Virtualisation

Changing ESXi Passwords via Host Profiles

I recently had an issue where I couldnt get into one of my ESXi Servers as I did not know the Password. I could get into vCenter and so forced a reset of all root user password via Host Profiles.

In vCenter, select Home > Host Profiles

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Backup your VCSA vCenter 6.5

I am jut int he process of migrating to a new VCSA 6.7 and wanted to test the Backup and Restore Process

In the VAMI – the Web based management console for the VCSA, there is an option for Backup

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Enter a Destination for the Backup to go to, I created an FTP Server as it is a test but you can use the HTTP/S, FTP and SCP Protocols. (more…)

VIRTUAL LAB – PART 7 – Adding Shared Storage

Now we have the Networking in place, we need some Shared Storage.  Im going to refer to a few older posts of mine to set this up with FreeNAS which works really well.  I may look at other solutions at some point but for now this does exactly what I need.

Installing FreeNAS into VMware Workstation Pt1
Installing FreeNAS into VMware Workstation Pt2
Installing FreeNAS into VMware Workstation Pt3 (iSCSI)

This should be enough to get going (May add some NFS Later)

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VIRTUAL LAB – PART 6 – ESXi and vCenter Networking

This post will cover the setup of the Hosts networking.  I plan to simulate (as much as possible) a real world deployment, so separating all traffic over different networks.  This will mean adding a few additional Interfaces to each Host and deploying a few Virtual Switches to them also.

The first thing I need to do is add a few Network Interfaces to each of my Hosts, Im going to add 3 Interfaces; 1 for Shared Storage, 1 for FT and 1 for vMotion.

Open up Virtual Machine Settings and select Add…

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Select Yes if the User Account Control appears (more…)

VIRTUAL LAB – PART 5 – vCenter Setup

So my VCSA is now up and running, I just need to go into vCenter and do some config

  • Licenses
  • Create Datacenter, add Hosts etc..

First thing to do is log in using URL structure: https:////vsphere-client

NOTE: If you just go to the IP of your vCenter it will give you options to use either HTML5 or Flash

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I selected the Flash client which uses the URL above

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VCSA (vCenter) Log Locations

Here are a few log files I found useful when deploying the VCSA (vCenter Appliance)

  • /var/log/firstboot
    • rpmInstall.json – A JSON formatted file containing status messages.  Contains progress information, and error messages.
    • cloudvm.log – Log messages created throughout the vCenter Server Appliance installation process.
    • firstbootStatus.json –  A JSON file containing the current status of the installation process. 

VIRTUAL LAB – PART 3 – ESXi Deployment

I have pulled down the latest ISO for ESXi 6.5 – I want to have 2 x ESXi Servers, so I will document the process once and then repeat.

Select File, New Virtual Machine and select Custom

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Hit Next and then Next again at the Choose the Virtual Machine Hardware Compatibility screen

Browse to your VMvisor ISO and select Next

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VIRTUAL LAB – PART 2 – Domain Controller Setup

The next step is to spin up a Windows Server 2016 Domain Controller – this will provide DNS and Active Directory.

I provisioned the VM with 2GB RAM, 1 Processor and a 50GB HDD (this may need tweaking but should be enough to get started) and I have mapped the ISO.  When you deploy the Server make sure you set a complex password for the Administrator account before starting the AD configuration as it will “promote” your local administrator account to a Domain Admin.

Windows Update
The first thing Im going to do is run an Update (as this Server will not be connected to the Internet after this point).  At the moment it is connected as Host-Only, so I need to change that to Bridged (more…)

VIRTUAL LAB – PART 1 – Planning

Im now in the process of building up my Virtual Lab (I’m pretty excited about this as I have been out of the Virtualisation arena for a few years, so this will be an opportunity to learn whats new in 6.5 and also have a good play with Hyper-V) – My Home Lab Hardware is now in place and I have upgraded my VMWare Workstation to 12.5 (Current latest version)

The overall plan for my Lab is to run a small vSphere 6.5 and Hyper-V Environment for various reasons (mainly my new role – which i will post about soon) all contained within VMware Workstation.

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