Questions tagged [vmware-esxi]
VMWare ESXi is an installable/embeddable virtualization platform based around the ESXi Hypervisor.
191
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What happens when the USB key or SD card I've installed VMware ESXi on fails?
An SD (SDHC) card installed in an HP ProLiant DL380p Gen8 server running VMware ESXi just failed :(
I encountered some ominous looking messages on the vCenter console and in the HP ProLiant ILO event ...
37
votes
5
answers
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Are VMware ESXi 5 patches cumulative?
This seems basic, but I'm confused about the patching strategy involved with manually updating standalone VMware ESXi hosts. The VMware vSphere blog attempts to explain this, but the actual process is ...
57
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2
answers
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vSphere education - What are the downsides of configuring VMs with *too* much RAM?
VMware memory management seems to be a tricky balancing act. With cluster RAM, Resource Pools, VMware's management techniques (TPS, ballooning, host swapping), in-guest RAM utilization, swapping, ...
27
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3
answers
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How to run VMWare ESX or ESXi in a virtual machine?
Can VMWare ESX or ESXi be installed and used inside a virtual machine?
It can be installed inside VMWare Workstation or Server, but then it doesn't work; the main symptoms are:
It runs REALLY slowly....
5
votes
1
answer
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Openfiler iSCSI performance
Hoping someone can point me in the right direction with some iSCSI performance issues I'm having. I'm running Openfiler 2.99 on an older ProLiant DL360 G5. Dual Xeon processor, 6GB ECC RAM, Intel ...
6
votes
3
answers
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How to resize the disk of a Fedora guest VM in VMWare ESXi
How do I resize (specifically increase) the disk size of a Fedora guest VM running under VMWare ESXi 4.1?
I have a Fedora 16 VM with an lvm2 formatted disk, and I've increased its disk size using the ...
29
votes
5
answers
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Move VMware ESXi VM to new datastore - preserve thin-provisioning
I'm looking for a good solution to a VMware ESXi environment issue where there's no vCenter available.
What's the best way to move a VM from one datastore to another on a single ESXi host, while ...
11
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5
answers
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Best filesystem choices for NFS storing VMware disk images
Currently we use an iSCSI SAN as storage for several VMware ESXi servers. I am investigating the use of an NFS target on a Linux server for additional virtual machines. I am also open to the idea of ...
4
votes
4
answers
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How to find out more hardware details using only ESXi4.1 and (possibly) shell
Running ESXi4.1 on an HP machine, with only remote access to the host ssh shell and the vmware console (no iLO), is there a way to gather a hardware report from the server?
I am specifically ...
12
votes
1
answer
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"Unballooning" RAM that's been ballooned by VMware
Given the constrained RAM situation described in this question, what is the cleanest method (manual or programmatically) to:
Identify VMware virtual machines whose RAM has been reclaimed by the ...
20
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9
answers
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VMware ESXi shutdown triggered by APC UPS connected via USB
I am shipping a bunch of ESXi 5.1 servers to remote offices where they will be powered via APC UPS.
I would like to have the UPS trigger a shutdown of the connected server - I would then rely on the ...
13
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4
answers
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Why don't people just use rsync to back up vmware guests?
If I am running a modern vmware ESXi system, I can drop in a statically linked rsync binary and rsync files to any destination over SSH.
I'm trying to understand why most (all ?) backup of vmware ...
10
votes
4
answers
4k
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Monitoring Dell/HP Servers Running ESXi (Free)
What are you all doing to monitor ESXi servers that run the free edition? With the lack of SNMP support, it seems fairly limited to me. What'd I'd like to be able to do is get some type of alert when ...
7
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1
answer
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Accessing temperature data on ESXi5.1?
For ESXi5.1 (VMWare vSphere) images, I can see temperature data on the vSphere user interface (under Monitor / Hardware Status). I tried scouring the available snmp data using snmpwalk, but can't find ...
4
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2
answers
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VMware lockup CPU spike
After a CPU usage spike, the host server for VMWare ESXi 5.5 became unresponsive regarding the DRAC, Network, and cluster membership.
The host is a blade module is Dell PowerEdge M820 in a Dell ...
45
votes
1
answer
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mount: unknown filesystem type 'linux_raid_member'
I have Suse Linux 12.1 and
i am trying to mount a single RAID 1 disk, to explore the files in it. However when mounting it:
# mount /dev/sdc1 /mnt/test
mount: unknown filesystem type '...
30
votes
9
answers
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Is there a way to clone an existing VM on an ESXi server without having to re-import it?
I have imported a VM into an ESXi server using the VMware "Converter stand alone utility". However, this process is a little tedious. Since I eventually want several copies of this VM (or, to be ...
29
votes
4
answers
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Why VM snapshots are affecting performance?
I read in one of the VMware KB articles that snapshots will directly affect VM performance.
But my team keeps asking me how snapshots can affect performance.
I would like to give them solid reason ...
16
votes
4
answers
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Hardware firewall vs VMware firewall appliance
We have a debate in our office going on whether it's necessary to get a hardware firewall or set up a virtual one on our VMWare cluster.
Our environment consists of 3 server nodes (16 cores w/ 64 GB ...
16
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3
answers
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In VMware ESXi 5.x, does it make a difference if I select 2 CPU cores vs. 2 CPU sockets?
Title pretty much says it all. I'm just wondering if this makes a difference in the way VMs will process things and if one method is preferable vs. another.
14
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VMware Distributed vSwitches (VDS) - Design, theory, *real* use cases and examples?
I'm starting to explore VMware Distributed Switches (dvSwitches or VDS) for use in existing and new installations. Assume VMware version 5.1 and newer with Enterprise Plus licensing. Prior to this, I'...
14
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2
answers
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How to manage a global VM startup order across the whole datacenter?
Suppose you have a fully virtualized VMware infrastructure: ESXi, vCenter, vMotion, HA, DRS, the whole package.
Inside, you have lots of VMs, which at any given time may reside on one host or another ...
12
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4
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Disk shrink does not work on ESXi guests
EHLO everyone! My first post on the StackOverflow network :)
We're running some ESXi 5.0/vCenter infrastructure to host mainly Debian 6/amd64 guest systems with ext3 partitions and open-vm-tools ...
9
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3
answers
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How do you passthrough native SATA drives to a guest on ESXi?
I have ESXi 4.0 running on an Intel DX58S0 Mothboardboard with an Intel Core i7 930 processor. VT-d is also enabled.
I have three drives in the system, drive 0 is used for ESXi. Drive 1 and 2 ...
9
votes
1
answer
16k
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How is the /altbootbank/ partition used in ESXi?
I'm aware that ESXi maintains two copies of its boot partition, /bootbank and /altbootbank, and that /altbootbank is more or less a backup copy of /bootbank, which is the running copy.
What I'm not ...
9
votes
6
answers
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How should I copy my VM templates between vSphere datacenters?
Background/Environment Architecture:
My current environment for $corp_overlords$ is set up in a hub-and-spoke model with a technologically well-endowed home office hub (SAN, bladecenter/bladesystem ...
8
votes
1
answer
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DHCP Server with multiple network interfaces and different subnets
I am trying to set up a dhcp server (isc dhcpd on debian 8 (vm inside an esxi environment)) with 4 network interfaces, eth0-3. The dhcp server should serve a different subnet on the interfaces eth1, ...
8
votes
10
answers
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Software RAID underneath ESXi datastore
I'm building an virtual environment for a small business. It is based around a single ESXi 5.1 host, which will host half a dozen or so VMs. I'm having some doubts regarding how to implement the ...
6
votes
5
answers
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Can I virtualize multiple hosts into one virtual system? [duplicate]
I have 5 computer systems in our small office. From my basic understanding of Virtualization technology, I think I can virtualize the 5 systems into one big virtual system. I wish to confirm this.
So,...
6
votes
2
answers
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How to export a VMware ESXi 5 VM into a file to restore it later?
As I've bought a server it had a RAID controlleer which was not supported by VMWare ESXi 5, so I had to install it in a bare non-RAID configuration. Now as I've bought a supported RAID controller I am ...
6
votes
3
answers
5k
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ESXi 4.1 slow file transfer on HP DL380 G5
My problem is that when I transfer files to or from 2 of my ESXi 4.1 servers using Veeam's FastSCP utility, the transfer seems to be limited to about 5 MBs when I can transfer the same file from the ...
6
votes
5
answers
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How do I delete ESXi vm snapshots using the least additional space possible?
We have a tree of about 15 snapshots of a virtual machine that runs Win2k8, as you may guessed our datastore is soon to run out of space. My objective is to delete all the snapshots, as it seems it ...
5
votes
1
answer
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Options for managing Smart Array P400 on an ESXi 5 host
I'm about to install ESXi 5.0U2 on a RAID10 exposed by an HP Smart Array P400i. (The server is a DL580 G5.) However, I notice that the ROM-based utility lacks many of the features of the browser-...
5
votes
5
answers
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Edit Hard Disk Serial Number with VMware
I'm virtualizing a Rockwell AssetCentre Server and I'm looking at Disaster Recovery scenarios. This server contains a lot of other Rockwell Software like RSLinx, Logix 5000, Logix 500, and more...
...
5
votes
4
answers
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How do you monitor your HP hardware while running virtual servers?
Our organization servers are mostly not virtualized and we have been using HP System Management, System insight manager to get hardware health from the servers. This system works well and we like it.
...
5
votes
3
answers
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Monitor ESXi hosts with Nagios
Does anyone recommend any methods for monitoring ESXi 4.1 hosts with Nagios? I have looked into SNMP but it seems to be in a pretty sorry state. Net-SNMP does not seem to be included and there is a ...
5
votes
1
answer
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Should VMware HA Admission Control be enabled for small (2/3-host) clusters?
Take the following common scenario... A basic vSphere cluster running two or three hosts, shared storage and a token set of virtual machines under Essentials Plus or greater licensing.
Should HA ...
4
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2
answers
5k
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Very strange problem with VMDK thin/thick disks
I have some ESXi (4.1) virtual machines which were initially created using thin-provisioned disks, but where then physically moved to different datastores (all of them iSCSI); since these are stand-...
4
votes
2
answers
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Are there any disadvantages to unusual RAM amounts for virtual machines?
This is going to seem like a silly question, but many many years ago I somehow got it into my head, perhaps from reading an article or speaking to people 'in the know' that a computer should not be ...
4
votes
5
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vmware server end of life, where to go now?
We have some virtual machines on vmware server 2.x running on 64 bit hardware and quite happy with it.
As vmware server will no longer be offered we are thinking to migrate to ESXi, which seems is ...
4
votes
1
answer
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How do I make sure VMware Tools is installed and running?
[root@tst-01 ~]# rpm -qa |grep vmware
vmware-tools-libraries-nox-8.6.0-2.x86_64
vmware-tools-foundation-8.6.0-4.x86_64
vmware-tools-libraries-x-8.6.0-2.x86_64
[root@tst-01 ~]# ps aux |grep vmware
root ...
4
votes
4
answers
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Determining the name of the VMware host of a VM guest - from the guest
Is it possible to determine the name of the VMware host (ESX or ESXi) that my guest resides in, from within the guest itself?
I would expect this to be possible via VMware Tools, but am not sure ...
4
votes
1
answer
5k
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How common are Intel igb NIC drivers/cards, compared to Intel e1000, etc.?
I'm troubleshooting VMware ESXi host network and connectivity issues stemming from the use of Intel NICs who require the igb driver.
The chipset is Intel Corporation 82576.
VMware has a few ...
3
votes
2
answers
8k
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Can a single Virtual Core on a VM use more then 1 physical core?
I have a server running dual quad core cpu's with hyper threading.
We have a Windows 2003 VM and it has a single core.
when using prime95 I notice that it tops out at about 2.3Ghz (each Core is 3ghz ...
3
votes
2
answers
5k
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Monitor LSI 3ware raid controller on ESXi
This concerns a server that runs ESXi (v. 4.x or 5.x) installed on drives that are configured into a raid10 using an LSI 3ware 97050 raid controller.
I would like to know if there is a way to monitor ...
3
votes
1
answer
3k
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How to install (old) packages for Ubuntu 9.04?
Based on some excellent feedback by Mark here (Should I clone a physical server to create a vm for a staging server?), today I was able to use the vmware converter to clone my production server for a ...
3
votes
4
answers
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HP Proliant DL180 G6 - Smart Array P410, bay 11 error
I've been trying to search over ther internet for a solution to fix this. I'm the new IT person for my organization and our previous IT have not kept any records on certain things. I do understand, ...
3
votes
2
answers
33k
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How to shutdown a virtual machine on ESXi5 over an ssh terminal session?
How can I shutdown a virtual machine when I am on the commandline of an ESXi5 host over ssh?
Sidenote:
To enable scripts on other machines to login to the ESXi without password, add the public key ...
3
votes
1
answer
2k
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How to detect, in the guest operating system, if the vmware tools are out of date?
I'm trying to find a generic way of checking, in the guest operating system of a virtual machine, if the VMware Tools are out of date.
The best way I have found so far has been to check the output of ...
2
votes
2
answers
11k
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VMware NIC Teaming - How to gain more than 1Gbit/s copy speed between two VMs?
I have a question about VMware and NIC Teaming. Here is my easy test scenario. I have two VMs. VM1 and VM2. I want to copy 1 big file from VM1 to VM2 because I want to see that I can gain more copy ...