

Zákazník vlastnící technologie NSX-T a Cisco ACI se může kdykoliv rozhodnout jaký způsob routingu zvolí a nijak ho to nelimituje.

VRA 8.6 and vSphere 6.7 U3 SDRS

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 10:01:00 +0000

We completed our homework related to SDRS testing with vRA8.Testing was performed on vRA8 DEV env and in our DEV vCenter, we have dedicated storage cluster with 2x5TB LUNs with SDRS set up to full auto. Both advance properties VraInitPlacement and VraExpandDisk are set to 1. Same storage cluster is used for vRA7 deployments where everything works as expected.

There are 3 scenarios as we discussed, here are the results:

1) Standard SDRS placement

More scenarios was tested.

a) There was only 400GB per LUN free space remaining. Single machine requested with 70GB OS disk and 2x 350GB data.

b) 300GB free space on one LUN, 500GB free space on another. Single machine requested with 70GB OS disk and 2x 350GB data. Some files were moved for LUN with 300GB free space to be able store 350GB drive.

Placement from vCenter(no vRA) directly

Placement from vRA8

Result: Passed. Both worked as expected.

2) Multi deployment

More deployments in single request to verify if the same recommendation is used for both. 2 machines with 70GB OS drive and 350GB data drive. 500GB of free space on both LUNs.

One machine was deployed successfully, second one failed with error: Provisioning operation failed. Error from vCenter: Insufficient disk space on datastore 'LID021_001'.

Result: Failed. Seems that same recommendation was passed to both deployments. Deployments are from single request, but separate in vRA and they were approved almost in the same time.

3) Existing drive extension

Extension of data drive with not enough space for extension on LUN. On both LUNs was 200GB free space. Existing 350GB drive was requested to be extended about 300GB. Expectation was that some files from LUN where data drive is located will be moved to second one.

Result: Failed. No files were moved to have enough space for extension on affected LUN. Action failed with there is not enough space on LUN.

Seems vRA8 doesn’t use by default property(VirtualMachine.Admin.Datastore.Cluster.ResourceLeaseDurationSec 3600) necessary to utilize properties set up on vCenter. Is it possible to define it somewhere in blueprint (as on 7) or inject in request?