In the last article, I've explained how to manage the vCenter Server Appliance vPostgres Databases with pgAdmin. This article goes a step further and explains how to run pgAdmin in a Docker Container on the vCenter Server Appliance itself. This method works with vCenter Server Appliance version 6.5, 6.7, and 7.0.
Tag Archives: #unsupported
Run pgAdmin in a Docker container on the vCenter Server Appliance
Posted by Florian Grehl
on May 15, 2020
1 comment
Manage vCSA Embedded vPostgres Database with pgAdmin
Posted by Florian Grehl
on May 14, 2020
2 comments
This article explains how to prepare the vCenter Server Appliance to connect with external Postgres Management Tools like pgAdmin. This method works with vCenter Server Appliance version 6.5, 6.7, and 7.0.VMware EVC Mode to Enable Intel Gen5-Gen10 NUC vMotion
Posted by Florian Grehl
on March 21, 2020
3 comments
Many VMware Homelabs are based on Intel NUCs. It is also very common that generations are mixed which can lead to compatibility issues when trying to vMotion VMs across different generations. This is typically where VMware EVC comes into play.
VMware EVC creates a baseline of CPU instructions for virtual machines running on ESXi hosts. When you add newer Hosts, EVC hides the new CPU instructions to the virtual machines. While this works great for Xeon CPUs used in professional servers, it has some limitations with consumer CPUs used in the Intel NUC ecosystem.
The problem has become worse with the latest 10th Gen Comet Lake/Frost Canyon NUC. Despite having a 10th generation CPU, it requires the EVC baseline to be configured to "Sandy Bridge", which is the 2nd generation of Intel Core-i CPUs:
- NUC10i7FNH/NUC10i7FNK (Intel Core i7-10710U - 6 Core, up to 4.7 GHz)
- NUC10i5FNH/NUC10i5FNK (Intel Core i5-10210U - 4 Core, up to 4.2 GHz)
- NUC10i3FNH/NUC10i3FNK (Intel Core i3-10110U - 2 Core, up to 4.1 GHz)
When you try to activate VMware EVC higher than Sandy Bridge, the following error message is displayed:
Compatibility
The host's CPU hardware does not support the cluster's current Enhanced vMotion Compatibility mode. The host CPU lacks features required by that mode.
When you try to add the Host to an EVC Enabled Cluster, the task fails:
Operation failed!
The host's CPU hardware does not support the cluster's current Enhanced vMotion Compatibility mode. The host CPU lacks features required by that mode.
CPUID faulting is not supported.
See KB 1003212 for more information.
Host is of type: vendor intel family 0x6 model 0xa6
Homelab: Downsizing vCenter Server Appliance 6.5
Posted by Florian Grehl
on February 4, 2017
6 comments
In vSphere 6.5 the smallest supported memory configuration for the vCenter Server Appliance has been raised from 8GB to 10GB. The smallest "Tiny" deployment size allows up to 10 ESXi Hosts and 100 Virtual Machines. Resources in Homelabs are limited and you might want to lower the memory consumption of the vCenter Servcer Appliance. This article explains how to lower the resource consumption to be able to lower the memory to about 6GB without noticable impacts.
USB Devices as VMFS Datastore in vSphere ESXi 6.5
Posted by Florian Grehl
on November 27, 2016
72 comments
In ESXi 6.5, there are some changes concerning devices connected with USB. The legacy drivers, including xhci, ehci-hcd, usb-uhci, and usb-storage have been replaced with a single USB driver named vmkusb. The new driver has some implications if you are trying to use USB devices like USB sticks or external hard disks as VMFS formatted datastore.
Some people have reported that they have issues with USB Datastores since ESXi 6.5. I've tried to reproduce and fix those problems. This post explains the changes in the new version and how to create VMFS 5 or VMFS6 formatted USB devices as datastore on your ESXi host. Read more »
Deploy VMware NSX-V in Homelabs with Limited Resources
Posted by Florian Grehl
on May 15, 2016
11 comments
When deploying VMware NSX-V in a homelab, its huge resource requirement might be an issue. In the default configuration a small setup with NSX Manager, 3 NSX Controllers and 2 Edge gateways requires 30 GB Memory. Consumer VMs to connect to logical switches requiring additional resources.
This post explains how you can deploy VMware NSX in your homelab with less than 8GB Memory by downsizing each component including:
- NSX Manager
- NSX Controllers
- NSX Edge Gateways
- Consumer VMs
VMware NSX-V 6.2 Beginners Guide - From Zero to Full Deployment for Labs
Posted by Florian Grehl
on April 29, 2016
25 comments
VMware NSX-V is the SDDC technology of the future. What ESX was once for Servers, NSX is now for Networks. I highly encourage everyone to make yourselves familiar with this technology. NSX with all its features is quite complex, but the entry point is quite simple and requires only basic vSphere and networking skills. This beginners guide explains how to deploy NSX in your homelab even with limited physical ressources by downsizing NSX Manager and NSX Controller VMs. The guide starts at zero and quickly explains how to deploy NSX and connect your first Virtual Machine to a VXLAN based logical switch that is able to communicate to the physical world through an NSX Edge Gateway.
What do you need to create the Lab?
- vCenter 6 with some physical ESXi Hosts
- vSphere Distributed Switch (dvSwitch)
- NSX Manager Appliance (Download: NSX 6.2.2)
- There is no special physical Switch requirement
VMware Host Client (HTML5 based Web-Client) on Android
Posted by Florian Grehl
on March 17, 2016
5 comments
The VMware Host Client is a HTML5 client that is used to connect to and manage single ESXi hosts without a vCenter Server. The Host client was initially created as a Fling, but made it to a supported component of vSphere 6.0 Update 2.
No Flash, no Windows-based C# Client - Shouldn't it work on Android based smartphones and tablets? I've tried to manage a standalone Homelab ESXi Host with the Web-based Host Client and it works quite nice (with some tweaking).
Of Course, it's not suitable for large platforms, as the vCenter Web-Client is still Flash based.
USB Devices as VMFS Datastore in vSphere ESXi 6.0
Posted by Florian Grehl
on October 17, 2015
83 comments
In the last years I've seen many requests in forums and blogs where people are trying to use USB devices like USB sticks or external hard disks as VMFS formatted datastore. It was actually possible in vSphere 5, but very picky. Some USB flash drives were working, others not. In vSphere 6, this behavior has been changed obviously. This post explains how you can use USB devices as datastore on your ESXi host. Of course, this is neither a supported, nor a performant storage solution, so use at your own risk. Read more »
