Category Archives: Virtualisation

All about virtualisation. VirtualBox, VMware Workstation, ESXi and vCenter, qemu

VMware ESXi: A (incomplete) list of host commands Part 1

Hi,

here is a list of some cli’s  to control a VMware ESXi host from the command line. Enable the ESXi shell and login to console or connect with a ssh client remotely.
Management
Restart Management, HA Services
/sbin/services restart

Installing Software. List/Install/Uninstall  VIBs (vSphere Installation bundle)

List vibs

esxcli software vib list

Install a vib

esxcli software vib install -v file:/tmp/[NewVIB].vib

Uninstall a vib (determine the Name of the VIB by the list command)

esxcli software vib remove -n VIBname

Install a patch

esxcli software vib install /tmp/[patchName].zip

Network

firewall state

esxcli network firewall get

Firewall rules
Continue reading VMware ESXi: A (incomplete) list of host commands Part 1

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VMware: Limit the maximum number of snapshots

Hello,

in vCenter there is no global configuration parameter to limit the number of snapshots for the virtual machines. The only way is to add a limit in the vmx config file or in vCenter configuration parameters of a single virtual machine.

To set a limit of snapshots which can be taken add

snapshot.maxSnapshots = "6"
or open the configuration parameters window in vCenter and set it there.
vmware-snap-limit
Michael

VMware: Mount a .vmdk virtual disk from command line

Hi,

sometimes you want to modify some offline Vmware virtual disks from command line. For example to copy or edit config files or set some parameters in the Windows sysprep.xml file.

The VMware Workstation does not provide  a command line utility for this procedure. But there is a way to do this. Download and install the Virtual Disk Development Kit.

After installation a vmware-mount.exe command exists in the bin Folder of the installation directory.

To mount a disk readonly, choose a drive letter (X: in this example), start a cmd.exe as Administrator type the command like this:

first, change to the VMware Virtual Disk Development Kit Program folder

cd "C:\Program Files\VMware Virtual Disk Development Kit"

or append the program bin folder to PATH variable

set PATH=%PATH%;C:\Program Files\VMware Virtual Disk Development Kit\bin;


vmware-mount.exe X: d:\temp\VirtualDisk.vmdk

to mount the disk writable append /m:w at the end of the command:

vmware-mount.exe X: d:\temp\VirtualDisk.vmdk /m:w

Unmounting is quite simple:

vmware-mount.exe X: /d /f

Have fun

Michael

VMware: Computer Account is disabled after deploying Windows Clients

Hello,

last week I had to deploy 25virtual Windows (XP) Clients an on VMware ESX Cluster. One of the requirements was that the clients must be member of a Windows Active Directory.

After setting up vCenter (copy sysprep) I installed a reference Windows XP vm, convert them to a template and defined a Customization Specification like this:

Initial Customization Specification

During the cloning process, by using the template with the recently created custom spec, the domain join always fails and the Computer Account was disabled at each try.

Ok, now I tried modify some parameter of the Custom Specification:

  • Changing the Domain from fqdn to the NetBIOS Domain “SUB”
  • Altered the Username to SUB\joinuser or joinuser@SUB or joinuser@sub.domain.org

Continue reading VMware: Computer Account is disabled after deploying Windows Clients

VMware: Cannot connect from vCenter Webclient to VDP Appliance

Hi,

the license of VMware vSphere 5.1 includes the diskbased Backup Solution VDP(vSphere Data Protection). So I’ve decited to try the appliance (Version 5.1 Timestamp 2012-10-02) whether these meets our requirements.

Before I started, I ensured that

  • The DNS forward and reverse resolution of the choosen name and IP address is possible.
  • The User, who manage the backup, have vCenter Administrator rights.
  • all prerequisites are fulfilled

Downloading and installing of the appliance works as expected. The Appliance is properly registered in the vSphere Webclient but I can’t start the VDP Frontend within.

Error Message

Error: Could not connect to the requested VDP appliance. Would you like to be directed to the VDP configuration screen to throubleshoot the issue.

But whats wrong? I’m currently logged on to the Webclient with my Domain Login. When I’m using SSO Administrator admin@system-domain Login the VDP Frontends starts,
also another Domain Login can connect. Something in the chain Windows Domain, Single Sign On, vCenter and VDP Appliance fails.
Continue reading VMware: Cannot connect from vCenter Webclient to VDP Appliance