Basic System Administration

ESX Server 3.0.1 and Virtual Center 2.0.1

This document supports the version of each product listed and supports all subsequent versions until the document is replaced by a new edition. To check for more recent editions of this document, see [Link]

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Basic System Administration

You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware Web site at: [Link] The VMware Web site also provides the latest product updates. If you have comments about this documentation, submit your feedback to: docfeedback@[Link]

Copyright 2006, 2008, 2010 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. This product is protected by U.S. and international copyright and intellectual property laws. VMware products are covered by one or more patents listed at [Link] VMware is a registered trademark or trademark of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.

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Contents

Preface

11

GettingStarted
1 VMwareInfrastructureComponents 17
TwoApproachestoManagingVirtualMachines 17 ComponentsofVMwareInfrastructure 19 VirtualInfrastructureClientInterfaces 21 OptionalVirtualCenterComponents 21 ManagedComponents 22 FunctionalComponents 24 AccessPrivilegesComponents 25

2 UsingthisDocument 27
GettingStarted 27 VirtualMachineManagement SystemAdministration 29 Appendixes 29 28

3 StartingandStoppingtheVMwareInfrastructureComponents 31
ESXServer 31 VirtualCenterServer 33 VerifyingThatVirtualCenterServerStarted 33 RestartingtheVirtualCenterServer 34 StoppingtheVirtualCenterServer 34 VIClient 34 StartingtheVIClientandLoggingOn 35 StoppingtheVIClientandLoggingOff 36 VIWebAccess 36 LoggingInandOutofVIWebAccess 36 VMwareServiceConsole 37

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UsingDHCPfortheServiceConsole 38 ConnectingtotheServiceConsole 38 UsingCommandsontheServiceConsole 38

4 UsingtheVIClient 41
VIClientOverview 41 MenuBar 43 PopUpMenus 45 ConsoleMenu 45 NavigationBar 46 InventoryViewTabs 49 Toolbar 52 StatusBar,RecentTasks,andTriggeredAlarms 53 PanelSections 53 SortingandFilteringLists 54 UsingCustomAttributes 55 SelectingandViewingObjects 57 SelectingObjects 57 MonitoringObjects 58 PerformingActionsonObjects 59

5 SystemConfiguration 61
HostConfigurationforESXServerandVirtualCenter 61 ConfiguringaHost 62 HardwareTab 62 SoftwareTab 63 ViewingNetworkConfigurationInformation 64 ViewingStorageConfigurationInformation 64 ViewingSecurityConfigurationInformation 64 ViewingESXServerCommandInformation 65 VirtualCenterConfiguration 66 ConfiguringVirtualCenterCommunication 68 ConfiguringthePortThatVirtualCenterServerUses 69 ConfiguringVirtualCenterCommunicationoveraWebConnection 69 VirtualMachineConfiguration 71 WorkingwithActiveSessions 73 SNMPConfiguration 74 UsingMIBswithYourSNMPTraps 74 UnderstandingSNMPTrapandVariableDefinitions 75 UsingSNMPtoMonitortheComputerRunningESXServer 77
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InformationAboutthePhysicalComputer 77 InformationAbouttheVirtualMachines 78 SNMPTraps 78 SettingUpESXServerSNMP 79 InstallingtheESXServerSNMPModule 79 InstallingtheESXServerMIBModule 79 ConfiguringtheESXServerAgentfromtheServiceConsole 79 ConfiguringSNMPTrapDestinations 80 ConfiguringSNMPManagementClientSoftware 80 ConfiguringSNMPSecurity 81 UsingSNMPwithGuestOperatingSystems 81 SystemLogFiles 81 ViewingSystemLogEntries 82 ExternalSystemLogs 83 ExportingDiagnosticData 86 CollectingLogFiles 87

6 ManagingtheVIClientInventory 91
UnderstandingVIClientObjects 91 AddinganInventoryObject 96 MovingObjectsintheInventory 97 RemovinganInventoryObject 98

7 ManagingHostsinVirtualCenter 99
HostsOverview 99 UnderstandingHostStates 101 AddingaHost 101 ConnectingorDisconnectingaHost 104 AutomaticallyReconnectingaHost 106 RemovingaHostfromaCluster 106 RemovingaHostfromVirtualCenter 108 HostAdvancedConfigurationOptions 110

VirtualMachineManagement
8 CreatingVirtualMachines 113
UsingtheNewVirtualMachineWizard 114 CreatingTypicalVirtualMachines 115

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CreatingCustomVirtualMachines 121 MappingaSANLUN 130 InstallingaGuestOperatingSystem 132 InstallingandUpgradingVMwareTools 133 Limitations 133 VMwareToolsPropertiesDialogBox 135 OptionsTab 135 DevicesTab 136 ScriptsTab 136 AboutTab 138 AutomatedVMwareToolsUpgrades 138

9 ManagingVirtualMachines 141
ChangingVirtualMachinePowerStates 141 UnderstandingVirtualMachinePowerStates 142 UnderstandingTransitionalPowerStates 144 ManuallyPoweringaVirtualMachineOnandOff 144 UsingSuspendandResume 145 SchedulingaPowerStateChangeforaVirtualMachine 146 AddingandRemovingVirtualMachines 150 AddingExistingVirtualMachinestoVirtualCenter 150 RemovingandReturningVirtualMachinesfromVirtualCenter 151 ReturningaVirtualMachinetoVirtualCenter 152 StartingandShuttingDownVirtualMachines 155

10 ConfiguringVirtualMachines 159
VirtualMachinePropertiesEditor 159 ChangingtheHardwareConfigurationofaVirtualMachine ChangingVirtualMachineOptions 170 ChangingVirtualMachineResourceSettings 175 CPUResources 175 AdvancedCPUSettings 176 MemoryResources 178 DiskResources 179 ChangingtheAudioConfiguration 180 AddingNewHardware 181 AddingDVD/CDROMorFloppyDevices 183 160

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11 CustomizingGuestOperatingSystems 189
PreparingforGuestCustomization 190 CustomizingaWindowsGuestOperatingSystem 190 UsingtheCustomizationSpecificationWizard 196 UsingtheCloneVirtualMachineWizard 199 CompletingaGuestOperatingSystemCustomization 200 CompletingLinuxGuestOperatingSystemCustomization 200 CompletingWindowsGuestOperatingSystemCustomization 201

12 WorkingwithTemplatesandClones 203
UnderstandingTemplates 203 CreatingTemplates 204 EditingaTemplate 208 DeployingVirtualMachinesfromTemplates 209 DeletingaTemplate 212 RegainingTemplates 213 CloninganExistingVirtualMachine 215 CreatingaScheduledTasktoCloneaVirtualMachine

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13 UsingSnapshots 221
UnderstandingSnapshots 221 RelationshipBetweenSnapshots 222 SnapshotsandOtherActivityintheVirtualMachine 223 TakingaSnapshot 223 ChangingDiskModetoExcludeVirtualDisksfromSnapshots 225 UsingtheSnapshotManager 226 RestoringaSnapshot 227 ParentSnapshot 228 Revert toSnapshotCommand 229

14 MigratingVirtualMachines 231
Overview 231 Migration 233 MigrationwithVMotion 233 VMotionRequirements 234 SharedStorage 234 SharedVMFSVolumeorNASStorage CPUCompatibility 234 NetworkingRequirements 236
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VMotionCompatibility 237 CPUCompatibilityMasks 238 MigrationWizard 239

SystemAdministration
15 ManagingUsers,Groups,Permissions,andRoles 247
AccessElements 248 AccessRules 248 HierarchicalInheritance 249 MultiplePermissionSettings 249 TasksRequiringSettingsonMultipleObjects 250 Users 251 Groups 253 Permissions 254 Roles 254 CreatingRoles 257 CloningRoles 259 EditingRoles 260 RemovingRoles 261 RenamingRoles 262 AccessPermissions 262 AssigningAccessPermissions 263 AdjustingtheSearchListinLargeDomains 266 ChangingAccessPermissions 267 RemovingAccessPermissions 268

16 MonitoringYourVmwareInfrastructureEnvironment 269
MonitoringYourVMwareInfrastructureEnvironment PerformanceCharts 270 PerformanceChartResources 270 PerformanceChartView 271 SelectingPerformanceChartOptions 271 ViewingStackedGraphs 273 SettingtheStatisticsCollectionIntervals 274 ChangingtheStatisticsCollectionLevel 276 Maps 276 GlobalMaps 277 InventoryMaps 277
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VMotionResourceMaps 277 MapElementsandIcons 279 ViewingtheMaps 280 EditingtheMaps 280 PrintingMaps 284 ExportingMaps 285 NavigatingBetweenMaps 286 DisplayingObjectMenusinMaps 286

17 ManagingTasks,Events,andAlarms 289
ManagingTasks 289 UnderstandingTasks 290 ViewingandPerformingTasks 290 ManagingScheduledTasks 293 ReschedulingaScheduledTask 300 RemovingaScheduledTask 300 CancelingaTask 301 ManagingEvents 303 ViewingAllEventMessages 303 ViewingSelectedEventMessages 305 SortingandFilteringEventMessages 306 ExportingEventMessages 307 ManagingAlarms 308 UnderstandingAlarms 309 PreparingforEmailMessageSMTPAlarmNotification 311 PreparingforSNMPAlarmNotification 312 CreatingAlarms 314 EditingAlarms 320 RemovingAlarms 321

Appendixes
A DefinedPrivileges 325
AlarmManagement 326 Datacenter 327 Datastore 327 Folders 328 Global 329 HostConfiguration 330

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HostInventory 331 HostLocalOperations 332 Network 333 Performance 333 Permissions 334 Resource 334 ScheduledTask 336 Sessions 336 VirtualMachineConfiguration 337 VirtualMachineInteraction 339 VirtualMachineInventory 340 VirtualMachineProvisioning 341 VirtualMachineState 342

B InstallingtheMicrosoftSysprepTools 345 C PerformanceChartMeasurements 349

CPU 350 Disk 350 DRS 352 Memory 352 Network 354 ResourceGroup 354 System 355

Index 357

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Preface

ThisprefacedescribesthecontentsofBasicSystemAdministrationandprovidespointers toVMwaretechnicalandeducationalresources. Thisprefacecontainsthefollowingtopics:

AboutThisBookonpage 11 TechnicalSupportandEducationResourcesonpage 13

About This Book

Thismanual,BasicSystemAdministration,describeshowtostartandstoptheVirtual InfrastructureClientcomponents,buildyourVMwareInfrastructureenvironment, monitorandmanagetheinformationgeneratedaboutthecomponents,andsetuproles andpermissionsforusersandgroupsusingtheVMwareInfrastructureenvironment. Thismanualalsoprovidesinformationformanaging,creating,andconfiguringvirtual machinesinyourdatacenter. Inaddition,thismanualprovidesbriefintroductionstothevarioustasksyoucan performwithinthesystemaswellascrossreferencestothedocumentationthat describesallthetasksindetail.

Revision History
[Link] [Link] P1providesyouwiththerevision historyofthismanual.

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Table P-1. Revision History

Revision 20060615 20060921 Description ESXServer3.0andVirtualCenter2.0versionofVMwareInfrastructure3 [Link]. ESXServer3.0.1andVirtualCenter2.0.1versionofVMwareInfrastructure [Link] virtualmachinetemplate,newvirtualmachinewizard,andmigration information.

Intended Audience
Theinformationpresentedinthismanualiswrittenforsystemadministratorswhoare experiencedWindowsorLinuxsystemadministratorsandwhoarefamiliarwith virtualmachinetechnologyanddatacenteroperations.

Document Feedback
Ifyouhavecommentsaboutthisdocumentation,submityourfeedbackto: docfeedback@[Link]

VMware Infrastructure Documentation

TheVMwareInfrastructuredocumentationconsistsofthecombinedVirtualCenterand ESXServerdocumentationset. Youcanaccessthemostcurrentversionsofthismanualandotherbooksbygoingto: [Link]

Conventions
Table P2illustratesthetypographicconventionsusedinthismanual. Table P-2. Conventions Used in This Manual
Style Blue(onlineonly) Blueboldface(onlineonly) Blackboldface Monospace Monospace bold Elements Crossreferencesandemailaddresses Links Userinterfaceelementssuchasbuttonnamesandmenuitems Commands,filenames,directories,andpaths Userinput

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Table P-2. Conventions Used in This Manual (Continued)

Style Italic <Name> Elements Documenttitles,glossaryterms,andoccasionalemphasis Variableandparameternames

Abbreviations Used in Graphics

ThegraphicsinthismanualusetheabbreviationslistedinTable P3. Table P-3. Abbreviations
Abbreviation VC VI server database hostn VM# user# dsk# datastore SAN tmplt Description VirtualCenter VirtualInfrastructureClient VirtualCenterServer VirtualCenterdatabase VirtualCentermanagedhosts Virtualmachinesonamanagedhost Userwithaccesspermissions Storagediskforthemanagedhost Storageforthemanagedhost Storageareanetworktypedatastoresharedbetweenmanagedhosts Template

Technical Support and Education Resources

Thefollowingsectionsdescribethetechnicalsupportresourcesavailabletoyou.

Self-Service Support
UsetheVMwareTechnologyNetwork(VMTN)forselfhelptoolsandtechnical information:

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Productinformation[Link] Technologyinformation[Link] Documentation[Link] VMTNKnowledgeBase[Link] Discussionforums[Link]

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Usergroups[Link]

FormoreinformationabouttheVMwareTechnologyNetwork,goto [Link]

Online and Telephone Support

Useonlinesupporttosubmittechnicalsupportrequests,viewyourproductand contractinformation,[Link] [Link] Customerswithappropriatesupportcontractsshouldusetelephonesupportforthe [Link] [Link]

Support Offerings
[Link] [Link]

VMware Education Services

VMwarecoursesofferextensivehandsonlabs,casestudyexamples,andcourse [Link] VMwareEducationServices,goto[Link]

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Getting Started

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VMware Infrastructure Components

ThischapterintroducesVMwareInfrastructurecomponentsandtheoperationsthat youusewhenmanagingyourvirtualmachinesthroughESXServerorVirtualCenter Server. Thischaptercontainsthefollowingtopics:

TwoApproachestoManagingVirtualMachinesonpage 17 ComponentsofVMwareInfrastructureonpage 19 VirtualInfrastructureClientInterfacesonpage 21 OptionalVirtualCenterComponentsonpage 21 ManagedComponentsonpage 22 FunctionalComponentsonpage 24 AccessPrivilegesComponentsonpage 25

Two Approaches to Managing Virtual Machines

VirtualInfrastructureClient(VIClient)isaflexible,configurablesolutionformanaging [Link] machines:

DirectlythroughanESXServer(asingleorstandalonehost)thatcanmanageonly thosevirtualmachines,andtheirresources,installedonit. ThroughaVirtualCenterServerthatmanagesmultiplevirtualmachinesandtheir resourcesdistributedovermanyESXServerhosts.

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ThefigurebelowillustratesthecomponentsinanESXServerVirtualInfrastructure.
VI Client VI Client

Host Agent

VM

VM

VM

ESX Server host

datastore

Figure 1-1. VMware Infrastructure Components with an ESX Server ThefigurebelowillustratesthecomponentsinaVirtualCenterServerVirtual Infrastructure.
VI Client VI Client VI Client VI Client VI Client

VirtualCenter License Server

VirtualCenter Server

VC database

VirtualCenter Agent

VirtualCenter Agent

VirtualCenter Agent

VM

VM

VM

VM

VM

VM

VM

VM

VM

ESX Server host

ESX Server host

ESX Server host

datastore

shared datastore

Figure 1-2. VMware Infrastructure Components with a VirtualCenter Server

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Components of VMware Infrastructure

TorunyourVMwareInfrastructureenvironment,youneedthefollowingitems:

ESXServerThevirtualizationplatformusedtocreatethevirtualmachinesasa setofconfigurationanddiskfilesthattogetherperformallthefunctionsofa physicalmachine. ThroughESXServer,yourunthevirtualmachines,installoperatingsystems,run applications,[Link] identifyingthevirtualmachinesresources,suchasstoragedevices. Theserverincorporatesaresourcemanagerandserviceconsolethatprovides bootstrapping,management,andotherservicesthatmanageyourvirtual machines. [Link] ServerisaregisteredhostwiththeVirtualCenterManagementServer,aVIClient thataccommodatestheVirtualCenterfeaturesisavailable.

VirtualCenterAservicethatactsasacentraladministratorforVMwareESX [Link] virtualmachinesandthevirtualmachinehosts(theESXServerhosts). VirtualCenterManagementServer(VirtualCenterServer)Theworkingcoreof [Link] [Link],theVirtualCenterServerruns continuouslyinthebackground,performingitsmonitoringandmanaging activitiesevenwhennoVIClientsareconnectedandevenifnobodyisloggedon [Link] managesandbeavailablefornetworkaccessfromanymachinewheretheVI Clientisrun. VirtualCenterdatabaseApersistentstorageareaformaintainingstatusofeach virtualmachine,host,[Link] VirtualCenterdatabasecanberemoteorlocaltotheVirtualCenterServermachine. ThedatabaseisinstalledandconfiguredduringVirtualCenterinstallation. IfyouareaccessingyourESXServerdirectlythroughaVIClient,andnotthrough aVirtualCenterServerandassociatedVIClient,youdonotuseaVirtualCenter database.

DatastoreThestoragelocationsforthevirtualmachinefilesspecifiedwhen [Link] options(suchasVMFSvolumesonlocalSCSIdisksoftheserver,theFibreChannel SANdiskarrays,theiSCSISANdiskarrays,orNetworkAttachedStorage(NAS)

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arrays)andprovideauniformmodelforvariousstorageproductsrequiredby virtualmachines.

VirtualCenteragentOneachmanagedhost,softwarethatcollects, communicates,andexecutestheactionsreceivedfromtheVirtualCenterServer. TheVirtualCenteragentisinstalledthefirsttimeanyESXServerhostisaddedto theVirtualCenterinventory. HostagentOneachmanagedhost,softwarethatcollects,communicates,and [Link] Serverinstallation. VirtualCenterlicenseserverServerthatstoressoftwarelicensesrequiredfor mostoperationsinVirtualCenterandESXServer,suchaspoweringonavirtual machine. VirtualCenterandESXServersupporttwomodesoflicensing:license [Link],thelicensefilesare [Link], licensesarestoredonalicenseserver,whichmakestheselicensesavailabletoone [Link] licenseserverbasedlicensing. VirtualCenterandfeaturesthatrequireVirtualCenter,suchasVMotion,mustbe [Link] ineitherlicenseserverbasedorhostbasedmode. Forcompleteinformationoninstallingthesecomponents,refertotheInstallation [Link],referto theServerConfigurationGuide.

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Virtual Infrastructure Client Interfaces

VirtualInfrastructureClientinterfaceoptionsinclude:

VirtualInfrastructureClient(VIClient)Arequiredcomponentandtheprimary interfaceforcreating,managing,andmonitoringvirtualmachines,theirresources, [Link]. VIClientisinstalledonaWindowsmachinewithnetworkaccesstoyourESX [Link] [Link] VirtualCenteractivitiesareperformedbytheVirtualCenterServer,youmustuse theVIClienttomonitor,manage,[Link] ServerorESXServercansupportmultiple,simultaneouslyconnectedVIClients.

VirtualInfrastructureWebAccess(VIWebAccess)AWebinterfacethrough whichyoucanperformbasicvirtualmachinemanagementandconfigurationand [Link] totheVIClient,VIWebAccessworksdirectlywithanESXServerhostorthrough [Link] information. VMwareServiceConsoleAcommandlineinterfaceforconfiguringyourESX [Link],thisisusedinconjunctionwithaVMwaretechnicalsupport representative.

Optional VirtualCenter Components

AdditionalVirtualCenterfeaturesinclude:

VMotionAfeaturethatenablesyoutomoverunningvirtualmachinesfromone [Link] [Link] VMotionactivities. [Link] down,allvirtualmachinesthatwereonthehostarepromptlyrestartedon differenthosts. WhenyouenabletheclusterforHA,youspecifythenumberofhostsyouwould liketobeabletorecover.Ifyouspecifythenumberofhostfailuresallowedas1, HAmaintainsenoughcapacityacrosstheclustertotoleratethefailureofonehost. [Link] default,youcannotpoweronavirtualmachineifdoingsoviolatesrequired [Link].

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VMwareDRSAfeaturethathelpsimproveresourceallocationacrossallhosts [Link] andvirtualmachinesintheclusterandgivesrecommendations(ormigrates virtualmachines)inoneoftwosituations:

InitialplacementWhenyoufirstpoweronavirtualmachineinthecluster, DRSeitherplacesthevirtualmachineormakesarecommendation. LoadbalancingDRStriestoimproveresourceutilizationacrossthecluster byperformingautomaticmigrationsofvirtualmachines(VMotion)orby providingarecommendationforvirtualmachinemigrations.

VMwareInfrastructureSDKpackageAPIsformanagingvirtualinfrastructure [Link] VirtualCenterWebServiceinterface,WebServicesDescriptionLanguage(WSDL), [Link] package,referto[Link]

Managed Components
VirtualCentermonitorsandmanagesvariouscomponentsofyourvirtualandphysical [Link] [Link]; forexample,theycanbenamedaftercompanydepartmentsorlocationsorfunctions. Themanagedcomponentsare:

VirtualMachinesandTemplatesAvirtualizedx86personalcomputer environmentinwhichaguestoperatingsystemandassociatedapplication [Link] [Link]. [Link] VirtualInfrastructureClientisconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServer,therecanbe [Link],there canbeonlyonehost. WhenVirtualCenterreferstoahost,thismeansthephysicalmachineonwhichthe [Link] [Link] thismanualmeanstheESXServerhostthathasvirtualmachinesonit. ResourcepoolsAstructurethatallowsdelegationofcontrolovertheresources [Link]. Youcancreatemultipleresourcepoolsasdirectchildrenofahostorclusterand

NOTE

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[Link] [Link]. Virtualmachinesexecutein,anddrawtheirresourcesfrom,resourcepools.

ClustersAcollectionofESXServerhostswithsharedresourcesandashared [Link],thehostsresources [Link] [Link]. DatastoresVirtualrepresentationsofcombinationsofunderlyingphysical [Link] fromthelocalSCSIdiskoftheserver,theFibreChannelSANdiskarrays,theiSCSI SANdiskarrays,orNetworkAttachedStorage(NAS)arrays. NetworksNetworksthatconnectvirtualmachinestoeachotherinthevirtual environmentortothephysicalnetworkoutside. FoldersContainersusedtogroupobjectsandorganizethemintohierarchies. Thisisnotonlyconvenientbutalsoprovidesanaturalstructureuponwhichto applypermissions. Therearethreetypesoffolders,eachofwhichcancontainotherfolders(ofthe sametype)[Link]:

Datacenters Virtualmachines(whichincludetemplates) Computeresources(whichincludehostsandclusters)

Thedatacenterfoldersformahierarchydirectlyundertherootnodeandallow [Link] onehierarchyoffolderswithvirtualmachinesand/ortemplatesandonehierarchy offolderswithhostsandclusters.

DatacentersUnlikeafolder,whichisusedtoorganizeaspecificobjecttype,a datacenterisanaggregationofallthedifferenttypesofobjectsneededtodowork invirtualinfrastructure:hosts,virtualmachines,networks,anddatastores. [Link] putnetworksordatastoresintofolders,thesefourhierarchiesarealwaysflatlists:

Virtualmachines(andtemplates) Hosts(andclusters) Networks Datastores

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[Link] objects(forexample,twohosts)withthesamenameinthesamedatacenter,but [Link] thenamespaceproperty,VMotionispermittedbetweenanytwocompatiblehosts withinadatacenter,butevenpoweredoffvirtualmachinescannotbemoved [Link] datacentersispermitted.

Functional Components
[Link] [Link]:

[Link] objectsincludedatacenters,resourcepools,clusters,networks,datastores, templates,hosts,andvirtualmachines. [Link] isavailablethroughVirtualCenterServeronly. [Link] [Link] displayonlytheeventsrelativetothatobject. [Link] providesconfigurationaccesstoRoles,Sessions,Licenses,Diagnostics,and [Link],onlytheRolesoptionappears. MapsAvisualrepresentationofthestatusandstructureoftheVMware [Link] includeshosts,networks,virtualmachines,[Link] throughVirtualCenterServer.

VariousinformationlistsaregeneratedandtrackedbyyourVirtualInfrastructure Clientactivity:

[Link] messagesthatindicateanyissuesassociatedwiththetask. [Link] predefinedintheproduct. [Link] [Link] appliedtoselectedinventoryobjectsorallinventoryobjects.

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[Link] [Link].

Access Privileges Components

[Link] isidentifiedtotheserverassomeonewhohasrightsandprivilegestoselectedobjects, suchasdatacentersandvirtualmachines,withintheVMwareInfrastructure [Link] [Link] onlythoseactionsandrequestsfromauserthattheuserhaspermissiontoperform. TheservergrantsaccesstoeachVirtualInfrastructureClientobject,datacenter,folder, [Link],youassignaroleandauser(orgroup)toeachobject. IndividualpermissionsareassignedthroughtheVIClientbypairingauserandarole andassigningthispairtoaVirtualInfrastructureClientobject:

UsersandGroupsForVirtualCenter,usersandgroupsarecreatedand [Link] groupsareregisteredwithVirtualCenter,orcreatedandregisteredwithanESX Server,throughtheprocessthatassignsprivileges. [Link] canalsocreaterolesandassigncombinationsofprivilegestoeachrole.

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Using this Document

BasicSystemAdministrationdescribesthetasksyoumustcompletetoconfigurethe VirtualInfrastructureClient(VIClient)[Link] informationinBasicSystemAdministration,readtheIntroductiontoVMware Infrastructureforanoverviewofsystemarchitectureandthephysicalandvirtual devicesthatmakeupaVMwareInfrastructuresystem. Thisintroductionsummarizesthecontentsofthisguidesothatyoucanfindthe [Link]:

VMwareInfrastructurecomponents Administrationtools Systemconfiguration Virtualmachinemanagementandconfiguration Accessandpermissionsmanagement Systemadministrationandmanagement

Getting Started
Theintroductorydiscussionspanssevenchaptersanddescribesthesystem components,systemmanagementtools,andthebasictasksyoumustcompleteto [Link] followingchapters:

UsingthisDocumentSummarizesthecontentsofthisguidesothatyoucanfind theinformationyouneed.

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VMwareInfrastructureComponentsIntroducesyoutotheVMware Infrastructurecomponentsandoperationsyouusewhenmanagingyourvirtual machinesthroughESXServerorVirtualCenterServer. StartingandStoppingtheVMwareInfrastructureComponentsDescribeshowto [Link] ESXServer,VirtualCenterServer,VirtualInfrastructureClient,Virtual InfrastructureWebAccess,VirtualCenterhostagent,VirtualCenterlicenseserver, andtheVMwareServiceConsole. UsingtheVIClientDescribesthespecificlayoutandnavigationoftheVIClient. SystemConfigurationContainsinformationforconfiguringadministration options,VirtualCenterServersettings,andmanaginghostconfigurationoptions. Italsoincludessomebasicsystemconfigurationinformation,suchashowto accessandconfigurelogfilesandsetupSNMP. ManagingtheVIClientInventoryDescribeshowtoperformtaskswithobjectsin [Link],datacenters, clusters,resourcepools,networks,[Link] manageororganizethemonitoredandmanagedhostsandvirtualmachines. ManagingHostsinVirtualCenterDescribeshowtoperformmanaged hostrelatedtasks.

Virtual Machine Management

Thevirtualmachinemanagementdiscussionconsistsofsevenchaptersthatprovidea basicunderstandingofvirtualmachinesandhowtomanage,configure,andcustomize [Link]:

CreatingVirtualMachinesDescribeshowtocreatevirtualmachinesbyusingthe NewVirtualMachinewizardandbycloningexistingvirtualmachines. ManagingVirtualMachinesDescribesvirtualmachinetasks,includingaddinga virtualmachinetoandremovingitfromtheVIClientandpoweringonandoff virtualmachines. ConfiguringVirtualMachinesDescribeshowtoeditandconfigureyourexisting [Link] options. UsingSnapshotsExplainshowtocapturetheentirestateofthevirtualmachine usingthesnapshotsfeature. WorkingwithTemplatesandClonesDescribescreatingtemplatesandusing virtualmachinetemplatestocreateandprovisionnewvirtualmachines.
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MigratingVirtualMachinesDescribestheprocessofmigratingormovinga virtualmachinefromonehosttoanother. CustomizingGuestOperatingSystemsExplainshowtocustomizetheidentity andnetworksettingsofyourvirtualmachinesguestoperatingsystemsothatitis readytobeginworkimmediatelyinyourtargetenvironment.

System Administration
Thesystemadministrationpartcontainsthefollowingchapters:

ManagingUsers,Groups,Permissions,andRolesDescribeshowtomanage [Link] users,groups,roles,andpermissions. MonitoringYourVmwareInfrastructureEnvironmentDescribesthe performancemonitoringpiecesoftheVirtualInfrastructureClientdatapresented [Link]. ManagingTasks,Events,andAlarmsDescribeshowtocreate,configure,anduse tasks,events,andalarms.

Appendixes
BasicSystemAdministrationprovidesthesefourappendixeswithspecialized informationyoumightfindusefulwhenconfiguringyourVMwareInfrastructure environment:

DefinedPrivilegesIncludestableswiththepermissionsandrolesthatare availablewiththeVMwareInfrastructuresystem. InstallingtheMicrosoftSysprepToolsDescribeshowtoinstalltheMicrosoft [Link] isarequirementifyouplantocustomizeaWindowsguestoperatingsystem. PerformanceChartMeasurementsIncludestableswiththemeasurementoptions foreachresourcemonitoredonahost.

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Starting and Stopping the VMware Infrastructure Components

Thischapterincludesinformationonhowtostartandstopeachoneofthemajor VMwareInfrastructurecomponents,ESXServerandVirtualCenterServer. Thischaptercontainsthefollowingtopics:

ESXServeronpage 31 VirtualCenterServeronpage 33 VIClientonpage 34 VIWebAccessonpage 36 VMwareServiceConsoleonpage 37

ESX Server
WhenyouinstallESXServer,[Link] yourESXServerisshutdown,youmustmanuallyrestartit. To start your ESX Server OnthephysicalboxwheretheESXServerisinstalled,pressthepowerbuttonuntilthe poweronsequencebegins. TheESXServerboots,discoversitsvirtualmachines,andproceedswithitsnormalESX Serverfunctions. Youhavetheoptiontopowerofforrestart(reboot)anyESXServerhostmanagedby [Link] Serverbutdoesnotremoveitfromtheinventory.

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To reboot or shut down your ESX Server 1 StartaVirtualInfrastructureClient. RefertoConfiguringVirtualCenterCommunicationonpage 68forinformation. 2 3 DisplaytheinventorypanelandtheappropriateESXServerhosts. IfconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServer,displaytheinventorys:Hosts&Clusters [Link](bydefaultlabeledHosts&Clusters)or subfolder. SelecttheappropriateESXServerintheinventorypanel. Fromthemainorrightclickpopupmenu,chooseRebootorShutDown,as appropriate.

4 5

IfRebootisselected,theESXServershutsdownandreboots. IfShutDownisselected,[Link] powerthesystembackon.

Provideareasonfortheshutdown. Thisinformationisaddedtothelog.

To manually stop your ESX Server 1 LogontoyourESXServerserviceconsole. RefertoConnectingtotheServiceConsoleonpage 38forinformationon accessingtheserviceconsole. 2 Executetheshutdowncommand. Forexample:
: shutdown -h now

[Link],amessageindicatesthatit issafetopoweroffyoursystem. 3 Pressthepowerbuttonuntilthemachinepowersoff.

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VirtualCenter Server
[Link] performanyactivitieswiththeVirtualCenter,youmustusetheVirtualInfrastructure Client. TheVirtualCenterServerstartswhenyoustarttheWindowsmachineonwhichitis [Link]. ThefollowingsectionsdiscussstartingandstoppingelementsrelatedtoVirtualCenter:

VerifyingThatVirtualCenterServerStartedonpage 33 RestartingtheVirtualCenterServeronpage 34 StoppingtheVirtualCenterServeronpage 34

NOTE

WhenVirtualCenterisinstalled,allusersinthelocalmachinesAdministratorsgroup areassignedtheAdministratorrolewithfullprivilegesintheVirtualCenter [Link] [Link] 263for additionalinformation.

Verifying That VirtualCenter Server Started

VirtualCenterisaservice,soproceedtoyourWindowsserviceslistandverifythatthe servicestarted. To verify that the VirtualCenter Server is running 1 GototheServicesdisplayforyourversionofWindows. Forexample,selectControlPanel>AdministrativeTools>[Link] VMwareInfrastructureServer. TheStatuscolumnindicateswhethertheservicestarted. 2 [Link] VMwareVirtualCenterServicesPropertiesdialogbox,clicktheGeneraltaband viewtheservicestatus.

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Restarting the VirtualCenter Server

TheVirtualCenterServerservicestartswhenthemachineonwhichitisinstalledis [Link] foranyreason,performthestepsbelow. To restart the VirtualCenter Server through Windows Services 1 GototheServicesdisplayforyourversionofWindows. Forexample,selectControlPanel>AdministrativeTools>[Link] VMwareInfrastructureServer. 2 3 RightclickVMwareInfrastructureServer,chooseStart,andwaitforstartupto complete. ClosethePropertiesdialogbox.

Stopping the VirtualCenter Server

[Link] selecttheserviceandstopit. [Link] [Link] andtaskactivitiesareperformedasexpected. To stop the VirtualCenter Server 1 GototheServicesdisplayforyourversionofWindows. Forexample,selectStart>ControlPanel>AdministrativeTools>[Link] VMwareVirtualCenterService. 2 3 RightclicktheVMwareVirtualCenterServer,chooseStop,andwaitforittostop. ClosethePropertiesdialogbox.

VI Client
TheVirtualInfrastructureClientisusedtologontoeitheraVirtualCenterServeroran [Link] installedonanymachinethathasnetworkaccesstotheVirtualCenterServeroranESX server. Bydefault,administratorsareallowedtologontoaVirtualCenterServer. Administratorsherearedefinedtobeeither:

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MembersofthelocalAdministratorsgroupiftheVirtualCenterServerisnota domaincontroller. MembersofthedomainAdministratorsgroupiftheVirtualCenterServerisa domaincontroller.

Starting the VI Client and Logging On

[Link] youstarttheVIClient,[Link],theVIClient displaysonlythefeaturesandfunctionsthatareappropriatetothetypeofserveryou loggedonto. To start a VI Client session 1 2 LogontoyourWindowssystem. ThefirsttimeyoustarttheVIClient,logonastheadministrator. a Ifthemanagedhostisnotadomaincontroller,logonaseither<local host name>\<user>or<user>,where<user>isamemberofthelocal Administratorsgroup. Ifthemanagedhostisadomaincontroller,youmustlogonas <domain>\<user>,where<domain>isthedomainnameforwhichthe managedhostisacontrollerand<user> isamemberofthatdomains [Link] controllerisnotrecommended.

3 4 5 6

LaunchtheVIClient. DoubleclickashortcutorchoosetheapplicationthroughStart>Programs> VMware>VMwareVirtualInfrastructureClient2. Logontothedesiredserver. Enterorchoosetheservername,yourusername,andyourpasswordforthat [Link]. OnlypreviouslytypedserversappearintheServerpulldownlist. IfthisisthefirsttimeyouhaveloggedontotheVirtualCenterServer,anempty [Link] [Link] ManagingtheVIClientInventoryonpage 91foradditionalinformation.

NOTE

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Stopping the VI Client and Logging Off

WhenyounolongermustvieworaltertheactivitiesthatVirtualCenterisperforming, logoffoftheVIClient. To stop a VI Client session 1 Clicktheclosebox(X)inthecorneroftheVIClientwindow,orchooseFile>Exit. [Link] [Link] aresavedandperformedbytheVirtualCenterServer. NOTE ClosingaVIClientdoesnotstoptheserver.

VI Web Access
VI WebAccessistheWebinterfacethroughwhichyoucanmanageyourvirtual [Link] [Link] Client,VIWebAccesscaneitherbeusedtoconnectdirectlytoanESXServerorto [Link] WebAccessisasubsetofVIClientfunctionality. TheVI WebAccessconsoleprovidesaremotemousekeyboardscreen(MKS)forthe [Link] machineandconnectremotelytothevirtualmachinesmouse,keyboard,andscreen. ForinformationonhowtouseVI WebAccesstoconfigurevirtualmachinesforESX ServerandVirtualCenter,seetheVirtualInfrastructureWebAccessAdministratorsGuide.

Logging In and Out of VI Web Access

VIWebAccessusesaWebinterfaceandaninternetconnectiontoaccessyourESX ServerorVirtualCenterServer. To log in to VI Web Access 1 2 LaunchyourWebbrowser. EntertheURLofyourESXServeroryourVirtualCenterServerinstallation:
[Link] or server name>/ui

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TheVIWebAccessloginpageappears.

[Link] andpasswordarethesamecredentialsyouwoulduseifyouconnectedusingthe [Link],thesamepermissionsareusedtodetermineifausercanviewand [Link] WebAccessdoesnothaveitsownconceptofusersor permissions. 3 Typeyourusernameandpassword,andclickLogIn. TheVI WebAccesshomepageappears. AfteryourusernameandpasswordareauthorizedbyVI WebAccess,theVI Web [Link] WebAccesshomepagecontains:

Detailsaboutvirtualmachinesontheservertowhichyouareconnected. Theoptiontoaccessthedetailspageforavirtualmachinewhereyoufind informationaboutvirtualdevices,configurationoptions,andasummaryof recentevents.

To log out of VI Web Access [Link] thatyouwanttologout. NOTE IfyouareusinganyremoteclientdevicesthroughVI WebAccess,theyare disconnectedwhenyoulogout.

VMware Service Console

InpreviousversionsofESXServer,theserviceconsolewasoneoftheinterfacestoESX Serverhosts.StartingwithESXServer3,manyofthecommandsaredeprecated. ServiceconsoleistypicallyusedonlyinconjunctionwithaVMwaretechnicalsupport representative. TheVMwareInfrastructureSDKisusedforscriptedmanipulationofyourVMware [Link]
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nonscriptedactivities,includingconfiguring,monitoring,andmanagingyourvirtual machinesandresources.

Using DHCP for the Service Console

[Link] uptheserviceconsoletouseDHCP,ifyourDNSserveriscapableofmappingthe serviceconsoleshostnametothedynamicallygeneratedIPaddress. IfyourDNSservercannotmapthehostsnametoitsDHCPgeneratedIPaddress,you [Link] againstusingDHCPisthatthenumericIPaddressmightchangeasDHCPleasesrun [Link],VMwaredoesnotrecommend usingDHCPfortheserviceconsoleunlessyourDNSservercanhandlethehostname translation. CAUTION Donotusedynamic(DHCP)addressingwhensharingthenetworkadapter [Link] staticIPaddressfortheserviceconsolewhensharinganetworkadapter.

Connecting to the Service Console

Whetheryouusetheserviceconsolelocallyorthrougharemoteconnection,youmust logonusingavalidusernameandpassword. IfyouhavedirectaccesstothecomputerwhereESXServerisrunning,youcanlogon tothephysicalconsoleonthatcomputer. To log on to the ESX Server service console PressAltF2togettothelogonscreen. DependingonthesecuritysettingsforyourESXServercomputer,youmightbeableto [Link] securitysettings,refertotheServerConfigurationGuide.

Using Commands on the Service Console

TheserviceconsolerunsamodifiedversionofLinux,andmanyofthecommands [Link] notesformostserviceconsolecommandsareavailableasmanualormanfiles. To view the man page for a particular command Attheserviceconsolecommandline,typethemancommandfollowedbythenameof thecommandforwhichyouwanttorefertoinformation,forexample:
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: man <command>

Foradditionalinformationoncommands,refertothefollowingresources:

FormoredetailedinformationonESXServerrelatedcommands,seetheServer ConfigurationGuide. FormoreinformationonLinuxcommands,consultaLinuxreferencebook.

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[Link] containsinformationforconfiguringadminoptions,VirtualCenterServersettings,and managinghostconfigurationoptions. Thischaptercontainsthefollowingsections:

VIClientOverviewonpage 41 SortingandFilteringListsonpage 54 UsingCustomAttributesonpage 55 SelectingandViewingObjectsonpage 57

VI Client Overview
[Link] ClientisconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServer,theVIClientdisplaysalltheoptions availabletotheVMwareVirtualInfrastructureenvironment,basedonthelicensingyou [Link] ESXServer,theVIClientdisplaysonlytheoptionsappropriatetosinglehost management. ThedefaultVirtualInfrastructureClientlayoutisasinglewindowwithamenubar,a navigationbar,atoolbar,astatusbar,apanelsection,andpopupmenus.

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Menus Toolbar

Navigation bar

Console button

Inventory tabs

Pop-up menu

Inventory panel

Status bar

Status

Information panel

Figure 4-1. Virtual Infrastructure Client Layout TheVIClientareasarecoveredinthefollowingsections:

MenuBaronpage 43 PopUpMenusonpage 45 ConsoleMenuonpage 45 NavigationBaronpage 46 InventoryViewTabsonpage 49 Toolbaronpage 52 StatusBar,RecentTasks,andTriggeredAlarmsonpage 53 PanelSectionsonpage 53

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Menu Bar
Themenubarprovidesaccesstoallcommandsandoperatesinamannerconsistent [Link] [Link] [Link] are:

FileMenuSimilartotheFilemenuinmostapplicationswithtwoexceptions:

[Link],usethePrint ScreenmechanisminWindowstotakeacopyoftheVIClientwindowor exporttheVirtualCenterdatatoanotherformatandprintfromanother application. [Link] usermanipulationsarepersistentinthedisplayoftheVirtualCenterdata.

InTable 41,anasterisk(*)indicatesitemsthatareavailableonlywhenconnected toVirtualCenterServer. Table 4-1. File Menu Items

File> File> File> File> New> Export> Report> Exit VirtualMachine|AddHost*|Cluster*|ResourcePool|Folder* |Datacenter*|Alarm*|ScheduledTask*|AddPermission ExportEvents*|ExportList|Licenses|ExportMaps* HostSummary|Performance

EditMenuDisplaysmenuitemsrelevanttotheselectedobject. Table 4-2. Edit Menu Items

Edit> Rename|Remove|CustomizationSpecifications|VIClientSettings

[Link] selectingoneofthenavigationbuttons. InTable 43,anasterisk(*)indicatesitemsthatareavailableonlywhenconnected toVirtualCenterServer. Table 4-3. View Menu Items
View> Toolbar|StatusBar|Inventory|ScheduledTasks*|Events|Administration |Maps*|Filtering

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WhenconnectedtotheVirtualCenterServer,theView>Inventorymenuparsesthe inventoryobjectviewsintogroups. Table 4-4. View Menu > Inventory Items

View> Inventory> Hosts&Clusters|VirtualMachines&Templates|Networks| Datastores

InventoryMenuDisplaysmenuitemsrelevanttotheselectedobjectinthe inventorypanel. InTable 45,anasterisk(*)indicatesitemsthatareavailableonlywhenconnected toVirtualCenterServer. Table 4-5. Inventory Menu Items
Inventory> Inventory> Datacenter> VirtualMachine> NewFolder|NewCluster|AddHost|Remove| Rename PowerOn|PowerOff|Suspend|Reset|Shut DownGuest|StandbyGuest|RestartGuest| Snapshot|Migrate|Clone|ClonetoTemplate| ConverttoTemplate|OpenConsole|Sent Ctrl+Alt+Del|AnswerQuestion|Report Performance|InstallVMwareTools|EditSettings |Rename|RemovefromInventory|Deletefrom Disk PowerOn|PowerOff|Suspend|Reset|Shut DownGuest|RestartGuest|Snapshot|Migrate |Clone|ClonetoTemplate|ConverttoTemplate |OpenConsole|SentCtrl+Alt+Del|Answer Question|ReportPerformance|InstallVMware Tools|EditSettings|Rename|Removefrom Inventory|DeletefromDisk NewVirtualMachine|Connect*|Disconnect*| EnterMaintenanceMode|ShutDown|Reboot| ReportSummary|ReportPerformance| AdvancedSettings|Remove*|RelocateVMFiles AddHost|NewVirtualMachine|NewResource Pool|EditSettings|Remove|Rename NewVirtualMachine|NewResourcePool| ReportPerformance*|Remove|Rename BrowseDatastore|Rename|Remove|Refresh Remove Add|Delete|Properties

Inventory>

Templates*>

Inventory>

Host>

Inventory> Inventory> Inventory> Inventory> Inventory>

Cluster*> ResourcePool> Datastore*> Network*> Permission>

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Table 4-5. Inventory Menu Items (Continued)

Inventory> Inventory> Alarm*> ScheduledTask*> Properties|Remove Run|Remove|Properties

AdministrationMenuDisplaysconfigurationoptionsthatapplyacrossthe VirtualInfrastructureenvironment. InTable 46,anasterisk(*)indicatesitemsthatareavailableonlywhenconnected toVirtualCenterServer. Table 4-6. Administration Menu Items
Administration> CustomAttributes*|VMwareVirtualCenterSettings*|Role| Session*|EditMessageoftheDay*|CollectDiagnostic Information*|LegacyTemplates*

HelpMenuDisplaystheonlinehelpoptions,linkstotheVMwareWebsite,and productversioninformation.

Pop-Up Menus
[Link] availablefrommostobjectsinboththeinventorypanelandtheinformationpanel. To view a pop-up menu RightclicktheselectedobjectorpressShift+F10.

Console Menu
Theconsoleofapoweredonvirtualmachineisavailablethroughaconnectedserver. To view the virtual machine console ClicktheInventoryNavigationbutton,clickapoweredonvirtualmachineinthe Inventorypanel,andclicktheConsoletabintheInformationpanel. To pop out the virtual machine console Clickthepopouticoninthenavigationbar. [Link].

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AdditionalmenuitemsareavailablefromthepopoutConsolewindow.
The message line indicates the number of active connections to this virtual machine.

Additional Console menu

[Link] lineindicatesifothersareviewingthevirtualmachine. [Link] ConsolehassimilarmenuitemsbutdoesnotincludealloftheexternalConsolemenu items. Table 4-7. Virtual Machine Pop-Out Console Menu Items
File> View> VM> Exit Autofit|Fit|FitGuesttoWindow PowerOn|PowerOff|Suspend|Reset|ShutDownGuest|RestartGuest| Snapshot|Migrate|Clone|ClonetoTemplate|ConverttoTemplate|Open Console|SentCtrl+Alt+Del|AnswerQuestion|ReportPerformance|Install VMwareTools|EditSettings|Rename|RemovefromInventory|Deletefrom Disk

Navigation Bar
Thenavigationbarprovidesshortcutbuttonsthatloadthematchingtoolbarandpanel [Link] [Link],itremainsselectedtoindicatethe [Link] whethertheVIClientisconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServeroranESXServer,thelisted buttonsvary. [Link] [Link]
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[Link] inoneofthefollowingtwosetsofpanels: [Link] areInventoryandAdmin,whentheVIClientisconnectedtoeitheranESXServerora [Link] additionaloptionsareavailable:ScheduledTasks,Events,andMapsandInventory buttonpulldownmenuitems(Hosts&Clusters,VirtualMachines&Templates, Networks,andDatastores).

Figure 4-2. Navigation bar shortcuts To view the Inventory button options ClickthearrowontheInventorynavigationbarbuttontorefertotheinventorygroup [Link]>Inventory>HostsandClusters(orVirtualMachinesand Templates,Networks,orDatastores. RefertoManagingtheVIClientInventoryonpage 91forinformationonthe differencesbetweentheInventorybuttonviews.

InventorybuttonAviewofallthemonitoredobjectsinVirtualCenter. Monitoredobjectsincludedatacenters,resourcepools,clusters,networks, datastores,templates,hosts,andvirtualmachines. [Link] [Link] dependingupontheinventoryobjectselectedintheinventorypanel. TherearefourdifferentInventorybuttonviews:

HostsandClustersdisplaystheinventoryhierarchyofallinventoryobjects excepttemplates,networks,anddatastores. VirtualMachinesandTemplatesdisplaysthelistofvirtualmachinesand templates. Networksdisplaysthelistofnetworks. Datastoresdisplaysthelistofdatastores.

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AllfouroftheInventoryoptionsaredividedintotwosubpanels,theinventory [Link] containedwithinVirtualCenter,suchasfolders,datacenters,hosts,clusters, [Link] inventoryoptiondisplaysalltheobjectscontainedwithintheESXServer,suchas host,resourcepools,[Link] thetwosubpanels,youperformandspecifyactions. [Link] inventoryobjects:hosts,clusters,folders,datacenters,virtualmachinesand templates,resourcepools,networks,anddatastores. Allfourviewshavethe(single)rootnode,allowanyfoldersbelowtherootnode (thatcanonlycontainotherfoldersanddatacenters)[Link] datacentersthehierarchyissplitupintonetworks,datastores,virtualmachineand templates,andhosts,clusters,andresourcepools.

ScheduledTasksbuttonAlistofactivitiesandameanstoschedulethose [Link]. TheScheduledTasksandEventsbuttons,availableonlywhenconnectedtoa VirtualCenterServer,displayasingleinformationpanel.

EventsbuttonAlistofalltheeventsthatoccurintheVirtualCenterenvironment. [Link] displayonlytheeventsrelativetothatobject. [Link] optionprovidesconfigurationaccesstoRoles,Sessions,Licenses,Diagnostics,and [Link],theRolesoptionappears. [Link] configurationoptionsareavailablethroughthesetabs.

MapsbuttonAvisualrepresentationofthestatusandstructureoftheVirtual [Link],networks,virtualmachines,and [Link]. TheMapsbutton,availableonlywhenconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServer, displaysaninventorypanelandatopologypanel.

To change the look of the navigation bar Rightclickthenavigationbarandchoosetheappropriateoption.

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Inventory View Tabs

Youcanaccessthegeneraldisplayofdataandactivitythroughtheinformationpanel [Link] [Link],youcanviewstatus,resourceusage,and performanceinformationaboutyourhosts,virtualmachines,[Link] informationpanel,youcanalsoviewscheduledtasks,availabletemplates,andalistof events. WhentheVIClientisconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServeraMapsoptionisalso [Link] page 269forinformationontheMapsfeature. Whenanobjectisremovedfromtheinventory,itslogandeventhistoryremainsuntil [Link] timewindowshifts,olderdataispurged.

[Link] thatdisplayconfigurationorientedinformationpertainingtotheservethattheVI [Link] ClientisconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServer,aSessionsandLicensestabisalso available. [Link] panelsthatdisplaytaskorientedinformationpertainingtotheselectedinventory [Link]:Summary, Datacenters,VirtualMachines,Hosts,Migrations,ResourceAllocation, Performance,Configuration,Tasks&Events,Alarms,Console,Permissions,and Maps. WhenyouclicktheInventorybuttoninthenavigationbar,aninformationpanel [Link](host,virtual machine,folder,datacenter,cluster,resourcepool)fromtheinventorypanel,the [Link] remainsuntilyouclickanotherInventorybutton.

NOTE

Youcanuseeitherthenavigationbarortheinformationpaneltabstoviewevents information.

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Table 48liststheavailablepanelsandtheirsourcemapping. Table 4-8. Inventory View Tabs

ESX Server or VirtualCenter Server both VirtualCenter VirtualCenter both both Button, Tab, or Toggle navigationbar button inventorypanel tab togglebutton inventorypanel tab inventorypanel tab

Panel Name Admin Alarms Alarms Configuration Console

Description Listsselectedconfigurationoptionsand information. Liststheconfiguredalarmsforthe selectedobject. Liststhetriggeredalarmsfortheselected object. Providesaccesstoconfiguringthe selectedhost. Displaysaremoteconsoletointeract directlywiththevirtualmachine. Throughtheremoteconsoleyoucantake selectedactionsuponthevirtualmachine. Liststhedatacentersorganizedunderthe selectedfolder. Providesaccessformanagingdatastores. Liststheeventmessagesthatreportonthe statusoftheselectedobject. Liststhehostsassignedtotheselected inventoryobject. Providesaccessformanagingallthe inventoryobjects. Liststhelicensesconfiguredinthelicense server. Displaysrelationshipsbetweenthe selectedinventoryobjects. Liststhemigrationssuggestedor completedfortheselectedcluster. Providesaccessformanagingnetworks.

Datacenters Datastores Events Hosts Inventory

VirtualCenter VirtualCenter ESXServer both both

inventorypanel tab navigationbar button:Datastores inventorypanel tab inventorypanel tab navigationbar button:Hosts& Clusters adminpaneltab navigationbar button inventorypanel tab navigationbar button:Networks

Licenses Maps Migrations Networks

VirtualCenter VirtualCenter VirtualCenter VirtualCenter

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Table 4-8. Inventory View Tabs (Continued)

ESX Server or VirtualCenter Server both Button, Tab, or Toggle inventorypanel tab

Panel Name Performance

Description Displaystheperformancechartsforthe selectedhostorvirtualmachineresources. Thechartsfordatacentersandhosts displaycombinedchartsthatshowthe usageofeachresource. Liststheusersandgroupsthathave permissionsontheselectedobjectandat whatlevelthepermissionwasassigned. Liststhedistributionoftheselectedhosts resources:CPU,memory. Providesaccessforconfiguringuserroles. Providesaccessforcreatingand managingscheduledtasks. ListstheVIClientsessionsconnectedto theVirtualCenterServer. Displaysacollectionofdataforthe selectedobject. Listsselectedlogfilesfortheservers. Liststherecenttasksfortheselected object. Liststhetaskscompletedandtheevent messagesthatreportonthestatusofthe selectedobject. Providesaccessformanagingtemplates.

Permissions

both

inventorypanel tab inventorypanel tab adminpaneltab navigationbar button adminpaneltab inventorypanel tab adminpaneltab togglebutton inventorypanel tab navigationbar button:Virtual Machines& Templates inventorypanel tab

Resource Allocation Roles ScheduledTasks Sessions Summary SystemLogs Tasks Tasks&Events

VirtualCenter both VirtualCenter VirtualCenter both both VirtualCenter VirtualCenter

Templates

VirtualCenter

Virtual Machines

both

Liststhevirtualmachinesassignedtothe [Link] access,clicktheVirtualMachinestaband thevirtualmachinesinthegroupare displayed.

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Toolbar
Thetoolbarprovidesbuttonsforthemostcommonlyusedactions. To view or hide a toolbar ChooseView>Toolbars.

Differenttoolbarbuttonsaredisplayeddependingonthenavigationtaskand [Link] objectselected. To change the look of the toolbar Rightclickthetoolbarandchoosetheappropriateoption.

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Status Bar, Recent Tasks, and Triggered Alarms

[Link] [Link] [Link] [Link] oftheVIClientwindow. To hide or view the status bar ChooseView>Statusbar. To hide or view recent tasks or triggered alarms ClicktheTasksorAlarmsiconsinthestatusbar.

Panel Sections
[Link],thereisarightand aleftpanel:[Link].

InventorypanelDisplaysahierarchicallistofVirtualInfrastructureobjects whentheInventoryorMapsbuttonisselectedfromthenavigationbar. [Link] buttonorInventorybuttonitemselected,theinformationpanelisdividedinto tabbedelements.

To select an object Singleclicktheappropriateobjectineithertheinventorypanelorontheinformation panel.

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To close or open a panel Clickthearrowinthepanelmenubar. Whenthepanelishidden,thepanelmenubarisastripalongthesideoftheVIClient window. To resize a panel Clickaresizingpanelsideanddragittoanappropriatesize. [Link] VIClientsessionsusingdifferentusernames,thesettingsfromthelastsessiontoquit determinethevaluesforthenextVIClientsession.

Sorting and Filtering Lists

[Link] columnheadshowsthesortorderasascendingordescending. Youcanalsofilteralist,[Link] [Link]. To sort a list [Link] doesnotchange. To change between ascending and descending order Clickthetriangleinthecolumnheading. To choose items in a list [Link] listscanbesorted. To view or remove columns in a list Rightclickthecolumnheaderandchoosethecolumnnamefromthelist. To filter the list view 1 [Link] intothefilteringfieldtospecifysearchcriteria. TheFilterfielddoesnotsupportbooleanexpressionsorspecialcharactersandis notcasesensitive.

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[Link] tochangethefilter.

NOTE

[Link] onesecond,[Link]. [Link],ifyouareinthe VirtualMachinestab,youhavefilteredthelist,andthefilteredtextispoweredon, [Link] ofanyofthesevirtualmachineschangestosomethingelse,theyareremovedfromthe [Link] fortheusersession. To remove a filter ClickClear,ordeletetheentryinofthefilteringfieldandclickOK. TheVIClientdisplaysthefulllistofavailableitems. To choose columns to search for the filtering keyword Rightclickinthecontainsfield,andselectordeselecttheappropriatecolumnnames. Filteringisinclusive,[Link] columns,thelineitemisincludedinthelist. To export a list 1 2 3 Selectthelisttoexport. ChooseFile>Export>ExportList. Typeafilename,selectafiletypeinthedialogbox,andclickSave. Afileisstoredinthespecifiedfilename,filetype,andlocation.

Using Custom Attributes

Attributesaretheresourcesthataremonitoredandmanagedforallthemanagedhosts [Link] statesappearonthevariousinventorypanels. Customattributescanbeusedtoassociateuserspecificmetainformationwithvirtual [Link],setthevalueforthe attributeoneachvirtualmachineormanagedhost,[Link] [Link] [Link]

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younolongerneedthecustomattribute,[Link] string. Forexample,supposeyouhaveasetofproductsandyouwanttosortthembysales [Link],[Link] attribute,Name,[Link] [Link]. ThecustomattributesfeatureisavailableonlywhenconnectedtoaVirtualCenter Server. To add a custom attribute 1 ChooseAdministration>CustomAttributes. ThisoptionisnotavailablewhenconnectedonlytoanESXServer. 2 AddacustomattributeandclickAdd.

Theattributeisaddedtothelistofvirtualmachinecharacteristics. 3 4 Tochangetheattributename,clickintheNamefieldandtypethenameyouwant toassigntotheattribute. Enterthevaluesforthecustomattribute.

Selecttheobject(onelevelupthehierarchy)thatcontainstheobjectstowhich youwanttoapplytheattribute.

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Forexample,ifyouwanttoenterattributevaluesformanagedhosts,selectthe datacenterandtheHoststabforalistofhosts. b Foreachmanagedhostorvirtualmachine,clickthenewattributescolumn. Intheinformationpanel,thenewattributeisaddedtotheheader. c Typetheattributevaluethatisappropriateforeachmanagedhostorvirtual machine.

Selecting and Viewing Objects

ThissectiondescribescommonWindowsproceduresthataffecttheVirtual [Link]:

SelectingObjectsonpage 57 MonitoringObjectsonpage 58 PerformingActionsonObjectsonpage 59

Selecting Objects
VirtualCenterobjectsaredatacenters,networks,datastores,resourcepools,clusters, hosts,[Link]:

Allowsyoutoviewthestatusoftheobject. Enablesthemenussoyoucanchooseactionstotakeontheobject.

To select an object 1 2 ClicktheappropriatenavigationbaroptionsuchasInventory,ScheduledTasks, Events,Admin,orMaps. IfyouselectInventory,browsethroughthehierarchyintheinventorypaneluntil [Link]. Whenanobjectisselected,theobjectlabelintheinventorypanelbackfillsandthe informationpanelupdatesitsdisplaytoreflectthedatafortheselectedobject. To view an object menu Selecttheappropriateobjectandchoosetheappropriateactionfromthemenubar. Alternatively,rightclicktheobject. Apopupmenuwiththeobjectsavailableactionsappears. Foreachtypeofobject,suchasdatacenter,host,orvirtualmachine,acorrespondingset [Link]:
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Ifyouselectamanagedhostintheinventorypanelwhileconnectedto VirtualCenter,theinformationpaneldisplaysSummary,VirtualMachines, ResourceAllocation,Performance,Configuration,Tasks&Events,Alarms, Permissions,andMapstabs. IfyouselecttheinventorypanelwhileconnectedtoanESXServer,theinformation paneldisplaysSummary,VirtualMachines,ResourceAllocation,Performance, Configuration,Users&Groups,SystemLogs,EventsandPermissionstabs. Ifyouselectadatacenter,theinformationpaneldisplaysVirtualMachines,Hosts, Tasks&Events,Alarms,Permissions,andMapstabs.

[Link] objectinonepaneldeselectsanyotherobjectintheotherpanel. Menuactions,fromeitherthemenubarorapopupmenu,applytothecurrently [Link],[Link] [Link] 45for additionalinformationonthepopupmenuoptions. To change the name of an object [Link].

Monitoring Objects
[Link] VirtualCenter,[Link] Hostonpage [Link] ESXServerhostisnotregisteredwithaVirtualCenterServer,youcanconnecttothe ESXServerdirectly,alsousingtheVIClient. To check the status of an object 1 2 StarttheVIClient. Clicktheappropriatebuttoninthenavigationbar.

IfyouclicktheInventoryorMapsbutton,drillthroughtheinventorypanel liststoviewindividualobjectssuchashosts,datacenters,andvirtual machines. IfyouclicktheScheduledTasks,Events,orAdminbutton,theinformation paneldisplaysthescheduledtasks,events,oradministrativewizard appropriatetothechoice.

Clicktheobjecttoviewit.

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Whenyouselectanobject,theobjectlabelintheinventorypanelisshowninblue andtheinformationpanelupdatesitsdisplaytoreflecttheobjectsdata. 4 Clicktheappropriatetabintheinformationpanel. [Link] tabstoviewtheinformationabouttheobject,asneeded.

Performing Actions on Objects

ThissectiondescribesonlythebasicprocessforperformingtasksintheVirtual [Link]. Refertothechapterorbookspecifictothetaskyouwanttoperformforadditional information. Toviewanobject,[Link] typeofactionyoucantakeonanobjectdependsuponthespecificprivilegesassigned toyourusernameandgroup. TherearethreemethodsfortakingactionsuponobjectsinVirtualCenter:

SelectingtheactionfromthemenubaratthetopoftheVirtualCenterwindow. RefertoMenuBaronpage 43. [Link] belowdescribeshowtochoosetheactionfromtheobjectmenuorbutton. [Link] ScheduledTasksonpage 293toinformationonschedulingtasks.

To perform an action on a Virtual Infrastructure object 1 2 3 StarttheVirtualInfrastructureClient. Connecttotheappropriateserver. Toselectanobjectyouwanttovieworuponwhichyouwanttoperformanaction, selecttheappropriateinventoryview,browsethroughthehierarchyinthe inventorypaneluntilyouseeitsicon,andclickit. Anobjectcanbeselectedintheinventorypanelortheinformationpanel. Iftheobjectisnotintheview:

Verifyyouareloggedontothecorrectserver. AddthehosttoVirtualCentercontrol,[Link] VirtualCenteronpage 99forinformation.

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Chooseamenuitemfromthemainmenu. Rightclicktheobjectandchoosefromthepopupmenu.

Followtheprompts.

Dependingontheactionyouselected,eithertheviewintheinformationpanelchanges orawizardpromptsyouforinformationtocompletethetransaction.

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System Configuration

Thischapterincludesbasicsystemconfigurationinformation,suchashowtoaccess andconfigurelogfiles,configurefirewalls,[Link] [Link], referencesareprovided. Someofthetopicsinthischapteraretypicallyonetimeconfigurationtasks,though certainlythesettingscanbealteredwhenneeded. Thischaptercontainsthefollowingtopics:

HostConfigurationforESXServerandVirtualCenteronpage 61 VirtualCenterConfigurationonpage 66 ConfiguringVirtualCenterCommunicationonpage 68 VirtualMachineConfigurationonpage 71 WorkingwithActiveSessionsonpage 73 SNMPConfigurationonpage 74 SystemLogFilesonpage 81

Host Configuration for ESX Server and VirtualCenter

ESXServerhostsareconfiguredandmanagedthroughtheVirtualInfrastructure [Link] configurationappliestostandalonehostsaswellasVirtualCenterregisteredhost scenarios.

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TheServerConfigurationGuidedescribesthetasksyoumustcompletetoconfigureESX Serverhostnetworking,storage,[Link],itprovidesoverviews, recommendations,[Link] [Link] informationintheServerConfigurationGuide,readtheIntroductiontoVirtual Infrastructureforanoverviewofsystemarchitectureandthephysicalandvirtual devicesthatmakeupaVirtualInfrastructuresystem. ThissectionsummarizesthehostconfigurationoptionsandthecontentsoftheServer ConfigurationGuidesothatyoucanfindtheinformationyouneed.

Configuring a Host
[Link] oftheconfigurationoptionsavailable.

Hardware Tab
Thehardwaretabdisplaysthefollowingconfigurationoptions:

ProcessorsDisplaysthehostsprocessorinformationsuchastype,speed, [Link] Hyperthreading. MemoryDisplaysthehostsmemoryconfiguration,includingtotalmemory available,amountsforthehostssystem,amountsforthevirtualmachines,and [Link] tosettheamountdedicatedtotheESXServerServiceConsole. Storage(SCSI,SAN,NFS)Displaysthestoragevolumesconfiguredforthehost [Link],filesystem type,blocksize,extents,[Link],Remove,AddStorage,and Propertiesdialogboxesallowyoutochangevolumeproperties,addextents, managepaths,adddiskorLUNdatastores,andaddnetworkfilesystem(NFS) datastores. [Link],Add Networking,Remove,andPropertiesdialogboxesallowyoutoconfigureports andnetworkadapters,anddefineconnectiontypestothehostsvirtualmachine, VMkernel,andserviceconsole. StorageAdaptersDisplaysstorageadapterconfiguration,suchasdevicetype, SANidentification,LUNidentification,path,[Link],Hide LUNs,andPropertiesdialogboxesallowyoutoscanfornewstoragedevicesor VMFSvolumes,hidetheLUNinformationforeachselectedstorageadapter,and viewVMotionconfigurationstatus.
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NetworkAdaptersDisplaysnetworkadapterinformation,includingdevice type,speed,vSwitch,andnetworkidentification.

Software Tab
Thesoftwaretabdisplaysthefollowingconfigurationoptions:

LicensedFeatureDisplaysthecurrentstatusoflicensinginyourVirtual [Link],licenseserver,orlicense file;licensetype;andaddonlicensing,[Link] boxesallowyoutospecifylicensesource,licensetypes,andlicensingfor additionalfeatures. [Link] nameanddomain,DNSserversconnectedtothehost,searchdomains,anddefault [Link] items. VirtualMachineStartup/ShutdownDisplaysalistofvirtualmachinesonthe [Link] [Link] includestartingorstoppingatselectedtimesrelativetothehostpoweringoffor poweringon. SecurityProfileDisplaysthefirewallinformationforincomingandoutgoing [Link] [Link],SNMP,andseveralassociatedclients,servers, andagentincomingandoutgoingcommunicationportsandprotocols. [Link] [Link] [Link] Simple/Advancedtoggleddialogboxallowsyoutoconfigurethehostsresource poolsCPUandmemoryreservedsharesforselectedhostfunctions. RefertotheResourceManagementGuideforcompleteinformationonconfiguring andusingyourvirtualmachineresources. AdvancedSettingsDisplaysalistofsettingsthatVMwarerecommendsyouuse onlywhendirectedtobyVMwaretechnicalsupport.

NOTE

RefertotheServerConfigurationGuideforconfigurationinformationonconfiguring networking,storage,andsecurity.

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Viewing Network Configuration Information

TheESXServernetworkingchaptersprovideyouwithaconceptualunderstandingof physicalandvirtualnetworkconcepts,adescriptionofthebasictasksyoumust completetoconfigureyourESXServerhostsnetworkconnections,andadiscussionof [Link] chapters:

NetworkingIntroducesyoutonetworkconceptsandguidesyouthroughthe mostcommontasksyoumustcompletewhensettingupthenetworkfortheESX Serverhost. AdvancedNetworkingCoversadvancednetworkingtaskssuchassettingup MACaddresses,editingvirtualswitchesandports,[Link], itprovidestipsonmakingyournetworkconfigurationmoreefficient. NetworkingScenariosandTroubleshootingDescribescommonnetworking configurationandtroubleshootingscenarios.

Viewing Storage Configuration Information

TheESXServerstoragechaptersprovideyouwithabasicunderstandingofstorage,a descriptionofthebasictasksyouperformtoconfigureandmanageyourESXServer hostsstorage,[Link] sectioncontainsthefollowingchapters:

IntroductiontoStorageIntroducesyoutothetypesofstorageyoucanconfigure fortheESXServerhost. ConfiguringStorageExplainshowtoconfigurelocalSCSIstorage,Fibre Channelstorage,[Link] networkattachedstorage. ManagingStorageExplainshowtomanageexistingdatastoresandthefile systemsthatcomprisedatastores. RawDeviceMappingDiscussesrawdevicemapping,howtoconfigurethistype ofstorage,andhowtomanagerawdevicemappingsbysettingupmultipathing, failover,andsoforth.

Viewing Security Configuration Information

TheESXServersecuritychaptersdiscusssafeguardsVMwarehasbuiltintoESXServer [Link] measuresincludeusingfirewalls,leveragingthesecurityfeaturesofvirtualswitches, [Link] followingchapters:

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SecurityforESXServerSystemsIntroducesyoutotheESXServerfeaturesthat helpyouensureasecureenvironmentforyourdataandgivesyouanoverviewof systemdesignasitrelatestosecurity. SecuringanESXServerConfigurationExplainshowtoconfigurefirewallports forESXServerhostsandVMwareVirtualCenter,howtousevirtualswitchesand VLANstoensurenetworkisolationforvirtualmachines,andhowtosecureiSCSI storage. AuthenticationandUserManagementDiscusseshowtosetupusers,groups, permissions,[Link] alsodiscussesencryptionanddelegateusers. ServiceConsoleSecurityDiscussesthesecurityfeaturesbuiltintotheservice consoleandshowsyouhowtoconfigurethesefeatures. SecurityDeploymentsandRecommendationsProvidessomesample deploymentstogiveyouanideaoftheissuesyoumustconsiderwhensettingup [Link] cantaketofurthersecurevirtualmachines.

Viewing ESX Server Command Information

TheServerConfigurationGuideincludesappendixesthatprovidespecialized informationyoumightfindusefulwhenconfiguringanESXServerhost:

ESXServerTechnicalSupportCommandsCoverstheESXServerconfiguration [Link] thesecommandsareavailableforyouruse,youshouldnotconsiderthemanAPI [Link] VMwaredoesnotsupportapplicationsandscriptsthatrelyonESXServer [Link] InfrastructureClientequivalentsforthesecommands. UsingvmkfstoolsCoversthevmkfstoolsutility,whichyoucanusetoperform managementandmigrationtasksforiSCSIdisks.

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VirtualCenter Configuration
Setsofpropertiesandsettingsdialogboxesmakeadjustmentstothecorresponding VirtualCenterenvironment. To view the VMware VirtualCenter Configuration SelectAdministration>ServerSettings. [Link] andlogontoanotherVirtualCenterServer,thesettingsarespecifictothat VirtualCenterServer. Thedialogboxtabsdisplayandallowyoutoconfigure:

LicenseServerSpecifythelicenseserverandwhetherahostlicenseserveris supersededwhenthehostisaddedtotheVirtualCenterinventory. RefertotheInstallationandUpgradeGuide.

StatisticsSpecifythecollectionintervals,statisticscollectionthreadlimit,and [Link] performancestatisticsfrommanagedhosts. [Link] minimal,typical,[Link]. Specifieshowoften,inseconds,VirtualCenterchecksifanyscheduledtasksare readytobeexecutedoralarmsshouldbetriggered.Thedefaultis5seconds. VerifiesthatallusersandgroupsknowntoVirtualCentercurrentlyexistin [Link],ifuserSmithisassignedpermissionsandinthedomain theusersnameissubsequentlychangedtoSmith2,VirtualCenterconcludesthat Smithnolongerexistsandremovespermissionsforthatuser. RefertoSettingtheStatisticsCollectionIntervalsonpage 274.

RuntimeSettingsViewtheuniqueruntimesettingsfortheVirtualCenter [Link] VirtualCenterTCP/IPportnumber. [Link], itispossibletohavemorethanoneVirtualCenterrunninginthesamecompany. [Link] default,[Link],[Link] onlyrequirementisthatitbeauniquenumberfrom0to63. SpecifiestheportthroughwhichaVirtualCenterclientsendsdatatothe VirtualCenterServer.

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RefertoConfiguringVirtualCenterCommunicationonpage 68.

ActiveDirectorySpecifytheactivedirectorytimeout,maximumnumberofusers andgroupstodisplayintheAddPermissionsdialogbox,andthefrequencyfor performingasynchronizationandvalidationofVirtualCentersknownusersand groups. SpecifiesthemaximumnumberofusersandgroupstheVirtualCenterstoresfrom [Link],enterzero(0). Specifies,inseconds,themaximumtimeVirtualCenterallowsthesearchtorunon [Link] valuemustbegreaterthanzero(0). RefertoChapter 15,ManagingUsers,Groups,Permissions,andRoles,on page 247.

MailSpecifytheSMTPserverandmailaccount. RefertoManagingEventsonpage 303.

SNMPSpecifytheSNMPreceiverURLs,ports,andcommunitystrings. RefertoSNMPConfigurationonpage 74.

WebServiceSpecifytheHTTPandHTTPSportsfortheWebServicetouse. RefertoConfiguringVirtualCenterCommunicationonpage 68.

TimeoutSettingsSpecifytheVIClientconnectiontimeoutvaluesfornormal [Link],inseconds, theVirtualCenterclientwaitsforaresponsefromtheVirtualCenterServerbefore [Link],inseconds, theVirtualCenterclientwaitsforaresponsefromtheVirtualCenterServerforlong operations.Thedefaultis120seconds. RefertoStartingtheVIClientandLoggingOnonpage 35.

LoggingOptionsSpecifythedegreeofdetailandextentoflogscollectedduring [Link] [Link] VMwaretechnicalsupport. RefertoSystemLogFilesonpage 81.

DatabaseSpecifythepasswordrequiredtoaccesstheVirtualCenterdatabase andthemaximumnumberofdatabaseconnectionstobecreated. RefertoUsingMIBswithYourSNMPTrapsonpage 74.

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Configuring VirtualCenter Communication

TheVirtualCenterServerandESXServerreceivesdatatransmissionsfromtheVIClient [Link] yourVirtualCenterServerorESXServer. NOTE TheproceduresdescribedherearenotavailableforcommunicationwithanESXServer. [Link] [Link] ConfigurationGuideforcompleteinformationonsecurity,communication,andport configurationwithanESXServerdirectly. IfafirewallispreventingtheVIClientfromconnectingtotheVirtualCenterServer,you havethreeoptionsforcorrectingthis:

ReconfigureyourfirewalltoallowtheVIClienttocommunicatethroughport902 [Link] firewall. Usesomeportotherthan902(andifnecessary,configureyourfirewalltoopenthis otherport).TheVIClientandtheVirtualCenterServermustbothbeconfiguredto usethesameport. RefertoConfiguringthePortThatVirtualCenterServerUsesonpage 69for informationonchangingthisportnumberinyourVirtualCenterServer.

IfneitheroftheprecedingoptionsispossibleandyourfirewallallowsWebtraffic topasstotheserver,youcanconnecttheVIClienttotheVirtualCenterServer usingastandardWebconnection. CAUTION Ifyouusethisoptiontoopenacommunicationchannelbetweenyour VirtualCenterServerandVIClient,theVirtualCenterconsoledoesnot work. RefertoConfiguringVirtualCenterCommunicationoveraWebConnectionon page 69forinformationonsettinguptheWebsiteport.

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Configuring the Port That VirtualCenter Server Uses

Thereisadefaultportnumberassigned,[Link] [Link] attempttochangetheportnumberforcommunicationbetweenaVIClientandanESX Server. NOTE Changingtheportnumberisaveryrareoperation. To change the default port number 1 StarttheVIClientandlogontotheVirtualCenterServer. RefertoUsingtheVIClientonpage 41. 2 3 4 ChooseAdministration>ServerSettings. ClicktheRuntimeSettingsoption. EntertheportnumberyourVIClientisusingtocommunicatewiththe [Link]. Theportmustbelessthan64000. 5 Toacceptthechanges,restarttheVirtualCenterServer. RefertoVirtualCenterServeronpage 33.

Configuring VirtualCenter Communication over a Web Connection

OnealternativetoconnectingtheVirtualCenterServerandVIClientonoppositesides ofafirewallisthroughastandardWebconnection. CAUTION Ifyouusethisoptiontoopenacommunicationchannelbetweenyour VirtualCenterServerandVIClient,theVirtualCenterconsoledoesnot work. ToenableyourVIClienttoconnectwiththeVirtualCenterServeracrossafirewall usingaWebtunnel,changetheWebsiteportaddressonyourVirtualCenterServer. To open a Web port between the VirtualCenter Server and the VI Client using IIS 1 OntheVirtualCenterServer,installInternetInformationServices(IIS)Manager. Typically,thisisinstalledbydefaultwiththeMicrosoftWindowsoperating system.

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EnableIIS. Forexample,chooseStart>ControlPanel>AdministrativeTools>Internet [Link].

3 4 5 6

FromtheIISmanager,opentheWindowsdialogbox. Expandthe<server_name>.[Link]> WebSitetab. SettheportvaluefortheVirtualCenterservice. IntheWebSiteDescriptionblock,enterthevalueoftheTCPPortor,ifallowed,the SSLport. Avalueof80isthedefaultnonsecureTCPWebsiteport.Avalueof443isthe defaultsecureSSLWebsiteport.

Setthedlldirectory. a Ifneeded,createthedirectory:
C:\inetpub\wwwroot\vpx\

b c

Setthepermissionsforthisdirectorytoallowexecution. [Link]. Thefileisin\ProgramFiles\VMware\VMwareVirtualCenter.

8 9 10

Verifythatthechangehasbeenapplied. StopandrestartthedefaultWebsite. EachtimeyouupdatetheVirtualCenterversion,repeatthisprocess. WhenyoustarttheVIClient,entertheVirtualCenterServerWebsiteaddressas listedintheServerfield.

IfyouareusingthesecureWebportoranyothernondefaultport,usethefull name:http:<server name>:<port>. Forexample,http:vcserver:443.

IfyouareusingthedefaultnonsecureWebsiteport,anyofthefollowing combinationswork:http:<server name>,<server name>80,orhttp:<server name>:80.

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Virtual Machine Configuration

Setsofpropertiesandsettingsdialogboxesmakeadjustmentstothecorresponding virtualmachineelement. To view the resources of a virtual machine [Link] Summarytab. ListedarethecurrentCPUandmemoryusage,inadditiontothedatastoresand networksassociatedwiththeselectedvirtualmachine. RefertotheResourceManagementGuideforcompleteinformationonconfiguringand usingyourvirtualmachineresources. To view the virtual machines on a host [Link]. Thisisalistofallthevirtualmachinesrunningontheselectedmanagedhostandthe percentageofresourcesallocatedtothevirtualmachine. To view the configuration of a virtual machine RefertothechaptersinVirtualMachineManagementonpage 111forcomplete informationaboutcreatingvirtualmachinesandeditingtheconfigurationofvirtual machines. SelectavirtualmachineandchooseEditSettings. [Link] editthefollowingvirtualmachineconfigurationitems:

HardwareAddsorremovesthehardwareelementstoyourvirtualmachine:

Memory CPU Floppydrive CD/DVDdrive Networkadapter SCSIcontroller Harddisk Serialport Parallelport Ethernetadapter

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SCSIdevice

OptionsListssomegeneralvirtualmachinesettings,actionstotakeduringa powerstatechange,andactionstakenfordebuggingduringaprocess.

GeneralContainsvirtualmachinename,virtualmachineconfigurationfile pathandname,virtualmachineworkinglocation,guestoperatingsystem, andversionoftheguestoperatingsysteminstalled. VMwareToolsContainspowercontrolsettingsforthevirtualmachines toolbarpowericonsandarunscriptsoptionspecifyingifandwhentoruna VMwareToolsscript. PowerManagementAllowsyoutospecifythevirtualmachinesresponse whentheguestoperatingsystemisonstandby. AdvancedContainssettingsforlogging,maskingtheCPUandmaskusage, andadditionalconfigurationparameters,whichareusedonlywhenindicated byVMwaretechnicalsupport.

ResourcesModifiestheresourcesharesonthemanagedhostofavirtual machine.

CPUAllowsyoutospecifytheCPUresourceallocationshares,reservation, andlimitfortheselectedvirtualmachine. MemoryAllowsyoutospecifythememoryresourceallocationshares, reservation,andlimitfortheselectedvirtualmachine. DiskAllowsyoutospecifythediskresourceallocationsharesandshares valuefortheselectedvirtualmachine. AdvancedCPUAllowsyoutospecifythehyperthreadingandscheduling affinityfortheCPUrunningtheselectedvirtualmachine.

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Working with Active Sessions

WhenyourVIClientisconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServer,youcanviewthelistof [Link] anESXServerhost. To view the users that are currently logged on to a VirtualCenter Server FromtheVIClientconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServer,clicktheAdminbuttoninthe [Link].

To terminate an active session 1 2 3 FromtheVIClientconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServer,clicktheAdminbuttonin [Link]. [Link]. Toconfirmthetermination,clickOK.

To send a message to all users logged on to an active session 1 2 3 FromtheVIClientconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServer,clicktheAdminbuttonin [Link]. TypeintotheMessageofthedayfield. ClicktheChangebutton.

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Thetextissentasanoticemessagetoallactivesessionusersandtonewusers whentheylogin.

SNMP Configuration
TheSNMPagentcontrolsadatabasecalledtheSNMPManagementInformationBase (MIB),astandardsetofstatisticalandcontrolvalues. ThefollowingsectionsdiscussSNMPconfiguration:

UsingMIBswithYourSNMPTrapsonpage 74 UnderstandingSNMPTrapandVariableDefinitionsonpage 75 UsingSNMPtoMonitortheComputerRunningESXServeronpage 77 SettingUpESXServerSNMPonpage 79 ConfiguringSNMPTrapDestinationsonpage 80 ConfiguringSNMPManagementClientSoftwareonpage 80 ConfiguringSNMPSecurityonpage 81 UsingSNMPwithGuestOperatingSystemsonpage 81

Using MIBs with Your SNMP Traps

VirtualCenterallowsyoutoconfigureSNMPversion1trapsforalarmnotificationof [Link],continuetouseyourESXServerMIBsfor hostrelatedalarms. [Link] managementprogramsmustknowhowtointerprettheSNMPtrapssentby VirtualCenter. To configure your management program to interpret VirtualCenter SNMP traps 1 Downloadthemanagementinformationbase(MIB)definitions:

[Link] [Link]

TheMIBdefinitionfilescanbefoundatC:\Program Files\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\MIBSwhenthedefaultinstallationdirectoryisused. 2 ModifyyourmanagementprogramtoincludeandinterprettheVMwareMIBs. Refertoyourmanagementprogramdocumentationforinformationonadding MIBdefinitionstoyourprogram.

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AtechnicalnotedescribingtheMIBdefinitionscanbefoundat [Link]/pdf/vc_dbviews_11.pdf.

Understanding SNMP Trap and Variable Definitions

[Link] Clientislocatedat:
.[Link]. (.[Link].4.1.6876.50.).

TheSNMPtraptypeforVMwareVirtualCenteris201. Table 51liststheidentificationmappingforeachVirtualCenterMIBgroup. Table 5-1. Identification Mapping

Identification Map [Link].4.1.6876.50.301 [Link].4.1.6876.50.302 [Link].4.1.6876.50.303 [Link].4.1.6876.50.304 [Link].4.1.6876.50.305 [Link].4.1.6876.50.306 Label vpxdTrapType vpxdHostName vpxdVMName vpxdOldStatus vpxdNewStatus vpxObjValue

ThefollowingtablesdescribetheVMwareSNMPMIBrootandprimarysubtrees. [Link] SNMPTrapgroups. Table [Link]. Table 5-2. Definition Mapping

Label vmware vmwSystem vmwVirtMachines vmwResources vmwProductSpecific vmwTraps Identification Mapping enterprises6876 vmware1 vmware2 vmware3 vmware4 vmware50

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Table 5-2. Definition Mapping

Label vmwOID vmwExperimental Identification Mapping vmware60 vmware700

Table [Link] generatedfromtheESXServer,andthelastonefromtheVirtualCenterServer. Table 5-3. Trap Types

Trap Label vmPoweredOn Description Sentwhenavirtualmachineis poweredonfromasuspendedora poweredoffstate. Sentwhenavirtualmachineis poweredoff. Sentwhenavirtualmachinedetectsa lossinguestheartbeat. Sentwhenavirtualmachinedetectsor regainstheguestheartbeat. Sentwhenavirtualmachineis suspended. Sentwhenentitystatuschanged. Variables vmID,vmConfigFile

vmPoweredOff vmHBLost vmHBDetected vmSuspended vpxdTrap

vmID,vmConfigFile vmID,vmConfigFile vmID,vmConfigFile vmID,vmConfigFile vpxdTrapType,vpxdHostName, vpxdVMName,vpxdOldStatus, vpxdNewStatus,vpxdObjValue

Table 54describesthevariablesandparametersusedintheVMwareVirtual [Link] fieldreferstotheSNMPversion1typedescribedbythestructureofmanagement information(SMI).Andallvariablesandparametersaremandatory. Table 5-4. Variables and Parameters
Variable vmID Description TheIDoftheaffectedvirtualmachinegeneratingthe [Link],(suchasfor apowerofftrap)1isreturned. Theconfigurationfileoftheaffectedvirtualmachine generatingthetrap. Thetraptypeintheprecedingtraps. Thenameofthehostintheprecedingtraps. Syntax INTEGER

vmConfigFile vpxdTrapType vpxdHostName

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Table 5-4. Variables and Parameters

Variable vpxdVMName vpxdOldStatus vpxdNewStatus vpxdObjValue Description Thenameofthevirtualmachineintheprecedingtraps. Theoldstatusintheprecedingtraps. Thenewstatusintheprecedingtraps. Thecurrentobjectvalueintheprecedingtraps. Syntax DisplayString DisplayString DisplayString DisplayString

Using SNMP to Monitor the Computer Running ESX Server

ESXServershipswithanSNMPagentthatallowsyoutomonitorthehealthofthe physicalmachinewhereESXServerisrunningandofvirtualmachinesrunningonit. ThisagentisbasedonNetSNMPwithenhancementstosupportdataspecifictoESX [Link] [Link]. TheESXServerSNMPagentcanbeusedwithanymanagementsoftwarethatcanload andcompileamanagementinformationbase(MIB)inSMIv1formatandcan understandSNMPv1trapmessages. ThelocationoftheVMwaresubtreeintheSNMPhierarchyis:
.[Link] (.[Link].4.1.6876).

YoucanchoosetouseSNMPwithorwithoutanyESXServerMIBitems.

Information About the Physical Computer

SNMPgetvariablesallowyoutomonitorawidevarietyofitemsaboutthephysical [Link] informationavailableare:

NumberofCPUsonthephysicalcomputer CPUresourcesonthephysicalcomputerbeingusedbyparticularvirtualmachines AmountofRAMinstalledonthephysicalcomputer Physicalmemoryusedbytheserviceconsole Physicalmemoryusedbyparticularvirtualmachines Physicalmemorythatisnotbeingused Usagedatafordisksonthephysicalcomputer,includingnumberofreadsand writesandamountofdatareadandwritten

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Usagedataonthephysicalcomputersnetworkadapters,includingpacketssent andreceivedandkilobytessentandreceived StateoftheVMkernel(loadedornotloaded)

NOTE

IfthevariableshowingwhethertheVMkernelisloadedsaysno,anyvaluesreported foranyothervariableshouldberegardedasinvalid.

Information About the Virtual Machines

SNMPgetvariablesallowyoutomonitoranumberofitemsaboutparticularvirtual [Link]:

Pathtothevirtualmachinesconfigurationfile Guestoperatingsystemrunningonthevirtualmachine Amountofmemorythevirtualmachineisconfiguredtouse Stateofthevirtualmachinespowerswitch:onoroff Stateoftheguestoperatingsystem:onoroff(runningornotrunning) Diskadaptersseenbythevirtualmachine Networkadaptersseenbythevirtualmachine Floppydiskdrivesseenbythevirtualmachine Stateofthefloppydrive:connectedordisconnected CDROMdrivesseenbythevirtualmachine StateoftheCDROMdrive:connectedordisconnected

SNMP Traps
[Link] [Link] trapsnotifyyou:

Whenavirtualmachineispoweredonorresumedfromasuspendedstate. Whenavirtualmachineispoweredoff. Whenthevirtualmachinedetectsalossofheartbeatintheguestoperatingsystem. Whenavirtualmachineissuspended. Whenthevirtualmachinedetectsthattheguestoperatingsystemsheartbeathas startedorresumed.

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NOTE

VMwareToolsmustbeinstalledintheguestoperatingsystemtosupportthetrapsthat detectlossandresumptionoftheguestsheartbeat.

Setting Up ESX Server SNMP

ESXServerSNMPsupportisamoduleyoucanloadintoadaemonbasedonthe [Link] versionofnetsnmpisinstalledintheVMwareserviceconsolebydefault.

Installing the ESX Server SNMP Module

TheVMwarespecificSNMPmodulesareautomaticallyinstalledwhenyouinstall ESX [Link],ESXServercomponentsareenabledinSNMP, andVMwaretrapsarealwayson.

Installing the ESX Server MIB Module

YoumustmakemanualchangesafterupgradingESXServerbecausetheMIBmodule isnotpresentinupgrades,[Link] afterinstallingthirdpartymanagementagentsbecausethestateoftheconfigurationis unknown.

Configuring the ESX Server Agent from the Service Console

Thefollowingproceduresmustbeperformedafterinstallingorupgradingthirdparty managementapplications. To enable or disable ESX Server MIB 1 2 3 Logontotheserviceconsoleastherootuser. Editthe /etc/snmp/[Link]. AddorremovethefollowinglinetoenableordisableVMwareMIBitems:
dlmod SNMPESX /usr/lib/vmware/snmp/[Link]

To start the SNMP agents automatically YoucansettheSNMPdaemontostartwheneverESXServerbootsbyloggingonasthe rootuserontheserviceconsoleandrunningthechkconfigcommand:

chkconfig snmpd on

To start the SNMP agents manually IfyoumuststarttheSNMPagentmanually,logonasrootintheserviceconsoleand runthefollowingcommand:

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/etc/rc.d/init.d/snmpd start

Bydefault,theagentstartsandrunsasbackgroundprocesses. To enable and disable traps 1 [Link]. Theconfigurationparametersnmp/generateTrapsinthe /etc/vmware/host/[Link] default,atrapisgenerated. 2 Restartvmware_hostdtoseethechangetakeeffect.

Configuring SNMP Trap Destinations

VMwaretrapsaregeneratedtothedestinationsspecifiedintheconfigurationfile. To configure traps (SEE UPDATE) 1 2 3 Logontotheserviceconsoleastherootuser. Modifythe/etc/snmp/[Link]. Usingatexteditor,addthefollowingline,[Link] nameofthehostonyournetworkthatwillreceivetraps.
trapsink [Link]

Repeatthislinetospecifymorethanonedestination. 4 Addthefollowingline,replacingpublicwithacommunitynameofyourchoice: trapcommunity public. Onlyoneinstanceofthislineisallowed. 5 Saveyourchanges.

Configuring SNMP Management Client Software

TouseyourSNMPmanagementsoftwarewiththeESXServeragent,takethesteps neededtoaccomplishthefollowing:

Inyourmanagementsoftware,specifytheESXServermachineasanSNMPbased manageddevice. [Link] correspondtothevaluessetinthemasterSNMPagentsconfigurationfile,for example,rocommunity,trapcommunity,andtrapsink.

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LoadtheESXServerMIBsintothemanagementsoftwaresoyoucanviewthe [Link] ESX Server,inthe/usr/lib/vmware/snmp/mibsdirectory.

Configuring SNMP Security

TheESXServerSNMPpackagetakesthesimplestapproachtoSNMPsecurityinthe [Link] denotedbytherocommunityconfigurationparameterintheconfigurationfileforthe snmpd daemon,[Link]. OtherenhancementstotheSNMPsecuritymechanismallowanadministratortosetup [Link](5)manpagefordetails.

Using SNMP with Guest Operating Systems

TouseSNMPtomonitorguestoperatingsystemsorapplicationsrunninginvirtual machines,installtheSNMPagentsyounormallywoulduseforthatpurposeinthe [Link]. [Link] agentsintendedtomonitorhardwareonthephysicalcomputerinthevirtualmachine.

System Log Files

Inadditiontolistsofeventsandalarms,VirtualInfrastructureClientgenerates [Link] VMwareInfrastructureenvironment. Thefollowingsectionsdiscusssystemlogfiles:

ViewingSystemLogEntriesonpage 82 ExternalSystemLogsonpage 83 ExportingDiagnosticDataonpage 86 CollectingLogFilesonpage 87

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Viewing System Log Entries

Thefollowingtwoproceduresdescribehowtoaccessandviewsystemlogs. To view system log entries 1 2 3 FromtheVIClientconnectedtoeitheraVirtualCenterServeroranESXServer, displaytheadministrationpanelandviewthesystemlogtab. [Link]. Fromthedropdownlist,choosethelogandentryyouwanttoview.

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To search and list selected items 1 2 Withthelogyouwanttofilterdisplayed,chooseView>Filteringtorefertothe filteringoptions. [Link].

External System Logs

VMwaretechnicalsupportmightrequestseveralfilestohelpresolveanyissuesyou [Link] need Table 5-5. External System Logs
Component ESXServer2.x Servicelog ESXServer3.x Servicelog VIClient Agentlog VIClient Installationlog VIClient Servicelog Operating System ESXServer ESXServer ESXServer Windows Windows temp_dir\[Link] x(=0, 1, ... 9) File Name [Link] [Link] [Link] Location /var/log/vmware/ /var/log/vmware/ /var/log/vmware/vpx/ Virtual Infrastructure Client host. Tempdirectory
.

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Table 5-5. External System Logs (Continued)

Component Virtual Machine Consolelogs Operating System Windows File Name vmware-<username>-<PID>.log Location Tempdirectory Example: C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Temp Thepathtothisfileappearsinthe [Link], chooseHelp>AboutVMware VirtualInfrastructureClient, andlookunderAdditional Information. Linux ui-<PID>.log Tempdirectory Example: /tmp/vmware-<username>/ Thepathtothisfileappearsinthe terminalwhenyoustartthe console. IfyouencounterproblemswiththeVMwareVirtualMachineconsoleonaremoteVI Client,pleasesubmitasupportrequestandthislogfile. Virtual Machine Console Installationlog Windows [Link] Tempdirectory Example: C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Temp. TheLocalSettingsfolderis [Link] contents,openMyComputer, chooseTools>FolderOptions, clicktheViewtab,andchoose ShowHiddenFilesandFolders. Linux [Link] /etc/vmware/

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Table 5-5. External System Logs (Continued)

Component Virtual Machinelog Operating System Windows File Name [Link] Location Inthesamedirectoryasthe configurationfile(.vmx)ofthe virtualmachinethathad problems. Thepathtothelogfileofthe activevirtualmachineappearsin [Link] console,chooseHelp>About VMwareVirtualInfrastructure Client,andlookunder Additionalinformation. Linux [Link] Inthesamedirectoryasthe configurationfile(.vmx)ofthe virtualmachinethathad problems.

Runthesupportscriptorsavethelogfilebeforeyoulaunchthefailedvirtualmachine again. Virtual Machines Eventlog Windows event-<path_to_ configuration_file> .[Link] Onthevirtualmachinemanaged host. C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Virtual Infrastructure\ vmserverdRoot\eventlog /var/log/vmware vmkernel-core.<date>and vmkernel-log.<date> /rootdirectoryafteryoureboot yourmachine.

Linux Virtual Machine KernelCore file Virtual Machine Configuration file Service Consolelog Service Console Availability report VMkernel Messages ESXServer

Windows andLinux

.vmx

Onthevirtualmachinemanaged host.

ESXServer ESXServer

/var/log/messages

ESXServer

/var/log/vmkernelinthe serviceconsole

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Table 5-5. External System Logs (Continued)

Component VMkernel Alertsand Availability report VMkernel Warning Operating System ESXServer File Name Location /var/log/vmkernelinthe serviceconsole

ESXServer

/var/log/vmkwarninginthe serviceconsole

Exporting Diagnostic Data

Thereisanoptionforexportingallorpartofyourlogfiledata. To export diagnostic data 1 2 FromtheVIClientconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServerorESXServer,openthe SaveDiagnosticDatadialogbox. ClicktheAdminbutton,clicktheSystemLogstab,choosethelogtoexportfrom thepulldownlist,andclicktheExportDiagnosticDatabuttonontheAdmintask bar. IftheVIClientisconnectedtoVirtualCenterServer,specifythehostwhoselogyou wanttoexportandthelocationforstoringthelogfiles.

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IftheVIClientisconnectedtoanESXServer,specifythelocationforthelogfiles.

ClickOK.

Afileiscreatedoftheselecteddataandstoredatthespecifiedlocation,usingthe [Link],[Link] containsType,Time,andDescription.

Collecting Log Files

VMwaretechnicalsupportmightrequestseveralfilestohelpresolveyourproblem. Thefollowingdescribesscriptprocessesforgeneratingandcollectingsomeofthese files. To set VirtualCenter verbose logging in the Virtual Infrastructure Client 1 2 3 [Link]>LoggingOptions. ChooseVerbosefromthepopupmenu. ClickOK.

To collect Virtual Infrastructure log files Choosefromtheoptions:

Toviewtheviclient-*.logfiles,changetothedirectory,%temp%. IfyouarerunningtheVIClientontheVirtualCenterServermachine,download thelogbundle.

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To collect ESX Server VMkernel files

IftheVMkernelfails,normallyanerrormessageappearsforaperiodoftimeand thenthevirtualmachinereboots. IfyouspecifiedaVMwarecoredumppartitionwhenyouconfiguredyourvirtual machine,theVMkernelalsogeneratesacoredumpanderrorlog.

MoreseriousproblemsintheVMkernelcanfreezethemachinewithoutanerror messageorcoredump. To collect ESX Server Service Console files 1 Runthefollowingscriptontheserviceconsole: /usr/bin/vm-support ThisscriptcollectsandpackagesallrelevantESXServersystemandconfiguration [Link] problemyouareencountering. 2 Savetheresultingfile: esx-<date>-<unique-xnumber>.tgz To collect ESX Server Service log files 1 Inatexteditor,openthefollowingfile:

OnaWindowshost,[Link],locatedinC:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\VMware\VMware Virtual Infrastructure\. OnaLinuxhost,edit/etc/vmware/config.

Addthefollowinglinestothefile:
[Link] = TRUE [Link] = "[Link]"

[Link],thisfileappearsby defaultinC:\Windows\system32 or C:\WINNT\system32. OnaLinuxhost, thisfileappearsbydefaultin /var/log/vmware. 3 Saveandclosetheconfigurationfile. [Link] AuthorizationService(knownasvmware-authdonLinuxhosts)manually.

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OnaWindowshost,chooseStart>AdministrativeTools>[Link] VMwareAuthorizationServiceandchooseRestart. ThisenablesloggingontheWindowshost.

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Managing the VI Client Inventory

ThischapterdescribeshowtomanagetheobjectsinyourVMwareInfrastructure [Link],datacenters,clusters,resourcepools,networks, [Link] managedhostsandvirtualmachines. NOTE TheviewsandcapabilitiesdisplayedvarydependingonwhethertheVIClientis [Link],theprocess, task,ordescriptionappliestobothkindsofVIClientconnections. [Link] tothedocumentationthatdescribestheseitemsandrelatedactivitiesindetail. [Link] objectspositionisdeterminedbytheobjectsfunctionality. Thischapterpresentsthefollowingtopics:

UnderstandingVIClientObjectsonpage 91 AddinganInventoryObjectonpage 96 MovingObjectsintheInventoryonpage 97 RemovinganInventoryObjectonpage 98

Understanding VI Client Objects

Thereareseveralwaystogetinsightintotherelationshipsbetweendifferentobjects:

ViewingthroughtheMapsfeatureshowstheinventoryobjectrelationshipsin graphicalform.
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Clickinganobjectintheinventoryprovidesalistoftabbedcontentthatlists relatedobjects. Forexample,adatastorehasavirtualmachinetabthatliststhevirtualmachines [Link] datastore.

ViewingInventory>HostsandClustersprovidesaviewofthesetofvirtual machinesthatrunonaparticularhost,cluster,[Link] tabthatdisplaysallthevirtualmachinesassociatedorcontainedwithinin. However,theHostsandClustersviewisnotacompletelistofavailablevirtual [Link]>VirtualMachinesandTemplates [Link] organizevirtualmachinesintoarbitraryfolderhierarchies.

TheVirtualInfrastructureClientisusedtoconnectdirectlytoanESXServeror [Link] [Link], iftheVIClientisconnectedtoanESXServer,theclustersfunctionalityisnotdisplayed. [Link] [Link],networks,anddatacentersaredisplayedontheir [Link]&Clustersinventorypanel. Allfourpanelsarelinkedtotherootfolder.

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root folder folder folder datacenter folder cluster folder

host VM resource pool VM VM VM

host host

datacenter

cluster resource pool resource pool VM host VM

Hosts and Clusters

folder datacenter template template VM VM

template VM

Virtual Machines and Templates

network network

folder datacenter

network network network

Networks
datastore

folder datacenter

datastore datastore datastore datastore

Datastores

Figure 6-1. Virtual Infrastructure Client Hierarchy

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WhentheVIClientisconnectedtoanESXServer,[Link] objectsincludethehostrootresourcepool,childresourcepools,andvirtualmachines. Clusters,folders,datacenters,networks,anddatastoresdonotappearintheinventory whentheVIClientisconnectedonlytoanESXServer. [Link] organizeyourobjectsbydepartment,group,companyfunction,location,andsoon. [Link],aVMotionfailovercan occuronlywithinacluster,[Link] onlywithinadatacenter,notbetweendatacenters. TheVirtualInfrastructureClientobjectsareasfollows:

[Link] [Link] canchangethename,butnotaddorremoveit. [Link],hosts, clusters,virtualmachines,orsubfolders. [Link],clusters,or hosts. Adatacentercontainsclusters,hosts,[Link] [Link] datacenter,youcanmonitorandmanagevirtualmachinesseparatelyfromtheir [Link].

[Link],virtualmachines, orresourcepools.

Ifyoursystemislicensed,youcanenablethefollowingclusterfeatures:

VMwareHAAllowsVirtualCentertomigrateandrestartavirtualmachine [Link],butit allowstheclusterobjecttobeseen. VMwareDRSMonitorstheVirtualCenterenvironment,makesinitialplacement recommendations,makesvirtualmachinemigrationrecommendations,and enablesVirtualCentertoautomaticallyplaceandmigratevirtualmachineson [Link] inventoryobjectitself,butitallowstheclusterobjecttobeseen. RefertotheResourceManagementGuideforcomprehensiveinformationonusing VirtualInfrastructureClientclusters.

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[Link] [Link] [Link]. WhentheVirtualCenterServerisconnectedtotheVirtualInfrastructureClient,all ESXServersystemsregisteredwithVirtualCenteraresimplyreferredtoashosts. ESXServersystemsdirectlyconnectedtotheVirtualInfrastructureClientare referredtoasstandalonehosts. RefertotheServerConfigurationGuideforcomprehensiveinformationon configuringyourESXServer.

[Link] availableonESXServerhostsaswellasthroughVirtualCenterServers. AVirtualInfrastructureClientresourcepoolisusedtoallocatehostprovidedCPU andmemorytothevirtualmachinesresidenttothehost. RefertotheResourceManagementGuideforcomprehensiveinformationonusing VirtualInfrastructureClientresourcepools.

VirtualmachinesLocatedwithinahost,virtualdisksonadatastore,associated [Link],clusters, [Link] clusterorresourcepool,youmustspecifyorhaveintheclusterorresourcepoola designatedtargethost. [Link] discoveredwhenhostsareaddedtotheVMwareInfrastructureenvironment. RefertotheServerConfigurationGuideforcomprehensiveinformationon configuringyourESXServer.

[Link] arediscoveredwhenhostsareaddedtotheVMwareInfrastructureenvironment. Thisincludesthediscoveryofdatastoresthatarelocaltothemanagedhostaswell asdatastoresontheSANorNAS. RefertotheServerConfigurationGuideforcomprehensiveinformationon configuringyourESXServer.

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Adding an Inventory Object

[Link] [Link]: To add an inventory object 1 2 FromaVIClient,displaytheappropriateinventoryview. [Link], chooseNew <Object>where<Object>isafolder,datacenter,cluster,resource pool,host,orvirtualmachine. Ifthenewobjectisafolderordatacenter,anewiconisaddedtotheinventory. Forexample,[Link].

Iftheobjectisacluster,resourcepool,host,orvirtualmachine,awizardappears. AnswerthepromptsandclickFinish. Foradditionalinformation,refertotheappropriatemanual:

ClusterRefertotheResourceManagementGuide. ResourcepoolRefertotheResourceManagementGuide. HostRefertoManagingHostsinVirtualCenteronpage 99. VirtualmachineRefertoManagingVirtualMachinesonpage 141.

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Moving Objects in the Inventory

Someobjectscanbemanuallymovedbetweenfolders,datacenters,resourcepools,and hosts. To move an object using drag-and-drop 1 2 FromaVIClient,displaytheappropriateinventoryview. Selecttheobjecttobemovedfromtheappropriateinventoryviewbyclickingit. [Link]. 3 Dragthemovingobjecttothetargetobject.

Ifthemovingobjectisallowedtomovetothetarget,thetargetobjectis displayedwithaboxaroundit,indicatingitisselected. Ifthemovingobjectisnotallowedtomovetothetarget,anaughtsign(zero withaslash)appears,andtheobjectisnotmoved.

Theinventoryobjectscanbemovedasfollows:

Rootfolder,roothost(ESXServer),networks,anddatastoresCannotbe moved. FoldersCanbemovedwithinadatacenter. DatacenterCanbemovedtofoldersatasiblingorparentlevel. ClusterCanbemovedbetweenfoldersandwithindatacentersatasibling orparentlevel. HostWhenmanagedbyaVirtualCenterServer,ifahostisinacluster,all virtualmachinesonthehostmustbeshutdownandthehostmustbeplaced [Link] movedbetweenclustersanddatacenters. ResourcepoolsCanbemovedtootherresourcepoolsandfolders. VirtualmachinesCanbemovedtootherresourcepools,clusters,folders, datacenters,[Link],youmust specifyatargethost.

Correcttheconditionalsituation,ifneeded. Whenyoureleasethemousebuttonafterdraggingtheobjectmovestothenew locationoranerrormessageindicateswhatneedstobedonetopermitthemove.

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Removing an Inventory Object

Whenyouremoveanobject(suchasafolder,datacenter,cluster,orresourcepool), VirtualCenterremovesallchildinventoryobjects(suchasdatacenters,clusters,hosts, andvirtualmachinescontainedwithintheobject).Alltheassociatedtasksandalarms [Link] [Link],butareno longermanagedbyVirtualCenter. NOTE Theremoveoptiondoesnotdeletevirtualmachinesfromitsdatastore. To remove an inventory object 1 2 3 FromaVIClient,displaytheappropriateinventoryview. [Link],chooseRemove. Toconfirmthatyouwanttoremovetheobject,clickYesandfollowtheprompts, asneeded. Onceconfirmed,VirtualCenterremovesallclusters,hosts,andvirtualmachines [Link],alltheassociated tasks,alarms,[Link] [Link] [Link].

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Managing Hosts in VirtualCenter

[Link] onconfigurationmanagementofhosts,refertotheServerConfigurationGuide. NOTE TheviewsandcapabilitiesdisplayedvarydependingonwhethertheVIClientis [Link],theprocess, task,ordescriptionappliestobothkindsofVIClientconnections. Thissectioncontainsthefollowing:

HostsOverviewonpage 99 UnderstandingHostStatesonpage 101 AddingaHostonpage 101 ConnectingorDisconnectingaHostonpage 104 AutomaticallyReconnectingaHostonpage 106 RemovingaHostfromaClusteronpage 106 RemovingaHostfromVirtualCenteronpage 108 HostAdvancedConfigurationOptionsonpage 110

Hosts Overview
Ahostisavirtualizationplatform,anESXServer,thatsupportsvirtualmachines.A VirtualCentermanagedhostisanESXServerhostthatisregisteredwithVirtualCenter. ThetaskofmanagingahostisaccomplishedthroughtheVirtualInfrastructureClient.

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ThisVIClientcanbeconnectedeitherdirectlytoanESXServerhostorindirectlytoESX ServerhoststhroughaconnectiontoaVirtualCenterServer. NOTE ESXServersupportsamaximumoffivedirect,concurrentVIClientconnections. WhenESXServerhostsareconnectedtotheVIClientdirectly,youmanagethem [Link] [Link],suchas migrationwithVMotionofavirtualmachinefromonehosttoanother,arenotavailable throughthestandalonehostconnection. WhenESXServerhostsaremanagedbyVirtualCenter,theyareaddedtotheVMware InfrastructureenvironmentthroughaVIClientconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServer. Managedhostsarehierarchicallyplacedindatacenters,folders,orclustersunderthe rootnodefolder. CAUTION IfanESXServerhostisconnectedwithaVirtualCenterServerandyou attachedaVIClienttomanagetheESXServerhostdirectly,youreceivean [Link] thehost,[Link] discouraged. Allvirtualmachinesonmanagedhostsareautomaticallydiscoveredandimportedinto [Link],theVirtualCenterServer identifiesanynamingconflictsthatexistbetweenvirtualmachinesandalertsthe systemadministrator,[Link] thevirtualmachinedisplaynames.Thenamecanbeupto80characterslongandmay containalphanumericcharactersandtheunderscore(_)andhyphen()[Link] namemustalsobeuniqueacrossallvirtualmachineswithinavirtualmachinegroup. WhentheVirtualCenterServerconnectstoamanagedhost,itdoessoasaprivileged [Link] [Link] onpage 263forinformationonsettingupVirtualInfrastructureClientusers.

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Understanding Host States

Actionstakenuponamanagedhostrequirethatthemanagedhostbeinaspecificstate. Wheneveranoperationisperformedonamanagedhost,[Link] thestateisintransition,thestatefielddisplaysatermthatdescribesthetransition. NOTE Disconnectingamanagedhostdiffersfromremovingthemanagedhostfromthe [Link] VirtualCenterServer;ittemporarilysuspendsallVirtualCenterServermonitoring [Link] [Link] andallitsassociatedvirtualmachinesfromtheVirtualCenterServerinventory.

Adding a Host
[Link] [Link] thevirtualmachinescontainedwithinthatmanagedhosttotheVMwareInfrastructure environment. IfyouareconnectingyourVIClienttoanESXServerdirectly,theproceduresinthis sectiondonotapply. NOTE Whenaddingorremovinghosts,[Link] unresponsive,theoperationfails. To add a host to the VirtualCenter Server 1 Ensureacommunicationchannelthroughafirewall,ifneeded. IfanymanagedhostintheVirtualCenterenvironmentisbehindafirewall,ensure thatthemanagedhostcancommunicatewiththeVirtualCenterServerandwith [Link] UpgradeGuideandtheServerConfigurationGuideforadditionalinformation. 2 3 [Link], andclicktheappropriatedatacenter,folder,orcluster. Selecttheappropriatedatacenterorcluster,andchooseNewHostfromthemain orpopupmenu.

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Enterthemanagedhostconnectionsettings.

a b

TypethenameofthemanagedhostintheHostnamefield. EntertheUsernameandPasswordforauseraccountthathasadministrative privilegesontheselectedmanagedhost. VirtualCenterusestherootaccounttologontothesystemandthencreatesa [Link] authentication.

5 6

ToconfirmtheHostSummaryinformation,clickNext. Ifyouareaddingthehosttoacluster:

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Specifywhatshouldhappentotheresourcepoolsonthehost. Theoptionsare:

Putallthehostsvirtualmachinesintotheclustersrootresourcepool. [Link] [Link] supplyyourownname.

b c 7

ClickNext. RefertotheResourceManagementGuide.

Ifyouareaddingthehosttoadatacenter: a b Identifythelocationofthehostsvirtualmachines. SelectfromthelistofinventoryobjectsdisplayedintheSelectionbox.

ToconfirmcompletingtheAddHostwizard,clickFinish. WhenthedialogboxiscompleteandyouclickNext,VirtualCenterdoesthe following:

Searchesthenetworkforthespecifiedmanagedhostandidentifiesallthe [Link],thehostisremoved fromtheVirtualCenterinventory. [Link] host,themanagedhostisnotaddedtotheinventory. [Link] beingmanagedbyanotherVirtualCenterServer,VirtualCenterdisplaysa [Link] cannotremainconnectedtotheVirtualCenterServer,thehostisadded,butis [Link],forexample,ifthehostisalreadybeing managedbyanotherVirtualCenterServer. Readsthenumberofprocessorsonthemanagedhostandallocatesthe [Link] VirtualCenterdatabaseandisverifieduponeachmanagedhostreconnection andVirtualCenterstartup. [Link] [Link] licensesareissuedbypairsofprocessorpackages,notbyprocessorcores. Therefore,ifthesystemisusingtwodualcoreprocessorsortwosinglecore processors,thesystemrequiresasingle2processorVirtualCenterlicense.
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[Link],andthe managedhostversioncanbeupgraded,VirtualCenterpromptsyouto performanupgrade. Importsexistingvirtualmachines.

Connecting or Disconnecting a Host

Youhavetheoptiontodisconnectandreconnectamanagedhostthatisbeingmanaged [Link] managedhost. NOTE Disconnectingamanagedhostdiffersfromremovingthemanagedhostfrom [Link];it [Link] [Link] managedhostremovesthemanagedhostandallitsassociatedvirtualmachinesfrom theVirtualCenterinventory. To connect or disconnect a managed host 1 FromtheVIClientconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServer,clicktheInventorybutton [Link],andclicktheappropriate managedhost. Selecttheappropriatemanagedhosticonintheinventorypanel,andchoose ConnectorDisconnectfromthepopupmenu. Whendisconnecting,[Link]. WhenthemanagedhostsconnectionstatustoVirtualCenterischanged,the statusesofthevirtualmachinesonthatmanagedhostareupdatedtoreflectthe change.

2 3

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Ifthemanagedhostisdisconnected,theworddisconnectedisappendedtothe objectnameinparentheses,[Link] machinesaresimilarlydimmedandlabeled.

Ifthemanagedhostisconnected,thedisconnecteddesignationisremovedandthe [Link] labeled.

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Automatically Reconnecting a Host

TheVirtualCenterServertriestoreconnecttoamanagedhostiftheconnectionislost. [Link] isnotavailablewhentheVIClientisconnecteddirectlytoanESXServer. To configure automatic managed host reconnection 1 2 FromtheVIClient,displaytheinventory. ChooseAdministration>[Link],choosethe ConnectionOptionslistitem.

3 4

EnteravalueinminutesintheHostReconnectThresholdbox. Toexitthewizard,[Link].

Removing a Host from a Cluster

Hostscanberemovedfromaclusterbyselectingthemfromeithertheinventoryorlist viewsanddraggingthemtoanewlocationwithintheinventory(eithertoafolderasa standalonehostortoanothercluster).Whenahostisremovedfromacluster,the [Link] machinesdeployedonthehostareeithermigratedtootherhostswithintheclusteror remainwiththehostandareremovedfromthecluster,dependingontheircurrent [Link] poweredoff,andthehostisplacedintomaintenancemode.
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RefertotheResourceManagementGuideforcompleteclusterinformation. To remove a host from a cluster 1 2 3 4 FromtheVIClientconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServer,displaytheinventory. ToremovetheVirtualCenteragentfromthemanagedhost,ensurethatthe managedhostisinaconnectedstate. Poweroffallvirtualmachinesonthehost. Selecttheappropriatemanagedhosticonintheinventorypanel,andchooseEnter [Link].

Thehosticonchangesandthetermmaintenancemodeisaddedtothenamein parentheses. 5 Movethehost: a Selectthehosticonintheinventorypanel,anddragittothenewlocation. [Link] locationisselected,ablueboxsurroundstheclusterordatacentername. b Releasethemousebutton. VirtualCentermovesthehosttothenewlocation.

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6 7

Selectthehost,andfromthepopupmenuchooseExitMaintenanceMode. Restartanyvirtualmachines,asneeded.

Removing a Host from VirtualCenter

RemovingamanagedhostfromVirtualCenterbreakstheconnectionandstopsall monitoringandmanagingfunctionsofthatmanagedhostandofallthevirtual [Link] [Link]. NOTE Ifatallpossible,[Link] disconnectedmanagedhostdoesnotremovetheVirtualCenteragentfromthe managedhost. Removingamanagedhostdiffersfromdisconnectingthemanagedhostfrom [Link];it [Link] associatedvirtualmachinesremainintheVirtualCenterinventory. RemovingamanagedhostfromVirtualCenterdoesnotremovethevirtualmachines [Link] managedhostandvirtualmachinesonthatmanagedhost. Thefigurebelowillustratestheprocessforremovingamanagedhostfrom [Link],noticethelostlinkbetweentheVirtualCenter Serverandtheremovedmanagedhost,whilethemanagedhostfilesremainonthe datastore.

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1. Registered host and virtual machines host A VM1 VM2 VirtualCenter host B VM3 VM4 shared datastore 2. Remove host. Virtual machines stay on the hosts datastore. host A VirtualCenter VM1 VM2 [Link] [Link] host B VM3 VM4 shared datastore [Link] [Link] [Link] [Link] [Link] [Link]

Figure 7-1. Removing a Host To remove a managed host 1 2 FromtheVIClientconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServer,displaytheinventory. ToremovetheVirtualCenteragentfromthemanagedhost,ensurethatthe managedhostisinaconnectedstate. Themanagedhostcanbeinaconnectedordisconnectedstatewhenyouremove [Link],removingamanagedhostwhileitisdisconnecteddoesnotremove theVirtualCenteragentfromthemanagedhost. 3 4 Poweroffallvirtualmachinesonthehost. Ifthehostispartofacluster,selecttheappropriatemanagedhosticoninthe inventorypanelandchooseEnterMaintenanceModefromthepopupmenu. [Link].

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Selecttheappropriatemanagedhosticonintheinventorypanel,andchoose Removefromthepopupmenu.

[Link]. IfyouclickYes,VirtualCenterremovesthemanagedhostandassociatedvirtual [Link] associatedprocessorandmigrationlicensestoavailablestatus.

Host Advanced Configuration Options

RefertotheResourceManagementGuideforcompleteinformationonconfiguringand usingtheresourceallocationfeatures,whichincludeVMwareHAandVMwareDRS. RefertotheServerConfigurationGuideforcompleteinformationonconfiguringhosts.

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Creating Virtual Machines

TheVirtualInfrastructureClient(VIClient)providesyouwiththeabilitytodeployand [Link] simpleandflexibleuserinterfacefromwhichyoucancreatenewvirtualmachines throughmanualconfiguration,fromtemplates,orbycloningexistingvirtualmachines. Allvirtualmachinesarecreatedinplaceusingawizardthatguidesyouthroughthe stepstoproduceacompleteandworkingvirtualmachine. Theprocessofcreatingavirtualmachineincludesselectingthespecifictypeofvirtual machinecreationthatyouwantfromeitherthemainorpopupmenus. ThischapterdescribeshowtocreatevirtualmachinesusingtheNewVirtualMachine [Link] [Link] [Link] youcreatethevirtualmachine,youmustinstalltheguestoperatingsystemand VMwareTools. Thischaptercontainsthefollowingsections:

UsingtheNewVirtualMachineWizardonpage 114 InstallingaGuestOperatingSystemonpage 132 InstallingandUpgradingVMwareToolsonpage 133

Toperformtheactivitiesdescribedinthischapter,youmusthaveappropriate privilegesonthehostmachine.

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Using the New Virtual Machine Wizard

Thereareanumberofwaysinwhichyoucanstartthevirtualmachinecreationprocess. FromtheFile>Newmenu,youcanchoosetocreateanewvirtualmachine,deploya virtualmachinefromatemplate,orcloneavirtualmachinefromanexistingvirtual [Link],youcanselectanobjectanduseitspopupmenuto completethetaskslistedintableTable 81. Dependingontheselection,youseeaslightlydifferentsetofscreenstailoredforthe [Link] example,[Link] cases,however,thewidestrangeofchoicesisavailableforoptimalflexibility.
.

Table 8-1. Inventory Object Options

Inventory Object Virtualmachine Virtualmachinefolder Item on Pop-Up menu CloneThisVirtualMachine CreateNewVirtualMachine DeployVirtualMachinefromTemplate CloneanExistingVirtualMachine Host CreateNewVirtualMachine DeployVirtualMachinefromTemplate CloneanExistingVirtualMachine Cluster CreateNewVirtualMachine DeployVirtualMachinefromTemplate CloneanExistingVirtualMachine Resourcepool CreateNewVirtualMachine DeployVirtualMachinefromTemplate CloneanExistingVirtualMachine Datastore CreateNewVirtualMachine DeployVirtualMachine CloneanExistingVirtualMachine Template DeployVirtualMachinefromthisTemplate

NOTE

Beforeyoucreatethevirtualmachine,checktheinstallationnotesfortheguest [Link] OperatingSystemInstallationGuide,availablefromtheHelpmenuorfromtheVMware Websiteat:[Link]

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Creating Typical Virtual Machines

NewvirtualmachinescanbeaddedtoclustersorhostsusingtheNewVirtualMachine [Link] [Link],see CreatingCustomVirtualMachinesonpage 121. To create a new virtual machine through the typical path 1 2 FromtheVirtualCenterclient,clickInventoryinthenavigationbarandexpandthe inventoryasneeded. Intheinventorylist,selectthemanagedhosttowhichyouwanttoaddthenew virtualmachine. TheSummarytabforthehostappears. 3 ChooseFile>New>VirtualMachine. TheNewVirtualMachinewizardappears. 4 SelectTypical,andclickNext. TheTypicalchoiceshortenstheprocessbyskippingsomechoicesthatrarelyneed [Link] [Link]. 5 Typeavirtualmachinename,andclickNext.

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ThenameyouenterintheVirtualMachineNamefieldisthenamethatislisted [Link] machinesfiles.Thenamecanbeupto80characterslongandmaycontain alphanumericcharactersandtheunderscore(_)andhyphen()[Link] nameshouldbeuniqueacrosstheentiredatacenterandmustbeuniquewithinthe folder. 6 7 Selectafolderortherootofadatacenter,andclickNext. Iftheresourcepooloptionisavailable,selecttheresourcepoolinwhichyouwant torunthevirtualmachine,expandthetreeuntilyoulocatetheproperresource pool,highlightit,andclickNext. Resourcepoolsallowyoutomanageyourcomputingresourceswithinahostor [Link] [Link] informationonresourcepools,seetheResourceManagementGuide.

Selectadatastoreinwhichtostorethevirtualmachinefiles,andclickNext.

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Youshouldchooseadatastorelargeenoughtoholdthevirtualmachineandallof [Link],theDatastoreisconfiguredonthathost, includingVMFS,NAS,andiSCSIvolumes.

UnderGuestOperatingSystem,selecttheoperatingsystemfamily(Microsoft Windows,Linux,NovellNetWare,Solaris,orOther),selecttheversionfromthe pulldownmenu,andclickNext. [Link] onyourplanneduseofthevirtualmachine.

NOTE

IfyouareinstallingaLinuxoperatingsystem,usetheLSILogicadapter. RefertotheGuestOperatingSystemInstallationGuidefordetails.

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[Link] MachineWizardusesthisinformationtoselectappropriatedefaultvalues,suchas theamountofmemoryneeded.

10

Selectthenumberofvirtualprocessorsinthevirtualmachinefromthepulldown list,andclickNext. [Link] moreinformationonlicensing.

NOTE

TheVirtualCPUspagedoesnotappearifthehostissingleprocessorortheguest operatingsystemdoesnotsupportSMP(forexample,NetWareandWindowsNT 4.0). Configurethevirtualmachinesmemorysizebyselectingthenumberof megabytes.

11

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Theminimum,recommended,andmaximumsizesarebasedontheguest [Link],theminimum [Link],butforESXServer3.0it is16384MB(16GB).Thememorysizemustbeamultipleof4MB.

Thecoloredtrianglesalongthesliderrepresentthesethreeamountsasindicated [Link] theupanddownarrows. 12 ClickNext.

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13

Choosethenetworkstoconnecttoandtheiroptionsbyselectinghowmany networkadapters(NICs)youwanttoconnectto,thenamesofthenetworks,and whetheryouwanttoconnecttothematpoweron.

Ifyoudonotwantthevirtualnetworkadaptertoconnectwhenthevirtual machineispoweredon,deselecttheConnectatPowerOncheckbox. TheNetworkpulldownmenuliststheportgroupsthatareconfiguredforvirtual [Link],a warningdialogboxappears,andyouarenotallowedtoconfigureanyvirtual networkcards. 14 15 ClickNext. Specifythesizeofthevirtualdisk.

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Enterthedisksizeinmegabytes(MB)orgigabytes(GB).[Link] [Link] fromassmallas1MBtoaslargeas2TB(2048GB),usingawholenumberofMBor GB. Thevirtualdiskshouldbelargeenoughtoholdtheguestoperatingsystemandall ofthesoftwarethatyouintendtoinstallwithroomfordataandgrowth. Youcannotchangethevirtualdisksmaximumcapacitylater,butyoucaninstall additionalvirtualdiskslaterbyusingtheVirtualMachinePropertiesdialogbox. Forexample,youneedabout1GBofactualfreespaceonthefilesystemcontaining thevirtualdisktoinstallWindowsServer2003andapplications,suchasMicrosoft Office,insidethevirtualmachine. 16 17 ClickNext. OntheReadytoCompletepage,reviewyouroptions,andclickFinish. Beforeyoucanuseyournewvirtualmachine,youmustpartitionandformatthe [Link] operatingsystemsinstallationprogramcanhandlethepartitioningand formattingstepsforyou.

Creating Custom Virtual Machines

ThissectiondescribesthestepstakenwhenyouselectthecustompathintheNew [Link]. To create a new virtual machine through the custom path 1 2 3 FromtheVirtualCenterclient,clickInventoryinthenavigationbar,andexpand theinventoryasneeded. Intheinventorylist,selectthemanagedhosttowhichyouwanttoaddthenew virtualmachine. ChooseFile>New>VirtualMachine. [Link] themenuofferedinthetypicalvirtualmachineconfigurationwizard. 4 SelectCustom,andclickNext. Thefollowingstepsguideyouthroughthecustompath.

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Typeavirtualmachinename,andclickNext.

ThenameyouenterintheVirtualMachineNamefieldisthenamethatislisted [Link] machinesfiles.Thenamecanbeupto80characterslongandmaycontain alphanumericcharactersandtheunderscore(_)andhyphen()[Link] nameshouldbeuniqueacrosstheentiredatacenterandmustbeuniquewithinthe folder. 6 7 Selectafolderortherootofadatacenter,andclickNext. Toselecttheresourcepoolinwhichyouwanttorunthevirtualmachine,expand thetreeuntilyoulocatetheproperresourcepool,highlightit,andclickNext.

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Resourcepoolsallowyoutomanageyourcomputingresourceswithinahostor [Link] resourcepoolssharetheresourcesoftheparentresourcepool.

Selectadatastoreinwhichtostorethevirtualmachinefiles,andclickNext. Chooseadatastorelargeenoughtoholdthevirtualmachineandallofitsvirtual [Link],theDatastoreisconfiguredonthathost,including VMFS,NAS,andiSCSIvolumes.

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9 10

UnderGuestoperatingsystem,selecttheoperatingsystemfamily(Microsoft Windows,Linux,NovellNetWare,Solaris,orOther). Choosetheversionfromthepulldownmenu.

[Link] Machinewizardusesthisinformationtoselectappropriatedefaultvalues,suchas theamountofmemoryneeded. 11 12 ClickNext. Selectthenumberofvirtualprocessorsinthevirtualmachinefromthepulldown list,andclickNext. TheNumberofVirtualCPUspagedoesnotappearifthehostissingleprocessor ortheguestoperatingsystemdoesnotsupportSMP(forexample,Netwareand WindowsNT4.0). Configurethevirtualmachinesmemorysizebyselectingthenumberof megabytes. Theminimum,recommended,andmaximumsizesarebasedontheguest [Link],theminimum

NOTE

13

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[Link],butforESXServer3.0it is16384MB(16GB).Thememorysizemustbeamultipleof4MB.

14 15

ClickNext. ChoosethenetworkstoconnecttoandtheiroptionsbyselectinghowmanyNICs youwanttoconnectto,thenamesofthenetworks,andwhetheryouwantto connecttothematpoweron.

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Ifyoudonotwantthevirtualnetworkadaptertoconnectwhenthevirtual machineispoweredon,deselecttheConnectatPowerOncheckbox. TheNetworkpulldownmenuliststheportgroupsthatareconfiguredforvirtual [Link],a warningdialogboxappears,andyouarenotallowedtoconfigureanyvirtual networkcards. 16 17 ClickNext. ChoosethetypeofSCSIadapteryouwanttousewiththevirtualmachine. [Link] [Link],youcanchoosebetweenaBusLogic orLSILogicSCSIadapter. NOTE IfyoucreateanLSILogicvirtualmachineandaddavirtualdiskthatusesBusLogic adapters,thevirtualmachinebootsfromtheadditionaldisk. IntheSelectI/OAdapterTypespage,thedefaultforyourguestoperatingsystem [Link]. TheLSILogicadapterhasimprovedperformance,worksbetterwithnondisk SCSIdevices,andisincludedwithWindowsServer2003. [Link] InstallationGuidefordetailsaboutthedriverandtheguestoperatingsystemyou plantoinstallinthisvirtualmachine. NOTE ThechoiceofSCSIadapterdoesnotaffectwhetheryourvirtualdiskisanIDEor SCSIdisk. Selectthetypeofdisk,andclickNext. Youcanstorevirtualmachinedatainanewvirtualdisk,anexistingvirtualdisk, oramappedstorageareanetwork(SAN)logicalunitnumber(LUN). Avirtualdiskcomprisesoneormorefilesonthefilesystemthatappearasasingle [Link]. MappingaSANLUNgivesyourvirtualmachinedirectaccesstothatSAN, allowingyoutouseexistingSANcommandstomanagestorageforthedisk.

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SeetheSANConfigurationGuidefordetailsaboutSANLUNconfiguration.

Ifyouchoosetocreateanewvirtualdisk,gotoStep 19. Ifyouchoosetouseanexistingvirtualdisk,gotoStep 23. IfyouchoosetocreateamappedSANLUN,gotoMappingaSANLUNon page 130.

19

Ifyouchosetocreateanewvirtualdisk,youmustselectthesizeofthevirtual disk,specifyadatastorelocationforthedisk,andclickNext.(SEEUPDATE)

Enterthedisksizeinmegabytes(MB)orgigabytes(GB).[Link] [Link] fromassmallas1MBtoaslargeas2TB(2048GB),usingawholenumberofMBor GB. Thevirtualdiskshouldbelargeenoughtoholdtheguestoperatingsystemandall ofthesoftwarethatyouintendtoinstallwithroomfordataandgrowth. Youcannotchangethevirtualdisksmaximumcapacitylater,butyoucaninstall additionalvirtualdiskslaterbyusingtheVirtualMachinePropertiesdialogbox. Forexample,youneedabout1GBofactualfreespaceonthefilesystemcontaining thevirtualdisktoinstallWindowsServer2003andapplications,suchasMicrosoft Office,insidethevirtualmachine.

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Youcanlocatethevirtualdiskonthesamedatastoreasthevirtualmachineor [Link]. TheBrowseforDatastoredialogboxappears.

20

Selectthevirtualdevicenodeanddiskmodeforthevirtualdisk.

21

IfyouselectIndependentdiskmode,chooseoneofthefollowing: a b PersistentChangesareimmediatelyandpermanentlywrittentothedisk. NonpersistentChangestothediskarediscardedwhenyoupoweroffor reverttothesnapshot.

22

ClickNext,andclickFinish. Youhavefinishedcreatingavirtualmachinethatusesanewvirtualdisk.

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Beforeyoucanuseyournewvirtualmachine,youmustpartitionandformatthe [Link] systemsinstallationprogrammighthandlethepartitioningandformattingsteps [Link]. 23 24 Ifyouchosetouseanexistingvirtualdisk,clickBrowseandnavigatetothe [Link]. Selectwhichvirtualdevicenodeshouldbeusedbyyourvirtualdisk.

25

IfyouselectIndependentmode,chooseoneofthefollowing: a b PersistentChangesareimmediatelyandpermanentlywrittentothedisk. NonpersistentChangestothediskarediscardedwhenyoupoweroffor reverttothesnapshot.

26

ClickNext. TheReadytoCompleteNewVirtualMachinewindowappears.

27

ReviewtheoptionsforyournewvirtualmachineandclickFinish. Youhavefinishedcreatingavirtualmachinethatusesanexistingvirtualdisk.

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Mapping a SAN LUN

Insteadofstoringvirtualmachinedatainavirtualdiskfile,youcanstorethedata [Link] machinesthatmustknowthephysicalcharacteristicsofthestoragedevice. WhenyoumapaLUNtoaVMFSvolume,VirtualCentercreatesafilethatpointstothe [Link] LUNsothatonlyonevirtualmachinecanwritetoit. NOTE [Link],butthefilecontainsonlydiskinformationdescribing [Link] LUN. UsingVirtualCenter,youcannotdeployavirtualmachinefromatemplateandstoreits [Link],youcanstoreits datainavirtualdiskfile. To map a SAN LUN 1 2 3 FromtheSelectaDiskpage,selectMappedSANLUN. ClickNext. SelectaLUNfortherawdisk.

ClickNext.

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SelectadatastoreontowhichtomaptheLUN.

6 7

ClickNext. Selectacompatibilitymode,eitherphysicalorvirtual.

Physicalcompatibilitymodeallowstheguestoperatingsystemtoaccessthe [Link] [Link],aLUNconfiguredforphysical compatibilitycannotbecloned,madeintoatemplate,ormigratedifthe migrationinvolvescopyingthedisk. VirtualcompatibilitymodeallowsthevirtualmachinetouseVMware [Link] LUNtobehaveasifitwereavirtualdisk,soyoucanusefeatureslikedisk [Link],makeatemplateoutofit,ormigrateit(ifthe migrationinvolvescopyingthedisk),thecontentsoftheLUNarecopiedinto avirtualdisk(.vmdk)file. Subsequentscreensofferdifferentoptions,dependingonyourchoice.

OntheSpecifyAdvancedOptionspage,youcanchangethevirtualdevicenode andclickNext. TheReadytoCompleteNewVirtualMachinepageappears.

Reviewtheoptionsforyournewvirtualmachine,andclickFinish. Youhavefinishedcreatingavirtualmachinewithavirtualdiskthatismappedto aLUN.

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Installing a Guest Operating System

[Link] canuseit,youmustpartitionandformatthevirtualdiskandinstallanoperating [Link] formattingstepsforyou. Installingaguestoperatingsysteminsideyourvirtualmachineisessentiallythesame [Link] are: 1 2 StartVMwareVirtualCenter. InserttheinstallationCDROMforyourguestoperatingsystem,orcreateanISO [Link] toconnectthevirtualmachinesCDROMdrivetotheISOimagefileandpoweron thevirtualmachine. YoumightneedtochangethebootorderinthevirtualmachineBIOSsothatthe virtualmachineattemptstobootfromtheCD/DVDdevicebeforetryingotherboot [Link],pressF2whenpromptedduringvirtualmachinestartup. UsinganISOimageisfasterthanusingaCDROM. 3 Topoweronyourvirtualmachine,clickthePowerOnbutton. Whenavirtualmachineispoweredon,agreenrightarrowisdisplayednexttothe virtualmachineiconintheinventorylist,andtheoptionsintheCommandspanel changeasshowninthefollowingimage:

NOTE

Followtheinstructionsprovidedbytheoperatingsystemvendor. Tocustomizeaguestoperatingsystem,seeCustomizingGuestOperating Systemsonpage 189.

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Installing and Upgrading VMware Tools

VMwareToolsisasuiteofutilitiesthatenhancestheperformanceofthevirtual machinesguestoperatingsystemandimprovesmanagementofthevirtualmachine. [Link] operatingsystemcanrunwithoutVMwareTools,youloseimportantfunctionalityand convenience. WhenyouinstallVMwareTools,youinstall:

TheVMwareToolsservice(orvmware-guestdonLinuxguests). AsetofVMwaredevicedrivers,includinganSVGAdisplaydriver,thevmxnet networkingdriverforsomeguestoperatingsystems,theBusLogicSCSIdriverfor someguestoperatingsystems,thememorycontroldriverforefficientmemory allocationbetweenvirtualmachines,thesyncdrivertoquiesceI/Ofor ConsolidatedBackup,andtheVMwaremousedriver. TheVMwareToolscontrolpanelthatletsyoumodifysettings,shrinkvirtualdisks, andconnectanddisconnectvirtualdevices. [Link] scriptsrunwhenthevirtualmachinespowerstatechanges. Acomponentthatsupportscopyingandpastingtextbetweentheguestand managedhostoperatingsystemsinMicrosoftWindowsguestoperatingsystems. ThecopyandpasteoptionisnotsupportedinLinuxguestoperatingsystems.

ConfiguretheguestoperatingsystembeforeinstallingorreinstallingVMwareTools. ThisenablesVMwaretoolstodeterminethecorrectmouseconfigurationandmodule configuration. NOTE Iftheguestoperatingsystemisinstalledbutnotcorrectlyconfiguredwhenyouinstall VMwareTools,[Link] theguestoperatingsystemtocrash.

Limitations
ThefollowingareVMwareToolslimitations:

Shrinkdiskisnotsupported. ForMicrosoftWindowsNT,thedefaultscriptsforsuspendandresumedonot work.

ThemousedriverinstallationfailsinXwindowsversionsearlierthan4.2.0.

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Thissectionincludesthefollowinginformation:

VMwareToolsPropertiesDialogBoxonpage 135 AutomatedVMwareToolsUpgradesonpage 138

NOTE

IfyoudonothaveVMwareToolsinstalledinyourvirtualmachine,youcannotusethe [Link] downtheguestoperatingsystem,shutitdownfromwithinthevirtualmachineconsole beforeyoupoweroffthevirtualmachine. TheinstallersforVMwareToolsforWindows,Linux,andNetWareguestoperating [Link] CDROMtoyourguestoperatingsystemandevenappearsasaCDROMdiscin [Link],nor doyouneedtodownloadtheCDROMimageorburnaphysicalCDROMofthis imagefile. WhenyouchooseVirtualMachine>InstallVMwareToolsfromtheVMware VirtualCentermenu,VMwareVirtualCentertemporarilyconnectsthevirtual machinesfirstvirtualCDROMdiskdrivetotheISOimagefilethatcontainsthe [Link] installationprocess. To install or upgrade VMware Tools (SEE UPDATE) 1 2 3 FromVirtualCenter,poweronthevirtualmachine. Whentheguestoperatingsystemstarts,chooseVirtualMachines>Install VMwareTools. Frominsidethevirtualmachine,clickYestolaunchtheInstallShieldWizard.

Ifyouhaveautorunenabledinyourguestoperatingsystem(thedefault settingforWindowsoperatingsystems),adialogboxappears. Ifautorunisnotenabled,[Link]>Run andenterD:\[Link],whereD:isyourfirstvirtualCDROMdrive.

Followtheonscreeninstructions.

OnWindowsServer2003,theSVGAdriverisinstalledautomatically,andthe guestoperatingsystemusesitafteritreboots. AfteryouinstallVMwareTools,Windows2000andWindowsXPguest operatingsystemsmustberebootedtousethenewdriver.

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VMware Tools Properties Dialog Box

WhenVMwareToolsisinstalledinyourvirtualmachine,aVMwareToolsiconis displayedinthevirtualmachinessystemtray. To display the VMware Tools Properties dialog box DoubleclicktheVMwareToolsiconinthesystemtrayfrominsidetheguestoperating system. TheVMwareToolsPropertiesdialogboxappearswiththeOptionstabdisplayed.

Options Tab
Fromthistabyoucansynchronizethetimebetweentheguestandserviceconsoleand showVMwareToolsinthetaskbar. To synchronize the time between the guest and service console Theguestservicecansynchronizethedateandtimeintheguestoperatingsystemwith thetimeintheserviceconsoleonceeveryminute. 1 IntheVMwareToolscontrolpanel,selecttheOthertab(OptionsinaLinuxguest), andselectTimesynchronizationbetweenthevirtualmachineandthehost operatingsystem. Inaddition,theguestservicecansynchronizethedateandtimeintheguestwith theserviceconsoleinresponsetovarioussystemevents,(forexample,whenyou resumefromdisk).Youcandisablethisintheconfigurationfilebysetting:
[Link] = FALSE

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2 3 4

ClickApply. ToshowVMwareToolsinthetaskbar,selectthecheckboxandclickApply. ClickOKtoexitthePropertiesdialogbox.

Devices Tab
OntheDevicestabyoucanviewalistofallremovabledevices(suchasfloppyand CDROMdrives)availabletothevirtualmachineandwhethertheyareconnectedor [Link]. To connect a device to the virtual machine 1 2 SelecttheDevicestab. Selectthecheckboxbythedeviceyouwanttoconnect.

3 4

ClickApply. ClickOKtoexitthePropertiesdialogbox.

Scripts Tab
ThroughVMwareToolsyoucanrunscriptsthatexecutewhenyouchangethepower stateofyourvirtualmachine(thatis,whenyoupoweron,poweroff,suspend,or resumethevirtualmachine). [Link] locatedintheguestoperatingsysteminC:\Program Files\VMware

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Table 8-2. VMware Tools Scripts

Default Script [Link] [Link] [Link] [Link]

Task Suspendtheguestoperatingsystem Resumetheguestoperatingsystem Shutdowntheguestoperatingsystem Powerontheguestoperatingsystem

To run a script event 1 ClicktheScriptstab.

2 3

ChooseapoweroperationfromtheScriptEventpulldownmenu. [Link], clickCustomScript,clickBrowse,andselectthenewscript. Onceyouhaveselectedascript,youcanedititorrunittotestit.

Toeditascript,clickEdit. [Link].

5 6 7 8

Totestthescript,clickRunNow. Todisabletherunningofascript,cleartheUseScriptcheckbox. ClickApplytosaveyoursettings. ClickOKtoexitthepropertiesdialogbox.

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About Tab
TheAbouttabcontainsinformationaboutVMwareTools,suchasthebuildnumber.

Automated VMware Tools Upgrades

InESXServer3,VMwareToolsandvirtualhardwarecanbeupgradedsimultaneously formultiplevirtualmachineswithoutinteractingwiththevirtualmachinefromthe [Link] [Link] performingtheupgrademusthavepermissiontodoso. ThefollowingarelimitationsonVMwareToolsmassupgrades:

OnlyvirtualmachinesmanagedbyVirtualCenter2canbeupgraded. MassupgradesareavailableonlyforLinuxandMicrosoftWindows2000andlater. FreeBSD,NetWare,andWindowsNTarenotsupported. ThevirtualdiskmustbeonaVMFS3volume. Virtualmachinesmustbepoweredoff. Becausethemassupgradescommandlinetoolisinstalledaspartofthe VirtualCenter2serverinstallationandrunsonVirtualCenterServer,theupgrader runsonMicrosoftWindowsonly.

To mass upgrade tools and virtual hardware on multiple virtual machines Thistool,availablefromtheVirtualCenterinstallationdirectory,canbeusedonlyfrom thecommandlinewiththefollowingoptions:
[Link] -u user [-p password] [-n vmname] [-h host] [-m maxpowerons] [-s] [-q]

Table 8-3. Command-Line Options

Option -u user Description Specifiesauserwithsufficientprivilegesonthetargetvirtualmachine, [Link].*,[Link].*,and [Link].* [Link],thetool immediatelypromptsforapassword. [Link] [Link] [Link] isspecified.

-p password -n vmname

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Table 8-3. Command-Line Options (Continued)

Option -h host -m maxpowerons -o port -t maxpowerontime Description [Link] ifthespecifiedhostifnotversionESX3.0orgreater. Onaparticularhost,powerononlythisnumberofvirtualmachines atatime. SpecifiestheVirtualCenterServerport,ifoneotherthanthedefault port902hasbeenconfigured. Afterthetoolsupgradeisscheduledonavirtualmachine,thevirtual machineispoweredonandallowedtorunthroughthetools [Link],theguestpowersdownthemachine [Link] usertosetthemaximumamountoftimeforavirtualmachinetobe poweredonincasetheguestisunabletoshutdownthemachineitself. Skipsthetoolsandonlydoesthevirtualhardwareupgrade. [Link] shutdown.

-s -q

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Managing Virtual Machines

Thischapterdescribesvirtualmachinetasks,includingaddingandremovingvirtual machinesandpoweringvirtualmachinesonandoff. NOTE TheviewsandcapabilitiesdisplayedvarydependingonwhethertheVIClientis [Link],theprocess, task,ordescriptionappliestobothkindsofVIClientconnections. Thischaptercontainsthefollowingsections:

ChangingVirtualMachinePowerStatesonpage 141 AddingandRemovingVirtualMachinesonpage 150 StartingandShuttingDownVirtualMachinesonpage 155

Changing Virtual Machine Power States

Thepowerstateofavirtualmachineindicateswhetherthevirtualmachineisactiveand [Link]:on,off,[Link], youcanpoweronthemachine,resetthemachine,orresumeactivityfromasuspended [Link],youcanpoweroffthemachineorsuspendallvirtual [Link] guestoperatingsysteminthevirtualmachine. [Link] changeapowerstatechangeby:

SelectingthevirtualmachineandthepoweroptionfromtheInventory>Virtual Machinemenu.

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SelectingPoweronfromtheCommandsarea. Selectingthepoweroptionfromthepopupmenu. SchedulingapowerstatechangethroughtheScheduledTasksbuttoninthe navigationbar.

Thepowerstatetopicsarecoveredinthefollowingsections:

UnderstandingVirtualMachinePowerStatesonpage 142 UnderstandingTransitionalPowerStatesonpage 144 ManuallyPoweringaVirtualMachineOnandOffonpage 144 UsingSuspendandResumeonpage 145 SchedulingaPowerStateChangeforaVirtualMachineonpage 146

Understanding Virtual Machine Power States

Thebasicpowerstateoptionsinclude:

PoweronPowersonthevirtualmachineandbootstheguestoperatingsystemif theguestoperatingsystemisinstalled. [Link] toshutdowntheguestoperatingsystemgracefully. [Link] issuearesumecommand. ResumeAllowsvirtualmachineactivitytocontinueandreleasestheSuspended state. [Link] [Link] forthatoperatingsystem,VMwareToolsmustbeinstalled.

Thefollowingpoweroptionsperformextrafunctionsinadditiontothebasicvirtual [Link] performthesefunctions:

ShutdownguestShutsdowntheguestoperatingsystemgracefully. StandbyguestSuspendstheguestoperatingsystemandrunVMwaretools suspendscripts. RestartguestShutsdownandrestartstheguestoperatingsystemwithout poweringoffthevirtualmachine.

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Toolbarpowerbuttonsperformasfollows:

[Link] confirmationdialogboxindicatingthattheguestoperatingsystemmightnotshut downproperly. PoweronPowersonavirtualmachinewhenavirtualmachineisstopped,or resumesthevirtualmachineandrunsascriptwhenitissuspendedandVMware [Link] scriptwhenVMwareToolsisnotinstalled. SuspendSuspendsthevirtualmachinewithoutrunningascriptwhenVMware Toolsisnotinstalled,orrunsascript,andsuspendsthevirtualmachinewhen VMwareToolsisinstalledandavailable. ResetResetsthevirtualmachinewhenVMwareToolsisnotinstalled,and restartstheguestoperatingsystemwhenVMwareToolsisinstalledandavailable. Aresetoperationdisplaysaconfirmationdialogboxindicatingthattheguest operatingsystemisnotshutdownproperly. Thespecificformofthepowerstateactioncanbemodifiedtoincludeguest [Link] configurepoweroperationsettingschoosehost>Configuration>Virtual Machinestartup/shutdown.

NOTE

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Understanding Transitional Power States

Actionstakenonavirtualmachinerequirethatthevirtualmachinebeinspecificpower [Link],thevirtual machinepowerstatechangesandallothercommandsarelockedoutuntilthefirst commandiscompleted. Thefigurebelowillustratesstates,transitions,andstatechangingcommandsfor virtualmachines.
powered off remove

power on

power off

powered on

resume

suspend state

suspended

command

Figure 9-1. Virtual Machine Power State Changes

Manually Powering a Virtual Machine On and Off

Beforechanginganypowerstateonavirtualmachine,youmusthaveaddedthevirtual [Link] VirtualMachinesonpage 150. To manually change the power state of a virtual machine 1 2 3 ClicktheInventorybuttoninthenavigationbar. Expandtheinventoryasneeded,andclicktheappropriatevirtualmachine. Choosefromthefollowingoptions:

Clickthepoweroptionfromthetoolbar.

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NOTE

ThePowerOffbuttononthetoolbar,bydefault,performsahardpoweroff. Toperformagracefulshutdownofaguestoperatingsystem,usethe rightclickoptionorshutdowntheoperatingsystemdirectlyfrominsidethe [Link],thebehaviorofthepowerbuttoncanbechangedona pervirtualmachine. Rightclickthevirtualmachineandchooseapoweroption. Thepopupmenuonavirtualmachinedisplaystwooptions:PowerOffand [Link],sometimescalledhardpoweroff,isanalogousto pullingthepowercableonaphysicalmachine,[Link] Down,orsoftpoweroff,leveragesVMwaretoolstoperformagraceful [Link],suchaswhen VMwareToolsisnotinstalledortheguestoperatingsystemishung, shutdownmightnotsucceed.

NOTE

Ifanoptionisnotcurrentlyavailable,itisdimmedandunselectable. Afterthepoweroptionisselected,VirtualInfrastructureClientdisplaysmessages inRecentTasksindicatingthetransitionmodes.

Using Suspend and Resume

Thesuspendandresumefeatureismostusefulwhenyouwanttosavethecurrentstate ofyourvirtualmachineandpickupworklaterwiththevirtualmachineinthesame state. Onceyouresumeanddoadditionalworkinthevirtualmachine,youcannotreturnto [Link] thevirtualmachinesoyoucanreturntothesamestaterepeatedly,takeasnapshot. RefertoUsingSnapshotsonpage 221formoreinformation. Thespeedofthesuspendandresumeoperationsdependsonhowmuchdatachanged [Link],thefirstsuspendoperationtakesa bitlongerthanlatersuspendoperationsdo. Whenyoususpendavirtualmachine,[Link] [Link], [Link].

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To suspend a virtual machine 1 2 Ifyourvirtualmachineisrunninginfullscreenmode,returntowindowmodeby pressingtheCtrlAltkeycombination. ClickSuspendontheVMwareVirtualInfrastructureClienttoolbar. WhenVMwareVirtualInfrastructureClientcompletesthesuspendoperation,itis safetoexitVMwareVirtualInfrastructureClient. 3 ChooseFile>Exit.

To resume a virtual machine that you have suspended 1 2 StartVMwareVirtualInfrastructureClient,andselectavirtualmachinethatyou havesuspended. ClickthePowerOnbuttonontheVMwareVirtualInfrastructureClienttoolbar,or choosethePowerOnoptionfromthepopupmenuortheCommandswindow. Applicationsyouwererunningatthetimeyoususpendedthevirtualmachineare running,andthecontentisthesameasitwaswhenyoususpendedthevirtual machine.

NOTE

Scheduling a Power State Change for a Virtual Machine

Dependinguponyourpermissions,youcancreateascheduledtasktochangethe powerstateofthevirtualmachineintheVIClient. To create a scheduled task that changes the power state 1 ClicktheScheduledTasksbuttoninthenavigationbar. Thelistofscheduledtasksappears. 2 RightclickandchooseNewScheduledTask,orchooseFile>New>Scheduled Task. TheSelectaTasktoSchedulewindowappears.

SelectChangethepowerstateofavirtualmachine,andclickOK.

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TheChangeaVirtualMachinesPowerStatewizardappearsanddisplaysthe SelectanEntitypage.

Selectthevirtualmachinewhosestateyouwanttochange. TheSelectaPowerOperationscreenappears.

ClickaPowerOperationoption.

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6 7

ClickNext. Selectthevirtualmachinewhosepowerstatechanges.

ClickNext. TheScheduletheTaskscreenappears.

Namethetask,giveadescription,andspecifythetimingofthetask.

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Torefertothecalendar,clickLater,andclickthedropdownarrowtochooseadate [Link] indicatesthescheduleddate.

10 11

ClickNext. ClickFinish.(SEEUPDATE) VirtualInfrastructureClientaddsthenewtasktothescheduledtasklistand [Link],Virtual InfrastructureClientfirstverifiesthattheuserwhocreatedthetaskstillhas [Link],a messageisgeneratedandthetaskisnotperformed.

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Adding and Removing Virtual Machines

VirtualmachinescanbeaddedtoVirtualInfrastructureClientthroughtheirmanaged [Link] fromtheirmanagedhostsstorage. Thefollowingsectionsdiscussaddingandremovingvirtualmachines:

AddingExistingVirtualMachinestoVirtualCenteronpage 150 RemovingandReturningVirtualMachinesfromVirtualCenteronpage 151 ReturningaVirtualMachinetoVirtualCenteronpage 152

Adding Existing Virtual Machines to VirtualCenter

WhenyouaddamanagedhosttoVirtualInfrastructureClient,VirtualInfrastructure Clientdiscoversallthevirtualmachinesonthatmanagedhostandaddsthemtothe [Link],thealready discoveredvirtualmachinescontinuetobelistedaspartofVirtualInfrastructure Client. Ifamanagedhostisdisconnectedandreconnected,anychangestothevirtual machinesonthatmanagedhostareidentified,andVirtualInfrastructureClient [Link],ifnode3isremovedandnode4is added,thenewlistofvirtualmachinesaddsnode4andshowsnode3asorphaned.

Figure 9-2. An Orphaned Virtual Machine

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Removing and Returning Virtual Machines from VirtualCenter

RemovingVirtualMachinesfrominventoryunregistersthemfromthehostand [Link] machinecanbereregisteredusingthedatastorebrowser. RemovingVirtualMachinesfromdisk,ontheotherhand,deletesthemcompletely. To remove a virtual machine from VirtualCenter but not the datastore 1 2 3 4 5 FromtheVirtualInfrastructureClient,clicktheInventorybuttoninthenavigation bar. Expandtheinventoryasneeded,andclicktheappropriatevirtualmachine. Makesurethatthevirtualmachineispoweredoff. Selectthevirtualmachineintheinventorypanel. ChooseInventory>VirtualMachine>RemovefromInventory. CAUTION TheEdit>Removemenucommandremovesyourvirtualmachine fromthedisk. 6 ToconfirmthatyouwanttoremovethevirtualmachinefromVirtual InfrastructureClient,clickOK.

VirtualInfrastructureClientremovesreferencestothevirtualmachineandno longertracksitscondition. NOTE TheRemovefromInventorycommandremovesthevirtualmachineonlyfrom [Link] datastore.

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Returning a Virtual Machine to VirtualCenter

IfyouhaveremovedavirtualmachinefromaVirtualInfrastructureClientserverbut didnotremoveitfromthemanagedhostsdatastoreandyouwanttoreturnittoVirtual InfrastructureClient,usetheNewVirtualMachineWizard. To return a virtual machine to VirtualCenter 1 2 3 4 5 6 ClicktheInventorybutton. ClicktheSummarytab. Selectahost,andstarttheNewVirtualMachinewizard. ChooseCustom,andclickNext. Proceedthroughthewizardasthoughyouarecreatinganewvirtualmachine. WhentheSelectaDiskpageappears,clicktheUseanexistingvirtualdiskradio button,andclickNext.

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Browsetotheexistingvirtualdisk,andclickNext.

Browseforadatastore.

Whenyouhavelocatedacompatiblevirtualdisk,selectitandclickOpen. CAUTION [Link] thewrongvirtualdisktoavirtualmachineyieldsunpredictable [Link] machinecanbootfrom.

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10 11

Proceedthroughtherestofthewizardasthoughyouwerecreatinganewvirtual machine. ClickFinishtoexitthewizard.

To remove a virtual machine from Virtual Infrastructure Client and the datastore 1 2 3 4 NOTE FromtheVirtualInfrastructureClient,clicktheInventorybuttoninthenavigation bar. Expandtheinventoryasneeded,andclicktheappropriatevirtualmachine. Makesurethatthevirtualmachineispoweredoff. ChooseDeleteFromDiskfromthevirtualmachinespopupmenu. Thisremovesallthefilesfortheselectedvirtualmachine,includingthe configurationfileandthevirtualdiskfiles. ToconfirmremovingthevirtualmachinefromVirtualInfrastructureClientand thedatastore,clickOK.

VirtualInfrastructureClientremovesthevirtualmachinefromitsdatastore entirely.

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Starting and Shutting Down Virtual Machines

Youcanconfigureyourvirtualmachinetostartupandshutdownautomatically,oryou [Link] forspecifiedvirtualmachineswhenthesystemhoststarts. To configure virtual machine startup and shutdown 1 2 3 SelecttheInventorybutton. Selectahostmachine. ClicktheConfigurationtab. Configurationinformationforthehostappears.

ClicktheVirtualMachineStartup/Shutdownlink.

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Thevirtualmachinestartupandshutdowninformationappears.

ClickProperties. TheVirtualMachineStartupandShutdowndialogboxappears.

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Ifyouwanttoallowvirtualmachinestostartandstopautomatically,clickthe checkboxatthetopofthedialogboxandenteratimeinsecondsforthedefault startupdelayandthedefaultshutdowndelay. Ifyouwanttheoperatingsystemtostartafterabriefdelay,specifyadelaytimein theDefaultStartupDelaybox. ThisallowstimeforVMwareToolsorthebootingsystemtorunscripts.

8 9

Clickthecheckboxifyouwanttheoperatingsystemtobootimmediatelyafter VMwareToolsstarts. Next,specifytheorderinwhichthevirtualmachinesstartwhenthesystemstarts. UsetheMoveUp,MoveDown,andEditbuttonstorearrangethevirtual machinesinthedisplay.(SEEUPDATE) Thevirtualmachinesarestoppedinreverseorder.

10

ClickOKtoexitthedialogboxwhenyouarethroughchangingthesystem settings.

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Configuring Virtual Machines

10

ThischapterdescribestheVirtualMachinePropertieseditorandtheAddHardware [Link] [Link] performedafteryoucreatethevirtualmachineandinstalltheguestoperatingsystem. Youmusthavesufficientpermissiontoperformtheactivitiesdescribedinthischapter. Thischaptercontainsthefollowingtopics:

VirtualMachinePropertiesEditoronpage 159 AddingNewHardwareonpage 181

Virtual Machine Properties Editor

TheVirtualMachinePropertiesEditorallowsyoutochangenearlyeverycharacteristic [Link] usethispowerfuleditor. To edit an existing virtual machine configuration 1 2 3 FromtheVIClient,clickInventoryinthenavigationbar. Expandtheinventoryasneeded,andselectthevirtualmachineyouwanttoedit. (Optional)Poweroffthevirtualmachine. Changingmostofthepropertiesofavirtualmachineispossiblewhileitis poweredoff,butyoucanopenthepropertieseditorregardlessofthepowerstate. Manyofthecontrolsarereadonlyifthevirtualmachineisnotpoweredoff. 4 TodisplaytheVirtualMachinePropertiesdialogbox,clicktheEditSettingslinkin theCommandspanel.
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[Link]: Hardware,Options,andResources. 5 Selectatabandproceedtooneofthefollowingsections:

ChangingtheHardwareConfigurationofaVirtualMachineonpage 160 ChangingVirtualMachineOptionsonpage 170 ChangingVirtualMachineResourceSettingsonpage 175 ChangingtheAudioConfigurationonpage 180

Changing the Hardware Configuration of a Virtual Machine

Thissectiondescribeshowtochangetheconfigurationofexistingvirtualhardware devicesinavirtualmachine. Youcanadd,edit,orremovehardwarefromyourvirtualmachineusingthiswizard. Thestatusofthedevice,suchaseditedoradding,isdisplayedinparenthesesnextto [Link]:

Serialport Parallelport Floppydrive DVD/CDROMdrive

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Ethernetadapter Harddisk SCSIdevice

To change the DVD/CD-ROM drive configuration 1 2 ClicktheHardwaretab. ClicktheDVD/CDROMdriveintheHardwarelist.

3 4 5

Makechangesasneededtothedevicestatus,connection,orvirtualdevicenodefor thevirtualmachinetouse. IfyoudonotwanttheCDROMdriveconnectedwhenthevirtualmachinestarts, deselectConnectatpoweron. SelecttheUsephysicaldriveradiobuttontoconnectthevirtualmachinesdriveto aphysicaldriveonthehostcomputer. [Link] typesofDVD/CDROMaccess: a b UsePassthrough(raw)modeonlyforremoteclientdeviceaccess. UseATAPIemulationtoaccessahostCDROMdevice.

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ThelocalorhostCDROMdeviceisaccessedthroughemulationmode. [Link] writeorburnaremoteCDonlythroughpassthroughmodeaccess,butin emulationmodeyoucanonlyreadaCDROMfromahostCDROMdevice. 6 7 8 9 10 Ifyouelectedtouseaphysicaldrive,choosethedrivetousefromthedropdown list. Alternatively,selectUseISOImagetoconnectthevirtualmachinesdrivetoan ISOimagefile. IfyouselectedUseISOImage,clickBrowsetonavigatetothefile. UnderVirtualdevicenode,usethepulldownmenutochoosethedevicenodethe driveusesinthevirtualmachine. ClickOKtosaveyourchanges. TheVirtualMachinePropertiesdialogboxcloses. To change the floppy drive configuration 1 2 ClicktheHardwaretab. ClickthefloppydriveintheDevicelist.

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3 4 5 6

UnderDeviceStatus,selectConnectatpowerontoconnectthisvirtualmachine tothefloppydrivewhenthevirtualmachineispoweredon. UnderConnection,selectUsephysicaldrivetouseaphysicaldrive,chooseClient orHost,andchoosethedrivefromthelist. Touseafloppyimage,selectUseexistingfloppyImageorCreateanewfloppy image,andbrowsetothedesiredfloppyimage. ClickOKtosaveyourchanges. TheVirtualMachinePropertiesdialogboxcloses.

To change the SCSI device configuration 1 2 ClicktheHardwaretab. SelecttheSCSIdeviceinthehardwarelist.

3 4

ToconnectthisvirtualmachinetotheserversSCSIdevicewhenthevirtual machineispoweredon,selectConnectatpoweron. UnderConnection,selectthephysicaldeviceyouwanttouse. UnderVirtualdevicenode,selectthevirtualdevicenodewhereyouwantthis devicetoappearinthevirtualmachine.

ClickOKtosaveyourchanges. TheVirtualMachinePropertiesdialogboxcloses.

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To change the virtual disk configuration 1 2 ClicktheHardwaretab. ClicktheappropriateHardDiskintheHardwarelist.

3 4

Usethepulldownmenutochangethevirtualdevicenode. Forindependentmode,whichisunaffectedbysnapshots,selectthecheckbox. ThenchoosePersistentorNonpersistentmodetodeterminethepersistenceof changes. ClickOKtosaveyourchanges. TheVirtualMachinePropertiesdialogboxcloses.

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To change the memory configuration 1 2 ClicktheHardwaretab. ClickMemoryintheHardwarelist.

Adjusttheamountofmemoryallocatedtothevirtualmachine. Therangeofmemorysupportedis128MBto16384MBandisnotlimitedtothe physicalmemoryofthehostwherethevirtualmachineresides.

ClickOKtosaveyourchanges. TheVirtualMachinePropertiesdialogboxcloses.

To change the virtual Ethernet adapter (NIC) configuration 1 2 ClicktheHardwaretab. ClicktheappropriateNICintheHardwarelist.

3 4

ToconnectthevirtualNICwhenthevirtualmachineispoweredon,selectConnect atpoweron. UnderNetworkconnection,usethepulldownmenutochoosethenetworklabel youwantthevirtualmachinetouse.

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ClickOKtosaveyourchanges. TheVirtualMachinePropertiesdialogboxcloses.

To change the parallel port configuration 1 2 ClicktheHardwaretab. ClicktheappropriateParallelportintheHardwarelist.

DeselecttheConnectatpoweroncheckboxifyoudonotwanttheparallelport devicetobeconnectedwhenthevirtualmachinepowerson. ThedefaultsettingisConnectatpoweron.

UnderConnection,selectaradiobuttontoindicateaphysicalparallelportorto connectthevirtualparallelporttoafile. a b IfyouselectUsephysicalparallelport,choosetheportfromthepulldown menu. IfyouselectUseoutputfile,browsetothefilelocation.

ClickOKtosaveyourchanges. TheVirtualMachinePropertiesdialogboxcloses.

To change the SCSI controller configuration YoucanchangetheSCSIcontrollerconfigurationforavirtualmachineonanESX Serverhostonly. CAUTION ChangingtheSCSIcontrollertypemightresultinavirtualmachineboot failure.

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[Link], virtualmachinescanaccessthesamevirtualdisksimultaneouslyonthesameserveror anyserver. 1 2 ClicktheHardwaretab. ClicktheappropriateSCSIControllerintheDevicelist.

SelecttheSCSIcontrollertypeinthelist. CAUTION ChangingtheSCSIcontrollertypemightresultinavirtualmachine bootfailure.

SelectthetypeofsharingintheSCSIBusSharinglist:

NoneVirtualdiskscannotbesharedbyothervirtualmachines. VirtualVirtualdiskscanbesharedbyvirtualmachinesonsameserver. PhysicalVirtualdiskscanbesharedbyvirtualmachinesonanyserver.

ClickOKtosaveyourchanges. TheVirtualMachinePropertiesdialogboxcloses.

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To change the serial port configuration 1 2 ClicktheHardwaretab. ClicktheappropriateSerialportintheHardwarelist.

3 4 5

IfyouselectedUsephysicalserialport,usethepulldownmenutochoosetheport onthehostcomputerthatyouwanttouseforthisserialconnection. IfyouselectedUseoutputfile,browsetothelocationofthefileonthehostthat youwanttousetostoretheoutputofthevirtualserialport. IfyouselectedUsenamedpipe,usethedefaultpipenameorenteranotherpipe nameofyourchoiceinthePipeNamelist. ForaserialpipeforavirtualmachineonanESXServerhostforLinuxhost,enter /tmp/<socket>oranotherUNIXsocketnameofyourchoice. Thendecidewhetheryouareconnectingtwovirtualmachinesorconnectinga virtualmachinetoanapplicationonthehost.

Ifyouareconnectingtwovirtualmachines,youmustconfigureaserialportasa namedpipeintwovirtualmachines:aservervirtualmachineandaclientvirtual machine. a b Fortheservervirtualmachine,selectServerintheNearendlist. Fortheclientvirtualmachine,selectClientintheNearendlist.

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c 7

SelectAvirtualmachineintheFarendlist.

Ifyouareconnectingtoanapplicationonthehost,selectServerorClientinthe [Link],selectServerifyouplantostartthisendoftheconnection first. a SelectAnapplicationintheFarendlist.

Bydefault,theserialportisconnectedwhenyoupoweronthevirtualmachine. YoumightdeselecttheConnectatpoweroncheckbox(optional). 8 UnderI/OMode,decidewhethertoconfigurethisserialporttouseinterrupt modeorpolledmode. Polledmodeisofinterestprimarilytodeveloperswhoareusingdebuggingtools thatcommunicateoveraserialconnection. Polledmodecausesthevirtualmachinetoconsumeadisproportionateshareof processor(orCPU)[Link] maintainbestperformanceforapplicationsonthehost,selecttheYieldCPUon [Link], whichyieldsprocessor(orCPU)timeiftheonlytaskitistryingtodoispollthe virtualserialport. 9 ClickOKtosaveyourchanges. TheVirtualMachinePropertiesdialogboxcloses. To change the virtual processor or CPU configuration IfthevirtualmachineisonanESXServerhostandyouhaveVMwareVirtualSMPfor ESXServer,whichsupportssymetricmultiprocessors(SMP),youcanconfigurea [Link] twowayorfourwaySMP. CAUTION NotallguestoperatingsystemssupportSMP,andmostthatdorequire reinstallationifthenumberofprocessorsorCPUschanges.

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1 2

ClicktheHardwaretab. ClickVirtualProcessororCPUintheHardwarelist.

Selectthenumberofvirtualprocessorsforthevirtualmachine. YoumusthaveVMwareVirtualSMPforESXServerifyouwantmorethanone [Link] VirtualSMPforESXServer,thevirtualmachinecanhaveonlyonevirtual processororCPU.

ClickOKtosaveyourchanges. TheVirtualMachinePropertiesdialogboxcloses.

Changing Virtual Machine Options

OntheOptionstab,youcanchangetheGeneral,Power,PowerManagement,and [Link] invariousvirtualmachinepowerstates. To change general settings 1 2 ClicktheOptionstab. Toviewthegeneraloptions,clickGeneralintheSettingslist. ThevirtualmachinenameisdisplayedintheVirtualmachinenamefield. Changingthenamedoesnotchangethenameofanyvirtualmachinefilesorthe associateddirectory. 3 4 5 Selectthevirtualmachinesworkinglocation. [Link] pulldownmenutochoosetheversion. ClickOKtosaveyourchanges. TheVirtualMachinePropertiesdialogboxcloses.

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To change power state options 1 2 3 ClicktheOptionstab. Viewthepoweroptions. ClickPowerintheSettingslist.

Thestopbuttononthetoolbarcanbeconfiguredtopoweroffthevirtualmachine [Link] configuredtoresetthevirtualmachineorrestarttheguestoperatingsystem. 4 5 ChoosethedesiredactionsinthelistsunderPowerControls. (Optional)ConfigureVMwareToolsscriptstorunautomaticallywhenyouchange thevirtualmachinespowerstatebycheckingtheappropriateoptionsunderRun VMwareToolsscripts. ForESXServervirtualmachines,therearenoscriptsforresumingandsuspending virtualmachines. ClickOKtosaveyourchanges. TheVirtualMachinePropertiesdialogboxcloses.

NOTE

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To change power management options 1 2 3 ClicktheOptionstab. Viewthepowermanagementoptions. ClickPowerManagementintheSettingslist.

GuestPowerManagementallowsyoutodeterminehowthevirtualmachine respondswhentheguestoperatingsystem(OS)isplacedonstandby. 4 5 6 UnderGuestPowerManagement,selecteitherSuspendtheVirtualMachineor StandbytheguestOS,andleavethevirtualmachinepoweredon. (Optional)Ifyouelectedtoleavethevirtualmachineon,selectWakeonLANfor virtualmachinetrafficonyourvirtualmachinenetworkbyselectingthecheckbox. ClickOKtosaveyourchanges. TheVirtualMachinePropertiesdialogboxcloses. To change advanced virtual machine settings 1 2 3 ClicktheOptionstab. Viewtheadvancedoptions. ClickAdvancedintheSettingslist.

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TheAdvancedpaneappearswiththefollowingoptions:

Toenabledebuggingmode,selecttheEnabledebugginginformationcheck box. Youcanrunavirtualmachinesoitcollectsadditionaldebugginginformation thatishelpfultoVMwaretechnicalsupportinresolvingissues.

Todisableacceleration,selecttheDisableaccelerationcheckbox. Youcanenableanddisableaccelerationwhilethevirtualmachineisrunning. Inrareinstances,youmightfindthatwhenyouinstallorrunsoftwareinside avirtualmachine,[Link],the [Link],youcanget pasttheproblembytemporarilydisablingaccelerationinthevirtualmachine. Thissettingslowsdownvirtualmachineperformance,souseitonlyfor [Link] encounteringproblems,[Link] toruntheprogramwithacceleration.

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Toenablelogging,selecttheEnableloggingcheckbox. Thisoptionstartslogstocollectdata.

ClicktheAdvancedtoviewthemask,whichspecifiestheCPUcapabilitiesthat thisvirtualmachinerequires. ThismaskandtheguestOSmaskareusedbyVirtualCentertodeterminewhether adestinationhostisviableformigrationormigrationwithVMotion.

RefertoMigrationwithVMotiononpage 233formoreinformationonVMotion compatibilityandCPUmasks. 5 ClicktheLegendbuttontoviewthelegendforthedialogbox.

Clicktheclosebuttontoexitthelegend.

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Tomodifyoraddconfigurationparametersasneededforexperimentalfeaturesor asinstructedbytechnicalsupport,clicktheConfigurationParametersbutton. TheConfigurationParametersdialogboxappears.

8 9

Whenyouarethrough,clickOKtoexitthedialogbox. ClickOKtosaveyourchanges. TheVirtualMachinePropertiesdialogboxcloses.

Changing Virtual Machine Resource Settings

IntheVirtualMachinePropertiesdialogbox,youcanadjustthehostresource [Link],memory,disk,and advancedCPUresourcesfromthistab. Formoreinformationonresources,refertotheResourceManagementGuide.

CPU Resources
TheCPUResourcespanelletsyouallocateprocessorresourcesforavirtualmachine, specifyingreservations,limits,[Link] ontheResourcePoolstabofthemainVIClientwindow,whichyoumightdotoedit resourcesettingsatthesametimeyoueditedothervirtualmachinesettings.

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To change CPU settings 1 2 ClicktheResourcestab. SelectCPUintheSettingslist.

Selectasharesvalue,whichrepresentsarelativemetricforallocatingCPU capacity.

SharesThevaluesLow,Normal,High,andCustomarecomparedtothe sumofallsharesofallvirtualmachinesontheserverandtheserviceconsole. Shareallocationsymbolicvaluescanbeusedtoconfiguretheirconversion intonumericvalues. ReservationGuaranteedCPUallocationforthisvirtualmachine. [Link] Unlimitedtospecifynoupperlimit.

Formoreinformationonsharevalues,refertotheResourceManagementGuide. 4 ClickOKtosaveyourchanges. TheVirtualMachinePropertiesdialogboxcloses.

Advanced CPU Settings

TheAdvancedCPUResourcespanelletsyousetlowleveloptionsthatinvolve schedulingthevirtualmachineprocessingtophysicalprocessorcoresand [Link] thehosthasonlyoneprocessorcoreandnohyperthreading.

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NOTE

Hyperthreadingtechnologyallowsasinglephysicalprocessortobehaveliketwo [Link] [Link],itcan [Link] hyperthreadinganditsuseinVMwareInfrastructure,seetheResourceManagement Guide(chooseHelp>Manuals). VMwareESXServergenerallymanagesprocessorschedulingwell,evenwhen [Link] tweakingofcriticalvirtualmachines. TheHyperthreadingSharingoptionprovidesdetailedcontroloverwhetheravirtual machineshouldbescheduledtoshareaphysicalprocessorcore(assuming hyperthreadingisenabledonthehostatall). TheSchedulingAffinityoptionallowsfinegrainedcontroloverhowvirtualmachine CPUsaredistributedacrossthehostsphysicalcores(andhyperthreadsif hyperthreadingisenabled). To change Advanced CPU settings 1 2 ClicktheResourcestab. SelectAdvancedCPUintheSettingslist.

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[Link]:

Any(default)ThevirtualCPUsofthisvirtualmachinecanfreelysharecores withothervirtualCPUsofthisorothervirtualmachines. NoneThevirtualCPUsofthisvirtualmachinehaveexclusiveuseofa [Link] thecoreishaltedwhilethisvirtualmachineisusingthecore. InternalOnavirtualmachinewithexactlytwovirtualprocessors,thetwo virtualprocessorsareallowedtoshareonephysicalcore(atthediscretionof theESXServerscheduler),butthisvirtualmachineneversharesacorewith [Link] processorsotherthantwo,thissettingisthesameastheNonesetting.

4 NOTE

ChoosetoscheduleaffinitybyselectingtheRunonprocessor(s)radiobutton. ThisoptionisnotallowedwhenthevirtualmachineresidesonaDRScluster,and [Link] oftheoptionisonlyintuningtheperformanceofaprecisesetofvirtualmachines onthesamehost. Thecheckboxesfortheindividualprocessorsrepresentphysicalcoresif hyperthreadingisdisabledorlogicalcores(twoperphysicalcore)if [Link] [Link] virtualCPUsinthevirtualmachine.

ClickOKtosaveyourchanges. TheVirtualMachinePropertiesdialogboxcloses.

Memory Resources
TheMemoryResourcespanelletsyouallocatememoryresourcesforavirtualmachine andspecifyreservations,limits,[Link] ontheResourcePoolstabofthemainVIClientwindow,whichyoumightdotoedit resourcesettingsatthesametimeasothervirtualmachinesettings.

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To change memory settings 1 2 ClicktheResourcestab. SelectMemoryintheSettingslist.

FromthepulldownmenuintheResourceallocationpanel,choosearelative metricforallocatingmemorytoallvirtualmachines. SymbolicvaluesLow,Normal,High,andCustomarecomparedtothesumofall [Link] allocationsymbolicvaluescanbeusedtoconfiguretheirconversionintonumeric values.

IntheResourceallocationpanel,usetheslidertoselecttheamountofreserved memoryandthememorylimit,orusetheupanddownarrowstoenterthe numberofMBsallocated. Formoreinformationonmemoryvalues,refertothememmanpage.

ClickOKtosaveyourchanges. TheVirtualMachinePropertiesdialogboxcloses.

Disk Resources
TheDiskResourcespanelletsyouallocatehostdiskI/Obandwidthtothevirtualhard [Link]/Oisahostcentricresourceandcannotbepooled [Link],CPUandmemoryresourcesaremuchmorelikelyto constrainvirtualmachineperformancethandiskresources.

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To change disk settings 1 2 ClicktheResourcestab. SelectDiskintheSettingslist. Onthisdialogbox,youcanadjustthehostdiskallocationforthisvirtualmachine.

3 4

IntheResourceAllocationpanel,selectthevirtualharddiskfromthelist. [Link] anumberofsharesofitsdiskbandwidthtothevirtualmachine. Sharesisavaluethatrepresentstherelativemetricforcontrollingdiskbandwidth [Link],Normal,High,andCustomarecompared tothesumofallsharesofallvirtualmachinesontheserverandtheserviceconsole. Shareallocationsymbolicvaluescanbeusedtoconfiguretheirconversioninto numericvalues.

ClickOKtosaveyourchanges. TheVirtualMachinePropertiesdialogboxcloses.

Changing the Audio Configuration

(SEEUPDATE)Whetheryouhavesoundonyourvirtualmachinedependsonyourguest operatingsystem(guestOS).IfthevirtualmachineislocatedonESXServerandyou areusingWindowsXP,[Link],ifyourguestOSisWindows2000 or2003,soundisnotavailabletoyou. To change the audio configuration 1 2
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FromtheVirtualCenterclient,clickInventoryinthenavigationbar. Expandtheinventoryasneeded,andclicktheappropriatevirtualmachine.
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3 4 5

TodisplaytheVirtualMachinePropertiesdialogbox,intheSummarytab,click EditPropertiesorchooseEdit>Properties. ClicktheHardwaretab. ClickAudiointheDevicelist. UnderDevicestatus,thedefaultsettingisConnectatpoweron.

6 7 8

Deselectthecheckboxifyoudonotwantthesoundadaptertobeconnectedwhen thevirtualmachinepowerson. SelectUsedefaulthostsoundadaptertousethedefaulthostsoundadapter,or selectSpecifyhostsoundadapterandselectaspecificadapterfromthelist. ClickOKtosaveyourchanges. TheVirtualMachinePropertiesdialogboxcloses.

Adding New Hardware

YoucanaddvirtualhardwaretoavirtualmachineusingtheAddHardwarewizard. ThevirtualhardwarethatyouaddappearsinthehardwarelistdisplayedintheVirtual MachinePropertieswizard. To start the wizard 1 2 3 FromtheVirtualCenterclient,[Link] inventoryasneeded,andclicktheappropriatevirtualmachine. TodisplaytheVirtualMachinePropertiesdialogbox,clicktheEditSettingslinkin theCommandspanel. ClicktheHardwaretab.

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ClickAddtostarttheAddHardwarewizard.

Followthestepsinthefollowingsectionstoaddvarioustypesofvirtualhardware toyourvirtualmachine. To add a serial port 1 2 3 4 5 StarttheAddHardwarewizard. SelectSerialPort,andclickNext. Selectthetypeofmediayouwantthevirtualporttoaccess:useaphysicalserial portonthehost,outputtoafile,orconnecttoanamedpipe. ClickNext. IfyouselectedUsephysicalserialportonthehost,usethepulldownlistto choosetheportonthehostcomputerthatyouwanttouseforthisserial connection. IfyouselectedOutputtofile,browsetothefileonthehostthatyouwanttouseto storetheoutputofthevirtualserialport. IfyouselectedConnecttonamedpipe,enterapipenameinthePipeNamefield andusethepulldownmenustochoosethenearandfarendsofthepipe.

6 7

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[Link] processoravirtualmachine. Bydefault,theserialportisconnectedwhenyoupoweronthevirtualmachine. 8 9 (Optional)YoumaydeselecttheConnectatpoweroncheckbox. (Optional)DeselecttheI/OmodeYieldCPUonpollcheckboxifyouwantto configurethisserialporttouseinterruptmodeasopposedtopolledmode. Polledmodeisofinterestprimarilytodeveloperswhoareusingdebuggingtools [Link] [Link] guestsrunsluggishly. 10 (Optional)Tomaintainbestperformanceforapplicationsonthehost,selectthe YieldCPUonpollcheckbox. Thisforcestheaffectedvirtualmachinetouseinterruptmode,whichyieldsCPU timeiftheonlytaskitistryingtodoispollthevirtualserialport. 11 ReviewtheinformationontheReadytoCompletewindow,andclickFinish.

To add a parallel port 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 StarttheAddHardwarewizard. SelectParallelPort,andclickNext. SelectphysicalparallelportonthehostorOutputtofile. ClickNext. IfyouselectedUsephysicalparallelportonthehost,choosetheportfromthe [Link],browsetothelocationofthefile. UnderDevicestatus,deselecttheConnectatpoweroncheckboxifyoudonot wanttheparallelportdevicetobeconnectedwhenthevirtualmachinepowerson. ClickNext. ReviewtheinformationontheReadytoCompletewindow,andclickFinish.

Adding DVD/CD-ROM or Floppy Devices

UsingtheVIClient,youcangiveavirtualmachineaccesstoaCDorfloppydevicefrom [Link],forexample,thatyoucouldinstallaprogramina virtualmachinerunningonaremoteESXServerbyputtingaCDinadriveona desktoporlaptopmachine.

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To add a DVD/CD-ROM drive 1 2 3 StarttheAddHardwarewizard. SelectDVD/CDROMDrive,andclickNext. SelecteitherUsephysicaldriveorUseISOimage. a IfyouselectedUsephysicaldrive,selecteitherclientorhostasthedevice [Link]. Selectpassthroughandusethecheckboxtoindicatewhethertoconnect exclusivelytothevirtualmachine,orselectATAPIemulation.

b 4 5 6 7

IfyouselectedUseISOImage,enterthepathandfilenamefortheimagefile, orclickBrowsetonavigatetothefile.

IfyoudonotwanttheCDROMdriveconnectedwhenthevirtualmachinestarts, deselectConnectatpoweron. ClickNext. Specifythevirtualdevicenodethedriveusesinthevirtualmachine,andclick Next. ReviewtheinformationontheReadytoCompletewindow,andclickFinishor Backifyouwanttochangeanyinformation.

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To add a floppy drive 1 2 3 StarttheAddHardwarewizard. SelectFloppyDrive,andclickNext. Selectthetypeoffloppymediatouse:

Aphysicalfloppydrivetogivetheguestaccesstothefloppyonthehost. Afloppyimage,whichisafileonthehostthatstoresdatainthesameformat asaphysicalfloppydisk. Ablankfloppyimagetocreateanduseablankfloppyimage.

ClickNext.

IfyouselectedUseaphysicalfloppydrive,selecteitherclientorhostasthedevice locationandchoosethedrivefromthepulldownlist. a b IfyouselectedUseafloppyimage,browsetothefloppyimage. IfyouselectedCreateablankfloppyimage,browsetothefloppyimage.

6 7 8

Tohavethefloppydriveconnectedtothevirtualmachinewhenyoupoweriton, selectConnectatpoweron. ClickNext. ReviewtheinformationontheReadytoCompletewindow,andclickFinish.

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To add an Ethernet adapter (NIC) 1 2 StarttheAddHardwarewizard. SelectEthernetAdapter,andclickNext.

3 4 5

IntheNetworkconnectionpanel,chooseeitheranamednetworkwithaspecified labeloralegacynetwork. ToconnectthevirtualNICwhenthevirtualmachineispoweredon,selectConnect atpoweron. Tocompletethewizard,clickFinish.

To add a hard disk 1 2 3 StarttheAddHardwarewizard. SelectHardDisk,andclickNext. Selectthetypeofstorageforthevirtualmachinesdisk,andclickNext. Youcanstorevirtualmachinedatainanewvirtualdisk,anexistingvirtualdisk, [Link],whichappearsasasingleharddisktothe guestoperatingsystem,iscomposedofoneormorefilesonthehostfilesystem. Virtualdiskscaneasilybecopiedormovedonthesamehostorbetweenhosts.

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4 5 6 7

IfyouselectedCreateanewvirtualdisk,enterthediskcapacityandselectthe locationaseitherStorewiththevirtualmachineorSpecifyadatastore. Browseforthedatastorelocation,andclickNext. Ifyouselectedanexistingdisk,browseforthediskfilepathandclickNext. IfyouchoseMappedSANLUN: a b c SelecttheLUNthatyouwanttousefortherawdisk,andclickNext. SelectadatastoreandclickNext. Selectthecompatibilitymode:physicaltoallowtheguestoperatingsystemto accessthehardwaredirectlyorvirtualtoallowthevirtualmachinetouse VMwaresnapshotsandotheradvancedfunctions.

8 9 10

ClickNext. Specifythevirtualdevicenode,andclickNext. Reviewtheinformation,andclickFinish.

To add a SCSI device 1 2 3 4 5 StarttheAddHardwarewizard. SelectSCSIDevice,andclickNext. UnderConnection,usethepulldownmenutochoosethephysicaldeviceyou wanttouse. ToconnectthisvirtualmachinetotheserversSCSIdevicewhenthevirtual machineispoweredon,selectConnectatpoweron. UnderVirtualdevicenode,selectthevirtualdevicenodewhereyouwantthis devicetoappearinthevirtualmachine. Youcanalsoselectthecheckboxtoindicatethatthevirtualdeviceissetupinthe samewayasthephysicalunit. 6 ReviewtheinformationontheReadytoCompletewindow,andclickFinish.

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Customizing Guest Operating Systems

11

Nowthatyouhavecreatedandconfiguredavirtualmachine,youhavetheoptionto customizetheidentityandnetworksettingsofyourvirtualmachinesguestoperating systemsothatitisreadytobeginworkimmediatelyinyourtargetenvironment. Youcansaveyourvirtualmachinesettingsinaspecificationthatyoucanrecalllater [Link] thecustomizationwizard:usingthecustomizationspecificationmanager,whichlets youcreatespecificationsandstoretheminthedatabaseforlateruse,andusingthe wizardwhenyourecloninganewvirtualmachine. NOTE Customizingtheguestoperatingsystemisanoptionalstepinthecloningprocess. ThischapterdescribeshowtousetheCustomizationSpecificationManagerto customizeyourguestoperatingsystems. Thischaptercontainsthefollowingsections:

PreparingforGuestCustomization(SEEUPDATE)onpage 190 CustomizingaWindowsGuestOperatingSystemonpage 190 UsingtheCustomizationSpecificationWizardonpage 196 UsingtheCloneVirtualMachineWizardonpage 199 CompletingaGuestOperatingSystemCustomizationonpage 200

(SEEUPDATE) Formoredetailsoninstallingaguestoperatingsystem,seetheGuestOperatingSystem InstallationGuide.

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Preparing for Guest Customization (SEE UPDATE)

Whenyoudeployanewvirtualmachinefromatemplateorcloneanexistingvirtual machine,[Link] GuestCustomizationwizardguidesyouthroughtheconfigurationoptions. BeforeyouruntheGuestCustomizationwizard,ifyouintendtoperformaguest customization,dothefollowing:

[Link] customizeaWindowsguestoperatingsystem,youmustinstallthecomponents [Link] describedinAppendix B,InstallingtheMicrosoftSysprepTools,onpage 345. InstalltherequiredcomponentsontheWindowsmachinewheretheVirtualCenter serverisinstalled. AfterdeployingandcustomizingnonvolumelicensedversionsofWindows XPor Windows 2003,youmightneedtoreactivateyourMicrosoftoperatingsystemon thenewvirtualmachine.

NOTE

Customizing a Windows Guest Operating System

Thecustomizingprocessvaries,dependingupontheguestoperatingsystemtobeused inthenewvirtualmachine.TocustomizeaWindows2000,WindowsXPProfessional, orWindowsServer2003guestoperatingsystemwhiledeployingatemplateorcloning avirtualmachine,performthefollowingsteps. To customize a Windows guest operating system [Link] GuestCustomizationwizardstartsindirectlyfromtheDeployTemplateWizardor CloneVirtualMachineWizard. 1 StarttheGuestCustomizationwizard.

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OntheRegistrationInformationpage,enterthevirtualmachineownersname [Link].

[Link] [Link],youcanenterthenameofaperson,user,or group. 3 OntheComputerNamepage,specifytheComputerNameforthevirtual [Link].

Thecomputernameisthenamegiventotheparticularinstanceofaguest [Link]
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[Link],[Link] operatingsystems,[Link] machinenamethatwasdeclaredearlierintheDeployTemplateWizardorClone [Link]:

ByassigningaspecificnameThenamecancontainalphanumeric charactersandtheunderscore(_)andhyphen()[Link] periods(.)[Link] toensurethatthenameisuniquesothatyoudonotincurconflicts,select Appendanumericvaluetoensureuniqueness. ByusingthevirtualmachinesnameThecomputernamethat VirtualCentercreatesisidenticaltothenameofthevirtualmachineonwhich theguestoperatingsystemisrunning. ByrespondingtopromptsforanameTheVIClientpopulatestheDeploy VirtualMachineWizardwithapromptforthecomputernameafteryou completeallthestepsinthewizard. ByusingacustomapplicationtogenerateanameTheVIClientcallsa [Link] youselectthisoption,entertheabsolutepathtothecustomapplicationinthe associatedtextfield.

OntheWindowsLicensepage,specifytheWindowslicensekeyforthenewguest [Link].

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IfyouarecustomizingaWindowsServeroperatingsystem,selecttheappropriate licensemode,[Link],specifythemaximum numberofsimultaneousconnectionsyouwanttheservertoaccept. 5 OntheAdministratorPasswordpage,typeandconfirmtheadministrator [Link].

Ifyouleavethepasswordblank,theVIClientasksyoutoconfirmthat Administratorusersarentrequiredtoprovideapassword. NOTE IfyouspecifyanewadministratorpasswordandthesourceWindowsvirtual machineortemplatealreadyhasone,youmustselectDeletealluseraccountsin Step [Link],theoldadministratorpassworddoesnotchange. Ifyouwanttoautomaticallylogonasadministratorwhenthevirtualmachine boots,selectAutomaticallylogonastheadministratorandspecifyhowmany [Link] aseriesofrebootsbeforethevirtualmachineisreadyfornormallogonusers. 6 7 OntheTimeZonepage,[Link]. OntheRunOncepage,typeanycommandsyouwanttorunaspartofthefirst [Link],[Link] [Link] aredonewiththecommandlist,clickNext. IfyouwantVirtualCentertoautomaticallyconfigureallnetworkinterfacesfroma DHCPserver,[Link].

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IfVirtualCenterconfigurationisnotappropriateforyourenvironment,select Customsettings,selectthenetworkinterfacecard(NIC)tocustomizeandclick Customizetomakeadditionalspecifications. TheNetworkPropertiesdialogboxopens.

UsetheNetworkPropertiesdialogboxtoperformthesesteps: a OntheGeneraltab,selectwhetheryouwanttouseDHCPtoobtainanIP [Link] youwanttouseDHCPtoobtainanDNSserveraddressautomaticallyorenter theDNSserveraddressesmanually. OntheDNStab,[Link] eachDNSsuffixyouenter,[Link] connections,useMoveUpandMoveDowntospecifytheorderinwhicha virtualmachineistousetheconnections. OntheWINStab,specifytheprimaryandsecondaryWINSaddressesby typingtheIPaddressesintheentryboxes. [Link] GuestCustomizationsdialogbox.

c d 10

OntheWorkgrouporDomainpage,completeoneofthesesteps:

Tojoinaworkgroup,selectWorkgroup,typetheworkgroupname,andclick Next.

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Tojoinadomain,selectWindowsServerDomain,specifytheusernameofa userwhocanaddcomputerstotheWindowsdomain,andspecifytheusers [Link].

11

OntheOperatingSystemOptionspage,selecttheguestoperatingsystemoptions asfollows:

GenerateNewSecurityID(SID)GeneratesanewsecurityIDforthevirtual machine. DeletealluseraccountsDeletesanyolduseraccountsfoundonthesystem. IfyouspecifiedanewadministratorpasswordinStep 5andthesource Windowsvirtualmachineortemplatealreadyhasone,thenyoumustselect [Link],theoldadministrator passworddoesnotchanged.

ClickNext. 12 (Optional)OntheSaveSpecificationpage,savethecustomizedoptionsasan .xmlfilebycompletingthesesteps: a b SelectSavethiscustomizationspecificationforlateruse. Specifythepathandfilenameforthespecification,andclickNext.

[Link]. Later,youcanimportthesepredefinedcustomizedparameterswhendeployinga [Link] savedtoafile,theadministratorpasswordoftheWindowsvirtualmachineand thedomainadministratorspassword,asapplicable,arestoredinencrypted [Link] [Link] [Link] [Link] usethesamefilesbetweenupgradesofVirtualCenter. 13 ClickFinish. VirtualCenterclosestheGuestCustomizationwizardandreturnsyoutothe DeployTemplateWizardorCloneVirtualMachineWizard. 14 ClickFinishtodeploythevirtualmachinefromthetemplateorcreatetheclone.

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Using the Customization Specification Wizard

Thefollowingprocedurehelpsyousetupacustomizationspecificationthatcanbe usedlatertocustomizeaguestoperatingsystem. To start the Guest Customization wizard 1 ChooseEdit>CustomizationSpecifications. [Link],youcan viewthepropertiesofaspecificationandcreate,edit,copy,delete,import,or [Link]. 2 Tocreateanewspecification,clicktheNewicon. TheGuestCustomizationwizardappears.

3 4 5 6

Choosethetargetvirtualmachineoperatingsystemfromthepulldownmenu. SelectthecheckboxifyouwanttouseacustomSysprepanswerfile. Typeanameforthenewcustomizationspecificationandanoptionaldescription. ClickNext. Typetheownersnameandorganizationtoregisterthiscopyoftheguest [Link]. [Link] identifythisvirtualmachineonanetwork.

Tospecifyanameforthecomputer,selecttheradiobuttonforoneofthefollowing:

Useaspecificname

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Withthisoption,[Link] ifyouwanttoappendanumericvaluetothespecificcomputernameto ensureuniquenessofname.

UsetheVirtualMachineName PrompttheuserforanameintheDeploywizard UseacustomapplicationconfiguredwiththeVirtualCenterserverto generateaname Withthisselection,yousupplyanargument.

ClickNext. TheoperatingsystemLicensepageappears.

IntheLicensepage,typetheproductIDifthevirtualmachinerequireslicensing information. [Link],leave thesefieldsblank.

10 11 12

SelectthecheckboxforIncludeServerLicenseInformationifyouare customizingaserverguestoperatingsystem. Selecteitherperseatorperserveroperatingsystem,enterthemaximum connectionsforserverlicensemode,andclickNext. OntheAdministratorPasswordpanel,typeapasswordandconfirmitforthe administratoraccount. Ifyoudonotenterapassword,awarningdialogboxappears.

13 14 15 16 17 18

Selectthecheckboxifyouwanttoautomaticallylogonastheadministrator,and choosethenumberoftimestologon. ClickNext. Usethepulldownmenutochooseatimezone,andclickNext. IntheRunOncepage,specifycommandstoberunthefirsttimeauserlogson. Usethenavigationbuttonstoadd,delete,andmovecommandsupordown. ClickNext. Specifythenetworkinterfacesettingsifyouwanttocustomizethesoftware [Link] enableDHCPforallnetworkinterfacesortheradiobuttonforcustomsettingsto manuallyconfigureeachnetworkinterface.

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19 20

ClickNext. IntheWorkgrouporDomainpage,selectthewayinwhichthevirtualmachine participatesinthenetwork,selecttheradiobuttonforworkgroupandentera workgroupname,orselecttheradiobuttonforWindowsserverdomainandenter thedomain. Inthelattercase,youmustalsoenterausernameandpasswordforauseraccount thathaspermissiontoaddacomputertothespecifieddomain.

21 22

ClickNext. IntheOperatingSystemOptionspage,selectGenerateNewSecurityID(SID)to generateanewsecurityidentifieroryoucandeletealluseraccountstoremoveall useraccounts,includingAdministrator. SelectthesecondoptionifyouarechangingtheAdministratorpasswordandthe templatevirtualmachinehasanonemptyAdministratorpassword.

23 24

ClickNext. Reviewtheinformationyouhaveentered,andclickFinish. ThespecificationappearsintheCustomizationSpecificationManagerpageand canbeusedtocustomizeaguestoperatingsystem.

SavedcustomizationfilesareuniquetoeachVirtualCenterServerandtoeach [Link] [Link] [Link] [Link],ifyouuninstallVirtualCenterand laterdoafreshinstallation,theabilitytodecryptpasswordsfromtheearlier installationislost. 25 Toviewthepropertiesofaspecification,clickthePropertiesicon.

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TheCustomizationSpecificationPropertiesdialogboxappears.

26 27 28 29

ClickOKtoclosethedialogbox. ClicktheEditicontoredisplaytheGuestCustomizationwizard,andchangethe informationforthespecification. ClicktheCopyicontocreateacopyofthespecificationlabeledCopyof<spec name>,whichisdisplayedinthespecificationmanager. Todeleteaspecification,selectitandclicktheDeleteicon. Thespecificationisdeletedfromthespecificationmanager.

30 31 32

Toimportanexistingspecificationintothemanager,clicktheImporticonand selectthespecificationintheBrowsedialogbox. Toexportaspecification,clicktheExporticonandchooseaSaveAslocation. Usethemaximize,minimize,andclosebuttonstomaximize,minimize,orexitthe specificationmanager.

Using the Clone Virtual Machine Wizard

YouhaveasecondopportunitytoaccesstheGuestCustomizationwizardattheendof [Link],youhavetheabilitytoloadasavedcustomization [Link] [Link],thewizardopenswithblank fields. [Link] usethespecificationthatyousetupintheprevioussectionasyousetupavirtual machineinthefollowingprocedure.

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Formoreinformationonusingthecustomizationwizard,seeCustomizinga WindowsGuestOperatingSystemonpage 190. To load a saved customization specification using the Clone Virtual Machine wizard 1 ChooseInventory>VirtualMachine>Clone. TheCloneVirtualMachinewizardappears. 2 MovethroughthewizarduntilyoureachtheSelectGuestCustomizationOption pagefromwhichyoucancustomizeusingtheCustomizationwizardorcustomize usinganexistingcustomizationspecificationselectedfromthespecification managerslist.

Completing a Guest Operating System Customization

Thefinalcustomizationstepsoccurwhenthenewvirtualmachinebootsforthefirst [Link],[Link] customizationprocessdoesnotcompleteuntiltheguestoperatingsystemboots,runs thefinalizationscripts,andreachesthelogonpage. Ifthenewvirtualmachineencounterscustomizationerrorswhileitisbooting,the [Link],theseerrors areloggedto/var/log/vmware/[Link],theyarewritten totheapplicationeventlog. Thestepsrequiredtofinalizeguestoperatingsystemcustomizationarecoveredinthe followingsections:

CompletingLinuxGuestOperatingSystemCustomizationonpage 200 CompletingWindowsGuestOperatingSystemCustomizationonpage 201

Completing Linux Guest Operating System Customization

AcustomizedLinuxvirtualmachinedoesnotneedanyadditionalrebootingandis [Link] occur,theyaredisplayedonthevirtualmachinesconsolewindowwhiletheguest operatingsystemisbooting.

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Completing Windows Guest Operating System Customization

Whenacustomizedvirtualmachineispoweredonforthefirsttime,itsguestoperating systemrunsasetofscriptsthatfinalizesthecustomizationandconfigurationprocess. Dependingontheguestoperatingsystemtype,thisprocessmightrequireadditional rebooting,whichisautomaticallyperformedbythescripts. Thecustomizationprocessinstallsscriptsthatrunonceinthetargetvirtualmachine [Link] completethecustomizationprocessbyperformingfinalconfigurationoperationson theguestoperatingsystem. Afterpoweringonforthefirsttime,acustomizedWindowsvirtualmachine [Link] [Link] severalminutes,[Link] duringthefinalconfigurationprocess,eventsareloggedtotheguestoperating [Link],chooseStart>Program>Administrative Tools>EventViewerfromtheWindowsStartmenu. Ifanyoftheinformationrequiredintheconfigurationfinalizationprocessisnot correct,theguestoperatingsystempauseswhenthenewvirtualmachinebootsand [Link]:

[Link] networkonwhichthemachineisdeployed. Theproductkeyisincorrect. Theuserspecifiedtojoinadomainthatdoesnotexist. TheDHCPserverforthenetworkisnotfunctioningproperly.

To determine if the system is waiting for information Openthevirtualmachinesconsoletoseeifthesystemiswaitingforinformation.

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Working with Templates and Clones

12

Thischapterdescribescreatingtemplatesandcloningvirtualmachines. Thischaptercontainsthefollowingsections:

UnderstandingTemplatesonpage 203 CreatingTemplatesonpage 204 EditingaTemplateonpage 208 DeployingVirtualMachinesfromTemplatesonpage 209 DeletingaTemplateonpage 212 RegainingTemplatesonpage 213 CreatingaScheduledTasktoCloneaVirtualMachineonpage 218

Understanding Templates
Atemplateisagoldenimageofavirtualmachinethatcanbeusedasamastercopyto [Link] operatingsystemandconfigurationthatprovidesvirtualcounterpartstohardware [Link],atemplateincludesaninstalledguestoperatingsystemanda setofapplications. Templatescoexistwithvirtualmachinesatanylevelwithinthetemplateandvirtual [Link] arbitraryfoldersandapplyavarietyofpermissionstobothvirtualmachinesand [Link] copyofthevirtualmachinefilesandthecreationofanewobject.

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Youcanusetemplatestocreatenewvirtualmachinesbydeployingthetemplateasa [Link],thedeployedvirtualmachineisaddedtothefolder chosenbytheuserwhenthetemplatewascreated. Toviewtemplates,[Link] [Link] templateshavedifferenticons.

virtual machine icon

template icon

Creating Templates
Therearethreewaystocreateatemplate:

[Link] virtualmachine. Cloningavirtualmachinetoatemplate. Cloninganexistingtemplate.

To create a template in place from a virtual machine 1 2 StarttheVIClientandlogontotheVirtualCenterServer. ClicktheInventorybuttoninthenavigationbar.

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Theinventorypanelandtheinformationpaneldisplayinformationabout manageddatacenters,hosts,resourcepools,[Link] toolbarappears. 3 4 5 Expandtheinventoryasneeded,andselectavirtualmachine. Poweroffthevirtualmachine. FromtheCommandsareaorthepopupmenu,clickConverttoTemplate. VirtualCentermarksthatvirtualmachineasatemplateanddisplaysthetaskinthe RecentTaskspane.

To clone a virtual machine to a template 1 2 3 4 StarttheVIclient,andlogontotheVirtualCenterServer. ClickInventoryinthenavigationbartodisplaytheinventorypanel. Ifthevirtualmachineyouwanttocloneispoweredon,rightclickitandclick PowerOff. RightclickthevirtualmachineandclickClonetoTemplate.

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TheCloneVirtualMachinetoTemplatewizardappears.

Givethenewtemplateanameanddescription,andclickNext. [Link] include,forexample,theoperatingsystem,applications,versions,andintended usesforthetemplate.Thenamecanbeupto80characterslongandcancontain alphanumericcharactersandtheunderscore(_)andhyphen()[Link] shouldalsobeuniqueacrossalltemplatesandvirtualmachinesinthedatacenter.

6 7

[Link]. ClickFinish. VirtualCenterdisplaystheTasksinventorypanelforreferenceandaddsthecloned templatetothelistintheinformationpanel.

To clone an existing template 1 2 3 StarttheVIclient,andlogontotheVirtualCenterServer. ClicktheInventorybuttoninthenavigationbar. Selectthedatacenterthatcontainsthetemplate. Thevirtualmachinesandtemplatesassociatedwiththedatacenterappearinthe datacenterpanel. 4 RightclickthetemplateandchooseClone.

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TheCloneTemplatewizardappears.

Givethenewtemplateanameanddescription,andclickNext. [Link] informationcaninclude,forexample,theoperatingsystem,applications,versions, andintendedusesforthetemplate.Thenamecanbeupto80characterslong,and cancontainalphanumericcharactersandtheunderscore (_)andhyphen()[Link] virtualmachinesinthedatacenter.

6 7

Selectthehostorcluster,andclickNext. [Link].

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SelectaradiobuttontoeitherleavethevirtualdisksintheirNormalvirtual [Link].

OntheReadytoCompletewindow,reviewtheinformationforyournewvirtual machine,andclickFinish. [Link] addstheclonedtemplatetothelistintheVirtualMachinestab.

Editing a Template
Youmightwanttoedityourtemplate(toupgradeanapplication,forexample). However,[Link] virtualmachine,editit,andconverttheeditedvirtualmachinetoatemplate. To edit the template 1 2 3 Ifyouwanttoeditthepropertiesofatemplate,convertthetemplatetoavirtual machine. Editthevirtualmachine. Convertthevirtualmachinetoatemplate.

Youcandirectlychangethenameofatemplateusingtheprocedurebelow.

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To change the name of a template 1 2 3 4 5 6 FromtheVirtualCenterclient,clicktheInventorybutton. Selectthedatacenterthatcontainsthetemplate. SelecttheVirtualMachinestab. [Link]. Thenameofthevirtualmachineisnowaneditablefield. Changethename,andclickoutsidethefield.

Deploying Virtual Machines from Templates

Thisproceduredeploysavirtualmachinefromanexistingtemplate. To deploy a virtual machine from a template 1 2 StarttheVIClient,andlogontotheVirtualCenterServer. ClicktheInventorybuttoninthenavigationbar. Theinventorypanelandtheinformationpaneldisplayinformationabout manageddatacenters,hosts,resourcepools,[Link] toolbarappears. 3 Selectthedatacenterthatcontainsthetemplate,andclicktheVirtualMachines tab. Thevirtualmachinesandtemplatesassociatedwiththedatacenterappearinthe datacenterpanel. 4 Rightclickthetemplate,andchooseDeployVirtualMachinefromthis Template.

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TheDeployTemplatewizardappears.

Givethenewvirtualmachineaname,selectalocation,andclickNext. Thenamecanbeupto80characterslongandcancontainalphanumericcharacters andtheunderscore(_)andhyphen()[Link] alltemplatesandvirtualmachinesinthedatacenter.

6 7

OntheHost/Clusterpage,selectthehostonwhichyouwanttostorethetemplate andclickNext. Selectaresourcepool(ifapplicable)inwhichyouwanttorunthevirtualmachine, andclickNext. Resourcepoolsallowhierarchicalmanagementofresourceswithinahostor [Link].

Chooseadatastoreforthevirtualmachine,andclickNext. Youarechoosingthedatastoreinwhichtostorethefilesforthevirtualmachine. Youshouldchooseonethatislargeenoughtoaccommodatethevirtualmachine andallofitsvirtualdiskfilessothattheycanallresideinthesameplace. [Link] returntothedatastoreselectionpage,clicktheBasicbutton.

OntheSelectGuestCustomizationOptionpage,performoneoftheseactions:

Ifyoudonotwanttocustomizeyourguestoperatingsystem,selectDonot customizeandclickNext. Ifyouwanttocustomizeyourguestoperatingsystem,clickoneoftheother [Link] GuestCustomizationWizardorbyusinganexistingcustomization

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[Link],seeCustomizingGuest OperatingSystemsonpage 189. TheVIClientmightdisplayerrormessagesonthispageofthewizardiftheguest isnotcustomizable. 10 OntheReadytoCompletewindow,reviewtheinformationforyournewvirtual machine,selectthePoweronthenewVirtualMachineaftercreationcheckboxif youwanttopoweronthevirtualmachineimmediately,andclickFinish. AfteryouclickFinish,youcannotuseoreditthevirtualmachineuntilthetask [Link] datastore. To convert a template to a virtual machine 1 2 StartVirtualCenterclient,andlogontotheVirtualCenterServer. ClicktheInventorybuttoninthenavigationbar. Theinventorypanelandtheinformationpaneldisplayinformationabout manageddatacenters,hosts,resourcepools,[Link] toolbarappears. 3 Selectthedatacenterthatcontainsthetemplate. Thevirtualmachinesandtemplatesassociatedwiththedatacenterappearinthe datacenterpanel. 4 ClicktheVirtualMachinestab.

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Fromthepopupmenu,chooseConverttoVirtualMachine.

Thetemplateisconvertedtoavirtualmachine.

Deleting a Template
Thisprocedureunregistersanddeletesthetemplate. To delete an existing template 1 2 3 4 ClicktheInventorybutton. Selecttheappropriatetemplate. Rightclickthetemplate,andchooseRemovefromInventory. [Link].

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AllnondatastoretemplatefilesareremovedfromtheVirtualCenterinventory.

To delete a template from disk CAUTION Afteratemplateisdeletedfromahost,thereisnowaytorecoverit.

1 2 3 4 5

StartVirtualCenterclient,andlogontotheVirtualCenterServer. ClicktheInventorybuttoninthenavigationbar,andselectthehostthatcontains thetemplate. RightclickthedatastorethatcontainsthetemplateandselectBrowseDatastore. [Link]. [Link]. Thetemplateisdeletedfromthediskandcannotberecovered.

Regaining Templates
Templatesareassociatedwithhosts,andtheonlywaytoregainorregistertemplates afterremovingandaddingahostistousethedatastorebrowsertolocatethetemplate. [Link] intoVirtualCenter. To regain a template: 1 2 3 4 StartVirtualCenterclient,andlogontotheVirtualCenterServer. ClicktheInventorybuttoninthenavigationbar,andselectthehostthatcontains thetemplate. RightclickthedatastorethatcontainsthetemplateandselectBrowseDatastore. [Link].

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[Link].

TheAddtoInventorywizardappears.

Enteratemplatemachinename,selectalocation,andclickNext. Selectahostorclusteronwhichtostorethetemplate,andclickNext.

Reviewyourselections,andclickFinish.

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ThetemplateisregisteredtothehostandcanbeviewedfromthehostsVirtual Machinetab.

Cloning an Existing Virtual Machine

[Link], VirtualCenterprovidesanoptiontocustomizetheguestoperatingsystemofthat [Link] astheoriginalvirtualmachine. To clone a virtual machine 1 2 StartVirtualCenterandlogontotheVirtualCenterServer. Fromtheinventorypanel,clicktheInventorybuttoninthenavigationbar. Theinventorypanelandtheinformationpaneldisplaythedatastores,resource pools,hosts,[Link]. 3 4 5 Expandtheinventoryasneeded,andclickthesourcevirtualmachine. Poweroffthevirtualmachine. TostarttheCloneaVirtualMachinewizard,clicktheClonetoNewVirtual MachinelinkintheCommandsarea,orchooseClonefromthepopupmenu.

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TheCloneVirtualMachinewizardappears.

6 7

Enteravirtualmachinename,selectalocation,andclickNext. Selectahostorclusteronwhichtoruntheclone,andclickNext.

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Ifyouchooseacluster,youmustchooseaspecifichostwithinthecluster,andclick Next.

Selectaresourcepoolinwhichtoruntheclone,andclickNext.

10

Selectthedatastorelocationwhereyouwanttostorethevirtualmachinefiles,and clickNext.

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11

ClicktheAdvancedbuttonformoreoptions,andclickNext.

[Link] customizetheguestoperatingsystemusingthewizardorusinganexisting [Link]. Formoreinformation,seeCustomizingGuestOperatingSystemsonpage 189. 12 13 Selecttheappropriateradiobutton,andclickNext. Reviewyourselections,andclickFinish. OntheReadytoCompleteNewVirtualMachinepage,youcanselectthecheckbox [Link],you [Link] thecreationofavirtualdisk,itcouldtakeseveralminutestocomplete.

Creating a Scheduled Task to Clone a Virtual Machine

Thisprocedurecreatesascheduledtasktocloneavirtualmachine. To create a scheduled task to clone a virtual machine 1 ClicktheScheduledTasksbuttoninthenavigationbar. Thelistofscheduledtasksappears. 2 ChooseFile>New>ScheduledTask,orclicktheNewbutton. TheSelectaTasktoScheduledialogboxappears. 3 UsethepulldownmenutochooseCloneavirtualmachine,andclickOK. TheCloneVirtualMachinewizardappears.
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4 5

Selectthevirtualmachinetoclone,andclickNext. Followthewizardthroughthesamestepsasthoseintheprevioustaskinwhich [Link] theTaskpage.

6 7 8

Enteranameandataskdescriptioninthetextbox. Selecttheradiobuttonforthefrequencyofthetask. [Link],enterthetimeanddatewhenyou wantthevirtualmachinetobedeployed,andclickNext. Toseethecalendar,clickLater,andclickthedropdownarrowtoselectadatefrom [Link],andadarkcircle indicatesthescheduleddate.

ReviewtheinformationontheReadytoCompleteNewVirtualMachinepage, andclickFinish. Optionally,youcanselectthecheckboxtopoweronthenewvirtualmachineafter itiscreated. VirtualCenteraddsthenewtasktothescheduledtasklistandcompletesitatthe [Link],VirtualCenterfirstverifies [Link] permissionlevelsarenotacceptable,VirtualCentersendsamessagetothelogand thetaskisnotperformed.

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Using Snapshots

13

VMwareVirtualCentersnapshotsallowyoutopreservethestateofthevirtualmachine [Link] Server3. Thefollowingsectionsareincludedinthischapter:

UnderstandingSnapshotsonpage 221 UsingtheSnapshotManageronpage 226 RestoringaSnapshotonpage 227

Understanding Snapshots
Asnapshotcapturestheentirestateofthevirtualmachineatthetimeyoutakethe [Link]:

MemorystateThecontentsofthevirtualmachinesmemory. SettingsstateThevirtualmachinesettings. DiskstateThestateofallthevirtualmachinesvirtualdisks.

[Link],taking asnapshotpreservesthestateofonlytheactivevirtualmachine. Whenyoureverttoasnapshot,youreturnalltheseitemstothestatetheywereinatthe [Link],powered on,orpoweredoffwhenyoulaunchit,besureitisinthedesiredstatewhenyoutake thatsnapshot.

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NOTE

Snapshotsofrawdisks,RDMphysicalmodedisks,orindependentdisksarenot supported. Snapshotsareusefulwhenyouneedtorevertrepeatedlytothesamestatebutyoudont [Link],youcreatebackupand [Link] avirtualmachineinaprocesstree. Snapshotscanbeusedasrestorationpointsduringalinearoriterativeprocess,suchas installingupdatepackages,orduringabranchingprocess,suchasinstallingdifferent [Link] identicalbaseline. Multiplesnapshotsreferstotheabilitytocreatemorethanonesnapshotofthesame [Link],(forexample, snapshotsforallmembersofateam)requiresthatyoutakeaseparatesnapshotofeach teammember. [Link] multiplesnapshots,youcansavemanypositionstoaccommodatemanykindsofwork processes. Althoughyoucantakesnapshotsupto32levels,theamountoftimeittakestocommit [Link] proportionaltotheamountofdata(committedordeleted)andthevirtualmachines RAMsize.

Relationship Between Snapshots

Therelationshipbetweensnapshotsislikethatofaparenttoachild:

Inthelinearprocess,eachsnapshothasoneparentandonechild,exceptforthe lastsnapshot,whichhasnochildren. Intheprocesstree,eachsnapshothasoneparent,butonesnapshotmayhave [Link].

Youcanreverttoaparentorachild.

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Snapshots and Other Activity in the Virtual Machine

Whenyoutakeasnapshot,beawareofotheractivitygoingoninthevirtualmachine [Link],itisbesttotakeasnapshot whennoapplicationsinthevirtualmachinearecommunicatingwithothercomputers. Thepotentialforproblemsisgreatestifthevirtualmachineiscommunicatingwith anothercomputer,especiallyinaproductionenvironment. Forexample,ifyoutakeasnapshotwhilethevirtualmachineisdownloadingafile fromaserveronthenetwork,thevirtualmachinecontinuesdownloadingthefile, [Link],communications betweenthevirtualmachineandtheserverareconfusedandthefiletransferfails. Anotherexampleistakingasnapshotwhileanapplicationinthevirtualmachineis [Link] snapshotespeciallyifyourevertafterthetransactionstartsbutbeforeithasbeen committedthedatabaseislikelytobeconfused.

Taking a Snapshot
[Link] [Link] takentodevelopasnapshotdependsontheamountofdataandtheloadontheserver. Onaverage,thetimerangesfrom30to40secondsforminimalsnapshotcreation. Youcantakeasnapshotwhileavirtualmachineispoweredon,poweredoff,or [Link],waituntilthesuspendoperation hasfinishedbeforetakingasnapshot. Youmustpoweroffthevirtualmachinebeforetakingasnapshotifthevirtualmachine [Link],ifyouhaveaspecialpurpose configurationthatrequiresyoutouseanindependentdisk,youmustpoweroffthe virtualmachinebeforetakingasnapshot. To take a snapshot 1 ChooseInventory>VirtualMachine>Snapshot>TakeSnapshot. YoucanalsoclicktheTakeasnapshotofthisvirtualmachinebutton,orrightclick thevirtualmachineandchooseSnapshot>TakeSnapshot.

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TheTakeVirtualMachineSnapshotwindowappears.

2 3

Typeanameforyoursnapshot. (Optional)Typeadescriptionforyoursnapshot. Descriptionsareusefultoidentifydifferencesbetweensimilarlynamedsnapshots. DescriptionsappearintheSnapshot Manager.

ClickOK. [Link] taken,itislistedintheRecentTasksfieldatthebottomofVirtualCenter.

Clickthetargetvirtualmachinetodisplaytasksandeventsforthismachineor, whilethevirtualmachineisstillselected,clicktheTasks&Eventstab.

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Changing Disk Mode to Exclude Virtual Disks from Snapshots

Youmustpoweroffanddeleteanyexistingsnapshotsbeforeyouattempttochangethe [Link] disktotheparentdisk. To exclude a disk from a snapshot 1 2 ChooseInventory>VirtualMachine>EditSettings. ClicktheHardwaretab,andselecttheharddiskyouwanttoexclude.

UnderMode,[Link] snapshots. Youhavethefollowingpersistenceoptionsforanindependentdisk:

PersistentChangesareimmediatelyandpermanentlywrittentothedisk. Allchangestoanindependentdiskinpersistentmoderemain,evenwhenyou reverttothatsnapshot. NonpersistentChangestothediskarediscardedwhenyoupoweroffor reverttothatsnapshot.

ClickOK.

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Using the Snapshot Manager

TheSnapshotManagerletsyoureviewallsnapshotsfortheactivevirtualmachineand actonthemdirectly. TheSnapshotManagerwindowcontainsthefollowingareas:Snapshottree,Details region,Commandbuttons,Navigationregion,andaYouarehereicon.

Figure 13-1. Snapshot Manager

SnapshottreeDisplaysallsnapshotsforthevirtualmachine. YouarehereiconRepresentsthecurrentoperationalstateofthevirtualmachine. TheYouarehereiconisalwaysselectedandvisiblewhenyouopentheSnapshot Manager. TheYouarehereiconrepresentsastatethatisneverasnapshotitselfbutrather [Link] [Link] [Link] machine,theYouareherestateisnotidenticaltothesnapshot. [Link] thecurrentandactivestate.

CommandButtonsTheSnapshotManagerhasthreecommandbuttonsintheleft pane:Goto,Delete,andDeleteAll.

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[Link] areblankifyouhavenotselectedasnapshot. NavigationRegionContainsbuttonsfornavigatingoutofthedialogbox:

CloseClosestheSnapshotManager. HelpOpensthehelpsystem.

To use the Snapshot Manager 1 2 3 ChooseInventory>VirtualMachine>Snapshot>SnapshotManager. IntheSnapshotManager,selectasnapshotbyclickingit. Togotoasnapshot,clicktheGotobuttontorestorethevirtualmachinetoany arbitrarysnapshot. TheGotocommandallowsyoutorestorethestateofanysnapshot. 4 5 6 7 ClickYesintheconfirmationdialogbox. Todeleteasnapshot,clicktheDeletebuttontopermanentlyremoveasnapshot fromVirtualCenteruse. ClickYesintheconfirmationdialogbox. Todeleteallsnapshots,clicktheDeleteAllbuttontopermanentlyremoveall snapshotsfromVirtualCenteruse. Deletecommitsthesnapshotdatatotheparentandthenremovestheselected [Link] currentstatetothebasediskandremovesallexistingsnapshotsforthatvirtual machine. ClickYesintheconfirmationdialogbox. ClickClosetoexittheSnapshotManager.

NOTE

8 9

Restoring a Snapshot
VMwareVirtualCenterincludesthefollowingsnapshotmethodstoallowyoutoreturn totheoriginalvirtualmachine:

TheInventory>VirtualMachine>SnapshotmenucontainsthecommandRevert toSnapshot. TheSnapshotManagerhasaGotobutton.

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Parent Snapshot
TodiscernbetweentheReverttoSnapshotandGotocommands,youmust understandwhatismeantbytheparentsnapshot. Theparentsnapshotisthemostrecentlysavedversionofthecurrentstateofthevirtual [Link],thatstoredstateistheparentsnapshotof [Link],thatsnapshotbecomestheparentof thecurrentstate. TheparentsnapshotisalwaysthesnapshotappearingimmediatelyabovetheYouare hereiconintheSnapshotManager.
Parent Snapshot

Figure 13-2. Parent Snapshot NOTE [Link],if youtakeasnapshottodayandthenGotoasnapshotyoutookyesterday,thesnapshot [Link] parentsnapshothasbecomethesnapshotyoutookyesterday.

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Revert to Snapshot Command

[Link] commandimmediatelyactivatestheparentsnapshotofthecurrentstateofthevirtual machine. Thecurrentdiskandmemorystatesarediscardedandrestoredastheywerewhenyou [Link] poweredoff,choosingSnapshot>ReverttoSnapshotmovesthepoweredonvirtual machinetothatparentstate,thatis,toapoweredoffstate.
Virtual machine with no snapshots.

take a snapshot
The new snapshot (snapshot_a) is now the parent of the You are here state. The parent snapshot of the You are here state is the parent snapshot of the virtual machine.

take a snapshot

go to snapshot_a

When you take a snapshot from the snapshot_a state, snapshot_a becomes the parent of the new shapshot (snapshot_b) and snapshot_b is the parent shapshot of the You are here state. If you take a snapshot now, the new snapshot will be based on the snapshot_b state.

When you go to snapshot_a, snapshot_a becomes the parent of the You are here state. If you take a snapshot now, the new snapshot will be based on the snapshot_a state. When you revert a virtual machine, the virtual machine returns to the parent snapshot of the virtual machine (that is, the parent of the current You are here state).

Figure 13-3. Revert to Snapshot

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Therearethreewaystoreverttotheparentsnapshot:

ChooseInventory>VirtualMachine>Snapshot>ReverttoSnapshot. ClicktheReverttosnapshotbuttononthetoolbar. Rightclickthevirtualmachine,andchooseSnapshot>ReverttoSnapshot.

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Migrating Virtual Machines

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Thischapterdescribestheprocessofmigratingmovingavirtualmachinefromone [Link]:

Overviewonpage 231 Migrationonpage 233 MigrationwithVMotiononpage 233 MigrationWizardonpage 239

Theuserinitiatingthemigrationmusthaveappropriatepermissiontoperform migrationwithVMotiononbothmachines. RefertoManagingUsers,Groups,Permissions,andRolesonpage 247for informationonpermissions. NOTE [Link] migration.

Overview
Inthisrelease,youcanmigrateavirtualmachineonanESXServerhostinasuspended [Link] [Link]. MigrationwithVMotion,designedtobeusedbetweencompatiblesystems,allowsyou tomigratevirtualmachineswithnodowntimebutrequiresVMotionlicensingand specificconfiguration. InVirtualCenter2,youhavetwomigrationoptions:

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MigrationMovingapoweredofforsuspendedvirtualmachine(configuration filesbutnodiskmovement).Optionally,duringmigration,youcanrelocate configurationanddiskfiles. [Link] [Link]. Virtualmachinesdonotneedtobeavailableonsharedstorage. MigrationwithVMotionMovingavirtualmachinethatispoweredon. Virtualmachinesmustbeavailableanyfromanyformofsharedstorage,suchas SAN,iSCSI,orNAS.

NOTE

NOTE

NOTE

[Link] machinescannotbemovedbetweendatacenters. ThefollowingtableliststheVMotioncapabilitiesfor32and64bitguestvirtual machines. Table 14-1. VMotion Support

32-bit Guest Virtual Machines VMotion (poweredon) Fullysupportedwithin VMotioncompatible32bitCPUs AND64bitCPUs(InteltoIntelor AMDtoAMD). Fullysupportedwithinsupported 32bitCPUsand64bitCPUsand abletopoweronirrespectiveofany CPUincompatibilities (InteltoAMDOK). 64-bit Guest Virtual Machines Fullysupportedwithin VMotioncompatible64bitCPUs (InteltoIntelorAMDtoAMD). Fullysupportedwithin VMotioncompatible64bitCPUs (InteltoAMDOK).

Cold Migration (poweredoff)

NOTE

MigrationwithVMotioncannotbeusedtomigratevirtualmachinesusingrawdisks forclusteringpurposes.

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Migration
Thevirtualmachineyouwanttomigratemustbepoweredofforsuspendedpriorto [Link],youalsohavetheoptionofmoving [Link] steps: 1 Theconfigurationfiles,includingtheNVRAMfile(BIOSsettings),logfiles,and thesuspendfileforsuspendedvirtualmachinesaswellasthedisksofthevirtual machinearemovedfromthesourcehosttothedestinationhostsassociated storagearea. Thevirtualmachineisassociated(registered)withthenewhost. Afterthemigrationiscompleted,theoldversionofthevirtualmachineisdeleted fromthesourcehost.

2 3

Ifanyerroroccursduringmigration,thevirtualmachinesreverttotheiroriginalstates andlocations. Youcanmovevirtualmachinesmanuallyorsetupascheduledtasktoperformthe [Link],Events,andAlarmsonpage 289forinformation onschedulingtasks.

Migration with VMotion

VMotionallowsworkingprocessestocontinuethroughoutamigrationwithVMotion. Theentirestateofthevirtualmachineaswellasitsconfigurationfile,ifnecessary,are movedtothenewhostevenwhilethedatastorageremainsinthesamelocationonthe [Link] [Link] host,thevirtualmachinerunsonthenewhost. Thestateinformationincludesthecurrentmemorycontentandalltheinformationthat [Link] [Link] definingandidentificationinformationstoredinthestateincludesallthedatathat mapstothevirtualmachinehardwareelements,suchasBIOS,devices,CPU,MAC addressesfortheEthernetcards,chipsetstates,registers,andsoforth. MigrationwithVMotionhappensinthreestages: 1 2 WhenthemigrationwithVMotionisrequested,VirtualCenterverifiesthatthe existingvirtualmachineisinastablestatewithitscurrenthost. Thevirtualmachinestateinformation(thatis,memory,registers,andnetwork connections)iscopiedtothetargethost.
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Thevirtualmachineresumesitsactivitiesonthenewhost.

Ifanyerroroccursduringmigration,thevirtualmachinesreverttotheiroriginalstates andlocations.

VMotion Requirements
TobeconfiguredforVMotion,eachhostintheclustermustmeetthefollowing requirements.

Shared Storage
[Link] storageareanetwork(SAN),butcanalsobeimplementedusingiSCSIandNASshared [Link] andtheServerConfigurationGuideforinformationonothersharedstorage.

Shared VMFS Volume or NAS Storage

ConfigureallmanagedhoststousesharedVMFSvolumesortobelocatedonNAS [Link]:

PlacethedisksofallvirtualmachinesonVMFSvolumesthatareaccessiblebyboth sourceandtargethosts. EnsurethattheVMFSvolumeissufficientlylargetostoreallvirtualdisksforyour virtualmachines.

CPU Compatibility
Makesurethatthesourceanddestinationhostshaveacompatiblesetofprocessors. VMotiontransferstherunningarchitecturalstateofavirtualmachinebetween [Link] processorsofthetargethostbeabletoresumeexecutionusingtheequivalent instructionsthattheprocessorsofthesourcehostwereusingwhensuspended. Processorclockspeedsandcachesizes,andthenumberofprocessorcoresmayvary, butprocessorsmustcomefromthesamevendorclass(IntelorAMD)andsame processorfamily(P3,P4,orIntelcore)tobecompatibleformigrationwithVMotion. ProcessorfamiliessuchasIntelXeonandAMDOpteronaredefinedbytheprocessor vendors. Youcandistinguishdifferentprocessorversionswithinthesamefamilybycomparing theprocessorsmodel,steppinglevel,andextendedfeatures:

Inmostcases,differentprocessorversionswithinthesamefamilyaresimilar enoughtomaintaincompatibility.
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Insomecases,processorvendorshaveintroducedsignificantarchitectural changeswithinthesameprocessorfamily,suchastheSSE3andSSE4instructions, andNx/[Link],VMwareidentifiesmismatcheson SSE3,SSE4,andNx/XDasincompatibletoguaranteethestabilityofvirtual machinesaftermigrationswithVMotion.

ServerhardwaresCPUspecificationswillusuallyindicatewhetherornottheCPUs containtheSSE3,SSE4,andNx/[Link] specificationsofaserveroritsCPUfeaturesareunknown,VMwaresbootableCPU identificationutility(availablefordownloadwithESXServer)canbeusedtoboota serveranddeterminewhetheritsCPUscontainfeaturessuchasSSE3,SSE4,and NX/XD. NOTE VMware,inpartnershipwithCPUandhardwarevendors,isworkingtomaintain [Link] information,checktheVMwareKnowledgeBase. Nx/XD Considerations

AMDsNoeXecute(NX)andIntelseXecuteDisable(XD)technologyservethe samesecuritypurpose:tomarkmemorypagesasdataonlytopreventmalicious softwareexploitsandbufferoverflowattacks. ThefollowingoperatingsystemssupportNXandXD: WindowsServer2003(SP1),Windows*XP(SP2),WindowsVista,RHEL4,RHEL3 (Update3),SUSE10,SUSELinux9.2,Solaris10,Linuxkernels2.6.6orlater(or2.4 kernelswithapatch).

InESXServer3.0,NXandXDtechnologyisexposedbydefaultforallguest operatingsystemsthatcanuseit(tradingoffsomecompatibilityforsecurityby default).[Link] afterupgradingtoESXServer3.0ifNXmismatched,butperVMCPU compatibilitymasksspecifiedintheVMotionCPUCompatibilityMatrixcanbe usedtorestorecompatibility.

SSE3 Considerations

WithintheIntelP4andAMDOpteronprocessorfamilies,VMwareplacesa restrictionbetweenprocessorsthatdosupporttheSSE3instructionsand processorsthatdonotsupporttheSSE3instructionsbecausetheyareapplication levelinstructionsthatbypassthevirtualizationlayer,andcouldcauseapplication instabilityifmismatchedafteramigrationwithVMotion.

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SSE4 Considerations

WithintheIntelP4andIntelCoreprocessorfamilies,VMwareplacesarestriction betweenprocessorsthatdosupporttheSSE4instructionsandprocessorsthatdo notsupporttheSSE4instructionsbecausetheyareapplicationlevelinstructions thatbypassthevirtualizationlayer,andcouldcauseapplicationinstabilityif mismatchedafteramigrationwithVMotion.

NOTE

VMwareisworkingonmaintainingVMotioncompatibilityacrossthewidestrangeof [Link] information,checktheVMwareKnowledgeBase.

Networking Requirements
1 VMotionrequiresaGigabitEthernetnetworktoensurerapidmigration:

Adedicatednetworkisrecommendedtokeepvirtualmachinememorystate secure. VMotionrequiresaprivateGigabitEthernetmigrationnetworkbetweenallof [Link] managedhost,configureauniquenetworkidentityobjectforthemanaged hostandconnectittotheprivatemigrationnetwork. TwohostswithcrossconnectedGigEcardscanbeusedfordemopurposes.

2 3

Virtualmachinesmusthaveaccesstothesamesubnetsonthesourceand destinationESXServerhosts. NetworklabelsforeachvirtualNICmustbecreatedthroughtheESXServer configurationsettings:

Networklabelsareglobalacrossdatacenters. VMotionautomaticallymapsvirtualmachinestoappropriatevirtualNICs basedonnetworklabels. [Link],networklabelscanbeconfiguredthroughthe WebbasedVMwareManagementInterface.

Minimum Network Requirements

TwoNICswithatleastoneGigENICdedicatedtoVMotion. Forbestsecurity,dedicatetheGigENICtoVMotionanduseVLANstodividethe VirtualmachineandmanagementtrafficontheotherNIC.

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Forbestavailability,combinebothNICsintoabond,anduseVLANStodivide trafficintoatleastthreenetworks(Oneormoreforvirtualmachines,oneforthe serviceconsole,andoneforVMotion).

Network Best Practices

OnededicatedNICfortheserviceconsole(10/100orGigE). OnededicatedNICforVMotion(GigE). OneormoreNICsforvirtualmachines(10/100orGigE).

VMotion Compatibility
VMotioncompatibilityrequiresthatbothsourceanddestinationhostsmatchincertain [Link].A nonautomatedclustercanalsobeselectedasadestination. Whenyouselectahost,theCompatibilitypanelatthebottomoftheMigrationwizard displaysinformationaboutthecompatibilityoftheselectedhostorclusterwiththe virtualmachinesconfiguration. Ifthevirtualmachineiscompatible,[Link] compatiblewitheitherthehostsorclustersconfigurednetworksordatastores,the compatibilitywindowcandisplaybothwarningsanderrors:

[Link] youcancontinuewiththemigrationdespitethewarnings.

Compatibility panel

Warning messages

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Errorscandisablemigrationiftherearenoerrorfreedestinationhostsamongthe [Link],theNextbuttonisdisabled.

Error message

Forclusters,thenetworkanddatastoreconfigurationsaretakenintoaccountwhen [Link],theindividualhostsconfigurationisused.A possibleproblemmightbethatVMotionisnotenabledononeorbothhosts. AspecifichostfeatureseffectsoncompatibilityaredependentonwhetherornotESX Serverexposesorhidesthemfromvirtualmachines:

Featuresthatareexposedtovirtualmachinesarenotcompatiblewhentheyare mismatched. Featuresthatarenotexposedtovirtualmachinesarecompatibleregardlessof mismatches.

CPU Compatibility Masks

VirtualCentercomparestheCPUfeaturesoftwohoststodeterminewhethertoallow ordisallowmigrationswithVMotion.AnewcapabilityinVirtualCenter2.0calledCPU compatibilitymasksallowspervirtualmachine,advancedcustomizationoftheCPU featuresthatavirtualmachineshouldrequireforCPUcompatibilityduringa migrationwithVMotion. NOTE EditingavirtualmachinesCPUcompatibilitymaskissupportedinESXServer3.0only.

DefaultvaluesfortheCPUcompatibilitymasksaresetbyVMwaretoguarantee [Link] defaultmasksaremadeveryconservativelybyVMware,andonlywhennewCPU

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featuresareintroducedandversionsofESXServerareupdatedtoexposeorhide themfromvirtualmachines.

Insomecases,whereachoicebetweenCPUcompatibilityorguestoperating systemfeatures(suchasNX/XD)exists,VMwareprovidescheckboxoptionsto configureindividualvirtualmachinesthroughthevirtualmachinesAdvanced [Link] bydevelopers.

Choose between Nx/xD Security features or Broadest VMotion Compatibility For future CPU features, edit mask at the bit level

Forothercases,andadvancedpurposes(intendedtobeusedusingspecific instructionsfromVMwareorbyCPUandoperatingsystemdeveloperswhomay needtocontrolthecharacteristicsofvirtualCPUs).VMwarealsoprovidesa mechanismtomanuallyedittheCPUcompatibilitymasksusedbyavirtual [Link] documentationandtestingisNOTrecommendedandmayleadtoanunsupported configuration.

Migration Wizard
TheMigrationwizardtakesyouthroughtheprocessofmigratingavirtualmachine [Link] [Link],theremustbeatleastonevalid destinationhostinthecluster,soatleastonehostintheclustermusthaveVMotion [Link],especiallyforDRS clusters. Themenuoptionsdifferslightly,dependingonwhetheryouareperformingmigration ormigrationwithVMotion. To migrate a powered-off or suspended virtual machine 1 2 FromtheVirtualCenterclient,clicktheInventorybuttoninthenavigationbar. ChooseMigratefromthepopupmenu.

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TheMigrateVirtualMachinewizardstarts. 3 Selectthedestinationhostorclusterforthisvirtualmachinemigration. [Link] problem,orchooseanotherhostorcluster. [Link] clusterhasnoDRSenabled,selectaspecifichostintheclusterratherthanselecting theclusteritself. Ifthewizardisinvokedthroughdraganddrop,theSelectDestinationhostor clusterwindowisskippedifthedraganddroptargetisastandalonehostora [Link] draganddroptarget,theSelectDestinationhostorclusterwindowappears. NOTE Movingavirtualmachinefromthehostwhereitssnapshotsarelocatedmight renderthosesnapshotsinaccessible.

4 NOTE

ClickNext. Theresourcepoolselectionpaneofthewizardperformsacompatibilitycheckthat candisplaywarningsorerrors. Selectthedestinationresourcepoolforthevirtualmachinemigration,andclick Next.

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TheResourcePoolSelectionpagedoesnotappearifavirtualmachinewas droppedonaresourcepool. 6 Selectthedestinationdatastore. Thedatastoresthatareaccessiblefromthenewdestinationarelisted.

Selecttheradiobuttontokeepthevirtualmachineconfigurationfilesandvirtual disksintheircurrentlocationsortheradiobuttontomovethevirtualmachine configurationfilesandtheirvirtualdisks. VirtualCentermovesthevirtualmachine,includingthevirtualdisks,tothenew [Link] tabshowsthestatusandstatethroughoutthemigration.

NOTE

[Link] relocatevirtualmachinesthatarebeingmigratedwithVMotion. ClickNext. Reviewthesummary,andclickFinish.

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To migrate a powered-on virtual machine NOTE Beforeyoubegin,disconnectanyperipheraldevicesconnectedtothevirtualmachine. Ifthevirtualmachineisusingaphysicaldeviceonthesourcehost,thatdevicewillnot [Link] [Link],ifthevirtualmachineisreadingfromaCDROMdriveonthe sourcehost,itcannotaccessthatdrivefromthedestinationhost. 1 2 FromtheVIClient,[Link] inventoryasneeded,andclicktheappropriatevirtualmachine. MakesurethatboththesourceandtargethostsareVMotionenabledandusing thesameshareddatastore.

3 4 5

Selecteachhost. SelecttheSummarytab. ChecktheVMotionEnabledfieldandtheDatastoresection. [Link] samename. InmigrationwithVMotion,ahostmusthaveVMotionenabledonittomigratea [Link] configuredandenabledusingthenetworkconfigurationoptionsforthehost.

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6 7 8

Displaytheinventorypanel,andselecttheappropriatedatacenter. [Link],asneeded, andclicktheappropriatevirtualmachine. StarttheMigrateVirtualMachinewizard. Intheinventorypanel,[Link] following:

Fromthepopupmenu,choosetheMigrateoption. FromtheinformationpanelSummarytab,clicktheMigratetoNewHost button. Dragthevirtualmachineontothetargetstandalonehost,cluster,orresource pool.

ThemigrationwithVMotionwizardstarts. Virtualmachinescanalsobedroppedintoresourcepoolsforanyhostorcluster, inwhichcasethewizardskipstheResourcePoolSelectionpage. Intheeventthatthevirtualmachinesaredroppedontoaresourcepoolonthe samehostorcluster,[Link],thevirtual machinesarereassignedtothenewresourcepool,pendingadmissioncontrolto thenewpool. NOTE Ifmultiplevirtualmachinesareselectedandthewizardisinvokedthrough draganddrop,thevirtualmachinesmustallbeinthesamepowerstate. Otherwise,anerrormessageisdisplayed,andthewizardstops. ClickNext. Selectadestinationhostorclusterforthevirtualmachine. [Link] [Link] nonautomatedcluster. NOTE Ifthewizardisinvokedthroughdraganddrop,theSelectdestinationhostor clusterwindowisskippedunlessthedroptargetisanonautomatedcluster. Whenyouselectahost,theCompatibilitysectionatthebottomofthewizard displaysinformationaboutthecompatibilityoftheselectedhostorclusterwiththe [Link],thepanelis [Link]

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configurednetworksordatastores,[Link] problemmightbethatVMotionisnotenabledononeorbothhosts. 11 Selectaresourcepool,andclickNext. TheResourcePoolSelectionpagedoesnotappearifavirtualmachinewas droppedonaresourcepool. 12 Selectthemigrationprioritylevel.

13 14

SetthepriorityofthemigrationtoensurethatsufficientCPUresourcesare availableonboththesourceandtargethoststoperformthemigration. Clicktheappropriatebutton,andclickNext. Oncealloptionshavebeenselected,aReadytoCompletepageappearsthatshows asummaryoftheselectedchoices.

15

Reviewthepage,andclicktheFinishbutton. WhenyouclicktheFinishbutton,ataskiscreatedthatbeginsthevirtualmachine [Link], youhaveonlylimitedaccesstoitsfunctions. Ifyouwanttochangeanyoptions,clicktheBackbuttontostepbackthroughthe [Link] clickalink,thesubsequentlinksthatfollowitreverttounseenpageentries,and youmustmovesequentiallythroughthewizardusingtheNextbutton.

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Managing Users, Groups, Permissions, and Roles

15

Thischapterdescribesusers,groups,[Link] Serverhostsdeterminethelevelofaccessfortheuserbasedonthepermissions [Link],password,andpermissionsisthe mechanismbywhichVirtualCenterandESXServerhostsauthenticateauserforaccess [Link] maintainlistsofauthorizedusersandthepermissionsassignedtoeachuser. Privilegesdefinebasicindividualrightsrequiredtoperformactionsandread [Link],orroles,tocontrol whichindividualusersorgroupscanaccessparticularVmwareInfrastructureobjects. [Link] newroles. TheprivilegesandrolesassignedonanESXServerareseparatefromtheprivilegesand [Link] anESXServerandthenaddthatESXServertotheVirtualCenterServerinventory,only [Link] youthenremovetheESXServerfromtheVirtualCenterServerinventory,the previouslysetESXServerprivilegesandrolesareused. Foracompletelistofprivilegesavailable,refertoAppendix A,DefinedPrivileges, onpage 325. Thischaptercontainsthefollowingtopics:

AccessElementsonpage 248 AccessRulesonpage 248 Usersonpage 251

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Groupsonpage 253 Permissionsonpage 254 Rolesonpage 254 AccessPermissionsonpage 262

NOTE

YoumustbeinAdminviewfortheAdmin>Rolesmenuitemtobeenabled.

Access Elements
AccesstoVMwareInfrastructureobjectsandactivitiesisestablishedthroughthe combinationof:

LogoninformationUsernameandpassword. GroupsAmethodforgroupingindividualusers. [Link] groups,youcanapplyaroletothegroup,andthisroleisinheritedbyalltheusers inthegroup.

RolesAdefinedcollectionofprivileges. Rolesareacollectionofdefinedprivilegesthatcontrolindividualuserorgroup [Link] [Link].

PrivilegesAparticularrightcorrespondingtoasetofoperationsormethodson aclassofobjects. PermissionsThecombinationoftheroleplususerorgroupnameassignedtoa VMwareInfrastructureinventoryobject. [Link] [Link],thisroleanduserpairingispropagatedtothe [Link].

Access Rules
Thefollowingisalistofgeneralrulestoconsiderwhenconfiguringyourusersand groupspermissions. [Link] immediately.

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Hierarchical Inheritance
Propagationissetperpermissionrule,[Link] asubobjectalwaysoverridethosepropagatedfromparentobjects. Withrespecttopermissions,[Link]:

ManagedentityThesecanhavepermissionsdefinedonthem.

Virtualmachines Folders Datacenters Clusters Hosts ResourcePools Templates

RelatedtoamanagedentityThesecannothavepermissionsdefinedonthem, [Link]:

Networks Datastores

[Link] include:

Customfields Licenses Statisticsintervals Roles Sessions

Multiple Permission Settings

Objectsmighthavemultiplepermissions,butatmostoneforeachuserorgroup. Ifyouapplypermissions,[Link] aredefinedonthesameentity,acoupleofsituationsarepossible:

[Link] objectthegrouphaspermissionson,thesamepermissionsapplyasifgrantedto theuserdirectly. Ifmultiplegrouppermissionsaredefinedonthesameobjectandtheuser belongstotwoormoreofthosegroups:

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Ifthereisnopermissiondefinedexplicitlyfortheuseronthatobject,theuser isassignedtheunionofprivilegesassignedtothegroupsforthatobject. Ifthereisapermissiondefinedexplicitlyfortheuseronthatobject,that permissiontakesprecedenceoverallgrouppermissions.

Example1:Expandingauserspermissions

Role1canpoweronvirtualmachines. Role2cantakesnapshotsofvirtualmachines. GroupAisgrantedRole1onvirtualmachine. GroupBisgrantedRole2onvirtualmachine.

User1isnotassignedspecificpermission:

User1,whobelongstogroupsAandB,logson. User1canbothpoweronandtakesnapshotsofvirtualmachine.

Example2:Limitingauserspermissions

Role1canpoweronvirtualmachines. Role2cantakesnapshotsofvirtualmachines. GroupAisgrantedRole1onvirtualmachineparentfolder. GroupBisgrantedRole2onvirtualmachine.

User1ReadOnlypermissionisremovedonvirtualmachine:

User1cantakesnapshotsbutnotpoweron.

Tasks Requiring Settings on Multiple Objects

Whensettingpermissions,verifythatalltheobjecttypesaresetwithappropriate [Link] [Link] operationsrequireaccessorperformancepermissionataparentfolderandarelated object. RefertoAppendix A,DefinedPrivileges,onpage 325foralistofpredefinedroles [Link]+object pairingrequiredtoperformyourchosentask. Example3:Addingavirtualmachine

Role3canaddvirtualmachines.

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Role4isreadonly. GroupCisgrantedRole3onHost1. GroupCisalsograntedRole4ontheparentfolderordatacenterforHost1s associateddatastoresandnetworks.

Theseobjectsinherittheirpermissionsfromtheirparentfolderordatacenter. SettingbothpermissionsallowsGroupCuserstoaddavirtualmachinetothe host. Example4:Delegatingresources

UsingdefaultrolesforResourcePoolAdministrator,VirtualMachineUser, andReadOnly GrantUser1theroleofResourcePoolAdministratoronResourcePoolA. GrantUser1theroleofVirtualMachineUseronallthevirtualmachinesin ResourcePoolA. GrantUser1therole,ReadOnlyonthefolderordatacentercontainingthe datastoresandnetworksassociatedwithResourcePoolA.

Becauseresourcepoolsaffectmultipleinventoryobjectsyoumustassignvarious privilegesonselectedobjectstoeffectivelyperformtasks(inthiscase,delegating resourceswithinaresourcepoolontothevirtualmachinesinthatresourcepool).

Users
AuserisanindividualauthorizedtologontoeitheranESXServerhostorto [Link]:thosewhocanaccesstheESX ServerhostthroughVirtualCenterandthosewhocanaccesstheESXServerhostby directlyloggingontothehostfromVIClient,VIWebAccess,athirdpartyclient,ora [Link]:

VirtualCenterusersAuthorizedusersforVirtualCenterarethoseincludedinthe WindowsdomainlistreferencedbyVirtualCenterorlocalWindowsusersonthe VirtualCenterhost. YoucannotuseVirtualCentertomanuallycreate,remove,orotherwisechange [Link],youmust dosothroughthetoolsyounormallyusetomanageyourWindowsdomain. AnychangesyoumaketotheWindowsdomainarereflectedinVirtualCenter. BecauseyoucannotdirectlymanageusersinVirtualCenter,theuserinterface [Link] selectuserstoconfigurepermissions.

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DirectaccessusersUsersauthorizedtoworkdirectlyonanESXServerhostare thoseaddedtotheinternaluserlistbydefaultwhenESXServerisinstalledorby asystemadministratorafterinstallation. Ifyoulogontothehostasroot,youcanperformavarietyofmanagementactivities fortheseusers,suchaschangingpasswords,groupmemberships,permissions, [Link].

EvenifthelistsmaintainedbyanESXServerhostandVirtualCenterappeartohave commonusers(forinstance,ausercalleddevuser),theseusersshouldbetreatedas [Link], includingpermissions,passwords,andsoforth,areseparatefromtheattributesof [Link],youmighthave [Link] asdevuser,youmightnot. UsersandgroupsintheVMwareInfrastructureenvironmentarecreatedusingtwo methods:

WhentheVIClientisconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServer,usersandgroupsare definedthroughthestandardmethodsforWindowsdomainsorActiveDirectory. YoudonotcreateusersandgroupsforaccesstotheVirtualCenterServerthrough theVIClient. WhentheVIClientisconnectedtoanESXServer,usersandgroupsaredefined throughtheUsersandGroupstab.

UsersandgroupsdefinedwhenconnectedtoanESXServerareapplicabletothatESX [Link] connectioneveniftheESXServerisregisteredwiththeVirtualCenterServer. EachESXServerhastwodefaultusers:

[Link] [Link] usershaveacompleterangeofcontrolactivitiesonthespecificESXServerhost thattheyareloggedonto,includingmanipulatingpermissions,creatinggroups andusers,workingwithevents,andsoforth.

WARNING RefertotheAuthenticationandUserManagementchapteroftheServer ConfigurationGuideforinformationaboutrootusersandyourESXServer [Link] accessconsequences.

ThevpxuseruserisaVirtualCenterentitywithrootrightsontheESXServerhost, [Link]
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[Link] Server hostunlessthehostisbeingmanagedthroughVirtualCenter. CAUTION [Link],you mightexperienceproblemsworkingwiththeESXServerhostthrough VirtualCenter. ForinformationoncreatingusersandgroupsforusewithyourVirtualCenterServer, refertoyourMicrosoftdocumentation. ForinformationaboutcreatingusersandgroupforusewithyourESXServer,referto theSecuritysectionoftheServerConfigurationGuide.

Groups
[Link] [Link] youassignpermissionstoagroup,[Link] groupscansignificantlyreducethetimeittakestosetupyourpermissionsmodel. ThegrouplistsinVirtualCenterandanESXServerhostaredrawnfromthesame [Link],thegrouplistis [Link], thegrouplistiscalledfromatablemaintainedbythehost. TheVirtualCenterServergrantsaccesstoeachinventoryobjectbyassigningarolewith [Link] privileges. IndividualpermissionsareassignedthroughtheVirtualCenterServerortheESX Serverbypairingauserandaroleandassigningthispairtoaninventoryobject:

UsersandgroupsarecreatedfortheVirtualCenterServerthroughtheWindows domainorActiveDirectorydatabase. UsersandgroupsarecreatedfortheESXServerthroughtheUsersandGroupstab [Link] [Link] ConfigurationGuide.

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Permissions
ForESXServerandVirtualCenter,apermissionisdefinedasanaccessrolethatconsists ofauserandtheusersassignedroleforanobject,suchasavirtualmachineorESX [Link] specificobjectsonanESXServerhostor,ifusersareworkingfromVirtualCenter,all [Link],toconfigurememoryforanESXServer host,youmusthavehostconfigurationpermissions. MostVirtualCenterandESXServerusershavelimitedabilitytomanipulatetheobjects [Link],ESXServerprovidesfullaccessrightsand permissionsonallvirtualobjects,suchasdatastores,hosts,virtualmachines,and resourcepools,totwousers:rootandvpxuser.

Asroot,youcangrantpermissionsonanESXServerhosttoindividualusersor [Link] [Link] canalsobemanuallyaddedtothehostafterinstallation. ThroughVirtualCenter,youcangrantpermissionstoanyuserorgroupincluded intheWindowsdomainlistreferencedbyVirtualCenter. VirtualCenterregistersanyselectedWindowsdomainuserorgroupthroughthe [Link],alluserswhoaremembersofthe WindowsAdministratorsgroupontheVirtualCenterServeraregrantedthesame [Link] membersoftheAdministratorsgroupcanlogonasindividualsandhavefull access.

NOTE

ThemethodyouusetoconfigurepermissionsdirectlyonanESXServerhostisidentical [Link] isthesameforbothESXServerandVirtualCenter. ThetableinAppendix Aliststheaccesspermissions.

Roles
VirtualCenterandESXServergrantaccesstoobjectsonlytouserswhohavebeen [Link] theobject,[Link] ofprivileges. VirtualCenterandESXServerhostsprovidedefaultroles:

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SystemrolesSystemrolesarepermanentandtheprivilegesassociatedwith theserolescannotbechanged. SamplerolesSamplerolesareprovidedforconvenienceasguidelinesand [Link].

[Link] 151liststhedefaultrolesthatcanbe pairedwithauserandassignedtoanobject. Table 15-1. Default Roles

Role NoAccessUser Role Type system Description User Capabilities Cannotvieworchangetheassignedobject. VIClienttabsassociatedwithanobjectdisplay withoutcontent. Thisisthedefaultroleforallusersexceptthoseusers intheAdministratorsgroup. ReadOnlyUser system Viewthestateanddetailsabouttheobject. ViewallthetabpanelsintheVIClientexceptthe [Link] menusandtoolbars. Administrator system Allprivilegesforallobjects. Add,remove,andsetaccessrightsandprivilegesfor alltheVirtualCenterusersandallthevirtualobjectsin theVMwareInfrastructureenvironment. Thisisthedefaultroleforallmembersofthe Administratorsgroup. VirtualMachine User sample Performactionsonvirtualmachinesonly. Interactwithvirtualmachines,butnotchangethe [Link]:

Allprivilegesforthescheduledtasksprivileges group. Selectedprivilegesfortheglobalitemsandvirtual machineprivilegesgroups. Noprivilegesforthefolder,datacenter,datastore, network,host,resource,alarms,sessions, performance,andpermissionsprivilegesgroups.

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Table 15-1. Default Roles (Continued)

Role VirtualMachine PowerUser Role Type sample Description User Capabilities Performactionsonthevirtualmachineandresource objects. Interactandchangemostvirtualmachine configurationsettings,takesnapshots,andschedule [Link]:

Allprivilegesforscheduledtaskprivilegesgroup. Selectedprivilegesforglobalitems,datastore,and virtualmachineprivilegesgroups. Noprivilegesforfolder,datacenter,network,host, resource,alarms,sessions,performance,and permissionsprivilegesgroups.

ResourcePool Administrator

sample

Performactionsondatastores,hosts,virtualmachines, resources,andalarms. Providesresourcedelegationandisassignedto [Link]:

Allprivilegesforfolder,virtualmachine,alarms, andscheduledtaskprivilegesgroups. Selectedprivilegesforglobalitems,datastore, resource,andpermissionsprivilegesgroups. Noprivilegesfordatacenter,network,host, sessions,orperformanceprivilegesgroups.

Datacenter Administrator

sample

Performactionsonglobalitems,folders,datacenters, datastores,hosts,virtualmachines,resources,and alarms. Setupdatacenters,butwithlimitedabilitytointeract [Link]:

Allprivilegesforfolder,datacenter,datastore, network,resource,alarms,andscheduledtask privilegesgroups. Selectedprivilegesforglobalitems,host,and virtualmachineprivilegesgroups. Noprivilegesforsession,performance,and permissionprivilegesgroups.

VirtualMachine Administrator

sample

Performactionsonglobalitems,folders,datacenters, datastores,hosts,virtualmachines,resources,alarms, [Link]:

Allprivilegesforallprivilegegroups,except permissions.

[Link] [Link]

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[Link] theVIClientconnectedtoVirtualCentertomanageyourESXServerhosts,youhave [Link] [Link] ifyoulogontothehostdirectlyfromtheVIClient. Thereareseveralactivitiesyoucanperformwithroles. Theactivityoptionswithrolesaredescribedinthefollowingsections:

CreatingRolesonpage 257 CloningRolesonpage 259 EditingRolesonpage 260 RemovingRolesonpage 261 RenamingRolesonpage 262

NOTE

Changestopermissionsandrolesareimplementedimmediately,eveniftheusers involvedareloggedon.

Creating Roles
[Link] situationsthatrequireadifferentcombinationofaccessprivileges,createanadditional roleormodifytheprovidedsamplerolestosuityourneeds. To create a role 1 2 LogontotheVIClientconnectedtoeitheraVirtualCenterServeroranESXServer asauserwithAdministratorprivileges. FromtheVIClient,[Link] tab.

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[Link]. TheAddRoledialogboxappears.

Typeanameforthenewrole.

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Selecttheprivilegesyouwantthenewroletohave,andclicktheitemsdesired. Clicktheplus(+)signstoexpandthelists,[Link] process.

Cloning Roles
Youcanmakeacopyofanexistingrole,renameit,[Link] copy,thenewroleisnotautomaticallyappliedtothesameuserorgroupsandobjects. To clone a role 1 2 3 FromtheVIClient,[Link] tab. Toselecttheroletoduplicate,clicktheobjectinthelistofRoles. Toclonetheselectedrole,chooseAdministration>Role>Clone. [Link] of <rolename>.

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Editing Roles
Whenyoueditarole,youhavetheoptiontochangeanyoralloftheprivilegesselected [Link],thesenewprivilegesareappliedtoanyuserorgroup assignedtheeditedrole. To edit a permissions role 1 2 3 4 5 FromtheVIClient,[Link] tab. Toselecttheroletoedit,clicktheobjectinthelistofRoles. ChooseAdministration>Role>EditRole. [Link](+)signsto expandthelists,asneeded. ClickOKtocompletetheprocess.

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Removing Roles
Whenyouremovearole,ifitisnotassignedtoanyusersorgroups,thedefinitionis [Link] userorgroupyoucanremoveallassignmentsorreplacethemwithanassignmentto anotherrole. CAUTION Besurethatyouunderstandhowuserswillbeaffectedbeforeremovingall assignmentsorreplacingthem. To remove an existing role 1 2 FromtheVIClient,[Link] tab. Toselecttheroletoremove,clicktheobjectinthelistofroles. YoucanselectmultiplerolesusingtheCtrlorShiftkeys. 3 4 ChooseAdministration>Role>Remove. Toconfirmthatyouwanttodeletetheselectedrole,clickOK. Theroleisremovedfromthelistandisnolongeravailableforassigningtousers orgroups. Iftheroleisassignedtoauserorgroup,awarningmessageappears. 5 SelectoneoftheradiobuttonoptionsandclickOK.

Theoptionsare:

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RemoveRoleAssignmentsThisoptionremovesanyconfigureduseror group+[Link] permissionsassigned,theyloseallprivileges. ReassignaffecteduserstoThisoptionreassignsanyconfigureduseror group+rolepairingstotheselectednewrole.

Renaming Roles
Roles,likemostotherVMwareInfrastructureobjects,canberenamed. To rename an existing role 1 2 3 4 FromtheVIClient,[Link] tab. Toselecttheroletorename,clicktheobjectinthelistofroles. ChooseAdministration>Role>Rename. [Link].

Access Permissions
ForeachobjectintheVMwareInfrastructurehierarchy,determinethepermissionsfor eachVirtualCenteruserandgroup. NOTE SeveraluserscanaccesstheVirtualCenterServerfromdifferentVirtualInfrastructure [Link] thesameloginandpasswordfromaccessingandtakingactionwithintheVMware Infrastructureenvironment. IfyouremoveusersfromtheESXServer,refertotheSecuritychapterintheServer ConfigurationGuideforprocessandconsequences. IfyouremoveusersfromtheVirtualCenterdomain,theylosepermissionstoallobjects [Link] currentlyloggedonandareremovedfromthedomainretaintheirVMware Infrastructurepermissionsonlyuntilthenextvalidationperiod(thedefaultisevery24 hours).Individualpermissions,orthosegrantedaspartofinclusioninanothergroup, arenotaffected. Ifyouchangeausersnameinthedomain,theexistingusernamebecomesinvalidin [Link],butthis appliestoagrouponlyafterVirtualCenterServerhasbeenrestarted.

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Assigning Access Permissions

Afteranyadditionalrolesaredefinedandusersandgroupsarecreated,youmust assigntheusersandgroupstheirroles,withassociatedpermissions,totherelevant inventoryobjects. ForinformationoncreatingusersandgroupsforusewithyourVirtualCenterServer, refertoyourMicrosoftdocumentation. ForinformationoncreatingusersandgroupforusewithyourESXServer,refertothe SecuritysectionoftheServerConfigurationGuide. To assign a user or group permission 1 2 LogontotheVIClientasauserwiththeAdministratorprivileges. FromtheVIClient,[Link] inventoryasneeded,andclicktheappropriateobject. Theobjectsthatcanhavepermissionsassignedtothemare:

InVirtualCenterFolders,datacenters,clusters,resourcepools,hosts,virtual machines InESXServerResourcepools,thehost,virtualmachines.

Withtheappropriateobjectselected,clickthePermissionstab.

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ChooseInventorymenu>New>AddPermission.

ChoosearolefromtheAssignedRolepulldownmenu. [Link] isdisplayed,theprivilegesgrantedontherolearelistedinthesectionbelowthe roletitleforreferencepurposes.

(Optional)SelectthePropagatetoChildObjectscheckbox. Ifthischeckboxisselected,theroleisalsoappliedtoallchildobjectsoftheselected [Link].

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[Link].

RefertoAdjustingtheSearchListinLargeDomainsonpage 266forinformation onadjustingthelistofusersandgroupsyouselectfrom. 8 Identifytheuserorgroupthatisbeingassignedthisrole: a b c ChoosethedomainwheretheuserorgroupislocatedfromtheDomain pulldownmenu. TypeanameintheSearchboxorselectanamefromtheNamelist. ClickAdd. ThenameisaddedtoeithertheUsersorGroupslist. d e RepeatstepathroughStep ctoaddadditionalusersorgroups. ClickOKwhenfinished.

Ifyouknowtheuserorgroupname,youcantypeitintheNamefieldmanually. 9 10 Verifytheusersandgroupsareassignedtotheappropriatepermissions,andclick OK. Tofinishthetask,clickOK. Theserveraddsthepermissiontothelistofpermissionsfortheobject.

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Thelistofpermissionsreferencesallusersandgroupsthathaverolesassignedto theobject,andindicateswhereintheVirtualCenterhierarchytheroleisassigned.

Adjusting the Search List in Large Domains

Ifyouhavedomainswiththousandsofusersorgroupsinthem,adjustthesearch settingsforuseintheSelectUsersorGroupsdialogbox. NOTE [Link] searchedinthesameway. To adjust users and groups search parameters 1 FromtheVIClientconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServer,chooseAdministration> VirtualCenterManagementServerConfiguration. TheVirtualCenterConfigurationwizardappears. 2 Whenthewizardisdisplayed,clicktheActiveDirectorylistitem.

Changethevaluesasneeded:

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ActiveDirectoryTimeoutSpecifiesinsecondsthemaximumamountof [Link] verylargedomainscantakeaverylongtime. EnableQueryLimitandUsers&GroupsvalueSpecifiesthemaximum numberofusersandgroupsVirtualCenterdisplaysfromtheselecteddomain [Link], deselectthecheckbox. EnableValidationandValidationPeriodSpecifiesthetimeinminutes [Link] knowntoVirtualCentercurrentlyexistinWindows. Forexample,ifuserSmithwasassignedpermissionsandinthedomainthe usersnamewaschangedtoSmith2,VirtualCenterconcludesthatSmithno longerexistsandremovespermissionsforthatuser. Similarly,ifuserSmithisremovedfromthedomain,allpermissionsare [Link] SmithreceivesallthepermissionstheolduserSmithwasassigned,unlessyou usethisoptiontodeleteolduserSmithfromthesystem. Todeactivatethevalidationfunctions,deselectthecheckbox.

NOTE

[Link] disabled.

[Link].

Changing Access Permissions

Afterauserorgroup+rolepairissetforaninventoryobject,theonlychangeyoucan [Link] [Link] Permissionsonpage 268forinformation. To change the permission role for a user or group 1 2 3 4
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FromtheVIClient,[Link] inventoryasneeded,andclicktheappropriateobject. Withtheobjectselected,clickthePermissionstab. Toselecttheuserorgroup+rolepairthatyouwanttochange,clicktheappropriate lineitem. ChooseInventory>Permissions>Properties.

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Toselecttheappropriaterolefortheuserorgroup,choosefromthepulldown [Link].

Topropagatetheprivilegestothechildrenoftheassignedinventoryobject,click thePropagatecheckbox.

Removing Access Permissions

Removingapermissionforauserorgroupdoesnotremovetheuserorgroupfromthe [Link] removestheuserorgroup+rolepairfromtheselectedinventoryobject. To remove a permission role for a user or group 1 2 3 4 FromtheVIClient,[Link] inventoryasneeded,andclicktheappropriateobject. Withtheobjectselected,clickthePermissionstab. Toselecttheuserorgroup+rolepairthatyouwanttodelete,clicktheappropriate lineitem. ChooseInventory>Permissions>Delete. TheVMwareInfrastructureserverremovesthepermissionsetting. NOTE Thereisnoadditionalwarningthatthepermissionisgoingtoberemoved.

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Monitoring Your Vmware Infrastructure Environment

16

ThischapterdescribeshowtomonitorperformanceofthedatapresentedintheVI [Link] followingtopics:

MonitoringYourVMwareInfrastructureEnvironmentonpage 269 PerformanceChartsonpage 270 Mapsonpage 276

Monitoring Your VMware Infrastructure Environment

AfteryouaddhoststoVirtualCenterandcreateandpoweronvirtualmachines,you [Link] options. To monitor your Virtual Infrastructure environment 1 SelecttheDatacenter. NoticethatyoucanclickeithertheTasksortheEventsbuttonbelowthelineof [Link] theDetailspaneatthebottomofthewindow. 2 Toviewjustevents,clickEventsinthenavigationbar. [Link] [Link] information.

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WhenyouarereadytoexpandorrestructureyourVirtualInfrastructure environment,youmightfinditusefultoviewamapofhostsandvirtualmachines, hostsandstoragedevices,orotherinformation. 3 SelecttheitemforwhichyouwantmoreinformationandclicktheMapstab. TheVIClientdisplaysamap,whichyoucancustomizeasneeded.

Performance Charts
ThissectiondescribestheperformancemonitoringfeaturesoftheVirtual InfrastructureClientdata. NOTE TheviewsandcapabilitiesdisplayedvarydependingonwhethertheVIClientis [Link],theprocess, task,ordescriptionappliestobothkindsofVIClient. ThePerformancetabisavailablewhenyouselectacluster,resourcepool,host,or [Link] [Link] forresourcesspecifictotheselectedinventoryobject. ESXServersystemsconnectedtoaVIClientdirectlyhavelimitedstatistical [Link], havetheVirtualCenterServermanagetheESXServer. RefertoPerformanceChartMeasurementsonpage 349forareferencelistofthe valuesmeasures. Thischaptercontainsthefollowingtopics:

PerformanceChartResourcesonpage 270 PerformanceChartViewonpage 271

Performance Chart Resources

Theresourcesthataremonitoredandreportedintheperformancechartsare:

[Link] cluster,resourcepool,host,andvirtualmachine. MemoryShowstheamountofmemorygrantedtotheselectedinventoryobject. Availableforcluster,resourcepool,host,andvirtualmachine. DiskShowstheaggregatedstorageperformancestatisticsoftheselected [Link].

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NetworkShowstheaggregatednetworkperformancestatisticsoftheselected [Link]. SystemAvailableforhostandvirtualmachine. DRSAvailableforclustersandhoststhathaveDRSclusters.

Performance Chart View

Allperformancechartshaveatablelistingtheresourcesandmeasurementsincluded intheirchart.

Figure 16-1. Inventory > Virtual Machine > Performance Tab

Selecting Performance Chart Options

[Link] specifytheresource,timerange,measuredresourceelements,andwhethertoexport thechartasanExcelfile. Toseethemeasurementoptionsforeachresourcemonitoredonahost,refertothe performancechartmeasurementtablesinAppendix C.

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To select the resource whose performance is shown in the performance charts TheresourceoptionsareCPU,memory,disk,network,system,andresourcegroup CPU. 1 2 FromtheVIClient,[Link] tab. Choosefromtheresourceoptionspulldownmenu.

ThetimerangeoptionsfortheperformancechartsareRealtime,PastHour,PastDay, Week,Month,Year,[Link] [Link],seeTochange collectionintervalsforstatisticsonpage 275. To specify the time range for the performance charts 1 2 FromtheVIClient,[Link] tab. Choosefromthetimeoptionspulldownmenu.

To export an .xls file of the performance chart data 1 2 FromtheVIClient,[Link] tab. ClicktheExportChartlink. AnExportPerformancedialogboxappears.

Whenyouselectmorethanonecategory,thechartsareaddedondifferent spreadsheetsinthesamefile. 3 [Link] [Link].

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4 5

Ifthechartoptionyouselecthassuboptions,clicktheAdvancedbuttonandchoose [Link]. Tocompletetheexport,clickOK.

Thechartoptionsincludelinegraphorstackedgraph,resourceobjectsfoundingroup, andmeasurementsspecifictotheresourceselected. To specify the measured elements in the display of a performance chart 1 2 FromtheVIClient,[Link] tab. ClicktheChangePerformanceCounterslink. ACustomizePerformanceChartappears.

[Link] acceptthechange.

Viewing Stacked Graphs

[Link] stackedgraphoption,considerthefollowing:

[Link] cannotchartmorethanonemeasurementoverasetofobjects.

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[Link],the objectslistcontainsthehostandallthevirtualmachinescurrentlypresentonthat host. [Link] thatdonotapplyarenotincludedinthelistofselectablemeasurements.

To view the stacked graph 1 2 3 4 FromtheVIClient,[Link] tab. ClicktheChangePerformanceCounterslink. ClickoneoftheLinegraph,Stackedgraph,orStackedgraph(perVM)options. ClickApplytoseetheresults.

ClickOKtoaccepttheresults.

Setting the Statistics Collection Intervals

Thetimeelementsthatareusedtotrackandcollectperformanceinformationare configurable.

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To change collection intervals for statistics 1 2 FromtheVIClientconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServer,chooseAdministration> VMwareVirtualInfrastructureClientSettings. ClicktheStatisticslink.

3 4

Removeorcreateanewcollectioninterval. ClickOK.

To create a new statistic sampling period 1 2 3 FromtheVIClientconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServer,chooseAdministration> VMwareVirtualInfrastructureClientSettings. ClicktheStatisticslink. FromtheStatisticslinkintheVirtualCenterConfigurationpanel,clickAdd. TheAddCollectionIntervaldialogboxappears.

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Anewcollectionintervalrequiresthatthe:

Newsamplingperiodmustbethemultipleofapreviousone Newsamplinglengthmustbelongerthanthepreviousone Newsamplingnamemustbeunique

4 5

Enteracollectionfrequency,[Link] theunitofmeasure. Enterthecollectionsize,specifyingtheamountofdatatostoreinthelengthoftime [Link] measure. Tocompletethenewsamplingperiod,clickOK.

Changing the Statistics Collection Level

Level1Basicmetrics,includingtheaverageusageforCPU,memory,disk,and network;systemuptimeandheartbeat;[Link] notincludedinlevel1. Level2AllmetricsforCPU,memory,disk,andnetworkcounters;systemuptime andheartbeat;DRSmetrics;anddevicestatistics. [Link] areexcluded. Level4AllmetricssupportedbyVirtualCenter.

Maps
TheMapsfeatureofVIClientprovidesavisualunderstandingoftherelationships [Link] itemswithinVirtualCenterareavailableintheInventorythroughtheMapstabsfor hosts,virtualmachines,networks,anddatastores,(InventoryMaps)andthroughthe Mapsbuttoninthenavigationbar(GlobalMaps). Therearethreemaptypes:

Global Inventory VMotionResourceMaps

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Global Maps
Globalmapsareaccessiblefromthebuttoninthelargetoolbarandprovideahighlevel viewoftherelationshipsbetweenallphysicalandvirtualelementsintheentire [Link] inventory,youcanseewhichclustersorhostsaremostdenselypopulated,which networksaremostcritical,andwhichstoragedevicesarebeingutilized(ornot). Physical,Virtual,andCustommaptypesexistforbothinventorymapsandglobal [Link] maps.

Inventory Maps
Inventorymapsareaccessiblefromtheinventoryviewandshowaselecteditems relevanthost,virtualmachine,network,[Link] [Link] appearforfolders,datacenters,clusters,resourcepools,andhosts. Physical,Virtual,andCustommaptypesexistforbothinventorymapsandglobal [Link] maps. TheMapstabisavailablewhenyouselectfolders,datacenters,clusters,resourcepools, hosts,orvirtualmachinesfromtheinventorypanelofthenavigationbar.

VMotion Resource Maps

VMotionresourcemapsappearonlyinthetabsforvirtualmachinesselectedinthe [Link](hosts,datastores,and networks)associatedwithavirtualmachine,thesemapsdisplaywhichhostsina virtualmachinesclusterordatacenterarecandidatehoststowhichavirtualmachine [Link] possible,itprovidesinformationaboutwhichhostsareheavilyloaded,whichare connectedtoallthesameresourcesthatthetargetvirtualmachineisconnectedto,and whichhostshavecompatibleCPUandsoftwarewiththetargetvirtualmachine. NOTE TheviewsandcapabilitiesdisplayedvarydependingonwhethertheVIClientis [Link] VIClientisconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServer. ThemapconsidersfourcriteriawhenmarkingthehostasacandidateforVMotion migration:

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Datastorecompatibilitythehostmustbeconnectedtoallthesamedatastoresas thevirtualmachine. Networkcompatibilitythehostmustbeconnectedtoallthesamenetworksas thevirtualmachine. Softwarecompatibilitythehostmusthavecompatiblesoftwarewiththevirtual machine. CPUcompatibilitythehostmusthaveacompatibilityCPUwiththevirtual machine.

Ifanyofthefourislacking,[Link] thecauseoftheunsuitabilityisfromnetworking/datastoreincompatibility,theusercan discernthisfromthelackofedgesconnectingthathostandthevirtualmachines [Link] incompatibility,theinformationappearsinatooltipwhenthepointerhoversoverthe hostinquestion. Ifahostiscompatibleinallfouraspects,[Link] [Link]; lowloadhostsaresaturatedgreen. Itmighttakeafewsecondsforthemaptoretrieveload,CPU,andsoftware [Link] [Link],[Link] lookslikeagoodVMotioncandidate(displayedasgreen)mightbecomeabad candidate(displayedasred)asinformationfiltersin. Iftheinformationretrievalistakingtoolong,youcancanceltheoperation. TheVMotionmapisnotaconclusivestatementastowhetherVMotionispossible [Link],itseekstoprovideinformation astowhetherVMotionmightbepossible,andifnot,whatanadministratormightdo toremedythesituation.

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Map Elements and Icons

Allmapshaveelementsthatareselectabledependingontheinventoryitemand whetheryouapproachthemapthroughtheInventorytabortheNavigationbarbutton. TheVMwareInfrastructuremapelementsaredescribedinthefollowingtable. Table 16-1. Map Elements and Icons
.

Attribute

Description Hosticon.

AhostthatiscompatibleforVMotionmigration.

AhostthatisnotcompatibleforVMotionmigration.

Virtualmachineicon.

Networkicon.

Datastoreicon.

Overviewsection MapRelationships section Refreshlink

Thumbnailgraphicofthefullscalemap. Sectionthatisdisplayedwhenmorethanonemaptypeisavailable [Link] resourcemaptodisplay. Mapsdonotautorefreshbecauseaddingorremovingelements [Link] theinventoryandcenterthemapviewintheinformationmappanel, clicktheRefreshlink. WhenselectingthroughtheInventorynavigationbar,aselecteditem stayshighlightedtoindicatemapfocus. WhenselectingthroughtheMapsnavigationbar,allitemsinthe [Link] inventoryitemsyoudonotwantincludedinthemap.

Inventorypanel

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Viewing the Maps

[Link] miniatureviewfitsintoafixedwindow. To view global maps ClicktheMapsbuttoninthenavigationbar. To view inventory maps ClickInventoryinthenavigationbarandselecttheInventoryHostsandClustersor [Link],datacenter,cluster,resource pool,[Link]. To view VMotion maps ClickInventoryinthenavigationbarandselecttheInventoryHostsandClustersor [Link].

Editing the Maps

Editingmapoptionsinclude:

Includingorexcludinginventoryobjects Shiftingtheorientation,hostcentricorvirtualmachinecentric Zoominginorout Shiftingtheareaofthemapbeingviewed

To view or hide content of a map using Map Relationships 1 FromtheVIClient,[Link]. Allinventoryitemsareselectedbydefault.

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ChooseanitemfromtheMapRelationshipspulldownmenu:Releasingthe mousebuttonacceptsthechangeandthemapshiftstothenewconfiguration.

TheMapRelationshipspanelcomeswithtwopresetsmapsandavariableoption:

HostResourcesShowshostcentricphysicalrelationships. VirtualMachineResourcesShowsvirtualmachinecentricrelationships. CustomMapAllowsyoutochooseanycombinationofrelationshipsother [Link] comespresetwithallrelationshipsselected.

ClickthecheckboxesavailableunderHostOptionsorVMOptions. [Link] mapdisplay.

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To view or hide content of a global map using inventory checkboxes 1 2 FromtheVIClient,clicktheMapsbuttoninthenavigationbar. Selectordeselectanyinventoryitemstoindicatetheitemsyouwantincludedin themap. Bydefault,selectingordeselectingselectsordeselectstheitemsbelowtheobject. Themapremovesoraddstheobjectsautomatically.

Asyouclickitems,theyappearordisappearfromthemap.

3
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To zoom in or out of your map view ClickanddragintheOverviewpanel. Whenyouzoominoroutofamap,VirtualCenterdetectsifthemapcannotfitonthe [Link],youcanchangethezoomlevelby [Link] Overviewpanel,[Link] [Link] point,butyoucanzoomoutuntilthemapfitsentirelyintothewindow. [Link] [Link] [Link].

[Link] scale,[Link] andMapRelationshipspanelsdonotmovefromtheirupperrightlocationinthe informationpanel.

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To move the map within the information panel Youcanmovethemaptwoways:

Clickanddraginthebodyoftheinformationpanel. [Link] [Link] beyondtheinformationpanelframe.

Alternatively,[Link] locationyouclick.

Printing Maps
Youcanprintthecurrentlyvisiblemaptoanyordinaryprinter. To print a map Youhavetwowaystoprint:

Fromanyscreenonwhichanytypeofmapispresent,chooseFile>Export>Print Maps. FromtheGlobalMapstoolbar,clickthePrintbutton.

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To alter print settings or see a print preview Fromanywindowonwhichanytypeofmapispresent,chooseFile>Export>Print Preview.

Exporting Maps
[Link]. To export a graphical image of the performance chart 1 2 FromtheVIClient,selecttheappropriateinventoryobject. ClicktheGlobalMapsbuttoninthenavigationbar,andclicktheExportMap buttonintheMapstaskbar. ASaveAsImagedialogboxappears.

3 4

[Link] [Link]. [Link].

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Navigating Between Maps

[Link] VIClientshiftstothaticonintheinventoryanddisplaysthatelementsmapstab,if [Link],fromtheMapsbuttondisplay,avirtualmachinewas [Link].

Displaying Object Menus in Maps

[Link],virtual machines,networks,anddatastorescanbeperformedthroughanyoftheMaps windows. To display an inventory object menu RightclickanyiconintheMapspanel.

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Thecorrespondingpopupmenuappears.

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Managing Tasks, Events, and Alarms

17

Thischapterdescribestasks,events,[Link] topics:

ManagingTasksonpage 289 ManagingEventsonpage 303 ManagingAlarmsonpage 308

Managing Tasks
[Link] [Link] [Link]:

Anunscheduledtask,whichcanresultfromperforminganoperationthatmight takeawhile,likeaddingahost. Ascheduledtask,whichyousetuptotriggeratadifferenttime. TheviewsandcapabilitiesdisplayedvarydependingonwhethertheVIClientis [Link],theprocess, task,[Link] optionisnotavailablewhentheVIClientisconnectedtoanESXServer,butitdoes offertherecenttaskswindowatthebottomoftheVIClientwindow.

NOTE

Thissectioncontainsthefollowingsections:

UnderstandingTasksonpage 290 ViewingandPerformingTasksonpage 290

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ManagingScheduledTasksonpage 293 ReschedulingaScheduledTaskonpage 300 RemovingaScheduledTaskonpage 300 CancelingaTaskonpage 301

Understanding Tasks
ThescheduledtasksoptionallowsyoutoconfigureselectedVirtualCenteractivitiesto [Link],later,orona [Link] activities. CreateascheduledtaskthroughtheNewTaskwizard,whichdisplaystheavailable [Link],thewizarddisplaysthepagesthatarerelevant [Link] [Link]. Ifthedirectionsofmanuallydrivenandscheduledactivitiesconflict,VirtualCenter [Link] performanyactivity,manualorscheduled,VirtualCentersendsamessagetothelog anddoesnotperformthetask. Whenyoucreateascheduledtask,VirtualCenterverifiesthatyouhavethecorrect permissionstoperformtheactionsontherelevantdatacenters,hosts,andvirtual [Link],thetaskisperformedevenifyounolongerhave permissiontoperformthetask. WhenanobjectisremovedfromVirtualCenter,allassociatedtasksarealsoremoved. [Link] occurduringthetaskarealsorecordedintheeventlog. CAUTION Donotschedulemultipletaskstobeperformedatthesametimeonthe [Link].

Viewing and Performing Tasks

Youhavetheoptiontoviewthelistoftasksassociatedwithparticularinventoryobjects [Link] includeactivitiessuchaspoweringonoroffavirtualmachine,cloningavirtual machine,oraddingavirtualmachinetoaresourcepool. TasksarenottrackedorscheduledonyourESXServerhostunlesstheESXServeris registeredandconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServer.
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To view recent tasks FromtheVIClientconnectedtoanESXServeroraVirtualCenterServer,clicktheTasks togglebuttononthelowerleftsideoftheVIClientwindow.

To perform a task on an ESX Server 1 FromtheVIClientconnectedtoanESXServer,clicktheInventorybuttoninthe [Link],andclicktheobjectwherethe actionistobeperformed. Choosetheactivityfromthemainorpopupmenuassociatedwiththeobject. Forexample,selectavirtualmachine,rightclick,andchoosethePowerOnoption. To schedule or view a list of tasks on an ESX Server AddthehosttotheVirtualCenterinventory. RefertoAddingaHostonpage 101formoreinformation. ToscheduleataskonaVirtualCenterServer,refertoManagingScheduledTaskson page 293. To view a list of tasks completed on a VirtualCenter Server 1 2 3 FromtheVIClient,clicktheInventory,andclicktherootfolder. ClicktheTask&[Link]&Eventspanel. Clickataskinthepanel.

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DetailedinformationappearsintheTaskDetailspane.

To sort the list of tasks 1 2 FromtheVIClient,displaytheinventorypanel,selecttheappropriateobjectand viewtheTasks&Eventspanel. [Link].

To filter the list of tasks 1 2 3 4 5 FromtheVIClient,expandtheinventoryasneeded,andclicktheappropriate object. ClicktheTask&[Link]&Eventspanel. ChooseView>Filtering,ifneeded. Clickthelistarrow,andclickthecolumntoincludeinthefiltersearch. Typeakeywordintothebox,andpressReturn.

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Thelistoftasksdisplaysonlythoseitemsthatcontainthekeywordyoutyped. NoticeintheexamplebelowhowtheNameandReasoncolumnsbothhaveitems thatcontainthefilterkeyword,power.

Managing Scheduled Tasks

[Link] correspondingwizardforthetaskandaddsaschedulingtimeoptionattheendofthe [Link] [Link] taskwizards:

Changethepowerstateofavirtualmachine(refertoChangingVirtualMachine PowerStatesonpage 141) Createavirtualmachinetemplate(refertoCreatingTemplatesonpage 204) MoveavirtualmachinewithVMotion(refertoMigrationwithVMotionon page 233) Createavirtualmachine(refertoUsingtheNewVirtualMachineWizardon page 114) Makeasnapshotofavirtualmachine(refertoUnderstandingSnapshotson page 221)

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Customizeavirtualmachine(refertoPreparingforGuestCustomization(SEE UPDATE)onpage 190) Addahost(refertoAddingaHostonpage 101) AnyoperationcanbesetasascheduledtaskthroughtheVMwareInfrastructure [Link],onlyasubsetofalloperationscanbepartofascheduledtask throughtheVIClient.

NOTE

To create a scheduled task 1 FromtheVIClientconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServer,clicktheScheduledTasks optioninthenavigationbar. Thecurrentlistofscheduledtasksappears. 2 3 ClickNewinthetoolbar,orchooseFile>New>ScheduledTask. Clickthepulldownmenu,[Link].

Completethetaskspecificinformation. TheNewTaskwizarddisplaysaseriesofpagesthatcorrespondtothepagesyou refertowhenyouperformthetaskstartingfromtheselectedobject. Refertothesectionorthemanualthatisappropriateforeachoptionforspecific [Link] performedtasksonlyinthatyoumustspecifythevirtualmachine,host,or datacentertowhichthetaskappliesandspecifythetimetoperformthetask.

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Specifythetimingofthetask.

NOTE

[Link], setupadditionaltasks. [Link] creatingthetask.

NOTE

ThetimewhenascheduledtaskoccursisrelativetotheVirtualCenterServerand nottothelocalVIClientfromwhichyouconfigurethetask. Toscheduleaonetimeoccurrence,[Link] [Link]. Toviewthecalendar,clicktheDatearrow.

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[Link] [Link],andclicktheupanddownarrows.

Whenyouclickthecalendardate,thecalendaracceptsthenewdateandcloses. NOTE 8 ThetimesetisrelativetotheVirtualCenterServerandnottotheVIClient. Torunthetaskafterstartup,clickAfterStartupandentertheamountofthedelay.

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Torunthetaskhourly,[Link] hourandtheinterval(forexample,15minutesaftereveryeighthours).

10

Torunthetaskdaily,[Link]. Forexample,enter14:30everyfourthdaytorunthetaskat2:30pmeveryfour days.

11

Torunthetaskweekly,[Link],dayoftheweek,and interval.

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Forexample,TuesdaysandThursday,8:00am,[Link] multipledaysoftheweek.

12

Torunthetaskmonthly,[Link],dayofthemonth,and interval. Forexample,entersecondThursdayofthemonth,11:00everythirdmonth. Ifyouselectadayhigherthan28,awarningmessageisdisplayedbecausesome monthsare29,30,or31days.

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13

Thelast<day>ofthemonthselectsthelastweekinthemonththatthedayoccurs. IfyouselectthelastMondayofthemonth,andthemonthendsonaSunday,the lastMondaywillbesixdaysbeforetheendofthemonth.

14

Tocompletethewizard,clickFinish. VirtualCenteraddsthetasktothelistintheScheduledTaskstab.

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Rescheduling a Scheduled Task

Afterascheduledtaskiscreated,youcanchangeitstimingandfrequency,aswellas thespecificsofthetask. To reschedule a scheduled task 1 FromtheVIClientconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServer,clicktheTasksoptionin thenavigationbar. Thelistofscheduledtasksappears. 2 Tochoosetheappropriatetaskfromthelist,clickPropertiesinthetoolbar. TheChangea<task>wizard,correspondingtothetask,appears. 3 NOTE ClickthroughthewizardusingtheNextbutton,andmakechangesasneeded. Scheduledtaskcalculationandexecutionarebasedontimezoneandthetimeset [Link] differenttimezones,thetaskscheduleisoffsetbythedifferenceintimezonesof theVirtualCenterServerandVIClient.

Removing a Scheduled Task

[Link] associatedwithallpreviousexecutionsofthetaskremainsintheVirtualCenter database. NOTE [Link] occurring,[Link] occurrencesofascheduledtask. To remove a task that has been scheduled 1 FromtheVIClientconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServer,clicktheScheduledTasks optioninthenavigationbar. Thelistofscheduledtasksappears. 2 [Link]>ScheduledTask> Remove. VirtualCenterremovesthetaskfromthescheduledtasklist. 3 Toverifythatyouwanttoremovethetask,clickOK. Thetaskisdeletedfromthelistoftasks.

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Canceling a Task
[Link](scheduledor manuallyinitiated)[Link] runningrequiresthatyouhavetheappropriatepermissionsassignedtothehostwhere thetaskisoccurring. NOTE ThecancelingoperationisnotallowedifoneorbothofthehostsinvolvedisanESX Serverversion2.0.1. [Link] occurring,[Link] occurrencesofascheduledtask. Thetasksthatcanbecanceledaftertheystartare:

Connectingtoahost Cloningavirtualmachine Migratingavirtualmachine Deployingatemplate Creatingatemplatefromavirtualmachine Cloningatemplate

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To cancel a task that is currently running 1 2 FromtheVIClientconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServer,viewtheRecentTasks panel. ClickShowtoggleatthelowerrightcorneroftheinventorypanel.

3 4

Selecttheappropriatetaskfromthelist. Rightclickthetask,andchooseCancel.

VirtualCenterstopsprogressonthetask,returnstheobjectstotheirprevious states,anddisplaysthetaskascanceled.

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Managing Events
AneventisanyactionthatisofinteresttotheVirtualCenterServerortheESXServer. [Link] [Link]:

TheEventsoptioninthenavigationbardisplaysalleventsthathaveoccurredon theVirtualCenterServer. [Link] showonlytheeventsthatoccurredonortotheselecteddatacenter,host,orvirtual machine.

[Link] type:Information,Error,[Link] [Link] [Link],the EventDetailentryindicatesthehostorvirtualmachineonwhichtheeventoccurred [Link] individualeventpage. Thissectioncontainsthefollowing:

ViewingAllEventMessagesonpage 303 ViewingSelectedEventMessagesonpage 305 SortingandFilteringEventMessagesonpage 306 ExportingEventMessagesonpage 307

Viewing All Event Messages

TheEventstabisavailablewhenyouselectaresourcepool,host,orvirtualmachine [Link] isconnectedtoanESXServer. NOTE WhenconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServer,EventsarecombinedwiththeTaskstab.

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Figure 17-1. VI Client Connected to ESX Server > Inventory > Virtual Machine > Events Tab To view event details FromtheInventorypanel,[Link]. TheEventDetailsfielddisplaysadditionalinformationabouttheevent:

[Link] messagesarepredefinedintheproduct. [Link] [Link] ornot. TheviewsandcapabilitiesdisplayedvarydependingonwhethertheVIClientis [Link],theprocess, task,ordescriptionappliestobothkindsofconnections.

NOTE

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Viewing Selected Event Messages

[Link] eventthatappearsisanobjectspecificsubsetofalltheserverevents. To view the event messages and event detail for an object 1 2 FromtheVIClientconnectedtoeitheraVirtualCenterServeroranESXServer, [Link]. Intheinventorypanel,selectafolder,cluster,resourcepool,host,orvirtual machine,asappropriate. Ifyouselectahost,theeventmessagesforallthevirtualmachinesonthathostare includedintheEventslog. 3 4 ClicktheEventstab. Clicktheevent. AfulltextmessagewithlinkstorelatedobjectsappearsintheEventDetailsbox.

ClickanyofthebluehighlighteditemsintheEventsDetailsbox. Theviewchangestodisplaytheselectedlinkedobject.

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Sorting and Filtering Event Messages

[Link] headshowsthesortorderasascendingordescending. To sort a list [Link] selectiondoesnotchange. To change ascending or descending order Clickthecolumnheadingtotogglebetweenascendinganddescendingorder. To choose items in a list [Link] Eventspanel. To view selected columns only Rightclickanycolumnhead,andchoosefromthelistofdatafieldstobedisplayed. To search and list selected items 1 2 ChooseView>Filteringtoseethefilteringoptions. [Link].

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[Link] example,thesearchwordpowerisfoundinboththeDescriptionandtheTask columnentries.

Exporting Event Messages

Thereisanoptionforexportingallorpartofyoureventslogfile. To export the events file 1 2 FromtheVIClientconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServer,chooseFile>Export> ExportEvents. Specifythetimerangeofmessagesandthetypeofmessagestoexport.

Specifyafilename,filetype,[Link] buttontoviewtheSaveAsdialogbox. Thefileissavedasatextfile.

SelecttheTyperadiobuttontoindicatethetypeoferrorstoincludeintheexported file. Youcanspecifywhethertoincludeusergeneratedorsystemgeneratedevents. Youcanspecifyallusers,oryoucanspecifyTheseusersandclickBrowsetoselect asubsetofusers.

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5 6 7

[Link],Days,Weeks, Months,andFrom/Todateranges. Specifythenumberofeventstoexport,eitheralloraspecificnumber. ClickOKtocreateafileoftheselecteddata.

VirtualCentercreatesafileoftheselecteddatabasedonthefileextensionprovidedand [Link],thedefaultisa [Link],Time,andDescription.

Managing Alarms
[Link] [Link] selectedinventoryobjectsorallinventoryobjects. NOTE TheviewsandcapabilitiesdisplayedvarydependingonwhethertheVIClientis [Link] whentheVIClientisconnectedtoanESXServer. Thissectioncontainsthefollowingtopics:

UnderstandingAlarmsonpage 309 PreparingforEmailMessageSMTPAlarmNotification(SEEUPDATE)on page 311 PreparingforSNMPAlarmNotificationonpage 312 CreatingAlarmsonpage 314 EditingAlarmsonpage 320 RemovingAlarmsonpage 321

TheAlarmstabintheinventorypaneldisplaysthelistofalarmsfortheselectedobject [Link] machines,andcanbedefinedinparententitiessuchasfoldersorresourcepools. NOTE [Link] [Link] features,havetheVirtualCenterServermanagetheESXServer. TheAlarmstabhastwoviewsavailablethroughbuttons:

AlarmsDisplaystriggeredalarmsagainsttheselectedinventoryitem.

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Figure 17-2. VI Client Connected to VirtualCenter Server > Inventory: Hosts and Clusters > Host > Alarms Tab > Alarms Button

DefinitionsDisplaysthealarmsthataremonitoringtheselectedinventoryitem. Iftheeventconfiguredinanalarmoccurs,thealarmistriggeredandtheserver takestheconfiguredaction(forexample,sendsanemailnotification).

Figure 17-3. VI Client Connected to VirtualCenter Server > Inventory: Hosts and Clusters > Host > Alarms Tab > Definitions Button

Understanding Alarms
Alarmssendnotificationmessageswhenselectedeventsoccurtooronhostsorvirtual [Link] [Link],includingfolders, datacenters,clusters,resourcepools,hosts,andvirtualmachines. Alarmsareinheritedfromparentlevelsandcannotbechangedoroverriddenatachild [Link] thatareinforceatanyofitschildlevels.

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Whenanalarmiscreated,VirtualCenterverifiestheuserpermissionstoperformthe actionsontherelevantdatacenters,hosts,[Link] created,thealarmisperformedevenifthecreatingusernolongerhaspermissionto createthealarm. [Link] eventandanotificationmethod. Therearetwokindsofalarmtriggers:

PercentageMonitorshostprocessor(orCPU)usage,hostmemoryusage, virtualmachineprocessor(orCPU)usage,virtualmachinememory,andvirtual machineheartbeat. ThetriggeringoptionsareIsAbove(percent)andIsBelow(percent).Thedefault [Link] otherpercentageoptionsissettoIsAbove.

StateMonitorhoststateandvirtualmachinestate. Thetriggeringoptionsare:Is(state)andIsNot(state).

Thereareseveraltypesofalarmnotificationmethods:

Sendanotificationemailmessage [Link] [Link]:throughVirtualCenterorthrough [Link] SMTPsettinginOutlookExpressiscorrect. TheVirtualCenterServergeneratesthesubjectandbodytextoftheemailmessage. OnlytheTolist(receiver)[Link] [Link] recipientswithcommasorsemicolons.

Sendanotificationtrap [Link] [Link] [Link] Notificationonpage 312.

Runascript Theuserscriptcommandanditsargumentsmustbeformattedintoonestring.

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TheuserscriptisrunningasseparateprocessanddoesnotblocktheVirtualCenter [Link] VirtualCenterServermachine,suchasprocessorandmemory.

Suspendthevirtualmachine Poweroffthevirtualmachine Resetthevirtualmachine

Theactionsavailablewithalarmsaredescribedinthefollowingsections:

PreparingforEmailMessageSMTPAlarmNotification(SEEUPDATE)on page 311 PreparingforSNMPAlarmNotificationonpage 312 CreatingAlarmsonpage 314 EditingAlarmsonpage 320 RemovingAlarmsonpage 321

Preparing for Email Message SMTP Alarm Notification (SEE UPDATE)

IfyouarewanttouseemailmessagestosendSMTPnotifications,youmust:

DefinetheSMTPandemailmessageaddressinginformation. Specifytheemailmessageaddressforthoseintendedtoreceivethenotification whenyoucreatethealarm.

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To define the SMTP and email message addressing information 1 FromtheVIClient,chooseAdministration>ServerSettings>Mail.

Foremailmessagenotification,settheSMTPserverandSMTPport:

SMTPServerTheDNSnameorIPaddressoftheSMTPgatewaytousefor sendingemailmessages. SenderAccountTheemailaddressofthesender,forexample,mail_server [Link].

ClickOK.

Preparing for SNMP Alarm Notification

TouseSNMPtraps,youmustconfigure:

TheVirtualCenterServerhost. TheSNMPreceiverservertoacceptthetrapsfromVirtualCenter.

Whenyoucreateanalarm,[Link] include:

[Link] Processor(orCPU)usage,HostMemoryusage,HostState,VirtualMachine Processor(orCPU)usage,VirtualMachineMemoryusage,VirtualMachineState, VirtualMachineHeartbeat.

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NameThenameofthehostorvirtualmachinethattriggersthealarm. OldStatusThealarmstatusbeforethealarmwastriggered. NewStatusThealarmstatuswhenthealarmistriggered. ObjectValueTheobjectvaluewhenthealarmistriggered.

To define the SNMP information 1 2 FromtheVIClient,chooseFile>VirtualCenterSettings,andclicktheAdvanced tab. EntertheSNMPandmailaddressing,asappropriate.

[Link] numericalorder,1,2,3,[Link] name,[Link]:

ReceiverURLTheDNSnameandIPaddressoftheSNMPreceiver. ReceiverportTheportnumberofthereceiver. Iftheportvalueisempty,[Link] is902.

CommunityStringThecommunityidentifier.

ClickOK.

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Creating Alarms
IfyouplantouseemailmessageorSNMPnotification,refertoPreparingforEmail MessageSMTPAlarmNotification(SEEUPDATE)onpage 311anddefinetheaddress informationbeforeyoucreateyouralarm. To create an alarm 1 FromtheVIClientconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServer,clicktheInventorybutton. Expandtheinventoryasneeded,clicktheappropriateobject,clicktheAlarmstab, andclicktheDefinitionsbutton.

ChooseFile>New>Alarm. Ifyoustartfromafolder,datacenter,orcluster,theAlarmPropertiesdialogbox [Link] startfromaresourcepool,host,oravirtualmachine,MonitorahostorMonitora VMispreselectedandtheotheroptionisdimmed.

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Selectthealarmtype.

IntheGeneraltab,specifyanameforthealarm,theobjecttobemonitored(host orvirtualmachine),thetriggerpriority,andwhethertoenablethisalarm. TriggerprioritiescanbesettoRedorGreen:

RedThedefault,triggersthealarmsprioritizedredasfirst,thenyellow,and greenalarmslast. GreenTriggersthealarmsprioritizedasgreenfirst,thenyellow,andred alarmslast.

5 6

Todefinethealarmbutnotmakeitactive,deselecttheEnablebox. ClicktheTriggerstabandtheAddbutton.

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IntheTriggerstab,therearefourpulldownmenus:

TriggerType Theoptionslistedapplytoeitherthehostorvirtualmachine. Forhostalarms,theoptionsareHostProcessor(orCPU)Usage,Host MemoryUsage,HostNetworkUsage,HostDiskUsage,andHostState. Forvirtualmachinealarms,theoptionsareVMProcessor(orCPU)Usage, VMMemoryUsage,VMNetworkUsage,VMDiskUsage,andVMState.

Condition TheoptionsforpercentagetriggersareIsAbove(percent)andIsBelow (percent). TheoptionsforstatetriggersareIs(state)andIsNot(state).

Warning(Yellow)stateorpercentageandAlert(Red)stateorpercentage Percentageoptionsrangefrom5percentto100percentin5percent [Link] percentage. Virtualmachinestateoptionscorrespondtotheseactivities:Creating, Migrating,Connecting,Disconnecting,MigratingwithVMotion, Reconnecting,Removing,Resetting,Resuming,Starting,Stopping, Suspending,Disconnected,Initial,Orphaned,PoweredOff,PoweredOn,and [Link]:Connecting, Disconnecting,Reconnecting,Removing,Shuttingdown,Connected,and [Link]. Thecolorscorrespondingtotheexiting/fromandentering/tostatesaresetin [Link].

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(Optional)[Link]. Entertheparametersforeachcondition.

[Link] ToleranceandoneforFrequency.

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Specifytheactiontobetakenwhenthealarmistriggered.

10

[Link]. Therearefourdifferentlevelchanges:greentoyellow,yellowtored,redtoyellow, [Link].

11

Choosetheactiontobetakenwhentheeventistriggeredandspecifythe associatedinformation. Theoptionsare:

Sendanotificationemail. ProvidetheemailaddressofthenotificationrecipientintheValuefield. [Link] [Link]:throughVirtualCenterorthrough [Link] SMTPsettinginOutlookExpressiscorrect. [Link] thetolist(receiver)[Link] [Link] [Link] Notification(SEEUPDATE)onpage 311.

Sendanotificationtrap. ThereisadefaultSNMPnotificationreceiver,[Link] [Link]

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[Link] AlarmNotificationonpage 312.

Runascript.(SEEUPDATE) Providethepathtothescript. Theuserscriptcommandanditsargumentsmustbeformattedintoone string. TheuserscriptrunsinotherprocessesanddoesnotblocktheVirtualCenter [Link],thescriptconsumesserverresources,suchas processorandmemory.

{eventDescription} full formatted message for alarm triggering event {entityName} name of the entity name where the alarm is triggered {alarmName} name of the alarm that is triggered {triggeringSummary} summary info of the alarm with triggering values {declaringSummary} summary info of the alarm declaration {oldStatus} alarm status before it is triggered {newStatus} alarm status after it is triggered {entityObject} inventory object as triggering alarm Example scripts: "c:\[Link] {entityName} {alarmName}"

[Link] parameteristhenameoftheentity,andthesecondisthenameofthealarm. WhentheentitynameisMyEntityandalarmnameisMyAlarm,thescript becomes"c:\[Link] MyEntity MyAlarm".

"d:\tools\[Link] '{entityName}' '{alarmName}' {newStatus}"

[Link] theentityname,thesecondisthealarmname,andthethirdisthealarmstatus [Link] dummy vm,thealarmnameismy test alarm,andthenewstatusisred,thescriptbecomes:

"d:\tools\[Link] my dummy vm my test alarm red

Poweron,Poweroff,Suspend,orResetthevirtualmachine. Theseapplyonlytoavirtualmachinealarm.

12

Tocompletethealarm,clickOK.

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VirtualCenterverifiestheconfigurationofthealarmandaddsthealarmtothelist ofalarmsfortheselectedobject.

NoticethattheDefinedIncolumnindicateswhereintheinventoryhierarchythe alarmisdefined.

Editing Alarms
Alarmscanbemodified,butyoumusteditthematthehierarchicallevelwherethey [Link], anXappearsonthealarmlistingicon. To edit an existing alarm 1 FromtheVIClientconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServer,clicktheInventorybutton [Link],clicktheAlarmstab,and clicktheDefinitionsbutton. Ifthealarmyouwanttochangeisnotdefinedatthecurrentlocation,clickthe linkedobjectintheDefinedincolumn. VirtualCenterdisplaystheAlarmspanelfortheobjectwherethealarmwas defined.

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[Link]>Alarm>[Link] theDefinedincolumnforthealarmmustbeThisobject.

Editthealarmgeneralsettings,triggers,oractions,[Link]. VirtualCenterverifiestheconfigurationofthealarmandeditsthealarmforthe [Link] 314foradditionalinformation.

Removing Alarms
[Link] fromachildthatinheritedthealarm. To remove an alarm 1 FromtheVIClientconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServer,clicktheInventorybutton [Link],clicktheAlarmstab,and clicktheDefinitionsbutton. Ifthealarmyouwanttochangeisnotdefinedatthecurrentlocation,clickthe [Link] fortheobjectwherethealarmwasdefined.

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Toremovethealarm,selectthealarm,andchooseInventory>Alarm>Remove.

Aconfirmationpopupwindowappears. 4 ClickYes. Thealarmisremoved.

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Defined Privileges

Thefollowingtableslistthedefaultprivilegesthat,whenselectedforarole,canbe [Link] VirtualCenterServerandHCtoindicateHostClient,astandaloneESXServer. Whensettingpermissions,verifyalltheobjecttypesaresetwithappropriateprivileges [Link] [Link] [Link] toChapter 15,ManagingUsers,Groups,Permissions,andRoles,onpage 247for informationonapplyingprivilegestoinventoryobjects. RefertoTable 151,DefaultRoles,onpage 255foralistofpredefinedgrouped privileges. Thisappendixcontainsthesetopics:

AlarmManagementonpage 326 Datacenteronpage 327 Datastoreonpage 327 Foldersonpage 328 Globalonpage 329 HostConfigurationonpage 330 HostInventoryonpage 331 HostLocalOperationsonpage 332 Networkonpage 333

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Permissionsonpage 334 Performanceonpage 333 Permissionsonpage 334 ScheduledTaskonpage 336 Sessionsonpage 336 VirtualMachineConfigurationonpage 337 VirtualMachineInteractiononpage 339 VirtualMachineInventoryonpage 340 VirtualMachineProvisioningonpage 341 VirtualMachineStateonpage 342

Alarm Management
Table A-1. Alarm Management Privileges
Privilege Name CreateAlarm1 Description Createsanewalarm. UserinterfaceelementAlarmtab popupmenu,Filemenu DeleteAlarm Deletesanexistingalarm. UserinterfaceelementAlarmtab popupmenu,Filemenu ModifyAlarm Changesthepropertiesofanexisting alarm. UserinterfaceelementAlarmtab popupmenu,Filemenu
1

Used VConly

Pair with Object Alarm object parent Alarm object parent Alarm object parent

Effective on Object All inventory items All inventory items All inventory items

VConly

VConly

Whencreatingalarmswithacustomaction,privilegetoperformtheactionisverifiedwhentheuse createsthealarm.

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Datacenter
Table A-2. Datacenter Privileges
Privilege Name Create Datacenter Description Createsanewdatacenter. UserinterfaceelementInventory popupmenu,toolbarbutton,andFile> NewDatacenter Removesadatacenter. UserinterfaceelementInventory popupmenu,Inventory>Datacenter> Remove,Edit>Remove Movesadatacenter. Privilegemustbepresentatboththe sourceanddestination. UserinterfaceelementInventory draganddrop Rename Datacenter Changesthenameofadatacenter. UserinterfaceelementInventory object,inventorypopupmenu,Edit> Rename,Inventory>Datacenter> Rename VConly Datacenter Datacenters VConly VConly Datacenter plusparent object Datacenter, sourceand destination Affects VConly Pair with Object Datacenter Effective on Object Datacenter folders

Delete Datacenter

Datacenters

Move Datacenter

Datacenters, Datacenter folders

Datastore
Table A-3. Datastore Privileges
Privilege Name Browse Datastore Description Browsesfilesonadatastore. UserinterfaceelementAddexisting disk,browseforCDROMorFloppy media,serialorparallelportfiles Removesadatastore. UserinterfaceelementInventory datastorepopupmenu,Edit>Remove, Inventory>Datastore>Remove HCandVC Datastores Datastores Affects HCandVC Pair with Object Datastores Effective on Object Datastores

Delete Datastore

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Table A-3. Datastore Privileges (Continued)

Privilege Name Delete DatastoreFile Description Deletesafileinthedatastore. UserinterfaceelementDatastore BrowsertoolbarbuttonandDatastore popupmenu Renamesadatastore. UserinterfaceelementDatastore PropertiesdialogChangebutton,host Summarytabpopupmenu HCandVC Datastores Datastores Affects HCandVC Pair with Object Datastores Effective on Object Datastores

Rename Datastore

Folders
Table A-4. Folder Privileges
Privilege Name CreateFolder Description Createsanewfolder. UserinterfaceelementTaskbar button,Filemenu,popupmenu DeleteFolder Deletesafolder. UserinterfaceelementFilemenu, popupmenu MoveFolder Movesafolder. Privilegemustbepresentatboththe sourceanddestination. UserinterfaceelementInventory draganddrop RenameFolder Changesthenameofafolder. UserinterfaceelementInventory paneobjecttextfield,popupmenu,File menu VConly Folders Folders VConly VConly Foldersplus parentobject Folders, sourceand destination Folders Affects VConly Pair with Object Folders Effective on Object Folders

Folders

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Global
Table A-5. Global Privileges
Privilege Name CancelTask Description Cancelsarunningorqueuedtask. UserinterfaceelementRecenttasks panepopupmenu,Tasks&Events [Link] cloneandclonetotemplate. Diagnostics Getslistofdiagnosticfiles,logheader, binaryfiles,ordiagnosticbundle. UserinterfaceelementFile>Export> ExportDiagnosticData,AdminSystem Logstab Licenses Seeswhatlicensesareinstalledand addsorremoveslicenses. UserinterfaceelementLicensestab, Configuration>LicensedFeatures LogEvent Logsauserdefinedeventagainsta particularmanagedentity. UserinterfaceelementShouldaskfor areasonwhenshuttingdownor rebootingahost. Manage Custom Properties SetCustom Properties Adds,removes,renamescustomfields foramanagedentity. Userinterfaceelement Administration>CustomAttributes Views,creates,andremovescustom fields. UserinterfaceelementAnylistview showsthefieldsdefinedandallows settingthem Settings ReadsandmodifiesruntimeVC configurationsettings. Userinterfaceelement Administration>VMware VirtualCenterSettingsfilemenu VCServer PreparesorinitiatesaVMotionsend operationoraVMotionreceive operation. NouserVIClientinterfaceelementsare associatedwiththisprivilege.
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Affects HCandVC

Pair with Object Anyobject

Effective on Object Inventory object relatedtothe task Rootfolder

VConly

Anyobject

HCandVC

Anyobject

Rootfolder

HCandVC

Allobjects

All inventory objects

VConly

Allobjects

Rootfolder

VConly

Allobjects

All inventory objects

VConly

Allobjects

Rootfolder

VConly

Allobjects

Rootfolder

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Host Configuration
Table A-6. Host Configuration Privileges
Privilege Name Advanced Configuration Description Setsadvancedoptionsinhost configuration. UserinterfaceelementHostConfig> AdvancedSettings,Inventoryhierarchy popupmenu ChangeSNMP Settings Connection Edits,restarts,andstopsSNMPagent. NouserVIClientinterfaceelementsare associatedwiththisprivilege. Changestheconnectionstatusofahost (connectedordisconnected). UserinterfaceelementRightclick Host Hyper Threading Enablesanddisableshyperthreadingin thehostCPUscheduler. UserinterfaceelementHostConfig> Processors Maintenance Putsthehostinandoutofmaintenance mode,shutsdownandrestartsthehost. UserinterfaceelementHostpopup menu,Inventory>Host>Enter MaintenanceMode Memory Configuration Setsconfiguredserviceconsolememory reservation. UserinterfaceelementHostConfig> Memory Internet Service Enablesanddisablesinternetservices providedbyserviceconsole,suchas SSH,Telnet,SNMP. UserinterfaceelementHostConfig> SecurityProfile Network Configuration Configuresnetwork,firewall,and VMotionnetwork. UserinterfaceelementHostConfig> Networking,NetworkAdapter,DNS andRouting HCandVC Hosts Hosts HCandVC Hosts Hosts HCandVC Hosts Hosts HCandVC Hosts Hosts HCandVC Hosts Hosts VConly Hosts Hosts HCandVC Hosts Hosts Affects HCandVC Pair with Object Hosts Effective on Object Hosts

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Table A-6. Host Configuration Privileges (Continued)

Privilege Name System Resource Settings Storage Partition Configuration Description Updatestheconfigurationofthesystem resourcehierarchy. UserinterfaceelementHostConfig> SystemResourceAllocation ManagesVMFSdatastoreand [Link] [Link]. UserinterfaceelementHostConfig> Storage,StorageAdapters,Host Configurationtabdatastorepopup menu Virtual Machine Autostart Configuration Changesautostartandautostoporder ofvirtualmachinesonasinglehost. UserinterfaceelementHostConfig> VirtualMachineStartuporShutdown HCandVC Hosts Hosts HCandVC Hosts Hosts Affects HCandVC Pair with Object Hosts Effective on Object Hosts

Host Inventory
Table A-7. Host Inventory Privileges
Privilege Name AddHostTo Cluster Add standalone Host Description Addsahosttoanexistingcluster. UserinterfaceelementInventory popupmenu Addsastandalonehost. UserinterfaceelementToolbar button,inventorypopupmenu, Inventory>Datacenter>AddHost,File >New>AddHost,Hosttabpopup menu Createsanewcluster. UserinterfaceelementToolbar button,inventorypopupmenu, Inventory>Datacenter>NewCluster, File>New>Cluster DeleteCluster Deletesaclusterorstandalonehost. UserinterfaceelementInventory popupmenu,Edit>Remove, Inventory>Cluster>Remove VConly Clustersplus parentobject VConly Clusters VConly Hosts Datacenters, Hostfolders Affects VConly Pair with Object Hosts Effective on Object Clusters

CreateCluster

Datacenters, Hostfolders

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Table A-7. Host Inventory Privileges (Continued)

Privilege Name Modify Cluster Description Changesthepropertiesofacluster. UserinterfaceelementInventory popupmenu,Inventory>Cluster> EditSettings,Summarytab Movesaclusterbetweenfolders. Privilegemustbepresentatboththe sourceanddestination. UserinterfaceelementInventory hierarchy MoveHost Movesasetofexistinghostsintoa cluster. Privilegemustbepresentatboththe sourceanddestination. UserinterfaceelementInventory hierarchydraganddrop RemoveHost FromCluster Destroysahostinaclusteror standalonehost. UserinterfaceelementInventory draganddropoutofcluster,popup menu,Inventory>Host>Remove Rename Cluster Renamesacluster. UserinterfaceelementInventory singleclick,inventoryhierarchypopup menu,Inventory>Cluster>Rename VConly Clusters Clusters VConly Clustersplus parentobject Clusters, Hostfolders VConly Hosts,source and destination Clusters, Hostfolders VConly Clusters, sourceand destination Clusters, Hostfolders Affects VConly Pair with Object Clusters Effective on Object Clusters

MoveCluster

Host Local Operations

Table A-8. Host Local Operations Privileges
Privilege Name CreateVirtual Machine Description Createsanewvirtualmachinefrom scratchonadiskwithoutregisteringit onthehost. NouserVIClientinterfaceelementsare associatedwiththisprivilege. DeleteVirtual Machine Deletesavirtualmachineondisk, whetherregisteredornot. NouserVIClientinterfaceelementsare associatedwiththisprivilege.
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Pair with Object Rootfolder

Effective on Object Rootfolder

HConly

Rootfolder

Rootfolder

Appendix A Defined Privileges

Table A-8. Host Local Operations Privileges (Continued)

Privilege Name InstallAgent Description Installsanduninstallsvariousagentson ahost,forexample,vpxaandaam. NouserVIClientinterfaceelementsare associatedwiththisprivilege. ManageUser Groups Manageslocalaccountsonahost. UserinterfaceelementUsers& Groupstab(onlypresentiftheVIClient logsontothehostdirectly) HConly Rootfolder Rootfolder Affects HConly Pair with Object Rootfolder Effective on Object Rootfolder

Network
Table A-9. Network Privileges
Privilege Name Delete Network Description Removesanetwork. UserinterfaceelementInventory networkpopupmenu,Edit>Remove, Inventory>Network>Remove Affects HCandVC Pair with Object Datacenter Effective on Object Datacenters

Performance
Table A-10. Alarm Management Privileges
Privilege Name Modify Intervals Description Creates,removes,andupdates performancedatacollectionintervals. UserinterfaceelementVCSettings> Statistics Affects VConly Pair with Object Rootfolder Effective on Object Rootfolder

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Permissions
Table A-11. Permissions Privileges
Privilege Name Modify Permission Description Definesoneormorepermissionrules onanentity,orupdatesrulesifalready presentforthegivenuserorgroupon theentity. UserinterfaceelementPermissions tabpopupmenu,Inventory> Permissionsmenu ModifyRole Updatesarolesnameandthe privileges. UserinterfaceelementRolestab popupmenu,toolbarbutton,File menu ReassignRole Permissions Reassignsallpermissionsofaroleto anotherrole. UserinterfaceelementDeleteRole dialogboxradiobuttonandassociated menu HCandVC Anyobject Rootfolder HCandVC Anyobject Rootfolder Used HCandVC Pair with Object Anyobject plusparent object Effective on Object All inventory items

Resource
Table A-12. Resource Privileges
Privilege Name Apply Recommenda tion AssignVirtual MachineTo Pool ColdMigrate Description Askstheservertogoaheadwitha suggestedVMotion. UserinterfaceelementCluster Migrationstab Assignsvirtualmachinestoaresource pool. UserinterfaceelementVMCreation wizard Migratesavirtualmachinesexecution toaspecificresourcepoolorhost. UserinterfaceelementInventory popupmenu,VMSummarytab, Inventory>VM>Migrate,dragand drop VConly Virtual machines Virtual machines HCandVC Resource pools Resource pools Affects VConly Pair with Object Clusters Effective on Object Clusters

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Table A-12. Resource Privileges (Continued)

Privilege Name CreatePool Description Createsanewresourcepool. UserinterfaceelementFilemenu, popupmenu,Summarytab,Resources tab DeletePool Deletesaresourcepool. UserinterfaceelementEdit> Remove,Inventory>ResourcePool> Remove,inventorypopupmenu, Resourcestab EditPool Changestheallocationsofaresource pool. UserinterfaceelementInventory> ResourcePool>Remove,Resourcestab HotMigrate Migratesavirtualmachinesexecution toaspecificresourcepoolorhost. UserinterfaceelementInventory popupmenu,VMSummarytab, Inventory>VM>Migrate,dragand drop MovePool Movesaresourcepool. Privilegemustbepresentatboththe sourceanddestination. Userinterfaceelement Draganddrop Query VMotion InvestigatesthegeneralVMotion compatibilityofavirtualmachinewith asetofhosts. UserinterfaceelementRequired whendisplayingthemigrationwizard forapoweredonVM,tocheck compatibility RenamePool Renamesaresourcepool. UserinterfaceelementEdit> Rename,Inventory>ResourcePool> Rename,singleclick,popupmenu HCandVC Resource pools Resource pools VConly HCandVC Resource pools, sourceand destination Resource pools VConly HCandVC HCandVC Affects HCandVC Pair with Object Resource pools, clusters Resource poolsplus parent object Resource poolsplus parent object Virtual machines Effective on Object Resource pools, clusters Resource pools

Resource pools

Virtual machines

Rootfolder

Rootfolder

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Scheduled Task
Table A-13. Scheduled Task Privileges
Privilege Name CreateTasks1 Description [Link] privilegestoperformthescheduled actionatthetimeofscheduling. UserinterfaceelementScheduled Taskstoolbarbuttonandpopupmenu DeleteTask Removesascheduledtaskfromthe queue. UserinterfaceelementScheduled Taskspopupmenu,Inventory> ScheduledTask>Remove,Edit> Remove ModifyTask Reconfiguresthescheduledtask properties. UserinterfaceelementInventory> ScheduledTasks>Edit,Scheduled Taskstabpopupmenu RunTask Runsthescheduledtaskimmediately. UserinterfaceelementScheduled Taskspopupmenu,Inventory> ScheduledTask>Run
1

Affects VConly

Pair with Object Allinventory objects

Effective on Object Allinventory objects

VConly

Allinventory objects

Allinventory objects

VConly

Allinventory objects

Allinventory objects

VConly

Allinventory objects

Allinventory objects

Creatingandrunningatask(ondemand)[Link] example,Alarmsrequirespermissionsonafoldertocreatealarmsonobjectsinthatfolder.

Sessions
Table A-14. Session Privileges
Privilege Name Global Message Description Setsthegloballogonmessage. UserinterfaceelementSessionstab, Administration>EditMessageofthe Day Forceslogoffofoneormoreloggedon users. UserinterfaceelementSessionstab VConly Rootfolder Rootfolder Affects VConly Pair with Object Rootfolder Effective on Object Rootfolder

Terminate Session

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Appendix A Defined Privileges

Virtual Machine Configuration

Table A-15. Virtual Machine Privileges
Privilege Name AddExisting Disk Description Addsavirtualdiskthatreferstoan existingvirtualdisk. UserinterfaceelementVM Configuration AddNewDisk Addsavirtualdiskthatcreatesanew virtualdisk. UserinterfaceelementVM Configuration Addor Remove Device Advanced Addsorremovesanynondiskdevice. UserinterfaceelementVM Configuration ChangesvaluesinextraConfig. UserinterfaceelementVM ConfigurationWizard>Optionstab> AdvancedlookforConfiguration Parametersbutton ChangeCPU Count DiskLease ChangesthenumberofvirtualCPUs. UserinterfaceelementVM Configuration LeasesdisksforVMwareConsolidated Backup. NouserVIClientinterfaceelementsare associatedwiththisprivilege. Memory Changestheamountofmemory allocatedtotheVM. UserinterfaceelementVM Configuration>Memory ModifyDevice Settings Changesthepropertiesofanexisting device. UserinterfaceelementVM ConfigurationSCSI/IDEnode selection RawDevice1 Addsorremovesarawdiskmapping orSCSIpassthroughdevice. UserinterfaceelementVM Configuration>Add/Removerawdisk mapping HCandVC Virtual machines Virtual machines HCandVC Virtual machines Virtual machines HCandVC Virtual machines Virtual machines HCandVC HCandVC HCandVC HCandVC Virtual machines Virtual machines Virtual machines Virtual machines HCandVC Virtual machines Virtual machines Affects HCandVC Pair with Object Virtual machines Effective on Object Virtual machines

Virtual machines Virtual machines

Virtual machines Virtual machines

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Table A-15. Virtual Machine Privileges (Continued)

Privilege Name RemoveDisk Description Removesavirtualdiskdevice. UserinterfaceelementVM Configuration>HardDisk(butnota rawdiskmapping) Rename Renamesavirtualmachineormodifies theassociatednotesofavirtual machine. UserinterfaceelementVM Configuration,inventory,inventory popupmenu,Filemenu,Inventory menu ResetGuest Information Resource Settings Clearsguestinfovariables. NouserVIClientinterfaceelementsare associatedwiththisprivilege. Changesresourceconfigurationofaset ofVMnodesinagivenresourcepool. ChangesgeneralVMsettings. UserinterfaceelementVM Configuration>Optionstab(exceptVM name) Upgrade Virtual Hardware Upgradesthevirtualmachinesvirtual hardwareversionfromaprevious versionofVMware. UserinterfaceelementPopupmenu, Filemenu(appearsonlyifvmxfile showsalowerconfigurationnumber)
1

Affects HCandVC

Pair with Object Virtual machines

Effective on Object Virtual machines

HCandVC

Virtual machines

Virtual machines

HCandVC

Virtual machines Virtual machines Virtual machines

Virtual machines Virtual machines Virtual machines

HCandVC HCandVC

HCandVC

Virtual machines

Virtual machines

Settingthisparameteroverridesanyotherprivilegeformodifyingrawdevices,includingconnection states.

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Appendix A Defined Privileges

Virtual Machine Interaction

Table A-16. Virtual Machine Interaction
Privilege Name Answer Question Description ResolvesissueswithVMstate transitionsorruntimeerrors. UserinterfaceelementSummarytab, Inventorymenu,popupmenu Console Interaction Interactswiththevirtualmachines virtualmouse,keyboard,andscreen; getsscreenshotinformation. UserinterfaceelementConsoletab, toolbarbutton,Inventory>Virtual Machine>OpenConsole,inventory popupmenu Device Connection Changestheconnectedstateofavirtual machinesdisconnectablevirtual devices. UserinterfaceelementVM Configuration PowerOff Powersoffapoweredonvirtual machine,shutsdownguest. UserinterfaceelementFilemenu item,popupmenu,popupconsole menu,toolbarbutton,Summarytab PowerOn Powersonapoweredoffvirtual machine,resumesasuspendedvirtual machine. UserinterfaceelementFilemenu item,popupmenu,popupconsole menu,toolbarbutton,Summarytab Reset ResetsVM,rebootsguest. UserinterfaceelementFilemenu item,popupmenu,popupconsole menu,toolbarbutton,Summarytab SetCDMedia ChangesthebackingofaCDROM device. UserinterfaceelementVM Configuration>DVD/CDROM SetFloppy Media Changesthebackingofafloppydevice. UserinterfaceelementVM Configuration HCandVC Virtual machines Virtual machines HCandVC HCandVC Virtual machines Virtual machines HCandVC Virtual machines Virtual machines HCandVC Virtual machines Virtual machines HCandVC Virtual machines Virtual machines HCandVC Virtual machines Virtual machines Affects HCandVC Pair with Object Virtual machines Effective on Object Virtual machines

Virtual machines

Virtual machines

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Table A-16. Virtual Machine Interaction (Continued)

Privilege Name Suspend Description Suspendsapoweredonvirtual machine,putsguestinstandbymode. UserinterfaceelementFilemenu item,popupmenu,popupconsole menu,toolbarbutton,Summarytab ToolsInstall MountsandunmountstheVMware ToolsCDinstallerasaCDROMforthe guestoperatingsystem. UserinterfaceelementFilemenu item,popupmenu,popupconsole menu HCandVC Virtual machines Virtual machines Affects HCandVC Pair with Object Virtual machines Effective on Object Virtual machines

Virtual Machine Inventory

Table A-17. Virtual Machine Inventory Privileges
Privilege Name Create Description Createsanewvirtualmachineand allocatesresourcesforitsexecution. UserinterfaceelementFilemenu, popupmenu,SummarytabNew VirtualMachinelinks Delete Deletesavirtualmachine,optionally removesunderlyingfilesfromdisk. UserinterfaceelementFilemenu, popupmenu,Summarytab Move Relocatesavirtualmachineinthe hierarchy. Privilegemustbepresentatboththe sourceanddestination. UserinterfaceelementInventory hierarchydraganddropinVirtual Machines&Templatesview VConly HCandVC Virtual machines plusparent folders Virtual machines, parent folders Affects HCandVC Pair with Object Parent folders Effective on Object Virtual machine folders

Virtual machines

Virtual machines, virtual machine folders

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Appendix A Defined Privileges

Virtual Machine Provisioning

Table A-18. Virtual Machine Provisioning Privileges
Privilege Name AllowDisk Access Description Opensadiskonavirtualmachinefor [Link] mostlyforremotediskmounting. NouserVIClientinterfaceelementsare associatedwiththisprivilege. AllowReadOnly DiskAccess Opensadiskonavirtualmachinefor [Link] remotediskmounting. NouserVIClientinterfaceelementsare associatedwiththisprivilege. AllowVirtual MachineFiles Download Readsfilesassociatedwithavirtual machine,includingvmx,disks,logs, andnvram. NouserVIClientinterfaceelementsare associatedwiththisprivilege. AllowVirtual MachineFiles Upload Writesfilesassociatedwithavirtual machine,includingvmx,disks,logs, andnvram. NouserVIClientinterfaceelementsare associatedwiththisprivilege. Clone Clonesanexistingvirtualmachineand allocatesresources. UserinterfaceelementFilemenu, popupmenu,Summarytab CloneTemplate Clonesatemplate. UserinterfaceelementFilemenu, popupmenu,VirtualMachinestab CreateTemplate FromVirtual Machine Createsanewtemplatefromavirtual machine. UserinterfaceelementCloneto template...Filemenu,popupmenu, Summarytabitems Customizesavirtualmachinesguest operatingsystemwithoutmovingthe VM. UserinterfaceelementCloneVirtual MachineWizard:GuestCustomization VConly Virtual machines Virtual machines VConly VConly Virtual machines Virtual machines Virtual machines Virtual machines VConly Virtual machines Virtual machines HCand VC Virtual machines Rootfolders HCand VC Virtual machines Rootfolders n/a Virtual machines Virtual machines Affects n/a Pair with Object Virtual machines Effective on Object Virtual machines

Customize

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Table A-18. Virtual Machine Provisioning Privileges (Continued)

Privilege Name DeployTemplate Description Createsanewvirtualmachinefroma template. UserinterfaceelementDeployto templatefilemenu,popupmenu items,VirtualMachinestab MarkAs Template Marksanexisting,poweredoffVMasa template. UserinterfaceelementConvertto template...Filemenu,popupmenu items,VirtualMachinestab,Summary tab MarkAsVirtual Machine MarksanexistingtemplateasaVM. UserinterfaceelementConvertto VirtualMachine...Filemenu,popup menuitems,VirtualMachinestab Creates,modifies,ordeletes customizationspecifications. Userinterfaceelement CustomizationSpecificationsManager Viewsthecustomizationspecifications definedonthesystem. UserinterfaceelementEdit> CustomizationSpecifications VConly Rootfolder Rootfolder VConly VConly Virtual machines Virtual machines VConly Virtual machines Virtual machines Affects VConly Pair with Object Virtual machines Effective on Object Virtual machines

Modify Customization Specs Read Customization Specs

Rootfolder

Rootfolder

Virtual Machine State

Table A-19. Virtual Machine State Privileges
Privilege Name Create Snapshot Description Createsanewsnapshotfromthevirtual machinescurrentstate. UserinterfaceelementPopupmenu, toolbarbutton,Inventorymenu Remove Snapshot Removesasnapshotfromthesnapshot history. UserinterfaceelementPopupmenu, toolbarbutton,Inventorymenu HCandVC Virtual machines Virtual machines Affects HCandVC Pair with Object Virtual machines Effective on Object Virtual machines

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Appendix A Defined Privileges

Table A-19. Virtual Machine State Privileges (Continued)

Privilege Name Rename Snapshot Description Renamesthissnapshotwitheithera newnameoranewdescriptionorboth. NouserVIClientinterfaceelementsare associatedwiththisprivilege. RevertTo Snapshot SetstheVMtothestateitwasinata givensnapshot. UserinterfaceelementPopupmenu, toolbarbutton,Inventorymenu,Virtual Machinestab HCandVC Virtual machines Virtual machines Affects HCandVC Pair with Object Virtual machines Effective on Object Virtual machines

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Installing the Microsoft Sysprep Tools

IfyouplantocustomizeaWindowsguestoperatingsystem,youmustfirstinstallthe MicrosoftSyspreptoolsonyourVirtualCenterServermachine. MicrosoftincludestheSyspreptoolsetontheinstallationCDROMdiscsforWindows 2000,WindowsXP,andWindows2003.ItalsodistributesSysprep1.1fromthe [Link],youmustinstalltheSysprep toolseitherfromyourinstallationdisc,orfromthe1.1downloadpackage. Duringcustomization,VirtualCentersearchesfortheSyspreppackagecorresponding [Link] correspondingoperatingsystemdirectory,VirtualCentersearchesintheprovided \[Link],theWindowsvirtual machinecustomizationdoesnotproceed. To install the Microsoft Sysprep tools from a Microsoft Web site download 1 DownloadtheSyspreppackagefrom: [Link] AlthoughtheSysprepversionindicatesWindows2000,itworkswithboth WindowsXPProfessionalandWindowsServer2003. 2 3 4 5 6 ClickNexttocontinue. ClickIagreetoacceptthetermsandconditions. ClickDownload. Savethefiletoyourlocaldisk. RuntheMicrosoftinstaller:

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Q257813_w2k_spl_x86_en.exe

Extractthefilestotheprovideddirectory. ThefollowingSysprepsupportdirectorieswerecreatedduringVirtualCenter installation:

C:\<ALLUSERSPROFILE>\Application Data\Vmware\VMware VirtualCenter\sysprep ...\1.1\ ...\2k\ ...\xp\ ...\svr2003\ where <ALLUSERSPROFILE> is usually \Documents And Settings\All Users\. This is where [Link] is also located.

Selectthe1.1subdirectory. 8 ClickOKtoexpandthefiles. AfteryouhaveextractedthefilesfromQ257813_w2k_spl_x86_en.exetothe \1.1directory,youshouldsee:

...\1.1\docs\ ...\1.1\samples\ ...\1.1\tools\ ...\1.1\[Link]

To install the Microsoft Sysprep tools from the Windows operating system CD 1 2 3 4 InserttheWindowsoperatingsystemCDintotheCDROMdrive(oftentheD: drive. [Link],\Support\Tools. [Link],[Link] toolcapableofreadingMicrosoftCABfiles. ExtractthefilestothedirectoryappropriatetoyourSysprepguestoperating system. ThefollowingSysprepsupportdirectorieswerecreatedduringVirtualCenter installation:
C:\<ALLUSERSPROFILE>\Application Data\Vmware\VMware VirtualCenter\sysprep ...\1.1\ ...\2k\ ...\xp\ ...\svr2003\

where<ALLUSERSPROFILE>isusually\Documents And Settings\All Users\. [Link].

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Appendix B Installing the Microsoft Sysprep Tools

Selectthesubdirectorythatcorrespondstoyouroperatingsystem. 5 ClickOKtoexpandthefiles. [Link],youshouldsee:

...\<guest>\[Link] ...\<guest>\[Link] ...\<guest>\[Link] ...\<guest>\[Link] ...\<guest>\[Link] ...\<guest>\[Link] ...\<guest>\[Link]

where<guest>iseither2k,xp,orsvr2003. 6 RepeatthisproceduretoextractSysprepfilesforeachoftheWindowsguest operatingsystems(Windows2000,WindowsXP,orWindows2003)youplanto customizeusingVirtualCenter.

YouarenowreadytocustomizeanewvirtualmachinewithasupportedWindows guestoperatingsystemwhenyoucloneanexistingvirtualmachine.

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Performance Chart Measurements

Thefollowingtableliststhemeasurementoptionsforeachresourcemonitoredona [Link] HostClient,astandaloneESXServer.

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CPU
Table C-1. CPU Performance Chart
Inventory Cluster R Pool VM Host Name Resource Item Measured

CPUPerformanceChart VCH VC VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH CPUusageaspercentageoverthecollected interval CPUusageinMHzoverthecollected interval CPUreservedcapacity CPUtimespentonwaitstate CPUtimespentonreadystate CPUtimespentonsystemprocesses CPUtimethatisextra CPUtimethatisguaranteed

Disk
Table C-2. Disk Performance Chart
Inventory Object Cluster R Pool VM Host Name Resource Item Measured

DiskPerformanceChart VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH Amountofdatareadfromthediskinthe period Amountofdatawrittentothediskinthe period Aggregatedstorageperformancestatistics Numberofdiskwritesintheperiod Numberofdiskreadsintheperiod ResourceGroupCPUsamplecount ResourceGroupCPUschedulinglimitover oneminute ResourceGroupCPUschedulinglimitover 5minutes

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Appendix C Performance Chart Measurements

Table C-2. Disk Performance Chart (Continued)

Inventory Object Cluster R Pool VM VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH Host VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH Name Resource Item Measured ResourceGroupCPUschedulinglimitover 15minutes ResourceGroupCPUrunningpeakover1 minute ResourceGroupCPUrunningpeakover5 minutes ResourceGroupCPUrunningpeakover15 minutes ResourceGroupCPUrunningaverageover 1minute ResourceGroupCPUrunningaverageover 5minutes ResourceGroupCPUrunningaverageover 15minutes ResourceGroupCPUactivepeakover1 minute ResourceGroupCPUactivepeakover5 minutes ResourceGroupCPUactivepeakover15 minutes ResourceGroupCPUactiveaverageover1 minute ResourceGroupCPUactiveaverageover5 minutes ResourceGroupCPUactiveaverageover15 minutes

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DRS
Table C-3. DRS Performance Chart
Inventory Object Cluster R Pool VM Host Name DRS VC VC VC DRSeffectiveCPUresourcesavailable DRSeffectivememoryresourcesavailable DRSnumberoffailuresthatcanbetolerated Resource Item Measured

Memory
Table C-4. Memory Performance Chart
Inventory Object Cluster R Pool VM Host Name Resource Item Measured

MemoryPerformanceChart VC VC VC VC VC VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VC VC VCH VCH VC VC VC VC VC VC VC VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH Memoryusageaspercentageoftotal availablememory Memoryzero Memorystate Freespaceinmemoryheap Memoryreservedcapacity Amountofmemorygranted Amountofmemoryusedbymemory control Amountofmemorythatcanbeusedby memorycontrol Amountofmemorythatisunreserved Amountofmemorythatisunreservedby swap Amountofmemorythatisactivelyused Amountofmemorythatisshared Amountofmemorythatisusedbyswap Amountofmemorythatcanbeswapped

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Appendix C Performance Chart Measurements

Table C-4. Memory Performance Chart (Continued)

Inventory Object Cluster R Pool VCH VC VC VC VC VCH VM VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH Host Name Resource Item Measured Amountofmemorythatisswapped Amountofmemorythatisswappedin Amountofmemorythatisswappedout Amountofmemorythatisanoverhead Amountofmemorythatisallocatedforheap Amountofmemorythatissharedby common

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Network
Table C-5. Network Performance Chart
Inventory Object Cluster R Pool VM Host Name Resource Item Measured

NetworkPerformanceChart VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH Aggregatednetworkperformancestatistics Amountofdatareceivedintheperiod Amountofdatatransmittedintheperiod Numberofpacketstransmittedintheperiod Numberofpacketsreceivedintheperiod

Resource Group
Table C-6. Resource Group Performance Chart
Inventory Object Cluster R Pool VM Host Name Resource Item Measured

ResourceGroupCPUPerformanceChart VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH ResourceGroupCPUsampleperiod ResourceGroupCPUsamplecount ResourceGroupCPUschedulinglimitover oneminute ResourceGroupCPUschedulinglimitover 5minutes ResourceGroupCPUschedulinglimitover 15minutes ResourceGroupCPUrunningpeakover1 minute ResourceGroupCPUrunningpeakover5 minutes ResourceGroupCPUrunningpeakover15 minutes ResourceGroupCPUrunningaverageover 1minute

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Appendix C Performance Chart Measurements

Table C-6. Resource Group Performance Chart

Inventory Object Cluster R Pool VM VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH Host VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH VCH Name Resource Item Measured ResourceGroupCPUrunningaverageover 5minutes ResourceGroupCPUrunningaverageover 15minutes ResourceGroupCPUactivepeakover1 minute ResourceGroupCPUactivepeakover5 minutes ResourceGroupCPUactivepeakover15 minutes ResourceGroupCPUactiveaverageover1 minute ResourceGroupCPUactiveaverageover5 minutes ResourceGroupCPUactiveaverageover15 minutes

System
Table C-7. System Performance Chart
Inventory Object Cluster R Pool VM Host Name Resource Item Measured

SystemPerformanceChart VCH VCH VCH VCH Numberofsecondssincestartup Numberofheartbeatsinthisperiod ResourceCPUusage

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Index

A
access permissions 262 rules 248 access permissions assigning 263 changing 267 removing 268 active sessions 73 sending messages 73 terminating 73 adding DVD/CD-ROMs 183 existing virtual machines 150 floppy devices 183 hosts 101 inventory objects 96 parallel port 183 serial port 181, 182 virtual machines 150 advanced configuration hosts 110 alarms 24, 309 creating 314 editing 320 email notification 309 preparing SMTP notification 311 preparing SNMP notification 312 removing 321 tab 49

assigning access permissions 263 audio configuring 180 automating upgrades VMware Tools 138

B
BusLogic SCSI adapter in virtual machine 126

C
canceling scheduled task 301 changing access permissions 267 CPU configuration 169 Ethernet adapter 165 floppy drive 162 memory 165 parallel port 166 port number 69 SCSI controllers 166 SCSI device 163 serial port 168 virtual disk 164 virtual machine power states 141 charts performance 270 cloning existing templates 206

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existing virtual machines 215 roles 259 virtual machines to a template 205 clusters 23 removing hosts 106 shared storage 234 collecting log files 87 commands service console 38 configuring audio 180 communication through a firewall 68 hosts 62 SMTP 311 SNMP 74 virtual machine hardware 160 virtual machines 159 VirtualCenter Server port 69 connecting hosts 104 Console tab 49 CPU advanced settings 176 changing 169 compatibility 238 configuration 169 CPUs monitoring with SNMP 77 creating alarms 314 roles 257 templates 204 virtual machines 114 custom virtual machines 121

D
datacenters 23 datastores 23 deleting exiting template 212 DHCP 38 disconnecting hosts 104 disk resources 179 disks independent 225 monitoring with SNMP 77 DVD/CD-ROMs adding 183 changing 161

E
editing alarms 320 maps 280 roles 260 templates 208 email notification option 311, 312 notification type 309 ESX Server rebooting 32 ESX Server commands viewing 65 Ethernet adapter changing 165 events 24, 306 exporting 86, 307 navigation bar 49 tab 49 viewing messages 303

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Index

viewing selected 305 exporting events 86, 307 maps 285

removing from clusters 106 removing from VirtualCenter 108 states 101 tab 49

F
firewall configuring communication 68 floppy devices adding 183 floppy drive changing 162 folders 23

I
image files ISO 162 independent disks 225 installing guest operating system 132 VMware Tools 133 inventory maps 277 navigation bar 49 tabs overview 49 VirtualCenter 24 inventory objects adding 96 moving 97 removing 98 ISO image files 162

G
global maps 277 graphs viewing 273 groups 248, 253 guest operating system installing 132

H
hardware new 181 virtual machines 160 heartbeat monitoring with SNMP 78 host network configuration viewing 64 hosts 22 about 99 adding 101 advanced configuration 110 automatically reconnecting 106 configuring 62 connecting 104 disconnecting 104
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K
knowledge base accessing 13

L
license server 20 log files collecting 87 logging off VI Client 36 VI Web Access 36 logging on VI Client 35 VI Web Access 36 logs 25
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LSI Logic SCSI adapter in virtual machine 126

maps 286 navigation bar overview 47 network monitoring with SNMP 78 network requirements VMotion 236 networks 23 notification alarm options 309 run script option 310 SNMP trap 310 notification option email 311 power off virtual machine 311 reset virtual machine 311 SMTP 311 SNMP 312 suspend virtual machine 311

M
man pages service console 38 managed hosts removing 109 managing scheduled tasks 293 tasks 289 virtual machines 141 mapping SAN LUN 130 maps 24, 276 editing 280 elements 279 exporting 285 global 277 inventory 277 navigating 286 printing 284 viewing 280 VMotion resources 277 memory changing 165 monitoring with SNMP 77 resources 178 migration 232 wizard 239 monitoring VI environment 269 moving inventory objects 97

O
options virtual machines 170

P
parallel port adding 183 changing 166 parent snapshot 228 parent snapshots 228 percentage alarm types 309 performance charts 270 tab 49 performance charts resources 270

N
navigating

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Index

viewing 271 permissions 248, 254 access 262 settings 249 tab 49 port configuration VirtualCenter Server 69 Web connection 69 power off notification option 311 toolbar 143 power on toolbar 143 power states transitional 144 virtual machines 141, 146 preparing SMTP notification 311 SNMP notification 312 printing maps 284 privileges 248 properties VMware Tools 135

virtual machines 150 requirements VMotion 234 rescheduling scheduled tasks 300 reset notification option 311 toolbar 143 resource disk 179 resource pools 22 resource settings virtual machines 175 resources CPU 175 memory 178 performance charts 270 restarting VirtualCenter 34 restoring snapshots 227 resume virtual machines 145 reverting snapshots 229 roles 248, 254 cloning 259 creating 257 default 255 editing 260 removing 261 renaming 262 rules access 248

R
rebooting ESX Server 32 removing access permissions 268 alarms 321 hosts from VirtualCenter 108 inventory objects 98 managed hosts 109 roles 261 scheduled task 300 scheduled tasks 300

S
SAN LUN

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mapping 130 scheduled task about 24 removing 300 rescheduling 300 scheduled tasks canceling 301 clone virtual machine 218 managing 293 overview 290 removing 300 rescheduling 300 scheduling power states 146 script notification option 310 SCSI controllers changing 166 security viewing configuration 64 serial port adding 181, 182 changing 168 service console 37 commands 38 connecting 38 DHCP 38 man pages 38 using DHCP 38 SMTP notification option 311, 312 snapshots changing disk mode 225 parent 228 restoring 227 reverting 229 snapshot manager 226
362

taking 223 understanding 221 SNMP and VMware Tools 79 configuring 74 location of the VMware sub-tree 77 notification option 310 software components datastore 19 ESX Server 19 host agent 20 license server 20 VirtualCenter agent 20 VirtualCenter database 19 VirtualCenter Server 19 sorting 306 event messages 306 starting VI Client 35 VirtualCenter 33 states alarm type 309 statistics collection level 276 setting collection intervals 274 stopping VI Client 36 VirtualCenter 33 VirtualCenter Server 34 storage information viewing 64 Summary tab 49 suspend notification option 311 toolbar 143 virtual machines 145

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Index

T
tabs Admin tab 49 Summary 49 tasks 24 canceling 301 managing 289 navigation bar 49 viewing 290 templates 22 converting to a virtual machine 211 creating 204 deploying virtual machines 209 editing 208 navigation bar 49 terminating active sessions 73 toolbar power off 143 power on 143 reset 143 suspend 143

logging off 36 logging on 36 viewing ESX Server commands 65 event messages 303 graphs 273 host network configuration 64 maps 280 performance charts 271 storage information 64 tasks 290 VirtualCenter events 305 virtual machine logs 85 wizard 114 virtual machine name 116, 122 virtual machines adding 150 adding existing 150 advanced settings 172 cloning 215 configuring 159 creating custom 121 deploying from templates 209 managing 141 manually powering on and off 144 monitoring with SNMP 78 options 170 power states 141 properties editor 159 removing 150 resource settings 175 resume 145 returning 152 scheduling power states 146 shutdown 155 logging off 36 logging on 35 starting 35

U
Upgrading VMware Tools 134 user groups accessing 14 users 251

V
VI Client 34

stopping 36 VI Web Access 21, 36

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startup 155 suspend 145 tab 49 viewing configuration 71 Virtual SCSI adapter, BusLogic or LSI Logic 126 VirtualCenter inventory 24 restarting 34 starting 33 stopping 33 VirtualCenter Server stopping 34 viewing configuration 66 VMotion 21, 232, 233 compatibility 237 CPU requirements 234 network best practices 237 network requirements 236 Nx/XD considerations 235 requirements 234 resource maps 277 shared storage requirements 234 SSE3 considerations 235 VMware Authorization Service log 88 VMware community forums accessing 13 VMware DRS 22 VMware High Availability (HA) 21 VMware SDK 22 VMware Service Console 21 VMware Tools About tab 138 and SNMP 79 automating upgrades 138 Devices tab 136
364

installing 133 Options tab 135 properties 135 Scripts tab 136 upgrading 134

W
Web connection port configuration 69

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Updates for Basic System Administration

LastUpdated:February12,2010 ThisdocumentprovidesyouwithupdatestoESXServer3.0.1andVirtualCenter2.0.1 [Link],procedures,andgraphics areorganizedbypagenumbersoyoucaneasilylocatetheareasoftheguidethathave [Link],thisdocumentprovidesthe startingpagenumberonly. ThefollowingisalistofBasicSystemAdministrationpageupdatesinthisdocument:

UpdatesfortheConfiguringSNMPTrapDestinationsProcedureonPage 80 UpdatesfortheCreatingCustomVirtualMachinesProcedureonPage 127 UpdatesfortheInstallingandUpgradingVMwareToolsProcedureonPage 134 UpdatesfortheSchedulingaPowerStateChangeforaVirtualMachine ProcedureonPage 149 UpdatesfortheStartingandShuttingDownVirtualMachinesProcedureon Page 157 UpdatesfortheChangingtheAudioConfigurationonPage 180 AdditionoftheCustomizingaLinuxGuestOperatingSystemProcedureon Page 189 UpdatesforthePreparingforGuestCustomizationDiscussiononPage 190 UpdatesfortheCreatinganAlarmProcedureonPage 319

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Updates for Basic System Administration

Updates for the Configuring SNMP Trap Destinations Procedure on Page 80

TheprocedureConfiguringSNMPTrapDestinationsonpage [Link] correctprocedurefollows. To enable and disable traps 1 [Link]. Theconfigurationparametersnmp/generateTrapsinthe /etc/vmware/hostd/[Link] default,atrapisgenerated. 2 Todisabletraps,addthefollowingentrytothefile:
<plugins> <snmpsvc><generateTraps>false</generateTraps></snmpsvc> </plugins>

3 4

Toreenabletraps,removetheentryfromthefile. Restartvmware-hostdtoseethechangetakeeffect.

Updates for the Creating Custom Virtual Machines Procedure on Page 127
Step 19showsanincorrectscreenshotfortheVirtualDiskCapacitypageoftheNew [Link]:

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Updates for Basic System Administration

Updates for the Installing and Upgrading VMware Tools Procedure on Page 134
TheprocedureToinstallorupgradeVMwareTools(SEEUPDATE)describesinstalling [Link] forthisprocedureshouldreadToinstallorupgradeVMwareToolsonaWindows guestoperatingsystem. ThissectionofthemanualomittedproceduresforinstallingandupgradingVMware ToolsonLinux,Solaris,[Link] follow. To install or upgrade VMware Tools on a Linux guest operating system from X with the RPM installer 1 2 3 Openaconsoletothevirtualmachine. Poweronthevirtualmachine. Aftertheguestoperatingsystemstarts,rightclickthevirtualmachineandchoose InstallVMwareTools. Theremainingstepstakeplaceinsidethevirtualmachine. 4 Dooneofthefollowing:

IfyouseeaVMwareToolsCDicononthedesktop,doubleclickit,andafter itopens,doubleclicktheRPMinstallerintherootoftheCDROM. Ifyouseeafilemanagerwindow,doubleclicktheRPMinstallerfile.

InsomeLinuxdistributions,[Link] thiscase,continuetoinstallVMwareToolsfromthecommandline. 5 Whenprompted,entertherootpasswordandclickOK. Theinstallerpreparesthepackages. 6 ClickContinuewhentheinstallerpresentsadialogboxthatshowsCompleted SystemPreparation. [Link],VMware [Link]. 7 InanXterminal,asroot(su -),runthefollowingfiletoconfigureVMwareTools:
[Link]

[Link].

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Updates for Basic System Administration

Exitfromtherootaccount:
exit

InanXterminal,opentheVMwareToolsPropertiesdialogbox:
vmware-toolbox &

To install or upgrade VMware Tools on a Linux guest operating system with the tar installer or RPM installer 1 Ifyouhaveapreviousinstallation,deletethepreviousvmware-tools-distrib [Link]: /tmp/vmware-tools-distrib 2 3 4 Openaconsoletothevirtualmachine. Poweronthevirtualmachine. Aftertheguestoperatingsystemstarts,rightclickthevirtualmachineandchoose InstallVMwareTools. Theremainingstepstakeplaceinsidethevirtualmachine. 5 Asroot(su -),mounttheVMwareToolsvirtualCDROMimageandchangetoa workingdirectory(forexample,/tmp),asfollows. [Link] usesautomounting,donotusethemountandumountcommandsdescribedinthis [Link]/tmp. SomeLinuxdistributionsusedifferentdevicenamesororganizethe/dev [Link] thatyourdistributionuses:
mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom cd /tmp

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Updates for Basic System Administration

UncompresstheinstallerandunmounttheCDROMimage. DependingonwhetheryouareusingthetarinstallerortheRPMinstaller,doone ofthefollowing:

Forthetarinstaller,atthecommandprompt,enter:
tar zxpf /mnt/cdrom/VMwareTools-5.0.0-<xxxx>.[Link] umount /dev/cdrom

where <xxxx> isthebuildorrevisionnumberoftherelease.

FortheRPMinstaller,atthecommandprompt,enter:
rpm -Uhv /mnt/cdrom/VMwareTools-5.0.0-<xxxx>.[Link] umount /dev/cdrom

where <xxxx> isthebuildorrevisionnumberoftherelease. Ifyouattempttoinstallanrpminstallationoveratarinstallation,orthe reverse,theinstallerdetectsthepreviousinstallationandmustconvertthe installerdatabaseformatbeforecontinuing. 7 Dooneofthefollowing:

Forthetarinstaller,runtheVMwareToolstarinstaller:
cd vmware-tools-distrib ./[Link]

[Link].

FortheRPMinstaller,configureVMwareTools:
[Link]

[Link]. 8 Logofffromtherootaccount.
exit

9 10

Startyourgraphicalenvironment. InanXterminalwindow,opentheVMwareToolsPropertiesdialogbox:
vmware-toolbox &

To install or upgrade VMware Tools on a Solaris guest operating system 1 2 Openaconsoletothevirtualmachine. Poweronthevirtualmachine.

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Updates for Basic System Administration

Aftertheguestoperatingsystemstarts,rightclickthevirtualmachineandchoose InstallVMwareTools. Theremainingstepstakeplaceinsidethevirtualmachine.

Loginasroot(su -)and,ifnecessary,mounttheVMwareToolsvirtualCDROM image,asfollows. Usually,theSolarisvolumemanager(vold)mountstheCDROMin /cdrom/[Link],restartthevolume managerbyusingthefollowingcommands:

/etc/init.d/volmgt stop /etc/init.d/volmgt start

AftertheCDROMismounted,changetoaworkingdirectory(forexample,/tmp) andextractVMwareTools,asfollows:
cd /tmp gunzip -c /cdrom/vmwaretools/[Link] | tar xf -

RuntheVMwareToolstarinstaller:
cd vmware-tools-distrib ./[Link]

[Link]. 7 Logofffromtherootaccount.
exit

8 9

Startyourgraphicalenvironment. InanXterminalwindow,opentheVMwareToolsPropertiesdialogbox:
vmware-toolbox &

To install VMware Tools on a NetWare virtual machine 1 2 3 Openaconsoletothevirtualmachine. Poweronthevirtualmachine. Aftertheguestoperatingsystemstarts,rightclickthevirtualmachineandchoose InstallVMwareTools. Theremainingstepstakeplaceinsidethevirtualmachine.

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LoadtheCDROMdriversothattheCDROMdevicemountstheISOimageasa volume. Dooneofthefollowing:

OnthesystemconsoleforaNetWare6.5virtualmachine,enter:
LOAD CDDVD

OnthesystemconsoleforaNetWare6.0orNetWare5.1virtualmachine, enter:
LOAD [Link]

Whenthedriverfinishesloading,youcanbegininstallingVMwareTools,as describedinStep 5. 5 Onthesystemconsole,enterthefollowingcommand:

vmwtools:\[Link]

Whentheinstallationfinishes,themessageVMware Tools for NetWare are now runningappearsintheloggerscreen(NetWare6.5andNetWare6.0guests)orthe consolescreen(NetWare5.1guests).

Updates for the Scheduling a Power State Change for a Virtual Machine Procedure on Page 149
Step 11incorrectlydescribeswhenVirtualCenterverifiesuserpermissionsfora [Link]: 11 ClickFinish. VirtualInfrastructureClientaddsthenewtasktothescheduledtasklistand [Link], VirtualCenterverifiesthatyouhavethecorrectpermissionstoperformtheactions ontherelevantdatacenters,hosts,[Link], thetaskisperformedevenifyounolongerhavepermissiontoperformthetask.

Updates for the Starting and Shutting Down Virtual Machines Procedure on Page 157
Step 9doesnotclearlyindicatehowtoenableautomaticstartuporshutdownof [Link]: VirtualmachineslistedunderManualStartupdonotautomaticallystartuporshut [Link],youmustmove itsothatitislistedundereitherAutomaticStartuporAnyOrder.
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Inaddition,tohavethevirtualmachinesgracefullyshutdownwhentheserveris halted,dothefollowing: a b c d SelectthevirtualmachineandclickEdit. IntheShutdownSettingsgroupbox,selectUseSpecifiedSettings. FromthePerformshutdownactionlistbox,selectGuestShutdown. ClickOK.

Updates for the Changing the Audio Configuration on Page 180

TheinstructionsforChangingtheAudioConfigurationsectioncanbeignoredasthe sectionincorrectlystatesthatESXServersupportsaudiodevices.

Addition of the Customizing a Linux Guest Operating System Procedure on Page 189
TheinstructionsforcustomizingLinuxguestoperatingsystemswereomittedfromthe [Link].

Customizing a Linux Guest Operating System

[Link] GuestCustomizationwizardstartsindirectlyfromtheDeployTemplatewizardor CloneVirtualMachinewizard.

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To customize a Linux guest operating system 1 2 StarttheGuestCustomizationwizard. OntheComputerNamepage,specifytheComputerNameandtheDomainName forthevirtualmachineandclickNext. Thecomputernameisthenamegiventotheparticularinstanceofaguest [Link] [Link],[Link] virtualmachinenamethatwasdeclaredearlierintheDeployTemplatewizardor [Link]:

AssignaspecificnameThenamecancontainalphanumericcharactersand theunderscore(_)andhyphen()[Link](.)or [Link] uniquesothatyoudonotincurconflicts,selectAppendanumericvalueto ensureuniqueness. UsethevirtualmachinesnameThecomputernamethatVirtualCenter createsisidenticaltothenameofthevirtualmachineonwhichtheguest operatingsystemisrunning. RespondtopromptsforanameTheVIClientpopulatestheDeployVirtual Machinewizardwithapromptforthecomputernameafteryoucompleteall thestepsinthewizard. UseacustomapplicationtogenerateanameTheVIClientcallsacustom [Link] selectthisoption,entertheabsolutepathtothecustomapplicationinthe associatedtextfield.

3 4

ToautomaticallyconfigureallnetworkinterfacesfromaDHCPserver,select TypicalsettingsontheNetworkpageandclickNext. IfVirtualCenterconfigurationisnotappropriateforyourenvironment,select CustomsettingsandclickNext.

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SelecttheNICtocustomizeandclickCustomizetomakeadditionalspecifications. TheNetworkPropertiesdialogboxopens. UsetheNetworkPropertiesdialogboxtoperformthesesteps: a OntheGeneraltab,selectwhethertouseDHCPtoobtainanIPaddress [Link] DHCPtoobtainanDNSserveraddressautomaticallyorentertheDNSserver addressesmanually. [Link] GuestCustomizationspage.

b 6

OntheDNSandDomainsettingspage,entertheIPaddressesfortheDNSservers. [Link] enter,[Link],useMoveUpand MoveDowntospecifytheorderinwhichavirtualmachineistousethe connections.

(Optional)OntheSaveSpecificationpage,savethecustomizedoptionsasan .xmlfilebycompletingthesesteps: a b SelectSavethiscustomizationspecificationforlateruse. SpecifythepathandfilenameforthespecificationandclickNext.

[Link]. Later,youcanimportthesepredefinedcustomizedparameterswhendeployinga [Link],saved customizationfilesareuniquetoeachVirtualCenterServerandtoeachversionof [Link] [Link] [Link] VirtualCenter. 8 ClickFinish. VirtualCenterclosestheGuestCustomizationwizardandreturnsyoutothe DeployTemplatewizardorCloneVirtualMachinewizard. 9 ClickFinishtodeploythevirtualmachinefromthetemplateorcreatetheclone.

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Updates for the Preparing for Guest Customization Discussion on Page 190
ThePreparingforGuestCustomization(SEEUPDATE)discussioncontains instructionstoverifythattheguestoperatingsystemmeetstheguestoperatingsystem customizationrequirements,[Link] shouldincludethefollowingadditionalinformation:

Virtual Hardware Requirements for Guest Customization

Guestcustomizationrequiresthatthesourcevirtualmachineusedtocreatetheclone ortemplateshasthefollowing:

VMwareToolsinstalled. Atleastonenetworkinterfacecard(NIC)configured. Whenavirtualmachineisclonedorusedforatemplate,thenewvirtualmachine hasthesamenumberandtypeofNICs,forexample,AMDVLance/PcNetversus [Link] thedeploymentorguestcustomizationprocess.

SCSIdisks. VirtualCentercustomizationoperatesonthediskattachedtothevirtualSCSInode [Link], youmustmakesurethattheguestoperatingsystembeingcustomizedresideson adiskattachedasSCSI0:0nodeinthevirtualmachineconfiguration. ForWindowsguestoperatingsystems:Boththeactivepartition(thepartition [Link])andthesystempartition(thepartitioncontainingthe systemdirectory,forexample,\WINNTor\WINDOWS),areonthesamevirtualdisk andattachedtheSCSI0:0virtualSCSInode. Activeandsystempartitionsarenotrequiredtobethesamepartition. ForLinuxguests:Thevirtualdiskcontainingthesystempartition(thepartition containingthe/etcdirectory)mustresideontheSCSI0:0node.

32bitor64bithardwarecorrespondingtothe32bitor64bitoperatingsystem beinginstalled.

Windows Requirements for Guest Customization

GuestcustomizationofaWindowsguestoperatingsystemcanoccurif:

Theguestoperatingsystemisnotaprimaryorbackupdomaincontroller.

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ThecloneortemplatehasoneofthefollowingWindowsversionsinstalled:

Windows2000Server,AdvancedServer,orProfessional WindowsXPProfessional WindowsServer2003,Web,Standard,orEnterpriseEditions

NOTEWindowsXPHomeorWindowsNT4operatingsystemguest customizationisnotsupported.Guestcustomizationof64bitWindowsoperating systemsisnotsupported.

TheMicrosoftSyspreptoolsareinstalledontheVirtualCenterserver.

ForinformationoninstallingtheMicrosoftSyspreptools,seeInstallingtheMicrosoft SysprepToolsonpage 345. MicrosoftSyspreptoolshavecertainrequirementsandimposecertainrestrictionson [Link],seetheMicrosoftSysprep documentation.

Linux Requirements for Guest Customization

GuestcustomizationofaLinuxguestoperatingsystemcanoccurif:

ThecloneortemplatehasoneofthefollowingLinuxversionsinstalled:

RedHatEnterpriseLinuxAS3.0 RedHatAdvancedServer2.1 SUSELINUXEnterpriseServer8,9,or10

Thecloneortemplatehasarootvolumeformattedwithanext2,ext3,orReiserFS filesystem.

NOTEGuestoperatingsystemcustomizationisnotsupportedforLinuxvirtual machineswithdisksmanagedbyLogicalVolumeManagers.

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Updates for the Creating an Alarm Procedure on Page 319

ThedescriptionofrunningascriptinStep 11liststhefollowingincorrectvariablename entries:

{entityName} {entityObject}

Thecorrectvariablenameentriesareasfollows:

{targetName} {target}

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Update14

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