Managing ESXi - Tools and Techniques

ILTA Webinar Session

Migrating to ESXi:
Managing without the Console

Tools & Techniques for
Managing and
Troubleshooting ESXi

Server Operations and Security Technology
Speaker: Christopher Janoch

February 1, 2011

Migrating to ESXi:
Managing without the Console

Tools & Techniques for
Managing and
Troubleshooting ESXi

Christopher Janoch

Speaker Bio

Christopher Janoch
Sr. Virtualization Engineer at iVision

Contact Info:
Christopher.Janoch@ivison.com
#cjanoch

iVision, Inc. Page 3

VMware’s Big Announcement

VMware vSphere 4.1 and its subsequent update and
patch releases are the last releases to include both ESX
and ESXi hypervisor architectures.

Future major releases of VMware vSphere will include
only the VMware ESXi architecture.

VMware vSphere 4.1 Release Notes – ESX Edition, July 13th, 2010

VMware recommends that customers start
transitioning to the ESXi architecture when deploying
VMware vSphere 4.1

VMware will continue to provide technical support for
VMware ESX according to the VMware vSphere support
policy


ESXi Improvements and Changes

Better Reliability and Security
- ESXi has fewer security vulnerabilities

Tighter Control over the VMkernal
- No arbitrary code or 3rd party agents in core operating system

Lower Development Costs
- Only one version of the platform simplifies development and testing

There is no Service Console
- Management tools and processes have changed
- Learn new systems and procedures *before* migrating systems.

3rd Party Tools must use remote APIs
- Backup Agents, Hardware Monitoring Agents ,Reporting Tools


So Why is the Service Console Missing?


VMware ESX Architecture (Version 3.x)


VMware ESX Architecture (Version 4.x)


VMware ESXi Architecture (Version 4.x)


VMware Management Architecture
Remote CLI

Java SDK

Perl SDK Web Browser

Power CLI

vSphere SDK
VIC Client

Agent-less Common
Interface vSphere Web
Hardware Service API
Monitoring Module API

Console


VMware vSphere API Management

Common Information Model (CIM)
- Agent-less, standards based monitoring of hardware resources
- Output readable by 3rd-Party Management Tools via standard APIs
- VMware and Partner CIM providers for specific hardware devices

vSphere CIM Interface
- Enabled detailed hardware health monitoring
- Integrated physical and virtual visibility on server health
- vCenter alarms alert when hardware failures occur

ESXi OEM Models
- VMware, DELL, & IBM versions
http://www.vmware.com/go/get-free-esxi

- HP Version
http://www.hp.com/go/esxidownload

VMware vSphere API Management

Starting with HP SIM 5.3.2 following is available on
ESXi:
- Network Provider
Ethernet ports information, statistics, port link status and IP and MAC
addresses
- Smart Array Provider
Controller information, storage enclosure and drive cage information,
disk drives and spare drives information
- PCI Provider
PCI device, adapter card and slot information
- Sensor Provider
Temperature Sensors information (for CPU, chassis, Memory),
temperature sensors threshold values and current readings
- Software Inventory
Ethernet adapter driver versions, CIM provider version and Server
Active ROM and redundant ROM versions


So… How do I Manage ESXi?


Management Toolkit
Remote CLI

Java SDK


Power CLI

vSphere SDK
VIC Client

Agent-less Common
Interface vSphere Web
Hardware Service API
Monitoring Module API

Console


Management Toolkit
Remote CLI

Java SDK


Power CLI

VIC Client

Console


Management Toolkit

Virtual Interface Client


VMware vSphere Virtual Interface Client


VMware vSphere Client (VIC)



vCenter Server Login ESXi Server Login


Management Toolkit

ESXi Console



ESXi Console


ESXi Console

Administrative Access
- Administrative Password
- Remote Access Lockdown
- Configure Keyboard

Network Management
- Automatic Configuration (DHCP)
- Manual Configuration (vmk)
- Restart Networking


ESXi Console

Diagnostics
- Test Network Settings
- View System Logs
- Restart Agents

Rescue/Repair
- Restart Management Agents
Menu item to reset all management agents including hostd and vpxa
- Reset System Configuration
Menu item to reset all configuration settings
Fix a misconfigured vNetwork Distributed Switch
Reset all configurations
- Reset Distributed Switch
- Reboot/Power Off

ESXi Console Configuration


Management Toolkit

ESXi Console


Tech Support Mode
ESXi Console


ESXi Console: Tech Support Mode


ESXi Console – Tech Support Mode

A command-line interface for diagnosis and repair
- Enabled but inactive for default installations
- Requires root password to activate
- Can be disabled by setting an advanced kernel parameter
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003677
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1017910

To be used ONLY for diagnosis and repair
- Usually while being guided by VMware Support
- Regular usage strongly discouraged

What is “Busybox”?
- A single executable containing tiny versions of many common UNIX
utilities
- Provides diagnostic tools for any small or embedded system
- Busybox is not an operating system, Linux, or a virtual machine
www.busybox.net

Management Toolkit

ESXi Web Tools

ESXi Console


Tech Support Mode
ESXi Console


VMware Web-Based ESXi Tools


Browser-Based Tools

Troubleshooting a Production Environment
- Browser-based Access of Config Files
https://esxi01.ivision.lab/host

- Browser-based Access of Log Files
https://esxi01.ivision.lab/host/messages

- Browser-based Access of Datastore Files
https://esxi01.ivision.lab/folder


Management Toolkit

Remote CLI
ESXi Web Tools

ESXi Console


Tech Support Mode
ESXi Console


VMware vSphere Remote Command Line


vSphere Remote Command Line (rCLI /
vCLI)


vSphere Remote Command Line (rCLI / vCLI)

rCLI / vCLI Commands

- Host Configuration
NTP, SNMP. Remote SYSLOG, ESX Configuration, Kernel Modules, Local
Users and Security
- Storage Configuration
NAS, SAN, iSCSI, vmkfstools, Storage Pathing, VMFS Volume Management
- Network Configuration
vSwitches (Standard & Distributed), Physical NICs, Vmkernal NICs, DNS
Settings, Routing Tables
- Miscellaneous
Monitoring, File Management, VM Management, Host Backup/Restore &
Update

CLI Community site
http://communities.vmware.com/community/developer/vsphere_cli


vSphere Remote Command Line (rCLI / vCLI)

rCLI/vCLI Commands can be Executed Directly on the ESXi
Host

- vCLI uses API to connect directly to hostd
- Uses local users and roles defined on each individual ESX Server
- Commands do not get logged in vCenter
- Some commands only work this way:
vicfg-snmp, vifs, vicfg-user, vicfg-cfgbackup,
vihostupdate, vmkfstools, esxcli

rCLI/vCLI Commands can also be Executed through vCenter

- vCLI uses vSphere API to connect to vCenter
- Uses global users and roles defined for vCenter
- Commands get logged in vCenter events database
Only commands which actually change state,
not commands which simply query state

Management Toolkit

Remote CLI
ESXi Web Tools

ESXi Console


Perl SDK Toolkit Tech Support Mode
ESXi Console


VMware Perl SDK


VMware vSphere Management Assistant

What is vMA?
- A free CentOS (Linux) based Virtual Appliance that you can
download from VMware and import into your infrastructure.
http://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vima/
http://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vima/vma41/doc/vma_41_guide.pdf
http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-10878

- Allows administrators and developers to run scripts and agents to
manage ESX/ESXi 3.5 Update 2 or later, ESX/ESXi 4.0 and 4.1
and vCenter Server 4.0 and 4.1 systems.

- There is no GUI interface – vMA is a command-line tool designed to
act as a Service Console

- Contains pre-packaged software including
vi-fastpass (VMware Authentication component)
vi-logger (VMware Logging Component)


vMA 4.1 Software includes:

- CentOS release 5.3 64-bit Enterprise Linux
Provides Linux command set functionality
- vSphere CLI 4.1
Commands for managing vSphere from the command line
- vSphere SDK for Perl 4.1
Client‐side Perl framework that provides a scripting interface to the
vSphere API, including utility applications and samples for common tasks.
- SMI‐S
vMA includes the VMware implementation of the CIM profiles compatible
with the Storage Management Initiative Specification (SMI‐S 1.0.2)
- Java JRE version 1.6
Runtime engine for Java‐based applications built with the vSphere Web
Services SDK.
- VMware Tools (current version)
Provides an interface to the hypervisor operating system



Hardware/Software Requirements:
- ESX/ESXi Host that supports 64-bit virtual machines
- Intel Processors with EM64T support with VT enabled
- 512MB available memory
- vSphere Client 4.0 or later for deployment

Installing vMA
1. Use a vSphere Client to connect to a system that is running ESX/ESXi 4.1, ESX/ESXi 4.0, ESX/ESXi 3.5
Update 2 or later, or vCenter Server 4.0.
2. Select File > Deploy OVF Template. Browse, select the OVF, and click Next.
3. Click Next when the download details are displayed, and accept the license agreement.
4. Specify a name for the virtual machine, and a location when prompted.
5. If connected to a vCenter system, select the resource pool for the virtual machine. By default, the
top‐level root resource pool is selected.
6. If prompted, select the datastore to store the virtual machine on and click Next.
7. Select the network mapping (the management network on which vCenter and ESX/ESXi systems to be
managed are located) and click Next.
8. Review the information and click Finish. The wizard deploys the vMA virtual machine.
9. Log in to vMA the first time an configure Network settings and user Passwords.



vSphere SDK for Perl comes bundled with rCLI / vCLI

Contains pre-packaged utilities for ESXi Management:
- hostdiagnostics.pl
Extracts the specified log from the host of the virtual center
- hostops.pl
add, remove, disconnect, reconnect, enter/exit maintenance mode, reboot
- sharesmanager.pl
Displays or modifies shares for memory, cpu, and disk for specified VMs
- snapshotmanager.pl
Captures the state of one or more virtual machines into a snapshot
- viperformance.pl
Retrieves performance counters from a host.

Perl Utility Application Reference
http://www.vmware.com/support/developer/viperltoolkit/viperl40/doc/vsperl_util_index.html


vMA Command Set


Management Toolkit

Remote CLI
ESXi Web Tools

ESXi Console

PowerCLI


ESXi Console


VMware PowerCLI (PowerShell)


VMware vSphere PowerCLI

A command-line and scripting interface that leverages the
Windows PowerShell infrastructure
- Object-oriented functions allows you to manipulate and examine
objects instead of parsing strings, values, and integers
- Cmdlets are simple, intuitive and can be piped into a long chain to
accomplish complex management tasks easily
- Large, extremely active user community that is enhancing our base
implementation with new scripts that are shared on the forum
- As VMware conceives of new features and services in vSphere, we
will simultaneously design a PowerShell interface
- http://vmware.com/go/powercli


Sample Perl Script: List VMs
useVMware::VILib;
Opts::parse();
Opts::validate();
Util::connect();
my$datacenter=“.”
my$datacenter_view=Vim::find_entity_view(view_type=>’Datacenter’,
filer=> { name=>$datacenter });
my$host_views=Vim::find_entity_views(view_type=>’HostSystem’,
begin_entity=>$datacenter_view);
my$counter=1;
print”Hosts found/n”;
foreach (@host_views) {
print”$counter: “ . $_->name . “n”;
$counter++;
}
$counter=1;
print”nVM’s found:n”;
my$vm_views=Vim::find_entity_views(view_type=>’VirtualMachine’,
begin_entity=>$datacenter_view);
foreach (@$vm_views) {
print”$counter: “ . $_->name . “n”;
$counter++;
}
Util::disconnect();

Sample PowerCLI Script: List VMs

Get-VIserver myserver
Get-Vm


PowerShell Requirements

- Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, Server 2003, Server 2008 or later
- .NET Framework 2.0 or later installed (and patched!)

On recent Operating Systems, PowerShell is already
Installed
- 32-bit Systems: Windowssystems32WindowsPowerShellv1.0
- 64-bit Systems: WindowsSysWOW64WindowsPowerShellv1.0

PowerShell can be Downloaded from Microsoft
- http://www.Microsoft.com/Powershell
- Be sure to download the correct build for your version of Windows


VI Toolkit

What is the VI Toolkit?
- The Virtual Infrastructure Toolkit for Windows comes with over 120
cmdlets for Windows PowerShell
- VMware-PowerCLI-4.1.1-332441 Current Version
VI Administration, Deployment Tasks, Maintenance Routines, etc
http://www.vmware.com/developer/
http://www.vmware.com/download/sdk/
http://vmware.com/go/powershell

- 5 MB free space
- VMware Virtual Infrastructure ESX 3.x or later
- PowerShell versions 1.0 or 2.0


VMware vSphere PowerCLI


PowerCLI Command Set


Management Toolkit

Remote CLI
ESXi Web Tools

ESXi Console

PowerCLI


ESXi Console

3rd-Party Tools


3rd-Party Tools and Plug-ins


3rd-Party Tools

Monitoring Tools
- VKernel CapacityVIEW
http://www.vkernel.com/products/capacity-view
CapacityVIEW collects CPU, memory and storage
allocations and utilization levels. It then analyzes
this data to provide you with desktop Capacity
alerts

- Quest vFoglight QuickView
http://vizioncore.com/free/vFoglight-quick-view/
vFoglight QuickView provides essential alerts and
data to help you rapidly detect, diagnose, and
resolve critical issues within the virtual
infrastructure

- Veam Reporter Free Edition
http://www.veeam.com/vmware-esx-reporter-
free.html
Veeam reporter manages enterprise reporting,
change management and capacity planning


3rd-Party Tools

Configuration Tools
- RVTools 3.0
http://robware.net/
A Windows .NET 2.0 application which uses the
VI SDK to display information about your virtual
machines and ESX hosts

- Aligned Vdisk Finder

- Vdisk Waste Finder
http://read.virtualizeplanet.com/
Windows Application to examine VM virtual disk
files to determine alignment and capacity usage


3rd-Party Tools

Communication Tools
- Veeam FastSCP
http://www.veeam.com/vmware-esxi-
fastscp.html
Veeam FastSCP can copy files over 6 times faster
than ther SCP-based tools as it uses full network
capacity. It also features traffic compression and
empty block removal for best file copy
performance.

- WinSCP
http://winscp.net/eng/index.php

- VMX Trilead VM Explorer
http://www.trilead.com/
Trilead VM Explorer is a management tool that
eases management, backup and disaster
recovery tasks in your VMware ESX environment.


So How Do I Choose?


What Tools To Use?

vSphere rCLI
- Can configure “everything” about the ESXi host
- Can download, modify, and upload configuration files

vSphere Perl SDK
- Can script vSphere inventory configurations
Join to vCenter, Join Cluster, etc.
- Can run script flies

vSphere PowerCLI
- Can perform wide range of configuration tasks


What Tools To Use?

Case #1:
- Users that are completely brand new to managing vSphere
- Comfortable with the Windows OS/GUI environment
- Administrators looking for quick and immediate solutions

vSphere Client, 3rd-Party Tools and Tech Support Mode
- These tools are easier to “figure out” the commands as needed
- The vSphere Client provides a familiar GUI environment

- Use PowerCLI for more advanced control and Automation
PowerShell can be used to manage VMware and Microsoft virtualization
solutions


What Tools To Use?

Case #2:
- Users that have worked on the Service Console since the early days
of ESX 2.x, 3.x and 4.0
- Users who are very familiar with the esxcfg-* commands
- Users who have a strong UNIX/Linux background

vMA with vCLI and Perl SDK tool sets
- If you’re more comfortable with UNIX/Linux, then using vMA may
make more sense
- By leveraging these familiar commands and familiar output, it is
much easier to migrate any scripts you may have already created
- vMA are still needed for things like resxtop and logging collection
- Large libraries of Perl scripts are available online for use and
modification


What Tools To Use?

Case #3:
- Enterprise Developers and Application Writers

vSphere SDK for .NET, Java, and Web Services
- Perl and PowerCLI were primarily developed as Scripting
environments
- VMware also supplies SDK libraries for Java and .NET which are
available for download
http://communities.vmware.com/community/developer/downloads
http://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vc-sdk/
http://communities.vmware.com/community/developer/forums/java_toolkit


Questions?


Example Procedures

- NTP Time Synchronization
vSphere Client
– Configuration Tab Time Configuration Properties

- Configure Management Network Settings
Direct User Console
– F2 Configure Management Network

- Configure vNIC Parameters
vSphere Client
– Configuration Security Properties Local Tech Support Options Start
User Console
– F2 Troubleshooting Options Enable Local Tech Support
User Console – Tech Support Mode
– Alt-F1 Login esxcfg-nics vmnic0 –s 1000 –d full

- Review Log Files
Browser-Based Access
– https://1.100.24.101/host/messages


Example Procedures

- Backup & Restore Configuration of an ESXi host
vCLI Command
– perl vicfg-cfgbackup.pl –server HOSTNAME –username root –s c:locationserver.txt
– perl vicfg-cfgbackup.pl –server HOSTNAME –username root –l c:locationserver.txt

- ESXi Performance Troubleshooting
vMA
– resxtop –server HOSTNAME –username root

- Syslog: Centralized log collection
vMA
– Sudo vifp addserver HOSTNAME
– Sudo vifp listservers
– Vilogger enable --server HOSTNAME

WinSCP
– /var/log/vmware/

- List VMs with current Snapshots
PowerCLI
– Connect-VIserver vCENTERHOSTNAME
– get-vm get-snapshot format-table name,description -autosize

Upcoming ILTA Webinar Sessions

Look Ahead for More Information:

Migrating to ESXi – How To
Encore Session:
Strategies, Procedures, and Precautions Late February

Contact Info:
Christopher.Janoch@ivison.com
#cjanoch

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