In this blog post, we are going to talk about VMware ESXi and the ability to start & stop a virtual machine from the ESXi shell.
Recently, I ran into a situation where the vCenter Server was powered-off manually and the ESXi host that was responsible was not able to open the VMware Host Client to start VMware vCenter with a single mouse click. So it was time to figure out how to boot a virtual machine from the VMware ESXi shell.
I was lucky because SSH was enabled on the ESXi Host so I was able to connect and log in with the root account, but then I ran into the issue… Which command do I need to power on a virtual machine? I knew for sure that it was possible but it took me some time to find the right commands.
So based on that experience, it was time for a quick write-up to show you how to boot a virtual machine from the shell with VMware ESXi. To complete the article I also added the commands for powering off.
Note: The environment was running on vSphere 6.7 Update 2. So all commands are valid for vSphere 6.7 and probably older versions of VMware vSphere.
Start a Virtual Machine from Shell
Here is a step-by-step procedure for booting a virtual machine from the VMware ESXi shell.
# Step 01: Connect with SSH (for example Putty).
# Step 02: Login as a user with root privileges
# Step 03a: View ESXi host virtual machine inventory
vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms
# Step 03b: View ESXi host virtual machine inventory with filter
vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms | grep %VMname%
# Step 04: Write-down the VMid, in my case:
183
# Step 05: Verify the current power status
vim-cmd vmsvc/power.getstate %VMid%
# Step 06: Power-on virtual machine
vim-cmd vmsvc/power.on %VMid%
# Step 07: Command has been executed the virtual machine will be power-on. To verify you can use:
vim-cmd vmsvc/power.getstate %VMid%
Screenshots
Here are the screenshots of performing a VMware vCenter virtual machine startup from the VMware ESXi shell.
VMware ESXi – 01 – SSH Login
VMware ESXi – 01 – SSH Login
VMware ESXi – 02 – Find VM inventory
VMware ESXi – 02 – Find VM inventory
VMware ESXi – 03 – Verify VM status
VMware ESXi – 03 – Verify VM status
VMware ESXi – 04 – Shell Power-on Virtual Machine
VMware ESXi – 04 – Shell Power-on Virtual Machine
VMware ESXi – 05 – Verify VM status
VMware ESXi – 05 – Verify VM status
Stop a Virtual Machine from Shell
Here is the procedure for stopping a virtual machine from the VMware ESXi Shell.
# Step 01: Connect with SSH (for example Putty).
# Step 02: Login as a user with root privileges
# Step 03a: View ESXi host virtual machine inventory
vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms
# Step 03b: View ESXi host virtual machine inventory with filter
vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms | grep %VMname%
# Step 04: Write-down the VMid, in my case:
183
# Step 05: Verify the current power status
vim-cmd vmsvc/power.getstate %VMid%
# Step 06: Power-on virtual machine
vim-cmd vmsvc/power.off %VMid%
# Step 07: Command has been executed the virtual machine will be power-off. To verify you can use:
vim-cmd vmsvc/power.getstate %VMid%
Conclusion
You can easily perform this procedure if you know the right commands. There is not a lot of new information available about the vim-cmd command but I added the source(s) below.
I ran into an error message today with vRealize Automation (vRA). The error message that came up was: Failed to convert external resource Prod-Fin-00012. The issue occurred in vRA version 7.3.1.
Inside the vRealize Automation portal, I tried to upgrade virtual machine hardware but it failed directly when issuing the request. Strange thing was it was working a couple of day ago. After some investigating the error also came back on other day-2 tasks. So it was time to dive deeper into the issue.
So let us think about what vRealize Automation is performing, it is executing a task on a virtual machine. To perform this it needs to talk to vCenter Server and to talk to vCenter Server it uses vRealize Orchestrator.
Here is a simple overview of the communication that happens in this case. vRealize Automation is communicating to vRealize Orchestrator and vRealize Orchestrator is communicating to vCenter Server.
VMware vRealize Automation – vSphere Endpoint Communication
Error messages
The following error messages were found on the following systems:
https://LAB-VC-A.Lab.local:443/sdk (unusable: java.lang.ClassCastException: com.vmware.vcac.authentication.http.spring.oauth2.OAuthToken cannot be cast to com.vmware.vim.sso.client.SamlToken)
As you can see here vRealize Orchestrator has communication issues with VMware vCenter Server. This issue needs to be addressed for vRealize Automation.
Screenshots:
vRealize Orchestrator – Error Message – OAuthToken cannot be cast to com.vmware.vim.sso.client.SamlToken
After finding the vRealize Orchestrator vSphere endpoints in an error state it was clear that this was the issue. vRealize Orchestrator is not successfully communicating with vCenter Server so this needs to be addressed.
Procedure:
Open the vRealize Orchestrator Client (https://%vro-node-fqdn%).
Login with administrative credentials (example: administrator@vsphere.local).
Navigate to the following location “Library > vCenter > Configuration“.
Run the following workflow “Remove a vCenter Server instance” (screenshot 01 & screenshot 02).
Run the following workflow “Add a vCenter Server instance” (screenshot 03 & screenshot 04).
Validate the vRealize Orchestrator Endpoint Status (screenshots 05).
This time I decided to do a blog post about the HPE Smart Array RAID controllers with their wonderful ssacli tool. The tooling of HPE is very powerful because you can online manage a VMware ESXi host and migrate for example from a RAID 1 volume to a RAID 10 without downtime or change the read and write cache ratio.
So far as I know I haven’t seen an identical tool yet from the other server hardware vendors like Cisco, Dell EMC, IBM, and Supermicro. The main difference has always been that the HPE tool can perform the operation live without downtime.
So far as I can remember it has been there for ages. It was already available for VMware ESX 4.0 and is still available in VMware ESXi 6.7. So thumbs-up for HPE :).
Let’s talk about controller support. The tool supports the most HPE SmartArray controllers over the last 10 to 15 years, for example, the Smart Array P400 was released in 2005 and is still working fine today.
Here is an overview of supported controllers:
HPE Smart Array P2XX
HPE Smart Array P4XX
HPE Smart Array P7XX
HPE Smart Array P8XX
HPE SSACLI – Location
In case you are using the HPE VMware ESXi custom images. The tool is already pre-installed when installing ESXi. The tool is installed as a VIB (vSphere Installable Bundle). This means it can also be updated with vSphere Update Manager.
Over the years the name of the HPE Storage Controller Tool has been changed and so has the location. Here is a list of locations that have been used for the last ten years for VMware ESXi:
I have collected some screenshots over the years. Screenshots were taken by doing maintenance on VMware ESXi servers. The give you an idea what valuable information can be shown.
HPE SSACLI – Status Physical Drives
HPE SSACLI – Logical Drive Rebuilding-Recovery
HPE SSACLI – Drive Failure
HPE SSACLI – Abréviation
All commands have a short name to reduce the length of the total input provided to the ssacli tool:
### Shortnames:
- chassisname = ch
- controller = ctrl
- logicaldrive = ld
- physicaldrive = pd
- drivewritecache = dwc
- licensekey = lk
### Specify drives:
- A range of drives (one to three): 1E:1:1-1E:1:3
- Drives that are unassigned: allunassigned
HPE SSACLI – Status
To view the status of the controller, disks or volumes you can run all sorts of commands to get information about what is going on in your VMware ESXi server. The extensive detail is very useful for troubleshooting and gathering information about the system.
# Show - Controller Slot 1 Controller configuration basic
./ssacli ctrl slot=1 show config
# Show - Controller Slot 1 Controller configuration detailed
./ssacli ctrl slot=1 show detail
# Show - Controller Slot 1 full configuration
./ssacli ctrl slot=1 show config detail
# Show - Controller Slot 1 Status
./ssacli ctrl slot=1 show status
# Show - All Controllers Configuration
./ssacli ctrl all show config
# Show - Controller slot 1 logical drive 1 status
./ssacli ctrl slot=1 ld 1 show status
# Show - Physical Disks status basic
./ssacli ctrl slot=1 pd all show status
# Show - Physical Disk status detailed
./ssacli ctrl slot=1 pd all show status
# Show - Logical Disk status basic
./ssacli ctrl slot=1 ld all show status
# Show - Logical Disk status detailed
./ssacli ctrl slot=1 ld all show detail
HPE SSACLI – Creating
Creating a new logical drive can be done online with the HPE Smart Array controllers. I have displayed some basic examples.
# Create - New single disk volume
./ssacli ctrl slot=1 create type=ld drives=2I:0:8 raid=0 forced
# Create - New spare disk (two defined)
./ssacli ctrl slot=1 array all add spares=2I:1:6,2I:1:7
# Create - New RAID 1 volume
./ssacli ctrl slot=1 create type=ld drives=1I:0:1,1I:0:2 raid=1 forced
# Create - New RAID 5 volume
./ssacli ctrl slot=1 create type=ld drives=1I:0:1,1I:0:2,1I:0:3 raid=5 forced
HPE SSACLI – Adding drives to logical drive
Adding drives to an already created logical drive is possible with the following commands. You need to perform two actions: adding the drive(s) and expanding the logical drive. Keep in mind: make a backup before performing the procedure.
# Add - All unassigned drives to logical drive 1
./ssacli ctrl slot=1 ld 1 add drives=allunassigned
# Modify - Extend logical drive 2 size to maximum (must be run with the "forced" flag)
./ssacli ctrl slot=1 ld 2 modify size=max forced
HPE SSACLI – Rescan controller
To issue a controller rescan, you can run the following command. This can be interesting for when you add new drives in hot swap bays.
### Rescan all controllers
./ssacli rescan
HPE SSACLI – Drive Led Status
The LED status of the drives can also be controlled by the ssacli utility. An example is displayed below how to enable and disable a LED.
# Led - Activate LEDs on logical drive 2 disks
./ssacli ctrl slot=1 ld 2 modify led=on
# Led - Deactivate LEDs on logical drive 2 disks
./ssacli ctrl slot=1 ld 2 modify led=off
# Led - Activate LED on physical drive
./ssacli ctrl slot=0 pd 1I:0:1 modify led=on
# Led - Deactivate LED on physical drive
./ssacli ctrl slot=0 pd 1I:0:1 modify led=off
HPE SSACLI – Modify Cache Ratio
Modify the cache ratio on a running system can be interesting for troubleshooting and performance beanchmarking.
# Show - Cache Ratio Status
./ssacli ctrl slot=1 modify cacheratio=?
# Modify - Cache Ratio read: 25% / write: 75%
./ssacli ctrl slot=1 modify cacheratio=25/75
# Modify - Cache Ratio read: 50% / write: 50%
./ssacli ctrl slot=1 modify cacheratio=50/50
# Modify - Cache Ratio read: 0% / Write: 100%
./ssacli ctrl slot=1 modify cacheratio=0/100
HPE SSACLI – Modify Write Cache
Changing the write cache settings on the storage controller can be done with the following commands:
Viewing or changing the rebuild priority can be done on the fly. Even when the rebuild is already active. Used it myself a couple of times to lower the impact on production.
# Show - Rebuild Priority Status
./ssacli ctrl slot=1 modify rp=?
# Modify - Set rebuildpriority to Low
./ssacli ctrl slot=1 modify rebuildpriority=low
# Modify - Set rebuildpriority to Medium
./ssacli ctrl slot=1 modify rebuildpriority=medium
# Modify - Set rebuildpriority to High
./ssacli ctrl slot=1 modify rebuildpriority=high
HPE SSACLI – Modify SSD Smart Path
You can modify the HPE SDD Smart Path feature by disabling or enabling. To make clear what the HPE SDD Smart Path includes, here is a officialstatement by HPE:
“HP SmartCache feature is a controller-based read and write caching solution that caches the most frequently accessed data (“hot” data) onto lower latency SSDs to dynamically accelerate application workloads. This can be implemented on direct-attached storage and SAN storage.”
For example, when running VMware vSAN SSD Smart Path must be disabled for better performance. In some cases worse the entire vSAN disk group fails.
# Note: This command requires the array naming type like A/B/C/D/E
# Modify - Enable SSD Smart Path
./ssacli ctrl slot=1 array a modify ssdsmartpath=enable
# Modify - Disable SSD Smart Path
./ssacli ctrl slot=1 array a modify ssdsmartpath=disable
HPE SSACLI – Delete Logical Drive
Deleting a logical drive on the HPE Smart Array controller can be done with the following commands.
In some cases, you need to erase a physical drive. This can be performed with multiple erasing options. Also, you can stop the process.
Erase patterns available:
Default
Zero
Random_zero
Random_random_zero
# Erase physical drive with default erasepattern
./ssacli ctrl slot=1 pd 2I:1:1 modify erase
# Erase physical drive with zero erasepattern
./ssacli ctrl slot=1 pd 2I:1:1 modify erase erasepattern=zero
# Erase physical drive with random zero erasepattern
./ssacli ctrl slot=1 pd 1E:1:1-1E:1:3 modify erase erasepattern=random_zero
# Erase physical drive with random random zero erasepattern
./ssacli ctrl slot=1 pd 1E:1:1-1E:1:3 modify erase erasepattern=random_random_zero
# Stop the erasing process on phsyical drive 1E:1:1
./ssacli ctrl slot=1 pd 1E:1:1 modify stoperase
HPE SSACLI – License key
In some cases a licence key needs to be installed on the SmartArray storage controller to enable the advanced features. This can be done with the following command:
In this post, we are going to change the Virtual Storage Controller from LSI Logic Parallel to VMware Paravirtual for a CentOS 7 based Virtual Machine that is running on VMware vSphere. This blog post will contain step-by-step guidance for performing the operation.
In my case the virtual machine was built in VMware Workstation and after some time migrated to VMware ESXi. The VMware Paravirtual Storage Controller is not supported in VMware Workstation. That is why the virtual machine came over with the “wrong” storage controller.
My 24×7 Lab environment is running shared iSCSI based storage and all virtual machines are thin provisioned. The Virtual Machine that came over from VMware Workstation is installed with CentOS 7.
Why VMware Paravirtual?
Why should you want to migrate from an LSI Logic Parallel to a VMware Paravirtual SCSI Controller? Two simple reasons and they are two good ones:
Lower CPU utilization
Higher Throughput
Personally, I have a third reason to add… compliance. All my virtual machines should be compliant with the VMware Best Practice and my personal Home Lab standard. In my Lab environment, this means using the VMware Paravirtual where ever possible/supported.
The most important step in the process is to make sure you have a valid backup! After that, it is just following the steps described below:
Create a virtual machine snapshot or backup before you begin.
Power-off the virtual machine.
Add the VMware Paravirtual Controller to the Virtual Machine. Do not change the disk controller assignment yet, only add the storage controller to the VM (screenshot 01).
Power-on the virtual machine.
Login with an account on the virtual machine (account must be able to obtain root access).
Assign disks to the new storage controller and remove the old storage controller (screenshot 03).
Power-on the virtual machine.
Validate that everything is working and disks are mounted (screenshot 04).
Remove the virtual machine snapshot or backup after you are done.
Screenshots
Here are some screenshots from the procedure:
01 – Adding VMware Paravirtual SCSI Controller
02 – CentOS Rebuilding Initial Ramdisk Image
03 – Switching the Disks Between Storage Controllers
04 – Verify the Virtual Disks After Removing LSI Logic Parallel
Conclusion
At this point, I have swapped out three virtual machines from the LSI controller to the VMware Paravirtual SCSI Controller. The machines have been running now for about two weeks without any problems. So everything is compliant again ;).
If you encounter any problems or have any questions about this subject please feel free to contact me on Twitter or the Reply option below.
Source
Here are some interesting related articles that I used for creating this blog post:
Recently somebody asked me a question about VMware vCenter running on a Windows Server. The Windows Server was running VMware vCenter 6.5 and in case of a datacenter related problem, they wanted to get access to the vSphere Web Client (Flash) on the system locally.
It sounds easy right…? Just open the browser on the Windows Server and navigate to the vSphere Web Client page but that didn’t appear to be the case, because the system is missing the browser plugins required to open the vSphere Web Client.
So let’s dive into the problem.
Microsoft Browsers: They are running Windows Server 2016 and you might expect it to have two browsers: Internet Explorer 11 and Microsoft Edge. That does not seem to be the case. Windows Server 2016 is only shipped with Internet Explorer 11. Why? Windows Server 2016 is marked as an LTSB (Long Time Service Branch) so this means no Microsoft Edge and it is also not available for manual installation.
Microsoft: “The Long-Term Servicing Branch (LTSB) versions of Windows, including Windows Server 2016, don’t include Microsoft Edge or many other Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps. These apps and their services are frequently updated with new functionality, and can’t be supported on systems running the LTSB operating systems.”
Third-party browsers: The company who was asking had a security policy that does not allow an installation of third-party browsers like Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome. Alright, so this is not an option. Don’t have to look at that further.
Adobe Flash: So let’s try Internet Explorer 11. It appears to be missing Adobe Flash and you can not download and install it from Adobe Website.
At this point, I was stuck and there did not seem to be a simple solution.
Screenshots
vSphere Web Client missing Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash not available for installation on Windows Server 2016
Solution
After searching for a solution for about an hour. I came across a Microsoft Blog article listed below. This article is talking about installing Adobe Flash on Windows Server 2016. It appears that all the software is already on the system but just needs to be installed.
Procedure:
– Step 01: Close all browsers
– Step 02: Start a PowerShell session with elevated rights.
– Step 03: Run the following command: dism /online /add-package /packagepath:"C:\Windows\servicing\Packages\Adobe-Flash-For-Windows-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~10.0.14393.0.mum"
– Step 04: Wait for the installation to complete.
– Step 05: Open a browser and navigate to the vSphere Web Client.
– Step 06: Everything should be working now.
Note: In the Microsoft Blog article they are talking about a reboot required in my case it was not required. Just a browser restart was enough.
Screenshots
Installing Adobe Flash on Windows Server 2016
vSphere Web Client with Adobe Flash
It sounded like an easy problem at first but it took some more time than I expected. The problem is solved with a simple one-liner and the customer is happy. I personally think that there might be other solution to the problem. If you know them please add a comment below.
Lately, I discovered an annoying feature in combination with VMware vCenter and VMware Workstation. When installing VMware Workstation on your management computer it becomes the default Remote Console viewer. To be honest, I like the VMware Remote Console (VMRC) very much. The application has all the features and is quick and light. This is compared to starting VMware Workstation to open a Remote Console.
What is VMware Remote Console: “The VMware Remote Console (VMRC) is a standalone console application for Windows. VMware Remote Console provides console access and client device connection to VMs on a remote host. You will need to download this installer before you can launch the external VMRC application directly from a VMware vSphere or vRealize Automation web client.”
In October 2017, I already fixed my problem on my management computer… but after a recent VMware Workstation update, it changed the Remote Console back to VMware Workstation. Currently, there is no option in the GUI to change the default Remote Console. Ok, but how do we get VMRC back?
When I was comparing the Windows Registry, I discovered that the following registry keys were different between machines. To speed up to process I created some PowerShell one-liners to fix the problem.
When you change the registry keys, the settings are direct in effect. No Operating System reboot or browser restart is required. The change is instant. I hope the blog post helps some vSphere Administrators that also prefer VMRC above VMware Workstation for viewing Remote Consoles.
@VMware: I would like to have an option to control the behavior without changing registry keys by hand… 🙂 Thanks!
Environment
The issues occurred with the following combination of software:
VMware vCenter Server 6.5 (Update 1e)
VMware VMRC (10.0.2-7096020)
VMware Workstation (12.5.9 build-7535481)
Management Workstation: Windows 10 X64
VMRC Screenshots
Here are some screenshots that display the changes when opening the Remote Console of a Virtual Machine in VMware vCenter.
Remote Console – VMware Workstation
Remote Console – VMRC
Remote Console – VMRC opening VM
Article updates:
2019-11-25: Image updates to support new layout changes.
In this blog post, we are going to automate the installation of VMware ESXi 5.5, 6.0 and 6.5. This can be done with a so-called “kickstart” configuration file which is officially supported by VMware. The file contains the configuration for a VMware ESXi Host to configure settings like IP address, subnet mask, hostname, license key, datastore, etc.
The kickstart configuration file can be made available in the following locations:
FTP
HTTP/HTTPS
NFS Share
USB flash drive
CD/DVD device
Personally, I prefer to use the HTTP protocol.
Use Case
You might ask yourself, why should I install an ESXi Host with a kickstart file? Some of the use cases I identified over the years are:
The very first ESXi Hosts for your SDDC environment (before VMware vCenter is deployed or vSphere Auto Deploy is configured).
A standalone ESXi Host for a small environment.
A Home Lab environment to install nested VMware ESXi Hosts.
Setup a web server
To make the kickstart configuration file available for the ESXi host we need a web server. Basically, every web server available on the market can serve this file. Here is a list of web server products that I have used: Apache, Microsoft IIS and NGINX.
In this environment/example I used a Microsoft IIS server on a Windows 10 Client. Do not forget to add the cfg extension to the MIME types.
Configuration file
Now it’s time to create a text file with your favourite text editor. The text file in this example is called (ks.cfg). I have added two configuration files as samples, one with the minimum settings and one I normally use for my Lab environment.
Configuration file – Simple (ks.cfg)
This is a default ks.cfg configuration file with just the minimum of settings required.
#
# Sample scripted installation file
#
# Accept the VMware End User License Agreement
vmaccepteula
# Set the root password for the DCUI and Tech Support Mode
rootpw mypassword
# The install media is in the CD-ROM drive
install --firstdisk --overwritevmfs
# Set the network to DHCP on the first network adapter
network --bootproto=dhcp --device=vmnic0
# A sample post-install script
%post --interpreter=python --ignorefailure=true
import time
stampFile = open('/finished.stamp', mode='w')
stampFile.write( time.asctime() )
Configuration file – Advanced (ks.cfg)
This is the more advanced version of the configuration file that also configures a lot of other settings like NTP servers, search domain, CEIP and a static IP address for the management interface.
### ESXi Installation Script
### Hostname: LAB-ESXi01A
### Author: M. Buijs
### Date: 2017-08-11
### Tested with: ESXi 6.0 and ESXi 6.5
##### Stage 01 - Pre installation:
### Accept the VMware End User License Agreement
vmaccepteula
### Set the root password for the DCUI and Tech Support Mode
rootpw VMware1!
### The install media (priority: local / remote / USB)
install --firstdisk=local --overwritevmfs --novmfsondisk
### Set the network to DHCP on the first network adapter
network --bootproto=static --device=vmnic0 --ip=192.168.151.101 --netmask=255.255.255.0 --gateway=192.168.151.254 --nameserver=192.168.126.21,192.168.151.254 --hostname=LAB-ESXi01A.lab.local --addvmportgroup=0
### Reboot ESXi Host
reboot --noeject
##### Stage 02 - Post installation:
### Open busybox and launch commands
%firstboot --interpreter=busybox
### Set Search Domain
esxcli network ip dns search add --domain=lab.local
### Add second NIC to vSwitch0
esxcli network vswitch standard uplink add --uplink-name=vmnic1 --vswitch-name=vSwitch0
### Disable IPv6 support (reboot is required)
esxcli network ip set --ipv6-enabled=false
### Add NTP Server addresses
echo "server 192.168.126.21" >> /etc/ntp.conf;
echo "server 192.168.151.254" >> /etc/ntp.conf;
### Allow NTP through firewall
esxcfg-firewall -e ntpClient
### Enable NTP autostartup
/sbin/chkconfig ntpd on;
### Rename local datastore (currently disabled because of --novmfsondisk)
#vim-cmd hostsvc/datastore/rename datastore1 "DAS - $(hostname -s)"
### Disable CEIP
esxcli system settings advanced set -o /UserVars/HostClientCEIPOptIn -i 2
### Enable maintaince mode
esxcli system maintenanceMode set -e true
### Reboot
esxcli system shutdown reboot -d 15 -r "rebooting after ESXi host configuration"
Installing an ESXi Host with Kickstart file
The following procedure needs to be performed to boot from a kickstart file:
Boot the ESXi host with a VMware ESXi ISO (ISO file can be obtained from the VMware download page).
Press the key combination “shift + o” at boot.
Enter one of the following lines after runweasel:
For an HTTP share: ks=http://%IP_or_FQDN%/kg.cfg
For an HTTPs share: ks=https://%IP_or_FQDN%/kg.cfg
For a NFS share: ks=nfs://%IP_or_FQDN%/ks.cfg
The installation will start and use the kickstart configuration file (ks.cfg).
After the installation is complete the ESXi Host will reboot.
Screenshots
Here are some screenshots of the procedure:
HTTP Path to ks.cfg file on webserver.
ESXi Host is downloading/reading file from HTTP mirror
Article updates:
2018-10-04 – This article has been updated.
2018-11-16 – Code blocks were not displaying correctly.
A security vulnerability has been discovered in some VMware products (CVE-2017-5638). It’s a critical vulnerability which allows remote code execution (RCE) on Apache Struts 2.
The vulnerability affects the following VMware products:
– DaaS 6.X / 7.X
– Hyperic 5.X
– vCenter 5.5 / 6.0 / 6.5
– vROPS 6.X
I recently got a question about enabling and disabling the quest time synchronization for virtual machines. The customer asked about a solution to change the settings from within the operating system instead of the VMware vSphere Client or vSphere Web Client. Normally you would change the virtual machine time synchronization settings by hand with the vSphere Client/Web Client/HTML5 or with a PowerCLI script, but after some searching, it appears, there is a solution provided by VMware. Read more
When deploying some virtual machines in a test environment I ran into the following problem. In most cases, I make use of a VMware vCenter Storage DRS cluster, in this case when deploying a virtual machine the best-suited datastore is selected for the virtual machines. The only problem is not all customers are entitled to use Storage DRS, because Storage DRS requires a vSphere Enterprise Plus license.
So I needed to create a workaround to select a datastore with enough space. The default PowerCLI behavior is selecting the first datastore detected on a alphabetic order.
So when you are deploying let’s say twenty virtual machines all those virtual machines will be put on the first datastore, so that isn’t going to work well in most cases.
PowerCLI Code
To solve the problem I created the following PowerCLI code. The code selects a cluster and lists all the datastore available. The datastore with the most space available is selected for the virtual machine that is being deployed.
In the PowerCLI code, I just create a very simple virtual machine but you probably get the point. The magic is the $DS line that selects the datastore.
Requirements:
The PowerShell code is tested with the following VMware software components on Microsoft Windows:
PowerCLI 6.5 Update 1
VMware vCenter Server 6.0
### Variables
$CLUSTER = "Production" # A Cluster Name
$FOLDER = "Deployed VMs" # A Virtual Machine folder name located in the vCenter inventory
### Select datastores available and sort them on free space (select the one with most space free)
$DS = Get-Cluster -Name $CLUSTER | Get-Datastore | Select Name, FreeSpaceGB | Sort-Object FreeSpaceGB -Descending | Select -first 1
### Create a virtual machine called VM01
New-VM -Name VM01 -ResourcePool $CLUSTER -Datastore $DS.Name -Location $FOLDER -MemoryGB 1 -CD -DiskGB 5
Article update:
2018-07-30 – Added feature image.
2018-11-17 – Updated article to support the new standards of the website.
