Today I added some vSphere 5.0 u1 hosts in a new created cluster, the SAN will be delivered next week so I didn’t have central storage, to finish my new cluster setup I configured HA and DRS. After configuring HA I received this warning message:
The number of heartbeat datastores for host is 0, which is less than required: 2
Solution:
To (temporary (until the SAN is installed)) hide the warning message I configured the HA – Advanced Option:
- Log in to vCenter Server
- Right-click the cluster and click Edit Settings
- Click VMware HA > Advanced Options
- Under Option, add an entry for das.ignoreInsufficientHbDatastore
- Under Value, type: true
More information: VMware
Today I configured VMware Capacity Planner 2.8 by a customer, after I finished the Collected inventory + Performance data task I started the Synchronize job. The .csv files uploaded successfully but at the end of the job I received this warning messages:
ERROR: An unexpected error occurred! Module = vcpPerformance Function = UpdateTask:16 Source = Microsoft JET Database Engine Error = Syntax error in UPDATEstatement.(-2147217900:0:5003144)
ERROR: An unexpected error occurred! Module = vcpSysPerf Function = CollectSystemPerformance: Source = vcpSysPerf Error = Type mismatch(13:0:1000013)
Solution:
I used a Dutch Windows 7 workstation to install VMware Capacity Planner Data Manager v3.0.0, in the requirements (Page 9: VMware Whitepaper) I noticed “English Windows version required” …
… but.. in VMware KB you need only need to change the Regional Options to English (United States) like:
After I changed the settings, applied the configuration and restarted the workstation I was able to upload the discovered files to the VMware Capacity Planner Dashboard, happy me!
Today I installed a new Dell PowerEdgde R620 host with vSphere 5.0 update 1. The Intel Ethernet I350 adapter was recognized and installed correct but the Broadcom 5720 wasn’t. I downloaded the latest Broadcom driver CD from VMware and uploaded the extracted content to my local datastore.
To install the drivers I used the following command:
esxcli software vib install -v /vmfs/volumes/pathtodatastore/NIC/net-tg3-3.120h.v50.2-1OEM.500.0.0.472560.x86_64.vib
^ full path to the file must be specified
After reboot the Broadcom adapter was installed successfully:
More information: VMware
Today I tried to delete a virtual machine with more then 100 (damn Backup Exec) snapshots, in the vSphere Client I selected in the inventory: “Delete from disk” , few seconds later I received this error message:
Cannot complete the operation due to an incorrect request to the server
Events directly at the vSphere 5.0 host:
Warning message from ESXHOST: This virtual machine has more than 100 redo logs in a single branch of its snapshot tree. Deleting some of the snapshots or consolidating the redo logs will improve performance. The maximum number of redo logs supported is 255.
Virtual machine disks consolidation failed.
Solution:
With this simple PowerCLI command I was able to remove the virtual machine include all active snapshots
Remove-VM "VM" -DeletePermanently -Confirm:$false
Last week I configured for a customer some new VLAN’s and created on each host new vSwitches with new portgroups, to migrate all VM’s in cluster with network label “VM Network” to “Production” I’ve created this script to automate this for all virtual machines with specific network label in cluster:
Original situation:
Script:
#====================================================================#
# SCRIPT: PowerCLI_Mass_change_network_label.ps1 #
# FUNCTION: Mass change network label Network A to Network B #
# OWNER: Sander Daems #
# VSPHERE: 5.0 Update 1 build 623860 #
# CREATED: 10/01/2013 #
# MODIFIED: 10/01/2013 #
# VERSION: v.1.0 #
#====================================================================#
# CHANGELOG: #
# #
# v.1.0 #
# - Script created; #
# #
#====================================================================#
# HOST - Specify host and connect #
#====================================================================#
$vCenterServer = Read-Host "Enter vCenter Hostname / IP"
Connect-VIServer $vCenterServer
#
#====================================================================#
# CUSTOM DEFINITIONS #
#====================================================================#
$Cluster = "Cluster01"
$SourcePortgroup = "VM Network"
$DestinationPortgroup = "Production"
#
#====================================================================#
# SCRIPT #
#====================================================================#
Get-Cluster $Cluster | Get-VM | Get-NetworkAdapter | Where {$_.NetworkName -eq $SourcePortgroup } | Set-NetworkAdapter -NetworkName $DestinationPortgroup -Confirm:$false#====================================================================#
Result:
New situation (All VM’s in cluster):
Today I created some new NFS volumes at a NetApp FAS2040, after I configured the datastores in vSphere I couldn’t write files and folders, warning message:
Call "FileManager.MakeDirectory" for object "FileManager" on vCenter Server "server.domain.local" failed.
Solution:
I forgot (stupid me) to configure the correct access rights, in the NetApp OnCommand System Manager:
Storage > Exports > select Export Path > add the correct rights + IP addresses for the configured VMware VMkernels:
I added the IP-addresses from the VMkernel ports with Root Access and I was able to create new files to the datastores.
Today a customer told me that he couldn’t vMotion virtual machines between a few hosts, he received this warning message:
Migration to host <<unknown>> failed with error Already disconnected
An unknown error has occurred.
vMotion migration socket connected returned: Already disconnected
Solution:
After some troubleshooting I’ve checked and tested:
- Same VMkernel (+ case sensitive) name;
- Same VLAN;
- Same subnet;
- Same default gateway;
- They configured unique ip-addresses;
- Host A can ping host B, vice versa;
- Ping is stable < 1 ms;
- But…
…reading KB1030267 I checked the MTU size, somebody configured the MTU size with a 9000 value at the Management / vMotion VMkernel..
The 9000 value was configured (at the hosts with the vMotion problem) but not at the physical switches, after revert to default value (1500) I was able to vMotion again, problem solved
Result:
The settings that NetApp recommends (across all ESX hosts) are:
- NFS.HeartbeatFrequency(NFS.HeartbeatDelta in vSphere) = 12
- NFS.HeartbeatTimeout = 5 (default)
- NFS.HeartbeatMaxFailures = 10
When the number of NFS datastores are increased, we also recommend increasing the heap values:
- Net.TcpipHeapSize =>’30′ to Net.TcpipHeapMax => ’120′
To automate this configuration I’ve wrote a PowerCLI script:
#====================================================================#
# SCRIPT: Configure_Advanced_NFS_parameters.ps1 #
# FUNCTION: Configure NFS / NetApp best practice #
# OWNER: Sander Daems #
# VENDOR: NetApp / FAS2040 #
# VSPHERE: 5.0 Update 1 build 623860 #
# CREATED: 07/01/2013 #
# MODIFIED: 20/03/2013 #
# VERSION: v.1.1 #
#====================================================================#
# CHANGELOG: #
# #
# v.1.0 #
# - Created script; #
# #
#====================================================================#
# HOST - Specify host and connect #
#====================================================================#
$ESXiHost = Read-Host "Enter ESXi Host name or IP"
Connect-VIServer $ESXiHost
#====================================================================#
# ADVANCED - Update TCP Settings #
#====================================================================#
Set-VMHostAdvancedConfiguration -VMHost $ESXiHost -Name Net.TcpipHeapSize -Value 32
Set-VMHostAdvancedConfiguration -VMHost $ESXiHost -Name Net.TcpipHeapMax -Value 128
#====================================================================#
# ADVANCED - Update NFS Settings #
#====================================================================#
Set-VMHostAdvancedConfiguration -VMHost $ESXiHost -Name NFS.MaxVolumes -Value 256
Set-VMHostAdvancedConfiguration -VMHost $ESXiHost -Name NFS.HeartbeatMaxFailures -Value 10
Set-VMHostAdvancedConfiguration -VMHost $ESXiHost -Name NFS.HeartbeatFrequency -Value 12
Set-VMHostAdvancedConfiguration -VMHost $ESXiHost -Name NFS.HeartbeatTimeout -Value 5
#====================================================================#
# SCRIPT FINISHED #
#====================================================================#
Write-Host "Script finished..." -foregroundcolor yellow
#====================================================================#
More information / source: NetApp Whitepaper
More information / source: VMware KB , VMware KB, VMware KB
Categories: VMware Tags: Advanced Parameters, Datastore, FAS2040, HeapSize, Heartbeat, NetApp, NFS, PowerCLI, TCP, VMware, vSphere 5
