Category ESXi

Fantastic news! Today I received confirmation I have been given the VMware vExpert Award for the 5^th year in a row. Its great to be part of the vExpert awards and vCommunity.

Looking forward to an exciting year ahead.

Deploying kubernetes on vSphere. Check out the options

Deploy Kubernetes on vSphere

If you’re struggling to deploy Kubernetes (k8s) clusters, you’re not alone. There are a bunch of different ways to deploy…

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VMworld 2019 Europe session scheduling is now…

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vSphere 6.7 Update 1 is now available!

Download VMware vSphere. Run fewer servers and reduce capital and operating costs using VMware vSphere to build a cloud computing infrastructure.

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Configuration was :

ESXi 6.7 – vSphere handling all the port groups tagged with VLANs

Firewall – CISCO ASA

 

Problem : New ESXi 6.7 hosts. A virtual machine if on the same host and vSwitch could communicate no problem. However if a virtual machince was communincating with another virtual machine on another host on a different, subnet they were unable to communicate between subnets and hosts. Both virtual machines could ping their local gateways. Firewall, CISCO ASA was just dropping all packets and showing the following error

Error on the Firewall when capturing ping traffic “No source port  on ping “Error (Type 8, Code 0), Denied ICMP type=8, code=0”

 

Solution

Sometimes its the simple tick box on the Firewall / ASA config

“Enable traffic between two or more interfaces which are configured with the same security levels”

All traffic started communicating and the virtual machines could talk between the subnets as per the rules on the Firewall.

vSphere 5.5 was released in 2013. Now 5 years on and its out of General Support. What does it mean? My simplistic techie take on this is, you still have support if you vSphere farm has a wobble and you need VMware technical support, and don’t be surprised if the solution is to upgrade. However if your still running 5.5 and your not quite sure what to do, feel free to call on a certified professional to plan an upgrade to the latest and greatest release :-).

What does End of General Support mean?

On September 19th, vSphere 5.5 exited its general support phase and moved into something called “Technical Guidance”. In response to this, many have already moved to a newer release of the vSphere 6.x line. Whether it be for compatibility concerns or a reasonable wariness of touching what’s not broken, there are several of us who The post What does End of General Support mean? appeared first on VMware vSphere Blog .

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Logging in to the vCenter Server Appliance fails with the error: Failed to authenticate user

or

Failed to authenticate principal for tenant vsphere.local 6.5 update1

KB on issue https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2147174

Logging in to the vCenter Server Appliance Web Client and / or vSphere Client fails with the error:

Failed to authenticate user
/logs/sso/vmware-sts-idmd.log file, you see entries similar to:

 

• [YYYY-MM-DDT<time> vsphere.local d5ee8f23-b216-4585-b829-6e4c671d6ede ERROR] [IdentityManager] Failed to authenticate principal [Username@DOMAIN] for tenant [vsphere.local]
  com.vmware.identity.interop.idm.IdmNativeException: Native platform error [code: -1765328347][null][null]

Trouble shoot

Login as administrator@vsphere.local

Open VCSA consoleCommand for the appliance

Check VCSA version

vpxd -v

We had : build-8024368

Which log to check :

Become an Expert on vCenter Server appliance Log File Location in 120 seconds

Connect into vCenter Server appliance using SSH as root and browse towards the directory “/var/log/vmware” to see the list of all logs files of vCenter server appliance 6.5
Browse to the log and open file

To go back down a directory in VCSA

cd ../

to check the date and time on the VCSA

date      Note it is displayed in UTC time zone

They time on ours appears to be out of sync between the vCenter Server machine, and the domain controller

 

So we then set NTP on the vCenter Server Appliance 6.5

https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2113610

Steps to enable and add NTP servers on the vCenter Server Appliance 6.5

To enable NTP on the vCenter Server Appliance 6.5:

1. Open a console session to the vCenter Server Appliance and press ALT+F1
2. Log in using the root user credentials.
3. Run this command to view the current settings:
   ntp.get
4. Run this command to add an NTP server:
   ntp.server.add –servers ntp_servername
5. Run this command to verify the NTP server settings:
   ntp.get
6. Get NTP ModeTimesync.getNTP Mode
7. To remove an NTP server, run this command:
   ntp.server.delete –-servers ntp_servername 

    

   Cause

   This issue occurs when:

   • The time is out of Sync with the domain controller the appliance is joined to
   • No NTP time source
   • NTP status down

    

    

   VMware vCenter Server 6.5 Update 1 Release Notes

   https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.5/rn/vsphere-vcenter-server-651-release-notes.html

    

   This blog is funded by AD clicks. See and AD of interest? Click it. 🙂

Overview

This is my interpterion of VMware vRealise Orchestrator at a high level. VMware vRealise Orchestrator is a centralised location to create workflows, create actions and define configuration elements to automate tasks. In ddition there is a useful tool built-in which can auto generate documentation based on your workflows created.

so, how does vRO compare to my previous work?

My first impression of vRO, is the tool reiterates the structure I have been putting in place via PowerShell scripts on previous projects and demonstrations.

Previously I would create a simple CSV which contained all the server / virtual machine information

See my previous work on bulk virtual machine deployments:

The logic is :

Within vRealise the procedures are all done in work flows. Its worth noting scriptable tasks are in JavaScript. Scripts can be added to workflows

The scriptable tasks are more interesting. You can predefine properties/variables to use within the script tasks.

Some nice key features :

• Descriptions area for workflows
• Version control work flows.
• Simple Output to System.log

Is there a similar alternative product I’ve used.

Some of vRO features do have similarities to an alternative product I have recently been using called Octopus. Octopus has the options to create processes, add scripts including PowerShell and version control each release and control releases.

Scripting
Moving on to more advance scriptable tasks in vRO, decisions can then be defined based on If …Else statements to define the output. When scripting within workflows, a simple but effective feature is when a variable is entered in a script, the variable name changes colour.

Out the box options
There are some out the box options such as VMware tools and Virtual Hardware upgrades with vRO workflows.
There are many more advanced topics and work flows. Feel free to share your favourite work flows or developed work flow on twitter @stephenhackers

Note : All opinions are my own.

 

 

Add Custom Attributes for Notes Annotation
………………

A request to add custom attributes for Virtual Machines when using the fat client. (Web client in 5.1 and 5.5 requires a plugin, see “vsphere-web-client-plugin-for-custom”) 6.0 doesn’t see the attributes in the Web Client, 6.5 does, see the 6.5 KB.

Fields required : Applications, Company Name, Owner, Role, VM Cost

Code Below

Connect-VIServer VC6.test.domain
New-CustomAttribute -Name “Company Name” -TargetType VirtualMachine
New-CustomAttribute -Name “VM Cost” -TargetType VirtualMachine
New-CustomAttribute -Name “Role” -TargetType VirtualMachine
New-CustomAttribute -Name “Owner” -TargetType VirtualMachine
New-CustomAttribute -Name “Applications” -TargetType VirtualMachine
disconnect-VIServer VC6.test.domain -Confirm:$false

………………..

Add the details required

………………..

Bulk Virtual Machines Deployment and Zero Clicks Part 1

Add additional code code to add annotation in to the bulk script

$companyname = $item.companyname
$applications = $item.applications
$owner = $item.owner
$role = $item.role
$cost = $item.cost

#Get the Specification and set the Nic Mapping
New-OSCustomizationNicMapping -Spec $custspec -IpMode UseStaticIp –Position 1 -IpAddress $ipaddr -SubnetMask $subnet -DefaultGateway $gateway -Dns $pdns,$sdns

#Create VM using Template with the adjusted Customization Specification
New-VM -Name $vmname -Template $template -Datastore $datastore -VMHost $vmhost -ResourcePool $resourcepool | Set-VM -OSCustomizationSpec $custspec -Confirm:$false

#Set the Network Name
Get-VM -Name $vmname | Get-NetworkAdapter | Set-NetworkAdapter -NetworkName $vlan -Confirm:$false

#Set the CPU and Memory
Get-VM -Name $vmname | Set-VM -MemoryGB $ram -NumCPU $cpu -Confirm:$false

#Set some custom attribute fieds
#New-CustomAttribute -Name “VM Cost” -TargetType VirtualMachine
#New-CustomAttribute -Name “Role” -TargetType VirtualMachine
#New-CustomAttribute -Name “Owner” -TargetType VirtualMachine
#New-CustomAttribute -Name “Applications” -TargetType VirtualMachine

#Set annotation value for custom attributes
Set-Annotation -Entity $vmname -CustomAttribute “CompanyName” -Value “$companyname”
Set-Annotation -Entity $vmname -CustomAttribute “Applications” -Value “$applications”
Set-Annotation -Entity $vmname -CustomAttribute “Owner” -Value “$owner”
Set-Annotation -Entity $vmname -CustomAttribute “Role” -Value “$role”
Set-Annotation -Entity $vmname -CustomAttribute “VM Cost” -Value “$cost”

 

Reports

RV Tools can be used to produce an MS Excel file to output a list of virtual machines and custom annotations RV Tools download

………………

Alternative Report function used
https://psvmware.wordpress.com/tag/get-vm-annotation/

Function Code Below
(greg-get-annotations tested successfully in our lab)……………….

function greg-get-annotations {
<# .DESCRIPTION Greg-get-annotations function stores information about annotation fields for vms in given cluster or in all clusters in VC. It stores the result in an arraylist $vms, you can either create a csv report from this object or display it on screen greg-get-annotations |export-csv -NoTypeInformation c:\file1.csv will export it to csv file etc… greg-get-annotations |format-table VMname,Cluster,CreatedOn,Notes will just display on screen a table with annotations that include : vm name, its cluster and field “CreatedOn” and Notes   .PARAMETER clustername Specifies the clustername against wchi report will be built   .EXAMPLE greg-get-annotations -clustername ‘cluster01’|Export-Csv c:\annotation-report.csv Will procude report on vms that resides in ‘cluster01’ and store it in csv file   .EXAMPLE greg-get-annotations -clustername ‘cluster01’|ft * Will procude report on vms that resides in ‘cluster01’ output it to screen   .EXAMPLE greg-get-annotations |Export-Csv c:\annotation-report.csv Will procude report on vms that resides in all clusters and output it to screen   .EXAMPLE greg-get-annotations Without specified -clustername switch, it will do report regarding all clusters in VC   .NOTES AUTHOR: Grzegorz Kulikowski LASTEDIT: 05/30/2011     #>
param ([string]$clustername)
if(!($clustername)){$clusters=Get-Cluster}else{$clusters=Get-Cluster $clustername}
$VMs=New-Object Collections.ArrayList
foreach ($cluster in $clusters)  {
foreach ($vmview in (get-view -ViewType VirtualMachine -SearchRoot $cluster.id)) {
$vm=New-Object PsObject
Add-Member -InputObject $vm -MemberType NoteProperty -Name VMname -Value $vmview.Name
Add-Member -InputObject $vm -MemberType NoteProperty -Name Notes -Value $vmview.Config.Annotation
Add-Member -InputObject $vm -MemberType NoteProperty -Name Cluster -Value $cluster.Name
foreach ($CustomAttribute in $vmview.AvailableField){
Add-Member -InputObject $vm -MemberType NoteProperty -Name $CustomAttribute.Name -Value ($vmview.Summary.CustomValue | ? {$_.Key -eq $CustomAttribute.Key}).value
}
$VMs.add($vm)|Out-Null
}
}
return $VMs
}

greg-get-annotations |Export-Csv c:\annotation-report.csv

……………………………………..

CSV Out Put

 

 

A recent project revisited deploying virtual machines via PowerCli. Its fair to say this isn’t a new tool but sometimes over looked.

Part 1 /  Part 2

My requirements were to deploy :

• 100+ virtual machines (within a few hours)
• domain join all machines
• license the OS
• various virtual machine specifications
• various Windows OS versions.
• to two different data centers within a linked vCenter setup
• to resource pools
• to different data stores
• to different networks

 

The constraints:

• vSphere 6.0 update 2
• no budget for third party automation tools
• small window of opportunity to deploy the VMs

 

On the plus side there was:

o    Loads of available CPU and RAM
o    Large datastores presented
o    Subnets prepared
o    Stretched VLANs across Data Centers

 

The tools I used to the task

• Excel (CSV)
• Notepad++
• PowerCLi

 

The CSV file example

# Example Bulk_VMs_Deploy.csv

Template	Datastore	VMhost	Custspec	VMname	IPaddress	Subnet	Gateway
2012_Template	Storage1	ESXi.domain	2012_Spec	test2003VL1	192.168.0.191	255.255.255.0	192.168.0.1
PDNS	SDNS	ResourcePool	RAM	CPU	VLAN	Size	Format
192.168.0.10	127.0.0.1	resource1	2	2	VM Network	10	thin

 

The Script

# Automate the deployment of customised virtual machines deployed in vSphere 6.0. Tested against u2
#
# Prereq’s
# 1) Populate the a CSV file called Bulk_VMs_Deploy.csv
# 2) Create a Windows Server template
# 3) Create a customization spec within vSphere for Windows
# 4) Run Bulk_VMs_Deploy.ps1 script via PowerCli as administrator (CSV file must be stored in the same location where the script is run from)
#
#https://blogs.vmware.com/PowerCLI/2015/03/powercli-6-0-introducing-powercli-modules.html
if ( !(Get-Module -Name VMware.VimAutomation.Core -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) ) {

###### IMPORTANT, Check this file path is correct##########
. “C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\Infrastructure\PowerCLI\Scripts\Initialize-PowerCLIEnvironment.ps1”
}
Connect-VIServer VC6.test.domain
#connect to a VC. This also works with Linked VC’s
$vmlist = Import-CSV .\Bulk_VMs_Deploy.csv
foreach ($item in $vmlist) {

#set variables to read from CSV
$template = $item.template
$datastore = $item.datastore
$vmhost = $item.vmhost
$custspec = $item.custspec
$vmname = $item.vmname
$ipaddr = $item.ipaddress
$subnet = $item.subnet
$gateway = $item.gateway
$pdns = $item.pdns
$sdns = $item.sdns
$resourcepool = $item.resourcepool
$cpu = $item.cpu
$ram = $item.ram
$vlan = $item.vlan
$size = $item.size
$format = $item.format

#Get the Specification and set the Nic Mapping
New-OSCustomizationNicMapping -Spec $custspec -IpMode UseStaticIp –Position 1 -IpAddress $ipaddr -SubnetMask $subnet -DefaultGateway $gateway -Dns $pdns,$sdns

#Create VM using Template with the adjusted Customization Specification
New-VM -Name $vmname -Template $template -Datastore $datastore -VMHost $vmhost -ResourcePool $resourcepool | Set-VM -OSCustomizationSpec $custspec -Confirm:$false

#Set the Network Name
Get-VM -Name $vmname | Get-NetworkAdapter | Set-NetworkAdapter -NetworkName $vlan -Confirm:$false

#Set the CPU and Memory
Get-VM -Name $vmname | Set-VM -MemoryGB $ram -NumCPU $cpu -Confirm:$false

#Additional Disk
#Get-VM -Name $vmname | New-HardDisk -CapacityGB $size -StorageFormat $format -Confirm:$false

#Remove the NicMapping
Get-OSCustomizationSpec $custspec | Get-OSCustomizationNicMapping | Remove-OSCustomizationNicMapping -Confirm:$false

#PowerOn VM
Start-VM $vmname

}
#Disconnect from VC.
disconnect-VIServer VC6.test.domain -Confirm:$false

 

 

Disclaimer Please take the code and evolve it into a different project? Credit / Tag me on your project Twitter #StephenHackers

Any use of this code is at your own risk. Remember bulk automation jobs require the right resources to be available.

This project & code was based on :
https://communities.vmware.com/thread/315193
Which progressed to : https://communities.vmware.com/thread/436734

Part 1 /  Part 2