Friday, March 27, 2015

vRealize Operations - missing dashboards when sharing

After upgrading from vRO 6.0.0 to 6.0.1 I tried to share some Dashboard tabs and templates with certain account groups.

I have multiple solutions added which creates a lot of dashboards so when viewing the dashboard window under content i see all 69.  However trying to share dashboard only a count of 50 is displayed so cannot select all dashboards.


Solution:

I opened case with VMware support and they were able to reproduce the issue where the dashboards shared window cannot display more than 50 entries.
Fix will be available with next release.


vRealize Operations - change root password for console access

This is just a quick reference on how to reset the root password to be more secure:

Solution:

Login to vCenter server
Select VM for vRA appliance
Open console.
Press ALT+F1 which will provide you with login prompt.
Enter username "root"
For password just press ENTER since password is blank.

Will now be prompted to provide new password!

Thursday, February 26, 2015

vCloud air plugin for vCenter server error: "Server Certificate not Verified"

For vCloud air plugin version 1.5.1.0 this is expected if the vCloud air certificate has not been added to vCenter server trusted keystore.  If you don't add the certificate you will be unable to register your vCloud Air account with the plug-in and connect to vCloud Air.

Solution:

Login to vCloud air.  https://vchs.vmware.com

From browser download the certificate.
NOTE Ensure that you select the Base-64 encoded x.509 option while exporting the certificate.
Firefox
- Click the lock icon in the URL field, then click More information.
- In the Security tab, click View Certificate.
- In the Details tab, click Export.
- Save the file with the name vchs.cer and the type X.509 Certificate (PEM).
Internet Explorer
- Click the lock icon in the URL field, then click View certificates.
- In the Details tab, click Copy to File and follow the wizard to export the certificate.
- Select Base-64 encoded X.509 (.CER) as the format and name the file vchs.cer.
Chrome
- Click the lock icon in the URL field.
- In the Connection tab, click Certificate information.
- In the Details tab, click Copy to File and follow the wizard to export the certificate.
- Select the Base-64

If your vCenter server is installed on Windows run this command:

C:\Program Files\Java\jre7\bin\keytool.exe" -alias aliasName -v -keystore "C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\vSphereWebClient\server\configuration\keystore" -storepass changeit -import -file path_to_file\fileName.cer


If your running a vCenter server appliance:

Copy .cer file to /tmp folder using a tool like WinSCP.
Run the following command:
/usr/java/jre-vmware/bin/keytool -alias aliasName -v -keystore /usr/lib/vmware-vsphere-client/server/configuration/keystore -storepass changeit -import -file /tmp/vCA.cer


Links:

http://pubs.vmware.com/vchsplugin-15/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.vmware.vchsplugin.install%2FGUID-F75F245C-85B6-4A1A-B2FC-A5CB1B17C6C7.html

http://pubs.vmware.com/vchsplugin-15/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.vmware.vchsplugin.doc%2FGUID-EC4471B5-0CED-4382-B251-AE73D103D80C.html



Thursday, February 5, 2015

Sizing vRealize Operation Manager 6.0 using your existing vCOPS 5.8 environment information.

VMware provides a comprehensive KB on sizing your vRealize Operation Manager.  However this document is very much focused on first time installation architecture and does not really provide much information on how you can use your current 5.8 environment details in conjunction with the advanced Sizing guide spreadsheet.

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2093783

I will just be focusing on the input parameter of this document and how i found the information needed to complete the excel spreadsheet.  Hope this helps but if you have a better solution please let me know since this is just from my own experience.



1. Getting information for vCenter Objects:

Open the custom UI webpage for vCOPS.
Select Admin tab -> Audit report
Select your preferred report type and submit.
At the bottom of the output page you have the section called "Virtual Environment (existing resources)" .  All the details required are available in this section.

2. Custom Adapters resource and metric counts

Open Custom UI website for vCOPS 5.8
Environment tab -> Environment overview

Expand Adapter instances
Select adapter

On right hand side highlight the adapter and select the  "Detail view" button.
There might multiple instance so go through each and add up for the total count of the adapter.

On the metric selector expand the instance generated
Select the number of metrics collected and number of resources collected.
The graphs display the numbers necessary for document.

This should provide all the information needed to get the correct sizing for your new vRealize Operations 6 environment.





Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Mac Pro 6,1 rack environment running VMware ESXi 5.5 (with Fiber connectivity to VNX)

With the recently addition of Mac Pro 6,1 to VMware's hardware compatibility I was eager to replace our exiting old Power Mac G5 towers in our environment.


Prerequisites:


  1. Mac Pro bios version MP61.88Z.0116.B05.1402141115
If your Mac Pro has an older boot ROM then just upgrade the Mac Pro to Yosemite (OS X 10.10) which contains the update to be applied to the Mac Pro.
  1. vSphere 5.5 P03 is required
Currently the latest version of ESXi available on VMware download is only 5.5 update 2 so you have to include the required patch version onto the update 2 ISO.  To do this perform the following steps:

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Cisco UCS error: will_boot_fault sensor failure asserted

After replacing a faulty UCS blade the following error presented itself after inserting the new blade into chassis:  will_boot_fault sensor failure asserted

Troubleshooting:

Ran the following -
Tried to run the board controller activation
# scope server <chassis/server>
# scope boardcontroller
# show version
Showed version 13 (2.2.3d)
# show image
Did not display version 13 but latest was version 8 (2.2.1d)
# activate firmware <boardcontroller version>.0 force
# commit-buffer
Received an error message that commit cannot proceed.


Friday, January 2, 2015

vCenter Server - how to move your database to new server

This solution is for vCenter Server hosted on a Windows OS. I am just providing the short and sweet version since VMware KB 7960893 provides very detailed information on this process.

Solution:
  • Create new database on new server
  • Setup users on new database instance and provide security access with same permissions.
  • Shutdown all vcenter services
  • Shutdown all vcenter update manager services
  • Backup databases
  • Restore databases on new database server
  • On vcenter server, copy all the scripts for SQL Agent rollup jobs that need to be recreated in new database server instance
    • KB 1004382
  • Update DSN entries for vcenter server and venter update manager to reflect new database server location.
  • Start vCenter services
  
Note: In some instances, it is necessary to update the vcdb.properties file with the new SQL server if the SQL database name is referenced here. If this is not updated, the performance overview charts and the Storage Monitoring Service (SMS) may be affected after migrating the vCenter Server database. For more information, see VMware vCenter Storage Monitoring Service fails with the error: Service initialization failed (2016472). The vcdb.properties file is located at:
  • Windows 2008 – C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter
  • Other Windows versions – C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\


Links:








vCenter Log Insight - move NFS archive location

Had to recently change the vCenter log insight archive to a new NFS location.   Here is how you change this 


Solution:

SSH to appliance.
Stop the service
  • /etc/init.d/loginsight stop 
Copy the archive files over the new NFS location.
Change log insight configuration file to new NFS location
  • /storage/core/loginsight/config/ 
  • Vi loginsight-config.xml#<number>
Start the service 
  • /etc/init.d/loginsight start

vCOPS - Recreate missing vSphere group dashboard

If you are familiar with the custom-ui of vCops you will find that since 5.7 you are providing with some default custom dashboards under the vsphere group.
  
We recently installed VNX analytics adapter which seems to have removed the vsphere group default dashboards. 

To fix this perform the following tasks:

SSH into UI VM
Browse to
cd /usr/lib/vmware-vcops/user/conf/dashboards/
Run the script  "import-dashboards.sh"

This will only share the dashboards with admin user
Edit the sh file at bottom where states:
    # import imported templates as dashboards for admin user


The xml files listed here are the custom dashboards.
These can also be copied out (for instance with WinSCP) and imported into a  manually created new dashboard.

Add lines for different users but firstly create duplicate of file for backup purposes

Cp import-dashboard.sh import-dashboard.sh.default
Vi /import-dashboards.sh

/usr/lib/vmware-vcops/user/conf/dashboards # ls -l

-rw-r--r-- 1 admin admin  61794 Aug 26 04:56 DashboardTemplate-Alerts.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 admin admin 117798 Aug 26 04:56 DashboardTemplate-ClusterUtilization.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 admin admin  90979 Aug 26 04:56 DashboardTemplate-DatastorePerformance.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 admin admin  74401 Aug 26 04:56 DashboardTemplate-DatastoreSpace.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 admin admin 170642 Aug 26 04:56 DashboardTemplate-Heatmaps.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 admin admin  77214 Aug 26 04:56 DashboardTemplate-HostMemory.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 admin admin 117370 Aug 26 04:56 DashboardTemplate-HostUtilization.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 admin admin  76295 Aug 26 04:56 DashboardTemplate-Troubleshooting.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 admin admin 128042 Aug 26 04:56 DashboardTemplate-VMPerformance.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 admin admin 117626 Aug 26 04:56 DashboardTemplate-VMUtilization.xml



  # import imported templates as dashboards for all administrator users
    bash  ./dbcli.sh dashboard import group:Administrators $TD_1 --default true --set 1
    bash  ./dbcli.sh dashboard import group:Administrators $TD_2
    bash  ./dbcli.sh dashboard import group:Administrators $TD_3
    bash  ./dbcli.sh dashboard import group:Administrators $TD_4
    bash  ./dbcli.sh dashboard import group:Administrators $TD_5
    bash  ./dbcli.sh dashboard import group:Administrators $TD_6
    bash  ./dbcli.sh dashboard import group:Administrators $TD_7
    bash  ./dbcli.sh dashboard import group:Administrators $TD_8
    bash  ./dbcli.sh dashboard import group:Administrators $TD_9

    bash  ./dbcli.sh dashboard import group:Administrators $TD_10



From vCOPS 5.7.3  release notes:

  • All and group options for dashboard commands
    For the dashboard import, dashboard delete, and dashboard reorder commands, you can use one of the following options instead of specifying a user name:
    * --all
    * --group:<group_name[,<group_name>]

    The --all option applies the command to all user accounts. The --group:<group_names[,<group_name>] option applies the command to all user accounts that belong to the specified user groups. For example, the command dashboard import group:Administrators,Operators "templates\MyDashboard.bin" imports the dashboard MyDashboard.bin to all user accounts that belong to the Administrators and Operators user groups.
    The dashboard import command also has a --set <rank> option that enables you to set the dashboard order. For example, the command dashboard import MyUser2 "dashboards/MyDashboard.bin" --set 1 imports the dashboard MyDashboard.bin and makes it the first dashboard in the dashboard list for the user MyUser2.

vCenter Server log file locations by services

Location of vCenter Server log files (KB 1021804)


vCenter Server 5.x and earlier versions on Windows XP, 2000, 2003:    %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\Logs\
vCenter Server 5.x and earlier versions on Windows Vista, 7, 2008:    C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\Logs\
vCenter Server Appliance 5.x:    /var/log/vmware/vpx/
vCenter Server Appliance 5.x    UI: /var/log/vmware/vami


vpxd.log: 
The main vCenter Server logs, consisting of all vSphere Client and WebServices connections, internal tasks and events, and communication with the vCenter Server Agent (vpxa) on managed ESX/ESXi hosts.
vpxd-profiler.log, profiler.log and scoreboard.log: 
Profiled metrics for operations performed in vCenter Server. Used by the VPX Operational Dashboard (VOD) accessible at https://VCHostnameOrIPAddress/vod/index.html.
vpxd-alert.log: 
Non-fatal information logged about the vpxd process.
cim-diag.log and vws.log: 
Common Information Model monitoring information, including communication between vCenter Server and managed hosts' CIM interface.
drmdump\: 
Actions proposed and taken by VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS), grouped by the DRS-enabled cluster managed by vCenter Server. These logs are compressed.
ls.log: 
Health reports for the Licensing Services extension, connectivity logs to vCenter Server.
vimtool.log: 
Dump of string used during the installation of vCenter Server with hashed information for DNS, username and output for JDBC creation.
stats.log:
 Provides information about the historical performance data collection from the ESXi/ESX hosts
sms.log: 
Health reports for the Storage Monitoring Service extension, connectivity logs to vCenter Server, the vCenter Server database and the xDB for vCenter Inventory Service.
eam.log: Health reports for the ESX Agent Monitor extension, connectivity logs to vCenter Server.
catalina.<date>.log and localhost.<date>.log: 
Connectivity information and status of the VMware Webmanagement Services.
jointool.log: 
Health status of the VMwareVCMSDS service and individual ADAM database objects, internal tasks and events, and replication logs between linked-mode vCenter Servers.

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1021804



Location of vSphere Profile-Driven Storage log files (KB 2056646)


vCenter Server 5.x and earlier versions on Windows XP, 2000, 2003:    %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\VMware\Infrastructure\Profile-Driven Storage\Logs
vCenter Server 5.x and earlier versions on Windows Vista, 7, 2008:    C:\ProgramData\VMware\Infrastructure\Profile-Driven Storage\Logs
vCenter Server 5.x Linux Virtual Appliance: /var/log/vmware/vpx/sps


sps.log:
The main Profile-Driven Storage logs, consisting of all vCenter Server and Management Webservices connections, internal tasks and events, and information about the storage profile integrity.
vim-sps-install.log: 
This file consists of information about the installation of Profile-Driven Storage including computer name, operating system revision, the date of installation and the number of revisions that have been installed or upgraded on the system.
wrapper.log:   
This file provides information about the state of the Java runtime environment.


For vSphere 5.0, all the logs for the vSphere Web Client service are located at:
   Windows: C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\vSphere Web Client\DMServer\serviceability\
   Linux: /usr/lib/vmware-vsphere-client/server/serviceability/
For vSphere 5.1, all the logs for the vSphere Web Client service are located at:
   Windows: C:\ProgramData\VMware\vSphere Web Client\serviceability\
   Linux: /var/log/vmware/vsphere-client/serviceability/
For vSphere 5.5, all the logs for the vSphere Web Client service are located at:
   Windows: C:\ProgramData\VMware\vSphere Web Client\serviceability\
   Linux: /var/log/vmware/vsphere-client/


logs\vsphere_client_virgo.log:
The main vSphere Web Client log, consisting of all communication between underlying Flex endpoint connections, internal tasks and events
logs\access\localhost_access_log.<date>.txt:
Individual HTTP requests from the Web browser
logs\virgo-serverlog.log:
Information about plug-in bundle communication
eventlogs/eventlog.log
Time stamps of startup and shutdown of the vSphere Web Client service

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2004090

Location of vCenter Single Sign-On log files for vCenter Server 5.1 and 5.5 (KB 2033430)


vSphere 5.1 using vCenter Single Sign-On 5.1:
   vCenter Server 5.1.x on Windows Server 2003 – C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\SSOServer\logs\
vCenter Server 5.1.x on Windows Server 2008/2012 – C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\SSOServer\logs\
vCenter Server Virtual Appliance 5.1.x – /var/log/vmware/sso/
vSphere 5.5 using vCenter Single Sign-On 5.5:
   vCenter Server 5.5.x on 2003 – %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\CIS\
vCenter Server 5.5.x and 2008, 2012 – C:\ProgramData\VMware\CIS\
vCenter Server Virtual Appliance 5.5.x – /var/log/vmware/sso/


vminst.log
 SSO installer log
vim-sso-msi.log 
MSI installer verbose logs for SSO installation
vim_ssoreg.log 
SSO Service log
exported_sso.properties 
Endpoint information about each of the SSO Solution Users and identity sources extracted from previous vCenter Single Sign On 5.1.0 instance
vim-openssl-msi.log 
MSI installer verbose log for OpenSSL installation
vim-python-msi.log 
MSI installer verbose log for Python installation
vim-kfw-msi.log 
MSI installer verbose log for MIT Kerberos installation

SSO logs grouped by component and purpose include:
logs\vmdird\vdcpromo.log
Promotion and demotion operation information for the SSO instance when joined or removed from a linked configurations
logs\vmdird\vdcsetupIdu.log
 VMware Directory Service setup post-installation log containing information about the localhost name
logs\vmdird\vmdir.log 
Health reports for the VMware Directory Service (VMDir) service and the VMDir database
logs\vmkdcd\vmkdcd.log 
Key Distribution Center (kdc) run-time log, reports ports conflicts preventing the service from starting
logs\vmware-sso\vmware-sts-idmd.log 
VMware Identity Management service run-time logs, time-stamped records of user attempts when accessing SSO for administrative purposes
logs\vmware-sso\vmware-sts.ldmd-perf.log 
VMware Identity Management service performance counter logs
logs\vmware-sso\VMwareIdentityMgmtService. date.log 
Commons Daemon log once the Identity Management Service has started
runtime\VMwareSTS\logs\ssoAdminserver.log 
SSO admin server
runtime\VMwareSTS\logs\lookupServer.log 
Lookup server log
runtime\VMwareSTS\logs\catalina. date.log 
Standard Tomcat logs
runtime\VMwareSTS\logs\vmware-identity-sts.log 
VMware Security Token Service service run-time logs, time-stamped records of issuing, validating, and renewal of security tokens.
runtime\VMwareSTS\logs\vmware-identity-sts.log 
VMware Security Token Service performance counter logs.