VMware ESX_Basic System Administration

8/7/2019 VMware ESX_Basic System Administration

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Basic System AdministrationESX Server 3.0.1 and Virtual Center 2.0.1


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VMware, Inc.3145 Porter DrivePalo Alto, CA 94304www.vmware.com

2 VMware, Inc.

Basic System Administration

You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on our Web site at

http://www.vmware.com/support/

The VMware Web site also provides the latest product updates.

If you have comments about this documentation, submit your feedback to:

[email protected]

20062008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. Protected by one or more of U.S. Patent Nos. 6,397,242,6,496,847, 6,704,925, 6,711,672, 6,725,289, 6,735,601, 6,785,886, 6,789,156, 6,795,966, 6,880,022,6,961,941, 6,961,806 and 6,944,699; patents pending.

VMware, the VMware boxes logo and design, Virtual SMP and VMotion are registered trademarks ortrademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions.

All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.


Revision: 2006105Item: VI-ENG-Q306-293
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Contents

Preface 11

GettingStarted

1 VMwareInfrastructureComponents 17TwoApproachestoManagingVirtualMachines 17

ComponentsofVMwareInfrastructure 19

VirtualInfrastructureClientInterfaces 21

OptionalVirtualCenterComponents 21

ManagedComponents 22

FunctionalComponents 24

AccessPrivilegesComponents 25

2 UsingthisDocument 27GettingStarted 27

VirtualMachine

Management 28

SystemAdministration 29

Appendixes 29

3 StartingandStoppingtheVMwareInfrastructureComponents 31ESXServer 31

VirtualCenterServer 33

VerifyingThatVirtualCenterServerStarted 33RestartingtheVirtualCenterServer 34

StoppingtheVirtualCenterServer 34

VIClient 34

StartingtheVIClientandLoggingOn 35

StoppingtheVIClientandLoggingOff 36

VIWebAccess 36

LoggingInandOutofVIWebAccess 36VMwareServiceConsole 37


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UsingDHCPfortheServiceConsole 38

ConnectingtotheServiceConsole 38

UsingCommandsontheServiceConsole 38

4 UsingtheVIClient 41VIClientOverview 41

MenuBar 43

PopUpMenus 45

ConsoleMenu 45

NavigationBar 46

InventoryViewTabs 49

Toolbar 52

StatusBar,RecentTasks,andTriggeredAlarms 53

PanelSections 53

SortingandFilteringLists 54

UsingCustomAttributes 55

SelectingandViewingObjects 57

SelectingObjects 57MonitoringObjects 58

PerformingActionsonObjects 59

5 SystemConfiguration 61HostConfigurationforESXServerandVirtualCenter 61

ConfiguringaHost 62

HardwareTab 62

SoftwareTab 63

ViewingNetworkConfigurationInformation 64

ViewingStorageConfigurationInformation 64

ViewingSecurityConfigurationInformation 64

ViewingESXServerCommandInformation 65

VirtualCenterConfiguration 66

ConfiguringVirtualCenterCommunication 68

ConfiguringthePortThatVirtualCenterServerUses 69

ConfiguringVirtualCenterCommunicationoveraWebConnection 69

VirtualMachineConfiguration 71

WorkingwithActiveSessions 73

SNMPConfiguration 74

UsingMIBswithYourSNMPTraps 74

UnderstandingSNMPTrapandVariableDefinitions 75

UsingSNMPtoMonitortheComputerRunningESXServer 77


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Contents

InformationAboutthePhysicalComputer 77

InformationAbouttheVirtualMachines 78

SNMPTraps 78

SettingUpESXServerSNMP 79

InstallingtheESXServerSNMPModule 79

InstallingtheESXServerMIBModule 79

ConfiguringtheESXServerAgentfromtheServiceConsole 79

ConfiguringSNMPTrapDestinations 80

ConfiguringSNMPManagementClientSoftware 80

ConfiguringSNMPSecurity 81

UsingSNMPwithGuestOperatingSystems 81

SystemLogFiles 81

ViewingSystemLogEntries 82

ExternalSystemLogs 83

ExportingDiagnosticData 86

CollectingLogFiles 87

6 ManagingtheVIClientInventory 91UnderstandingVIClientObjects 91

AddinganInventoryObject 96

MovingObjectsintheInventory 97

RemovinganInventoryObject 98

7 Managing

Hosts

in

VirtualCenter 99HostsOverview 99UnderstandingHostStates 101

AddingaHost 101

ConnectingorDisconnectingaHost 104

AutomaticallyReconnectingaHost 106

RemovingaHostfromaCluster 106

RemovingaHost

from

VirtualCenter 108

HostAdvancedConfigurationOptions 110

VirtualMachineManagement

8 CreatingVirtualMachines 113

UsingtheNewVirtualMachineWizard 114CreatingTypicalVirtualMachines 115


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CreatingCustomVirtualMachines 121

MappingaSANLUN 130

InstallingaGuestOperatingSystem 132

InstallingandUpgradingVMwareTools 133

Limitations 133

VMwareToolsPropertiesDialogBox 135

OptionsTab 135

DevicesTab 136

ScriptsTab 136

About

Tab 138AutomatedVMwareToolsUpgrades 138

9 ManagingVirtualMachines 141ChangingVirtualMachinePowerStates 141

UnderstandingVirtualMachinePowerStates 142

UnderstandingTransitionalPowerStates 144

Manually

Powering

a

Virtual

Machine

On

and

Off 144UsingSuspendandResume 145

SchedulingaPowerStateChangeforaVirtualMachine 146

AddingandRemovingVirtualMachines 150

AddingExistingVirtualMachinestoVirtualCenter 150

RemovingandReturningVirtualMachinesfromVirtualCenter 151

ReturningaVirtualMachinetoVirtualCenter 152

StartingandShuttingDownVirtualMachines 155

10 ConfiguringVirtualMachines 159VirtualMachinePropertiesEditor 159

ChangingtheHardwareConfigurationofaVirtualMachine 160

ChangingVirtualMachineOptions 170

ChangingVirtualMachineResourceSettings 175

CPUResources 175

AdvancedCPUSettings 176

MemoryResources 178

DiskResources 179

ChangingtheAudioConfiguration 180

AddingNewHardware 181

AddingDVD/CDROMorFloppyDevices 183


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Contents

11 CustomizingGuestOperatingSystems 189PreparingforGuestCustomization 190

CustomizingaWindows

Guest

Operating

System 190

UsingtheCustomizationSpecificationWizard 196

UsingtheCloneVirtualMachineWizard 199

CompletingaGuestOperatingSystemCustomization 200

CompletingLinuxGuestOperatingSystemCustomization 200

CompletingWindowsGuestOperatingSystemCustomization 201

12 Workingwith

Templates

and

Clones 203

UnderstandingTemplates 203

CreatingTemplates 204

EditingaTemplate 208

DeployingVirtualMachinesfromTemplates 209

DeletingaTemplate 212

RegainingTemplates 213

CloninganExistingVirtualMachine 215CreatingaScheduledTasktoCloneaVirtualMachine 218

13 UsingSnapshots 221UnderstandingSnapshots 221

RelationshipBetweenSnapshots 222

SnapshotsandOtherActivityintheVirtualMachine 223

TakingaSnapshot 223ChangingDiskModetoExcludeVirtualDisksfromSnapshots 225

UsingtheSnapshotManager 226

RestoringaSnapshot 227

ParentSnapshot 228

Revert toSnapshotCommand 229

14 MigratingVirtualMachines 231Overview 231

Migration 233

MigrationwithVMotion 233

VMotionRequirements 234

SharedStorage 234

SharedVMFSVolumeorNASStorage 234

CPUCompatibility 234

NetworkingRequirements 236


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VMotionCompatibility 237

CPUCompatibilityMasks 238

MigrationWizard 239

SystemAdministration

15 ManagingUsers,Groups,Permissions,andRoles 247AccessElements 248

AccessRules 248

HierarchicalInheritance 249

MultiplePermissionSettings 249

TasksRequiringSettingsonMultipleObjects 250

Users 251

Groups 253

Permissions 254

Roles 254

CreatingRoles 257

CloningRoles 259

EditingRoles 260

RemovingRoles 261

RenamingRoles 262

AccessPermissions 262

AssigningAccessPermissions 263

AdjustingtheSearchListinLargeDomains 266ChangingAccessPermissions 267

RemovingAccessPermissions 268

16 MonitoringYourVmwareInfrastructureEnvironment 269MonitoringYourVMwareInfrastructureEnvironment 269

PerformanceCharts 270

PerformanceChartResources 270

PerformanceChartView 271

SelectingPerformanceChartOptions 271

ViewingStackedGraphs 273

SettingtheStatisticsCollectionIntervals 274

ChangingtheStatisticsCollectionLevel 276

Maps 276

GlobalMaps 277

InventoryMaps 277


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Contents

VMotionResourceMaps 277

MapElementsandIcons 279

ViewingtheMaps 280

EditingtheMaps 280

PrintingMaps 284

ExportingMaps 285

NavigatingBetweenMaps 286

DisplayingObjectMenusinMaps 286

17 ManagingTasks,Events,andAlarms 289ManagingTasks 289

UnderstandingTasks 290

ViewingandPerformingTasks 290

ManagingScheduledTasks 293

ReschedulingaScheduledTask 300

RemovingaScheduledTask 300

CancelingaTask 301

ManagingEvents 303ViewingAllEventMessages 303

ViewingSelectedEventMessages 305

SortingandFilteringEventMessages 306

ExportingEventMessages 307

ManagingAlarms 308

UnderstandingAlarms 309

Preparingfor

Email

Message

SMTP

Alarm

Notification 311

PreparingforSNMPAlarmNotification 312

CreatingAlarms 314

EditingAlarms 320

RemovingAlarms 321

Appendixes

A DefinedPrivileges 325AlarmManagement 326

Datacenter 327

Datastore 327

Folders 328

Global 329HostConfiguration 330


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HostInventory 331

HostLocalOperations 332

Network 333

Performance 333

Permissions 334

Resource 334

ScheduledTask 336

Sessions 336

VirtualMachineConfiguration 337

Virtual

Machine

Interaction 339VirtualMachineInventory 340

VirtualMachineProvisioning 341

VirtualMachineState 342

B InstallingtheMicrosoftSysprepTools 345

C PerformanceChartMeasurements 349CPU 350

Disk 350

DRS 352

Memory 352

Network 354

ResourceGroup 354

System 355

Index 357


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ThisprefacedescribesthecontentsofBasicSystemAdministrationandprovidespointerstoVMwaretechnicalandeducationalresources.

This

preface

contains

the

following

topics: AboutThisBookonpage 11

TechnicalSupportandEducationResourcesonpage 13

About This Book

Thismanual,BasicSystemAdministration,describeshowtostartandstoptheVirtualInfrastructureClientcomponents,buildyourVMwareInfrastructureenvironment,monitorandmanagetheinformationgeneratedaboutthecomponents,andsetuproles

andpermissionsforusersandgroupsusingtheVMwareInfrastructureenvironment.

Thismanualalsoprovidesinformationformanaging,creating,andconfiguringvirtual

machinesinyourdatacenter.

Inaddition,thismanualprovidesbriefintroductionstothevarioustasksyoucan

performwithinthesystemaswellascrossreferencestothedocumentationthat

describesallthetasksindetail.

Revision History

Thismanualisrevisedwitheachreleaseoftheproductorwhennecessary.Arevised

versioncancontainminorormajorchanges.Table P1providesyouwiththerevision

historyofthismanual.

Preface


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Preface

Abbreviations Used in Graphics

ThegraphicsinthismanualusetheabbreviationslistedinTable P3.

Technical Support and Education Resources

Thefollowingsectionsdescribethetechnicalsupportresourcesavailabletoyou.

Self-Service Support

UsetheVMwareTechnologyNetwork(VMTN)forselfhelptoolsandtechnical

information:

Productinformationhttp://www.vmware.com/products/

Technologyinformationhttp://www.vmware.com/vcommunity/technology

Documentationhttp://www.vmware.com/support/pubs

VMTNKnowledgeBasehttp://www.vmware.com/support/kb

Discussionforumshttp://www.vmware.com/community

Italic Documenttitles,

glossary

terms,

and

occasional

emphasis

Variableandparameternames

Table P-2. Conventions Used in This Manual (Continued)

Style Elements

Table P-3. Abbreviations

Abbreviation Description

VC VirtualCenter

VI VirtualInfrastructureClient

server VirtualCenterServer

database VirtualCenterdatabase

hostn VirtualCentermanagedhosts

VM# Virtualmachinesonamanagedhost

user# Userwithaccesspermissions

dsk# Storagediskforthemanagedhost

datastore Storageforthemanagedhost

SAN Storageareanetworktypedatastoresharedbetweenmanagedhosts

tmplt Template
http://www.vmware.com/products/http://www.vmware.com/vcommunity/technologyhttp://www.vmware.com/support/pubshttp://www.vmware.com/support/kbhttp://www.vmware.com/communityhttp://www.vmware.com/communityhttp://www.vmware.com/support/kbhttp://www.vmware.com/support/pubshttp://www.vmware.com/vcommunity/technologyhttp://www.vmware.com/products/


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Usergroupshttp://www.vmware.com/vcommunity/usergroups.html

FormoreinformationabouttheVMwareTechnologyNetwork,goto

http://www.vmtn.net.

Online and Telephone Support

Useonlinesupporttosubmittechnicalsupportrequests,viewyourproductand

contractinformation,andregisteryourproducts.Goto

http://www.vmware.com/support .

Customerswithappropriatesupportcontractsshouldusetelephonesupportforthe

fastestresponseonpriority1issues.Goto

http://www.vmware.com/support/phone_support.html .

Support Offerings

FindouthowVMwaresupportofferingscanhelpmeetyourbusinessneeds.Goto

http://www.vmware.com/support/services.

VMware Education Services

VMwarecoursesofferextensivehandsonlabs,casestudyexamples,andcourse

materialsdesignedtobeusedasonthejobreferencetools.Formoreinformationabout

VMwareEducationServices,gotohttp://mylearn1.vmware.com/mgrreg/index.cfm.
http://www.vmware.com/vcommunity/usergroups.htmlhttp://www.vmware.com/vcommunityhttp://www.vmware.com/supporthttp://www.vmware.com/support/phone_support.htmlhttp://www.vmware.com/support/serviceshttp://mylearn1.vmware.com/mgrreg/index.cfmhttp://mylearn1.vmware.com/mgrreg/index.cfmhttp://mylearn1.vmware.com/mgrreg/index.cfmhttp://www.vmware.com/support/serviceshttp://www.vmware.com/support/phone_support.htmlhttp://www.vmware.com/supporthttp://www.vmware.com/vcommunityhttp://www.vmware.com/vcommunity/usergroups.html


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Getting Started


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1

ThischapterintroducesVMwareInfrastructurecomponentsandtheoperationsthat

youusewhenmanagingyourvirtualmachinesthroughESXServerorVirtualCenter

Server.

Thischaptercontainsthefollowingtopics:

TwoApproachestoManagingVirtualMachinesonpage 17

ComponentsofVMwareInfrastructureonpage 19

VirtualInfrastructureClientInterfacesonpage 21

OptionalVirtualCenterComponentsonpage 21

ManagedComponentsonpage 22

FunctionalComponentsonpage 24

AccessPrivilegesComponentsonpage 25

Two Approaches to Managing Virtual Machines

VirtualInfrastructureClient(VIClient)isaflexible,configurablesolutionformanagingyourvirtualmachines.Therearetwoprimarymethodsformanagingyourvirtual

machines:

DirectlythroughanESXServer(asingleorstandalonehost)thatcanmanageonly

thosevirtualmachines,andtheirresources,installedonit.

ThroughaVirtualCenterServerthatmanagesmultiplevirtualmachinesandtheir

resourcesdistributed

over

many

ESX

Server

hosts.

VMware Infrastructure

Components

1


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ThefigurebelowillustratesthecomponentsinanESXServerVirtualInfrastructure.

Figure 1-1. VMware Infrastructure Components with an ESX Server

ThefigurebelowillustratesthecomponentsinaVirtualCenterServerVirtual

Infrastructure.

Figure 1-2. VMware Infrastructure Components with a VirtualCenter Server

datastore

VM VM VM

VI Client

Host Agent

VI Client

ESX Server host

VC

database

shared

datastoredatastore

VM VM VM

VirtualCenter

Agent

VirtualCenter

Server

VirtualCenter

License Server

VirtualCenter

Agent

VirtualCenter

Agent

VM VM VM VM VM VM

VI Client VI Client

ESX Server host ESX Server host ESX Server host

VI Client VI Client VI Client


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Chapter 1 VMware Infrastructure Components

Components of VMware Infrastructure

TorunyourVMwareInfrastructureenvironment,youneedthefollowingitems:

ESXServerThevirtualizationplatformusedtocreatethevirtualmachinesasa

setofconfigurationanddiskfilesthattogetherperformallthefunctionsofa

physicalmachine.

ThroughESXServer,yourunthevirtualmachines,installoperatingsystems,run

applications,andconfigurethevirtualmachines.Configurationincludes

identifyingthevirtualmachinesresources,suchasstoragedevices.

Theserver

incorporates

aresource

manager

and

serviceconsolethatprovidesbootstrapping,management,andotherservicesthatmanageyourvirtual

machines.

EachESXServerhasaVIClientavailableforyourmanagementuse.IfyourESXServerisaregisteredhostwiththeVirtualCenterManagementServer,aVIClient

thataccommodatestheVirtualCenterfeaturesisavailable.

VirtualCenterAservicethatactsasacentraladministratorforVMwareESX

Serverhoststhatareconnectedonanetwork.VirtualCenterdirectsactionsonthe

virtualmachinesandthevirtualmachinehosts(theESXServerhosts).

VirtualCenterManagementServer(VirtualCenterServer)Theworkingcoreof

VirtualCenter.VirtualCenterServerisasingleWindowsServiceandisinstalledtorunautomatically.AsaWindowsService,theVirtualCenterServerruns

continuouslyinthebackground,performingitsmonitoringandmanaging

activities

even

when

no

VI

Clients

are

connected

and

even

if

nobody

is

logged

on

tothecomputerwhereitresides.Itmusthavenetworkaccesstoallthehostsit

managesandbeavailablefornetworkaccessfromanymachinewheretheVI

Clientisrun.

VirtualCenterdatabaseApersistentstorageareaformaintainingstatusofeach

virtualmachine,host,andusermanagedintheVirtualCenterenvironment.The

VirtualCenterdatabasecanberemoteorlocaltotheVirtualCenterServermachine.ThedatabaseisinstalledandconfiguredduringVirtualCenterinstallation.

IfyouareaccessingyourESXServerdirectlythroughaVIClient,andnotthrough

aVirtualCenterServerandassociatedVIClient,youdonotuseaVirtualCenter

database.

DatastoreThestoragelocationsforthevirtualmachinefilesspecifiedwhen

creatingvirtualmachines.Datastoreshidetheidiosyncrasiesofvariousstorage

options(such

as

VMFS

volumes

on

local

SCSI

disks

of

the

server,

the

Fibre

Channel

SANdiskarrays,theiSCSISANdiskarrays,orNetworkAttachedStorage(NAS)

B i S t Ad i i t ti


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arrays)andprovideauniformmodelforvariousstorageproductsrequiredby

virtualmachines.

VirtualCenteragentOneachmanagedhost,softwarethatcollects,

communicates,andexecutestheactionsreceivedfromtheVirtualCenterServer.

TheVirtualCenteragentisinstalledthefirsttimeanyESXServerhostisaddedtotheVirtualCenterinventory.

HostagentOneachmanagedhost,softwarethatcollects,communicates,and

executestheactionsreceivedthroughtheVIClient.ItisinstalledaspartoftheESX

Serverinstallation.

VirtualCenterlicense

serverServerthatstoressoftwarelicensesrequiredfor

mostoperationsinVirtualCenterandESXServer,suchaspoweringonavirtual

machine.

VirtualCenterandESXServersupporttwomodesoflicensing:license

serverbasedandhostbased.Inhostbasedlicensingmode,thelicensefilesare

storedonindividualESXServerhosts.Inlicenseserverbasedlicensingmode,

licensesarestoredonalicenseserver,whichmakestheselicensesavailabletoone

ormorehosts.Youcanrunamixedenvironmentemployingbothhostbasedand

licenseserverbasedlicensing.

VirtualCenterandfeaturesthatrequireVirtualCenter,suchasVMotion,mustbe

licensedinlicenseserverbasedmode.ESXServerspecificfeaturescanbelicensed

ineitherlicenseserverbasedorhostbasedmode.

Forcompleteinformationoninstallingthesecomponents,refertotheInstallationandUpgradeGuide.ForcompleteinformationonconfiguringESXServer,refertotheServerConfigurationGuide.



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Virtual Infrastructure Client Interfaces

VirtualInfrastructureClientinterfaceoptionsinclude:

VirtualInfrastructure

Client

(VI

Client)

Arequiredcomponentandtheprimary

interfaceforcreating,managing,andmonitoringvirtualmachines,theirresources,

andtheirhosts.Italsoprovidesconsoleaccesstovirtualmachines.

VIClientisinstalledonaWindowsmachinewithnetworkaccesstoyourESX

ServerorVirtualCenterServerinstallation.Theinterfacedisplaysslightlydifferent

optionsdependingonwhichtypeofserveryouareconnectedto.Whileall

VirtualCenteractivitiesareperformedbytheVirtualCenterServer,youmustuse

theVIClienttomonitor,manage,andcontroltheserver.AsingleVirtualCenter

ServerorESXServercansupportmultiple,simultaneouslyconnectedVIClients.

VirtualInfrastructureWebAccess(VIWebAccess)AWebinterfacethrough

whichyoucanperformbasicvirtualmachinemanagementandconfigurationand

getconsoleaccesstovirtualmachines.ItisinstalledwithyourESXServer.Similar

totheVIClient,VIWebAccessworksdirectlywithanESXServerhostorthrough

VirtualCenter.RefertotheVIWebAccessAdministratorsGuideforadditionalinformation.

VMwareServiceConsoleAcommandlineinterfaceforconfiguringyourESX

Server.Typically,thisisusedinconjunctionwithaVMwaretechnicalsupport

representative.

Optional VirtualCenter Components

AdditionalVirtualCenterfeaturesinclude:

VMotionAfeaturethatenablesyoutomoverunningvirtualmachinesfromone

ESXServertoanotherwithoutserviceinterruption.Itrequireslicensingonboth

thesourceandtargethost.TheVirtualCenterServercentrallycoordinatesall

VMotionactivities.

VMwareHAAfeaturethatenablesaclusterwithHighAvailability.Ifahostgoes

down,allvirtualmachinesthatwereonthehostarepromptlyrestartedondifferenthosts.

WhenyouenabletheclusterforHA,youspecifythenumberofhostsyouwould

liketobeabletorecover.Ifyouspecifythenumberofhostfailuresallowedas1,

HAmaintainsenoughcapacityacrosstheclustertotoleratethefailureofonehost.

Allrunningvirtualmachinesonthathostcanberestartedonremaininghosts.By

default,youcannotpoweronavirtualmachineifdoingsoviolatesrequired

failovercapacity.SeeResourceManagementGuide.



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VMwareDRSAfeaturethathelpsimproveresourceallocationacrossallhosts

andresourcepools.VMwareDRScollectsresourceusageinformationforallhosts

andvirtualmachinesintheclusterandgivesrecommendations(ormigrates

virtualmachines)inoneoftwosituations:

InitialplacementWhenyoufirstpoweronavirtualmachineinthecluster,

DRSeitherplacesthevirtualmachineormakesarecommendation.

LoadbalancingDRStriestoimproveresourceutilizationacrossthecluster

byperformingautomaticmigrationsofvirtualmachines(VMotion)orby

providingarecommendationforvirtualmachinemigrations.

VMwareInfrastructure

SDK

package

APIsformanagingvirtualinfrastructure

anddocumentationdescribingthoseAPIs.TheSDKalsoincludesthe

VirtualCenterWebServiceinterface,WebServicesDescriptionLanguage(WSDL),

andexamplefiles.Thisisavailablethroughanexternallink.TodownloadtheSDK

package,refertohttp://www.vmware.com/support/developer .

Managed Components

VirtualCentermonitorsandmanagesvariouscomponentsofyourvirtualandphysical

infrastructure.Somecomponentsareavailablefororganizingpotentiallyhundredsof

virtualmachinesandotherobjects.Theycanberenamedtorepresenttheirpurposes;

forexample,theycanbenamedaftercompanydepartmentsorlocationsorfunctions.

Themanagedcomponentsare:

VirtualMachinesandTemplatesAvirtualizedx86personalcomputer

environmentin

which

aguest

operating

system

and

associated

application

softwarecanrun.Multiplevirtualmachinescanoperateonthesamemanagedhost

machineconcurrently.Templatesareadesignatedtypeofvirtualmachine.

HostsTheprimarycomponentuponwhichallvirtualmachinesreside.Ifthe

VirtualInfrastructureClientisconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServer,therecanbe

manyhosts.IftheVirtualInfrastructureClientisconnectedtoanESXServer,there

canbeonlyonehost.

ResourcepoolsAstructurethatallowsdelegationofcontrolovertheresources

ofahost.Resourcepoolsareusedtocompartmentalizeallresourcesinacluster.

Youcancreatemultipleresourcepoolsasdirectchildrenofahostorclusterand

NOTE WhenVirtualCenterreferstoahost,thismeansthephysicalmachineonwhichthe

virtualmachinesarerunning.AllvirtualmachineswithintheVMware

InfrastructureenvironmentarephysicallyonESXServerhosts.Thetermhostin

thismanualmeanstheESXServerhostthathasvirtualmachinesonit.



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p p

configurethem.Thendelegatecontroloverthemtootherindividualsor

organizations.ThemanagedresourcesareCPUandmemoryfromahostorcluster.

Virtualmachinesexecutein,anddrawtheirresourcesfrom,resourcepools.

ClustersAcollectionofESXServerhostswithsharedresourcesandashared

managementinterface.Whenyouaddahosttoacluster,thehostsresources

becomepartoftheclustersresources.Theclustermanagestheresourcesofall

hosts.RefertotheResourceManagementGuide. DatastoresVirtualrepresentationsofcombinationsofunderlyingphysical

storageresourcesinthedatacenter.Thesephysicalstorageresourcescancome

from

the

local

SCSI

disk

of

the

server,

the

Fibre

Channel

SAN

disk

arrays,

the

iSCSI

SANdiskarrays,orNetworkAttachedStorage(NAS)arrays.

NetworksNetworksthatconnectvirtualmachinestoeachotherinthevirtual

environmentortothephysicalnetworkoutside.

FoldersContainersusedtogroupobjectsandorganizethemintohierarchies.

Thisisnotonlyconvenientbutalsoprovidesanaturalstructureuponwhichto

applypermissions.

Therearethreetypesoffolders,eachofwhichcancontainotherfolders(ofthe

sametype)andexactlyoneothertypeofobject.Theseobjectsare:

Datacenters

Virtualmachines(whichincludetemplates)

Computeresources(whichincludehostsandclusters)

Thedatacenter

folders

form

ahierarchy

directly

under

the

root

node

and

allow

userstogrouptheirdatacentersinanyconvenientway.Withineachdatacenteris

onehierarchyoffolderswithvirtualmachinesand/ortemplatesandonehierarchy

offolderswithhostsandclusters.

DatacentersUnlikeafolder,whichisusedtoorganizeaspecificobjecttype,a

datacenterisanaggregationofallthedifferenttypesofobjectsneededtodowork

invirtualinfrastructure:hosts,virtualmachines,networks,anddatastores.

Withinadatacentertherearefourseparatehierarchies.Becauseitisnotpossibleto

putnetworksordatastoresintofolders,thesefourhierarchiesarealwaysflatlists:

Virtualmachines(andtemplates)

Hosts(andclusters)

Networks

Datastores


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LogsStoredreferenceinformationrelatedtoselectedeventmessages.Logsare

predefinedintheproduct.Youcanconfigurewhetherselectedlogsaregenerated.

Access Privileges ComponentsEachuserlogsontoaVirtualCenteroranESXServerthroughtheVIClient.Eachuser

isidentifiedtotheserverassomeonewhohasrightsandprivilegestoselectedobjects,

suchasdatacentersandvirtualmachines,withintheVMwareInfrastructure

environment.VirtualCenterServeritselfhasfullrightsandprivilegesonallhostsand

virtualmachineswithintheVMwareInfrastructureenvironment.Theserverpasseson

onlythoseactionsandrequestsfromauserthattheuserhaspermissiontoperform.

TheservergrantsaccesstoeachVirtualInfrastructureClientobject,datacenter,folder,

orvirtualmachine.Todothis,youassignaroleandauser(orgroup)toeachobject.

IndividualpermissionsareassignedthroughtheVIClientbypairingauserandarole

andassigningthispairtoaVirtualInfrastructureClientobject:

UsersandGroupsForVirtualCenter,usersandgroupsarecreatedand

maintainedthroughtheWindowsdomainorActiveDirectorydatabase.Usersand

groupsareregisteredwithVirtualCenter,orcreatedandregisteredwithanESX

Server,throughtheprocessthatassignsprivileges.

RolesAsetofaccessrightsandprivileges.Thereareselecteddefaultroles.You

canalsocreaterolesandassigncombinationsofprivilegestoeachrole.



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2

BasicSystemAdministrationdescribesthetasksyoumustcompletetoconfiguretheVirtualInfrastructureClient(VIClient)andvirtualmachines.Beforeusingthe

informationinBasicSystemAdministration,readtheIntroductiontoVMwareInfrastructure

for

an

overview

of

system

architecture

and

the

physical

and

virtual

devicesthatmakeupaVMwareInfrastructuresystem.

Thisintroductionsummarizesthecontentsofthisguidesothatyoucanfindthe

informationyouneed.Thisguidecoversthesesubjects:

VMwareInfrastructurecomponents

Administrationtools

Systemconfiguration

Virtualmachinemanagementandconfiguration

Accessandpermissionsmanagement

Systemadministrationandmanagement

Getting StartedTheintroductorydiscussionspanssevenchaptersanddescribesthesystem

components,systemmanagementtools,andthebasictasksyoumustcompleteto

configureyourVirtualInfrastructureClient.Theintroductorypartcontainsthe

followingchapters:

UsingthisDocumentSummarizesthecontentsofthisguidesothatyoucanfind

theinformationyouneed.

Using this Document 2



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VMwareInfrastructureComponentsIntroducesyoutotheVMware

Infrastructurecomponentsandoperationsyouusewhenmanagingyourvirtual

machinesthroughESXServerorVirtualCenterServer.

StartingandStoppingtheVMwareInfrastructureComponentsDescribeshowto

startandstopeachoftheVMwareInfrastructurecomponents.Thisincludesthe

ESXServer,VirtualCenterServer,VirtualInfrastructureClient,Virtual

InfrastructureWebAccess,VirtualCenterhostagent,VirtualCenterlicenseserver,

andtheVMwareServiceConsole.

UsingtheVIClientDescribesthespecificlayoutandnavigationoftheVIClient.

SystemConfigurationContainsinformationforconfiguringadministrationoptions,VirtualCenterServersettings,andmanaginghostconfigurationoptions.

Italsoincludessomebasicsystemconfigurationinformation,suchashowto

accessandconfigurelogfilesandsetupSNMP.

ManagingtheVIClientInventoryDescribeshowtoperformtaskswithobjectsin

yourVMwareInfrastructureenvironment.Thisincludesfolders,datacenters,

clusters,resourcepools,networks,anddatastores.Theseobjectsareusedto

manageororganizethemonitoredandmanagedhostsandvirtualmachines.

ManagingHostsinVirtualCenterDescribeshowtoperformmanaged

hostrelatedtasks.

Virtual Machine Management

Thevirtualmachinemanagementdiscussionconsistsofsevenchaptersthatprovidea

basicunderstandingofvirtualmachinesandhowtomanage,configure,andcustomizethem.Thevirtualmachinemanagementpartcontainsthefollowingchapters:

CreatingVirtualMachinesDescribeshowtocreatevirtualmachinesbyusingthe

NewVirtualMachinewizardandbycloningexistingvirtualmachines.

ManagingVirtualMachinesDescribesvirtualmachinetasks,includingaddinga

virtualmachinetoandremovingitfromtheVIClientandpoweringonandoff

virtualmachines.

ConfiguringVirtualMachinesDescribeshowtoeditandconfigureyourexisting

virtualmachines.Italsodiscussesadvancedvirtualmachineconfiguration

options.

UsingSnapshotsExplainshowtocapturetheentirestateofthevirtualmachine

usingthesnapshotsfeature.

Workingwith

Templates

and

Clones

Describes

creating

templates

and

using

virtualmachinetemplatestocreateandprovisionnewvirtualmachines.

Chapter 2 Using this Document


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MigratingVirtualMachinesDescribestheprocessofmigratingormovinga

virtualmachinefromonehosttoanother.

CustomizingGuestOperatingSystemsExplainshowtocustomizetheidentity

andnetworksettingsofyourvirtualmachinesguestoperatingsystemsothatitis

readytobeginworkimmediatelyinyourtargetenvironment.

System Administration

Thesystemadministrationpartcontainsthefollowingchapters:

ManagingUsers,Groups,Permissions,andRolesDescribeshowtomanage

accesstoVMwareInfrastructureinventoryobjects.Itexplainshowtoconfigure

users,groups,roles,andpermissions.

MonitoringYourVmwareInfrastructureEnvironmentDescribesthe

performancemonitoringpiecesoftheVirtualInfrastructureClientdatapresented

intheVIClient.ItalsodescribestheVirtualInfrastructureClientMapsfeature.

ManagingTasks,Events,andAlarmsDescribeshowtocreate,configure,anduse

tasks,events,andalarms.

Appendixes

BasicSystemAdministrationprovidesthesefourappendixeswithspecializedinformationyoumightfindusefulwhenconfiguringyourVMwareInfrastructure

environment:

DefinedPrivilegesIncludestableswiththepermissionsandrolesthatareavailablewiththeVMwareInfrastructuresystem.

InstallingtheMicrosoftSysprepToolsDescribeshowtoinstalltheMicrosoft

SyspreptoolsonyourVirtualCenterServermachine.InstallingtheSyspreptools

isarequirementifyouplantocustomizeaWindowsguestoperatingsystem.

PerformanceChartMeasurementsIncludestableswiththemeasurementoptions

foreachresourcemonitoredonahost.



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3

Thischapterincludesinformationonhowtostartandstopeachoneofthemajor

VMwareInfrastructurecomponents,ESXServerandVirtualCenterServer.


ESXServeronpage 31

VirtualCenterServeronpage 33

VIClientonpage 34

VIWebAccessonpage 36

VMwareServiceConsoleonpage 37

ESX Server

WhenyouinstallESXServer,itstartsitselfthroughtheinstallationrebootprocess.If

yourESXServerisshutdown,youmustmanuallyrestartit.

To start your ESX Server

OnthephysicalboxwheretheESXServerisinstalled,pressthepowerbuttonuntilthepoweronsequencebegins.

TheESXServerboots,discoversitsvirtualmachines,andproceedswithitsnormalESX

Serverfunctions.

Youhavetheoptiontopowerofforrestart(reboot)anyESXServerhostmanagedby

VirtualCenter.PoweringoffamanagedhostdisconnectsitfromtheVirtualCenter

Serverbut

does

not

remove

it

from

the

inventory.

Starting and Stopping the

VMware Infrastructure

Components 3



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32 VMware, Inc.

To reboot or shut down your ESX Server

1 StartaVirtualInfrastructureClient.

Referto

Configuring

VirtualCenter

Communication

on

page 68

for

information.

2 DisplaytheinventorypanelandtheappropriateESXServerhosts.

3 IfconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServer,displaytheinventorys:Hosts&Clusters

panel.Selecttheappropriaterootfolder(bydefaultlabeledHosts&Clusters)or

subfolder.

4 SelecttheappropriateESXServerintheinventorypanel.

5 Fromthemainorrightclickpopupmenu,chooseRebootorShutDown,as

appropriate.

IfRebootisselected,theESXServershutsdownandreboots.

IfShutDownisselected,theESXServershutsdown.Youmustmanually

powerthesystembackon.

6 Provide

a

reason

for

the

shut

down.

Thisinformationisaddedtothelog.

To manually stop your ESX Server

1 LogontoyourESXServerserviceconsole.

RefertoConnectingtotheServiceConsoleonpage 38forinformationon

accessingtheserviceconsole.

2 Executetheshutdowncommand.

Forexample:

: shutdown -h now

ESXServergracefullyshutsdown.Whenitisfinished,amessageindicatesthatit

issafetopoweroffyoursystem.

3 Pressthepowerbuttonuntilthemachinepowersoff.

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VirtualCenter Server

VirtualCentermanagesmultiplehoststhatcancontainmultiplevirtualmachines.To

performanyactivitieswiththeVirtualCenter,youmustusetheVirtualInfrastructure

Client.

TheVirtualCenterServerstartswhenyoustarttheWindowsmachineonwhichitis

installed.Italsorestartswhenthismachineisrebooted.

ThefollowingsectionsdiscussstartingandstoppingelementsrelatedtoVirtualCenter:

VerifyingThatVirtualCenterServerStartedonpage 33

RestartingtheVirtualCenterServeronpage 34

StoppingtheVirtualCenterServeronpage 34

Verifying That VirtualCenter Server Started

VirtualCenterisaservice,soproceedtoyourWindowsserviceslistandverifythatthe

servicestarted.

To verify that the VirtualCenter Server is running

1 GototheServicesdisplayforyourversionofWindows.

Forexample,selectControlPanel>AdministrativeTools>Services.Click

VMwareInfrastructureServer.

TheStatuscolumnindicateswhethertheservicestarted.

2 RightclicktheVMwareInfrastructureServerandchooseProperties.Inthe

VMwareVirtualCenter

Services

Properties

dialog

box,

click

the

General

tab

and

viewtheservicestatus.

NOTE WhenVirtualCenterisinstalled,allusersinthelocalmachinesAdministratorsgroup

areassignedtheAdministratorrolewithfullprivilegesintheVirtualCenter

environment.AVirtualCenterAdministratormustsetpermissionsforallother

VirtualCenterusers.RefertoAssigningAccessPermissionsonpage 263for

additionalinformation.



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34 VMware, Inc.

Restarting the VirtualCenter Server

TheVirtualCenterServerservicestartswhenthemachineonwhichitisinstalledis

booted.IfyouhavemanuallystoppedtheVirtualCenterServerserviceormuststartit

foranyreason,performthestepsbelow.

To restart the VirtualCenter Server through Windows Services


Forexample,selectControlPanel>AdministrativeTools>Services.Click

VMwareInfrastructureServer.

2 RightclickVMwareInfrastructureServer,chooseStart,andwaitforstartuptocomplete.

3 ClosethePropertiesdialogbox.

Stopping the VirtualCenter Server

TheVirtualCenterServerisaWindowsservice.YoucanusetheWindowsinterfaceto

selecttheserviceandstopit.

YoushouldnothavetostoptheVirtualCenterServer.ItisbestfortheVirtualCenter

Servertohavecontinuousoperation.Continuousoperationensuresthatallmonitoring

andtaskactivitiesareperformedasexpected.

To stop the VirtualCenter Server


Forexample,selectStart>ControlPanel>AdministrativeTools>Services.Click

VMwareVirtualCenterService.

2 RightclicktheVMwareVirtualCenterServer,chooseStop,andwaitforittostop.

3 ClosethePropertiesdialogbox.

VI ClientTheVirtualInfrastructureClientisusedtologontoeitheraVirtualCenterServeroran

ESXServer.EachserversupportsmultipleVIClientlogons.TheVIClientcanbe

installedonanymachinethathasnetworkaccesstotheVirtualCenterServeroranESX

server.

Bydefault,administratorsareallowedtologontoaVirtualCenterServer.

Administratorsherearedefinedtobeeither:



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MembersofthelocalAdministratorsgroupiftheVirtualCenterServerisnota

domaincontroller.

MembersofthedomainAdministratorsgroupiftheVirtualCenterServerisa

domaincontroller.

Starting the VI Client and Logging On

TheVIClientistheinterfacetoboththeESXServerandtheVirtualCenterServer.When

youstarttheVIClient,ithasasingleopeningpage.Whenyoulogon,theVIClient

displaysonlythefeaturesandfunctionsthatareappropriatetothetypeofserveryou

logged

on

to.

To start a VI Client session

1 LogontoyourWindowssystem.

2 ThefirsttimeyoustarttheVIClient,logonastheadministrator.

a Ifthemanagedhostisnotadomaincontroller,logonaseither\or,whereisamemberofthelocal

Administratorsgroup.

b Ifthemanagedhostisadomaincontroller,youmustlogonas

\,whereisthedomainnameforwhichthe

managedhostisacontrollerand isamemberofthatdomains

DomainAdministratorsgroup.Thispracticeofrunningonadomain

controllerisnotrecommended.

3 LaunchtheVIClient.

4 DoubleclickashortcutorchoosetheapplicationthroughStart>Programs>

VMware>VMwareVirtualInfrastructureClient2.

5 Logontothedesiredserver.

6 Enterorchoosetheservername,yourusername,andyourpasswordforthat

server.ClickLogIntocontinue.

IfthisisthefirsttimeyouhaveloggedontotheVirtualCenterServer,anempty

Inventoryscreenappears.Addadatacenterandhosttobeginmonitoringand

managingyourvirtualmachinesthroughtheVirtualInfrastructureClient.Referto

ManagingtheVIClientInventoryonpage 91foradditionalinformation.

NOTE OnlypreviouslytypedserversappearintheServerpulldownlist.



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36 VMware, Inc.

Stopping the VI Client and Logging Off

WhenyounolongermustvieworaltertheactivitiesthatVirtualCenterisperforming,

logoffoftheVIClient.

To stop a VI Client session

1 Clicktheclosebox(X)inthecorneroftheVIClientwindow,orchooseFile>Exit.

TheVIClientshutsdown.TheVIClientisloggedofftheserver.Theserver

continuestorunallitsnormalactivitiesinthebackground.Anyscheduledtasks

aresavedandperformedbytheVirtualCenterServer.

VI Web Access

VI WebAccessistheWebinterfacethroughwhichyoucanmanageyourvirtual

machines.VI WebAccessisinstalledwhenyouinstallESXServer.AswiththeVI

Client,VIWebAccesscaneitherbeusedtoconnectdirectlytoanESXServerorto

VirtualCenter.ThefunctionalityofVI WebAccessisasubsetofVIClientfunctionality.

TheVI WebAccessconsoleprovidesaremotemousekeyboardscreen(MKS)forthe

virtualmachines.Youcaninteractwithaguestoperatingsystemrunninginavirtual

machineandconnectremotelytothevirtualmachinesmouse,keyboard,andscreen.

ForinformationonhowtouseVI WebAccesstoconfigurevirtualmachinesforESX

ServerandVirtualCenter,seetheVirtualInfrastructureWebAccessAdministratorsGuide.Logging In and Out of VIWeb Access

VIWebAccessusesaWebinterfaceandaninternetconnectiontoaccessyourESX

ServerorVirtualCenterServer.

To log in to VI Web Access

1 LaunchyourWebbrowser.

2 EntertheURLofyourESXServeroryourVirtualCenterServerinstallation:

https:///ui

NOTE ClosingaVIClientdoesnotstoptheserver.


Th VI W b A l i


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VMware, Inc. 37

TheVIWebAccessloginpageappears.

Theloginpagecontainsfieldsforyourusernameandpassword.Thisusername

andpasswordarethesamecredentialsyouwoulduseifyouconnectedusingtheVIClient.Also,thesamepermissionsareusedtodetermineifausercanviewand

manipulateobjects.VI WebAccessdoesnothaveitsownconceptofusersor

permissions.

3 Typeyourusernameandpassword,andclickLogIn.

TheVI WebAccesshomepageappears.

AfteryourusernameandpasswordareauthorizedbyVI WebAccess,theVI WebAccesshomepageappears.TheVI WebAccesshomepagecontains:

Detailsaboutvirtualmachinesontheservertowhichyouareconnected.

Theoptiontoaccessthedetailspageforavirtualmachinewhereyoufind

informationaboutvirtualdevices,configurationoptions,andasummaryof

recentevents.

To log out of VI Web Access

ClicktheLogOutlinkfoundatthecornerofeverypage.Youarepromptedtoconfirm

thatyouwanttologout.

VMware Service Console

InpreviousversionsofESXServer,theserviceconsolewasoneoftheinterfacestoESX

Serverhosts.StartingwithESXServer3,manyofthecommandsaredeprecated.

ServiceconsoleistypicallyusedonlyinconjunctionwithaVMwaretechnicalsupport

representative.

TheVMware

Infrastructure

SDK

is

used

for

scripted

manipulation

of

your

VMware

Infrastructureinstead.TheVirtualInfrastructureClientistheprimaryinterfacetoall

NOTE IfyouareusinganyremoteclientdevicesthroughVI WebAccess,theyare

disconnectedwhenyoulogout.


o sc ipted acti ities i cludi co fi u i o ito i a d a a i you i tual


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38 VMware, Inc.

nonscriptedactivities,includingconfiguring,monitoring,andmanagingyourvirtual

machinesandresources.

Using DHCP for the Service ConsoleTherecommendedsetupistousestaticIPaddressesfortheserviceconsole.Youcanset

uptheserviceconsoletouseDHCP,ifyourDNSserveriscapableofmappingthe

serviceconsoleshostnametothedynamicallygeneratedIPaddress.

IfyourDNSservercannotmapthehostsnametoitsDHCPgeneratedIPaddress,you

mustdeterminetheserviceconsolesnumericIPaddressyourself.Anothercaution

againstusingDHCPisthatthenumericIPaddressmightchangeasDHCPleasesrun

outorwhenthesystemisrebooted.Forthisreason,VMwaredoesnotrecommend

usingDHCPfortheserviceconsoleunlessyourDNSservercanhandlethehostname

translation.

Connecting to the Service Console

Whetheryouusetheserviceconsolelocallyorthrougharemoteconnection,youmust

logonusingavalidusernameandpassword.

IfyouhavedirectaccesstothecomputerwhereESXServerisrunning,youcanlogon

tothephysicalconsoleonthatcomputer.

To log on to the ESX Server service console

PressAltF2togettothelogonscreen.

DependingonthesecuritysettingsforyourESXServercomputer,youmightbeableto

connectremotelytotheserviceconsoleusingsshorTelnet.Formoreinformationonthe

securitysettings,refertotheServerConfigurationGuide.Using Commands on the Service Console

TheserviceconsolerunsamodifiedversionofLinux,andmanyofthecommands

availableonLinuxorUNIXarealsoavailableontheserviceconsole.Detailedusage

notesformostserviceconsolecommandsareavailableasmanualormanfiles.

To view the man page for a particular command

Atthe

service

console

command

line,

type

the

man

command

followed

by

the

name

of

thecommandforwhichyouwanttorefertoinformation,forexample:

CAUTION Donotusedynamic(DHCP)addressingwhensharingthenetworkadapter

assignedtotheserviceconsolewithvirtualmachines.ESXServerrequiresa

staticIPaddressfortheserviceconsolewhensharinganetworkadapter.


: man


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: man

Foradditionalinformationoncommands,refertothefollowingresources:

FormoredetailedinformationonESXServerrelatedcommands,seetheServerConfigurationGuide.

FormoreinformationonLinuxcommands,consultaLinuxreferencebook.



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4


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VMware, Inc. 41

ThischapterdescribesthespecificlayoutandnavigationoftheVIClient.Italso

containsinformationforconfiguringadminoptions,VirtualCenterServersettings,and

managinghostconfigurationoptions.

Thischaptercontainsthefollowingsections:

VIClientOverviewonpage 41

SortingandFilteringListsonpage 54

UsingCustomAttributesonpage 55

SelectingandViewingObjectsonpage 57

VI Client Overview

TheVirtualInfrastructureClientadaptstotheserveritisconnectedto.WhentheVI

ClientisconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServer,theVIClientdisplaysalltheoptions

availabletotheVMwareVirtualInfrastructureenvironment,basedonthelicensingyou

haveconfiguredandthepermissionsoftheuser.WhentheVIClientisconnectedtoan

ESXServer,theVIClientdisplaysonlytheoptionsappropriatetosinglehost

management.

ThedefaultVirtualInfrastructureClientlayoutisasinglewindowwithamenubar,a

navigationbar,atoolbar,astatusbar,apanelsection,andpopupmenus.

Using the VI Client 4


Navigation


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42 VMware, Inc.

Figure 4-1. Virtual Infrastructure Client Layout

TheVIClientareasarecoveredinthefollowingsections:

MenuBaronpage 43

PopUpMenusonpage 45

ConsoleMenuonpage 45

NavigationBaronpage 46

InventoryViewTabsonpage 49

Toolbaronpage 52

StatusBar,RecentTasks,andTriggeredAlarmsonpage 53

PanelSectionsonpage 53

Menus

g

barToolbar Inventory tabs

Status Information panelStatus barInventory panel

Pop-up menuConsole button

Chapter 4 Using the VI Client

Menu Bar


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VMware, Inc. 43

Themenubarprovidesaccesstoallcommandsandoperatesinamannerconsistent

withotherWindowsapplications.Thetablesbelowlistallthemenuitemsavailable

fromthesefivemenus.ThemenuitemsavailablevarydependinguponwhethertheVIClientisconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServeroranESXServer.Themenubaroptions

are:

FileMenuSimilartotheFilemenuinmostapplicationswithtwoexceptions:

AprintmenuitemisnotavailableontheFilemenu.Toprint,usethePrint

ScreenmechanisminWindowstotakeacopyoftheVIClientwindowor

exportthe

VirtualCenter

data

to

another

format

and

print

from

another

application.

Asavemenuitemisnotavailable.TheVIClientissimilartoabrowser.Most

usermanipulationsarepersistentinthedisplayoftheVirtualCenterdata.

InTable 41,anasterisk(*)indicatesitemsthatareavailableonlywhenconnected

toVirtualCenterServer.

EditMenuDisplaysmenuitemsrelevanttotheselectedobject.

ViewMenuControlswhichpanelsarevisible.Thisprovidesamenuitemfor

selectingone

of

the

navigation

buttons.



Table 4-1. File Menu Items

File> New> VirtualMachine|AddHost*|Cluster*|ResourcePool|Folder*|Datacenter*|Alarm*|ScheduledTask*|AddPermission

File> Export> ExportEvents*|ExportList|Licenses|ExportMaps*

File> Report> HostSummary|Performance

File> Exit

Table 4-2. Edit Menu Items

Edit> Rename|Remove|CustomizationSpecifications|VIClientSettings

Table 4-3. View Menu Items

View> Toolbar|StatusBar|Inventory|ScheduledTasks*|Events|Administration|Maps*|Filtering


WhenconnectedtotheVirtualCenterServer,theView>Inventorymenuparsesthe


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AdministrationMenuDisplaysconfigurationoptionsthatapplyacrossthe

VirtualInfrastructureenvironment.



HelpMenuDisplaystheonlinehelpoptions,linkstotheVMwareWebsite,and

productversioninformation.

Pop-Up Menus

Popupmenusprovidedirectaccesstomanyofthemenuitems.Popupmenusare

availablefrommostobjectsinboththeinventorypanelandtheinformationpanel.

To view a pop-up menu

RightclicktheselectedobjectorpressShift+F10.

Console Menu

Theconsoleofapoweredonvirtualmachineisavailablethroughaconnectedserver.

To view the virtual machine console

ClicktheInventoryNavigationbutton,clickapoweredonvirtualmachineinthe

Inventorypanel,andclicktheConsoletabintheInformationpanel.

To pop out the virtual machine console

Clickthepopouticoninthenavigationbar.

AcopyoftheConsolewindowseparatesfromtheVIClient.Additionalmenusappear.

Inventory> Alarm*> Properties|Remove

Inventory> ScheduledTask*> Run|Remove|Properties

Table 4-6. Administration Menu Items

Administration> CustomAttributes*|VMwareVirtualCenterSettings*|Role|Session*|EditMessageoftheDay*|CollectDiagnosticInformation*|LegacyTemplates*


AdditionalmenuitemsareavailablefromthepopoutConsolewindow.


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46 VMware, Inc.

Allconnectionstothevirtualmachineseethesamedisplayinformation.Themessage

lineindicatesifothersareviewingthevirtualmachine.

ThepopoutvirtualmachineConsolehasthefollowingmenuitems.Theembedded

ConsolehassimilarmenuitemsbutdoesnotincludealloftheexternalConsolemenu

items.

Navigation Bar

Thenavigationbarprovidesshortcutbuttonsthatloadthematchingtoolbarandpanel

intotheVIClientwindow.Thenavigationbarcombinesanddisplaysassociatedtasks

andinformation.Whenabuttonhasbeenselected,itremainsselectedtoindicatethe

currentview.ThebuttonsrepresenttheVIClientfunctionalareas.Dependingupon

whethertheVIClientisconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServeroranESXServer,thelisted

buttonsvary.

Eachnavigation

bar

button

has

aprimary

information

panel

and

associated

tabs.

The

Inventorybuttonhasaninventorypanelfromwhichyoucanselectobjects.Each

Table 4-7. Virtual Machine Pop-Out Console Menu Items

File> Exit

View

>

Autofit

|

Fit

|

Fit

Guest

to

WindowVM> PowerOn|PowerOff|Suspend|Reset|ShutDownGuest|RestartGuest|

Snapshot|Migrate|Clone|ClonetoTemplate|ConverttoTemplate|OpenConsole|SentCtrl+Alt+Del|AnswerQuestion|ReportPerformance|InstallVMwareTools|EditSettings|Rename|RemovefromInventory|DeletefromDisk

The message line indicates

the number of active

connections to this virtualmachine.

Additional Console menu


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AllfouroftheInventoryoptionsaredividedintotwosubpanels,theinventory

panel and the information panel. This Inventory option displays all the objects


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48 VMware, Inc.

panelandtheinformationpanel.ThisInventoryoptiondisplaysalltheobjects

containedwithinVirtualCenter,suchasfolders,datacenters,hosts,clusters,

resourcepoolsandvirtualmachines.WhenconnectedtoanESXServerthe

inventoryoptiondisplaysalltheobjectscontainedwithintheESXServer,suchas

host,resourcepools,andvirtualmachines.Throughselectingobjectsineitherof

thetwosubpanels,youperformandspecifyactions.

Therearefourdifferentinventoryviews.Eachrelatestosomeoftheeightdifferent

inventoryobjects:hosts,clusters,folders,datacenters,virtualmachinesand

templates,resourcepools,networks,anddatastores.

Allfourviewshavethe(single)rootnode,allowanyfoldersbelowtherootnode(thatcanonlycontainotherfoldersanddatacenters)anddatacenters.Below

datacentersthehierarchyissplitupintonetworks,datastores,virtualmachineand

templates,andhosts,clusters,andresourcepools.

ScheduledTasksbuttonAlistofactivitiesandameanstoschedulethose

activities.ThisisavailablethroughVirtualCenterServeronly.

TheScheduled

Tasks

and

Events

buttons,

available

only

when

connected

to

a

VirtualCenterServer,displayasingleinformationpanel.

EventsbuttonAlistofalltheeventsthatoccurintheVirtualCenterenvironment.

UsetheNavigationoptiontodisplayalltheevents.Useanobjectspecificpanelto

displayonlytheeventsrelativetothatobject.

AdminbuttonAlistofenvironmentlevelconfigurationoptions.TheAdmin

optionprovidesconfigurationaccesstoRoles,Sessions,Licenses,Diagnostics,and

SystemLogs.WhenconnectedtoanESXServeronly,theRolesoptionappears.

TheAdminbuttondisplaysasetoftabbedinformationpanels.Selected

configurationoptionsareavailablethroughthesetabs.

MapsbuttonAvisualrepresentationofthestatusandstructureoftheVirtual

Infrastructureenvironment.Thisincludeshosts,networks,virtualmachines,and

datastores.ThisisavailablethroughVirtualCenterServeronly.

TheMapsbutton,availableonlywhenconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServer,

displaysaninventorypanelandatopologypanel.

To change the look of the navigation bar

Rightclickthenavigationbarandchoosetheappropriateoption.


Inventory View Tabs

Y th l di l f d t d ti it th h th i f ti l


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Youcanaccessthegeneraldisplayofdataandactivitythroughtheinformationpanel

oftheVIClientwindow.Theinformationpanelisthevisualcenterofyourmonitoring

activities.Throughtheinformationpanel,youcanviewstatus,resourceusage,andperformanceinformationaboutyourhosts,virtualmachines,anddatacenters.Inthe

informationpanel,youcanalsoviewscheduledtasks,availabletemplates,andalistof

events.

WhentheVIClientisconnectedtoaVirtualCenterServeraMapsoptionisalso

available.RefertoMonitoringYourVmwareInfrastructureEnvironmenton

page 269forinformationontheMapsfeature.

Whenanobjectisremovedfromtheinventory,itslogandeventhistoryremainsuntil

purgedthroughtheagingprocesses.Dataiskeptforaspecifiedwindowoftime.Asthe

timewindowshifts,olderdataispurged.

AdmintabsAsubsetoftheAdminbutton.TheAdmintabsareasetofpanels

thatdisplayconfigurationorientedinformationpertainingtotheservethattheVI

Clientisconnectedto.ThetaboptionsareRolesandSystemLogs.WhentheVI

Clientis

connected

to

aVirtualCenter

Server,

aSessions

and

Licenses

tab

is

also

available.

InventorytabsAsubsetoftheInventorybutton.TheInventorytabsareasetof

panelsthatdisplaytaskorientedinformationpertainingtotheselectedinventory

object.Eachinventoryobjecthasitsownsetoftabs.Thetaboptionsare:Summary,

Datacenters,VirtualMachines,Hosts,Migrations,ResourceAllocation,

Performance,Configuration,Tasks&Events,Alarms,Console,Permissions,and

Maps.

WhenyouclicktheInventorybuttoninthenavigationbar,aninformationpanel

appearsontherightsideofthescreen.Whenyouselectanobject(host,virtual

machine,folder,datacenter,cluster,resourcepool)fromtheinventorypanel,the

informationpaneldisplaystabscorrespondingtotheselectedobject.Thisdata

remainsuntilyouclickanotherInventorybutton.

NOTE Youcanuseeitherthenavigationbarortheinformationpaneltabstovieweventsinformation.


Table 48liststheavailablepanelsandtheirsourcemapping.

T bl 4 8 I t Vi T b


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Table 4-8. Inventory View Tabs

Panel Name

ESX Server or

VirtualCenter

Server

Button, Tab, or

Toggle Description

Admin both navigationbarbutton

Listsselectedconfigurationoptionsandinformation.

Alarms VirtualCenter inventorypaneltab

Liststheconfiguredalarmsfortheselectedobject.

Alarms VirtualCenter toggle button Liststhetriggeredalarmsfortheselectedobject.

Configuration both inventorypaneltab

Providesaccesstoconfiguringtheselectedhost.

Console both inventorypaneltab

Displaysaremoteconsoletointeractdirectlywiththevirtualmachine.Throughtheremoteconsoleyoucantakeselectedactionsuponthevirtualmachine.

Datacenters VirtualCenter inventorypaneltab

Liststhedatacentersorganizedundertheselectedfolder.

Datastores VirtualCenter navigationbarbutton:Datastores

Providesaccessformanagingdatastores.

Events ESXServer inventorypaneltab

Liststheeventmessagesthatreportonthestatusoftheselectedobject.

Hosts both inventorypanel

tab

Liststhehostsassignedtotheselected

inventoryobject.

Inventory both navigationbarbutton:Hosts&Clusters

Providesaccessformanagingalltheinventoryobjects.

Licenses VirtualCenter adminpaneltab Liststhelicensesconfiguredinthelicenseserver.

Maps VirtualCenter navigationbar

button

Displaysrelationshipsbetweenthe

selectedinventoryobjects.

Migrations VirtualCenter inventorypaneltab

Liststhemigrationssuggestedorcompletedfortheselectedcluster.

Networks VirtualCenter navigationbarbutton:Networks

Providesaccessformanagingnetworks.


Table 4-8. Inventory View Tabs (Continued)

ESX Server or


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VMware, Inc. 51

Performance both inventorypaneltab

Displaystheperformancechartsfortheselectedhostorvirtualmachineresources.Thechartsfordatacentersandhostsdisplaycombinedchartsthatshowtheusageofeachresource.

Permissions both inventorypaneltab

Liststheusersandgroupsthathavepermissionsontheselectedobjectandat

whatlevel

the

permission

was

assigned.

ResourceAllocation

VirtualCenter inventorypaneltab

Liststhedistributionoftheselectedhostsresources:CPU,memory.

Roles both adminpaneltab Providesaccessforconfiguringuserroles.

ScheduledTasks VirtualCenter navigationbarbutton

Providesaccessforcreatingandmanagingscheduledtasks.

Sessions VirtualCenter adminpaneltab ListstheVIClientsessionsconnectedtotheVirtualCenterServer.

Summary both inventorypaneltab

Displaysacollectionofdatafortheselectedobject.

SystemLogs both adminpaneltab Listsselectedlogfilesfortheservers.

Tasks VirtualCenter toggle button Liststherecenttasksfortheselectedobject.

Tasks&

Events

VirtualCenter inventory

panel

tabLists

the

tasks

completed

and

the

event

messagesthatreportonthestatusoftheselectedobject.

Templates VirtualCenter navigationbarbutton:VirtualMachines&Templates

Providesaccessformanagingtemplates.

Virtual

Machines

both inventorypanel

tab

Liststhevirtualmachinesassignedtothe

selecteddatacenterorhostandgroup.Toaccess,clicktheVirtualMachinestabandthevirtualmachinesinthegrouparedisplayed.

Panel Name

ESX Server or

VirtualCenter

Server

Button, Tab, or

Toggle Description


Toolbar

The toolbar provides buttons for the most commonly used actions.


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52 VMware, Inc.

Thetoolbarprovidesbuttonsforthemostcommonlyusedactions.

To view or hide a toolbar

ChooseView>Toolbars.

Differenttoolbarbuttonsaredisplayeddependingonthenavigationtaskand

inventoryobjectselected.Sometoolbaroptionsmightbedimmeddependingonthe

objectselected.

To change the look of the toolbar

Rightclick

the

toolbar

and

choose

the

appropriate

option.


Status Bar, Recent Tasks, and Triggered Alarms

Thestatusbarappearsatthebottomofthewindow.Itcontainsiconstoviewtriggered


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VMware, Inc. 53

pp gg

alarmsorrecenttasks.TheTasksbuttondisplaysanycurrentlyrunningorrecently

completedactivetasks.Includedisaprogressbarindicatingthepercentagecompleteofeachtask.Therecenttasksandthetriggeredalarmpanelsdisplayacrossthebottom

oftheVIClientwindow.

To hide or view the status bar

ChooseView>Statusbar.

To hide or view recent tasks or triggered alarms

ClicktheTasksorAlarmsiconsinthestatusbar.

Panel Sections

InthebodyoftheVIClientpageisapanelsection.Inmostviews,thereisarightand

aleftpanel:theinventorypanelandtheinformationpanel.Thesepanelscanberesized.

InventorypanelDisplaysahierarchicallistofVirtualInfrastructureobjects

whentheInventoryorMapsbuttonisselectedfromthenavigationbar.

Information

panels

Display

lists

and

charts.

Depending

on

the

navigation

buttonorInventorybuttonitemselected,theinformationpanelisdividedinto

tabbedelements.

To select an object

Singleclicktheappropriateobjectineithertheinventorypanelorontheinformation

panel.


To close or open a panel

Clickthearrowinthepanelmenubar.


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54 VMware, Inc.

Whenthepanelishidden,thepanelmenubarisastripalongthesideoftheVIClient

window.

To resize a panel

Clickaresizingpanelsideanddragittoanappropriatesize.

YourchoicesforthepanelsarepersistentacrossVIClientsessions.Ifyourunmultiple

VIClientsessionsusingdifferentusernames,thesettingsfromthelastsessiontoquit

determinethe

values

for

the

next

VI

Client

session.

Sorting and Filtering Lists

SortanylistintheVIClientbyclickingthecolumnlabelheading.Atriangleinthe

columnheadshowsthesortorderasascendingordescending.

Youcanalsofilteralist,sortingandincludingonlyselecteditems.Afilterissortedby

akeyword.

Choose

the

columns

you

want

to

include

in

the

search

for

the

keyword.

To sort a list

Clickacolumnheadingtosortthelistbyentriesinthatcolumn.Thecurrentselection

doesnotchange.

To change between ascending and descending order

Clickthe

triangle

in

the

column

heading.

To choose items in a list

Clickanindividualitem.PressShiftclickorCtrlclicktochoosemultipleitems.All

listscanbesorted.

To view or remove columns in a list

Rightclickthecolumnheaderandchoosethecolumnnamefromthelist.

To filter the list view

1 Clickthearrowtoviewalistofattributesfromwhichtochoose.Typetextdirectly

intothefilteringfieldtospecifysearchcriteria.

TheFilterfielddoesnotsupportbooleanexpressionsorspecialcharactersandis

notcasesensitive.


2 ClickOKtodisplayonlythosevirtualmachinesthatmatchthecriteria.ClickClear

tochangethefilter.


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Thelistisupdatedbasedonwhetherfilteringisonoroff.Forexample,ifyouareinthe

VirtualMachinestab,youhavefilteredthelist,andthefilteredtextispoweredon,

youonlyrefertoalistofvirtualmachineswhosestateissettopoweredon.Ifthestate

ofanyofthesevirtualmachineschangestosomethingelse,theyareremovedfromthe

list.Newvirtualmachinesthatareaddedarealsobeingfiltered.Filteringispersistent

fortheusersession.

To remove a filter

ClickClear,ordeletetheentryinofthefilteringfieldandclickOK.

TheVIClientdisplaysthefulllistofavailableitems.

To choose columns to search for the filtering keyword

Rightclickinthecontainsfield,andselectordeselecttheappropriatecolumnnames.

Filteringisinclusive,notexclusive.Ifthekeywordisfoundinanyoftheselected

columns,thelineitemisincludedinthelist.

To export a list

1 Selectthelisttoexport.

2 ChooseFile>Export>ExportList.

3 Typeafilename,selectafiletypeinthedialogbox,andclickSave.

Afileisstoredinthespecifiedfilename,filetype,andlocation.

Using Custom Attributes

AttributesaretheresourcesthataremonitoredandmanagedforallthemanagedhostsandvirtualmachinesinyourVirtualInfrastructureenvironment.Attributesstatusand

statesappearonthevariousinventorypanels.

Customattributescanbeusedtoassociateuserspecificmetainformationwithvirtual

machinesandmanagedhosts.Afteryoucreatetheattributes,setthevalueforthe

attributeoneachvirtualmachineormanagedhost,asappropriate.Thisvalueisstored

withVirtualCenterandnotwiththevirtualmachineormanagedhost.Thenusethe

newattributetofilterinformationaboutyourvirtualmachinesandmanagedhosts.If

NOTE Thereisaonesecondintervalbetweenkeystrokes.Ifyoutypeinthetextandwaitfor

onesecond,thesearchstartsautomatically.YoudonthavetoclickOKorEnter.


younolongerneedthecustomattribute,removeit.Acustomattributeisalwaysa

string.

l h f d d h b l


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56 VMware, Inc.

Forexample,supposeyouhaveasetofproductsandyouwanttosortthembysales

representative.Create

acustom

attribute

for

sales

person

name,

Name.

Add

the

custom

attribute,Name,columntooneofthelistviews.Addtheappropriatenametoeach

productentry.ClickthecolumntitleNametosortalphabetically.

ThecustomattributesfeatureisavailableonlywhenconnectedtoaVirtualCenter

Server.

To add a custom attribute

1 ChooseAdministration>CustomAttributes.

ThisoptionisnotavailablewhenconnectedonlytoanESXServer.

2 AddacustomattributeandclickAdd.

Theattributeisaddedtothelistofvirtualmachinecharacteristics.

3 Tochangetheattributename,clickintheNamefieldandtypethenameyouwant

toassigntotheattribute.

4 Enterthevaluesforthecustomattribute.

a Selecttheobject(onelevelupthehierarchy)thatcontainstheobjectstowhich

youwanttoapplytheattribute.


Forexample,ifyouwanttoenterattributevaluesformanagedhosts,selectthe

datacenterandtheHoststabforalistofhosts.

b F h d h t i t l hi li k th tt ib t l


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b Foreachmanagedhostorvirtualmachine,clickthenewattributescolumn.

Intheinformationpanel,thenewattributeisaddedtotheheader.

c Typetheattributevaluethatisappropriateforeachmanagedhostorvirtual

machine.

Selecting and Viewing Objects

ThissectiondescribescommonWindowsproceduresthataffecttheVirtual

InfrastructureClient.Navigationtopicsarediscussedinthefollowingsections:

SelectingObjectsonpage 57

MonitoringObjectsonpage 58

PerformingActionsonObjectsonpage 59

Selecting ObjectsVirtualCenterobjectsaredatacenters,networks,datastores,resourcepools,clusters,

hosts,andvirtualmachines.Selectinganobjectdoesthefollowing:

Allowsyoutoviewthestatusoftheobject.

Enablesthemenussoyoucanchooseactionstotakeontheobject.

To select an object

1 ClicktheappropriatenavigationbaroptionsuchasInventory,ScheduledTasks,

Events,Admin,orMaps.

2 IfyouselectInventory,browsethroughthehierarchyintheinventorypaneluntil

youseetheiconforanobject.Clickit.

Whenanobjectisselected,theobjectlabelintheinventorypanelbackfillsandthe

information

panel

updates

its

display

to

reflect

the

data

for

the

selected

object.

To view an object menu

Selecttheappropriateobjectandchoosetheappropriateactionfromthemenubar.

Alternatively,rightclicktheobject.

Apopupmenuwiththeobjectsavailableactionsappears.

Foreachtypeofobject,suchasdatacenter,host,orvirtualmachine,acorrespondingset

oftabsappearsintheinformationpanel.Forexample:


Ifyouselectamanagedhostintheinventorypanelwhileconnectedto

VirtualCenter,theinformationpaneldisplaysSummary,VirtualMachines,

ResourceAllocation,Performance,Configuration,Tasks&Events,Alarms,


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58 VMware, Inc.

Permissions,andMapstabs.

IfyouselecttheinventorypanelwhileconnectedtoanESXServer,theinformation

paneldisplaysSummary,VirtualMachines,ResourceAllocation,Performance,

Configuration,Users&Groups,SystemLogs,EventsandPermissionstabs.

Ifyouselectadatacenter,theinformationpaneldisplaysVirtualMachines,Hosts,

Tasks&Events,Alarms,Permissions,andMapstabs.

Theinventorypanelandinformationpanelshareasingleselectionlist.Selectingan

objectinonepaneldeselectsanyotherobjectintheotherpanel.

Menuactions,fromeitherthemenubarorapopupmenu,applytothecurrently

selectedobject.Ifnoobjectisselected,nomenuactionsareavailable.Apopupmenu

canappearonlyforaselectedobject.RefertoPopUpMenusonpage 45for

additionalinformationonthepopupmenuoptions.

To change the name of an object

SelectanitemandpressF2orclickthetextoftheselecteditem.Typethenewname.

Monitoring Objects

VIClientmonitorsVirtualCenterorESXServeractivities.Forahosttobemonitoredby

VirtualCenter,itmustberegisteredwiththeVirtualCenterServer.RefertoAddinga

Hostonpage 101forinformationonaddingobjectstoyourVirtualCenterServer.Ifan

ESXServerhostisnotregisteredwithaVirtualCenterServer,youcanconnecttotheESXServerdirectly,alsousingtheVIClient.

To check the status of an object

1 StarttheVIClient.

2 Clicktheappropriatebuttoninthenavigationbar.

IfyouclicktheInventoryorMapsbutton,drillthroughtheinventorypanelliststoviewindividualobjectssuchashosts,datacenters,andvirtual

machines.

IfyouclicktheScheduledTasks,Events,orAdminbutton,theinformation

paneldisplaysthescheduledtasks,events,oradministrativewizard

appropriatetothechoice.

3 Clickthe

object

to

view

it.


Whenyouselectanobject,theobjectlabelintheinventorypanelisshowninblue

andtheinformationpanelupdatesitsdisplaytoreflecttheobjectsdata.

4 Click the appropriate tab in the information panel


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VMware, Inc. 59

4 Clicktheappropriatetabintheinformationpanel.

Thedatacorrespondingtotheobjectandtabselectedisshown.Clickthroughthe

tabstoviewtheinformationabouttheobject,asneeded.

Performing Actions on Objects

ThissectiondescribesonlythebasicprocessforperformingtasksintheVirtual

InfrastructureClient.Thissectiondoesnotdescribespecificsettingsandconditions.

Refer

to

the

chapter

or

book

specific

to

the

task

you

want

to

perform

for

additional

information.

Toviewanobject,youmusthavethenecessarypermissionassignedforthatobject.The

typeofactionyoucantakeonanobjectdependsuponthespecificprivilegesassigned

toyourusernameandgroup.

TherearethreemethodsfortakingactionsuponobjectsinVirtualCenter:

Selectingthe

action

from

the

menu

bar

at

the

top

of

the

VirtualCenter

window.

RefertoMenuBaronpage 43.

Selectingtheactionfromtheobjectspopupmenuorbutton.Theprocedurelisted

belowdescribeshowtochoosetheactionfromtheobjectmenuorbutton.

SchedulingtheactionthroughtheScheduledTaskspanel.RefertoManaging

ScheduledTasksonpage 293toinformationonschedulingtasks.

To perform an action on a Virtual Infrastructure object

1 StarttheVirtualInfrastructureClient.

2 Connecttotheappropriateserver.

3 Toselectanobjectyouwanttovieworuponwhichyouwanttoperformanaction,

selecttheappropriateinventoryview,browsethroughthehierarchyinthe

inventorypaneluntilyouseeitsicon,andclickit.

Anobjectcanbeselectedintheinventorypanelortheinformationpanel.

Iftheobjectisnotintheview:

Verifyyouareloggedontothecorrectserver.

AddthehosttoVirtualCentercontrol,ifneeded.RefertoManagingHostsin

VirtualCenteronpage 99forinformation.

4 Onceanobjectisselected:


Chooseamenuitemfromthemainmenu.

Rightclicktheobjectandchoosefromthepopupmenu.

F ll h


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5 Followtheprompts.

Dependingontheactionyouselected,eithertheviewintheinformationpanelchanges

orawizardpromptsyouforinformationtocompletethetransaction.

5


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VMware, Inc. 61

Thischapterincludesbasicsystemconfigurationinformation,suchashowtoaccess

andconfigurelogfiles,configurefirewalls,andsetupSNMP.Sometopicshave

extensiveinformationdiscussedinseparatechaptersorbooks.Wherethisoccurs,

referencesareprovided.

Someofthetopicsinthischapteraretypicallyonetimeconfigurationtasks,though

certainlythesettingscanbealteredwhenneeded.


HostConfigurationforESXServerandVirtualCenteronpage 61

VirtualCenterConfigurationonpage 66

ConfiguringVirtualCenterCommunicationonpage 68

VirtualMachineConfigurationonpage 71

WorkingwithActiveSessionsonpage 73

SNMPConfigurationonpage 74

SystemLogFilesonpage 81

Host Configuration for ESX Server and VirtualCenter

ESXServerhostsareconfiguredandmanagedthroughtheVirtualInfrastructure

Client.SomehostrelatedconfigurationisspecifictoVirtualCenter.Otherhost

configurationappliestostandalonehostsaswellasVirtualCenterregisteredhost

scenarios.

System Configuration 5


TheServerConfigurationGuidedescribesthetasksyoumustcompletetoconfigureESXServerhostnetworking,storage,andsecurity.Inaddition,itprovidesoverviews,

recommendations,andconceptualdiscussionstohelpyouunderstandthesetasks.It

explains how to deploy an ESX Server host to meet your needs Before using the


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62 VMware, Inc.

explainshowtodeployanESXServerhosttomeetyourneeds.Beforeusingthe

informationintheServerConfigurationGuide,readtheIntroductiontoVirtualInfrastructureforanoverviewofsystemarchitectureandthephysicalandvirtual

devicesthatmakeupaVirtualInfrastructuresystem.

ThissectionsummarizesthehostconfigurationoptionsandthecontentsoftheServerConfigurationGuidesothatyoucanfindtheinformationyouneed.

Configuring a HostSelectahostandtheConfigurationtabforthehost.Theconfigurationtabdisplaysall

oftheconfigurationoptionsavailable.

Hardware Tab

Thehardwaretabdisplaysthefollowingconfigurationoptions:

ProcessorsDisplaysthehostsprocessorinformationsuchastype,speed,

manufacturer.Thepropertiesdialogboxallowsyoutoenableordisable

Hyperthreading.

MemoryDisplaysthehostsmemoryconfiguration,includingtotalmemory

available,amountsforthehostssystem,amountsforthevirtualmachines,and

amountsfortheESXServerServiceConsole.Thepropertiesdialogboxallowsyou

tosettheamountdedicatedtotheESXServerServiceConsole.

Storage(SCSI,

SAN,

NFS)Displaysthestoragevolumesconfiguredforthehost

anddetailsabouteachstoragedevice.Thisincludesvolumelabels,filesystem

type,blocksize,extents,andcapacity.TheRefresh,Remove,AddStorage,and

Propertiesdialogboxesallowyoutochangevolumeproperties,addextents,

managepaths,adddiskorLUNdatastores,andaddnetworkfilesystem(NFS)

datastores.

NetworkingDisplayscurrentnetworksattachedtothehost.TheRefresh,Add

Networking,Remove,andPropertiesdialogboxesallowyoutoconfigureports

andnetworkadapters,anddefineconnectiontypestothehostsvirtualmachine,

VMkernel,andserviceconsole.

StorageAdaptersDisplaysstorageadapterconfiguration,suchasdevicetype,

SANidentification,LUNidentification,path,andcapacity.TheRescan,Hide

LUNs,andPropertiesdialogboxesallowyoutoscanfornewstoragedevicesor

VMFSvolumes,hidetheLUNinformationforeachselectedstorageadapter,and

viewVMotionconfigurationstatus.


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Viewing Network Configuration Information

TheESXServernetworkingchaptersprovideyouwithaconceptualunderstandingof

physicalandvirtualnetworkconcepts,adescriptionofthebasictasksyoumust


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64 VMware, Inc.

complete

to

configure

your

ESX

Server

hosts

network

connections,

and

a

discussion

of

advancednetworkingtopicsandtasks.Thenetworkingsectioncontainsthefollowing

chapters:

NetworkingIntroducesyoutonetworkconceptsandguidesyouthroughthe

mostcommontasksyoumustcompletewhensettingupthenetworkfortheESX

Serverhost.

AdvancedNetworkingCoversadvancednetworkingtaskssuchassettingup

MACaddresses,editingvirtualswitchesandports,andDNSrouting.Inaddition,itprovidestipsonmakingyournetworkconfigurationmoreefficient.

NetworkingScenariosandTroubleshootingDescribescommonnetworking

configurationandtroubleshootingscenarios.

Viewing Storage Configuration Information

TheESX

Server

storage

chapters

provide

you

with

abasic

understanding

of

storage,

a

descriptionofthebasictasksyouperformtoconfigureandmanageyourESXServer

hostsstorage,andadiscussionofhowtosetuprawdevicemapping.Thestorage

sectioncontainsthefollowingchapters:

IntroductiontoStorageIntroducesyoutothetypesofstorageyoucanconfigure

fortheESXServerhost.

ConfiguringStorageExplainshowtoconfigurelocalSCSIstorage,Fibre

Channelstorage,andiSCSIstorage.ItalsoaddressesVMFSstorageand

networkattachedstorage.

ManagingStorageExplainshowtomanageexistingdatastoresandthefile

systemsthatcomprisedatastores.

RawDeviceMappingDiscussesrawdevicemapping,howtoconfigurethistype

ofstorage,andhowtomanagerawdevicemappingsbysettingupmultipathing,

failover,and

so

forth.

Viewing Security Configuration Information

TheESXServersecuritychaptersdiscusssafeguardsVMwarehasbuiltintoESXServer

andmeasuresyoucantaketoprotectyourESXServerhostfromsecuritythreats.These

measuresincludeusingfirewalls,leveragingthesecurityfeaturesofvirtualswitches,

andsettingupuserauthenticationandpermissions.Thesecuritysectioncontainsthe

followingchapters:

Chapter 5 System Configuration

SecurityforESXServerSystemsIntroducesyoutotheESXServerfeaturesthat

helpyouensureasecureenvironmentforyourdataandgivesyouanoverviewof

systemdesignasitrelatestosecurity.


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VMware, Inc. 65

Securing

an

ESX

Server

Configuration

Explains

how

to

configure

firewall

ports

forESXServerhostsandVMwareVirtualCenter,howtousevirtualswitchesand

VLANstoensurenetworkisolati

Documents

VMware ESX_Basic System Administration