VM /ETC

Posts Tagged ‘issues’

A new patch for VMware ESX 3.5 Update 3 was released last week that fixes the previously reported iSCSI and FC Alert – “Queue for device has been blocked” issue. The fix was part of a bundle of patches released for ESX 3.5, ESXi 3.5 and ESX 3.0.x products.

Duncan’s summary post over at yellow-bricks.com pointed me to the new VMware KB article specific to the patch with the I/O alert fix: VMware ESX 3.5, Patch ESX350-200901401-SG: Updates VMkernel, VMX, and hostd

Upon reading the KB article I noticed that the VI Client NTP configuration issue I have posted about, and continue to run into, has also been fixed.

Read VMware’s KB for all “the other issues” corrected along with some information about applying the patches with or without Update Manager.

I was surprised to find there is not a “send ctrl+alt+del” menu command in VMware Server 2.0 (updated 01.30.09) when connecting from an Ubuntu desktop. It’s not in the Remote Console menus nor in the Commands section of the Web Interface. Normally that is not a big deal because you can always use “ctrl+alt+ins” to log on to a Windows VM, but it did not work.

I was banging away at my keyboard wondering what was wrong. I had just finished installing Server 2008 remotely from one of my Intrepid desktops and was ready to log back in to run dcpromo but I could not get to the log on prompt. I thought maybe my ins key went bad, but I knew that could not be the case. When I tried to use another Ubuntu desktop I had the same problem. Then I discovered there was not a menu command either! I silently questioned whether the VMware Server team’s parents were married when they were born, and then I did some research.

I quickly found the answer at the following thread on the Ubuntu Forums: vmware server 2.0 in intrepid ibex [Archive] – Ubuntu Forums. Turns out you have to use the Del key from the number pad on your Ubuntu desktop’s keyboard because the keyboard mappings in Ubuntu 8.10 are not correct! The working key combination is therefore “ctrl+alt+[numberpad]del.

updated 4.30.09 – if you do not have a number pad on your keyboard (laptops) then make this quick config change.

add just one line to the file ~/.vmware/config:

xkeymap.nokeycodeMap = true

Close the VM web console and reopen it for the change to take effect.

VMware please add a “send ctrl+alt+del” command to the (update 01.30.09) Linux Remote Console in the next update/version of VMware Server. Ubuntu, why are the keyboard mappings messed up?

updated 01.30.09 – I added the following screen shots to show the menu options when using the Remote Console from my Ubuntu desktops. I should point out I am using Firefox 3.0.5. I also updated the opening sentence of this post by adding “when connecting from an Ubuntu desktop” and the last sentence with “Linux Remote Console”. As Dracolith points out in his comment and screen shot link below, the “send ctrl+alt+del” command exists when connecting from a Windows host. I confirmed The ctrl+alt+ins key combination works as expected too. Read the rest of this entry »

A few virtualization bloggers have reported that they received an alert email from VMware about an I/O failure issue involving iSCSI or Fiber Channel (FC) SANs. There is also an alert currently dispalyed at http://www.vmware.com/support. In summary, an indefinite block occurs between ESXi/ESX 3.5 Update 3 hosts and VMFS 3 Luns which results in all paths to the storage entering a standby state. The issue is apparently isolated to the Update 3 version only.

Eric Sloof is one blogger that received the email and he has published his copy on his NTPro.nl blog. Here’s a brief quote from the email about the issue:

PROBLEM STATEMENT AND SYMPTONS:

• ESX or ESXi Host may get disconnected from Virtual Center
• All paths to the LUNs are in standby state
• Esxcfg-rescan might take a long tome to complete or never complete (hung)
• VMKernel logs show entries similar to the following:
• Queue for device vml.02001600006006016086741d00c6a0bc934902dd115241 49442035 has been blocked for 6399 seconds.
• Please refer to KB 1008130.

SOLUTION:

A reboot is required to clear this condition.

VMware is working on a patch to address this issue. The knowledge base article for this issue will be updated after the patch is available.

VMware KB 1008130 is titled VMware ESX and ESXi 3.5 U3 I/O failure on SAN LUN(s) and LUN queue is blocked indefinitely and provides the pattern of vmkernel messages that identify you have this issue:

Error messages matching this pattern are repeated continually in vmkernel:
<date and time> <hostname> vmkernel: <server uptime> cpu6:1177)SCSI: 675: Queue for device vml.<Vol. Dev. ID> has been blocked for 7 seconds.
<date and time> <hostname> vmkernel: <server uptime> cpu7:1184)SCSI: 675: Queue for device vml.<Vol. Dev. ID> has been blocked for 6399 seconds.

As stated in both the email and the KB article, unfortunately the only solution is to reboot your ESXi/ESX 3.5 Update 3 hosts until VMware is able to provide a patch.

Since P2V conversions with VMware Converter have been on my mind (and my schedule!) the last few months I figured I’d go ahead and discuss the best practices for troubleshooting failed P2V migrations of Windows physical machines to VMware virtual infrastructure. This post copies VMware KB article Best Practices using VMware Converter but with my own experience and opinions thrown in here and there.

I want all readers to understand that all of the recommendations listed are not always necessary, but instead should be systematically tried as needed when experiencing troubles. Most P2V migrations with VMware Converter “just work” without any issues. Use these steps to troubleshoot that small percentage of conversions that fail without an obvious explanation. Read the rest of this entry »

I ran into another ESX configuration issue this week that seems to continue to hang around even though it was identified quite a long time ago. After a fresh install of two different ESX 3.5 Update 2 servers (installed from the 110268 build .iso), I was configuring NTP time sync from the VI Client (installed from the VirtualCenter 2.5 Update 3 119825 build .iso) and was unable to change the NTP server. The error message window told me “failed to change host configuration”. Most frustrating to me is the fact that I have been able to change the NTP configuration from the VI client in past versions of ESX 3.5.

I was able to manually change the NTP configuration by digging out the related recommendations from the VMTN Communities thread VMware Communities: ESX 3.5 – Time Configuration = “Failed …. I have summarized my resolution steps in the rest of this post. Note that I did not have to modify all of the files and settings (steptickers, esx firewall) as previously required (and scripted) when manually changing NTP sync in ESX version 3.0.X.

Early in the VMTN thread was the advice: Read the rest of this entry »

My attempt to perform a fresh VirtualCenter (VC) 2.5 Update 3 installation on Windows 2003 R2 failed with the following error:

“Warning 25098. Setup has detected that the VirtualCenter Service is not running on this system. Please wait for the service to start and then try installing VMware Update Manager and/or VMware converter again.”

Troubleshooting the ODBC connection using the SQL Native Client to the remote SQL 2005 Server and removing and reinstalling without Update Manager or VMware Converter did not help.  Turns out the problem was Read the rest of this entry »

I ran into an issue at a client several weeks ago where the web interface for VirtualCenter 2.0.2 wasn’t working. They had just upgraded from version 2.0 where it was previously working fine. It’s not a common issue, but if you decide to upgrade to VirtualCenter version 2.02 before going to VirtualCenter 2.5 you might run into it. I had never experienced the problem so it was a surprise to me. Luckily it is well documented and easy to resolve.

After upgrading to VirtualCenter 2.0.2, Update 1, Update 2 or Update 3, the VMware VirtualCenter 2 Welcome page does not render completely is the title of KB 100285 which describes the problem. I was able to folow the instructions in the KB and restore the web interface with no problems. The rest if this post is taken straight from the VMware KB. Read the rest of this entry »