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Identify and solve ineligible disk problems in Virtual SAN

During VMware Virtual SAN (vSAN) installation on old reused hardware I noticed that there was no eligible data disk available. I can't claim the disks for vSAN or create a disk group. There was no further information on why the data disks are not eligible. Thanks to the vSAN troubleshooting commands provided by RVC (Ruby vSphere Console) I could find and solve the reason quite quick.

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Failed to connect to VMware Lookup Service during Web Client Login

At least since vSphere 5.1, a clean DNS and SSL setup prevents from several errors. I've often seen the vCenter Server Appliance failing with the following error message after trying to log in to the vSphere Web Client:

Failed to connect to VMware Lookup Service https://[VCENTER]:7444/lookupservice/sdk - SSL certificate verification failed.

failed-to-connect-to-vmware-lookup-service

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HP Microserver with 2.5" SSD

vSphere Flash Read Cache (vFRC / vFlash) and VMware Virtual SAN (vSAN) - These are the two groundbreaking features in vSphere 5.5. To use one of the features your hardware has to to fulfill a mandatory requirement - A Solid State Drive. To use an SSD with your HP Microserver you need an adapter. Most adapters or "Mounting Brackets" do not work because they are only good to fit the SSD into a 3.5" slot. They do not have the SATA Connectors at the required position. You need a special adapter for the SSD to fit into the backplane.

hp-microserver-2.5-ssd

  • HP Microserver N36L
  • HP Microserver N40L
  • HP Microserver N54L
  • HP Microserver Gen8 G1610T
  • HP Microserver Gen8 G2020T

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Getting Started with Ruby vSphere Console (RVC)

Ruby vSphere Console (RVC) - If you do not know what that is, you should definately give it a try. RVC is a Ruby based command line interface for vSphere and can be used to manage VMware ESXi and vCenter. Initially published as Fling, it grew into a fully implemented feature in vSphere 5.5. The vSphere inventory is presented in a tree structure, allowing you to navigate and run commands against vCenter objects. Many basic administrativ tasks can be done much more efficiently than clicking through the vSphere Client.

This guide covers some basic tasks and the procedure of how to use RVC with:

  • vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA)
  • Windows-based vCenter Server
  • vMA
  • Windows
  • Linux

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Howto install Ruby vSphere Console (RVC) on vMA 5.x

With the release of vSphere 5.5, VMware supports a new command line utility: Ruby vSphere Console (RVC). RVC is a Ruby based interactive object oriented command line utility. It was initially released as a Fling some years ago. RVC has support for both, the Windows version of vCenter Server and the vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA). It is similar to other command line tools like PowerCLI or ESXCLI and can be used to manage and troubleshoot vSphere environments. In this post I am going to show how to install RVC on the vSphere Management Assistant (vMA).

rvc

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Howto Install Additional Software in VCSA 5

The vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) becomes an alternative to the Windows-based vCenter more and more. There are several reasons to install additional software in the VCSA. When you want to implement additional services like DNS for your lab, or you want to monitor the Appliance via Nagios or SNMP, you need additional packages. The Appliance is based on SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 11, so you can use YaST to install packages. In this post I am going to show how to configure the vCenter Server Appliance to enable the installation of additional packages.
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vSAN Lab with VMware Workstation 10

This week VMware has published a new version of its Virtual SAN Beta. There are a lot of features that does not necessary need a real physical lab. To get into the initial setup, scale out and failover functionality and the various command line options, a virtual lab is definitely a reasonable option. As you might know, a SSD is required for vSAN. Instead of emulating an SSD, I am going to use a real SSD with the new SSD Passthrough feature in VMware Workstation 10.

vSAN

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vSphere 5 Homelab – ESXi on HP Microserver Gen8

Hewlett Packard has updated its widely distributed Microserver Series to Gen8. This extremely affordable server which was initially made for SMB and home servers has become very popular in the virtualization scene. Due to its low price and power consumption, you can find this system in many virtualization home labs. The Generation 8 Microserver (Gen8 or G8) comes with more power, upgraded ports, and an integrated iLO.

hp-gen8-microserver

The HP Microserver Gen8 is available in 2 versions - G1610T and G2020T. Both models are equipped with a 2-core CPU and can support up to 16GB of RAM. The system is shipped with 4 hard drive trays, which allows the installation of any SATA hard drive. It also has a CPU socket, so you can change the CPU.

  • HP Microserver Gen8 G1610T (2x 2.3 GHz)
  • HP Microserver Gen8 G2020T (2x 2.5 GHz)
  • HP Microserver Gen8 E3-1220V2 (4x 3.1 GHz)

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Howto: Intel NUC Remote KVM with AMT (powered by vPro)

Intel vPro, included in the Next Unit of Computing (NUC), is a out-of-the-box remote management systems. The i5 model has the AMT with vPro Feature that allows remote KVM, without additional components. The remote console is not available through the Web Interface, so the feature might be hidden. In this post I am going to explain how to use the KVM Feature.

remote-kvm

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