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2017

Homeserver - ESXi on HPE ProLiant MicroServer Gen10

After Hewlett Packard Enterprise has missed offering a Microserver in their 9th Generation, it is now back in Gen10. The Microserver series provides affordable servers intended to be used in SMB and as home servers. Due to its low price and power consumption, you can find this system in many virtualization home labs as ESXi hosts or Storages.

The HPE ProLiant MicroServer Gen10 is available with two different CPUs - AMD Opteron X3216 and X3421. Both models a SoC which means that the CPU cannot be changed like the Intel CPUs in Gen8. They support up to 32GB of unbuffered DDR RAM. The server can be equipped with 4 hard drive from the front.

  • HPE ProLiant MicroServer Gen10, Opteron X3216 (2x 1.6 - 3.0GHz / 15W TDP)
  • HPE ProLiant MicroServer Gen10, Opteron X3421 (4x 2.1 - 3.4GHz / 35W TDP)

Read More »Homeserver - ESXi on HPE ProLiant MicroServer Gen10

Fix for FreeNAS on HPE MicroServer Gen10 X3216 Stuck Console Issue

When you try to install FreeNAS 11 on the new HPE ProLiant MicroServer Gen10 X3216, the installer stops booting and appears to be stuck at:

pcib0: <ACPI Host-PCI bridge> port 0xcf8-0xcff on acpi0
pcib0: _OSC returned error 0x10
pci0: <ACPI PCI bus> on pcib0

This article explains how to fix the issue during the installation and how to apply the fix at an installed system using the FreeNAS Web Interface.

Read More »Fix for FreeNAS on HPE MicroServer Gen10 X3216 Stuck Console Issue

Get- and Set-VMLatencySensitivity PowerShell Function

The Get-VMLatencySensitivity, Get-VMLatencySensitivityBulk and Set-VMLatencySensitivity PowerShell functions configure can return and set the latency sensitivity level of a virtual machine. You can adjust the latency sensitivity of a virtual machine to optimize the scheduling delay for latency sensitive applications.

The function is part of my Virten.net.VimAutomation module, which is a set of PowerShell function built for managing, troubleshooting and automating VMware based platforms. The module can be easily obtained from the PowerShell Gallery and is available on GitHub.

Read More »Get- and Set-VMLatencySensitivity PowerShell Function

Get-VMHostVersion and Get-VMHostLatestVersion PowerShell Function

The Get-VMHostVersion and Get-VMHostLatestVersion PowerShell functions are aimed at helping you to identify the version at which your ESXi is currently running, and whether updates are available. Both are using a JSON based ESXi Build database which is also the backend for the ESXi Build Number History provided by virten.net.

The function is part of my Virten.net.VimAutomation module, which is a set of PowerShell function built for managing, troubleshooting and automating VMware based platforms. The module can be easily obtained from the PowerShell Gallery and is available on GitHub.

Read More »Get-VMHostVersion and Get-VMHostLatestVersion PowerShell Function

Convert-ScsiCode PowerShell Function

The Convert-ScsiCode PowerShell function decodes SCSI sense codes found in the vmkernel.log from ESXi hosts. It uses a JSON based SCSI Code database provided by virten.net. The function works just like my web-based SCSI Sense Code Decoder but allows you to integrate it in your automation scripts.

The function is part of my Virten.net.VimAutomation module, which is a set of PowerShell function built for managing, troubleshooting and automating VMware based platforms. The module can be easily obtained from the PowerShell Gallery and is available on GitHub.

Read More »Convert-ScsiCode PowerShell Function

JSON Repository Format Update and now with SCSI Codes

Whenever I create databases with information like ESXi Versions, vCenter Versions or VMware's HCL I try make these available to be used for automation or in scripts. JSON is my data-type of choice but I figured that another structure might be easier to handle in some circumstances. This is why I've now created separate versions where it is now possible to access the information with keys.

Here is an example of the old ESXi Releases JSON File (List), and the new V2 (Hashtable):

Read More »JSON Repository Format Update and now with SCSI Codes

Using the first 3D Xpoint based Intel Optane SSD with ESXi

I could get my hands on Intel's first 3D XPoint based SSD to figure out how it performs.

3D XPoint is a new non-volatile memory technology that has been developed by Intel and Micron.

With 32GB, it doesn't make sense to buy them for anything else than their intended use case: Cache device to enhance SSD/HDD Performance. If you want to use Optane technology as VM Datastore, wait a couple of months when devices with a higher capacity are available.

 

Read More »Using the first 3D Xpoint based Intel Optane SSD with ESXi

VCSA 6.5 Broken Filesystem - "Welcome to Emergency Mode"

Today I managed to crash the storage used in my home lab. After fixing the FreeNAS box, my vCenter Server Appliance (Version 6.5 Update 1) refused to boot and after opening the console, it welcomed me with the following error message:

Welcome to emergency mode! After logging in, type "journalctl -xb" to view system logs, "systemctl reboot" to reboot, "systemctl default" or ^D to try again to boot into default mode.
Give root password for maintenance
(or press Control-D to continue):

Typically, this problem is caused by filesystem issues. This article explains how to fix the filesystem and get the appliance back up.

Read More »VCSA 6.5 Broken Filesystem - "Welcome to Emergency Mode"