It finally happened on the 1st May 2013. In the Gaming-World, I’ve leveled-up!
My Experts Exchange Savant Certificate
Before 1st May 2013: - VMware Prodigy
After 1st May 2013: Note change! VMware Savant
I’ve now joined a very exclusive club, it was going to happen sooner or later, I’m now a VMware Savant at Experts-Exchange.com. As of this post, there are only 11 out of
hanccocka – VMware (yes the 1st VMware Savant!)
In this article, we will show you HOW TO: Add a Dell EqualLogic PS Series Array (SAN) to System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 SP1 as a SMP Provider.
System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) 2012 SP1 supports the same storage arrays that were supported in SCVMM 2012, plus the SMP provider. For more information see this SCVMM 2012 Storage and Load Balancer Provider Downloads
Why and What is a SMP Provider? (Andy’s Laymans Definition)
It provides the ability to integrate SCVMM and your storage array, e.g. the ability to create logical units (LUNs) from within SCVMM, traditionally you would login to your SAN, via command line or Dell PS Group Manager using a browser. Integrating into SCVMM, you can create and manage Pools and LUNs from within SCVMM.
To obtain the Dell EqualLogic Host Integration Tools 4.5.0, requires registration of your Dell EqualLogic PS Series Array with the Dell EqualLogic website, and obtaining a username and password. Then you can proceed and download the required software.
It is beyond the scope of this document, to show how to install Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 SP1 (SCVMM) on Microsoft Windows Server 2012, and connect to your Dell EqualLogic PS Array. It is assumed that you have already installed Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 SP1 (SCVMM) on Microsoft Windows Server 2012, and connected to your Dell EqualLogic PS Series Array.
In this tutorial we will complete a very quick and basic setup and by no means exhaustive. Refer to the Dell PS documentation that comes with the HIT KIT for all the available options.
If the server is not accessing the storage directly, DSM installation can be skipped. PowerShell and SMP are required, it can work without ASM but then all configuration must be done through Powershell. It’s probably unlikely that your SCVMM 2012 SP1 server needs to access any VM LUNs.
We have discovered recently that if configuration is performed through the Auto Snapshot Manager GUI there is an issue, with the group admin credentials being correctly parsed to the configuration, and therefore we would recommend ALL configuration to be performed via Windows Powershell
Create a new group and assign access, using the PS Group Name, Group IP Address, Management IP Address and grpadmin credentials. The new group name is not to be confused with the group name, that’s already been created on the Array. This is a “label” for the powershell creation process, so its good idea to use the same group name, but the two are not connected in anyway.
The syntax and command to use is
New-EqlGroupAccess -groupname GROUPNAME -GroupWKAddress 10.10.1.1 -MgmtWKAddress aaa.bbb.89.176 -username grpadmin -Password password
It is recommended to have a Group IP Address, in the example above 10.10.1.1, and a Dedicated Management IP Address – aaa.bbb.89.176
Type the following in the Windows Powershell window.
New-EqlGroupAccess -GroupName Group -GroupWKAddress 10.10.1.1 -MgmtWKAddress aaa.bbb.89.176 -UserName grpadmin -Password grpadmin
![New-EqlGroupAccess -groupname [b]GROUPNAME[/b] -GroupWKAddress 10.10.1.1 -MgmtWKAddress aaa.bbb.89.176 -username grpadmin -Password password](http://filedb.experts-exchange.com/incoming/2013/05_w20/654963/New-EqlGroupAccess1.jpg)
Congratulations, you have successfully Added a Dell EqualLogic PS Series Array (SAN) to System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 SP1 as a SMP Provider.
In my next article in this series, we will show you how to assign VMM managed pools, and created logical units in the pools.
Virtual Machine Manager in depth
You can download evaluation System Center trial and Windows 2012 server VHD’s from here
It’s Friday, the end of the week, Bank Holiday Weekend, and I’m going to have a RANT!
In the post the other day I received this item from Barclaycard, it’s called a PayTag.
It’s a contact-less payment system,
the instructions state “Just snap off your PayTag sticker and remove the protection backing. Then, just stick it onto the back of your mobile”.
Hang on, lets just rewind there…..Then, just stick it onto the back of your mobile..
WHAT, Why would I stick this crap, on the back of my nice new shiny Nexus 4!
I do wonder if Barclaycard had surveyed it’s customer asking them if they wanted to stick this crap, on their new shiny “eye-candy” expensive mobile phone!
A comment from one colleague “why would I stick that on my phone worth a couple of hundred quid!”
Not very scientific, but I surveyed 6 colleagues in my department, ALL of which have just purchased new shiny mobile phones
Not one of the above people, after showing them the PayTag, wanted to stick this crap on their shiny new mobile phone!
My phone shares the same pocket as my wallet, so why would I not just get my wallet out with my Barclaycard!
Barclaycard, here’s a thought, why not just Develop an iPhone or Android App!
OR
“Poor Man’s Replication of a Physical or Virtual machine to a VMware vSphere Hypervisor Host (ESXi) for FREE”
I have already written three articles on the use of VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 5.x.
VMware vCenter Converter Standalone primary function is to create physical to virtual copies or conversions of physical computers, we often abbreviate this to P2V. VMware vCenter Converter Standalone can also be used on computers that have already been converted to virtual computers, or virtual computers that already exist in a “Cloud Space”, so we can create copies or conversions of an existing virtual computer, we often abbreviate this to V2V
VMware vCenter Converter Standalone is an excellent FREE software tool for creating P2Vs or V2Vs, but there is another often “hidden function” which is rarely used by VMware Administrators. The function is called Synchronize. This function can be used to Synchronize changes between a physical or virtual computer, which has already been P2Ved (V2Ved) to another virtual machine on another VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi) host. The same function can be used, to help unattended “cut over times” when completing a P2V (V2V) in Production, you could create the original P2V (V2V) at 9.00am, and then using synchronize, finally sync all changes made during the day, and “cut over” to the virtual machine out of hours, at 23.00pm.
Some of our clients use this software and function, as a free alternative to replication to a second DR site and ESXi host. The ESXi host could be using the FREE VMware vSphere Hypervisor.
In this article, I’ll show you HOW TO: Synchronize changes when completing a P2V or V2V with VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 5.1. In the example below I’ll be using a virtual machine, creating a V2V and then synchronizing additional changes made to the source virtual machine to the destination VM (our DR copy).
Install VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 5.1 on the computer to be synchronized. In this example, I will be installing VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 5.1 on the virtual machine.
Select source type: Powered-on-machine
Specify the powered-on machine: This local machine
followed by Next to continue, converter will identify the source machine.
Enter the destination server, username and password, in this example, I’m using our VMware vSphere vCenter server details, but if you wanted to synchronize/replicate to a standalone VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi) host, you would enter the VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi) host details here, e.g. root username and password.
To enable the Synchronize function, you MUST select Edit
If you wanted to perform, a Scheduled Synchronize, select and set the Schedule Option. Select Next to continue, review the Summary screen, and select Finish.
Once the initial P2V (V2V) conversion has completed, or “seeded” a new virtual machine, you can use the Synchronize function to replicate any changes that occur on the source machine to the virtual machine, the source machine could be a physical or virtual machine. (You can check the virtual machine by disconnecting networking, and powering up the virtual machine).
HOW TO: P2V, V2V for FREE – VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 5.1
Also fixes numerous issues with crashing and conversion issues, when converting physical or virtual computers to VMware vSphere vCenter Server 5.1 and VMware Hypervisor ESXi 5.1.
While I would recommend and use VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 5.1, there are other commercial products that do exist, and I have used.
If you have a large estate of physical machines to migrate, these products have a scheduler and can perform automated workflows, but these are commerical products and not FREE like VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 5.1
Symantec System Recovery Server Edition
If the operating system is Windows 2003, Windows 2000 or Windows NT 4.0, select and earlier version of VMware vCenter Converter Standalone version 3.0.3 or 4.0, support for early operating systems has been removed now from v5.1.
if you have recently upgraded to vSphere vCenter Server 5.1, and are looking for the Convert/Import vCenter plugin which existed with 4.x, it’s now longer available, and has been removed, and you will need to use VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 5.1 for your conversions.
Download VMware vCenter Converter 5.1 here
VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 5.1 Documentation
VMware vCenter Converter Standalone 5.1 User Guide
If you have issues, you may want to consult the following articles and guides
Best Practice Video Guide here
Some Videos I’ve develeoped to show the VMware vCenter Converter process.
VMware have launched a CloudCredibility website, what’s your Cloud Cred?, you get points for completing various Cloud Tasks (some with a VMware twist!).
I’m currently in team vExperts2 – (there are only 6 of us at present, hopefully more will join!)
My Team Members are:-
Andreas Peetz – http://www.v-front.de
nielsengelen – http://foonet.be
Update: I got 50 Cloud Cred Points for blogging this!
Why not try the Windows Server 2012 “Early Experts” Challenge
The Windows Server 2012 “Early Experts” Challenge provides a FREE online study group with certification exam preparation materials for quickly learning about the latest version of Windows Server! The Challenge involves a series of Knowledge Quests – starting with the Apprentice Quest – and each Quest ends with a special completion certificate for you to promote your new knowledge! To make it easy to participate, each Quest is developed in a modular format that you can complete based on your own schedule and availability.
The first six Knowledge Quests are available now – Apprentice, Installer, Explorer, Networker, Virtualizer and Cloud.
After you’ve completed the “Early Experts” Apprentice Quest, keep going with these additional Knowledge Quests to continue your preparation for the MCSA on Windows Server 2012 Exams:
I’ve completed all six Knowledge Quests, and here are my Certificates, it takes a few days to complete all the Knowledge Quests, and boosts your overall knowlegde of Windows Server 2012, the Cloud Quest is very good. – Highly Recommended and FREE!
Thanks to Keith Mayer and Microsoft.
Climbing the ladder, slowly….
In this series of basic VMware articles for the Novice, I’ll be showing you the basic VMware skills required to install, configure and deploy virtual machines using VMware’s FREE VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi).
This article will show you how to connect and complete some basic configuration of the VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 on a computer. VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 is also known as ESXi 5.1.
If you have missed the first article in the series, it’s here: HOW TO: Install and Configure VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1)
You can obtain the VMware vSphere Client software package (VMware-viclient-all-5.1.0-786111.exe) from the VMware website, as detailed in the first article of this series:
HOW TO: Install and Configure VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1) or you can download the software from the VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi 5.1) .
Make a note of the IP Address of the server which is displayed on the console, and using a web browser, browse to the web URL http://192.168.10.128. (This is the IP Address displayed on the console screen; your IP address will be different).
The following screen will be displayed, because VMware’s SSL certificate has been “self-signed” the warning is normal. Click Continue to this website. In this example we are using Internet Explorer 10.
For the sake of this article, we are going to download the vSphere Client from VMware, using the web link included on the Welcome to VMware ESXi 5.0 page. At the following prompt click Save.
Once the download has been completed click Run. The setup files will be extracted, and the VMware vSphere 5.1 Client InstallShield Wizard will appear.
Click the VMware vSphere Client icon on your computer Desktop, or click Start > Programs > VMware > VMware vSphere Client icon
In this tutorial the IP address of the ESXi 5.1 server is displayed on the console in Step 1. The IP address is 192.168.10.128. Enter the IP address, and username root, followed by the password. Click Login.
In this step, we will complete a simple task using the vSphere Client, this task is to Create a new VMFS datastore, so we can store VMs. This is the minimum configuration requirement for your ESXi host.
At the Add Storage screen select Disk/LUN followed by Next to Continue, personally we feel the dialgoue box should be called Add New Storage e.g. it’s storage which has never been allocated or presented for use with a VMware server.
You are now ready to use your ESXi server.
Congratulations you have successfully installed the VMware vSphere Client, Connected to your VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 server, and Created your first VMware VMFS-5 datastore ready to store Virtual Machines.
In the next article in the series, we will connect and continue to configure the VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1.
Climbing up the ladder…..
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