Jason Fenech
by in vSphere
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how-to-install-vcenter-server-appliance-v6

How to install vCenter Server Appliance 6.0

30 Dec 2015 by Jason Fenech     7     vSphere
 

          In today’s article, I will take you through the process of installing the latest version of vCenter Server Appliance (vCSA), 6.0 U1.   What is vCSA? The alternative to deploying vCenter Server for Windows comes under the guise of vCenter Server Appliance (vCSA), an optimized and preconfigured SUSE Linux Enterprise Server appliance. This deployment model reflects VMware’s stance with respect to virtualizing vCenter Server instead of going physical Having said that, there are many schools of thought out there advocating for running vCenter Server on a physical box. Admittedly, I too used to have some reservations about virtualizing vCenter on the lines of “why risk virtualizing the one thing managing my virtual environment?”. Thankfully, I have yet to stumble across an instance where I regret virtualizing vCenter save , perhaps, for the day went it all went south due to a storage outage. This left me… Read More»

Jason Fenech
by in vSphere
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How-to-set-up-vsphere-6.0-nested-virtualized-environment-part3

How to set up a nested vSphere 6 environment – Part 3

16 Dec 2015 by Jason Fenech     9     vSphere
 

      In this final part of the series, I’ll show you how to install and configure vCenter Server for Windows 6.0 as part of a nested vSphere 6 environment. I’ll be installing vCenter on a Windows Server 2012 64-bit virtual machine. Note that Windows Server 2008 SP2 64-bit is the minimum supported OS version. When creating the VM, make sure to assign at least 8GB of RAM, 2 vCPUS and roughly 60-80GB of disk space to compensate for both the Windows OS and vCenter Server disk space requirements. In this post, I skipped the part where you install and configure the Windows Server OS.   The Platform Services Controller Before we jump in and start installing vCenter Server, let’s have a look at the Platform Services Controller (PSC) component. Prior to vSphere 6, one had to install a number of individual components alongside vCenter Server namely the SSO,… Read More»

Jason Fenech
by in vSphere
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How-to-set-up-vsphere-6.0-nested-virtualized-environment-part2

How to set up a nested vSphere 6 environment – Part 2

10 Dec 2015 by Jason Fenech     5     vSphere
 

      In part 2 of this series, I’ll cover how to install ESXi 6.0 on the shell VMs created in Part 1.  The installation steps given here remain the same regardless of installing ESXi as a nested hypervisor or on a bare metal server. UPDATE: Since writing this series, vSphere 6.5 has been released. You can read about a few nesting related features exclusive to ESXi 6.5 here as well as how to install this new release here.   Installing ESXi Remember that, as if often the case with many VMware products, it is important to create DNS records (A and PTR) in advance more so the ones assigned to ESXi hosts and vCenter Server. This lessens the chances of coming across SSL certificate issues and improves management of the overall infrastructure. In this section, I’ll take you through the process of installing ESXi on the VMs prepared in Part 1.… Read More»

Jason Fenech
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VMware EVC Mode Explained

26 Nov 2015 by Jason Fenech     4     vSphere
 

          What is EVC? EVC stands for Enhanced vMotion Compatibility which is a vCenter Server cluster-centric feature allowing virtual machines to vMotion or migrate across ESXi hosts equipped with dissimilar processors in the same cluster. VMware EVC Mode works by masking unsupported processor features thus presenting a homogeneous processor front to all the virtual machines in a cluster. This means that a VM can vMotion to any ESXi host in a cluster irrespective of the host’s micro-architecture examples of which include Intel’s Sandy Bridge and Haswell. One caveat to remember is that all the processor(s) must be from a single vendor i.e. either Intel or AMD. You simply cannot mix and match.   What are the benefits? The main benefit is that you can add servers with the latest processors to your existing cluster(s) seamlessly and without incurring any downtime. More importantly, EVC provides you with the… Read More»

Jason Fenech
by in Automation and Management
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Manage ESXi services using PowerCLI

23 Nov 2015 by Jason Fenech     8     Automation and Management
 

 Managing services on ESXi, is one task you’ll find yourself doing over and over again. In today’s post, I’ll focus on the SSH service this being from experience, one that is constantly enabled and disabled. It’s worth mentioning that disabling services that are seldom used is standard security practice as is enabling critical ones on a need-to-use only basis. The aim, here, is to reduce the attack surface of a system. Indeed, restricting SSH access on ESXi is one such example, which despite being a royal pain for many, is ultimately good practice. There are three main methods you could use to manage the SSH service on ESXi these being the DCUI, vSphere clients and PowerCLI. Let’s review them all.   Method 1: Direct Console User Interface (DCUI) For illustration purposes, I’m using a nested ESXi environment. In a production environment, you probably must walk or drive to where the server is located.… Read More»

Jason Fenech
by in Storage, vSphere
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How to setup vSAN using a nested environment

20 Nov 2015 by Jason Fenech     6     Storage, vSphere
 

          What is vSAN? Before we dive into the nitty gritty of setting up vSAN, I’d first like to give a brief introduction of what vSAN is all about. VSAN, short for VMware Virtual SAN, has been around since March 2014 and is VMware’s take on hyper-convergence or the abstraction of storage from the underlying hardware. Additionally, a single pane of glass, the vSphere client, is used to manage all your storage and virtualized resources. The main concept behind vSAN is to pool local hard drives on ESXi hosts and present them as a single shared datastore mimicking shared storage. If this isn’t neat, I don’t know what is! In practical terms, this means you now have the option to choose between an often complicated and expensive shared storage solution – think SAN, NAS and all the hybrids in between – and a one stop shop for all… Read More»

Jason Fenech
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How-to-set-up-vsphere-6.0-nested-virtualized-environment-part1

How to set up a nested vSphere 6 environment – Part 1

16 Nov 2015 by Jason Fenech     33     vSphere
 

      Welcome to the first installment of this three-part series where I’ll show you how to set up a nested vSphere 6 environment comprising vCenter Server 6.0 for Windows and ESXi 6.0 hosts. If the term nested virtualization is alien to you, don’t worry. All it means is that we will be running a hypervisor as a VM running under another hypervisor. So, in this case, ESXi will be installed as a VM which is itself hosted on a physical ESXi host. One of the advantages of nesting, is that you can test out new VMware features or simulate upgrade paths to a new vSphere release. Nesting is also frequently used for QA/DEV and other testing environments as well as for home labs. In Part 1, we will have a look at how to download the required VMware ISO images and how to create the VMs needed for the nested ESXi… Read More»