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Document Sample
VMware Infrastructure 3
Comprehensive Evaluator’s Guide
Transform IT Infrastructure with Enterprise-Class Virtualization
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VMware VMWare Infrastructure 3 Comprehensive Evaluator’s Guide
Table of Contents
1 Getting Started ......................................................................................................................... - 3 -
2 Evaluation Planning and Environment Setup .................................................................... - 5 -
3 VMware Infrastructure Evaluation Setup ............................................................................ - 9 -
3.1 Install the VirtualCenter Server and the VI Client ....................................................................- 9 -
3.2 Install VMware ESX Server 3 ................................................................................................- 17 -
3.3 Configure an ESX Server 3i server .......................................................................................- 23 -
4 Building the Virtual Datacenter .......................................................................................... - 25 -
4.1 Starting the VI Client and Logging On ...................................................................................- 25 -
4.2 Creating a Datacenter............................................................................................................- 26 -
4.3 Bringing Hosts Under VirtualCenter Management ................................................................- 27 -
5 Creating Virtual Machines .................................................................................................... - 30 -
5.1 Creating Virtual Machines by Importing Virtual Appliances (Import) .....................................- 30 -
5.2 Creating Virtual Machines from Scratch (Create New) .........................................................- 34 -
5.3 Creating Virtual Machines from Existing Physical Servers ....................................................- 41 -
5.4 Creating Virtual Machines from Existing Virtual Machines (Clone) .......................................- 42 -
5.5 Creating Templates and Deploying Virtual Machines from Templates .................................- 45 -
6 Managing Virtual Machines ................................................................................................. - 47 -
6.1 Managing Virtual Machines States ........................................................................................- 47 -
6.2 Edit Virtual Machine Settings and Add Virtual Machine Hardware Devices ..........................- 48 -
6.3 Configure Network Connections ............................................................................................- 49 -
6.4 Configure Resource Pools on a Standalone Host .................................................................- 51 -
6.5 Schedule Tasks, View Events and Set Alarms......................................................................- 55 -
6.6 Monitor the Virtual Infrastructure ...........................................................................................- 56 -
7 Evaluate Application Workloads within a VMware Virtual Machine ........................... - 59 -
8 VMware Infrastructure Setup with Shared Storage ........................................................ - 60 -
8.1 Add a Second ESX Server Host to VirtualCenter ..................................................................- 61 -
8.2 Configure access to Shared Storage.....................................................................................- 61 -
8.3 Migrate Virtual Machine Files to the Shared Datastore .........................................................- 76 -
8.4 Configure ESX Server Hosts to enable VMotion Migration ...................................................- 77 -
9 Migrate Virtual Machines across Hosts with VMotion .................................................... - 80 -
10 Create a DRS / HA Cluster and Add ESX Server Hosts ..................................................... - 85 -
11 VMware Distributed Resource Scheduling ....................................................................... - 88 -
11.1 VMware DRS provides Dynamic Load Balancing .................................................................- 89 -
11.2 Create Resource Pools on the Cluster to Manage Access to Resources .............................- 91 -
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VMware VMWare Infrastructure 3 Comprehensive Evaluator’s Guide
11.3 DRS demonstrated ................................................................................................................- 93 -
12 VMware High Availability ..................................................................................................... - 96 -
13 VMware Storage VMotion (Optional) ................................................................................. - 99 -
14 Next Steps ..............................................................................................................................- 100 -
15 About VMware ......................................................................................................................- 101 -
16 Appendix ...............................................................................................................................- 102 -
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VMware VMWare Infrastructure 3 Comprehensive Evaluator’s Guide
1 Getting Started
About this Guide
The document is intended to facilitate a self-guided, hands-on evaluation of VMware Infrastructure 3,
consisting of VirtualCenter 2.5 managing one or more physical servers with ESX Server 3.5 and/or ESX
Server 3i version 3.
This guide includes scenarios where the servers have local storage or if they are connected to shared
storage.
Conventions Used in this Guide
The following conventions are used in this guide.
Style Elements
Blue Used for cross-references and links
Courier Used for commands, filenames, directories, paths, user input
Bold Used for interactive interface objects, keys, buttons and items of
interest
Italic Used for variables, parameters and web addresses
Additional Documentation Resources
Although the material presented in this document can all be found on the VMware Web site, this
evaluation guide attempts to consolidate the majority of the information into a single document to
facilitate the evaluation process. For further information and specific installation / configuration steps that
are beyond the scope of this guide, the guide will refer to documentation in the VMware Infrastructure 3
Online Library available at http://pubs.vmware.com/vi3 as needed. The reference format will be Book >
Chapter > Section. The Contents tab in the left pane of the Online Library provides quick navigation to the
referenced content.
Customer References
Over 20,000 VMware customers across all geographies and industries realize significant benefits from their
VMware Infrastructure 3 deployments. Visit our website at http://www.vmware.com/customers/ to find out
how virtualization makes IT infrastructure more manageable, flexible and reliable for a number of our
customers.
VMware Infrastructure 3 Software Download and Evaluation Licensing
Before purchasing and activating licenses for your ESX Server 3.5 and VirtualCenter 2.5, you can install and
run evaluation modes of the software. When run in evaluation mode, intended for demonstration and
evaluation purposes, your ESX Server and VirtualCenter are completely operational immediately after
installation, do not require any licensing configuration, and provide full functionality of ESX Server and
VirtualCenter for 60 days from the time you first activate them.
VMware Infrastructure 3 installation images can be downloaded from
http://www.vmware.com/download/vi/eval.html and the ISO image files burned to CD-ROMs to support the
installation. You will need to register as an evaluator with a valid email address to get the binaries.
If you are using a physical server which has ESX Server 3i pre-installed on it for your evaluation, you may
need to download VirtualCenter 2.5 from the above site.
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VMware VMWare Infrastructure 3 Comprehensive Evaluator’s Guide
Help & Support During the Evaluation
The best source for support during a VMware Infrastructure 3 evaluation is to refer to the VMware online
Knowledge Base. The Knowledge Base contains hundreds of documented issues and typically offers
workarounds or fixes that can help you resolve your issue quickly. This online Knowledge Base is
searchable and covers all the products that VMware offers. The resources below are useful linksfor self-help
tools and technical information:
• Support Knowledge Base – http://kb.vmware.com
• Product Information – http://www.vmware.com/products/
• General Product Documentation – http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs
• Solution Information – http://www.vmware.com/solutions/
• Technical Papers – http://www.vmware.com/resources/techresources/
• VMware Communities – http://communities.vmware.com
For press and analysts performing a VMware Infrastructure review, please contact your VMware Press and
Analyst Relations to request assistance. VMware press and analyst contact information is available at
http://www.vmware.com/news/pr_contacts.html.
Providing Feedback
We appreciate your feedback on the material included in this guide. In particular, we would be grateful for
any guidance on the following topics:
How useful was the information in this guide?
What other specific topics would you like to see covered?
Overall, how would you rate this guide?
Please send your feedback to the following e-mail address: docfeedback@vmware.com, with “VMware
Infrastructure 3 Evaluator’s Guide” in the subject line. Thank you for your help in making
this guide a valuable resource.
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VMware VMWare Infrastructure 3 Comprehensive Evaluator’s Guide
2 Evaluation Planning and Environment Setup
There are two types of evaluation scenarios covered in this guide:
Quick Evaluation Scenario:
This environment is setup to demonstrate virtualization benefits such as server consolidation, flexibility and
ease of provisioning with a single server and local storage.
This evaluation scenario is recommended if you do not have access to shared storage for your evaluation.
Comprehensive Evaluation Scenario:
This environment is setup to utilize shared storage in conjunction with VMware Infrastructure for improved
availability or dynamic load balancing. Shared storage such as a Fibre Channel or iSCSI SAN or NAS is
required to execute this evaluation scenario.
What to Expect – Quick Evaluation Scenario:
Figure 1: Infrastructure Relationship View for the Quick Evaluation
Figure 1 shows an overview of the example VMware Infrastructure datacenter deployment used in the
quick evaluation. A single VirtualCenter Server with the default co-located VirtualCenter Server Database is
managing a single ESX Server host using local disk storage. Users access and manage the environment
through the VMware Infrastructure Client and the Web Access Client.
The quick evaluation will walk you through setting up the evaluation environment and then creating and
managing virtual machines to test server consolidation effectiveness and workload performance.
What You Need – Quick Evaluation Planning Worksheet
Below are tasks and reminders that should be completed before software installation.
Supported server system for installing VMware ESX Server- See ESX Server 3.x Systems Compatibility
Guide for a list of servers certified with ESX Server
Server contains VMware certified I/O adapters and has at least one LAN-connected certified NIC. See
the ESX Server 3.x I/O Compatibility Guide for a list of certified devices
Server system and I/O components are at latest BIOS / Firmware
Server has ample memory for virtual machine testing requirements (2GB minimum, preferably 3GB+)
Server contains ample SCSI, IDE or SATA local storage for ESX Server installation and Virtual Machine
storage (10GB minimum, 40GB recommended)
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A Windows workstation / server for the VirtualCenter Server is available with network visibility of the
physical server that will have ESX Server installed. Note that to reduce the evaluation hardware required,
the Virtual Infrastructure Client can be installed and run on the same system as the VirtualCenter Server.
VirtualCenter can be installed onto 32-bit versions of Windows 2000 Pro SP4, Windows 2000 Server SP4,
Windows XP Pro (any SP level) or Windows 2003.
User has at least 2 IP addresses per physical server that is being virtualized. (VMware Infrastructure does
support DHCP, but static addresses are generally simpler to manage)
User has VMware install media these can be downloaded from
http://www.vmware.com/download/vi/eval.html
Or the user has the media available because ESX Server 3i is preinstalled on the server and VirtualCenter is
available on a DVD.)
User has all necessary operating system installation media, license keys and service packs to support
operating system installations on virtual machines (For example, Windows 2003 Server with Service Packs)
See Guest Operating System Installation Guide for a list of supported Operating Systems
What to Expect – Comprehensive Evaluation Scenarios:
Figure 2 - VMware Infrastructure Relationship View
for the Comprehensive Evaluation
Figure 2 shows an overview of the example VMware Infrastructure datacenter deployment used in the
comprehensive evaluation. A single VirtualCenter Server with the default co-located VirtualCenter Server
Database is managing two or more ESX Server hosts using shared storage. Users access and manage the
environment through the Virtual Infrastructure Client and the Web Access Client.
The comprehensive evaluation will walk you through setting up the evaluation environment with multiple
ESX Server hosts using shared storage and then creating and managing virtual machines to test high
availability and dynamic load balancing capabilities.
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What You Need – Comprehensive Evaluation Planning Worksheet
Below are tasks and reminders that should be completed before software installation.
2 or more supported server systems for installing VMware ESX Server- See ESX Server 3.x Systems
Compatibility Guide for a list of servers certified with ESX Server
Servers contain VMware Hardware Compliant I/O Adapters and have at least two LAN-connected
approved NICs each. See the ESX Server 3.x I/O Compatibility Guide for a list of certified devices
Server is connected to a supported FC /iSCSI SAN.or NAS. See the ESX Server 3.x Storage/SAN
Compatibility Guide for a list of certified storage arrays
Server system and I/O components are at latest BIOS / Firmware
Servers has ample memory for virtual machine testing requirements (2GB minimum, preferably 3GB+)
Servers are connected to ample SCSI/SATA storage for ESX Server installation. (10GB minimum, 36GB+
recommended.)
A workstation / server for the VirtualCenter Server is available with network visibility of the ESX Server?
Note that to reduce the evaluation hardware required, the VI Client can be installed and run on the same
system as the VirtualCenter Server.
User has at least 2 IP addresses per physical server that is being virtualized. (VMware Infrastructure does
support DHCP, but static addresses are generally simpler to manage)
User already has VMware install media? (Download from evaluation site or packaged with ESX Server
3i)
User has all necessary operating system installation media, license keys and service packs to support
operating system installations on virtual machines (For example, Windows 2003 Server with Service Packs)?
See Guest Operating System Installation Guide for a list of supported Operating Systems
Typical Quick Evaluation Timeline
This section outlines a test plan for evaluating VMware Infrastructure 3 environment quickly with servers
connected to local storage. This timeline highlights the common tasks when setting up the VirtualCenter
server, installing an ESX Server 3 host (or configuring an existing ESX Server 3i host), creating virtual
machines and managing the ESX Server and the virtual machines from VirtualCenter. This list is to serve as
a guideline only.
Evaluation Planning & Environment Setup
Timeline: Complete prior to software installation
Verify that your hardware meets the requirements in the VMware compatibility guides
Confirm that target ESX Server and VirtualCenter Server systems have network connectivity
Confirm that target ESX Server has access to a supported storage device
Confirm access to installation media, documentation, web support forums, etc
ESX Server & VirtualCenter Installation & Overview
Timeline: Week 1: Day 1
Install VirtualCenter Server on the designated server
Install ESX Server 3 on the designated server host (or configure an existing ESX 3i host)
Place ESX Server host under VirtualCenter management
Optionally install Virtual Infrastructure Client on other management workstations
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VMware VMWare Infrastructure 3 Comprehensive Evaluator’s Guide
Virtual Machine Functional Testing
Timeline: Week 1
Import an existing virtual appliance
Create a new virtual machine from scratch
Install the virtual machine operating system using local media or operating system ISO image
Power on the virtual machine and install VMware Tools in the virtual machine
Configure and test basic network connectivity of a virtual machine
Explore virtual machine management settings and virtual hardware options
Clone an existing virtual machine to create a new one
Exploring VirtualCenter Management Features
Timeline: Week 2
Create a template from a virtual machine
Deploy and customize the template as a new virtual machine
Create a scheduled task
Create an alert
Use VMware Converter to export an existing virtual machine
Application Functional & Load Testing
Timeline: Week 3
Install target test applications in virtual machine
Configure application settings in virtual machines per your standard process
Application functional test: Application starts without errors and functions as it does on a physical
server
Simulate actual “real world” load on application in the virtual machine
Monitor virtual machine performance with existing performance tools such as PerfMon
Monitor virtual machine performance using VirtualCenter
Have and end user test core functionality of applications in a virtual machine
Comprehensive Evaluation Scenarios
Timeline: Weeks 2-8
Configure the ESX Server to store virtual machines on a fibre channel SAN LUN, iSCSI device, or NFS file
share
Install additional ESX Servers and place under VirtualCenter management
Configure and run a VMotion Migration
Configure a DRS Cluster and explore Dynamic Load Balancing features
Configure a HA Cluster and explore VirtualCenter fault tolerance features
Optionally use Storage VMotion to move virtual machine disk files from one LUN to another without
any downtime.
Use VMware Converter to create a new virtual machine from an existing physical system (P2V)
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3 VMware Infrastructure Evaluation Setup
3.1 Install the VirtualCenter Server and the VI Client
The following steps provide a straightforward installation of the VirtualCenter Server software into a
Windows environment. A single installer package contains the VirtualCenter Server and VI Client as well as
other optional components such as VMware Update Manager, VMware Capacity Planner, VMware License
Server and VMware Converter.
You can install the VMware Infrastructure client and VirtualCenter server components separately or on the
same Windows system. You can also repeat this installation to install just the VirtualCenter client on other
computers for ease of access during the evaluation.
This evaluation will use the default Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express database for demonstration and
evaluation purposes. Note that for production environments, VMware recommends using an Oracle or
SQL Server database for higher performance.
To install the VirtualCenter Server and VI Client on your system:
1. As Administrator on the Windows system, insert the installation CD or manually select and run the
installer. When the VMware Infrastructure Management Installer screen is displayed, click Next. An
Introduction page appears. This page describes the benefits of installing VirtualCenter Server.
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2. Click Next. The license agreement
appears. Select I accept the terms in the
license agreement, and click Next.
3. The Customer Information page appears.
Type your user name and company name,
and click Next. The Installation Type page
appears.
4. Accept the default installation type
VirtualCenter Server and Infrastructure
Client to install all VirtualCenter
components as well as the VI Client. Click
Next. The database selection page
appears.
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5. On the database selection page, leave the
Use an existing database checkbox
unselected. The VMware Infrastructure
Management Installer will install Microsoft
SQL Server 2005 Express database for you
to support the evaluation.
6. On the License Server page, check the I
would like to evaluate the product first
check box to run VMware Infrastructure 3
in evaluation mode for 60 days.
7. For the Administrator login and password,
enter the username and password that
you use when you log into the system on
which you are installing VMware
Infrastructure. Click Next. The Installation
Summary page appears.
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8. Click Install to begin the installation.
Installation might take several minutes.
Multiple progress bars appear during
installation of the selected components.
`
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9. For each component that you are installing,
enter the port and proxy information that
you want to use or accept the default
information shown on screen. Click Next to
continue through the screens.
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10. Click Finish to complete the VMware
Infrastructure Management installation. The
selected VirtualCenter components are
installed on your system. The VirtualCenter
Server is installed as a service that
automatically starts on the system, and the VI
client is an application with a shortcut
available on the desktop. We will access the
VirtualCenter environment via the VI Client
once an ESX Server host is installed.
Note that the VI Client can additionally be installed from any Windows client. Simply open a Web
browser and go to the URL for either the VirtualCenter Server or an ESX Server host. The VMware
Infrastructure Client is available at this URL for download. Download and install the VMware
Infrastructure Client.
Also, note that all the clients and servers must be able to communicate over the network, so if firewalls
are present between the VirtualCenter Server, managed ESX Server hosts and Virtual Infrastructure
clients, ports will need to be opened to allow communication. Refer to the Installation Guide >
Chapter 6 Installing VMware Infrastructure Management > Configuring Communication Between
VirtualCenter Components to configure firewall ports.
Install the Microsoft Sysprep Tools
If you plan to customize a Windows guest operating system following a virtual machine cloning or a
deployment from a template, you must first install the Microsoft Sysprep tools on your VirtualCenter Server
machine. Microsoft includes the Sysprep tool set on the installation CD-ROM discs for Windows 2000,
Windows XP, and Windows 2003. It also distributes Sysprep from the Microsoft Web site. To perform a
Windows customization, you must install the Sysprep tools either from your installation disc, or from the
Microsoft download package. You must install the correct version of the Sysprep tools for each operating
system you want to customize. Also, ensure that the password for the local administrator account on the
virtual machine is set to blank (““). If the password for the local administrator account on the virtual
machine is not set to blank, you will have to access the virtual machine console and login as an
administrator to enable the Sysprep to continue.
During customization, VirtualCenter searches for the Sysprep package corresponding to your guest
operating system. If VirtualCenter does not find any Sysprep tools, the Windows virtual machine
customization does not proceed.
To install the Microsoft Sysprep tools from a Microsoft Web site download:
1. Download the Sysprep package from the Microsoft download center. Make sure that you
download the correct version for the guest operating system you want to customize.
2. Click Next to continue.
3. Click I agree to accept the terms and conditions.
4. Click Download.
5. Save the file to your local disk.
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6. Open and expand the .cab file, using a tool such as Winzip.exe or another tool capable of reading
Microsoft CAB files.
7. Extract the files to the provided directory. The following Sysprep support directories were created
during VirtualCenter installation:
C:\<ALLUSERSPROFILE>\Application Data\Vmware\VMware
VirtualCenter\sysprep
...\1.1\
...\2k\
...\xp\
...\svr2003\
...\xp-64\
...\svr2003-64\
where <ALLUSERSPROFILE> is usually \Documents And Settings\All
Users\. This is where vpxd.cfg is also located. Select the subdirectory that corresponds
to your operating system.
8. Click OK to expand the files. After you have extracted the files from the .cab file, you should see:
...\<guest>\deptool.chm
...\<guest>\readme.txt
...\<guest>\setupcl.exe
...\<guest>\setupmgr.exe
...\<guest>\setupmgx.dll
...\<guest>\sysprep.exe
...\<guest>\unattend.doc
where <guest> is 2k, xp, svr2003, xp-64, or svr2003-64.
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To install the Microsoft Sysprep tools from the Windows operating system CD:
1. Insert the Windows operating system CD into the CD-ROM drive (often the D: drive.)
2. Locate the DEPLOY.CAB file in the CD directory, \Support\Tools.
3. Open and expand the DEPLOY.CAB file, using a tool such as Winzip.exe or another tool
capable of reading Microsoft CAB files.
4. Extract the files to the directory appropriate to your Sysprep guest operating system. The
following Sysprep support directories were created during VirtualCenter installation:
C:\<ALLUSERSPROFILE>\Application Data\Vmware\VMware
VirtualCenter\sysprep
...\1.1\
...\2k\
...\xp\
...\svr2003\
...\xp-64\
...\svr2003-64\
where <ALLUSERSPROFILE> is usually \Documents And Settings\All
Users\. This is where vpxd.cfg is also located. Select the subdirectory that
corresponds to your operating system.
5. Click OK to expand the files. After you have extracted the files from the .cab file, you should
see:
...\<guest>\deptool.chm
...\<guest>\readme.txt
...\<guest>\setupcl.exe
...\<guest>\setupmgr.exe
...\<guest>\setupmgx.dll
...\<guest>\sysprep.exe
...\<guest>\unattend.doc
where <guest> is 2k, xp, svr2003, xp-64, or svr2003-64.
6. Repeat this procedure to extract Sysprep files for each of the Windows guest operating
systems (Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows 2003) you plan to customize using
VirtualCenter.
You are now ready to customize a new virtual machine with a supported Windows guest
operating system when you clone an existing virtual machine.
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3.2 Install VMware ESX Server 3
This section describes how to install the ESX Server software on your server machine using the graphical
installer. Note that when installing ESX Server on IDE/ATA or SATA drives, keep in mind the following
considerations.
• For IDE/ATA RAID: Make sure that your controller for an IDE/ATA RAID is included in the supported
hardware. Do not use IDE/ATA RAIDs to store virtual machines. Virtual machines must be stored on
VMFS partitions configured on a SCSI or SATA drive, a SCSI RAID, or a SAN. VMFS refers to the
VMware file system used by ESX Server.
• For SATA drives: Ensure that your SATA drives are connected through supported SAS controllers.
Do not use SATA disks to create VMFS datastores shared across multiple ESX Server hosts.
To install ESX Server:
1. Verify the network cable is plugged into your primary Ethernet adapter. The ESX Server installer
needs a live network connection to properly detect certain network settings, such as the machine
name under DHCP. Also, if the ESX Server is connected to a SAN, VMware recommends
temporarily disconnecting the ESX Server from the SAN prior to installation to avoid the risk of
accidentally overwriting the data on a shared LUN.
2. Power on the machine with the VMware ESX Server CD in the CD drive. The ESX Server begins its
boot process until the mode selection page appears. If this page does not appear, reboot the
machine and press the key required to enter your machine’s BIOS Setup page. This key is often
F1, F2, or F10. Set the CD drive
as the first boot device and reboot the
machine.
3. Press Enter to start the graphical
installer. A series of installation messages
scroll past until the CD Media Test page
appears.
4. Click Test to have the installer inspect
the installation CD media for errors. If
you click Skip, continue now with Step
5. If you click Test, a progress bar
appears. The CD media is being tested
for errors. When testing is complete, a
Media Check Result dialog box appears.
Click OK. The Welcome page appears.
Click Next.
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5. The Select Keyboard page
appears. Select your keyboard
language from the list, and click
Next.
6. The Mouse Configuration page
appears. Select your mouse.
Mouse configuration is not a
critical setting. After ESX Server is
installed, the setting is ignored.
The X Window System is not
supported from the service
console. When you have selected
your mouse, click Next.
7. Accept the VMware license
agreement. You cannot install this
product unless you accept the
license agreement. Read through
the end user license agreement
and select I accept the terms of
the license agreement. Click
Next. If any drives or LUNs are not
already initialized, a warning
dialog box appears and offers to
initialize the drive. If you do not
have data on the drive, click OK to
allow partitioning to occur. You
must initialize the target
installation drive to use it during
installation. You do not need to
initialize any other drives or LUNs
that are currently unreadable.
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8. Accept Recommended as the
partitioning option. This option
configures default partitions for
you, based on the capacity of the
hard drive. Select the local volume
on which to install the ESX Server
software. If you want to preserve
any existing VMFS partitions with
existing virtual machines, select
Keep virtual machines and the
VMFS that contains them. This
usually applies only if you are
installing on top of a previous
version of ESX Server.
9. WARNING - This is your last
opportunity to cancel and return
to your previous configuration.
When you click Next, the installer
begins partitioning and formatting
the file system. A warning dialog
box appears. Click Yes to continue
with your partitioning selection.
10. The installer will display the
recommended partitioning for
your review. You do not need to
change anything on this page. To
continue, click Next.
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11. Accept the default to boot the
ESX Server from a drive (install on
the MBR of the drive). Verify that
the same local volume you
selected on the Partitioning
Options screen is selected in the
drop-down menu of the radio
button. If your local volume is not
selected, select to edit the
bootloader configuration and
select the correct drive. This drive
must match the first boot device
set in the host BIOS. If these
settings do not match, the host
cannot boot into the ESX Server
software. Booting from a partition
is used for legacy hardware that
stores BIOS information in the MBR. Click Next to continue the installation.
12. Configure the network settings.
a. Select the network
interface for use by the
ESX Server console. Virtual
machine network traffic
shares this network
adapter until you
configure a virtual switch
for another network
adapter. You can
configure other network
adapters at a later time
from the VI Client.
b. Configure the ESX Server
host network IP address.
VMware recommends
that you use a static IP address to simplify client access. If you do not have the required
network configuration information, see your network administrator for assistance.
c. Enter the ESX Server host name. Type the complete machine name, including the domain
where appropriate. This option is available only if you have opted to use a static IP address.
VI Clients can use either the host name or the IP address to access the ESX Server host.
d. If your network requires a VLAN ID, enter a VLAN ID.
e. Keep Create a default network for virtual machines selected to create a default port
group for virtual machines. Your virtual machines will share a network adapter with the
service console, which is fine for an evaluation purposes but not the recommended
configuration for optimum security. If you do not select this option, create a network
connection for your virtual machines as described in the Server Configuration Guide.
f. Click Next.
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13. Set your time zone. Click Next.
14. Enter a root password. Type the
same password into both fields
and click Next. The root password
must contain at least six
characters. A warning appears if
the passwords do not match.
15. Confirm your installation
configuration, and click Next.
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16. Progress bars appear to show the
status of the installation, and a
dialog box informs you when the
installation completes.
17. Click Finish to exit.
18. Once the installation is complete, the
server will restart and boot ESX Server
automatically. If your ESX Server is shut
down, you must manually restart it. To
shutdown or reboot an ESX Server,
select the ESX Server in the Virtual
Infrastructure Client’s inventory panel
and choose Reboot or Shut Down from
the main or right-click pop-up menu.
Refer to the Installation Guide > Chapter 7
Installing VMware ESX Server Software if
needed for more information on installing
ESX Server
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3.3 Configure an ESX Server 3i server
An ESX Server 3i host is a physical server that contains an ESX Server image preinstalled as firmware in the
factory. By attaching a monitor to the host, you can access the direct console for initial configuration and
troubleshooting of the ESX Server software.
When you power on the ESX Server 3i host
for the first time, the host enters a boot-
up phase during which system network
and storage devices are configured with
defaults. The default behavior for
networking is for the Dynamic Host
Configuration Protocol (DHCP) to
configure IP. The default behavior for
storage is for all visible blank local disks to
be formatted with the virtual machine file
system (VMFS) so that virtual machines can
be stored on the disks. After the host
completes the boot-up phase, the direct console appears on the attached monitor. Using a keyboard
attached to the host, you can examine the default network configuration applied during the boot-up
phase and change any settings as needed.
If you initially boot the ESX Server 3i host with no network attached or no DHCP server available, the
software assigns a default IP address of 192.168.0.2. If this is the case, you can use this default address to
connect initially and then configure a static network address. If you are not local to the host, you can use
the VI Client to configure static IP settings. If you are local to the host, you can use the direct console to
configure static IP settings, including the IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway.
Selecting the Boot Device for ESX Server 3i
The basic input/output system (BIOS) boot configuration determines which mode your server boots into.
You always have the choice to boot into ESX Server 3i mode or into another mode. For ESX Server 3i, the
boot device is the USB flash. Generally, the USB flash device is listed first in the BIOS boot settings on the
machine that hosts ESX Server 3i. The ability to change the boot setting is helpful if you have other
supported operating systems on the host. You can change the boot setting by configuring the boot order
in the BIOS during startup or by selecting a boot device from the boot option menu.
Some ESX Server 3i hosts might not be preconfigured in the BIOS to boot into ESX Server 3i mode. To
configure the boot setting for ESX Server 3i mode, press the key required to enter your host’s BIOS Setup
page while the ESX Server 3i host is powering on. Depending on your server hardware, the key might be
<F1>, <F2>, <F10>, <F11>, <F12>, or DEL. Select the USB flash device and move it to the
first position in the list.
Configuring ESX Server 3i using the Direct Console
We recommend powering on the host with no network cables connected to initially configure the server.
You can then use the direct console to configure the administrative password and configure a static IP
address. The direct console is similar to the BIOS of a computer interface with a keyboard-only user
interface. To navigate and perform actions in the direct console, press the directional arrows, Enter key, and
spacebar.
1. Boot the ESX Server 3i with only a keyboard and monitor connected to access the direct console.
Press <F2> to access the initial setup menu.
2. To set an administrative password, select Configure Root Password from the direct console and
enter the new password. The administrative username for the ESX Server 3i host is root. By default,
the administrative password is null, meaning there is no administrative password.
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3. To configure static IP settings, select Configure Management Network and then IP
Configuration to update the IP Address, Subnet Mask and Default Gateway values.
4. To configure DNS settings, select Configure Management Network and DNS Configuration to
specify the Primary Server, Alternate Server and Hostname.
5. Connect a network cable to the host and use the direct console to perform some simple network
connectivity tests. Select Test Management Network and press Enter to start the test. The ESX
Server 3i host pings the default gateway, the primary DNS nameserver, the secondary DNS
nameserver and then resolves the DNS host name to test your network configuration.
6. Once the networking is successfully configured, you will be able to connect to the host remotely
using the VI Client.
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4 Building the Virtual Datacenter
4.1 Starting the VI Client and Logging On
The VI Client is the interface to VirtualCenter Server and hosts. That is, you can connect to and manage the
VirtualCenter Server with the VI Client, and you can also connect to individual hosts with the VI Client. The
interface displays different options depending on which type of server you are connected to. If you are
connected to VirtualCenter Server, you can manage the VirtualCenter Server as well as all of the hosts and
virtual machines being managed by it. If you are connected to an individual host, the VirtualCenter Server
options do not display. Connect to your host through VirtualCenter to have an aggregated datacenter-
level view of multiple ESX Server hosts. When you manage your ESX Server hosts through VirtualCenter
Server, the users who can log on to the VirtualCenter Server are users in the Windows domain. When you
first log on to the VirtualCenter Server, all users in the Windows Administrators group are assigned
VirtualCenter Administrator privileges by default. You, as a VirtualCenter Administrator, need to explicitly
grant permissions for all other VirtualCenter users and user groups.
To start the VI Client and log on:
1. To launch the VI Client, double-click a shortcut, or choose the application through
Start>Programs>VMware>VMware Infrastructure Client. The VI Client logon dialog box
appears.
2. Type the host name or IP address of the
VirtualCenter server you previously installed.
3. To log on to a VirtualCenter Server, enter an
appropriate Windows domain user name and
password. If this is the first time you are logging on,
log on as Windows Administrator so you can set
permissions for other users. If you want to later log
in to an individual ESX Server host, enter a user
name that will be accepted by this host. If this is
the first time you are logging on to an ESX Server,
log on as root. For the purposes of this evaluation, you only need to log into the VirtualCenter
server.
4. Click Log In.
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4.2 Creating a Datacenter
If you are loggin in for the
first time, the VI Client
opens to the Getting
Started tab with no ESX
Server hosts under
management. The
Getting Started tab is
designed to provide new
users with background
information and
suggestions for next
steps. Experienced users
can select to close the tab
if desired to simplify the
user interface.
The next step is to create
a datacenter and bring
one or more ESX Server
hosts under VirtualCenter management. You can then create virtual machines and determine how you
want to organize virtual machines and manage resources.
Datacenters serve as containers for your hosts, virtual machines, resource pools, and clusters. Use
datacenters to create organizational structures so that you can dedicate virtual configurations to specific
departments, build isolated virtual environments for testing, or otherwise organize your environment.
To create a datacenter:
1. Click Inventory in the
navigation bar to display
the inventory panel.
2. Right-click the Hosts &
Clusters folder icon in the
inventory panel, and
choose New Datacenter
from the pop-up menu. A
datacenter icon is added
to the inventory.
3. Type a name for your
datacenter such as Eval
Datacenter. If you want
to further subdivide the
datacenter, you can create
folders and folder
hierarchies for specific host or resource groups. The method for creating folders is similar to the
method you used to create your datacenter—just choose New Folder instead of New Datacenter.
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4.3 Bringing Hosts Under VirtualCenter Management
ESX Server hosts serve as the virtualization platform for the virtual machines you create. Hosts provide the
CPU and memory resources to your virtual machines, give virtual machines access to storage, and offer
network connectivity. You manage your hosts through the VI Client, connected either directly to each
individual host, or indirectly to a group of hosts through a connection to a VirtualCenter Server. When you
use the VI Client to connect to your ESX Server hosts directly, you manage each of them individually as a
standalone host. When you access your host through the VirtualCenter connection, you register each host
with VirtualCenter to manage the entire infrastructure of your hosts as a group.
To add a host to the inventory:
1. Click Inventory in the navigation bar to display the inventory panel.
2. Right-click the datacenter you just created,
and choose Add Host. The Add Host Wizard
appears.
3. Type the Host Name of the host on the
Connection Settings page. Note that ESX
Server or ESX Server 3i must be installed on
the machine you wish to add to
VirtualCenter.
4. Type root in the Username field, and type
the root password in the Password field.
5. Click Next, and review the information on
the Host Summary page. Click Next again.
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6. Accept the default to not Enable
Lockdown Mode on the host. Click Next
to continue.
7. Select a datacenter or a folder from the
Virtual Machines and Templates inventory
as the location of the host’s virtual
machines. Click Next.
8. Review the information on the final page
of the Add Host Wizard, and click Finish.
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After you close the wizard, VirtualCenter Server performs the following:
• Searches the network for the host and determines whether the host has any virtual
machines.
• Connects the host. If the wizard can’t connect the host, it doesn’t add the host to the
inventory.
• Verifies that the host is not already being managed by another datacenter. If so,
VirtualCenter displays a message. If VirtualCenter can connect to the host but for some
reason cannot maintain the connection, the host is added in a disconnected state. This
occurs, for example, if the host is already being managed by another VirtualCenter Server.
• Reads the number of processors on the host and allocates the appropriate number of
licenses. The number of processors is stored in the VirtualCenter database and is verified
during each host reconnection and VirtualCenter startup.
• Verifies that the host version is supported. If not, VirtualCenter checks to see if the host can
be upgraded to a supported version. If the host can be upgraded, the VI Client prompts
you to perform an upgrade. After this sequence completes successfully, the host appears
in the VI Client inventory panel.
9. Once the host is
added to the
datacenter, it is
available to
support virtual
machines. Next,
we will import a
virtual appliance
and create a
virtual machine
from scratch.
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5 Creating Virtual Machines
The VI Client provides several ways to create virtual machines:
• Import – You can import previously created virtual machines such as virtual appliances
• Create New – You can manually configure entirely new virtual machines.
• Convert physical machines to virtual – You can convert existing physical Windows-based
machines to virtual machines using the “convert” functionality in VirtualCenter or using VMware
Converter.
• Clone – You can create exact replicas of existing virtual machines.
• Deploy from Templates – You can create virtual machines from templates that provide a base
configuration which you can customize.
For each type of creation process, a wizard guides you through the steps to produce a complete and
working virtual machine.
For new users, we recommend that you use the “import” or “create new” options to create your initial
virtual machines.
5.1 Creating Virtual Machines by Importing Virtual Appliances (Import)
A virtual appliance is a pre-built, pre-configured and ready-to-run software application packaged with the
operating system inside a virtual machine. Virtual appliances are changing the software distribution
paradigm because they allow application builders to choose the best operating system for their
application and deliver a turnkey software service to the end user. This new approach to software
distribution combines the simple deployment of software with the benefits of a pre-configured device. For
solution providers, building a virtual appliance is simpler and more cost effective than building a hardware
appliance. For end users, virtual appliances allow for a more consistent, highly-utilized operating
environment.
Many VMware partners build virtual appliances to distribute evaluation software and full production
software to their customers. VMware virtual appliance partners range from small to large software vendors
to solution providers that have delivered their products as traditional hardware appliances. All of these
partners wanted to make it easy to download and install a complete, production-ready solution stack that
has been pre-installed and pre-configured on an optimized configuration of the underlying operating
system. These production-ready virtual appliances that our partners have developed are available at
http://www.vmware.com/appliances/directory/. To create a new virtual machine using a virtual appliance,
download the virtual appliance and point to the virtual disk file rather than creating a new one when
creating the virtual machine.
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To import a virtual appliance:
1. In the VI Client, choose File >
Virtual Appliance > Import. The
Import Virtual Machine wizard is
displayed.
2. Select Import from VMTN from
the following options:
a. Import from Disk –
Browse your file system
for an appliance.
b. Import from URL –
Specify a URL to an
appliance located on the
internet.
c. Import from VMTN – Select from VMware appliances available on the VMTN Web site.
3. Select Browser Appliance –
288MB and the Virtual
Machine Details page is
displayed. Click Next.
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4. If license agreements are packaged
with the appliance, the End User
License Agreement page is
displayed. Agree to accept the
terms of the licenses and click
Next.
5. (Optional) Edit the name and select
a datacenter. A default name might
be provided. You can optionally
edit the name. The name can be
up to 80 characters long and can
contain alphanumeric characters
and the underscore ( _ ) and
hyphen (-) characters. It should
also be unique within the virtual
machine folder. Names are case-sensitive. Click Next.
6. Choose your local datastore for the
virtual machine, and click Next.
The virtual machine configuration
file and virtual disk files are stored
on the datastore. Choose a
datastore large enough to
accommodate the virtual machine
and all of its virtual disk files.
7. (Optional) If your virtual
infrastructure contains multiple
networks, map each network
specified in the OVF file to a
network in your infrastructure. Click
Next.
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8. Review your settings and click
Finish. The progress of the
import task is displayed in the VI
Client Status panel.
9. Once the virtual
appliance has finished
downloading, it will
show up as an available
virtual machine in the
inventory panel under
the host. Right-click on
the virtual machine and
select Power On.
10. Switch to the Console
tab for the virtual
machine to see it boot
up. This is a simple
virtual appliance that
let’s you browse the
Internet securely using
the Mozilla Firefox web
browser.
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5.2 Creating Virtual Machines from Scratch (Create
New)
The VI Client provides a simple and flexible user interface from which you can
create new virtual machines through manual configuration, from templates,
or by cloning existing virtual machines. All virtual machines are created in
place using a wizard that guides you through the steps to produce a
complete and working virtual machine. The typical path shortens the process
by skipping some choices that rarely need changing from their defaults. The
figure to the right summarizes the typical virtual machine path.
To create a virtual machine from the VI Client:
1. Click Inventory in the navigation bar, and expand the inventory as needed.
In the inventory list, select the managed host or cluster to which you want to add the new virtual
machine.
From the File menu, choose
New>Virtual Machine. The New
Virtual Machine wizard appears.
Select Typical, and click Next.
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2. The Name and Folder page
appears:
a. Type a name in the
Virtual Machine Name
field for your virtual
machine. This name
appears in the VI Client
inventory. It is also used as
the name of the virtual
machine’s files. Avoid
spaces and special
characters when naming
virtual machines.
b. To set the inventory
location for your virtual
machine, select a folder or the root of a datacenter from the list under Virtual Machine
Inventory Location list. Click Next.
3. The Datastore page appears.
Select a datastore in which to
store the virtual machine files, and
click Next.
4. On the Guest Operating System
page:
a. Under Guest Operating
System, select the
operating system family
(Microsoft Windows,
Linux, Novell NetWare,
Solaris, or Other). Note
that selecting the
operating system doesn’t
automatically install it
inside the virtual machine
being created.
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b. Choose the version from the drop down menu, and click Next. VirtualCenter does not
install the guest operating system. The New Virtual Machine Wizard uses this
information to select appropriate default values, such as the amount of memory needed.
5. If the host is multiprocessor and
the guest operating system
supports SMP, the Virtual CPUs
page appears. Choose the number
of virtual processors in the virtual
machine from the drop-down list,
and click Next.
6. The Memory page appears. Click
any of the colored arrows to set
the memory size, and click Next.
You can also drag the slider or
select the number using the up
and down arrows.
7. The Network page appears.
Choose network connections:
a. Select the number of NICs
you want to connect to.
b. For each NIC, use the
Network pull-down
menu to choose one of
the port groups that are
configured for virtual
machine use on the host.
If no virtual machine port
groups are configured, a
warning dialog box
appears, and you cannot
configure any virtual
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network cards.
c. For each NIC that you do not want the virtual network adapter to connect when the
virtual machine is powered on, deselect the Connect at Power On check box.
d. Click Next.
8. The Virtual Disk Capacity page
appears. Enter the disk size in
megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB)
in the Disk Size field, and click
Next. The virtual disk should be
large enough to hold the guest
operating system and all of the
software that you intend to install
with room for data and growth.
9. The Ready to Complete page is
displayed. Review your choices,
and click Finish.
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10. At this point, the new virtual machine is like a physical computer with a blank hard disk. Before you
can use your new virtual machine,
you must partition and format the
virtual disk and then install a guest
operating system and VMware
Tools. The operating system’s
installation program can handle
the partitioning and formatting
steps for you. Installing a guest
operating system inside your
virtual machine is essentially the
same as installing it on a physical
computer. The basic process to
install a typical operating system is
to insert the installation CD-ROM
for your guest operating system
and power on the virtual machine.
Right-click on the new virtual
machine and select Edit Settings to open the Virtual Machine Properties window.
11. If you are installing from a CD-ROM, insert the disk into the VI Client or ESX Server drive.
12. Select CD/DVD Drive 1. Select one of
the following options:
a. Client Device – Select this
option to connect the
virtual CD-ROM device to a
CD-ROM device on the
machine from which you
are running the VI Client.
b. Host Device – Select this
option to connect the
virtual CD-ROM device to a
device on the ESX Server
host machine on which this
virtual machine is located.
Choose the device from the
drop-down menu.
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c. Datastore ISO File – Select
this option to connect the
virtual CD-ROM device to
an ISO file on a datastore.
This is a faster alternative to
installing from CD-ROM.
Click Browse to locate and
select the file. Check
Connect at power on to
make it available to the
virtual machine at boot.
13. Click OK.
14. Right-click on your new
virtual machine and select
Power On. Select the
Console tab to see the
virtual machine’s display. If
you are installing from local
media in the VI Client, click
to Connect CD/DVD in the
toolbar. Note that you might
need to change the boot
order in the virtual machine
BIOS so that the virtual
machine attempts to boot
from the CD/DVD device
before trying other boot
devices. To do so, press F2
when prompted during virtual machine startup. Once the installation CD is running, follow the
instructions provided by the operating system vendor to complete the installation. Note that
when working with virtual machines in the console, additional commands such as sending a
Ctrl-Alt-Del are available by right clicking on the virtual machine in the Inventory panel.
Also, pressing Ctrl-Alt releases the mouse focus from the console window.
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15. The final step is to install
VMware Tools. VMware
Tools is a suite of utilities
that enhances the
performance of the
virtual machine’s guest
operating system and
improves management
of the virtual machine.
Although the guest
operating system can
run without VMware
Tools, you lose important
functionality and
convenience. The
installers for VMware
Tools for Windows, Linux, and NetWare guest operating systems are built into ESX Server as ISO
image files. With the guest operating system running, right-click on the virtual machine and select
to Install / Upgrade VMware Tools to launch the installer. Follow the instructions to complete the
typical installation.
16. Once the installation is complete, be sure to enable time
synchronization between the virtual machine and the ESX
Server. In the VM Console, double-click the VMware Tools
icon in the system tray to open the options tab and enable
time synchronization.
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5.3 Creating Virtual Machines from Existing Physical Servers
Conversion of physical machines to virtual machines can be done using VMware Converter. We
recommend that users new to virtualization create new virtual machines from scratch initially or
import virtual appliances from
http://www.vmware.com/appliances/
For users familiar with virtualization, physical to virtual machine conversion can be performed in the
following steps:
1. Download VMware Converter onto the physical server being converted (source) or onto a different
server with network access to the source physical server as well as the virtualized server where the
virtual machine will be placed. (destination)
2. Launch the conversion wizard which will guide a user through the conversion specifics
3. Configure the newly created virtual machine once conversion is complete.
For more information, refer http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/converter_pubs.html
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5.4 Creating Virtual Machines from Existing Virtual Machines (Clone)
A clone is a copy plus customization of a virtual machine. When you create a clone, VirtualCenter
provides an option to customize the guest operating system of that virtual machine. You can place the
new clone on any host within the same datacenter as the original virtual machine.
To clone a virtual machine:
1. Select the source
virtual machine and
shut down the guest if
it is running.
2. To start the Clone a Virtual
Machine wizard, right-click
on the source virtual
machine and select Clone.
The Clone Virtual Machine
Wizard appears. Enter a
virtual machine name, select
a location, and click Next.
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3. Select a host or cluster on
which to run the clone, and
click Next.
4. Select the datastore location
where you want to store the
virtual machine files, and click
Next.
5. The Select Guest
Customization Option page
appears. If you earlier installed
the Microsoft Sysprep tools for
this guest operating system,
you can choose to customize
the guest operating system
using the wizard. If not, the
guest operating system will
not be customized following
cloning. Click Next.
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6. If you installed the Sysprep tools
and selected to customize the
guest operating system, the
Windows Guest Customization
Wizard appears and asks for the
following customization
information and offers to save the
choices as a reusable
configuration file:
a. Registration Information
b. Computer Name
c. Windows License
d. Administrator Password
e. Time Zone
f. Run Once Commands
g. Network Configuration
h. Workgroup or Domain Configuration
i. Operating System Options
7. Review your selections,
and click Finish. On the
Ready to Complete
New Virtual Machine
page, you can select the
check box to power on
the new virtual machine
after creation. After you
click Finish, you cannot
use or edit the virtual
machine until the task
completes. If the task
involves the creation of a
virtual disk, it could take
several minutes to
complete. You can switch
to the Tasks & Events tab for the new virtual machine to monitor the progress of the task.
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5.5 Creating Templates and Deploying Virtual Machines from Templates
Virtual machines can be converted into templates to speed the creation of additional virtual machines.
A good practice to expedite server provisioning is to convert golden ‘master copy’ virtual machines
(with freshly installed operating systems or operating systems and configured applications) into
templates.
To convert an existing virtual machine to a template:
1. Select the virtual machine you want to convert into a template and shut it down if it is
running.
2. Right-click on the virtual machine
and select Convert to Template.
VirtualCenter marks that virtual
machine as a template and
displays the task in the Recent
Tasks pane.
3. Note that if you are in the Hosts
and Clusters view of the Inventory
panel, the virtual machine
converted to a template will
disappear from view. You can
access it by viewing the Virtual
Machines tab of the host or
datacenter, or by switching the inventory view to Virtual Machines and Templates using the
Inventory dropdown.
4. For clarity, right-click on the new virtual machine template and rename it to include Template
in the name.
To deploy a new virtual machine from a template, right-click the template and choose Deploy Virtual
Machine from this Template. Name the new virtual machine and select its location (datacenter, host,
folder, resource pool, etc.) and the datastore for its virtual disk files. Optionally select to customize the
guest operating system to customize the virtual machine’s hostname, networking, licenses and
administrative credentials.
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To deploy a new virtual machine from a template:
1. Select the datacenter that contains the template, and click the Virtual Machines tab. The
virtual machines and templates associated with the datacenter appear in the datacenter
panel.
2. Right-click the template, and
choose Deploy Virtual Machine
from this Template. The Deploy
Template wizard appears.
3. Give the new virtual machine a
name, select a location, and click
Next. The name can be up to 80
characters long and can contain
alphanumeric characters and the
underscore ( _ ) and hyphen (-)
characters. It should also be
unique across all templates and
virtual machines in the datacenter.
Names are case-insensitive: the name my_vm is identical to My_Vm .
4. On the Host / Cluster page, select the host on which you want to store the template and click
Next.
5. Choose a datastore for the virtual machine, and click Next. You are choosing the datastore in
which to store the files for the virtual machine. You should choose one that is large enough to
accommodate the virtual machine and all of its virtual disk files so that they can all reside in
the same place.
6. On the Select Guest Customization Option page, perform one of these actions:
a. If you do not want to customize your guest operating system, select Do not
customize and click Next.
b. If you want to customize your guest operating system, click one of the other
selections as appropriate.
7. On the Ready to Complete window, review the information for your new virtual machine,
select the Power on the new Virtual Machine after creation check box if you want to
power on the virtual machine immediately, and click Finish. After you click Finish, you cannot
use or edit the virtual machine until the task completes. This might take several minutes. The
virtual machine is added to the datastore.
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6 Managing Virtual Machines
6.1 Managing Virtual Machines States
To change the state of virtual machines in inventory, either right-click on the virtual machine or select a
command in the toolbar. The basic power state options for virtual machines include:
• Power on – Powers up the virtual machine and boots the guest operating system if the guest
operating system is installed.
• Power off – Powers down the virtual machine. The virtual machine does not attempt to shut
down the guest operating system gracefully.
• Suspend – Pauses the virtual machine activity. All transactions are frozen until you issue a resume
command.
• Resume – Allows virtual machine activity to continue and releases the suspended state.
• Reset – Shuts down the guest operating system and restarts it. If the guest operating system does
not support this operation, VMware Tools must be installed.
The following power options perform extra functions in addition to the basic virtual machine power
operations. VMware Tools must be installed in the virtual machine to perform these functions.
• Shut down guest – Shuts down the guest operating system. If the guest operating system
automatically powers off after shutting down, the virtual machine also powers off.
• Restart guest – Shuts down and restarts the guest operating system without powering off the
virtual machine.
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6.2 Edit Virtual Machine Settings and Add Virtual Machine Hardware
Devices
The Virtual Machine Properties editor and the Add Hardware wizard allow you to edit and configure your
existing virtual machines. These activities are typically performed after you create the virtual machine and
install the guest operating system. The Virtual Machine Properties Editor allows you to change nearly every
characteristic of your virtual machine that you choose when you create the virtual machine. To edit an
existing virtual machine configuration:
1. From the VI Client inventory, select the virtual machine you want to customize.
2. Power off the virtual machine. You cannot edit most virtual machine properties if the virtual
machine is powered on.
3. Right-click on the virtual machine and click Edit Settings. The Virtual Machine Properties dialog
box is displayed.
4. Select one of the following tabs
according to the settings you
want to change:
a. Hardware – To add, edit,
or remove hardware from
your virtual machine. The
devices that can be added
are serial ports, parallel
ports, floppy drives,
DVD/CD-ROM drives,
Ethernet adapters, hard
disks and SCSI devices.
b. Options – To edit power
management settings and
other options.
c. Resources – To edit CPU, memory, disk, and advanced resource settings for this virtual
machine.
5. Make changes as needed, and click OK.
You can configure additional virtual hardware for your virtual machine as needed. The following hardware
devices can be added:
• Serial Port
• Parallel Port
• Floppy Drive
• DVD/CD-ROM Drive
• Sound card
• Ethernet Adapter
• Hard Disk
• SCSI Controller
To add a hardware device:
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1. From the Hardware tab, and click Add to display the Add Hardware Wizard.
2. Select the type of device you want to add, and click Next.
3. Follow the steps in the wizard to add the device.
Adjust these settings and add devices as needed to evaluate their impact on the virtual machines. Refer to
the Basic System Administration Guide > Chapter 12 Configuring Virtual Machines if needed for more
information.
6.3 Configure Network Connections
Networking for the service console, which runs the management services, is set up by default during the
installation of ESX Server. As you selected the default option during ESX Server installation to create a port
group for virtual machines, you do not need to configure networking for your virtual machines. However,
in this default configuration, virtual machine network traffic shares a network adapter with the service
console. For security and other reasons, VMware recommends that virtual machine traffic not share a
network adapter with the service console in
production environments.
To create or add a virtual network for a virtual
machine:
1. Select the ESX Server host from the
inventory panel and click the
Configuration tab. Click on Networking
to display the existing virtual switches.
This example shows a virtual switch
named vSwitch0 that is handling
management traffic for the service
console, NFS access for the VMkernel and
network traffic for four virtual machines.
2. On the right side of the screen, click Add
Networking to create a new internal-
only virtual switch to handle network
traffic between two virtual machines on
the host. The Add Network Wizard
appears. As a connection type, select
Virtual Machine, which is the default.
Click Next.
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3. The Network Access page
appears. Virtual machines
reach physical networks
through uplink adapters. A
vSwitch is able to transfer
data to external networks
only when one or more
network adapters (vmnics)
are attached to it. When two
or more adapters are
attached to a single vSwitch,
they are transparently
teamed. Select Create a
virtual switch. You can
create a new vSwitch with
or without Ethernet
adapters. If you create a
vSwitch without physical
network adapters, all traffic on that vSwitch will be confined to that vSwitch. No other hosts on the
physical network or virtual machines on other vSwitches will be able to send or receive traffic over
this vSwitch. This is desirable if you want a group of virtual machines to be able to communicate
with each other but not with other hosts or with virtual machines outside the group. In this case,
we want to create an internal only network so deselect any vmnic adapters that are checked.
Changes are reflected in the Preview pane.
4. Click Next. The Connection
Settings page appears.
Provide a network label for
the new virtual switch. Click
Next again to view the
Ready to Complete
summary and click Finish to
create the new internal-only
virtual switch. Virtual
machines can now be
connected to this virtual
switch, and they will be able
to communicate with other
virtual machines on the
same switch.
Refer to the Server Configuration
Guide for more information on
network configuration.
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6.4 Configure Resource Pools on a Standalone Host
You can use resource pools to hierarchically partition available CPU and memory resources. Each
standalone host and each DRS cluster has an (invisible) root resource pool that groups the resources of
that host or cluster. The root resource pool is not displayed because the resources of the host (or cluster)
and the root resource pool are always the same. If you don’t create child resource pools, only the root
resource pools exist.
Users can create child resource pools of the root resource pool or of any user-created child resource pool.
Each child resource pool owns some of the parent’s resources and can, in turn, have a hierarchy of child
resource pools to represent successively smaller units of computational capability. A resource pool can
contain child resource pools, virtual machines, or both. This creates a hierarchy of shared resources. The
resource pools at a higher level are called parent resource pools, while the resource pools and virtual
machines that are at the same level are called siblings.
In this figure, RP-QA is the parent
resource pool for RP-QA-UI. RP-
Marketing and RP-QA are siblings. The
three virtual machines immediately
below RP-Marketing are also siblings.
For each resource pool, you can specify
reservation, limit, shares, and whether
the reservation should be expandable.
The resource pool resources are then available to child resource pools and virtual machines.
When you create a child resource pool, you are prompted for the following resource pool attribute
information. The system uses admission control to make sure you can’t allocate resources that aren’t
available.
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CPU Resources Shares Number of CPU shares the resource pool has with respect to the
parent’s total. Sibling resource pools share resources according
to their relative share values bounded by the reservation and
limit. You can choose Low, Normal, or High, or choose Custom
to specify a number that assigns a share value.
Reservation Guaranteed CPU allocation for this resource pool.
Expandable Use this check box to indicate that, if virtual machines are
Reservation powered on in this resource pool, and the reservations of the
virtual machines combined are larger than the reservation of the
resource pool, the resource pool can use a parent’s or ancestor’s
resources. Default is selected.
Limit Upper limit for the amount of CPU the host makes available to
this resource pool. Default is Unlimited. To specify a limit,
deselect the Unlimited check box and type in the number
Memory Shares Number of memory shares the resource pool has with respect
Resources to the parent’s total. Sibling resource pools share resources
according to their relative share values bounded by the
reservation and limit. You can choose Low, Normal, or High, or
choose Custom to specify a number that assigns a share value.
Reservation Guaranteed memory allocation for this resource pool.
Expandable Use this check box to indicate that more than the specified
Reservation reservation should be allocated if resources are available in a
parent.
Limit Upper limit for this resource pool’s memory allocation. Default is
Unlimited. To specify a different limit, deselect the Unlimited
check box.
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Let’s create two resource pools on the evaluation server to demonstrate how they work. We’ll create a Test
Resource Pool with a low priority access to CPU resources and then a Production Resource Pool with a
high priority access to CPU
resources. To create a
resource pool:
1. Right-click on the
intended parent ESX
Server host in the
Inventory panel and
select New Resource
Pool.
2. In the New Resource Pool dialog box, enter the name Test
Resource Pool and change the CPU Resource Shares
from Normal to Low. Notice that the Shares value changes
from 4,000 to 2,000 as low provides half the resources of
normal. Click OK. VirtualCenter creates the resource pool and
displays it in the inventory panel.
3. Right-click on the host ESX Server host again and select to
create another resource pool. This time, name the resource
pool Production Resource Pool and change the CPU
Resource Shares from Normal to High. Notice that the Shares
value doubles from 4,000 from to 8,000 to provide double the
resources of a normal share. With a total of 10,000 shares across
the two pools, the virtual machines in the Test Resource Pool
will only be able to access 20% (2,000 of 10,000) of the available
CPU resources if the Production Resource Pool is using the
other 80% (8,000 shares of 10,000). As the CPU Resources is not
limited in the configuration, if the virtual machines in the
Production Resource Pool are only using 60% of the available
CPU Resources, the Test Resource Pool will be able to access
the remaining 40% of CPU Resources so that no compute
cycles are wasted.
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When you create a new virtual machine, the Virtual Machine Wizard allows you to add it to a resource pool
as part of the creation process. You can also add an already existing virtual machine to a resource pool as
described below.
To add an existing virtual
machine to a resource pool:
1. Select the virtual
machine from any
location in the
inventory. The
virtual machine can
be associated with a
standalone host, a
cluster, or a
different resource
pool.
2. Drag the virtual
machine (or
machines) to the
desired resource
pool object.
Go ahead and drag some of your virtual machines into the Production Resource Pool with a high share of
resources and others into the Test Resource Pool with a low share of CPU resources. When you move a
virtual machine to a new resource pool:
• The virtual machine’s reservation and limit do not change.
• If the virtual machine’s shares are high, medium, or low, %Shares adjusts to reflect the total
number of shares in use in the new resource pool.
• If the virtual machine has custom shares assigned, the share value is maintained. If the virtual
machine would receive a very large percentage of total shares, a warning is displayed.
• The information displayed in the Resource Allocation tab about the resource pool’s reserved and
unreserved CPU and memory resources changes to reflect the reservations associated with the
virtual machine (if any).
If a virtual machine is powered on, and the destination resource pool does not have enough CPU or
memory to guarantee the virtual machine’s reservation, the move fails because admission control does not
allow it. An error dialog box explains the situation. The dialog box compares available and requested
resources, so you can consider whether an adjustment would resolve the issue.
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6.5 Schedule Tasks, View Events and Set Alarms
Tasks are planned activities such as powering on or off a
virtual machine, cloning a virtual machine, or adding a
virtual machine to a resource pool. These activities can
be scheduled or initiated manually. Tasks generate event
messages that indicate any issues associated with the
task. You can schedule tasks to occur at designated
times. Each scheduled task option runs the
corresponding wizard for the task and adds a scheduling
time option at the end of the wizard. Schedule a few
tasks to evaluate by selecting File > New > Scheduled Task from the menu.
Alarms send notification
messages when selected
events occur to or on hosts or
virtual machines. Alarms
indicate the status levels of an
object or collection of objects
in the hierarchy. Alarms can
be defined at all hierarchical
levels, including folders,
datacenters, clusters, resource
pools, hosts, and virtual
machines. Alarms are
inherited from parent levels
and cannot be changed or overridden at a child level. When you add new alarms to any object you
contribute to the collection of alarms that are in force at any of its child levels. When an alarm is created,
VirtualCenter verifies the user permissions to perform the actions on the relevant datacenters, hosts, and
virtual machines. After the alarm is created, the alarm is performed even if the creating user no longer has
permission to create the alarm. Alarms are applied to either hosts or virtual machines. Each alarm has a
triggering event such as CPU usage is above 90% or state is off and a notification method such as send an
email notification, send an SNMP notification trap, or run a script. To view the default alarms for your
installation, select Hosts & Clusters from the Inventory panel and then select the Alarms tab. Right-click
and select to Edit Settings to see how the alarm is triggered and view and view the available
configuration settings.
Create several alarms to evaluate by selecting File > New > Alarm.
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6.6 Monitor the Virtual Infrastructure
You can collect performance statistics for all hosts, clusters, virtual machines, resource pools, and in your
environment. This includes statistical data on CPUs, disks, networks, and the like. VirtualCenter uses statistic
counters to query each entity and writes the data to the VirtualCenter database. To ensure performance is
not impaired when collecting and writing the data to the database, VirtualCenter performs cyclical queries
rather than performing one single query. It also uses collection levels to determine how many statistic
counters to use while querying for data. Combined, collection intervals and collection levels enable you to
control how statistics are collected across your environment. For more information on monitoring virtual
machine performance, see Basic System Administration > System Administration > Setting Up and
Monitoring Performance Statistics and Resource Maps in the VI3 documentation.
After you add hosts to VirtualCenter and create and power on virtual machines, you can customize and
monitor your environment using the Performance tab and Global and Inventory Maps.
The Performance tab is available
when you select a cluster,
resource pool, host, or virtual
machine from the inventory panel.
The Performance tab displays the
selected object’s resource
performance in graph and list
form. Performance views show
graphs for resources specific to
the selected inventory object. A
stacked graph is another way to
view the statistical information.
With virtual machines running,
click on the Performance tab for
the datacenter, host server and
virtual machine to monitor their
performance. Experiment with changing the statistics collection interval, changing the performance
counters, and exporting the performance chart data to Excel.
You can also export performance data to Excel files for later
evaluation and comparison using the Inventory > Virtual
Machine > Report Performance option.
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The Maps feature of the VI Client provides a visual understanding of the relationships between the virtual
and physical resources available in VirtualCenter. Maps of the items within VirtualCenter are available in the
Inventory through the Maps tabs for hosts, virtual machines, networks, and datastores, (Inventory Maps)
and through the Maps button in the navigation bar (Global Maps).
Global maps are accessible from the
button in the VI Client toolbar and
provide a high-level view of the
relationships between all physical and
virtual elements in the entire
VirtualCenter environment. By
selecting or deselecting the boxes on
the side of the inventory, you can see
which clusters or hosts are most
densely populated, which networks
are most critical, and which storage
devices are being utilized (or not).
Physical, Virtual, and Custom map
types exist for both inventory maps
and global maps. They constrain and
filter information on a VirtualCenter-wide level for the global maps. Click the Maps button in the
navigation bar to view a global map.
Inventory maps are accessible from the inventory view and show a selected item's relevant host, virtual
machine, network, and storage
relationships. This makes it easy to
understand what items are affected or
attached to the item in question.
These maps appear for folders,
datacenters, clusters, resource pools,
and hosts. Physical, Virtual, and
Custom map types exist for both
inventory maps and global maps. They
constrain and filter information on an
item-specific level for the Inventory
maps. The Maps tab is available when
you select folders, datacenters,
clusters, resource pools, hosts, or
virtual machines from the inventory
panel of the navigation bar. Click
Inventory in the navigation bar and select the Inventory Hosts and Clusters or Virtual Machines and
Templates options. Select a folder, datacenter, cluster, resource pool, or host inventory object. Click
the Maps tab to view an inventory map.
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VMotion resource maps appear only in
the tabs for virtual machines selected
in the inventory. In addition to visual
representations of the resources
(hosts, datastores, and networks)
associated with a virtual machine,
these maps display which hosts in a
virtual machine’s cluster or datacenter
are candidate hosts to which a virtual
machine can migrate. Though the
VMotion map is not the last word on
whether VMotion is possible, it
provides information about which
hosts are heavily loaded, which are
connected to all the same resources
that the target virtual machine is
connected to, and which hosts have compatible CPU and software with the target virtual machine. Click
Inventory in the navigation bar and select the Inventory Hosts and Clusters or Virtual Machines and
Templates options. Select a virtual machine. Click the Maps tab to view a VMotion map.
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7 Evaluate Application Workloads within a VMware Virtual
Machine
With VMware Infrastructure installed and configured, your evaluation of specific application workloads is at
this point self-directed. You could, for example, convert several production systems from your IT
infrastructure and consolidate them onto one host server to test their relative performance individually
and under consolidated load. With any of these virtual machines, you can click through the full menu
structure of the Virtual Infrastructure Client and test out the other configuration properties and actions
available. Keep in mind that you can refer to the full user documentation for more information or to
support evaluation steps not addressed in this guide.
For additional context, below is a list of applications that VMware customers commonly deploy within
virtual machines. These are all good candidates to evaluate for consolidation onto virtual infrastructure.
Software Categories Software Products
Web Services Microsoft IIS, Netscape, Apache, Allaire Coldfusion
Application Servers BEA WebLogic, IBM WebSphere, .ASP
Enterprise Messaging Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes, Groupwise, Sendmail, Other POP &
IMAP services
Database Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, IBM DB2
File and Print Services Microsoft, Novell, Samba/CIFS, NFS
Remote Session Access Citrix MetaFrame, Windows Terminal Services
Enterprise Applications SAP, Siebel, Peoplesoft, J.D. Edwards, Microsoft Great Plains, Oracle
Applications
Business Integration Microsoft BizTalk, IBM MQSeries
Helpdesk Applications Remedy
System Management HP Openview, Tivoli, MS Systems Management Server, VMware
VirtualCenter
Backup Services Veritas BackupExec, Veritas NetBackup, Tivoli Storage Manager, CA
ArcServe, CommVault Galaxy, Legato Networker, HP Data Protector
Network Services Windows NT / 2000 Domain Controllers, MS Active Directory, Sun One
Directory Server, LDAP, WINS, DHCP, DNS
Firewall / Proxy Squid, Netscape Proxy Server, Microsoft ISA
Services
Custom Developed & Custom NT and Linux applications
Legacy Applications
Development and Rational TestSuite, Microsoft Visual Studio, IBM VisualAge, Mercury
Quality Assurance Interactive
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8 VMware Infrastructure Setup with Shared Storage
The comprehensive evaluation setup
extends the quick setup to enable the
evaluation of advanced virtual datacenter
capabilities such as VMotion server
migration, high availability and dynamic
load balancing. The steps to setup the
evaluation include:
• Add a second ESX Server Host to
VirtualCenter
• Configure ESX Server access to
Shared Storage and Migrate
Virtual Machine Files
• Configure ESX Server hosts to
enable VMotion Migration
VirtualCenter VMotion Requirements
To be configured for VMotion, each host in the cluster must meet the following requirements.
Shared Storage - Ensure that the managed hosts use shared storage. Shared storage is typically on a
fibre channel storage area network (SAN) but can also be located on an iSCSI device or an NFS share.
Shared VMFS Volume - Configure all managed hosts to use shared VMFS volumes.
• Place the disks of all virtual machines on VMFS volumes that are accessible by source and
destination hosts.
• Set access mode for the shared VMFS to public.
• Ensure the VMFS volume is sufficiently large to store all virtual disks for your virtual machines.
• Ensure all VMFS volumes on source and destination hosts use volume names, and all virtual
machines use those volume names for specifying the virtual disks.
Processor Compatibility - Ensure that the source and destination hosts have a compatible set of
processors. VMotion transfers the running architectural state of a virtual machine between underlying
VMware ESX Server systems. VMotion compatibility means that the processors of the destination host must
be able to resume execution using the equivalent instructions where the processors of the source host
were suspended. Processor clock speeds and cache sizes might vary, but processors must come from the
same vendor class (Intel versus AMD) and same processor family to be compatible for migration with
VMotion. Processor families such as Xeon MP and Opteron are defined by the processor vendors. You can
distinguish different processor versions within the same family by comparing the processors’ model,
stepping level, and extended features. In most cases, different processor versions within the same family
are similar enough to maintain compatibility. In some cases, processor vendors have introduced significant
architectural changes within the same processor family (such as 64-bit extensions and SSE3). VMware
identifies these exceptions if it cannot guarantee successful migration with VMotion.
Other Requirements - Other VMotion requirements you must observe:
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• For ESX Server 3.x, the virtual machine configuration file for ESX Server hosts must reside on a
VMFS.
• VMotion does not support raw or undoable virtual disks or migration of applications clustered
using Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS).
• VMotion requires a private Gigabit Ethernet migration network between all of the VMotion
enabled managed hosts. When VMotion is enabled on a managed host, configure a unique
network identity object for the managed host and connect it to the private migration network.
8.1 Add a Second ESX Server Host to VirtualCenter
Refer to the steps in section 3.2 Install
VMware ESX Server 3 or 3.3 Configure
an ESX Server 3i server to install or
configure a second host server. Once
the host server is available on the
network, refer to section 4.3 Bringing
Hosts Under VirtualCenter
Management to add the new server to
VirtualCenter as an additional
resource.
Once the host is added, it will be
available under the datacenter with any virtual machines it contains visible.
8.2 Configure access to Shared Storage
An ESX Server virtual machine uses a virtual hard disk to store its operating system, program files, and other
data associated with its activities. A virtual disk is a large physical file, or a set of files, that can be copied,
moved, archived, and backed up as easily as any other file. To store virtual disk files and be able to
manipulate the files, ESX Server 3 requires specialized dedicated storage space. ESX Server uses storage
space on a variety of physical storage devices, including your host’s internal and external storage devices,
or networked storage devices. The storage device is a physical disk or disk array dedicated to the specific
tasks of storing and protecting data.
ESX Server can discover storage devices it has access to, and use them as datastores. The datastore is a
special logical container, analogous to a file system on a logical volume, where ESX Server 3 places virtual
disk files and other files that encapsulate essential components of a virtual machine. Deployed on different
devices, the datastores hide specifics of each storage product and provide a uniform model for storing
virtual machine files. Using the VI Client, you can set up datastores in advance on any storage device that
your ESX Server 3 discovers.
After you create the datastores, you can use them to store virtual machine files. Up until now, all evaluation
activities have used the local VMFS storage on the ESX Server. These next sections will walk you through
setting up your ESX Server hosts to store and run virtual machines from a LUN on a shared storage area
network (SAN), an iSCSI storage array, or a network attached file share (NFS). You will need to setup at least
1 type of shared storage if you are planning on evaluating the the VMotion, DRS, or HA features
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8.2.1 Using a LUN on a fibre channel SAN for shared storage
ESX Server supports QLogic and Emulex HBAs (host bus adapters), which allow an ESX Server computer to
be connected to a SAN and to see the available disk arrays. These steps assume you have a supported
storage system, a supported Fibre Channel switch, and that there is at least one Fibre Channel HBA in each
server. If you don’t have sufficient hardware available, you can still read through this section to gain an
understanding of how SANs are used by the virtual infrastructure.
For information on supported SAN hardware, download the VMware ESX Server SAN Compatibility Guide
from the VMware Web site at http://www.vmware.com/resources/guides.html.
When you create a datastore on a Fibre Channel storage device, the Add Storage wizard guides you
through the configuration. To create a datastore on a Fibre Channel device:
1. Select a host server in the inventory
panel and click the Configuration tab
to access Storage. Click the Add
Storage link. The Select Storage Type
page appears. Select the Disk/LUN
storage type and click Next. The Select
Disk/LUN page appears.
2. Select the Fibre Channel device you
want to use for your datastore and click
Next.
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3. If the disk or LUN you are formatting is
blank, the entire disk space is automatically
presented to you for storage configuration.
If the disk or LUN you are formatting is not
blank, the following options become
available. Review the current disk layout in
the top panel and select a configuration
option from the bottom panel:
• Use the entire device — If you select
this option, the entire disk or LUN will
be formatted and any file systems or
data previously stored on this device
will be destroyed. VMware
recommends selecting this option, so
that a single VMFS datastore occupies
the entire disk space.
• Use free space
4. Click Next and the Disk/LUN–Properties
page appears. Enter a datastore name. The
datastore name appears in the VI Client
and must be unique. Click Next.
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5. The Disk/LUN–Formatting page
appears. If needed, adjust the file system
values and capacity you use for the
datastore. By default, the entire free
space available on the storage device is
offered to you. Click Next.
6. The Ready to Complete page appears.
Review the datastore information, and
click Finish. This process creates the
datastore on a Fibre Channel disk for the
ESX Server 3 host.
7. Perform a rescan. Perform a rescan when
any changes are made to storage disks
or LUNs available to your ESX Server 3
system, when any changes are made to
storage adapters, when new datastores
are created, and when existing
datastores are edited or removed To
perform a rescan for a host, select
Storage Adapters in the Hardware
panel of the Configuration tab and click
Rescan above the Storage Adapters
panel. The Rescan dialog box opens.
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8. To discover new disks or LUNs, select Scan for New Storage Devices. If new LUNs are discovered,
they appear in the disk/LUN list. NOTE - You can also select an individual adapter and click Rescan
to rescan just that adapter. To discover new datastores, select Scan for New VMFS Volumes. If
new datastores or VMFS volumes are discovered, they appear in the datastore list.
9. Repeat the steps above to add the same shared storage to the second ESX Server host.
For advanced configuration, such as using multipathing, masking, and zoning, refer to the SAN
Configuration Guide.
8.2.2 Using a LUN on an iSCSI device for shared storage
ESX Server supports both software and hardware iSCSI initiators. Either will allow an ESX Server computer
to connect to an iSCSI storage array and access the available storage devices These steps assume you
have a supported iSCSI storage system which is already configured, and that you will be using the ESX
iSCSI software initiator.
For information on supported iSCSI hardware, download the VMware ESX Server SAN Compatibility Guide
from the VMware Web site at http://www.vmware.com/resources/guides.html.
Before you can create the VMFS datastore on the iSCSI device, you need to make sure that the iSCSI
initiator and ESX Security Profile are correctly configured on each server and that the iSCSI LUN devices are
visible to the ESX server.
1. Select a host server in the inventory panel and
click the Configuration tab to access
Networking Verify that a VMkernel port is
configured on one of the ESX virtual switches.
2. If a VMkernel port is not yet configured:
Click the Properties link for the virtual switch
where you would like to create the VMkernel port.
Click the Add button and select the VMkernel
connection type. Click Next
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3. Set the IP Address and Subnet Mask for the
new VMkernel port. The IP address for the
VMkernel port should be unique from that
assigned to the Service Console. Click Next
4. Click Finish to complete the VMkernel
configuration
5. If you receive a warning about there being no
default gateway set, click the Yes button to
configure it. Enter the IP address for the
Default gateway for the VMkernel and click
OK. It is not uncommon for both the VMkernel
and the Service Console to have the same
values set for the default gateway
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6. Click the Security Profile link under
Configuration Click the Properties link for
the Firewall and verify that outgoing
connections to the Software iSCSI Client are
permitted. Cick OK to confirm.
7. Click the Storage Adapters link under
Configuration. Select the iSCSI Software
Adapter. Click the Properties link. Click on
Configure under the General tab and select
the Enabled box under General Properties
Status. Click OK to confirm.
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8. If your iSCSI device requires CHAP
authentication, Click on the CHAP
Authentication tab, Click the Configure
button and enter the necessary credentials. If
your iSCSI device does not require
authentication you can leave CHAP
Authentication set to Disable. Click OK to
confirm.
9. Click the Dynamic Discovery tab, and click
Add. Enter the IP for the iSCSI Server device,
Click OK to confirm.Click the Close button to
end the iSCSI initiator configuration.
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10. Right Click on the iSCSI Software Adapter
device and select Rescan. If everything is
configured correctly you should see SCSI
Targets and available LUN devices displayed in
the Details area.
11. When you create a datastore on an iSCSI
storage device, the Add Storage Wizard
guides you through the configuration.
12. To create a datastore on an iSCSI device:
• Click the Storage link under
Configuration. Click the Add Storage
link. The Select Storage Type page
appears. Select the Disk/LUN storage type
and click Next. The Select Disk/LUN page
appears.
• Select the iSCSI device you want to use for
your datastore and click Next
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13. If the disk or LUN you are formatting is blank, the
entire disk space is automatically presented to
you for storage configuration. If the disk or LUN
you are formatting is not blank, the following
options become available. Review the current
disk layout in the top panel and select a
configuration option from the bottom panel:
• Use the entire device — If you select
this option, the entire disk or LUN will be
formatted and any file systems or data
previously stored on this device will be
destroyed. VMware recommends
selecting this option, so that a single
VMFS datastore occupies the entire disk
space.
• Use free space
12. Click Next and the Disk/LUN–Properties page
appears. Enter a datastore name. The datastore
name appears in the VI Client and must be
unique. Click Next.
13. The Disk/LUN–Formatting page appears. If
needed, adjust the file system values and
capacity you use for the datastore. By default, the
entire free space available on the storage device
is offered to you. Click Next.
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14. The Ready to Complete page appears.
Review the datastore information, and click
Finish. This process creates the datastore on
an iSCSI disk for the ESX Server 3 host.
Perform a rescan. Perform a rescan when any changes are made to storage disks or LUNs available to your
ESX Server 3 system, when any changes are made to storage adapters, when new datastores are created,
and when existing datastores are edited or removed To perform a rescan for a host, select Storage
Adapters in the Hardware panel of the Configuration tab and click Rescan above the Storage Adapters
panel. The Rescan dialog box opens.
To discover new disks or LUNs, select Scan for New Storage Devices. If new LUNs are discovered, they
appear in the disk/LUN list. NOTE - You can also select an individual adapter and click Rescan to rescan just
that adapter. To discover new datastores, select Scan for New VMFS Volumes. If new datastores or VMFS
volumes are discovered, they appear in the datastore list.
Repeat the steps above to add the same shared storage to the second ESX Server host.
For more detailed configuration examples, refer to the SAN Configuration Guide.
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8.2.3 Using a NFS server for shared storage
ESX Server supports using Network Attached Storage (NAS) through the NFS protocol. These steps
assume you have a supported NAS storage system, configured with a NFS share which is accessible across
the network.
For information on supported NFS Storage hardware and configurations, download the VMware ESX
Server Storage/SAN Compatibility Guide from the VMware Web site at
http://www.vmware.com/resources/guides.html.
Before you can use NFS to connect to network storage, you need to make sure that each ESX Server has a
VMkernel port correctly configured.
1. Select a host server in the inventory panel
and click the Configuration tab to access
Networking Verify that a VMkernel port is
configured on one of the ESX virtual
switches.
2. If a VMkernel port is not yet configured:
• Click the Properties link for the
virtual switch where you would
like to create the VMkernel port.
• Click the Add button and select
the VMkernel connection type.
Click Next
3. Set the IP Address and Subnet Mask for
the new VMkernel port. The IP address for
the VMkernel port should be unique from
that assigned to the Service Console. Click
Next
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4. Click Finish to complete the VMkernel
configuration
5. If you receive a warning about there being
no default gateway set, click the Yes
button to configure it. Enter the IP address
for the Default gateway for the VMkernel
and click OK. It is not uncommon for both
the VMkernel and the Service Console to
have the same values set for the default
gateway
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6. When you connect to a share on a NFS
server, the Add Storage Wizard guides
you through the configuration.
7. Click the Storage link under
Configuration. Review the existing
storage configuration on the ESX host. To
add additional storage, click the Add
Storage link.
8. The Select Storage Type page appears.
Select the Network File System storage
type and click Next.
9. The Locate Network File System page
appears. Enter the DNS hostname of the
NFS Server in the Server field. Enter the
name of the NFS share in the Folder field.
Enter the name you would like to use for the
Datastore Name and click Next
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10. The Network File System ready to
complete page appears. Review the
datastore information, and click Finish.
11. Click the Storage link under Configuration.
Review the existing storage configuration on
the ESX host and verify that the NFS file
share was added correctly.
By default the ESX Server will access the NFS share as user root. In some cases, the default security
permissions for the NFS share will be configured with the root squash option turned on. If the root squash
option is configured on the NFS share, the ESX Server host will be refused access in its default
configuration. If you encounter this problem, the preferred solution is to configure the no_root_squash
option on the NFS share. Alternatively, if it is not possible to configure the no_root_squash option, the ESX
Server Configuration Guide provides information about configuring a delegate user on the ESX Server host.
Repeat the steps above to add the same shared storage to the second ESX Server host.
For more detailed configuration examples, download the VMware ESX Server Configuration Guide from
the VMware Web site at http://www.vmware.com/resources/guides.html.
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8.3 Migrate Virtual Machine Files to the Shared Datastore
If you have existing virtual machines, they need to be placed on shared storage rather than local storage to
enable VMotion, DRS and High Availability features. Follow the steps below to migrate virtual machines to
shared storage:
1. Select the virtual machine in the
Inventory panel and view the
Summary tab. Confirm that the
datastore listed in the resources
section is a local datastore.
2. Shut down or power off the virtual
machine if it is running.
3. Right-click on the virtual machine
and select Migrate. The Migrate
Virtual Machine wizard starts.
4. Select the destination host or
cluster for this virtual machine
migration. In this case, select the
same host that it is currently
running on as we are only changing the location of the virtual machine disk files, not the location
of the virtual machine’s execution. Click Next.
5. Select the destination resource pool for the virtual machine migration, and click Next. If the host
contains no resource pools, select the host server and click Next.
6. Select the destination datastore.
The datastores that are accessible
from the new destination are listed.
Select the radio button to move
the virtual machine configuration
files and their virtual disks and
select the new shared storage
location. Click Next.
7. Review the summary, and click
Finish.
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8. You can monitor the progress
of the migration on the Tasks
tab and confirm the new
datastore location from the
summary tab.
Repeat this datastore relocation for each virtual machine that you want to migrate to shared storage.
8.4 Configure ESX Server Hosts to enable VMotion Migration
Moving a virtual machine from one host to another is called migration. Migrating a powered-on virtual
machine is called VMotion. Migration with VMotion, designed to be used between highly compatible
systems, lets you migrate virtual machines with no downtime. Your VMkernel networking stack must be set
up properly to accommodate VMotion. VMotion requires a private Gigabit Ethernet migration network
between all of the VMotion-enabled managed hosts.
To set up the VMkernel for VMotion:
1. Select the server from the inventory
panel and view the click the
Configuration tab and then
Networking. This will display the
existing virtual switches configured for
the server.
2. Click the Add Networking link. The
Add Network Wizard appears.
Select VMkernel and click Next.
Selecting VMotion and IP Storage
lets you connect the VMkernel,
which runs services for VMotion and
IP storage (NFS or iSCSI), to the
physical network. The Network
Access page appears.
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3. Select the Create a virtual switch
radio button to create a new
vSwitch. Select the check boxes for
the network adapter your vSwitch
will use. Your choices appear in the
Preview pane. Select adapters for
each vSwitch so that virtual
machines or other services that
connect through the adapter can
reach the correct Ethernet segment.
If no adapters appear under Create
a new virtual switch, all the
network adapters in the system are
being used by existing vSwitches. If
this is the case, reuse an existing
vSwitch to use its network adapter.
Click Next.
4. The Connection Settings page
appears. Under Port Group
Properties, enter a network label
such as VMotion and optionally a
VLAN ID. Select the Use this port
group for VMotion check box to
enable this port group to advertise
itself to another ESX Server as the
network connection where VMotion
traffic should be sent. You can
enable this property for only one
VMotion and IP storage port group
for each ESX Server 3 host. If this
property is not enabled for any port
group, migration with VMotion to
this host is not possible.
5. Under IP Settings, click Edit to set the VMkernel Default Gateway for VMkernel services, such as
VMotion, NAS, and iSCSI. The DNS and Routing Configuration dialog box appears. Under the DNS
Configuration tab, the name of the host is entered into the name field by default. The DNS server
addresses that were specified during installation are also preselected as is the domain. Under the
Routing tab, the service console and the VMkernel each need their own gateway information. A
gateway is only needed for connectivity to machines not on the same IP subnet as the service
console or VMkernel. Static IP settings is the default. Click OK to save your changes and close the
DNS Configuration and Routing dialog box. Click Next.
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6. Review your changes on the Ready
to Complete page and click Finish.
Be sure to similarly setup VMotion
networking for all of your ESX Server
hosts.
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9 Migrate Virtual Machines across Hosts with VMotion
Migration is the process of moving a virtual machine from one host to another. If the virtual machine is
powered off or suspended, this process is called cold migration. If the virtual machine is powered on, this
process is called migration with VMotion. Migration with VMotion allows you to migrate virtual machines
with no downtime but requires VMotion licensing and specific configuration.
Cold Migration
The virtual machine you want to migrate must be powered off or suspended prior to beginning the
migration process. With a migration, you also have the option of moving the associated disks from one
datastore to another. This is the technique you just used to relocate your local virtual machine files to the
shared storage location. A migration consists of the following steps:
1. The configuration files, including the NVRAM file (BIOS settings), log files, and the suspend file for
suspended virtual machines as well as the disks of the virtual machine are moved from the source
host to the destination host’s associated storage area.
2. The virtual machine is associated (registered) with the new host.
3. After the migration is completed, the old version of the virtual machine is deleted from the source
host.
If errors occur during migration, the virtual machines revert to their original states and locations.
Migration with VMotion
VMotion allows working processes to continue throughout a migration with VMotion. The entire state of
the virtual machine as well as its configuration file, if necessary, are moved to the new host even while the
data storage remains in the same location on the SAN. The associated virtual disk remains in the same
location on the SAN storage that is shared between the two hosts. After the configuration file is migrated
to the alternate host, the virtual machine runs on the new host.
The state information includes the current memory content and all the information that defines and
identifies the virtual machine. The memory content includes transaction data and whatever bits of the
operating system and applications are in the memory. The defining and identification information stored
in the state includes all the data that maps to the virtual machine hardware elements, such as BIOS,
devices, CPU, MAC addresses for the Ethernet cards, chip set states, registers, and so forth.
Migration with VMotion happens in three stages:
1. When the migration with VMotion is requested, VirtualCenter verifies that the existing virtual
machine is in a stable state with its current host.
2. The virtual machine state information (that is, memory, registers, and network connections) is
copied to the target host.
3. The virtual machine resumes its activities on the new host.
If any error occurs during migration, the virtual machines revert to their original states and locations.
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Migration Wizard
The Migration wizard takes you through the
process of migrating a virtual machine from one
host to another. Both source and destination
hosts must have VMotion enabled on them. If
the destination is a cluster, there must be at
least one valid destination host in the cluster, so
at least one host in the cluster must have
VMotion enabled. Preferably all hosts in a
cluster will have VMotion enabled, especially for
DRS clusters.
The Nostalgia virtual appliance is a simple
virtual machine containing old games that is a
good candidate virtual machine to run while
migrating with VMotion. To import the Nostalgia virtual appliance, run File > Virtual Appliance > Import
and follow the steps in section 5.1 Creating Virtual Machines by Importing Virtual Appliances (Import) to
deploy the virtual appliance. Select to deploy it to your local datastore. Once the virtual appliance is
installed, power on the virtual machine and open the console to see the game menu. Game 4, The
Incredible Machine, provides a good backdrop to watch or play during live VMotion migrations. Recall that
you can press Ctrl-Alt if needed to release the mouse from the console. Now power off the virtual machine.
To migrate a powered-off or suspended virtual machine:
1. Right-click on the virtual machine
and select Migrate to start the
Migrate Virtual Machine wizard.
2. Select the destination host or
cluster for this virtual machine
migration. Any compatibility
problem is displayed in the
Compatibility panel. Fix the
problem, or choose another host
or cluster. Select the second ESX
Server host that the machine is
not installed on. Click Next. Select
the destination resource pool for
the virtual machine migration,
and click Next.
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3. Select the destination datastore.
The datastores that are accessible
from the new destination are
listed. Select the radio button to
Move the virtual machine
configuration files and virtual
disks and select your shared
storage datastore. Click Next.
Review the summary and click
Finish. The virtual machine will
be quickly migrated to the other
ESX Server host and its virtual disk
files relocated to the shared
datastore.
4. Once the migration is
complete, open the
Summary tab for the
virtual machine and
confirm that it is using the
shared datastore.
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To migrate a powered-on virtual machine using VMotion:
1. Make sure that both the source and target hosts are VMotion-enabled and using the same shared
datastore. For each host, select the Summary tab and check the VMotion Enabled field and the
Datastore section. The VMotion Enabled field should say Yes. Datastores on both hosts should list
the same shared datastore as
available.
2. Power on the virtual machine and
view the console. If you are using the
Nostalgia virtual machine, game 4, The
Incredible Machine, provides a good
backdrop to view as the virtual
machine is live migrated.
3. Right-click on the virtual machine and
select Migrate to start the Migrate
Virtual Machine Wizard. Virtual
machines can also be dragged and
dropped onto destination hosts or
into resource pools for any host or cluster, in which case the wizard skips that page when
gathering information. Click Next.
4. Select the other ESX Server as the
destination host. When you select a
host, the Compatibility section at the
bottom of the wizard displays
information about the compatibility of
the selected host or cluster with the
virtual machine’s configuration. If the
virtual machine is compatible, the
panel is blank. If the virtual machine is
not compatible with either the host’s
or cluster’s configured networks or
datastores, a warning message
appears. Click Next. Select a resource
pool and click Next.
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5. Accept the default for a High Priority migration and click Next.
• High Priority – VirtualCenter
reserves resources on both the
source and destination hosts to
maintain virtual machine
availability during the migration.
High priority migrations do not
proceed if resources are
unavailable.
• Low Priority – VirtualCenter does
not reserve resources on the
source and destination hosts to
maintain availability during the
migration. Low priority
migrations always proceed.
However, the virtual machine might become briefly unavailable if host resources are
unavailable during the migration.
6. After all options have been
selected, a Ready to Complete
page appears that shows a
summary of the selected choices.
Review the page, and click the
Finish button.
7. When you click the Finish
button, a task is created that
begins the virtual machine
migration process. While the
virtual machine is in the
process of being migrated,
you have only limited access
to its functions. Continue to
watch the Console screen
and note that the virtual
machine is continuously
available while it is being
migrated from one host
server to another.
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10 Create a DRS / HA Cluster and Add ESX Server Hosts
A cluster is a collection of ESX Server hosts and associated virtual machines with shared resources and a
shared management interface. When you add a host to a cluster, the host’s resources become part of the
cluster’s resources. When you create a cluster, you can choose to enable it for DRS, HA, or both.
In clusters enabled for HA, all virtual machines and their configuration files must reside on shared storage
(such as a SAN), because you must be able to power on the virtual machine on any host in the cluster.
Hosts must also be configured to have access to the same virtual machine network and to other resources.
Each host in an HA cluster must be able to resolve the host name and IP address of all other hosts in the
cluster.
To create a new cluster and add ESX Server hosts:
1. Right-click the datacenter and choose New Cluster.
2. Choose cluster settings as
prompted by the wizard. In the
first panel, you choose whether
to create a cluster that supports
VMware DRS, VMware HA, or
both. That choice affects the
pages displayed subsequently,
and implicitly determines the list
of tasks displayed in the left
panel of the wizard. If you select
DRS and HA, you are prompted
for configuration information for
these options. Enter a name for
your cluster such as Eval
Cluster and check to enable
both VMware HA and VMware
DRS. Click Next.
3. Select Fully automated as the
level of automation for VMware
DRS. With full automation
enabled, virtual machines will be
automatically placed onto hosts
when powered on and then
automatically migrated to attain
the best use of resources.
Accept the default migration
threshold. Click Next.
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4. Accept the default to enable the
cluster to allow 1 host failure
and to enforce admission
control by not starting virtual
machines if they violate
availability constraints. Click
Next.
5. Accept the default to store the
swapfile in the same directory as
the virtual machine. Click Next.
6. After you complete all selections
for your cluster, the wizard
presents a Summary page that
lists the options you selected.
Click Finish to complete cluster
creation.
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7. The inventory panel now
shows the cluster under the
datacenter. Click through the
available tabs to see the
information available. The
next step is to add hosts to
this cluster to provide
computing resources.
8. To add Hosts to the cluster, drag and drop a
host onto the cluster to open the Add Host
Wizard. Accept the default to put all of the
host’s virtual machines in the cluster’s root
resource pool. If any resource pools are
currently on the host, they will be deleted.
Click Next. Review the summary on the
Ready to Complete window and click
Finish to add the host to the cluster. Repeat
this step for the second server to add it to
the cluster.
9. Once the hosts have
been added to the
cluster and
configured for HA and
DRS, open the
Summary tab for the
cluster and view the
merged capabilities of
the two hosts. In this
example, the cluster
has 13 Ghz of CPU
resources and 4 GB of
memory available to
allocate across the
virtual machines
hosted on the on the
cluster. Additionally, if
one host becomes unavailable, the virtual machines on that host will be quickly restarted on the
remaining host server by VMware HA.
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11 VMware Distributed Resource Scheduling
When you enable a cluster for DRS, VirtualCenter continuously monitors the distribution of CPU and
memory resources for all hosts and virtual machines in the cluster. DRS compares these metrics to what
resource utilization ideally should be given the attributes of the resource pools and virtual machines in the
cluster and the current demand and makes migration recommendations accordingly. Also, when the
Distributed Power Management feature is enabled, DRS monitors the cluster- and host-level capacity
available for running virtual machines and makes recommendations about powering hosts off or on based
on whether capacity is found to be excessive or lacking.
When you add a host to a DRS cluster, that host’s resources become associated with the cluster. The
system prompts you whether you want to associate any existing virtual machines and resource pools with
the cluster’s root resource pool or graft the resource pool hierarchy. VirtualCenter can then perform initial
placement of virtual machines, virtual machine migration for the sake of load balancing or rule
enforcement, and distributed power management (if enabled).
The DRS feature improves resource allocation across all hosts and resource pools. DRS collects resource
usage information for all hosts and virtual machines in the cluster and generates recommendations for
virtual machine placement and host machine power state. These recommendations can be applied
automatically. Depending on the configured DRS automation level, DRS displays or applies the following
types of recommendations:
• Initial placement — When you first power on a virtual machine in the cluster, DRS either places
the virtual machine on an appropriate host or makes a recommendation.
• Migration— At runtime, DRS tries to fix rules violations and improve resource utilization across
the cluster either by performing migrations of virtual machines, or by providing recommendations
for virtual machine migrations.
• Power management — When the Distributed Power Management feature is enabled, DRS
compares cluster- and host-level capacity to the demands of running the cluster’s virtual
machines. It makes recommendations for placing hosts in standby power mode if excess capacity
is found or powering on hosts if capacity is needed. Depending on the resulting host power state
recommendations, virtual machines might need to be migrated to and from the hosts as well.
A cluster enabled for DRS might become unbalanced. In this
example figure, the three hosts on the left side of this figure are
unbalanced. Assume that Host 1, Host 2, and Host 3 have identical
capacity, and all virtual machines have the same configuration and
load. However, because Host 1 has six virtual machines, its resources
are overused while ample resources are available on Host 2 and
Host 3. DRS migrates (or offers to migrate) virtual machines from
Host 1 to Host 2 and Host 3. On the right side of the diagram, the
properly load balanced configuration of the hosts that results is
displayed.
When a cluster becomes unbalanced, DRS makes recommendations
or migrates virtual machines, depending on the default automation
level:
• If the cluster or any of the virtual machines involved are manual or partially automated,
VirtualCenter does not take automatic actions to balance resources. Instead, the Summary page
indicates that migration recommendations are available and the DRS Recommendations page
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displays recommendations for changes that make the most efficient use of resources across the
cluster.
• If the cluster and virtual machines involved are all fully automated, VirtualCenter migrates running
virtual machines between hosts as needed to ensure efficient use of cluster resources.
By default, automation level is specified for the whole cluster. You can also specify a custom automation
level for individual virtual machines.
11.1 VMware DRS provides Dynamic Load Balancing
At this point, power on
several virtual machines
within the cluster. Within
a few minutes, VMware
DRS will automatically
implement any
recommended migrations
to balance the workload
of running virtual
machines across the
available host servers.
While all 4 virtual
machines were originally
running on the 05 host,
VMware DRS has placed 2
of them on 05 and 2 of
them on 06, leveraging
VMotion to seamlessly
migrate them in the background.
Place an ESX Server Host into Maintenance Mode
Both standalone hosts and hosts within a cluster support a maintenance mode, which restricts the virtual
machine operations on the host to allow you to conveniently shut down running virtual machines in
preparation for host shut down. While in maintenance mode, the host does not allow you to deploy or
power on a virtual machine. Virtual machines that are running on the maintenance mode host continue to
run normally. You can either migrate them to another host, or shut them down. When no more running
virtual machines are on the host, the host’s icon changes to include under maintenance and the host’s
Summary panel indicates the new state. While a host is under maintenance, you cannot perform
operations such as powering on virtual machines, and the command selection changes accordingly.
For DRS clusters, the automation mode determines cluster behavior when you enter maintenance mode.
A fully automated DRS cluster automatically migrates running virtual machines to different hosts as soon
as maintenance mode is enabled. A partially automated or manual DRS cluster displays recommendations
for migration of running virtual machines, with the recommendation type Host Maintenance displayed
in the recommendation list.
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Right-click on an ESX Server and select to place it into
Maintenance Mode. Accept the warnings that this action
will cause the cluster to no longer meet its configured failover
level for high availability, and accept to relocate the existing
virtual machines to the remaining host.
Click on the Tasks
and Events tab for
the cluster to see the
progress of the
migrations.
Once the migrations are complete and the host has entered maintenance mode, click on the Summary
tab for the cluster to
see its status. Notice
that the cluster status
is red because
insufficient resources
are available to satisfy
the HA failover level.
The 4 virtual
machines on the
cluster are all running
on the 05 host, and if
it were to go offline,
the virtual machines
would be unavailable
until cluster resources
were added to host
them.
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Right-click the server that is in maintenance mode and select to Exit Maintenance Mode to bring it back
online. VMware DRS will again redistribute the running virtual machines across the available host servers.
11.2 Create Resource Pools on the Cluster to Manage Access to
Resources
Similar to when we created two resource pools on a standalone host, let’s create two resource pools on
the evaluation cluster to demonstrate how they work. We’ll create a Test Resource Pool with a low priority
access to CPU resources and then a Production Resource Pool with a high priority access to CPU resources.
To create a resource pool:
1. Right-click on the
intended cluster in
the Inventory panel
and select New
Resource Pool.
2. In the New Resource Pool dialog box, enter the name Test
Resource Pool and change the CPU Resource OK.
VirtualCenter creates the resource pool and displays it in the
inventory panel.
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3. Right-click on the cluster again and select to create another
resource pool. This time, name the resource pool
Production Resource Pool and change the CPU
Resource Shares from Normal to High. Notice that the
Shares value doubles from 4,000 from to 8,000 to provide
double the resources of a normal share. With a total of
10,000 shares across the two pools, the virtual machines in
the Test Resource Pool will only be able to access 20%
(2,000 of 10,000) of the available CPU resources if the
Production Resource Pool is using the other 80% (8,000
shares of 10,000). As the CPU Resources is not limited in the
configuration, if the virtual machines in the Production
Resource Pool are only using 60% of the available CPU
Resources, the Test Resource Pool will be able to access the
remaining 40% of CPU Resources so that no compute
cycles are wasted.
When you create a new virtual machine, the Virtual Machine Wizard allows you to add it to a resource pool
as part of the creation process. You can also add an already existing virtual machine to a resource pool as
described below.
To add an existing virtual
machine to a resource pool:
4. Select the virtual
machine from any
location in the
inventory. The virtual
machine can be
associated with a
standalone host, a
cluster, or a different
resource pool.
5. Drag the virtual
machine (or
machines) to the
desired resource pool
object.
Go ahead and drag some of your virtual machines into the Production Resource Pool with a high share of
resources and others into the Test Resource Pool with a low share of CPU resources. When you move a
virtual machine to a new resource pool:
• The virtual machine’s reservation and limit do not change.
• If the virtual machine’s shares are high, medium, or low, %Shares adjusts to reflect the total
number of shares in use in the new resource pool.
• If the virtual machine has custom shares assigned, the share value is maintained. If the virtual
machine would receive a very large percentage of total shares, a warning is displayed.
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• The information displayed in the Resource Allocation tab about the resource pool’s reserved and
unreserved CPU and memory resources changes to reflect the reservations associated with the
virtual machine (if any).
If a virtual machine is powered on, and the destination resource pool does not have enough CPU or
memory to guarantee the virtual machine’s reservation, the move fails because admission control does not
allow it. An error dialog box explains the situation. The dialog box compares available and requested
resources, so you can consider whether an adjustment would resolve the issue.
11.3 DRS demonstrated
This section will describe a simple scenario for demonstrating the different modes of VMware Distributed
Resource Scheduling (DRS). These are:
1. The ability for DRS to provide recommendations for load balancing virtual machine migration
(when set for Manual or Partially automated)
2. The ability of DRS to automatically decide which ESX Server is the most optimal for powering on a
virtual machine
3. The ability of DRS to automatically migrate virtual machines to evenly distribute load across ESX
Servers within a DRS cluster
Evaluating DRS Manual Mode
1. Ensure that VMware DRS is set to use
Manual mode. Right click the cluster
you created, and select Edit Settings,
then click on VMware DRS. Set the
Automation Level to Manual.
2. Migrate any running virtual machines
to the first ESX Server in your DRS
cluster. You are attempting to create a
resource imbalance where the first ESX
Server is more heavily loaded. For the
purpose of the test, it may be helpful
to apply an additional CPU load to at least one of the virtual machines in the cluster. The
CPUBUSY.VBS script from the appendix of this guide can be used to create an intense CPU load
within a Windows virtual machine. .
3. When you power on a virtual machine
in a DRS cluster using the Manual
Automation Level, a prompt with Host
Recommendations will appear. This
prompt allows you to choose which
ESX Server in the cluster should host
the virtual machine. Select the first
ESX Server, and click the Power On
button.
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4. Once you have created a resource imbalance in the cluster, click on the DRS cluster in the Hosts
and Clusters view, and click the DRS Recommendations tab. You should observe at least one
recommendation. If no DRS recommendations are displayed, click the Generate
Recommendations button.
5. If there are multiple DRS
recommendations, you can apply all of
them simply by picking the Apply
Recommendations button.
Alternatively, it is possible to apply
individual recommendations by
selecting the Override suggested DRS
recommendations checkbox, and then
selecting the Apply checkbox for each
specific recommendation desired.
Evaluating DRS Partially Automated Mode
1. Change the Automation Level of DRS
to Partially automated by right-clicking
the cluster you created, and select Edit
Settings, then click on VMware DRS,
click Partially Automated, and click
OK to complete the change.
2. When you power on a virtual machine
in a DRS cluster using the Partially
automated setting, you will not be
prompted to choose which ESX Server
will host the virtual machine. Instead
DRS will automatically select an ESX
Server from those available, and start the virtual machine on that system.
3. Once virtual machines are powered on, a Partially automated DRS cluster will behave similar to the
Manual DRS configuration described above, and will make recommendations for migrations, but
will not attempt to migrate a running virtual machine automatically. To view the
recommendations, click on the DRS cluster in the Hosts and Clusters view, and click the DRS
Recommendations tab.
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Evaluating DRS Fully Automated Mode
1. Move any running virtual machines back
to the first ESX Server in your DRS
cluster. To clearly see DRS Fully
Automated Mode operate, you should
start with one ESX Server in your cluster
running all the virtual machines, while
the other has no virtual machines.
2. Change the Automation Level of DRS to
Fully automated by right-clicking the
cluster you created, and select Edit
Settings, then click on VMware DRS.
Select Fully automated, then (for the
purpose of this evaluation) move the Migration threshold slider control all the way to the right, to
Aggressive, and click OK to complete the change.
3. Click on the DRS cluster in the Hosts
and Clusters view, and click the DRS
Recommendations tab. You may
have to wait as long as five minutes before DRS begins performing automatic migrations. The
migration activity appears in the DRS Action History pane
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12 VMware High Availability
A cluster enabled for HA monitors for host failure.
If a host becomes unavailable, all virtual machines
that were on the host are promptly restarted on
different hosts. When you enable a cluster for HA,
you are prompted for the number of host failures
allowed. If you specify the number of host failures
as 1, HA maintains enough capacity across the
cluster to tolerate the failure of one host, so that
all running virtual machines on that host can be
restarted on remaining hosts. By default, you
cannot power on a virtual machine if doing so
violates required failover capacity (strict admission
control).
In this figure, three hosts have three virtual
machines each, and the corresponding HA cluster
is configured for failover of one host. When Host B
becomes unavailable, HA migrates the virtual
machines from Host B to Host A and Host C.
In this example, VMware HA was enabled and configured to enforce a single host failure with strict
admission control when the cluster was first created. This means that VMware HA will not allow the cluster
to start more virtual machines than can be supported with guaranteed allocations if one of the hosts fails.
Clearly, a cluster with twenty host servers in a datacenter can easily run more virtual machines per host
than a two host cluster while guaranteeing failover for a single host’s virtual machines. In a two-host
cluster (common in demo environments), each host server must individually be able to support
guarantees for all of the running virtual machines. It is important to note, however, that each virtual
machine can utilize resources beyond the guaranteed minimums so they do still benefit from overhead
‘reserved’ to support high availability failover.
Follow the steps below to see High Availability in action:
1. Select the Virtual
Machines tab for one of
your ESX Server hosts and
note the virtual machines
that are running.
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2. Right-click on the host and
select to Reboot. At the
warning message that the
host is not in maintenance
mode, confirm that you do
want to reboot.
3. Enter any reason to log for the reboot.
4. Select the Virtual
Machines tab for the
cluster. Once the host
server shuts down,
VirtualCenter will notice
the lack of a heartbeat
from the agent on the ESX
Server and after 15
seconds without contact
will failover the virtual
machines to other
available hosts. The
running virtual machines
will first show as
disconnected and will
soon be migrated to other
hosts and restarted.
5. Select the Summary tab
for the cluster. As the
cluster can no longer has
capacity to support an
additional host server
failure, it cannot meet its
failover requirements and
displays a red status.
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6. Select the Virtual
Machines tab for the
cluster. Notice here that
the virtual machines
have already been
powered on by the
remaining ESX Server
host.
7. After the host has
rebooted, it will
reconnect to
VirtualCenter and
VMware DRS will
automatically migrate
virtual machines back
onto the host to
balance workloads
across the cluster.
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13 VMware Storage VMotion (Optional)
Using Storage VMotion, you can migrate a virtual machine and its disk files from one datastore to another
while the virtual machine is running. You can choose to place the virtual machine and all its disks in a
single location, or select separate locations for the virtual machine configuration file and each virtual disk.
The virtual machine does not change execution host during a migration with Storage VMotion.
Storage VMotion has a number of uses in administering virtual infrastructure, including the following:
• Storage maintenance and reconfiguration. You can use Storage VMotion to move virtual machines
off of a storage device to allow maintenance or reconfiguration of the storage device without
virtual machine downtime.
• Redistributing storage load. You can use Storage VMotion to redistribute virtual machines or
virtual disks to different storage volumes to balance capacity or improve performance.
Refer to the Basic System Administration Guide > Virtual Machine Management > Chapter 16 Migrating
Virtual Machines > Migration with Storage VMotion if needed for more information.
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14 Next Steps
If you would like to purchase, evaluate or get more information about VMware Infrastructure, VMware has
a global network of solutions providers who are ready to help you. If you'd like to contact VMware directly,
you can reach a sales representative at 1-877-4VMWARE (650-475-5000 outside North America) or email
sales@vmware.com. When emailing, please include the state, country and company name from which you
are inquiring. You can also visit our online store at http://www.vmware.com/vmwarestore/.
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15 About VMware
VMware (NYSE:VMW) is the global leader in virtual infrastructure software for industry-standard systems.
Organizations of all sizes use VMware solutions to simplify their IT, fully leverage their existing computing
investments and respond faster to changing business demands. VMware is based in Palo Alto, California
and majority-owned by EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC). For more information, visit www.vmware.com.
© 2007 VMware. All rights reserved.
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16 Appendix
Creating a high CPU load using the CPUBUSY.VBS script
Create a file named cpubusy.vbs, and input the following text into it.
Dim goal
Dim before
Dim x
Dim y
Dim i
Dim oStdOut
Set oStdOut = Wscript.Stdout
goal = 2181818
Do While True
before = Timer
For i = 0 to goal
x = 0.000001
y = sin(x)
y = y + 0.00001
Next
y = y + 0.01
oStdOut.Writeline "I did three million sines in " &
Int(Timer - before + 0.5) & " seconds!"
Loop
Open a command prompt in Windows, change to the
location where you created the file, and type
“cscript cpubusy.vbs” to start the script. The
process will loop continuously and you should observe
the CPU utilization of the virtual machine reach 100%.
To stop the script issue a break command (Ctrl +
C)
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VMware, Inc. 3401 Hillview Ave Palo Alto CA 94304 USA Tel 877-486-9273 Fax 650-427-5001 www.vmware.com
Copyright © 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. Protected by one or more of U.S. Patent Nos. 6,961,806, 6,961,941,
6,880,022, 6,397,242, 6,496,847, 6,704,925, 6,496,847, 6,711,672, 6,725,289, 6,735,601, 6,785,886, 6,789,156, 6,795,966,
6,944,699, 7,069,413, 7,082,598, 7,089,377, 7,111,086, 7,111,145, 7,117,481, 7,149,843, 7,155,558, 7,222,221, 7,260,815,
7,260,820, 7,268,683, 7,275,136, 7,277,998, 7,277,999, 7,278,030, 7,281,102, 7,290,253; patents pending.
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