Upgrading to ESX 3.5 and VirtualCenter 2.5 Best Practices

The following are best practice procedures when upgrading to VirtualCenter 2.5 and ESX Server 3.5:

To be done on VirtualCenter:

1. Backup your VirtualCenter database. VMware recommends detaching the database and copying it to somewhere safe.
2. Grant the System DSN user of the VirtualCenter Database db_owner privileges on the MSDB database as well as the VirtualCenter database.
3. Ensure that your ODBC System DSN is using the proper driver. You must have a SQL Server driver if your database is SQL 2000, and SQL Native Client driver if using SQL 2005.
4. Log in to your VirtualCenter server with a local Administrator account on your Windows system to run the installation, do not use a domain administrator or a domain account.
5. Perform the upgrade to VirtualCenter to 2.5 and ensure all your data is visible in VirtualCenter 2.5 after the upgrade.
6. Ensure no processes are running that conflict with the ports that VirtualCenter uses, such as IIS.
   

To be done on ESX Server host:

1. If there is a SAN connected to your ESX Server host detach the SAN before continuing with the upgrade.
2. Confirm that all the virtual machines are now migrated from the ESX Server host or powered down, and that ESX Server host is no longer part of an VMware High Availability or DRS cluster.
3. Download the newest version of the ESX operating system ISO image and burn it to CD.
4. Place the CD in the CD-ROM drive of the host and boot from the CD.
5. Install ESX Server 3.5 with a fresh install or upgrade.
   

Note: A fresh install wipes out all previous network configuration.

Clustering VirtualCenter 2.5 Using Microsoft Cluster Services

Chris Skinner, a Technical Trainer over at VMware created a document for clustering VirtualCenter 2.5 with MSCS. Feel free to distribute to clients and colleagues. A special thanks to Seva and Charu for challenging Chris to do this based on their VC2.0 document. This paper documents the steps to successfully implement a high availability solution for VirtualCenter 2.5 using Microsoft’s cluster services. There are some basic requirements to start the process. Microsoft requires Active Directory for cluster services. Additionally, Windows 2003 Enterprise server or higher will be necessary. This document was compiled from several sources. It demonstrates creating a VC cluster on the same ESX host (cluster-in-a-box) with a SAN-based quorum disk. The hyperlinks at the end of the document has more detailed information for other types of configurations, such as, cluster-across-boxes and physical-to-virtual.

Customization fails after VC 2.5 Upgrade

A few people have notice that since upgrading to Virtualcenter 2.5 deploying a Windows 2003 VM from template no longer gives them the ability to customize.  The option is disabled.

The fix for this is simple.  You need to grab the new deployment tools from Microsoft’s site here also referred to as the sysprep files. You will be downloading WindowsServer2003-KB892778-SP1-DeployTools-x86-ENU.cab

This file needs to be extracted on the Virtualcenter server and placed in the following folder-

All Users\Application Data\Vmware\VirtualCenter\sysprep\svr2003

Once these files exist in the correct folder, you will be able to deploy your W2K3 template.

For more details read the Virtual Center 2 Template Usages and Best Practices http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vc_2_templates_usage_best_practices_wp.pdf

Customization fails after VC 2.5 Upgrade

A few people have notice that since upgrading to Virtualcenter 2.5 deploying a Windows 2003 VM from template no longer gives them the ability to customize.  The option is disabled.

The fix for this is simple.  You need to grab the new deployment tools from Microsoft’s site here also referred to as the sysprep files. You will be downloading WindowsServer2003-KB892778-SP1-DeployTools-x86-ENU.cab

This file needs to be extracted on the Virtualcenter server and placed in the following folder-

All Users\Application Data\Vmware\VirtualCenter\sysprep\svr2003

Once these files exist in the correct folder, you will be able to deploy your W2K3 template.

For more details read the Virtual Center 2 Template Usages and Best Practices http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vc_2_templates_usage_best_practices_wp.pdf

Bron: www.vmwarewolf.com

Upgrading VirtualCenter does not update certificate store

When logging into the VMware Infrastructure Client (VIC) or using the web interface to the VirtualCenter server, you are presented with a certificate message. Best practice or not, I usually accept the certificate and instruct the software to not ask me again about this topic. I have just completed end-to-end testing of VirtualCenter 2.5 update 1 and ESX 3.5 update 1, however, and noticed something about the certificate store for VirtualCenter.

The VirtualCenter certificate store is valid for two years from the date of initial installation. Since this instance of VirtualCenter was installed, I have upgraded to version 2.5 base release and, most recently, to the version 2.5 update 1. But neither installation updated the certificate. Below are the details of my test certificate:

The good news is that you now know about this issue. The bad news is that you better correct it before the two year anniversary of your installation of VirtualCenter as it is required to process logins. VMware has a comprehensive PDF that outlines the certificate procedures for VirtualCenter and the ESX hosts. The ESX hosts, however, have a much longer lifespan for the local certificate, around 20 years, and do not exhibit this behavior. The VMware server certificate documentation is available for download from the VMware website.

Bron: http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com