Clone a vm using powercli

So you wanted to clone a virtual machine using power cli?
Lets do it




Connect to your vmware vcenter server. 
You cannot clone if you are connected to an esxi  host.
Use the connect-viserver  vcenter name Or ip















Have ready:
1. The name of the new vm
2. The source vm
3. The data store where you will place your new cloned vm


In the example:
New vmname: clonevmtest
Sourcevm: convert3
Datastore: 250Stor01




New-VM -Name VM2 -VM VM1 -Datastore datastorename -vmhost hostname -DiskStorageFormat thin


New-vm -name clonevmtest -vm convert3  -datastore 250stor01-vmhost 10.250.11.1 -DiskStorageFormat thin
I suggest adding   -DiskStorageFormat  other wise it will use thick disks






Clone being created







done







Here is the vm configured and ready for setup and activation















For more info on the command go to <http://www.vmware.com/support/developer/PowerCLI/PowerCLI41U1/html/New-VM.html>

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Svmotion RDM to vmdk virtual disk

So you want to svmotion you RDM (rdmp) to a VMDK?
No problem.


If you have a rdmp (physical  RDM) You have to convert it to a virtual RDM first.
Notes on that are here: http://sparrowangelstechnology.blogspot.com/2012/09/convert-your-physical-rdm-rdmp-to.html




Here is a RDM on a vm that is a virtual rdm (rdmv)
Go to Edit Settings of the virtual machine .
Hard disk 2 is a rdm.
We want to turn it into a vmdk
Remember which hard disk you want to convert, in this case the rdm is Hard disk 2
Now cancel







Select migrate







Change datastore
Hit next







Select Advanced







For Hard disk 2 click on "Current location Browse…"







Select the datastore you want to move it to
Then select OK





Click on  Same format for Hard Disk 2
We want to change the format to either thick or thin.
The hit next
Then finish





















Now when storage motion is completed your Vm's rdm  is a vmdk

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Convert your physical RDM (rdmp) to a virtual RDM (rdmv)

So you have a raw disk mapping on your virtual machine in esxi  and you wanted to convert it from a rdmp to a rdmv.
Using the VMware client it is no problem.




Go  to edit settings and select the raw disk







Click on Manage Paths
Make sure you get the path name
Important!
Take a not of your pathid: look under the runtime name.









Click Close
Now remove the virtual machine and delete the files from disk
Why? Because you are not deleting the lun, you are actually deleting the pointer to the lun.
Ok then ok







Now add back the hard disk this time as a virtual RDM
Remember the path we jotted down? That is why you neede d to do so.
Back to edit
Add hard disk









Select raw device mapping







Select your lun
Check the PathID, that will help you if you having issues.
Compare it to your notes from before







Store with the vm





Choose virtual














Click Finish
Then ok











You just changed your RDM from a physical RDM (rdmp) to a virtual rdm (rdmv)

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VMDK per VMFS : Why use a one to one (1:1) ratio?

One VMDK per VMFS?

it is always administratively easier to have multiple virtual machine disks per VMFS volume.

However there are certain cases where having one VMDK per VMFS might be ideal.

"Multiple heavily used virtual machines concurrently accessing the same VMFS volume, or multiple VMFS volumes backed by the same LUNs, can cause decreased storage performance."

http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/sql_server_virt_bp.pdf

How much space to allocate if you use a one to one ratio?

A good rule of thumb is to leave at least 20% free for snapshots.

You could allocate the entire lun to the vmdk but then you don’t have any space for snaps.

Example senario

In an example that came up on the forums, a member wanted to use this setup for their SQL server setting up 1 vmdk per vmfs volume.

Given the potential for high IO on an SQL server it can make sense to do so.

Pasted from <http://communities.vmware.com/message/2121272#2121272>

Why not use Raw disks?

Well you can! And many people do.

VMware recommends VMFS for most  virtual  disk storage,  because  VMFS provides much more flexibility and in almost  all cases performs  just as well  as RDMs. RDM and VMFS can provide similar transaction throughput. In most of the tests reported in “Performance Characterization of VMFS and RDM Using a SAN,” the I/O performance  difference between  RDM and VMFS configurations was insignificant. You should decide which storage configuration to use based on other aspects of your deployment. For  example, you can move virtual machines using VMFS more  easily than  those  using  RDM, and VMFS provides greater flexibility.

http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/sql_server_virt_bp.pdf

Then When to use a raw disk?

 RDM may be desirable in a small number of cases, such as when  using MSCS-based failover clustering for SQL Server.

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error VMware converter 5.0 will crash when using vCenter 5.1 as destination

This has been an issue since vsphere 5.1 was released.
Vmware converter 5 will crash is the destination if the destination is a vsphere 5.1 host

The current work around until a new version of vmware converter is that you need to use vmware converter 4.3  or 4.
The vm will come up with virtual hardware 4.
Just update the virtual hardware manually for the virtual machine when the conversion is done and you should be in business.

http://communities.vmware.com/thread/417661?start=30&tstart=0



edit:
11-01-2012
vmware released converter 5.0.1 which fixes the issue
http://sparrowangelstechnology.blogspot.com/2012/11/vmware-converter-501-released.html

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Mac OSX 10.8 Support for ESXi 5.1

Interesting thread

According to dariusd, in order for you to run Mac OS on esxi it must be done on apple hardware. SO your host must be a mac server.

" The conditions of the Apple Software License Agreement accompanying Mac OS X require that the OS be run atop Apple hardware, even when virtualized.  We depend on the Apple-specific hardware on the host in order to enable virtualization of Mac OS virtual machines, so if it's not an Apple host, Mac OS X won't boot.  A failure in HostSmcRead means that we were unable to communicate with the required host hardware."  
communities.vmware.com/message/2120232

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Can you rename a vmdk of a running vm in datastore browser/vmware vsphere client?

No you cannot  rename a vmdk of a running virtual machine
In fact even if it is off you cannot rename the vmdk




While it is running the rename option is grayed out









How can you rename the vmdk?
To rename you need to use vmkfstools  and you would have to remove it from the virtual machine first.
vmkfstools -E OldName.vmdk NewName.vmdk

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How to import and deploy a ova or ovf file in the vsphere client

So you have something like this to import.
The first one is a ovf, the second is a ova
An ova is just a packed version of the ovf and vmdk and mf files


OVF





OVA









Go to your vpshere client
Go to File-> Deploy OVF template.
This works for both ova and ovf











Browse  and select the package you would like to deploy
Next











You will get details about it
Hit next









Now you get to name your vm and place it in the proper datacenter and folder









Now you choose your  cluster









Choose the storage locations









Choose the disk provisioning type thin, thick









Choose the network









Hiot finish and watch your vm get created











This will go on while vm is deployed from the ova/ovf

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Vmware esxi host clusters : one large or several/multiple smaller clusters

A recent discussion came up where a forum member has a setup of older hosts in one cluster and a set of newer hosts in another cluster

The question was should they combine the cluster or should they leave it as a set of smaller clusters.

Questions to ask:

How many hosts are we dealing with?

The maximum in a cluster is 32 hosts (see here )

If the number is above or close to 32, maybe you are better of distributing them.

If we are dealing with 4-5 hosts, its better to keep them together

How different are the hosts' hardware?

Are there significant cpu enhancements on the newer hosts that your vms will take advantage of?

Then  use different clusters

Are the hosts different cpu types? Intel and AMD?

Then of course, use different clusters

Are the cpu enhancements not important?

Then you might want to keep them together

How is HA configured?

Is admission control policy based upon host failures or percentage of cluster resources?

A larger cluster can tolerate hosts failures better

Wha are the distances between the hosts?

If the hosts are in the same datacenter  one cluster is better.

Are they spread out over different buildings or distance. Depends on latency and requirements.

If one set of hosts is in NY and the other is in Virginia then it makes sense to use different clusters.

If the hosts are in a wan with low latency, it depends on bandwith ,etc

Is DRS enabled?

A larger cluster can distribute load across more hosts.

When entering maintenance mode,  more hosts  mean more resources for downtime.

The answer really depends on your needs and limitations that you have to work with.

I prefer larger clusters for their ability to handle faults better due to larger numbers

Duncan Epping is also on that track

"Typically, I feel that most environments would benefit from 1 large cluster... if you compare it to the benefit they would have from not using EVC I think it is neglectable. go big!"

Pasted from <http://communities.vmware.com/message/2117798#2117798>

here is a article by Duncan on the topic : http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2012/04/10/cluster-sizes-vsphere-5-style/

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Can you shrink a vmdk? Make a vmware hard disk smaller??

Interesting post wondering if it is possible to shrink a vmdk without using converter.




Here we have a 10gb think provisioned vmdk







It has been shrunk in windows to 3gb







Lets shrink the vmdk now
I changed it to 3.5gb







Now clicking ok.
Tasks say reconfiguration complete
Lets go back to it
Still 10gb…









Trying to storage vmotion it over now
Seeing if it will update after the storage vmotion
Nope.











Cannot  shrink the vmdk (easily)
You can use v2v, disk cloning utility to do it but there is no simple method to quickly shrink your vmdk.




**note on vmkfstools
Like A.P. suggests, don’t use the vmkfstools, because while it can shrink your disk, it is risky for production data
"This way to shrink a virtual disk may be an option for a blank disk (although in this case it may be rather recreated), but it's highly risky with a virtual disk which already contains partitions and data."  -a.p.   Pasted from <http://communities.vmware.com/message/2116919#2116919>






**here is a different gotcha:
The actual vmdk is actually 85mb
So even though the used space is much less than then what the provisioned size is, shrinking is a no go.

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IBM's customized vmware esxi iso

Should be available here http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/x/os/vmware/esxi/


For anyone who was looking for it.

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Can't increase the disk size of a vm

Do you have a thin or thick provisioned virtual machine and want to change the size and cant?
Is the provisioned size tab grayed out?
Same problem on the forums. Fix is simple!
http://communities.vmware.com/message/2114078











Then you are probably running off a snapshot.
See the disk file, an we have -000001.vmdk?
That points to this running off a snapshot.




Go to snapshot manager and check it out







Here we can see a snapshot.
Just hit delete all to consolidate.







Now if you try to edit the disk size you can do it.
Also notice the name of the disk no longer references a 000001.vmdk

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Cannot make a new resource pool or new vApp : grayed out

Unable to make a new resource pool or Vapp?

That is because you don’t have DRS on for the cluster.

Enable DRS
 

Now we can make new resource pools and vapps

*A vSphere Enterprise or Enterprise Plus license is required to enable DRS

Pasted from <http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1004098>

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