My Geek Finds

Not sure why this is but Web Access to ESX 4 is disabled by default.

To enable it ssh to the service console and log in as root.

[root@vmware]# chkconfig –level 345 vmware-webAccess on

Verify it has been enabled for run level 3, 4, and 5

[root@vmware]# chkconfig –list vmware-webAccess
vmware-webAccess 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off

Start the service

[root@vmware]# service vmware-webAccess start
Starting VMware Virtual Infrastructure Web Access:
VMware Virtual Infrastructure Web Access [ OK ]

You can now log in a root at https://vmwareESXhostname/ui/

Does anyone know why VMware disabled this by default?

Freeware LDAP Browser from Softerra
http://www.ldapadministrator.com/

Awesome free tool to help troubleshoot Active Directory/LDAP configurations.

Last night was the first meeting of the Hampton Roads User IT Group meeting. It was held at Burton’s Grill in the Hilltop section of VA Beach. The local EMC sales folks put the meeting together.

Unfortunately the turn out was not that great only a handful of folks showed up. Traffic was terrible and it took a little over an hour to make the 30 minute drive from Chesapeake to VA Beach, probably a reason for the low turn out.

Despite the small crowd it was still a great event. Tom Lennon from RSA Security did a presentation on some of their current and upcoming offerings. RSA’s log collection and analysis product – enVision – looks pretty interesting, definitely something to get a little more info on. I got to say a little bit about my experiences at EMC World (I am still working my blog post about it – so much good stuff, so little time). Chatted with a couple of other EMC customers and partners about technologies they are planning on or currently using – AVAMAR, VMware, Celerra, etc.

The appetizers were good, the drinks were cold, and Stephanie & Joe from EMC were great hosts.

A couple of folks from Varrow out of NC were there and it was pretty cool chatting with them. Check out their community blog at http://www.varrowblogs.com/ – some good info there.

The local EMC folks are planning to have User IT Group meetings once a quarter. I’ll be sure to post when the next one is, hope you can make it.

Formulas to help determine the correct size of your f_cache and p_cache for AVAMAR backups.

f_cache = N * 40MB

N = Millions of Files
So for 3 million files:
f_cache = 3 * 40MB
f_cache = 120MB

p_cache = DB Size in GB/Average Chunk * 20MB

Average Chunk Sizes:
Exchange DB: 16
Microsoft SQL DB: 24

For a 100GB Microsoft SQL DB:
p_cache = 20/24 * 20MB
p_cache = 83.3MB

VMware vSphere Evaluators Guide

Awesome resource for anyone looking into deploying or upgrading to vSphere 4.0

We upgraded our vCenter server on Tuesday AM and all is well so far. Our production ESX servers are still on 3.5 Update 4 and vCenter is managing them fine. We have tested the storage vmotion and converting vmdks from thick to thin – so far so good. The management interface is a little different but I like it. The new inventory views of Networking and Datastores are very handy.

We upgraded our test ESXi server this AM to ESXi 4.0 using the vSphere Host Update Utility. The upgrade went very well. The only real problem we ran into was with an older NIC that was not supported. No problems other than that.

Our test ESX server is a HP DL380 G4 with 2 3.6GHz Xeon CPUs (Single Core) and 4 GB RAM. This is managed as a stand alone server, it is not managed by vCenter.

If all goes well we will probably upgrade production ESX host this Sunday night.

Hope to have at least an overview of what I did at EMC World posted in the next day or so, just too busy right now.

Display Windows Computer information on the desktop background.

Download BGInfo from Microsoft

At least that’s what the post says… http://vsphere-land.com/news/vsphere-the-missing-links-every-vsphere-link-you-need-to-get-started.html

Every link or not, there are a bunch of great resources for vSphere 4.

I am just back from EMC World and I have a lot information I will be posting soon about the conference but right now I am going to enjoy the holiday weekend. Have a great one!

Configuration examples for setting up an Cisco ASA to allow Split Tunneling (Local LAN Access) to VPN Clients. http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6120/products_configuration_example09186a0080702999.shtml

Sets up routes to networks accessible over the tunnel while allow the default route to remain the local default.

These are very handy when trying to troubleshoot VM/vCenter/ESX issues. Just identify the path for the issue and read the KBs.

http://blogs.vmware.com/kb/2009/05/resolution-paths-published.html
–
Many common tech support issues in VMware products can be solved using what we call Resolution Paths. Resolution Paths are collections of modular steps that can be used to solve tech support issues.

These can be very handy and can save you having to make that call into Tech Support. Click the links below. There’s one for each potential problem area.
http://blogs.vmware.com/kb/2009/05/resolution-paths-published.html