Congrats to all those who made the list on vSphere-land.com for the top VMware blogs in 2012.
http://vsphere-land.com/news/top-blog-2012-results.html
I'm way down on the list at # 143, but it's still nice to be noticed. Thank you to those who voted for me.
Ever get this error when you try to migrate a standard switch vmkernel port to a DvS?
"Call "HostNetworkSystem.UpdateNetworkConfig" for object "networkSystem-64" on vCenter Server "vCenter.company.com" failed."
It is most likly because the SvS is being used by something. In my case, it was the "Core Dump" feature utilizing the SvS. From the command line, run this to check the configuration: "esxcli system coredump network get". If you get a configuration that is "true", you will need to disable this for now. To issue the disable command: "esxcli system coredump network set –enable false". Check the config again by typing: "esxcli system coredump network get". you should now see the status as "false". Now migrate your interface to the DvS. Once it has been moved, re-enable Core Dump by typing "esxcli system coredump network set –interface-name vmk0 –server-ipv4 10.x.x.x –server-port 6500". Of course the 10.x.x.x should be the vcenter ip and check to make sure what port you are using from your original get command. After this, issue the "esxcli system coredump network get" command one more time to make sure the configuration matches from the previous configuration on the SvS.
New to release 4.2(1)SV1(5.1) is the IMC. Forget installing the Nexus 1000v in 7 minutes, the installation management center will get you there in 4 minutes! This GUI makes it super easy to deploy the appliance. Before, you had to deploy an ova, step thru the config wizard and then use a java web page to configure the Nexus. Those steps were still pretty easy. Now with the Installation Management Center you can configure everything in one step!
When you extract the Nexus install from the zip file, there is a "installer_app" directory. In there you will find a Nexus1000v-install.jar file. This launches the Installation Management Center.
Choose where to deploy…
Upload ova and choose redundancy..
After these steps, the Nexus VM or VM's are deployed and configured automatically.
Cisco documentation for the process can be found here.
There are many topics on boot from SAN and auto deploy. For us, boot from SAN made more since because we have an exisiting fiber network in place. We do not however have all of the components needed for auto deploy (DHCP, TFPT, ect). In this boot from SAN environment, I am working with a few Dell M1000e chassis, M710HD / M610 blades, dual QLogic QME 2572 cards, dual intel 10GB cards, Cisco 3130XS, Broacde fiber switches and an EMC SAN.
I am not going to cover provisioning a LUN or zoning because they can be different on whatever vendor you use.
The first thing you want to do is decide on is a flex address. Will you want the boot LUN to follow the blade or stay assigned to the WWN of the chassis slot? We liked the idea of being able to plug in a spare or replacement blade into the slot in order to bring systems back online quickly.
Reboot the server and hit “ctrl-q” to enter the qlogic Fast!Util.
This will give you a selection of the adpater addresses.
In the menu for the adapter, be sure to enable “host adapter BIOS”. This is disabled by default.
If you have provisioned and zoned your luns already, you will see the selecable boot luns. Be sure to set the correct order for these. Typically you would have these go across storage processor A or B. Be sure to create an even load in your environment in case all the hosts reboot.
The next task is to configure the BIOS.
In the “hard disk drive sequence”, set the daughter card as the first boot device.
Make sure to set the correct boot order.
When the system reboots, you should see the LUN you are booting to.
When you go to install the host, you will see the option to install on LUN you have provisioned. If you see an incorrect volume size here, go back to your QLogic configuration and make sure you have selected the correct LUN to boot from.
I recommend to only provision the LUN needed for the install when going through the initial setup.
Why are companies still using boot from SAN? What’s the difference from Auto Deply?
1. You can replace the SAN to a DR sit and have hosts on standby. This can be achieved also with auto deploy, if you replicate all components to the DR site.
2. The SAN can take snapshots of the LUN, which enables a roll back in case something happens to the host install. Auto Deploy is a stateless boot option, you have to use image builder and rely on host profiles to keep everything synced. You would still want to use host profiles even with boot from SAN.
3. Servers can be diskless with boot from SAN. This is the same for Auto Deploy, the hypervisor is actually loaded into RAM.
4. A master image can be used with boot from SAN by cloning the lun for other hosts. There are still steps involved to zone the LUN properly. Auto Deploy is similar, you still need to assign the MAC to the image you want to boot from.
This is not really a comparison between boot from SAN and auto deploy, I just wanted to show the steps for setting up boot from SAN from Dell.
I passed the test on 10/29/2011. Like everyone else has said, this test is nothing like VCP 3 and VCP 4. Those tests seemed to focus more on what a product was and the features. The VCP 5 exam seemed to focus more on features of vSphere 5 and how things work. Everything that is a part of the optional install for vCenter is fair game. This includes update manager, Auto Deploy, Web client, Dump collector, Syslog collector and Authentication Proxy. There were also some tough questions on the Virtual Storage Appliance (VSA) and the vCenter Appliance (VCSA). My exam seemed to have about 40% scenario questions with exhibits to go over, these can be multiple choice or multiple answer. Don't count on this though, your exam could be different. VMware certainly raised the difficulty level with this exam. I would expect to see this level of skill on the VCAP exam or somewhere in the middle. For me, it was a little difficult to study for the exam with all of the other major (non virtualization) projects I have going on. You really have to take time and focus on the material.
- I like to call this next section of my post my "rant" section -
There seemed to be some question asked that had to do with some very small topics, or should I say feature sets that I have not seen any enterprise environment use (I'm not going to say specifics because I don't want to get close to breaking the NDA). If I found a company utilizing the vSphere client in this way, I would recommend against it. To me, the vSphere client is not meant to be a general access method for using VMs. But the feature is there and it is a testable subject. Just because something may be a bad design doesn't mean it will not be on the exam.
There was also a scenario question on a topic that mentioned X amount of hosts in a cluster, but the exhibit did not have the same amount. I am going to have to contact someone on this issue.
I also found a handful of questions that seemed to be poorly written. Maybe it was because I got in a hurry halfway through, but the manner in which some questions were asked did not make sense. I just wanted to shout like Samuel Jackson "what the hell is this?"!
- The testing center -
I took my exam at the eConsortium location in Houston. In the past, they had an excellent testing room that was private in an almost cubical area. You didn't have distractions from other people and you couldn't hear other people. Now, the exam area is in a classroom area. They have multiple tables set out where everyone sits right next to one another. This is a big distraction, especially when you have someone sitting right in front of you who is facing you! In the future, I'm going to have to find another Vue testing center to attend.
- The only advice I can give is -
Take your time and breath, but be mindful of the time restrictions. If you are unsure of something, just go back to it later. But try to set a limit on how many questions you are willing to go back to later. Remember, the answers to the questions will be right in front of you. Just eliminate the ones that you know don't make sense. The answer is sometimes in the question, make sure you understand the small details or hints that the question is giving. For example, know the difference in a product update and an upgrade.
- What to study -
The VMware exam blueprint is right on the money when it comes to topics. But no one can memorize all that stuff. I don't think this exam is for anyone who may come right out of a VMware class or who has only read all the PDF's. A working knowledge of all the core vSphere products is needed. You really need a lab to work on. If you can find one that has CNA cards or FCOE adapters it would be better. Knowing a wide variety of errors also helps. This test will exercise your troubleshooting skills.
I used a few test engines to help study for some of the vShpere 5 products. Remember, these engines do not contain actual questions or answers from the VCP 5 exam, they are meant to get you thinking about a topic.
Robert Stothard's pratice exam.
Some exam blogs also helped me to create some flash cards to carry around and study with:
One type of practice exam I would like to see is one that is scenario based and has exhibits. I think I'm going to look into creating one. 
So I'm messing around in my lab and testing all of my plug-ins in advance of my vSphere 5 production upgrade. One of the components I need to test is my XenDesktop environment against vSphere 5. In the past you had three options, disable security by removing the https redirects, enable security by using a corporate CA or a commercial signed certificate. Disabling security has always been a no-no, but was accomplished by modifying the "proxy.xml" file in vCenter. In VMware vSphere 5 the "proxy.xml" is still under the C:ProgramDataVMware folder. No one should break security just to make life easier. According to CTX119849, you must use HTTPS in order for the DDC to communicate with vCenter. The default certificate from vCenter will not work either!
VMware provided discount codes at VMworld 2011 for the new VCP 5 exam. This 50% discount code "VMWORLDLV50" may end once VMworld 2011 ends. There is also a 25% discount towards to the VCAP exam, which is "VMWORLDLV25". All exams must be taken before Nov 30th, 2011.
Sign up for the exam at Vue.com.
omg, omg, omg
It's time for VMworld again! What will the lunches be like this year? Will I make it to my sessions on time? Who is going to win best in show? Will I get to see Justin Bieber there? What will the 2011 VMworld backpacks look like?
Not everyone who is going to the conference has the same goals. Some are new to virtualization and others are long time proponents. I will admit that the conference does not expose people to other hypervisor products like Hyper-V or Xen Servers, but this is VMworld after all. Everything you find will be VMware centric but most of the vendors cator to any hypervisor.
I was a little disappointed when I saw the thread on the VMworld discussion board that there would be no VCP or VCAP exams at VMworld this year. They will however have some benefits for those who attended the conference. This includes free prep material and a 50% discount on VCP 4/5 tests scheduled before November 30th, 2011. Let's hope the prep material is not just a bunch of PDF docs. You can read all about it here.
Last years Fun Run in San Francisco was awesome. It looks they have scheduled another awesome event. This time they have included a bike ride in Red Rock Canyon. The cost looks a little higher than what it was last year, but it all goes to a good cause. Information can be found here.
Don't forget about the vendor parties. Make sure you email you rep ahead of time to remind them about the customer appreciation parties at VMworld.
The labs last year were amazing. A big improvement over the 2009 VMworld labs. I'm just hoping they repeat the success of last years labs.
Whether your shopping for a specific type of product or just browsing, your bound to find a long standing vendor or a great new breakout vendor who will fit your needs.
F5 has a great product that can be used in place of the Citrix NetScaler, the BIG-IP LTM. Although, you should watch the webcast from Citrix on how the NetScaler outperforms the F5 LTM. Citrix claims that in most test scenarios they have 3X less latency that the F5 LTM.
The deployment guide document from F5 for XenDesktop needs a little clarification for first timers. On page 7, it seems like a simple process of copying a "create-citrix-monitor.tcl" file from your local windows station to the F5 LTM via WinSCP. The TCL file can be downloaded from here. But, what you need is a "create-citrix-monitor.sh" file to run from the command line on your F5 device. The link provided in the documentation contains a script that does not work. You may receive a line error "Failed to load TMSH script". I received a replacement script from the F5 support team that can be found here. This was run on a F5 LTM with 10.2.1 Build 297.0 Final.
Take note that this script calls against a "wpnbr.dll" which exsists on the DDC, not the web front ends. Another option on the CitrixWICredentials is to create a simple send and receive string to check against web services on the web front ends.
Send string: GET / HTTP/1.1rnConnection: closernHost: CompanyVirtualName.company.comrnrn
Receive string: /Citrix/DesktopWeb
Please test this in a test environment first.
If I sold you a vehicle and told you I was only charging you by the number of tires that were on the vehicle and that was my standard for years, you might find that acceptable and affordable. But what if I told you that I was now going to charge you by the number of people you want to put in that vehicle and what their total weight could be? I'm sure you would be pretty frustrated! After hearing your frustration, I have now doubled the weight limit on who can be in your vehicle. Would that make things better?
I'm still not a fan of the vRAM entitlement on vSphere 5, but VMware has made an announcement that will help lessen the impact for a lot of customers. According to this chart, VMware has doubled the amount of entitlement for the top two tiers of licenses and increased slightly for the bottom three teirs of licenses.
VMware also announced a vSphere Desktop license model. Thankfully, this takes away the vRAM entitlement limitations from the hosts. Is it a VMware View option only? Nope! Those who are hosting desktops on vSphere hosts with third party VDI brokers like Citrix XenDesktop or Quest vWorkspace fall under this license model.
"Customers currently using vSphere as backend for a 3rd party VDI deployment can continue to do so. Customers who purchased licenses for vSphere 4.x (or previous versions) prior to September 30, 2011 to host desktop virtualization, and hold current SnS agreements, may upgrade to vSphere 5.0 while retaining access to unlimited vRAM entitlement. Desktop licenses covered by this provision, however, may not be managed by the same instance of Virtual Center which is being used to manage non-desktop OS virtual machines."
So you must have a separate vCenter server and you must have Enterprise + licenses on your hosts in order to use VDI.
Does this mean you have to buy vSphere Desktop in 100 packs for all of your hosted VDI sessions? It does not appear so, at first. vSphere Desktop is licensed based on the total number of powered on VMs. But…
"Customers who purchased licenses for vSphere 4.x (or previous versions) to host desktop virtualization, and hold current SnS agreements, may upgrade to vSphere 5.0 while retaining their current licensing metric and thus have access to unlimited vRAM entitlement. vSphere Desktop extends only to the purchases of new vSphere licenses for desktop virtualization."
I'm not sure how this conversion is going to happen with existing VDI hosts with 3rd party solutions. But it appears that you will have to buy new vSphere Desktop licenses in 100 packs and enterprise+ licenses after Setp 30th, 2011.