Enable SSH Service on ESXi hosts using PowerShell

I found myself wanting to enable the SSH service on my ESXi hosts. I could use Host Profiles to enable it but I decided to PowerShell script it! To enable SSH there are three parts to it:

You will need to start the SSH service and set it to Start and Stop with Host:

And you will need to suppress the SSH is enabled warning message:

esxi-hosts-ssh-warning

This script does all of the above to an entire cluster. Let’s see it in action!

Read more…

Operation Jumbo Frames – MTU 9000 for VMware Networking

Wanted to make a quick post about enabling Jumbo Frames in my VMware environment! My switches (Cisco SG-200 & SG-500) support Jumbo Frames so I thought why not? It would surely help push more data through the network for faster for VSAN and vMotions. I’ll do some speed tests later to compare!

Hardware Requirements:

Before you start out on this quest ensure your physical switch support jumbo frames. When enabling it on my Cisco switches a switch reboot was required:

1 Cisco SG Series - Jumbo Frames

The next step is to ensure the NICs in your servers support jumbo frames. If they are server NICs then they should. My Dell T620/R520 both have Broadcom NetXtreme 5709 which in fact support Jumbo Frames.

2 Dell T620 Physical Network Adapters

Read more…

Deploying VMware Update Manager 6.0 Update 2

With the release of vSphere 6.0 Update 2 I needed to update my hosts! VMware Update Manager [VUM] makes updating and patching your environment very easy. It can also be used to upgrade VMTools and VMHardware versions on your virtual machines. In this post I will be installing VUM on Windows Server 2012 R2 VM using the SQL Express database and attaching it to my VCSA 6.0 U2 appliance. Once installed then I will use VUM to update my environment!

VUM Getting Started

Requirements:

  • Must have a vCenter.
  • Software: .NET Framework 3.5 needs to be installed on the VUM server. For two install methods click here and here.
  • Hardware: 2 GB of RAM if separated from vCenter. 8 GB of RAM if installed on a Windows vCenter.
  • Storage: VMware recommends at least 120 GB of free space for the patching repository. Sizing Estimator for vSphere Update Manager 6.0.
  • Database:
    • SQL Express: If you have a small environment (VMware says 5 hosts and 50 virtual machines or less) then the embedded SQL Express database is just fine.
    • External: If you have a larger environment then you will want to use a external database. Click here and here to read more about having a external database.
  • For a full of requirements check out the VMware Update Manager 6.0 Update 2 Release Notes.
  • Click here for all VMware Update Manager documentation.

Read more…

Updating vCenter Server Appliance 6.0 to Update 2

In this post i’ll go through how to upgrade the vCenter Server Appliance [VCSA] 6 to Update 2. To read about all the new features Update 2 adds check out my post VMware vSphere 6.0 Update 2 is available!

There are two sets of instructions, one if you already upgraded your VCSA to Update 1 and the other is if you are still running the initial 6.0.0 release. When scrolling down I made each upgrade type a super large header so you shouldn’t miss it!

In my environment I have the Platform Services Controller [PSC] embedded with the VCSA. If you deployed an external PSC separately from vCenter then this post will still work for you! The upgrade procedure is the exact same on both the vCenter and PSC just upgrade the PSC first before vCenter. To upgrade the PSC scroll down and use the second update method.

How to Upgrade if you are on VCSA 6 Update 1 or 1b:

If you already have your VCSA updated to 6.0 Update 1 then the upgrade is super simple! Log into the appliance Management User Interface [MUI] by opening a web browser and entering the following:

Login with your root username and password.

Update VCSA 1 - Log into the AMU

Read more…

VMware vSphere 6.0 Update 2 is available!

It’s finally here! VMware vSphere Update 2 released on March 16th, 2016 and is available for download. With it comes many new features and of course bug fixes.

What’s New with vCenter 6.0 U2:

Download VMware vCenter Server 6.0 U2

  • Two-factor authentication for vSphere Web Client: Protect the vSphere Web Client using the following form of authentication:
    • RSA SecurID
    • Smart card (That is the UPN based Common Access Card)
  • Support to change vSphere ESX Agent Manager logging level: This release supports dynamic increase or decrease of vSphere ESX Agent Manager (EAM) logging levels without restarting EAM.
  • vSphere Web Client support: vSphere Web Client now supports Microsoft Windows 10 OS.
  • vCenter Server database support: vCenter Server now supports the following external databases:
    • Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 3
    • Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Service Pack 1
  • Resolved Issues: This release of vCenter Server 6.0 Update 2 addresses issues that have been documented in the Resolved Issues section.
  • Read the full release notes here.

Read more…

Updating vCenter Server Appliance 6.0 to Update 1 & 1b

VMware released vSphere 6.0 Update 1 on September 10th, 2015 and Update 1b on January 7th, 2016. In this post i’ll go through how to upgrade VCSA 6.0 to Update 1 & 1b.

In my environment I have the Platform Services Controller [PSC] embedded with the VCSA. If you deployed an external PSC separately from vCenter then this post will still work for you! The upgrade procedure is the exact same on both the vCenter and PSC just upgrade the PSC first before vCenter.

vCenter Server Appliance 6.o Update 1 Release Notes:

  • Customer Experience Improvement Program: The Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) provides VMware with information that enables VMware to improve the VMware products and services and to fix problems. When you choose to participate in CEIP, VMware will collect technical information listed below about your use of the VMware products and services in CEIP reports on a regular basis. This information does not personally identify you. For more details, see the vSphere Documentation Center.
  • Feature Enhancement: Suite UI is now enabled by default for the vSphere Web Client.
  • Support for SSLv3: Support for SSLv3 has been disabled by default.
  • vCSA Authentication for Active Directory: VMware vCenter Server Virtual Appliance (vCSA) has been modified to only support AES256-CTS/AES128-CTS/RC4-HMAC encryption for Kerberos authentication between vCSA and Active Directory.
  • Hybrid Cloud Manager: Hybrid Cloud Manager has been updated for vSphere, and can be accessed directly from the home page of vSphere Web Client.
  • FT-vSAN Interoperability: vSAN and FT work together.
  • Appliance Management user interface: Appliance Management has a new user interface, written in HTML5.
  • Backup and Restore with external PSC: vCenter Server deployments with external PSC, also called MxN have support for backup and restore.
  • Platform Services Controller UI: The Platform Services Controller now provides UI option to view, renew and replace certificates. For more details see Explore Certificate Stores from the Platform Services Controller Web Interface
  • Installation and Upgrade using HTML 5 installer: The following installation and upgrade scenarios are supported for vCenter Server using HTML 5 installer:
    • Installation using HTML 5 installer and target as vCenter Server is supported
    • Upgrade using HTML 5 installer and target as vCenter Server is not supported
    • Upgrade using command line and target as vCenter Server is supported
  • Resolved Issues: This release of vCenter Server 6.0 Update 1 addresses issues that have been documented in the Resolved Issues section.
  • Full release notes can be found here

vCenter Server Appliance 6.o Update 1b Release Notes:

  • ESXi 6.0 Update 1b enables support for TLS versions 1.1 and 1.2 for most of the vSphere components without breaking the previously supported compatibility/interoperability. Some of the vSphere components that still support only TLS version 1.0 are listed here:
    • vSphere Client
    • Virtual SAN Observer on vCenter Server Appliance (vCSA)
    • Syslog on vCSA
    • Auto Deploy on vCSA
    • Auto Deploy/iPXE

    The ESXi 6.0 Update 1b now supports all TLS versions 1.0, 1.1, and 1.2 with the exceptions listed above. See Knowledge base article 2136185 for the list of supported TLS protocols.

  • Support for the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) with 128/256-bit key length is added for RPC header authentication in the NFS 4.1 Client.
    Note: See resolved Security Issues section for more information.
  • This release of ESXi 6.0 Update 1b addresses issues that have been documented in the Resolved Issues section.
  • Full release notes can be found here

Read more…

A General System Error Occurred: Cannot get user info

After a fresh deployment of the vCenter Server Appliance 6 (VCSA) I got the error below when using “Use Windows session credentials” check box on the thick and web client. After some searching I found VMware KB 2050701 which states this is a known issue affecting vCenter Server Appliance 5.1, 5.5, and 6.0.

1 VCSA 6 - Cannot get user info Error

Read more…

Upgrading Windows based vCenter 5.x to 6

For this post I will go through upgrading my Windows based vCenter from 5.5 to vCenter 6. VMware has really made the installer process lean. I would even go out on a limb and say “easy”! vCenter 6 introduces the Platform Services Controller which changes the architecture of vCenter down to two components. The graphic below shows my environment before the upgrade and after:

Upgraded Embedded Architecture

My setup is very simple as I have all vCenter 5.5 components on a single Server 2012 virtual machine. I have ran through the upgrade multiple times and have yet to run into anything major. To find what your environment will look like check out the VMware vCenter Server 6.0 Deployment Guide.

Read more…

vCenter Server Appliance Upgrade from 5.x to 6.0

The upgrade process of vCenter Server Appliance (vCSA) version 5.x to 6.0 isn’t truly a upgrade but more of a migration. You are basically deploying a second vCSA that will migrate the hosts/inventory/IP address from the old to the new. You can only upgrade vCSA versions 5.1U3 and 5.5. The 6.0 vCSA is still based on SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 and now has the the same mins/max as the Windows installed version.

vCenter 6 Appliance vs Windows

Before You Start:

There is some prep work you need to perform before doing the migration:

  • Pick a host and ensure it has a standard switch with a vmnic uplink. Because Distributed Switches is a vCenter function it wants to perform the upgrade on a standard switch.
  • Rename your current vCenter VM in the inventory so the new VM can be created as the same name. Otherwise the vCSA folders on the LUNs will not match.
  • Have at least two available LUNs, one for your current vCSA and one for the new vCSA. Since you will want to deploy the new one with the same name they have to be on different LUNs
  • The installation media is a .ISO instead of a .OVA. You will need to burn it to a disc, extract it, or mount it.

Read more…