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This will cover Windows templates but the same steps are used with Linux, except the Sysprep.
After you get your VM the way you want it, patches, secured and have your applications installed, you right click on it in the inventory windows of your virtual center and select “convert to template”.
Converting to a template will allow you to deploy new systems from the template that will have a unique SID. A clone is an identical copy of the original, which means it will have the same SID. So, don’t clone unless you plan to convert the clone to a template.
Also, to properly deploy a template you will need to copy the Microsoft Sysprep tools to the correct directory on your virtual center system – C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Vmware\VMware VirtualCenter\ . This will activate the custom deployment feature. Make sure you download the proper Sysprep file from Microsoft or get them off the Windows Server 2003 SP1 disk in the \Support\Tools\Deploy.cab file.
Once the Sysprep files are in place, when you deploy new system, you can customize the system just like you would if you were running the sysprep tool from the system. Then when you boot the new system it will start up like with what ever name, IP, time zone, etc you gave the system during the deployment.
Other things to consider are VM setting for your new system: CPU, memory, NIC, etc. Don’t over use resources!
Do you have a tip to share? Please post it in the VM install forum.
Originally posted 2008-05-23 17:30:16. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Step one in our step-by-step VM installation process is to make a pre-installation checklist with important information.
Before you even think about installing any software, make a checklist. The checklist will save you hours of frustration later on when the troubleshooting begins, which believe me, you will troubleshoot a lot while performing the simplest VM install.
I’ve found VMware documentation seriously lacking on this important step. We will go through our list of what you need to know during the install.
VMware ESX Server Pre-install Checklist:
1. Is your hardware supported? Check the HCL.
2. How many NICs will you have per host?
3. Is your network setup?
4. Is your DNS setup?
5. Make a list of name for your host servers. FQDN are required.
6. Is your storage configured right (SAN or NAS). iqn’s, igroups, LUNS, etc…
7. Do you have servers for running the VirtualCenter and MS SQL?
8. Do you have a list of IP addresses for your virtual networks?
9. Is your external network configured right? (VLANS, Routing)
10. Do you have the right license for your software?
11. Will you setup a license server for Flex licenses?
12. What patches do you need on your ESX host?
13. How big and how many LUNs of storage do I need?
14. What are best practices for installing ESX?
15. What are …
This is only the beginning. What else should be on this list?
Originally posted 2008-05-23 17:27:59. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
The long awaited Microsoft Virtual Server dubbed Hyper-V has now been released. At $28 a license, verses $7, 000 – $14,00 for VMware ESX, it should be well received with the economy possibly suffering from a recession.
Should you install Hyper-V instead of VMware VI? Let’s see, one of the many purposes of virtualization is to consolidate physical servers, especially those on old hardware that is out of warranty, to new hardware still in warranty. Granted VMware VI has quite a few whistles and bells such as HA, DRS and vMotion but I’m sure Microsoft will soon be able to duplicate these features and at $28, it might be worth the risk to consolidate those file , print or web servers to Hyper-V.
Here’s what Microsoft has to say about Hyper-V
Introducing Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V
Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, the next-generation hypervisor-based server virtualization technology, allows you to make the best use of your server hardware investments by consolidating multiple server roles as separate virtual machines (VMs) running on a single physical machine. With Hyper-V, you can also efficiently run multiple different operating systems—Windows, Linux, and others—in parallel, on a single server, and fully leverage the power of x64 computing. Read more…
Where’s the catch Microsoft?
Here’s the catch, I think… I searched around and couldn’t find a version of Hyper-V that installs on Windows Server 2003, so you’ll need Windows 2008 to run Hyper-V. That means more Microsoft license fees? This may not be a problem if you’re a Windows shop already headed in this direction and the money’s already in your IT budget, but what about shops that can’t upgrade due to strict compliance rules? Are they out of luck until Windows Server 2008 is approved for production? These are just a few questions I’ll have to research.
VMinstall.com Hyper-V Trials
I decided to download Windows Server 2008 and get started learning Hyper-V. More blogs to come on this subject. Here’s a link to Microsoft’s Hyper-V downloads (actually for Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V) if you’re interested in testing out Hyper-V. Download Hyper-V
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=F3AB3D4B-63C8-4424-A738-BADED34D24ED&displaylang=en
Also, here’s a step by step guide and instructions for how to install Hyper-V.
http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/library/c513e254-adf1-400e-8fcb-c1aec8a029311033.mspx?mfr=true
Hyper-V Installation Prerequisites and Requirements
http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/library/c513e254-adf1-400e-8fcb-c1aec8a029311033.mspx?mfr=true
VMware Virtual Infrastructure Vs. Microsoft Server 2008 Hyper-V
It’s too early to call a winner but I would definitely suggest checking out Hyper-V. I know first hand how expensive VMware renewals are so maybe if you don’t need all the whistles and bells that VMware offers, setting up a couple of Windows Server 2008 machines with Hyper-V might save you some money. Don’t get me wrong, I love VMware but I’ve supported it long enough to have formed an opinion on some of the down side (support and costs).
Here’s where I cut you loose to decide for yourself and please remember to recommend VMinstall.com to you friends.
Originally posted 2008-07-04 07:29:49. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Finding servers which are the “Best Fit” canadates for virtualization can be tricky. I have put together the following criteria checklist to help determine whether a new server provision or a P2V should use virtualization.
The Best Fit checklist uses my own criteria and weight recommendations but it can be modified with more liberal values. However, remeber the “Best Fit” for virtualizing a server should always consider the user’s experience, too liberal will produce poor performance and complaining users.
The “Best Fit” file has been attached for you to use it as-is or you can make your own. Open file: best-fit-virtualization-criteria-checklist-vminstall
Best Fit Virtualization Criteria Checklist
Requestor: ____________________________________________ Date: ___________________
Server Name: __________________________ Server Role: ______________________________
Primary Application: ______________________________ Database: ______________________
Purpose:
The purpose of this checklist is to evaluate new server provisions for server virtualization. The checklist criteria are designed to only allow “Best Fit” usage for virtualization. A weight of 3 or more will waive the server’s provision for virtualization.
Instructions:
Each item has a weight assigned. While going down the checklist place the weight value on the line to the left of the items that apply. Once you are complete, total the weights.
Checklist:
| ____ |
1. Is the primary application supported when hosted on a VMware VM? Yes/No (If no add 3 Pt.) Self explanatory. |
| ____ |
2. If this is a database server will clustering be required? Yes/No (If yes add 3 Pt.) Caveat: If clustering is required, high availability is hindered on the host server. |
| ____ |
3. Is this server considered a fail-over for a physical server? Yes/No (If yes add 3 Pt.) Caveat: Fail-over servers should be provisioned on an equivalent platform. |
| ____ |
4. Can recommended system requirements be scaled back (CPU/Memory)? Yes/No (If no then use items 5 and 6 to calculate weight. |
| ____ |
5. Will memory requirement be greater than 2 GB? Yes/No (If yes add 1 and .5 for each additional 512 MB) |
| ____ |
6. Will disk requirements grow beyond a 20 GB (C: or Root disk) and 50 GB of combined additional disk space. Yes/No (If yes add 1 and .5 for each additional 50 GB) How much? _____GB |
| ____ |
7. Will this be a temporary installation/deployment? Yes/No How many months? _____ (If yes can Lab Manager be used?) (0 Pt.) |
| ____ |
8. Will a database be hosted on the server (SQL/MySQL/Oracle)? Yes/No Other ___________ (If yes add 1 Pt.) |
| ____ |
9. _______________________________________________________ |
| ____ |
10. ______________________________________________________ |
( ) A server with a total 3 and greater should not be virtualized.
Evaluation Summary: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Originally posted 2009-02-21 09:54:36. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Like a new mom and dad, have you given any thought to what naming standards you plan to use for your new virtual environment? Right, I said naming standards because you will have to have names for the VirtualCenter or VMM, datacenter, clusters, data stores (LUNs), ESX or Hyper-V host servers, VLAN tags, VM guests, user groups, alert rules and possibly few more services and roles.
I kid you not – six months after you setup your virtual infrastructure it will dawn on you that you should have thought this out sooner, uh, why did we call the data stores datastore-hp-8000-01 thru datastore-hp-8000-128 even the NetApp ones? And, why did we call all our VLAN tags “temp-v120” through “temp-v897” when they are not “temp”? Now you have to go back and change all that stuff and that could break scripts if you have any running, not to mention it is a slow process and what about documentation?
What are your best practices for naming?
Nip the naming standards in the bud ASAP because your VM environment will grow very fast and soon it will look like a spam email with upper-case and lower-case names, and host name like Viagra and Mickey Mouse, get the point?
I recommend a naming convention that uses a tree: Datacenter>cluster>host>datastore
Ex. Datastore = DC1-CL1-((server name) (rack id))-((LUN ID)-(Datastore ID))
Ex. VLAN tag = VLAN1 (all upper-case)
Remember to keep names simple and don’t let someone get lazy and cut corners or it will be you cleaning up the mess.;-)
Originally posted 2009-02-05 16:47:37. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Originally posted 2009-08-09 16:00:53. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
When it comes to connecting ESX Server to NetApp storage, there are two flavors: iSCSI and Fiber Channel. If your organization can afford FC, then you have a larger IT budget than most of us, so you should have IT staff trained to configure your LUN storage. However, for the rest of the tight budget IT department, iSCSI is the way to go.
I’m not going to cover the iSCSI connection step-by-step but I will provide a checklist for making a successful connection.
1. Have your storage administrator create a: 1) volume 2) qtree 3) LUN (give it a good name) 4) igroup 5) igroup map 6)enable chap. Note: The order of item 1 & 2 were corrected on 8/28/07 by the editor
2. Have your storage administrator add the iqn (world wide name) that you give him after you enable the software iSCSI connection in your ESX vkernel your created to the igroup on the NetApp filer. *** Remember this point. If you are setting up a shared LUN then make sure you have the storage administrator add the iqn for all the ESX Servers. This will be needed later for VMotion. ***
3. Get the IP address of the NetApp filer interface that communicates with iSCSI connections. This will be setup as the gateway in your iSCSI vkernel when you are prompted for a gateway IP. ***Remember this or you will be troubleshooting for hours!***
4. As mention in 2 and 3, you need to create a vkernel for the iSCSI to work then put the IP address that will be used for iSCSI, it will be on the same subnet as your filer.
5. Open the iSCSI tab in your ESX Server configuration and add the dynamic address of you filer, probably the same IP as your gateway.
6. Perform a scan for storage … If your lucky your LUN will be found.
troubleshooting: If not make sure you provide the chap password, verifiy all iqn’s were typed correctly, make sure you can ping the NetApp filer interface, make sure the firewall in allowing iSCSI traffic over port 3260 on the ESX Server in the security settings.
7. Configure the space.
For more details on this process search for “Network Appliance and VMware ESX Server 3.0 Storage Best Practices Document TR3428
Originally posted 2008-05-23 17:29:02. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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