Tag: vmware

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VMUG

Philadelphia VMUG UserCon just a month away!!!

I am very proud to announce that Philadelphia’s VMUG UserCon is only a month a way. 

Have you registered yet? If not, here is the link to the registration page.
I have always had a great time at the UserCon in years past, and I am sure that this year will be no different. 
As always registration is free and this year we have a list of All Star speakers such as:
Duncan Epping

Frank Denneman
Ariel Sanchez

Just to name a few. We also have some amazing giveaways just to add icing to that cake.
If you are able to attend, I can assure you that you will not be disappointment. 
Categories
Virtualization Vmware

How to convert VMDK from Thick to Thin Provision

As I have stated in a previous post, I have been trying to help out on the VMware Community Forum. One of the threads that I was able to help out on was how to convert a VMDK from thick to thin.

I have had the opportunity to do this several times in the past, but I have never needed to document. I was able to do a step by step procedure from memory for the thread, but I figured doing an actual guide might be helpful to someone else. 
The first thing that you need to realize is that the VM you want to change from Thick Provision to Thin MUST be powered off before you can convert it. 
Launch the VMware vCenter Converter Standalone Client software.
Click on the Convert Machine button.

That will launch the Converter wizard

By Default  the Source machine will be set to Powered on VM. You will need to select the Powered off radio button which will give you to option to select VMware Virtual Machine. 
Enter the Server Name or IP address, Username, and Password for the Source system and click Next

This will cause the Wizard to do a check against the Source machine to make sure that the credentials are able to access the vCenter server. 

Once you are logged in, will see the your vCenter server and ESXi hosts. Click on the vCenter server, or ESXi Host to see all the VMs that are available. 

Select the Powered off VM you wish to convert to thin provisioned and click Next. 

Next you will need to enter the Server Name, User name and Password for the destination host. Before you ask, yes the source and destination host can be the same server, however the Virtual Machine name will need to be different. 
Click Next to Continue

As I mentioned above, you will need to give the Virtual Machine a unique name, otherwise vCenter gets pretty mad. 
Select the Data Center you would like to put the VM on and click Next. 

Select the Host, Datastore, Virtual Hardware Version, and click Next.
NOTE: You should probably pick a different datastore that the one you used before, just to make sure that you don’t run out of space. 

This will take you to the Options screen which is where you are allowed to change the Virtual Disk from Thick to Thin. 

Click Edit as seen in the screen below.

This will bring up the disk configuration for this Virtual Machine.

Click on the drop down under Type and change it from Thick to Thin and then click Next.

You will then be presented with the Summary screen which you can review, and then click Finish to start the conversion. 

 As you can see the Job gets submitted and will run until it completes successfully

Once it completes you will see in vCenter that there is a new Virtual Machine and if you check the settings of that Virtual Machine the VMDK will be Thin Provisioned. 
Thank you for stopping by, and I hope you found this post helpful and please check back later for more updates. 
Categories
Virtualization Vmware

Adding an IDE Storage Adapter for an OVF that is supposed to run in vSphere? What were you thinking???

A few weeks ago I had the misfortune of having to deal with a .OVF that was sent by a support team to one of our engineers so we can run a Virtual Machine in our lab environment.

That seems pretty cut and dry, except when I go to import the .OVF and I get this message when the import gets to the Validating Step.
I had never seen this message before, but after seeing the part of the message that says DiskControllerReference, I automatically assumed that there was an issue with the .VMX file on the VM. Well because this is not a VM, but an .OVF I decided to open the .OVF file in Notepad ++ and found this.
I do not know why the person who created this .OVF selected a IDE controller for the HDD., but here we are.
I informed my Engineer of the issue, and he said that they told him to use VMware Converter to change it into an acceptable VM image. 
Giving them the benefit of the doubt, I downloaded the lastest copy of VMware Converter Standalone (which took me a day, because VMware’s Download site was not working) and tried to convert it.
Guess what, It didn’t work!!
This is also not the first time I have run into this issue with this particular vendor (who shall remain nameless). Their .OVA files will give you the same error message.  So needless to say anytime I run into this vendor, I immediately tell my Engineers to get me an .ISO and I will build them a VM from Scratch. 
I hope you find this post helpful, and if you would like to know more information about this, please feel free to DM me on one of my social media accounts. 
Thanks for reading, and check back soon for more articles. 
Categories
Virtualization Vmware

How to install ESXi 5.5

Continuing the saga of building out my VMware home lab I will be covering the process off installing ESXi 5.5 as a Virtual machine in my environment. As stated in my previous posts, I am a VMUG Advantage Member so I do have access to newer versions of VMware software. 
That might make you wonder why I am going with ESXi 5.5, well you are going to have to wait and see what my plan is for that. 
Lets get started with the installation of ESXi 5.5
Once the ESXi .ISO has been booted up on the machine you will be presented with this screen.
Press Enter to boot, or let the countdown continue and it will boot automatically. 

The ESXi installer will load into memory. It may take some time for this to complete depending on how much Memory you have on your machine, so your mileage may vary. 

After all of this you will be presented with the ESXi 5.5 Welcome Screen. Press Enter to continue. 

Press F11 to Accept the End User License Agreement to continue on.
Once you press F11 the install will start scanning the System it is installing on to see what Storage is available. 

On the next screen you will be presented with a list of Datastores that are available to you to install ESXi on. Select the Datastore that you want to use and press Enter. 

You will then be asked to select your Keyboard layout. Press Enter to continue.

Now you will have to set the Root Password for the OS. Once you confirm the password press Enter to continue. 

The ESXi Installer will then can your system again .

You will then be asked to Confirm your decision to install ESXi on the datastore you selected. Press F11 to continue. 

Now the installation will begin, again your mileage may vary as to how long it will take to complete. 

Once the installation has been completed you can press Enter to reboot the machine to complete in installation. 

After the reboot has been completed and the system boots up you will be presented with the following screen. 

This concludes the ESXi install guide. I hope you found this helpful an please check back for more updates to come.

Categories
Virtualization Vmware

How to Create a Virtual Machine using VMware Workstation Professional 15

Continuing on from my previous post, I wanted to go through the process of creating a Virtual Machine with VMware Workstation Professional 15. Mostly because the last time I did a how to create a VM post, it was a few years ago and it was vCenter 5.5, and because I will be building off of this for future posts.
So let’s get started.
Launch VMware Workstation Professional 15 Pro and you will be presented with the following screen. 
You will want to click on the Create a New Virtual Machine Button (Circled in Red below)

That will launch the New Virtual Machine Wizard.

From here you will want to select either Typical or Custom for your installation configuration. For the purposes my installation I am going to go with a Custom installation. 

After selecting Custom click Next. You will be presented with the option to choose your Virtual Machine Hardware Compatibility. 

As as you can see from the drop down menu below there are many options to choose from. Each option has different compatibility requirements which also brings different limitations. Also remember that Newer Hardware Versions will not be compatible with older versions of VMware Workstation, so if you have to move between versions please keep that in mind. 

For our purposes I will be Selecting ESXi 6.5, which should allow me to import this VM into an ESXi environment without needing to use VMware Converter. I will probably cover this in a later post. 

After making your selection, click Next to specify the OS for your Virtual Machine. You can either select and Installer disk, and Installer Image File (.iso), or I will install the Operating system later. For the purpose of this post I will be installing from a Image File (.iso). 

Click on browse to be prompted to select your Image file.

Select your installer Image File and click Open to continue. 

Depending on the .ISO you are using as the installer, VMware Workstation will attempt to determine what Operating System (OS) you are trying to install. This will also provide recommended settings based on your OS.

Click Next to continue on to name your Virtual Machines and specify where I want the Virtual Machine files to be located.

Click Next to move on to set Processor Configuration. The Processors are capped at the total number of Virtual CPUs available on your machine. If you try to over provision your processor you will get a Error message. 

Click Next to continue on to set the Memory for the Virtual Machine.

As you can see there is a “Recommended Memory” setting when you get to this screen. This is gathered from the .ISO check a few slides back. Click Next to continue on.

For Network Type you have 4 Options as seen above. The default is to use network address translation. This setting is all dependent on how much access you want to give to your VM. Do you want it to be accessible to or from your network? Perhaps you are setting up a VM to test some dangerous program? All these things you need to consider before clicking Next to continue. 

On this screen you will need to select your I/O Controller. I went with the recommended setting and clicked Next to continue.

 On the next screen you will be presented with options for Virtual Disk Type. Depending on what you will pick will determine compatibility with other Hypervisors in the future and can cause a real headache for someone else down the line if you don’t consider your options. I will cover that in a different post. For my purpose I will be sticking with SCSI which is recommended and is also the default selection.  

Next you will be asked to Select a disk from the following option.

As this is a new Virtual Machine I will be selecting Create a new Virtual Disk and Clicking Next.
You will then be presented with the following screen where you can specify the size of your Virtual Disk, if you want to Thick Provision it, and how you would like the file stored. 

Make you selection and Click Next to Continue. Next you will be able to Name the Virtual Hard disk and Specify what storage it will be installed on. 

 

Click Next to continue. Review your settings and Click Finish to continue. 

Categories
Virtualization Vmware

vExpert 2019

I just got the email that I didn’t think I was going to get. But I received the vExpert approval email!

This was my first time applying for this, but I was fortunate enough to be selected for this honor. This would not have been possible if it was not for this blog. Thank you for everyone who reads this. 
Categories
Virtualization Vmware

How to install VMware Workstation Professional 15

In my previous post about my new Home Lab spoke about installing VMware Workstation Professional 15. I wanted to follow up with this installation guide.

Once you get the installer downloaded, start off by double clicking it to run it.
At the Welcome screen, click Next to continue. 

On the End User License Agreement, Check the box that says I accept the terms in the License Agreement.

And click Next to continue

On the Custom Setup screen, check the box that says Enhanced Keyboard Driver. Now this will require a reboot of your PC when it is done so just be aware of that. Click Next to continue.

On the User Experience Settings screen, Click Next to Continue. 

On the Shortcuts screen, select which shortcuts you would like to have created as part of the install and click Next. 

On the Ready to install VMware Workstation Pro Screen, click Install.

The Installation will run for a few minutes until it is complete.

Once the installation has completed you will have a chance to Finish the installation or Apply your License now. If you choose to Finish the installation, you will still be able to use the application, but you will be using a Trial License. I will be continuing on with applying the license.

Enter your license key and click Enter.

Once you click Enter, you will be presented with the Completed Installation Screen. Click Finish to end the installation. You will then be prompted to restart your PC.

Click Yes to restart your PC, and once it comes back up, you are good to go!
I hope you found this post helpful, and stay tuned for more helpful guides and tips. 

Categories
Virtualization Vmware

VMware Home Lab 1.0

GREAT DAY IN THE MORNING!!!!!

Alright I had to find a different way to start this post, so I decided to borrow Pierre Roberts Catch phrase. I don’t think it worked so he can have it back. 
I wanted to take the time to talk about my home lab that I am currently using. As I mentioned in a previous post I have a Razer Blade 2018 which I will be using to run my lab for now. 
Stock the laptop comes with:
  • 8th Gen Intel Core i7 – 8750H Processor 6 Cores/12 threads up to 4.1 GHz
  • 1 TB M.2 SSD
  • 16 GB of RAM. 
I have been wanting to upgrade it to 32 GB of RAM since I purchased it, however $400 for 32 GB of RAM was just too much for me to swallow at the time. 
I had been watching the price of RAM (particularly for this laptop) for the last few months and saw that it was steadily declining. I finally decided to pull the trigger when it was down to 49% off on Amazon. 
The RAM Arrived a few days ago, and I installed it in the laptop, and I have to say it is awesome. I have never seen a laptop run this good. 
I installed VMWare Workstation Professional 15 (Thank you VMUG Advantage) and I will have a install guide out for that soon. 
I am also beginning to Spec out my VMware Home Lab 2.0 which will also be a Nested Solution. I will probably leverage my Kit.com account to show my parts list once I get it running. 
I hope you find this post helpful and stay tuned for updates.
Categories
Virtualization Vmware

How to add a VM to inventory

So like I mentioned in a previous post, I have been trying to help people out on VMNT or VMware Community forums. One of the posts that I helped out on involved someone who needed  help adding a VM to inventory after it was restored.

Here is how you can add a VM into inventory if it has been removed for some reason

From vCenter, you will need to click on a ESXi hosts
Then click on the Configure tab

Then click on Datastores and select the Datastore that the VM is stored on. 
Right Click the Datastore and select Browse Files

Locate the VM folder, and select the .VMX file

Right Click on the .VMX file ans select Register VM

This will open the Register Virtual Machine wizard. You will need to set the name (which should be pre-populated and select the Data center and click Next.

Select the Cluster and click Next

Select the Application Pool and Click Next

Click Finish to exit the Wizard

 
After you exit the Wizard you will see the Virtual Machine added to Inventory. 
As always I hope that this is helpful for someone. 

I didn’t know this was even possible…. SSL Certificate weirdness

 So I was working on the post about how to resolve the SSL Certificate error message that you get if you do not have the Root certificate for the ESXi host installed on your machine. Well in the process of taking screen shots for that post I discovered something that I have never seen before.  Rather than starting from the beginning, lets pick up at the end of the last post.

So right after you finish installing the Root CA on your machine, you have closed out of your web browser and reopened it and go to the URL and you get this message.

On first glance it looks like the certificate install failed, but it didn’t, Upon closer inspection of the message you will see that there is an issue with the CN is invalid. 
For those who do not know CN means Common Name which is usually the FQDN or Host name of the server. So I went back to check the CN of the Certificate of the ESXi host and I found what you see below.  This is where things get crazy….

So according to the image above, the SAN or Subject Alternate Name (AKA a list of CN’s, usually up to 5 on one Certificate) is an IP Address!!! How the heck is it an IP address? 
So what I tried next was typing in https://172.26.96.44 in my web browser and I was immediately presented with the image below. 


So wait, it worked like it should using the IP address instead of the name. How did that certificate get issues at all.

WELL….. It would appear that one of my co-workers added this host to vCenter with the IP address instead of the name.

Needless to say I am very disappointed in my Co-Worker for not following our naming convention.  But if I had to guess it looks like VMCA (VMWare Certificate Authority) which is included in the PSC (Platform Services Controller) and issues Certificate to hosts when they are added to vCenter must have issues the certificate to the IP address because he added it using the IP. Having dealt with several different Certificate Authorities in my time, this is crazy to see. 
Anyway this is just a heads up just encase you run into something like this in your travels.