OVF and OVA deployment on vSphere
Download ovf tool from here.
Install it and add it to your Path variable.
make image from vsphere.
ovftool.exe -tt=OVF vi://user:password@vm01.hviidnet.com/MachineName c:\TemplateName.ovf
ovftool.exe -tt=OVA vi://user:password@vm01.hviidnet.com/MachineName c:\TemplateName.ova
Provision image:
ovftool.exe -nw="Network label ID" --diskMode=thin --name="New Virtual Machine Name" --powerOn --datastore="datastore1" c:\TemplateName.ovf vi://user:password@vm01.hviidnet.com
And you're done.
You can also script this if need be.
Documentation can be found here.
Adding drivers to coldclone.iso (vmware converter)
Use the petool to add additional drivers to the VMware Converter Cold Clone ISO.
Using the petool, run:
*
Storage Driver: petool.exe -i coldclone.iso -d "C:\Location_of_SCSI\DRIVER\"
*
NIC Driver: petool.exe -i coldclone.iso -n "C:\Location_of_NIC\DRIVER\"
Note: The last folder in the path cannot be more than 8 characters, and is only capital letters or numbers.
Consult with your hardware vendor for assistance in locating the correct driver to slipstream.
Ubuntu 8.04 network after vmware ESX 3i clone
vi /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules
when you clone a vm, it will assign the nic a new mac.
if you didn’t clear these rules prior to cloning the disk, the mac will be assigned to the next available ethernet interface ie: eth1
delete the eth0 line, rename the eth1 to eth0, reboot.
Alteratively just delete the file. For template clone images just delete the file as the last thing you do and it will create a new on boot (when its cloned and has new mac addresses).
Exclude VMware Virtual Adapters from Network Awareness
Because the VMware virtual network adapters appear to be in a “Public network”, Windows thinks that the whole machine is exposed to a public network, and it triggers the public profile for Windows Firewall. While in most cases this helps protect the entire computer from external access, sometimes you actually need to have external access, and therefore you need to manually change the setting.
Make this file: network.ps1 edit it and paste in the following:
# see <a href="http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb201634.aspx">http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb201634.aspx</a>
#
# *NdisDeviceType
#
# The type of the device. The default value is zero, which indicates a standard
# networking device that connects to a network.
#
# Set *NdisDeviceType to NDIS_DEVICE_TYPE_ENDPOINT (1) if this device is an
# endpoint device and is not a true network interface that connects to a network.
# For example, you must specify NDIS_DEVICE_TYPE_ENDPOINT for devices such as
# smart phones that use a networking infrastructure to communicate to the local
# computer system but do not provide connectivity to an external network.
#
# Usage: run in an elevated shell (vista/longhorn) or as adminstrator (xp/2003).
#
# PS> .\fix-vmnet-adapters.ps1# boilerplate elevation check
$identity = [Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::GetCurrent()
$principal = new-object Security.Principal.WindowsPrincipal $identity
$elevated = $principal.IsInRole([Security.Principal.WindowsBuiltInRole]::Administrator)if (-not $elevated) {
$error = "Sorry, you need to run this script"
if ([System.Environment]::OSVersion.Version.Major -gt 5) {
$error += " in an elevated shell."
} else {
$error += " as Administrator."
}
throw $error
}function confirm {
$host.ui.PromptForChoice("Continue", "Process adapter?",
[Management.Automation.Host.ChoiceDescription[]]@("&No", "&Yes"), 0) -eq $true
}# adapters key
pushd 'hklm:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}'# ignore and continue on error
dir -ea 0 | % {
$node = $_.pspath
$desc = gp $node -name driverdesc
if ($desc -like "*vmware*") {
write-host ("Found adapter: {0} " -f $desc.driverdesc)
if (confirm) {
new-itemproperty $node -name '*NdisDeviceType' -propertytype dword -value 1
}
}
}
popd# disable/enable network adapters
gwmi win32_networkadapter | ? {$_.name -like "*vmware*" } | % {# disable
write-host -nonew "Disabling $($_.name) ... "
$result = $_.Disable()
if ($result.ReturnValue -eq -0) { write-host " success." } else { write-host " failed." }
# enable
write-host -nonew "Enabling $($_.name) ... "
$result = $_.Enable()
if ($result.ReturnValue -eq -0) { write-host " success." } else { write-host " failed." }
}
Next, open a PowerShell prompt. Note that you need to run it with elevated credentials (i.e. "Run as Administrator").
Navigate to the folder where you've placed the script, and execute it. You can type the first letter of the script's name and press TAB to auto complete the script's name.
If you get an error like this:
File D:\Tools\Admin\Scripts\VMware - VMNET Adapters Triggering Public Profile for Windows Firewall\script.ps1 cannot be loaded because the execution of
scripts is disabled on this system. Please see "get-help about_signing" for more details.
you will have to write the following first:
Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted
And wola! stuff works!
For the original article take a look at www.petri.co.il. He does some GREAT work for all windows server stuff.
Compare vmware versions
|
Capability |
VMware ESX |
VMware ESXi |
|
Service Console |
Service Console is a standard Linux environment through which a user has privileged access to the VMware ESX kernel. This Linux-based privileged access allows you to highly customizing your environment by installing agents and drivers and executing scripts and other Linux-environment code. |
VMware ESXi is designed to make the server a computing appliance. Accordingly, VMware ESXi behaves more like firmware than traditional software. To provide hardware-like security and reliability, VMware ESXi does not support a privileged access environment like the Service Console of VMware ESX. To enable interaction with agents, VMware has provisioned CIM Providers through which monitoring and management tasks – traditionally done through Service Console agents – can be performed. VMware has provisioned RCLI to allow the execution of scripts. |
|
Remote CLI |
VMware ESX Service Console has a host CLI command through which VMware ESX can be configured. ESX 3.5 Update 2 supports RCLI. |
VMware ESX Service Console CLI has been ported to a Remote CLI (RCLI) for VMware ESXi. RCLI is a virtual appliance that interacts with VMware ESXi hosts to enable host configuration through scripts or specific commands.
Note: RCLI is limited to read-only access for the free version of VMware ESXi. To enable full functionality of RCLI on a VMware ESXi host, the host must be licensed with VI Foundation, VI Standard, or VI Enterprise.
The following Service Console CLI commands have not been implemented in RCLI:
|
|
Scriptable Installation |
VMware ESX supports scriptable installations through utilities like KickStart. |
VMware ESXi Installable does not support scriptable installations in the manner ESX does, at this time. VMware ESXi does provide support for post installation configuration script using RCLI-based configuration scripts. |
|
Serial Cable Connectivity |
VMware ESX supports interaction through direct-attached serial cable to the VMware ESX host. |
VMware ESXi does not support interaction through direct-attached serial cable to the VMware ESXi host at this time. |
|
SNMP |
VMware ESX supports SNMP. |
VMware ESXi supports SNMP when licensed to a VI Foundation, VI Standard, or VI Enterprise edition. The free version of VMware ESXi does not support SNMP. |
|
Active Directory Integration |
VMware ESX supports Active Directory integration through third-party agents installed on the Service Console. |
VMware ESXi with a Virtual Infrastructure license and in conjunction with VirtualCenter allows users to be authenticated via Active Directory. In this configuration, users can log in directly to an ESXi host and authenticate using a local username and password.
The free version of VMware ESXi does not support Active Directory integration at this time.
|
|
HW Instrumentation |
Service Console agents provide a range of HW instrumentation on VMware ESX. |
VMware ESXi provides HW instrumentation through CIM Providers. Standards-based CIM Providers are distributed with all versions of VMware ESXi. VMware partners may inject their own proprietary CIM Providers in customized versions of VMware ESXi. To obtain a customized version of VMware ESXi, you typically have to purchase a server with embedded VMware ESXi through a server vendor.
At this time, HP also offers its customized VMware ESXi Installable on www.vmware.com. Dell and IBM will soon offer their customized version of VMware ESXi on www.vmware.com.
Remote console applications like Dell DRAC, HP iLO, and IBM RSA are supported with ESXi.
Note: COS agents have a longer lineage than CIM Providers and are therefore more mature. VMware is actively working with its 250+ partners to close the CIM Provider–Service Console agent gap. |
|
Software Patches and Updates |
VMware ESX software patches and upgrades behave like traditional Linux based patches and upgrades. The installation of a software patch or upgrade may require multiple system boots as the patch or upgrade may have dependencies on previous patches or upgrades. |
VMware ESXi patches and updates behave like firmware patches and updates. Any given patch or update is all-inclusive of previous patches and updates. That is, installing patch version “n” includes all updates included in patch versions n-1, n-2, and so forth. |
|
VI Web Access |
VMware ESX supports managing your virtual machines through VI Web Access. You can use the VI Web Access to connect directly to the ESX host or to the VMware Infrastructure Client. |
VMware ESXi does not support web access at this time. |
|
Licensing |
VMware ESX hosts can be licensed as part of a VMware Infrastructure 3 Foundation, Standard, or Enterprise suite.
|
VMware ESXi hosts can be individually licensed (for free) or licensed as part of a VMware Infrastructure 3 Foundation, Standard, or Enterprise suite.
Individually licensed ESXi hosts offer a subset of management capabilities (see SNMP and Remote CLI). |
|
|
ESXi (ESX not available without VI) |
VI Foundation (with ESX or ESXi) |
VI Standard (with ESX or ESXi) |
VI Enterprise (with ESX or ESXi) |
|
Core hypervisor functionality |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Virtual SMP |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
VMFS |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
VirtualCenter Agent |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Update Manager |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Consolidated Backup |
|
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
High Availability |
|
|
Yes |
Yes |
|
VMotion |
|
|
|
Yes |
|
Storage VMotion |
|
|
|
Yes |
|
DRS |
|
|
|
Yes |
|
DPM |