Showing posts with label VMware. Show all posts
Showing posts with label VMware. Show all posts

Saturday 7 January 2017

Installing vCenter Server 6.0 on Windows Server with embedded Platform Services Controller

Or, How to install vCenter Server 6.0 on windows server 2012 R2?
Or, vCenter Server 6.0 installations guide step by step….

Descriptions: In this article we are going to see, how we can install vCenter Server 6.0 on windows server operating system platform including embedded platform service controller. If you have larger infrastructure of Virtual Servers, you can think to have separate platform service controller but if you have 50-100 or 200 VMs approx, its good to go with single vCenter server with inbuilt platform service controller.

Steps: (Installing vCenter Server 6.0)

Open the vCenter Installer > Right Click on the Autorun Application > Run As Administrator > Click OK if prompted














Select vCenter Server for Windows > Click on Install














Click Next














Accept the license agreement > Click Next














Select vCenter Server and Embedded Platform Services Controller > Click Next
















On this screen, make sure the System name is appearing as local machine’s FQDN > Click Next














Select Create a new vCenter Single Sign-on domain > fill the all required fields as per your environment > Click Next














Better to go with option Specify a user service account > Use any privileged account as per your requirement > Make sure the user account you are using here is member of local admin group on the local system > Click Next














Click Use an Embedded Database or if you want to use any external database, it’s your choice..., I am going with default














Leave all field to default and Click Next














Choose the Installation directory or leave it to default and Click Next














Click Next














Click Install














Wait for Installation to be completed……














Click Finish to close the installation Wizard














To verify of the installation is done correctly, you can use vSphere client to login to your vCenter Server..

For the first time login, you can use following details to connect your vCenter server:
IP/Host Name:  Your vCenter server IP
User Name:        administrator@vsphere.local
Password:           the password you gave while installation of vCenter server.

After successful logon, this is how it will look like..














Cheers, have a happy virtualization… Please write me back for any query or feedback….

Wednesday 4 January 2017

VMware vSphere Client Login Error (The type initializer for ‘VirtualInfrastructure.Utils.ClientsXml’ threw and exception).

Or, getting error while login in vSphere Client (The type initializer for ‘VirtualInfrastructure.Utils.ClientsXml’ threw and exception).

Error Message Screenshot (How it looks like):
























Solution/Workaround (Worked for me):

1. Reinstall vSphere Client
2. Recreate your Windows User Profile.

Updated: 08/03/2017

See AlsoHow to delete windows users profile?

Cheers!!

Friday 30 December 2016

Creating and configuring new VLANs in CISCO UCS Blade chassis and associating to VMware vSphere Port Groups.

Or, How to create and configure new VLANs in CISCO UCS Blade Chassis?
Or, How to create new VLAN and Virtual Network Port Group in VMware vSphere?

Descriptions:  This article will guide you to create and configure new VLANs in CISCO UCS Blade Chassis and associating that to VMWare vSphere port groups. Here you have two choices, either you can use the newly created VLAN ID details in CISCO UCS with any of the exiting VMware vSphere Port Groups or You can choose to create new Virtual Network Port Group VMware vSphere to associate newly created VLANs ID details.

Scenario:  We are running with a requirement to create a Seprate VLAN for IT Infra Servers. To achieve this requirement, we have to first create and configure the VLAN details in CISCO UCS Blade Chassis and after that we have to associate this VLAN details with newly created VMware Port Group which is created specifically for IT Infra Servers.

Prerequisites:
You must have a VLAN ID, VLAN subnet details, and VLAN Name already decided.
Make sure the VLAN is fully functional at switch level (check and confirm with your network team).
Admin rights or equivalent appropriate rights on CISCO UCS Infra and VMware Infra.


Steps (Configuring new VLANs in CISCO UCS Blade Chassis):

Login to CISCO UCS Blade Chassis using administrative credentials.








Navigate to LAN > VLANs > Right Click on VLANs > Click in Create VLANs
















Give a suitable VLAN Name > Fill the VLAN ID number you received from your network Team > Click OK to save the changes





















Now go to VLAN Groups > Select your VLAN Group > Click on Edit VLAN Group Members











Enable Check Mark on VLAN Name you had created in last step > Click Next > Click on Finish





















Now, Go to Servers tab > Service Profiles > Select the Service Profile for any Blade Servers > Go to vNICs > Modify VLANs > Enable Check mark on the VLAN Name you created already > Click OK

Note: You have to repeat this step for All Service Profiles and each vNICs associated with these Service Profiles.













Steps (Creating Virtual Network Port Group in VMware vSphere):

Login to VMware vSphere Client with administrative access

























Choose the ESXi Host > Go to Configuration tab > Networking > Properties











Click on Add


















Select Virtual Machine > Click Next


















Provide the suitable Network Label > Fill in the VLAN ID Click Next


















Click Finish to close the wizard


















Cheers, please write me back if you have any query or feedback on this.

Saturday 10 December 2016

Configuration Issues: System logs on host are stored on non-persistent storage.

Or, How to fix ESXi host configuration issues alert ‘System logs on host are stored on non-persistent storage’?
Or, VMware ESXi 6.0 error ‘System logs on host are stored on non-persistent storage’.

Descriptions: By-default VMware ESXi host logs are saved to non-persistent disk. Means, if in case your ESXi host OS get crashed due to any reason, all the logs will be lost/deleted. To avoid this situation, its always recommended that you save your ESXi hosts logs on persistent disk. E.g any datastore available in your VMware infra.


The error message looks like below:







Steps: Creating dedicated folders for saving logs of all ESXi hosts and changing the default folder path.

Login to vSphere console with administrative privilege > Go to Datastores and Datastore Clusters > Right click on any of the Datastore you wish to use and Click Browse



















Create a Folder ‘AllHostsLogs’ > Create Sub-folders inside this folder as many as number of ESXi Hosts. E.g. ESXiHost01, ESXiHost02 etc...










Note down the paths of each folder you created dedicately for each ESXi hosts. In my case, for ESXi Host 01, the path is “[DC9] AllHostsLogs/ESXiHost01” and so on for other ESXi hosts.








Go to the ESXi-01 host > Configuration > Advanced Settings


















Find the value “Syslog” > Go to “Syslog.global.logDir





















Under ‘Syslog.global.logDir’, write the log path for ESXi-01 Host. In my case, its “[DC9] AllHostsLogs/ESXiHost01”.











That’s it. Please save the configuration now and you are done. Cheers.

Saturday 3 December 2016

How to update or install drivers on VMware ESXi Host 6.0?

Or, Installing or updating drivers on VMware ESXi Host 6.0.

Steps:
Create a dedicated folder in any of the free Datastore to copy the driver’s files.  In my case, I have created a folder ‘ESXiDUpdate’ in Datastore ‘DC8’ and copied the driver’s files here.










Take any of the ESXi Host in maintenance mode > Enable SSH and access the host using Putty > Login with root credentials.









Navigate to the Datastore and Drivers files. In My case, I executed following command sequentially:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#pwd
#cd /vmfs/volumes/DC8/ESXiDUpdate/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------





Now run below command with full path of the driver file. Driver file name in marked in yellow. Make sure you replace this section with the file name you want to be there.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#esxcli software vib install -v /vmfs/volumes/DC8/ESXiDUpdate/scsi-fnic_1.6.0.28-1OEM.600.0.0.2494585.vib --no-sig-check
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




Wait for driver update to be completed.





Note: You must take a reboot of the server upon successful completion of driver update.

Saturday 19 November 2016

CISCO UCS B200 M3 Blade Servers and Infrastructure Firmware Upgrade Process

Or, How to upgrade firmware of CISCO UCS Mini Blade Chassis and Servers.
Or, How to upgrade firmware of CISCO UCS B200 M3 Blade servers?
Or, Step by step instruction for upgrading Firmware on CISCO UCS B200 M3 Blade Server and Infrastructure.

Descriptions:
To ensure a smooth and hustle free upgrade of firmware for your CISCO UCS mini blade chassis Infra and Blade Servers, its always recommended to first check the inoperability matrix for appropriate hardware and software support as well as compatibility support.
Its better you check with CISCO Tech Support and your software vendor for all kind of dependencies and compatibility checks.

Scenario/Environment:
- Want to upgrade firmware of Infrastructure(Management, Fiber Interconnect etc..) and Blade Servers.
- Current ruining firmware version:              3.1 (1e).
Upgrading to firmware version:                 3.1 (2b).
Blade Server’s Operating System:            VMware ESXi 6.0 U3

Activity Approach:
Upgrade firmware on Infrastructure using auto upgrade method.
- Upgrade firmware on all Blade Servers one by one using service profile.

Sequences/Prerequisites Checks
Verify if there is any hardware error, if yes, please get that fixed first before proceeding with              upgrade.
- Download appropriate firmware version for Infra and Blade carefully. 
  In my case firmware version  for Blade Servers is ‘ucs-k9-bundle-b-series.3.1.2b.B.bin’ and 
  for Infra it is ‘ucs-mini-k9-bundle-  infra.3.1.2b.A.bin’.
- Prepare the upgrade package.
- Create Host Upgrade Package.
- Proceed with Infrastructure firmware upgrade.
- Proceed with Blade Servers upgrade (take one at a time). Make sure you have migrated all the VMs
  from the selected host and ESXi host is kept in maintenance mode.
- Check for any drivers update, if required update the drivers too.


Steps: Preparing the upgrade package

Login to UCS Server console with Administrative access.
Navigate to ‘Equipment’ > Download Tasks > Click on Download Firmware








Click on Browse > Select the firmware you downloaded > Click OK > Wait for firmware package to be uploaded and prepared.
















Steps: Host Firmware Package Creation

Navigate to Servers tab > Go to Policies > Root > Host Firmware Packages > Right Click on Host Firmware Packages > Choose Create Host Firmware Package











Name the Package you wish > In the Blade Package selection area, select the appropriate package > Click OK to complete the package creation.


















After successful creation, the new host package should be appearing in Host Package area.













Steps: Infrastructure firmware upgrade

Navigate to Equipment tab> click on Equipment tree area> Firmware Management > Firmware Auto Install > General > Click on Install Infrastructure Firmware












I got this/below warning because one host in my Infra was failed and it’s still in discovery mode. I know why this warning is coming up, so I checked all boxes to ignore.

Click Next


















In the version selection area, select the appropriate package version you had just created in stage-1. In my case its 3.1 (2b).

Enable check mark on Upgrade Now and Click on Finish


















Verify if the upgrade has been started (it should show in progress).









Wait for Infra firmware upgrade to be completed successfully. Usually it takes 1-3 hrs to complete the upgrade process.


Steps: Host Firmware Upgrade

Navigate to Chassis > Servers > Select the Server you want to proceed with (in my case, Server-1) > In Service Profile section, click on the service profile Hyperlink as highlighted in below screenshot












Go to Policies > Firmware Policies > Host Firmware Package > Select the appropriate package from the drop down list > Click Save Changes















Click Yes to confirm the changes












When prompted (in Pending Activities), enable check mark on Reboot Now > Click OK > Click OK

























Now the upgrade will be initiated for Blade Server-1. You can check the FSM to monitor the upgrade status.








Note:  Repeat the same host upgrade steps for all the Hosts one by one carefully.

Cheers! Please write me back if you have any query or feedback on this.