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How to deploy a VMware vSAN Witness Appliance 7.0.x

After upgrading all of your ESXi hosts to v7.0, it is time to either upgrade or deploy a new witness appliance and introduce it to the cluster. Upgrading witness appliance is done the same way as every other ESXi host, but since that procedure can initiate a known bug where witness appliance loses embedded witness appliance license and switches to evaluation license, you might end up deploying a new appliance anyway. Continue reading “How to deploy a VMware vSAN Witness Appliance 7.0.x”

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How to export VMware virtual machine from ESXi or VCSA using PowerCLI

To export a virtual machine from the VCSA you can use either VCSA client (HTML5 or Flex). Since neither of these methods is reliable enough, you can export it using PowerCLI and PowerShell interface on your PC or MAC. In this example I will use a virtual machine named v-srv01. Please note that export VM function is available only in commercial versions of ESXi server and any version of VCSA. Continue reading “How to export VMware virtual machine from ESXi or VCSA using PowerCLI”

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Both parent and child virtual disks are root links – error while powering the VM

In the variety of different errors related to VM snapshots, while powering up a VM, this one is nowhere described. The VMware article KB 1007969 covers most of the similar errors and symptoms. However, the recovery procedure is more or less the same. I will cover simple 2 minutes solution that will get you up and running. Continue reading “Both parent and child virtual disks are root links – error while powering the VM”

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ESXi syslog – A general system error occurred: Internal error

I’ve run into this error a few times now while configuring syslog settings on an ESXi server. Since there is not much description, one does not know where to look for a solution. This error can appear regardless if one is using local datastore or remote log host. There is, however, a hidden log file that holds descriptive error regarding problems with the syslog settings. Continue reading “ESXi syslog – A general system error occurred: Internal error”

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7 important configuration files on ESXi server

Here is the first of the articles in “7” series. These articles will cover 7 important configuration files on an ESXi server, 7 useful troubleshooting commands, 7 tools to monitor core ESXi performance and 7 useful log files that can help you.

Today I will cover 7 important configuration files on an ESXi server. Please remember to take backup of any configuration files before changing any settings within the file!

  1. /etc/vmware/esx.conf – This file holds information about sotrage, network and hardware.
  2. /etc/vmware/hostd/vmInventory.xml – Virtual machine inventory list update on the ESXi server.
  3. /etc/vmware/hostd/authorization.xml – This file holds authorization for connection between ESXi server and vCenter server
  4. /etc/vmware/vpxa/vpxa.cfg –  Connectivity configuration for ESXi server and vCenter server
  5. /etc/vmware/vmkiscsid/iscsid.conf – iSCSI configuration file
  6. /etc/vmware/fdm – FDM configuration with clusterconfig, host list and VM metadata
  7. /etc/vmware/license.cfg – License configuration file for ESXi server.
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How to build latest VMware ESXi ISO image for Intel NUC 4th generation

When it comes to building cheap and reliable home lab Intel NUC computers are huge success. Their low power consumption and small footprint makes them perfect for almost any kind of home lab, including building a VSAN lab. Recently I ran into the issue where I needed an additional network card for my NUC. I needed to transfer vCenter server from iSCSI storage, to a VSAN datastore on the same host. Continue reading “How to build latest VMware ESXi ISO image for Intel NUC 4th generation”