EMC Networker Note

In the  NetWorker-VMware-7.6-Service-Pack-2-Integration-Guide:

The software and hardware requirements for VADP include:
◆ One or more VADP proxy systems running any of the following operating
systems (English versions only):
• Windows Server 2003 SP1 (32-bit or 64-bit)
• Windows Server 2003 R2 (32-bit or 64-bit)
• Windows Server 2003 SP2 (32-bit or 64-bit)
• Windows 2008 (32-bit or 64-bit)
• Windows 2008 R2

The VADP FLR option has not been qualified with dynamic disks and is not supported by Networker. Here are some of the limitations that are not supported by the Networker FLR option:

• Virtual Machine OS containing GPT or dynamic disks. 
• Virtual Machine OS containing uninitialized disks. 
• Virtual Machine OS containing unformatted partitions 
• Virtual Machine OS containing partitions without drive letters. 
• Virtual Machine configuration with Virtual IDE Disk Devices (only SCSI). 
• Virtual Machine configuration with independant disk mode.

https://community.emc.com/thread/149443?tstart=0

Using vSphere Changed Block Tracking CBT with EMC Networker Backup

http://www.virtualizationsoftware.com/using-vsphere-changed-block-tracking-emc-networker-backup/

Networker 7.6 sp2 technical differences

http://wenku.baidu.com/view/473c0dc14028915f804dc20f.html


vStorage APIs for Data Protection (VADP) FAQ (1021175)
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1021175



 

how to copy tech-support log with Putty

1. In Putty Configurations > Session >Logging 
2. Select "All Session output"
3. Select "Flush log file frequently" will overwrite the log file every time when start the session  
4. connect the device 
5. in the EXEC mode of the command prompt, type terminal length 0 which will make the command output at once without interrupt

vsg1#terminal length 0 

vsg1#show tech-support all 

     6.then we will have the output in the Putty log file ^ ^

Ref:
http://ccienet.wordpress.com/2012/01/22/how-to-copy-large-show-tech-support-from-cisco-device-using-putty/

Create persistent scratch location on ESXi host using a VMware vSphere client for using USB boot Esxi

VMware recommends that ESXi has a persistent scratch location available for storing temporary data including logs, diagnostic information, and system swap. (This is not a requirement, however.) Persistent scratch space may be provisioned on a FAT 16, VMFS, or NFS partition accessible by the ESXi host.
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1033696

Using a VMware vSphere client
http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=isg3T1013015

Configuring syslog on ESXi 5.x (2003322)

VMware vSphere ESXi 5.x hosts run a syslog service (vmsyslogd) that provides a standard mechanism for logging messages from the VMkernel and other system components. By default in ESXi, these logs are placed on a local scratch volume or a ramdisk. To preserve the logs further, ESXi can be configured to place these logs to an alternate storage location on disk, and to send the logs across the network to a syslog server.

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2003322

Using Power CLI/vim-cmd to upgrade VM version of virtual machine

vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms
vim-cmd vmsvc/upgradM-ID] vmx-[e [VHW-VERSION]

PowerCLI:
$vm=Get-VM -Name VM-NAME
$vm.Version

Set-Vm -VM (Get-VM -Name [VM-NAME]) -Version v[HW-VERSION]

Ref:
http://www.virtuallyghetto.com/2013/10/quick-tip-using-cli-to-upgrade-to.html

vCenter vpxd.cfg Advanced Configuration

The post about details in vpxd.cfg


The vpxd.cfg file is located on the VMware vCenter Server by default at %ALLUSERPROFILE%\Application Data\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\vpxd.cfg

On Windows Server 2008, 
C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\vpxd.cfg
On Windows Server 2003,
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\vpxd.cfg


http://www.boche.net/blog/index.php/2010/03/13/vpxd-cfg-advanced-configuration/

Implementing VMware vSphere 5 Auto Deploy on the Cisco Unified Computing System

This document provides an overview and detailed procedure for installing and configuring the VMware vSphere 5 Auto Deploy feature on a Microsoft Windows server. VMware vSphere is an industry-leading virtualization platform, transforming data centers into dramatically simplified cloud infrastructures and enabling the next generation of flexible, reliable IT services. Cisco Unified Computing System ™ (Cisco UCS ™) and VMware vSphere together enable rapid application and infrastructure deployment with greater security, availability, and performance leading to increased return on investment (ROI) and reduced total cost of ownership (TCO) for computing environments.

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/collateral/data-center-virtualization/unified-computing/whitepaper_c11-701953.html

vCenter Server and ESXi/ESX host build numbers to update levels

get ESX build # command

• uname -a 
• esxcli system version get

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1014508

VMware vCenter Server performance and database troubleshooting

The following links provide detailed steps for vCenter server performance troubleshooting:

• vCenter Server does not start.
• vCenter Server is slow to respond.
• vCenter Server fails after an indefinite amount of time.
• When connected to a Microsoft SQL database, the vCenter Server vpxd.log contains an entry similar to:
  
  ODBC error: (42000) - [Microsoft][SQL Native Client][SQL Server]Could not allocate space for object <object> in database '<database>' because the '<filegroup>' filegroup is full. Create disk space by deleting unneeded files, dropping objects in the filegroup, adding additional files to the filegroup, or setting autogrowth on for existing files in the filegroup." is returned when executing SQL statement "<sql statement>".
• When connected to an Oracle database, the vCenter Server vpxd.log contains an entry similar to:
  ODBC error: (HY000) - [Oracle][ODBC][Ora]ORA-01653: unable to extend table <table> by <size> in tablespace <tablespace> is returned when executing SQL statement <SQL Statement>.
• You see this error when attempting to connect to the SQL database server:
  ODBC error: (08S01) - [Microsoft][SQL Native Client]Named Pipes Provider: No process is on the other end of the pipe.
• The VirtualCenter Server service cannot authenticate with the database.
• You cannot connect to the database repository through SQL Server or Oracle.
• The vCenter Server database is corrupt.

Note: The vpxd.log files are located in %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\Logs.
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1003979#growth
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1003979#slowdb

• High disk usage of the VMware vCenter Server database
• High disk usage of the VMware vCenter Server database transactional logs

Note: If you are using Microsoft SQL, there is a way to validate where space is being consumed within a Microsoft SQL database.
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&docTypeID=DT_KB_1_1&externalId=1028356

For troubleshooting or maintenance purposes it may be necessary to defragment the indexes on your Microsoft SQL database server. This article provides the steps perform a defragmentation of the indexes to increase performance of the database.

Due to the database schema enhancements made in vSphere 5.1.x and later versions, defragmentation of the vCenter Server database is no longer required.

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&docTypeID=DT_KB_1_1&externalId=1003990

SQL Server Integrity Check tools CHECKDB

Checks the logical and physical integrity of all the objects in the specified database by performing the following operations:

• Runs DBCC CHECKALLOC on the database.
• Runs DBCC CHECKTABLE on every table and view in the database.
• Runs DBCC CHECKCATALOG on the database.
• Validates the contents of every indexed view in the database.
• Validates link-level consistency between table metadata and file system directories and files when storing varbinary(max) data in the file system using FILESTREAM.
• Validates the Service Broker data in the database.

Syntax

DBCC CHECKDB 
[
    [ ( database_name | database_id | 0
        [ , NOINDEX 
        | , { REPAIR_ALLOW_DATA_LOSS | REPAIR_FAST | REPAIR_REBUILD } ]
    ) ]
    [ WITH 
        {
            [ ALL_ERRORMSGS ]
            [ , EXTENDED_LOGICAL_CHECKS ] 
            [ , NO_INFOMSGS ]
            [ , TABLOCK ]
            [ , ESTIMATEONLY ]
            [ , { PHYSICAL_ONLY | DATA_PURITY } ]
        }
    ]
]

Ref:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms176064.aspx

SQL Server Integrity Check – A Necessary Routine

http://www.pythian.com/blog/sql-server-integrity-check-a-necessary-routine/

vCenter Performance Overview Tab fails to display

There are several possible causes for this issue.check the following step by step:

1. Confirm that the vCenter Web Management Service is running.
2. To resolve this issue, connect to vCenter locally with a vSphere Client located on the vCenter Server and follow Stopping, starting, or restarting vCenter services.
3. Ensure that the correct DNS settings and IP address are being used
4. Disable any third party web services that may be interfering with the vCenter Web Management Services.(port 8443)
5. Check if vCenter Server is using custom SSL certificates as a result of a recent upgrade to vCenter Server 4.0 Update 1. 
6. Disable the proxy settings from the browser. 

Ref: http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1014454

Error on SQL Server 2005: "Create maintenance plan failed"

The cause of this error is lack of  Integration Services (SSIS) service when installing SQL server 2005.

When you create the maintenance plan, the following code is run.

EXEC msdb.dbo.sp_update_jobstep @job_name=N'System DB Maintenance Plan', @step_id=1 , @subsystem=N'SSIS', @command=N'/SQL 
"\Maintenance Plans\System DB Maintenance Plan" /SERVER ASHBSQL701 /MAXCONCURRENT " -1 " /CHECKPOINTING OFF'

This code tries to access the Integration Services service.

The solution is to install back the Integration Services from the SQL server 2005 setup CD

Ref: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/909036