יום רביעי, 16 בינואר 2013

Why does my VMware esxi 5.x host have standard virtual switch vSwitchUSB0 with VMkernel port group IMM_Network0?

Question

On an IBM server running esxi version 5.x with IBM customization why is there a auto generated standard virtual switch called "vSwitchUSB0" with vmkernel port group "IMM_Network0"?

Answer


A IBM server running esxi version 5.x with IBM customization will have standard virtual switch calledvSwitchUSB0 with vmkernel port group IMM_Network0 as shown below :
This vSwitch will be auto generated if the IMM's Ethernet over USB interface is enabled.

NOTE: If you remove this virtual switch, the vSwitch will be recreated within 60 seconds.

LAN over USB interface enables in-band communications to the IMM; the IMM hardware on the system board presents an internal Ethernet NIC from the IMM to the operating system. LAN over USB is also called the "USB in-band interface" in the IMM Web interface.

Typically, the IMM IP address for the LAN over USB interface is set to a static address of 169.254.95.118 with a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0. In the event of an IP address collision on the network, the IMM might obtain a different IP address in the 169.254.xxx.xxx range.

This interface is required for in-band flashing of the IMM, UEFI, and Dynamic System Analysis (DSA) preboot firmware, as well as for the Advance Setting Utility (ASU).

The IMM's Ethernet over USB interface can be enabled or disabled using following steps :

For a Blade Server :

1. Launch the IBM BladeCenter Advanced Management Module (AMM)
2. Go to Blade Tasks > Configuration> Information and Policy.
3. Select Advanced Blade Policy Settings.
4. This will show Service Processor's Ethernet over USB interface. The section lists all blades in the chassis which are capable of enabling and disabling the Ethernet over USB interface.
5. Select the checkboxes next to the blade(s) that you want to enable or disable.
6. Click the Disable button to disable the Ethernet over USB interface on the selected blades, or click the Enable button to enable the interface.

For a standalone server:

1. Log in to the IMM on which you want to disable/enable the USB device driver interface.
2. Go to IMM Control > System Settings > USB Interface.
3. Select the server where you want to disable or enable the ethernet interface, then click Disable or Enable.

NOTE: If you disable the USB in-band interface, you cannot perform an in-band update of the IMM firmware, server firmware, and DSA firmware by using the Linux or Windows flash utilities. If the USB
in-band interface is disabled, use the Firmware Update option on the IMM Web interface to update the firmware.

יום שלישי, 28 באוגוסט 2012

How to change the SecurePlatform WebUI default access port

The SecurePlatform WebUI default access port is HTTPS 443.
To change it, log in to the SecurePlatform CLI in Standard mode, and run this command:
webui enable <port_number>
The machine then presents this output:
Shutting down cp_http_server_wd [OK]
Shutting down cpwmd_wd [OK]
Running cp_http_server_wd [OK]
Running cpwmd_wd [OK]

To disable access to the WebUI, run the command:
webui disable

Forcing NICs on SecurePlatform full/half duplex or 10/100/1000 Mbps using ethtool

Network interfaces cards (NICs) on SecurePlatform are configured to auto-negotiate link speed and duplex settings with the device to which they are physically connected to. If a NIC interface is unable to auto-negotiate with the device, it is necessary to hard code the settings.
Solution:
In expert mode, use the 'ethtool' to hard code link speed and duplex settings of network interfacesNICs.
Note: Per the IEEE specification, gigabit speed cannot be forced. It can only be auto-negotiated.
Quick command syntax:

ethtool -s DEVNAME speed 10|100|1000 duplex full|half autoneg off|on

Example:

  • ethtool -s eth0 speed 100 duplex full autoneg off
    (Will force eth0 interface to 100 MB link speed, full duplex).


  • ethtool -s eth0 speed 100 duplex half
    (Will force eth0 interface to 100 MB link speed, half duplex).


  • ethtool -s eth0 autoneg on
    (Will force eth0 interface to auto-negotiate).


  • ethtool -s eth0 autoneg off
    (Will force eth0 interface auto-negotiate off).

Commands can be put at the end of the /etc/rc.local startup script, to survive reboot.

m Wake on multicast messages.
b Wake on broadcast messages.
a Wake on ARP.
g Wake on MagicPacket(tm).
s Enable SecureOn(tm) password for MagicPacket(tm).
d Disable (wake on nothing). This option clears all previous options.

sopass xx:yy:zz:aa:bb:cc
(Set SecureOn(tm) password. Argument to this option must be 6 bytes in ethernet MAC hex format (xx:yy:zz:aa:bb:cc).

msglvl N
(Set driver message level. Meanings differ per driver).


Full options of command:
Example:

ethtool -s ethX [speed 10|100|1000] [duplex half|full] [port tp|aui|bnc|mii] [autoneg on|off] [phyad N] [xcvr internal|external]
[wol p|u|m|b|a|g|s|d...] [sopass xx:yy:zz:aa:bb:cc] [msglvl N]


OPTIONS

-s
Allows changing some or all settings of the specified Ethernet device; options only apply if -s is specified.

ethX
Device Name

speed 10|100|1000
Sets speed in Mbps; ethtool with a single argument will show supported device speeds.

duplex half|full
Sets full- or half-duplex mode.

port tp|aui|bnc|mii
Selects device port.

autoneg on|off
Specifies whether or not autonegotiation is enabled.

phyad N
Physical address

xcvr internal|external
Selects transceiver type; currently only internal and external can be specified.

wol p|u|m|b|a|g|s|d...
Sets Wake-on-LAN options; not all devices support this. The Argument to this option is a string of characters specifying the options to enable.

Thanks to:

יום רביעי, 22 באוגוסט 2012

Error 1920 - Service VMWare View Composer (svid) failed to start

"Error 1920 - Service VMWare View Composer (svid) failed to start. Verify that you have sufficient privileges to start system services."

Here is how I fixed the issue: Installed the SQL Native client for 2008R2. 

Thanks to:

יום חמישי, 29 בדצמבר 2011

Exchange 2010 Setup: Unable to read data from the Metabase. Ensure that Microsoft Internet Information Services is installed

Open Power Shell in elevated mode (run as administrator)
  1. Type the following (or copy paste)
    • Import-Module ServerManager
    • Add-WindowsFeature NET-Framework,RSAT-ADDS,Web-Server,Web-Basic-Auth,Web-Windows-Auth,Web-Metabase,Web-Net-Ext,Web-Lgcy-Mgmt-Console,WAS-Process-Model,RSAT-Web-Server,Web-ISAPI-Ext,Web-Digest-Auth,Web-Dyn-Compression,NET-HTTP-Activation,RPC-Over-HTTP-Proxy –Restart
  2. The second command will install the required components and reboot the server
  3. After reboot, open the Power Shell again in elevated mode.
  4. Type this to set NetTcpPortSharing service to automatic.
    • Set-Service NetTcpPortSharing -StartupType Automatic
  5. Close the Powershell. Try running Exchange 2010 setup again.


יום רביעי, 16 בנובמבר 2011

Remove HP Proliant Support Pack from Virtualized Servers

כלי חינמי שמעיף את כל השאריות העקשניות שלHP  שלא מוסרות בדרכים הקונבנציונליות לאחר ביצוע  P2V:

This FREE tool remove the HP Proliant Support Pack from Virtualized Servers

יום שלישי, 13 בספטמבר 2011

Processors and guest operating systems that support VMware Fault Tolerance

Processors and guest operating systems that support VMware Fault Tolerance

Details


VMware Fault Tolerance (FT) requires specific processors (CPUs) and guest operating systems.

Solution


Processors 

VMware collaborated with AMD and Intel in providing an efficient VMware FT capability on modern x86 processors. The collaboration required changes in both the performance counter architecture and virtualization hardware assists of both Intel and AMD and these have been included in all processors launched since early 2008.
Download the VMware SiteSurvey (http://www.vmware.com/download/shared_utilities.html ) utility to check if your configuration can run VMware FT.  
For VMware FT to be supported, the servers that host the virtual machines must use compatible processors selected from the categories as documented below. Processors within the same category are always compatible with each other. Intel Xeon Nehalem and Westmere processor types are also compatible with one another. Note that AMD Opteron Barcelona processors are not compatible with Intel processors.
Intel Xeon Penryn Category:
  • 31xx Series
  • 33xx Series
  • 52xx Series 
  • 54xx Series
  • 74xx Series
Intel Xeon Nehalem Category:
  • 34xx Series (Lynnfield)
  • 35xx Series
  • 55xx Series
  • 65xx Series
  • 75xx Series
  • i3/i5 (Clarkdale)
The i3/i5 (Clarkdale) processor series is listed in the Nehalem category because its instruction set is most similar to that generation.

 Intel Xeon Sandy Bridge Category 1:
  • E3-12xx Series
 Intel Xeon Sandy Bridge Category 2:
  • i3-21xx Series
AMD Opteron Barcelona Category:
  • 13xx Series
  • 23xx and 24xx Series (DP)
  • 41xx Series
  • 61xx Series
  • 83xx and 84xx Series (MP)
For a processor to be supported by vSphere Fault Tolerance, the Primary VM and Secondary VM must both be running on a version of ESX/ESXi that supports the processor. See http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility for more information.

Guest Operating Systems

The following table displays guest operating system support for VMware FT. For specific guest operating system version information, see the Guest Operating System Installation Guide at http://www.vmware.com/pdf/GuestOS_guide.pdf.
Note: A virtual machine can be FT-enabled while powered on only if marked with "ON" in the following table. The processor types that support this are also listed. Otherwise, the virtual machine must be powered off before FT is enabled.
Guest Operating System
Notes or Limitations
Windows 7

ON-Penryn
Requires VMware vSphere 4.0 Update 1 or greater.
Windows Server 2008
ON-Penryn
Windows Vista
ON-Penryn
Windows Server 2003 (64 bit)
ON-Penryn
Windows Server 2003 (32 bit)

ON-Penryn
Requires Service Pack 2 or greater when AMD Opteron Barcelona processor type is used.
Windows XP (64 bit)
ON-Penryn
Windows XP (32 bit)
ON-Penryn
AMD Opteron Barcelona processor type is not supported.
Windows 2000AMD Opteron Barcelona processor type is not supported.
Windows NT 4.0AMD Opteron Barcelona processor type is not supported.
Linux (all ESX-supported distributions)
ON-Penryn
Netware Servern/a
Solaris 10 (64-bit)

ON-Penryn

Requires Solaris U1 when AMD Barcelona processor type is used.
Solaris 10 (32-bit)
ON-Penryn
AMD Opteron Barcelona processor type is not supported.
FreeBSD (all ESX-supported distributions)

ON-Penryn
Note: System vendors are certifying that their systems work with FT. You can find details on the FT-certified systems at http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility. More systems are being certified all the time, so check back if your platform is not currently listed.
You can also check processor, operating system, and virtual machine configuration compliance with FT by downloading and running the VMware SiteSurvey utility from http://www.vmware.com/download/shared_utilities.html. It highlights compliance issues and describes how to correct them.
For more information about VMware Fault Tolerance, refer to the article: VMware Fault Tolerance FAQ (1013428)


Intel Xeon Westmere Category:
  • 34xx Series (Clarkdale)
  • 36xx Series 
  • 56xx Series
  • E7-28xx Series
  • E7-48xx Series
  • E7-88xx Series