c


 
1. What is HA?
VMware HA delivers the availability needed by many applications running in virtual machines, independent of the
operating system and application running in it. VMware HA provides uniform, cost-effective failover protection
against hardware and operating system failures within your virtualized IT environment.

— Monitors virtual machines to detect operating system and hardware failures.

— Restarts virtual machines on other physical servers in the resource pool without manual intervention
when server failure is detected.

— Protects applications from operating system failures by automatically restarting virtual machines when
an operating system failure is detected.

2. How HA works?
VMware HA continuously monitors all servers in a resource pool and detects server failures. An agent placed on
each server maintains a ³heartbeat´ with the other servers in the resource pool and a loss of ³heartbeat´ initiates
the restart process of all affected virtual machines on other servers. VMware HA ensures that sufficient resources
are available in the resource pool at all times to be able to restart virtual machines on different physical servers in
the event of server failure. Restart of virtual machines is made possible by the Virtual Machine File System
(VMFS) clustered file system which gives multiple ESX Server instances read-write access to the same virtual
machine files, concurrently. VMware HA is easily configured for a resource pool through VirtualCenter.

Key Features of VMware HA

‡ 2
   
 Automate the monitoring of physical server availability. HA detects
server failures and initiates the virtual machine restart without any human intervention.

‡ 
 Ensure that capacity is always available in order to restart all virtual machines affected by
server failure. HA continuously monitors capacity utilization and ³reserves´ spare
capacity to be able to restart virtual machines.

‡ 2
  
  Protect any application with automatic restart in a different physical
server in the resource pool.

‡    (when used with VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS)). Automate the
optimal placement of virtual machines restarted after server failure.

c
2
 
With VMware HA, a set of ESX Server hosts is combined into a cluster with a shared pool ofresources. VMware
HA monitors all hosts in the cluster. If one of the hosts fails, VMware HAimmediately responds by restarting each
affected virtual machine on a different host.

Using VMware HA has a number of advantages:

Minimal setup and startup. The New Cluster wizard is used for initial setup. Hosts and newvirtual machines can
be added using the Virtual Infrastructure Client.
Reduced hardware cost and setup. In a traditional clustering solution, duplicate hardwareand software must be
available, and the components must be connected and configuredproperly. When using VMware HA clusters, you
must have sufficient resources toaccommodate the number of hosts for which you want to guarantee failover.
However, theVirtualCenter Server takes care of all other aspects of the resource management.
VMware HA "democratizes" high availability by making it available and cost-justifiable forany application,
regardless of hardware and operating system platform.VMware HA is focused on hardware failure, not on
operating system or software failure. If youneed greater levels and guarantees of availability to handle those
situations, you can considerusing both VMware HA and traditional high availability approaches together.

VMware HA Features
Using a cluster enabled for VMware HA provides the following features:
Automatic failover is provided on ESX Server host hardware failure for all running virtualmachines within the
bounds of failover capacity.
VMware HA provides automatic detection of server failures and initiates the virtualmachine restart without any
human intervention.
VMware HA can take advantage of DRS to provide for dynamic and intelligent resourceallocation and
optimization of virtual machines after failover. After a host has failed andvirtual machines have been restarted on
other hosts, DRS can provide further migrationrecommendations or migrate virtual machines for more optimum
host placement andbalanced resource allocation.
VMware HA supports easy-to-use configuration and monitoring using VirtualCenter. HAensures that capacity is
always available (within the limits of specified failover capacity) inorder to restart all virtual machines affected by
server failure (based on resourcereservations configured for the virtual machines.)
HA continuously monitors capacity utilization and "reserves" spare capacity to be able torestart virtual
machines. Virtual Machines can fully utilize spare failover capacity whenthere hasn't been a failure.

3. What is DRS?

Align Resources to Meet Business Needs

VMware DRS continuously monitors utilization across resource pools and intelligently aligns resources with
business needs, enabling us to:

— Dynamically allocate IT resources to the highest priority applications. Create rules and policies to
prioritize how resources are allocated to virtual machines.

— Give IT autonomy to business organizations. Provide dedicated IT infrastructure to business units while
still achieving higher hardware utilization through resource pooling.

— Empower business units to build and manage virtual machines within their resource pool while giving
central IT control over hardware resources.

Balance Your Computing Capacity

VMware DRS continuously balances computing capacity in resource pools to deliver the performance, scalability
and availability not possible with physical infrastructure. VMware DRS allows us to:

— Improve service levels for all applications. VMware DRS continuously balance capacity will ensure that
each virtual machine has access to appropriate resources at any point in time.

— Easily deploy new capacity. VMware DRS will seamlessly take advantage of the additional capacity of
new servers added to a resource pool by redistributing virtual machines without system disruption.

— Automate planned server maintenance. VMware DRS can automatically migrate all virtual machines off
physical servers to enable scheduled server maintenance with zero downtime.

— Dramatically increase system administrator productivity. Enable system administrators to monitor and
effectively manage more IT infrastructure.

Reduce Energy Consumption in the Datacenter

VMware Distributed Power Management (DPM) continuously optimizes power consumption in the datacenter.
When virtual machines in a DRS cluster need fewer resources, such as during nights and weekends, DPM
consolidates workloads onto fewer servers and powers off the rest to reduce power consumption. When virtual
machine resource requirements increase (such as when users log into applications in the morning), DPM brings
powered-down hosts back online to ensure service levels are met.

VMware Distributed Power Management allows IT organizations to:

 — Cut ongoing power and cooling costs by up to 20% in the datacenter during low utilization time periods.

— Automate management of energy efficiency in the datacenter

VMware DRS (with DPM) is included in the VMware vSphere Enterprise and Enterprise Plus edition. DRS and
DPM leverage VMware vMotion(live migration) to balance load and optimize power consumption with no
downtime.

Features
The following is a list of the key features of VMware DRS.

— 2   

 Manage CPU and memory across a group of physical
servers as a uniform shared pool of resources.

— ! "   #  Organize resource pools hierarchically to match available IT
resources to the business organization. VMware DRS ensures that resource utilization is maximized
while business units retain control and autonomy of their infrastructure. Resource pools can be flexibly
added, removed, or reorganized as business needs or organization change.

—      Assign priorities in the form of shares or reservations to virtual machines within
resource pools and to sub resource pools to reflect business priorities. For example, the production sub
resource pool can have higher shares of the total resources in a cluster and business critical
applications within the production resource pool can have fixed guarantees(reservations) of CPU
bandwidth and memory,

—  

 
   "
   Optimize the service
level of distributed applications by controlling the aggregate allocation of resources for the entire set of
virtual machines running the distributed application.

— 2   
 Create rules that govern placement of virtual machines on physical servers. For
example, a group of virtual machines can be set to always run on the same server for performance
reasons. Alternatively, certain virtual machines can be set to always run on different servers to increase
availability. New in vSphere 4.1 is the ability to restrict placement of virtual machines to a group of
physical servers in a cluster. This is useful for controlling the mobility of virtual machines that run
software licensed for a specific group of physical servers. In addition, this feature can be used to keep
sets of virtual machines on different racks or blade systems for availability reasons.

— 
  Reduce energy consumption in the datacenter by using the Distributed Power
Management (DPM) feature of DRS to consolidate workloads and power off servers when they are not
needed by the virtual machines in the cluster. When resource requirements of virtual machines
increase, DPM brings hosts back online so service levels can be met.

— 
2
   VMware DRS collects resource usage information from servers and
virtual machines, and then generates recommendations to optimize virtual machine allocation. These
recommendations can be executed automatically or manually.
a    When a virtual machine is first powered on, VMware DRS either
automatically places the virtual machine on the most appropriate physical server or makes a
recommendation.
a Œ 

  #  VMware DRS continuously optimizes resource allocations based
on defined resource allocation rules and resource utilization. The resource allocation changes
can be automatically executed by performing live migration of virtual machines through
vMotion. Alternatively, in manual mode, VMware DRS provides execution recommendations
for system administrators.

—   Perform maintenance on physical servers without disruption to virtual

machines and end users. When a physical server is placed in maintenance mode, VMware DRS
identifies alternative servers where the virtual machines can run. Based on automation mode settings,
the virtual machines are either automatically moved to use the alternative servers, or the system
administrator performs the move manually using the VMware DRS recommendations as a guideline.

— X$ Manage CPU and memory across up to 32 servers and 1280 virtual
machines per DRS cluster.
 4. What is vMotion?

Experience Game-changing Virtual Machine Mobility

VMware vMotion technology, leverages the complete virtualization of servers, storage and networking to move an
entire running virtual machine instantaneously from one server to another. VMware vMotion uses VMware¶s
cluster file system to control access to a virtual machine¶s storage. During a vMotion, the active memory and
precise execution state of a virtual machine is rapidly transmitted over a high speed network from one physical
server to another and access to the virtual machines disk storage is instantly switched to the new physical host.
Since the network is also virtualized by the VMware host, the virtual machine retains its network identity and
connections, ensuring a seamless migration process.

VMware vMotion allows you to:

— Perform live migrations with zero downtime, undetectable to the user.

— Continuously and automatically optimize virtual machines within resource pools.

— Perform hardware maintenance without scheduling downtime and disrupting business operations.

— Proactively move virtual machines away from failing or underperforming servers.

Reliably Manage Live Migrations with Ease

Benefit from the reliability and manageability derived from a production-proven product used by thousands of
customers for years. Live migration of virtual machines across your infrastructure is surprisingly simple with
functionality that lets you:

— Perform multiple concurrent migrations to continuously optimize a virtual IT environment.

— Identify the optimal placement for a virtual machine in seconds with a migration wizard providing real-
time availability information.

— Migrate any virtual machine running any operating system across any type of hardware and storage
supported by vSphere, including Fibre Channel SAN, NAS and iSCSI SAN.

— Prioritize live migrations to ensure that mission-critical virtual machines maintain access to the
resources they need.

— Schedule migrations to happen at pre-defined times, and without an administrator¶s presence

— Maintain an audit trail with a detailed record of migrations.


%c
c  &' 

Live migration of a virtual machine from one physical server to another with VMware VMotion is enabled by three
underlying technologies.

First, the entire state of a virtual machine is encapsulated by a set of files stored on shared storage such as Fibre
Channel or iSCSI Storage Area Network (SAN) or Network Attached Storage (NAS). VMware vStorage VMFS
allows multiple installations of VMware ESX® to access the same virtual machine files concurrently.
Second, the active memory and precise execution state of the virtual machine is rapidly transferred over a high
speed network, allowing the virtual machine to instantaneously switch from running on the source ESX host to
the destination ESX host. VMotion keeps the transfer period imperceptible to users by keeping track of on-going
memory transactions in a bitmap.
Once the entire memory and system state has been copied over to the target ESX host, VMotion suspends the
source virtual machine, copies the bitmap to the target ESX host, and resumes the virtual machine on the target
ESX host. This entire process takes less than two seconds on a Gigabit Ethernet network.

Third, the networks being used by the virtual machine are also virtualized by the underlying ESX host, ensuring
that even after the migration, the virtual machine network identity and network connections are preserved.
VMotion manages the virtual MAC address as part of the process. Once the destination machine is activated,
VMotion pings the network router to ensure that it is aware of the new physical location of the virtual MAC
address.
Since the migration of a virtual machine with VMotion preserves the precise execution state, the network identity,
and the active network connections, the result is zero downtime and no disruption to users.

£ 
  

 "   .
Proven by thousands of customers in production environments since 2004, VMotion continues to set the standard
for the most dependable live migration capabilities.


Perform live migrations with downtime unnoticeable to the end users. Optimal use of CPU and network resources
ensures that the live migrations occur quickly and efficiently.

"   
Migrate virtual machines running any operating system across any type of hardware and storage supported by
VMware ESX.
‡ Support for Fibre Channel SAN.
Implement live migration of virtual machines utilizing a wide range of up to 4GB Fibre Channel SAN storage
systems.
‡ NAS and iSCSI SAN support. Implement live migration of virtual machines with lower-cost,
more easily managed shared storage.
‡ Customizable CPU compatibility settings. Ensure that virtual machines can be migrated across different
versions of hardware. Enable virtual machines to benefit from the latest CPU innovations.
‡ New - Enhanced VMotion Compatibility. Live migrate virtual machines across different generations of
hardware. Migrate virtual machines from older servers to new ones without disruption or downtime.

"   
‡ Migration wizard.
Quickly identify the best destination for a virtual machine usingreal-time information provided by migration
wizard.
‡ Multiple concurrent migrations.
Perform multiple concurrent migrations to continuouslyoptimize virtual machine placement across the entire
IT environment.
‡ Priority levels.
Assign a priority to each live migration operation to ensure thatthe most important virtual machines always have
access to theresources they need.
‡ Scheduled migration tasks.
Automate migrations to happen at pre-defined times, andwithout an administrator¶s presence.
‡ Migration audit trail.
Maintain a detailed record of migration operations, includingdate/time and the administrators responsible for
initiating them.

5. What is VMware Storage VMotion?


VMware Storage VMotion is a component of VMware vSphereŒthat provides an intuitive interface for live
migration of virtualmachine disk files within and across storage arrays with nodowntime or disruption in service.
Storage VMotion relocatesvirtual machine disk files from one shared storage location toanother shared storage
location with zero downtime, continuousservice availability and complete transaction integrity. StorageVMotion
enables organizations to perform proactive storagemigrations, simplify array migrations, improve virtual machine
storage performance and free up valuable storage capacity.Storage VMotion is fully integrated with VMware
vCenter Serverto provide easy migration and monitoring.
How is VMware Storage VMotion Used inthe Enterprise?
Customers use VMware Storage VMotion to:

‡       


The traditional process of moving data to new storage iscumbersome, time-consuming and disruptive. With
StorageVMotion, IT organizations can accelerate migrations whileminimizing or eliminating associated service
disruptions,making it easier, faster and more cost-effective to embracenew storage platforms and file formats,
take advantage offlexible leasing models, retire older, hard-to-manage storagearrays and to conduct storage
upgrades and migrations basedon usage and priority policies. Storage VMotion works with anyoperating system
and storage hardware platform supported byVMware ESXŒ, enabling customers to use a heterogeneous mix
ofdatastores and file formats.

‡ %     #()

Optimizing storage I/O performance often requiresreconfiguration and reallocation of storage, which can be a
highly disruptive process for both administrators and usersand often requires scheduling downtime. With Storage
VMotion, IT administrators can move virtual machine diskfiles to alternative LUNs that are properly configured to
deliver optimal performance without the need for scheduleddowntime, eliminating the time and cost associated
withtraditional methods.

‡ *     

Increasing or decreasing storage allocation requires multiplemanual steps, including coordination between
groups,scheduling downtime and adding additional storage. This isthen followed by a lengthy migration of virtual
machine diskfiles to the new datastore, resulting in significant servicedowntime. Storage VMotion improves this
process by enablingadministrators to take advantage of newly allocated storagein a non-disruptive manner.
Storage VMotion can also be usedas a storage tiering tool by moving data to different typesof storage platforms
based the data value, performancerequirements and storage costs.


%c
c  &' 

VMware Storage VMotion allows virtual machine storage disks tobe relocated to different datastore locations with
no downtime,while being completely transparent to the virtual machine or theend user.

Before moving a virtual machines disk file, Storage VMotionmoves the ³home directory´ of the virtual machine to
the newlocation. The home directory contains meta data about thevirtual machine (configuration, swap and log
files). Afterrelocating the home directory, Storage VMotion copies thecontents of the entire virtual machine
storage disk file to thedestination storage host, leveraging ³changed block tracking´ tomaintain data integrity
during the migration process. Next, thesoftware queries the changed block tracking module todetermine what
regions of the disk were written to during thefirst iteration, and then performs a second iteration of copy,where
those regions that were changed during the first iterationcopy (there can be several more iterations).

Once the process is complete, the virtual machine is quicklysuspended and resumed so that it can begin using
the virtualmachine home directory and disk file on the destinationdatastore location. Before VMware ESX allows
the virtualmachine to start running again, the final changed regions of thesource disk are copied over to the
destination and the sourcehome and disks are removed.

This approach guarantees complete transactional integrity and isfast enough to be unnoticeable to the end user.

£ 
c
c   
Œ    
No interruption or downtime for users and applications duringvirtual machine storage disk migrations.

"   
Storage VMotion can migrate storage disk files for virtualmachines running any operating system across any type
ofhardware and storage supported by VMware ESX.
1) How we manage the licenses, i.e. timely updating licenses, briefly
explain?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------
2) If we found HA issue, what are steps we should follow to resolve the
issues?

To troubleshoot HA errors:

Note: Most of these troubleshooting steps are done on the ESX console.
1.Run this command to verify that host name is in lowercase and is fully
qualified:

hostname

2.Run this command to verify that hostname is shortname only and is in

lowercase:

hostname ±s

3.Run this command to verify that the correct service console IP is

displayed:

hostname ±i

4.Verify that the host name in /etc/hosts is lowercase and both FQDN
and shortname are present.
5.Verify that the search domain is present in the /etc/resolv.conf fil e and
is in lowercase.
6.Verify that the host name in /etc/sysconfig/network is FQDN and is in
lowercase.
7.Verify that the host name in the /etc/vmware/esx.conf file is FQDN and
is in lowercase.
8.Verify that the system name returned by the uname -a command is in
lowercase.
9.Verify that the host name is in your DNS server and is in lowercase. To
do this, run these commands:
a.nslookup<hostname>
Where <hostname> is the name of the host.

This command should return the service console IP.

b.nslookup<FQDN_name>

Where <FQDN_name> is the FQDN name of the host.

This command should return the service console IP.

c.nslookup<ipaddress>

Where <ipaddress> is the IP address of the host.

This command should return the FQDN of the host

10.Make sure the route for the service console is correct. To do this,
from each host, ping the other hosts in the environment.
11.Verify that all primary service consoles have the same name.
12.Verify that all primary service consoles are in the same IP subnet .
13.If the vmkernel port group of vMotion is on same vSwitch as primary
Service Console port group, add das.allowVmotionNetworks=1 to the
advanced settings of

HA.
14.If the host has multiple service consoles, add das.allowNetwork0 to
the Advanced HA Settings of the cluster to ensure that only the primary
service

console is allowed. For more information, see Incompatible HA Networks

appearing when attempting to configure HA (High Availability)
(1006541).
15.Verify that you have the appropriate licenses available for HA. To do
this, in LM Tools, perform a status enquiry and verify that you have
VC_DAS licenses

available.
If you are unable to configure HA after verifying these troubleshooting
steps:
1.Run this command on the ESX host to stop vpxa:

servicevmware-vpxa stop

The host appears as not responding in the vCenter Server after a while.

2.Run these commands to uninstall aam:

1.rpm -qa | grepaam
2.rpm -e (package names output from command above)
3.rpm -e (other package names output from command above)
4.find / -name aam

Note: Ensure to delete the directories listed by this command.

3.Disconnect the ESX host from the vCenter Server.

4.Re-connect the host to the vCenter Server. This forces the VPXA
package and the the HA packages to re-deploy.
5.Re-configure all the hosts for HA.
6.Upgrade to ESX 3.5 U4 or later and vCenter Server 2.5U4 or later.
7.After upgrading, add das.bypassNetCompatCheck=true to the
Advanced HA Settings of the cluster, if it continues to have issues.
If your issue continues to exist after performing these steps, contact your
network or storage administrator.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------
3) Redundancy between NICs in an ESX server & how many minimum
NICs required for esx

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------
4) Minimum requirements for VMotion configure?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------
5) How licenses calculated/purchased for VMware environment?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------
6) What are the partitions of an ESX server?

Service Console Partitions and Sizes for Each ESX Server Host

Mount Point Partition Size Description

/dev/sda (Primary)

/boot ext3 250 MB Change for additional space for upgrades

N/A swap 1600 MB Change for maximum service console swap size

/ ext3 5120 MB Change for additional space in root

/dev/sda (Extended)

/var ext3 4096 MB Create partition to avoid overfilling root with log files

/tmp ext3 1024 MB Create partition to avoid overfilling root with

temporary files

/opt ext3 2048 MB Create partition to avoid overfilling root with VMware
HA log files

/home ext3 1024 MB Create partition to avoid overfilling root with agent /
user files

vmkcore 100 MB Pre-configured

Free Space (Optional) Auto-configured and used for local VMFS-3

volume (needed for virtual machines running Microsoft¶s Clustering
Software.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
7) Whether we need licenses for HA, DRS feature?
Yes,

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
8) What should be the main reason for purple screen errors?

Purple Screen of Death

A Purple Screen of Death as seen in VMware ESX Server 3.0 In the

event of a hardware error, the vmkernel can 'catch' a Machine Check
Exception.This results

in an error message displayed on a purple console screen. This is

colloquially known as a PSOD, or Purple Screen of Death.

Upon displaying a PSOD, the vmkernel writes debug information to the

core dump partition. This information, together with the error codes
displayed on the

PSOD can be used by VMware support to determine the cause of the

problem.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
9) How to configure virtual switches & what is port-group & what is
VLAN?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------
10) Whether HA use VMotion or not?

No, it requires DRS.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------
11) Whether DRS use VMotion or not?

yes

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------

12) What are processes & port numbers for virtual center, HA running in
ESX?
Ports and descriptions:

80 ± Required for direct HTTP connections. Port 80 redirects requests to

HTTPS port 443.

443 - Listens for connections from the vSphere Client, vSphere Web
Access Client, and other SDK clients. Open port 443 in the firewall to
enable the vCenter

Server system to receive data from the vSphere Client.

389 - This port is used for Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)
services. Who says LDAP, says Active Directory Services for the
vCenter Server

group.

636 ± SSL port of the local instance for vCenter Linked Mode. It¶s the
port of the local vCenter Server ADAM Instance.

902 - Used to send data to managed hosts. To send data to your ESX or
ESXi hosts. Also this port is used for remote console access to virtual
machines from

vSphere Client. This port must not be blocked by firewalls between the
server and the hosts or between hosts.

902/903 - Used by the vSphere Client to display virtual machine

consoles.

8080 ± vCenter Management Webservices HTTP.

8443 - Secure connections for vCenter Management Webservices

HTTPS.

60099 - Used to stream inventory object changes to SDK clients.

Firewall rules for this port on the vCenter Server can be set to block all,
except from and

tolocalhosts if the clients are installed on the same host as the vCenter
Server service.
--------Various services are installed when you deploy vCenter, in total 5
services are installed----------

1.VMwareVirtualCenter Server: Heart of vCenter

2.VMware mount service for VirtualCenter: used during cloning
operation or while deploying from template
3.VMwareVirtualCenter management webservices: Web management
services run on it.
4.VMwareVCMSDS:ADAM services for linked mode
5.VMware vCenter orchestrator configuration: use for vCenter
orchestrator

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------

13) In ESX2.5.2 how we take backups of vm files?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------
14) Explain the purpose of Redo log files?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------
15) VM is not able to power off, how to trouble shoot d issues?

Powering off the virtual machine

To determine if you must use the command line, attempt to power off the
virtual machine:
1.Connect VMware Infrastructure (VI) Client to the Virtual Center Server.
Right-click on the virtual machine and click Power off.
2.Connect VI Client directly to the ESX host. Right-click on the virtual
machine and click Power off.

If this does not work, you must use the command line method.
Determining the virtual machine's state
1.Determine the host on which the virtual machine is running. This
information is available in the virtual machine's Summary tab when
viewed in the VI Client

page.
2.Log in as root to the ESX host using an SSH client.
3.Run the following command to verify that the virtual machine is running
on this host:

# vmware-cmd -l

The output of this command returns the full path to each virtual machine
running on the ESX host. Verify that the virtual machine is listed, and
record the

full path for use in this process. For example:

# /vmfs/volumes/<UUID>/<VMDIR>/<VMNAME>.vmx

4.Run the following command to determine the state in which the ESX
host believes the virtual machine to be operating:

# vmware-cmd<path.vmx>getstate

If the output from this command is getstate() = on, the VirtualCenter

Server may not be communicating with the host properly. This issue
must be addressed in

order to complete the shutdown process.

If the output from this command is getstate() = off, the ESX host may be
unaware it is still running the virtual machine. This article provides
additional

assistance in addressing this issue.

Powering off the virtual machine while collecting diagnostic information
using the vm-support script

Use the following procedure when you want to investigate the cause of
the issue. This command attempts to power off the virtual machine while
collecting

diagnostic information. Perform these steps in order, as they are listed in

order of potential impact to the system if performed incorrectly.

Perform these steps first:

1.Determine the WorldID with the command:
# vm-support -x

2.Kill the virtual machine by using the following command in the home
directory of the virtual machine:

# vm-support -X <world_ID>

This can take upwards of 30 minutes to terminate the virtual machine.

Note: This command uses several different methods to stop the virtual
machine. When attempting each method, the command waits for a pre-
determined amount of

time. The timeout value can be configured to be 0 by adding -d0 to

switch to the vm-support command.
If the preceding steps fail, perform the following steps for an ESX 3.x
host:
1.List all running virtual machines to find the VMID of the affected virtual
machine with the command:

# cat /proc/vmware/vm/*/names

2.Determine the master world ID with the command:

# less -S /proc/vmware/vm/####/cpu/status

3.Scroll to the right with the arrow keys until you see the group field. It
appears similar to:

Group
vm.####

4.Run the following command to shut the virtual machine down with the
group ID:

# /usr/lib/vmware/bin/vmkload_app -k 9 ####
If the preceding steps fail, perform the following steps for an ESX 4.x
host:
1.List all running virtual machines to find the vmxCartelID of the affected
virtual machine with the command:

# /usr/lib/vmware/bin/vmdumper -l

2.Scroll through the list until you see your virtual machine's name. The
output appears similar to:

vmid=5151 pid=-1 cfgFile="/vmfs/volumes/4a16a48a-d807aa7e-

e674-001e4ffc52e9/mdineeen_test/vm_test.vmx" uuid="56 4d a6 db 0a
e2 e5 3e-a9 2b 31 4b 69

29 15 19" displayName="vm_test" vmxCartelID=####

3.Run the following command to shut the virtual machine down with the
vmxCartelID:

# /usr/lib/vmware/bin/vmkload_app -k 9 ####
Powering off the virtual machine using the vmware-cmd command

This procedure uses the ESX command line tool, and attempts to
gracefully power off the virtual machine. It works if the virtual machine's
process is running

properly and is accessible. If unsuccessful, the virtual machine's process

may not be running properly and may require further troubleshooting.
1.From the Service Console of the ESX host, run the following
command:

vmware-cmd<path.vmx> stop

Note: <path.vmx> is the complete path to the configuration file, as

determined in the previous section. To verify that it is stopped, run the
command:

# vmware-cmd<path.vmx>getstate

2.From the Service Console of the ESX host, run the command:

# vmware-cmd<path.vmx>stop hard
Note: <path.vmx> is the complete path to the configuration file, as
determined in the previous section. To verify that it is stopped, run t he
command:

# vmware-cmd<path.vmx>getstate

3.If the virtual machine is still inaccessible, proceed to the next section.
Using the ESX command line to kill the virtual machine

If the virtual machine does not power off using the steps in this article, i t
has likely lost control of its process. You need to manually kill the
process

at the command line.

Caution: This procedure is potentially hazardous to the ESX host. If you

do not identify the appropriate process id (PID), and kill the wrong
process, it may

have unanticipated results. If you are not comfortable with the following
procedure, contact VMware Technical Support and open a Service
Request. Please

refer to this article when you create the SR.

1.To determine if the virtual machine process is running on the ESX
host, run the command:

# psauxwww |grep -i <VMNAME>.vmx

The output of this command appears similar to the following if the .vmx
process is running:

root 3093 0.0 0.3 2016 860 ? S< Jul30 0:17

/usr/lib/vmware/bin/vmkload_app /usr/lib/vmware/bin/vmware-vmx -
ssched.group=host/user -# name=VMware ESX

Server;version=3.5.0;licensename=VMware ESX
Server;licenseversion=2.0 build-158874; -@ pipe=/tmp/vmhsdaemon-
0/vmx569228e44baf49d1; /vmfs/volumes/49392e30-

162037d0-17c6-001f29e9abec/<VMDIR>/<VMNAME>.vmx
The process ID (PID) for this process is in bold. In this example, the PID
is 3093. Take note of this number for use in the following steps.

Caution: Ensure that you identify the line specific only to the virtual
machine you are attempting to repair. If you continue this process for
another

virtual machine the one in question, you can cause downtime for the
other virtual machine.

If the .vmx process is listed, it is possible that the virtual machine has
lost control of the process and that it must be stopped manually.

2.To kill the process, run the command:

# kill<PID>

3.Wait 30 seconds and check for the process again.

4.If it is not terminated, run the command:

# kill -9 <PID>

5.Wait 30 seconds and check for the process again.

6.If it is not terminated, the ESX host may need to be rebooted to clear
the process. This is a last resort option, and should only be attempted if
the

preceding steps in this article are unsuccessful.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
16) Why we use two different ports for licenses, and what r those port
No.?

27000 --- License transactions from ESX Server 3i to the license server
(lmgrd.exe).|Outgoing TCP|
27010 --- License transactions from ESX Server 3i to the license server
(vmwarelm.exe).|Outgoing TCP|

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
17) VC server is not coming up, how to troubleshoot?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
18) Difference between ESX3.5 & 4.0?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
19) Briefly describe about update Manager, is it possible to update the
powered off vms by update manager?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
20) Explain VMware Snapshot & what is d command to take a
snapshot?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
21) Suppose we have 3 port groups configured in a single Vswitch
(connected to single physical NIC of the esx host) with 3 different VLANs
so how d VMs from

one VLAN will communicate to another VM of different VLAN?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
22) What is d command to list all the running VMs & registered VMs?

Run the vm-support -x command to show which virtual machines are

currently running on the ESX host.

Run the vmware-cmd -l command to display the names of the virtual

machines registered on this host.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
23) What is d command to list d HBAs?

esxcfg-scsidevs -a (-a|--hbas Print HBA devices with identifying

information)

esxcfg-scsidevs -A (-A|--hba-device-list Print a mapping between HBAs

and the devices it provides paths to.)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
24) What r d P2V conversion processes/tools available, how we can
perform d P2V of a Linux server with d help of CLI commands (in case
no specific tools

available)?

Converting a powered on Windows operating system (P2V)

Source Destination TCP Ports UDP Ports Notes

Converter server to Source computer 445, 139, 9089, 9090 137, 138 If
the source computer uses NetBIOS, port 445 is not required. If NetBIOS
is not being

used, ports 137, 138, and 139 are not required. If in doubt, make sure
that none of the ports are blocked.
Note: Unless you have installed Converter server to the source
computer, the account used for authentication to the source computer
must have a password, the

source computer must have network file sharing enabled, and it cannot
be using Simple File Sharing.
Converter server to VirtualCenter443 Only required if the conversion
target is VirtualCenter.
Converter client to Converter server 443 Only required if a custom
installation was performed and the Converter server and client portions
are on different

computers.
Source computer to ESX 443, 902 If the conversion target is
VirtualCenter then only port 902 is required.
Converting a powered on Linux operating system (P2V)
Source Destination TCP Ports Notes
Converter server to Source computer 22 The Converter server must be
able to establish an SSH connection with the source computer.
Converter client to Converter server 443 Only required if a custom
installation was performed and the Converter server and client portions
are on different

computers.
Converter server to VirtualCenter 443 Only required if the conversion
target is VirtualCenter.
Converter server to ESX 443, 902, 903 If the conversion target is
VirtualCenter, only ports 902 and 903 are required.
Converter server to Helper virtual machine 443
Helper virtual machine Source computer 22 The helper virtual machine
must be able to establish an SSH connection with the source computer.
By default the

helper virtual machine gets its IP address assigned by DHCP. If there is

no DHCP server available on the network chosen for the target virtual
machine you

must manually assign it an IP address.

Converting an existing virtual machine (V2V)

Source Destination TCP Ports UDP Ports Notes

Converter server to Fileshare path 445, 139 137, 138 This is only
required for standalone virtual machine sources or destinations.

If the computer hosting the source or destination path uses NetBIOS,

port 445 is not required. If NetBIOS is not being used, ports 137, 138,
and 139 are not

required. If in doubt, make sure that none of the ports are blocked.
Converter client to Converter server 443 Only required if a custom
installation was performed and the Converter server and client portions
are on different

computers.
Converter server to VirtualCenter443 Only required if the target is
VirtualCenter.
Converter server to ESX 443, 902 If the conversion target is
VirtualCenter, only port 902 is required.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
25) What is d command to check d status of a VM?

vmware-cmd<path.vmx>getstate

Retrieve the list of VMs in inventory with the following command:

vmware-vim-cmdvmsvc/getallvms

[root@ESX-SRV-94 /]# vmware-vim-cmdvmsvc/getallvms

Vmid Name File Guest OS Version
Annotation
160 VMVXP-1 [SAN-STORE-2] VMVXP-1/VMVXP-1.vmx
winXPProGuest vmx-07
240 Ubuntu [ESX-Storage-94-2] Ubuntu/Ubuntu.vmxubuntuGuest
vmx-07

Then query each VM with their VMID:

vmware-vim-cmdvmsvc/power.getstate<vmid>

For example:
vmware-vim-cmdvmsvc/power.getstate 160

[root@ESX-SRV-94 /]# vmware-vim-cmdvmsvc/power.getstate 160

Retrieved runtime info
Powered on

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
26) What is d command to rescan the HBAs?

esxcfg-rescan

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
27) How to find the world ID of a particular VM and what is d VMware
proprietary command to kill the same?
vm-support -x
esxclivmsvm list

List all running virtual machines on the system to see the W orld ID of the
virtual machine you want to
stop.
esxclivmsvm list

2 Stop the virtual machine by running the following command.

esxclivmsvm kill --type <kill_type> --world-id <ID>

The command supports three --type options. Try the types sequentially
(soft before hard, hard before
force). The following types are supported through the --type option:
. soft ± Gives the VMX process a chance to shut down cleanly (like kill or
kill -SIGTERM)
. hard ± Stops the VMX process immediately (like kill -9 or kill -SIGKILL)
. force ± Stops the VMX process when other options do not work.
If all three options do not work, reboot your ESX/ESXi host to resolve the
issue.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
28) what is d command to add a route in esx to communicate to different
network segment?

Configure the route using the command:

#route add -net 142.121.56.0 netmask 255.255.254.0 gw 224.58.175.1

Add the following line to /etc/rc.local so that route is set on boot:

#/sbin/route add -net 142.121.56.0 netmask 255.255.254.0 gw

224.58.175.1 To ensure the route holds on reboot, create an executable
file.

To create an executable file:

1.Login to the ESX host using a SSH client.
2.Change the directory to /etc/init.d .
3.Run this command to create a file called routes:
#vi routes

4.Add this code to the file:

##! /bin/bash # case "$1" in 'start') echo "Adding additional routes... "

/sbin/route add -net 172.31.3.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 gw 172.31.8.1;

echo ;; *) echo "Usage: $0 { start }" ;; esac

5.Save the file and exit the vi editor.

6.Run this command to make the file executable:

#chmod 777 routes

7.Change the directory to /etc/rc3.d.

8.Run this command to create a symbolic link to that file:

#ln /etc/init.d/routes

9.Reboot the ESX host for the changes to take effect.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------

29) What is d default size of the swap partition & SC MEMORY?

1600MB SWAP, 400 MB (MAX 800MB)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------

30) How to increase SC memory after the esx build?

‡ESX Host ± 8GB RAM -> Default allocated Service Console RAM =
300MB
‡ESX Host ± 16GB RAM -> Default allocated Service Console RAM =
400MB
‡ESX Host ± 32GB RAM -> Default allocated Service Console RAM =
500MB
‡ESX Host ± 64GB RAM -> Default allocated Service Console RAM =
602MB
‡ESX Host ± 96GB RAM -> Default allocated Service Console RAM =
661MB
‡ESX Host ± 128GB RAM -> Default allocated Service Console RAM =
703MB
‡ESX Host ± 256GB RAM -> Default allocated Service Console RAM =
800MB

cp /etc/vmware/esx.conf /etc/vmware/esx.conf.old
cp /boot/grub/grub.conf /boot/grub/grub.conf.old
/bin/sed -i -e µs/272/800/¶ /etc/vmware/esx.conf
/bin/sed -i -e µs/512/800/¶ /etc/vmware/esx.conf
/bin/sed -i -e µs/272M/800M/¶ /boot/grub/grub.conf
/bin/sed -i -e µs/512M/800M/¶ /boot/grub/grub.conf
/bin/sed -i -e µs/277504/818176/¶ /boot/grub/grub.conf
/bin/sed -i -e µs/523264/818176/¶ /boot/grub/grub.conf

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

31) What r d port No. for Vmotion& VMware converter?

ESX 4.x 8000 TCP ESX/ESXi Host (VM Target) TO ESX/ESXi Host
(VM Source) VMotion Communication on VMKernel Interface
ESX 4.x 8000 TCP ESX/ESXi Host (VM Source) TO ESX/ESXi Host
(VM Target) VMotion Communication on VMKernel Interface

ESXi 4.x 8000 TCP ESX/ESXi Host (VM Target) TO ESX/ESXi Host (VM
Source) VMotion Communication on VMkernel Interface
ESXi 4.x 8000 TCP ESX/ESXi Host (VM Source) TO ESX/ESXi Host
(VM Target) VMotion Communication on VMkernel Interface

Converter 4.x 22 TCP Helper Virtual Machine Source Computer to be

converted Required for conversion of Linux-based source computers
(data flows from source

to VM)
Converter 4.x 22 TCP vCenter Converter Server Source Computer to
be converted Required for conversion of Linux-based source computers

Converter 4.x 137 UDP vCenter Converter Server Source Computer

to be converted For hot migration. Not required if the source computer
does not use NetBIOS

Converter 4.x 138 UDP vCenter Converter Server Source Computer

to be converted For hot migration. Not required if the source computer
does not use NetBIOS

Converter 4.x 139 TCP vCenter Converter Server Source Computer

to be converted For hot migration. Not required if the source computer
does not use NetBIOS

Converter 4.x 443 TCP vCenter Converter Client vCenter Converter

Server Only required if the Converter Client and Converter Server were
installed on

different systems

Converter 4.x 443 TCP Source Computer to be converted ESX/ESXi

Host Required for destination VM access when target is
ESX/ESXi/vCenter

Converter 4.x 443 TCP Source Computer to be converted vCenter

Server Required if vCenter Server is the conversion target

Converter 4.x 443 TCP vCenter Converter Server vCenter Server

Required if vCenter Server is the conversion target

Converter 4.x 443 TCP vCenter Converter Server ESX/ESXi Host

Required for system conversion

Converter 4.x 443 TCP vCenter Converter Server Helper Virtual

Machine Required for conversion of Linux-based source computers

Converter 4.x 445 TCP vCenter Converter Server Source Computer

to be converted Required for system conversion. Not required if the
source computer uses

NetBIOS
Converter 4.x 902 TCP Source Computer to be converted ESX/ESXi
Host Required for data transport during cloning of system to be
converted to target ESX/ESXi

Host

Converter 4.x 9089, 9090 TCP vCenter Converter Server Source

Computer to be converted Required for system conversion. Remote
agent deployment

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
32) How to create Vmkcore partition after the esx build?

using parted we can create vmkcore partition if there is free space

availabe else first free up about 100MB space on disk by resizing the
root or any other

partion on the disk and then create new vmkcorepartion with fc

filesystem and reboot the host.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
33) What r d agents will install, after adding an esx in VC server?

Vmwarevcenter Agent

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
34) What r d port No. for VMware management service?

8080, 8443 VMware vCenter 4 Management Web Services - HTTP and

HTTPS

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
35) What is d max No of VMs can run per host?

320
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
36) What r all d files going to b create after a vm build?

.vmx, .vmfx, .vmsd, .vmdk (when start 3 more files are created --- .log,
vswp, .nvram)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
37) What r d location of VC server log files?

C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\Logs

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------
38) What r d necessary log files in ESX server?

esx server logs

VMWare ESX Server Logs

1) Vmkernel

a. Location: /var/log/

b. Filename: vmkernel

c. This log records information related to the vmkernel and virtual

machines

2) Vmkernel Warnings

a. Location: /var/log/

b. Filename: vmkwarning

c. This log records information regarding virtual machine warnings

3) Vmkernel Summary

a. Location: /var/log/

b. Filename: vmksummary
c. This log records information used to determine uptime and
availability statistics for ESX Server. This log is not easily readable by
humans, import

into a spreadsheet or database for use.

d. For a summary of the statistics in an easily vi ewed file, see

vmksummary.txt

4) ESX Server Boot Log

a. Location: /var/log

b. Filename: boot.log

c. Log file of all actions that occurred during the ESX server boot.

5) ESX Server Host Aagent Log

a. Location: /var/log/vmware/

b. Filename: hostd.log

c. Contains information on the agent that manages and configures

the ESX Server host and its virtual machines (Search the file date/time
stamps to find

the log file it is currently outputting to).

6) Service Console

a. Location: /var/log/

b. Filename: messages

c. Contain all general log messages used to troubleshoot virtual

machines on ESX Server.

7) Web Access

a. Location: /var/log/vmware/webAccess
b. Filename: various files in this location

c. Various logs on Web access to the ESX Server.

8) Authentication Log

a. Location: /var/log/

b. Filename: secure

c. Contains the records of connections that require authentication,

such as VMware daemons and actions initiated by the xinetd daemon.

9) VirtualCenter HA Agent Log

a. Location: /var/log/vmware/aam/

b. Filename: aam_config_util_*.log

c. These files contain information about the installation,

configuration, and connections to other HA agents in the cluster.

10) VirtualCenter Agent

a. Location: /var/log/vmware/vpx

b. Filename: vpxa.log

c. Contains information on the agent that communicates with the

VirtualCenter Server.

11) Virtual Machine Logs

a. Location: The same directory as the virtual machine¶s

configuration files are placed in.

b. FileName: vmware.log

c. Contains information when a virtual machine crashes or ends

abnormally.
VirtualCenter Installation Logs

1) The following install logs are located in the %TEMP% directory of

the user that installed VirtualCenter

a. vmlic.log i. Contains various test results for provided

license file during the installation.

b. redist.log i. Contains MDAC/MCAD QFE rollup installation

information

c. vmmsde.log i. Contains MSDE installation information

d. vmls.log i.The License server installation log.

e. vmosql.log i. The VirtualCenter database creation log file

f. vminst.log i.VirtualCenter installation log file

g. VCDatabaseUpgrade.log i. Results on upgrading the VC

Database.

h. vmmsi.log i.The VI client installation log. Vpxd-0.log is a small

log from the starting the client the first time.

Virtual Center Logs

1) Location:

a. C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application

Data\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\Logs

2) Name: vpxd-#.log (# is one digit, 0-9)

a. vpxd-index contains the # of the currently active log file

3) Logs rotate each time vpxd is started, and also when it reaches 5
MB in size

VI Client Logs

1) Location: User %TEMP%\vpx

2) Name: viclient-#.log (# is one digit, 0-9)

3) Logs rotate each time VI Client is started, and is should be used

for client-specific diagnostics

Miscellaneous Logs

1) Core Dump

a. Location: %USERPROFILE%\Application Data\VMware

2) License Server Debug Log

a. Location: %SystemRoot%\Temp

b. Filename: lmgrd.log i. This file is overwritten each time the

service starts

c. This file contains various information about the license file and
server.

3) Web Access (Tomcat) Logs

a. Location: C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\VirtualCenter

Server\tomcat\logs

b. Filename: various files

c. All the Tomcat logs are here

esx-console logs
sysboot-vmkernel-boot.log , sysboot-dmesg-boot.log, sysboot-vmkernel-
late.log, sysboot-dmesg-late.og, sysboot.log

cd /vmfs/volumes/ESX-Storage-94-1/esxconsole-4c44398f-4238-b888-
226e-001e0bcd236a/logs/

Core-dump location

cd vmfs/volumes/ESX-Storage-94-1/esxconsole-4c44398f-4238-b888-
226e-001e0bcd236a/core-dumps
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------
39) What is ESXTOP command and how to use this command (with all
the fields/options)?

Esxtop version 4.1.0

Secure mode Off

Esxtop: top for ESX

These single-character commands are available:

^L - redraw screen
space - update display
h or ? - help; show this text
q - quit

Interactive commands are:

fF Add or remove fields

oO Change the order of displayed fields
s Set the delay in seconds between updates
# Set the number of instances to display
W Write configuration file ~/.esxtop41rc
k Kill a world
e Expand/Rollup Cpu Statistics
V View only VM instances
L Change the length of the NAME field
l Limit display to a single group

Sort by:
U:%USED R:%RDY N:GID
Switch display:
c:cpu i:interrupt m:memory n:network
d:disk adapter u:disk device v:disk VM p:power mgmt

Hit any key to continue:

9:26:17pm up 9 days 45 min, 149 worlds; CPU load average: 0.02,

0.06, 0.06
PCPU USED(%): 2.5 32 38 0.3 19 0.5 0.3 0.4 2.2 57 0.0 0.0 0.3 24
0.3 50 AVG: 14
PCPU UTIL(%): 3.4 34 41 0.5 26 1.0 0.7 0.7 2.7 65 0.2 0.2 0.6 29 0.6
60 AVG: 16
CCPU(%): 0 us, 2 sy, 97 id, 0 wa ; cs/sec: 108

ID GID NAME NWLD %USED %RUN %SYS %WAIT

%RDY %IDLE %OVRLP %CSTP %MLMTD %SWPWT
1 1 idle 16 1351.56 1497.67 0.00 0.00 122.22 0.00
0.94 0.00 0.00 0.00
59 59 Ubuntu 7 229.64 264.45 0.00 441.37 0.02
138.50 0.79 0.00 0.00 0.00
11 11 console 1 1.65 2.66 0.03 98.24 0.07 98.23
0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00
60 60 VMVXP-1 5 1.08 1.56 0.00 500.00 0.10
199.79 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00
7 7 helper 77 0.04 0.05 0.00 7700.00 0.01 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
8 8 drivers 10 0.01 0.01 0.00 1000.00 0.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
56 56 vmkiscsid.4303 2 0.01 0.01 0.00 200.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
49 49 storageRM.4292 1 0.00 0.00 0.00 100.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
19 19 vmkapimod 9 0.00 0.00 0.00 900.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
2 2 system 7 0.00 0.00 0.00 700.00 0.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
9 9 vmotion 4 0.00 0.00 0.00 400.00 0.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
47 47 FT 1 0.00 0.00 0.00 100.00 0.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
48 48 vobd.4291 6 0.00 0.00 0.00 600.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
52 52 net-cdp.4300 1 0.00 0.00 0.00 100.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
53 53 net-lbt.4301 1 0.00 0.00 0.00 100.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
57 57 vmware-vmkauthd 1 0.00 0.00 0.00 100.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

The following optional switches, relevant to esxtop in batch mode, can

be used:
a Shows all statistics and not what is specified in the default
configuration file, if it exists.
b Runs esxtop in batch mode.
c <filename> Loads a user-defined configuration file instead of the
~/.esxtop310rc default.
d Specifies the delay between statistics updates; the default is 5
seconds and the minimum is 2.
n Specified the number of statistics updates to capture before exiting.

For example, the following command would run esxtop in batch mode,
updating all statistics to the file perfstats.csv every 10 seconds for 360
iterations (a

total of 60 minutes) before exiting:

esxtop -a -b -d 10 -n 360 > perfstats.csv

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
40) What is d location of esx dump file and how to read it?

Core-dump location

cd vmfs/volumes/ESX-Storage-94-1/esxconsole-4c44398f-4238-b888-
226e-001e0bcd236a/core-dumps
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
41) What id d location of the license file (*.LIC) in VC server and ESX
server?

C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\licenses\site\VMware
VirtualCenter Server\4.0\4.1.0.2

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
42) What is d command to check the VMFS version and ESX version?

vmkfstools -P storageN
vmware -v and
vimsh -n -e 'hostsvc/hostsummary' | grepfullName OR
cat /proc/vmware/version
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------
43) How to extend the OS drive of a guest OS (windows VM)

vmkfstools<conn_options> -X 50M
/vmfs/volumes/Storage2/testvm/testvm.vmdk

vmkfstools -X 50M /vmfs/volumes/Storage2/testvm/testvm.vmdk

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
44) What is d command to clone a VM?

vmware-vdiskmanager with option -r

# vmkfstools -i
/vmfs/volumes/Datastore04/rhel5_test_template/rhel5_test_template.vm
dk /vmfs/volumes/Datastore04/rhel5_test_clone/rhel5_test_clone.vmdk

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------
45) What is d command to check all d virtual switch configuration
details?

To configure networking from the ESX service console command line:

1.Ensure the network adapter you want to use is currently connected
with the command:

[root@server root]# esxcfg-nics ±l

The output appears similar to:

Name PCI Driver Link Speed Duplex Description

vmnic0 06:00.00 tg3 Up 1000Mbps Full Broadcom Corporation
NetXtreme BCM5721 Gigabit Ethernet
vmnic1 07:00.00 tg3 Up 1000Mbps Full Broadcom Corporation
NetXtreme BCM5721 Gigabit Ethernet

In the Link column, Up indicates that the network adapter is available

and functioning.
2.List the current virtual switches with the command:
[root@server root]# esxcfg-vswitch ±l

The output appears similar to:

Switch Name Num Ports Used Ports Configured Ports Uplinks

vSwitch0 32 3 32 vmnic0

PortGroup Name Internal ID VLAN ID Used Ports Uplinks

VM Network portgroup2 0 0 vmnic0

In the example output, there exists a virtual machine network named VM

Network with no Service Console portgroup. For illustration, the
proceeding steps show

you how to create a new virtual switch and place the service console
port group on it.

3.Create a new virtual switch with the command:

[root@server root]# esxcfg-vswitch ±a vSwitch1

4.Create the Service Console portgroup on this new virtual switch:

[root@server root]# esxcfg-vswitch ±A ³Service Console´ vSwitch1

Because there is a space in the name (Service Console), you must

enclose it in quotation marks.

Note: To create Service Consoles one at time, you may need to delete
all previous settings. For more information, see Recreating Service
Console Networking

from the command line (1000266).

5.Up-link vmnic1 to the new virtual switch with the command:

[root@server root]# esxcfg-vswitch ±L vmnic1 vSwitch1

6.If you need to assign a VLAN, use the command:

[root@server root]# esxcfg-vswitch -v <VLAN> -p ³Service Console´
vSwitch0

where<VLANID> is the VLAN number. A zero here specifies no VLAN.

7.Verify the new virtual switch configuration with the command:

[root@server root]# esxcfg-vswitch ±l

The output appears similar to:

Switch Name Num Ports Used Ports Configured Ports Uplinks

vSwitch0 32 3 32 vmnic0

PortGroup Name Internal ID VLAN ID Used Ports Uplinks

Service Console portgroup5 0 1 vmnic0

Switch Name Num Ports Used Ports Configured Ports Uplinks

vSwitch1 64 1 64 vmnic1

PortGroup Name Internal ID VLAN ID Used Ports Uplinks

Service Console portgroup14 0 1 vmnic1

8.Create the vswif (Service Console) interface. For example, run the
command:

[root@server root]# esxcfg-vswif ±a vswif0 ±i 192.168.1.10 ±n

255.255.255.0 ±p ³Service Console´
[µVnic¶ warning] Generated New Mac address, 00:50:xx:xx:xx:xx for
vswif0

Nothing to flush.

9.Verify the configuration with the command:

[root@esx]# esxcfg-vswif ±l
Name Port Group IP Address Netmask Broadcast Enabled DHCP
v swif0 Service Console 192.168.1.10 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.255 true
false
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------
46) What is d command to upgrade the FS fromVMFS2 to VMFS3?

The first thing that you will need to do to perform the upgrade is log into
the ESX 3 host as root. Once logged in then you need to unload the
ESX 3 VMFS

drivers that are currently loaded. The unloading of the VMFS drivers is
for both VMFS 2 and VMFS 3. To perform this you need to run the
commands below.

vmkload_mod -u vmfs2

vmkload_mod -u vmfs3

You then need to load a specific driver for ESX3 that is called the "ESX3
Auxiliary FS driver". The command below that loads this driver also
includes the

switch to enable the upgrade mode contained within the driver.

vmkload_modfsauxfsauxFunction=upgrade

The next step is to perform the upgrade on the VMFS2 volume. To do

this, you need to make sure that there are no other hosts accessing the
volume. This is

very important, as it will go pear shaped quickly if other servers try to

access the volume during the upgrade process.

vmkfstools -T /vmfs/volumes/<yourvmfsvolumename>

Once the upgrade is completed, you need to check and confirm that the
volume is vmfs3. You can do this by running the following command
which is once again

anothervmkfstools command.

vmkfstools -P /vmfs/volumes/<yourmvfsvolumename>
You should also confirm that all your files are ok by checking the file
system. The commonly used list command for file systems at the service
console is "ls

-l". If you have any more volumes to upgrade you may rinse and repeat
the steps above until they are all done. Once all your volumes are
upgraded you do

need to unload the "auxiliary driver" that we loaded before and reload
the normal VMFS drivers. Two ways of doing this, one is to reboot and
the other is to

run the commands below.

vmkload_mod -u fsaux

vmkload_mod vmfs2

vmkload_mod vmfs3

‡ESX 3.0.0 is provided with 3.21 (initial release)

‡ESX 3.5.0 is provided with 3.31
‡vSphere (ESX 4.0) is provided with 3.33
‡vSphere (ESX 4.1) is provided with 3.46

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------
47) What is RDM and what r all d File Systems (FS) it supports?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------
48) What is SRM and how it works?

VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager delivers advanced capabilities

for disaster recovery management, non-disruptive testing and automated
failover. VMware
vCenter Site Recovery Manager can manage failover from production
datacenters to disaster recovery sites, as well as failover between two
sites with active

workloads. Multiple sites can even recover into a single shared recovery
site. Site Recovery Manager can also help with planned datacenter
failovers such as

datacenter migrations.

Disaster Recovery Management

. Create and manage recovery plans directly from VMware vCenter

Server.
. Discover and display virtual machines protected by storage replication
using integrations certified by storage vendors.
. Extend recovery plans with custom scripts.
. Monitor availability of remote site and alert users of possible site
failures.
. Store, view and export results of test and failover execution from
VMware vCenter Server.
. Control access to recovery plans with granular role-based access
controls.
. Leverage iSCSI, FibreChannel, or NFS-based storage replication
solutions.
. Recover multiple sites into a single shared recovery site.
. Take advantage of the latest features and technologies included in
VMware vSphere.

Non-Disruptive Testing

. Use storage snapshot capabilities to perform recovery tests without

losing replicated data.
. Connect virtual machines to an existing isolated network for testing
purposes.
. Automate execution of tests of recovery plans.
. Customize execution of recovery plans for testing scenarios.
. Automate cleanup of testing environments after completing tests.

Automated Failover

. Initiate recovery plan execution from VMware vCenter Server with a

single button.
. Automate promotion of replicated datastores for recovery using
adapters created by leading storage vendors for their replication
platforms.
. Execute user-defined scripts and pauses during recovery.
. Reconfigure virtual machines¶ IP addresses to match network
configuration at failover site.
. Manage and monitor execution of recovery plans within VMware
vCenter Server.

What¶s New in vCenter Site Recovery Manager 4?

. Protect more of your environment with added support for NFS storage
replication.
. Set up many-to-one failover using shared recovery sites.
. Leverage new features in vSphere.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------
49) What is d series of H/W (virtual) used for VM¶s virtual mother
mother/main board?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------
50) What r d date store path selections & what r d options available for
network load balancing?

You can display information about paths by running vicfg-mpath with one
of the following options:
. List all devices with their corresponding paths, state of the path,
adapter type, and other information.
vicfg-mpath<conn_options> --list-paths
. Display a short listing of all paths.
vicfg-mpath<conn_options> --list-compact
. List all paths with adapter and device mappings.
vicfg-mpath<conn_options> --list-map

Managing Path Policies with esxcli

For each storage device managed by NMP (not PowerPath), an

ESX/ESXi host uses a path selection policy. By
default, VMware supports the following path selection policies. If you
have a thirdOparty PSP installed on your
host, its policy also appears on the list. The following path policies are
supported by default:

Table 5-1. Supported Path Policies

Policy Description

VMW_PSP_FIXED The host always uses the preferred path to the disk
when that path is available. If the host
cannot access the disk through the preferred path, it tries the alternative
paths. If you use the

VMW_PSP_FIXED policy, use esxclinmp fixed to set or get the preferred

path

VMW_PSP_FIXED_AP Extends the VMW_PSP_FIXED functionality to

activeOpassive and ALUA mode arrays.

VMW_PSP_MRU The host uses a path to the disk until the path
becomes unavailable. When the path becomes
unavailable, the host selects one of the alternative paths. The host does
not revert back to the
original path when that path becomes available again. There is no
preferred path setting with
the MRU policy. MRU is the default policy for active Opassive storage
devices and is required
for those devices.

VMW_PSP_RR The host uses an automatic path selection algorithm

rotating through all available paths. This
algorithm implements load balancing across all the available physical
paths. Load balancing
is the process of spreading server I/O requests across all available host
paths. The goal is to
optimize performance in terms of throughput (I/O per second,
megabytes per second, or
response times).

Table 5-2. Path Policy Effects

Policy Active/Active Array Active/Passive Array

Most Recently Used Administrator action is required to fail
back after path failure.
Administrator action is required to fail back
after path failure.
Fixed VMkernel resumes using the preferred
path when connectivity is restored.
VMkernel attempts to resume using the
preferred path. This can cause path
thrashing or failure when another SP now
owns the LUN.
Round Robin No fail back. Next path in round robin scheduling is
selected.