Change ESXi Hostname/IP when using a vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS)

Recently, I had a client that wanted to re-organize their ESXi servers.  They wanted all the IP’s nicely lined up and the host names changed.

 

But they were also using a VDS. This was my solution.

 

The only way I know of to accomplish this is to remove the host from the cluster and re-add it. Because the host is part of a VDS, you have to remove it from the VDS first before you can remove it from the cluster.

I had previously setup the cluster to use Host Profiles – THIS IS IMPORTANT!  It will save tons of time.

These steps are for the vSphere Client.

So…here are the steps:

1. Put the host into maintenance mode.
2. Host->Configuration->vSphere Distributed Switch->Manage Physical Adapters->Remove one adapter (you do have more than one right?!)
3. vSphere Standard Switch->Add Networking->Virtual Machine Type->Click through to Finish (we are going to migrate the VMK port, so we don’t need a new one)
4. vSphere Distributed Switch->Manage Virtual Adapters-><the vmk# port> –>Migrate->The vSwitch you just created->enter the right VLAN!
5. vSphere Distributed Switch->Manage Physical Adapters->Remove other physical ports
6. Home->Networking->DVSwitch->Hosts Tab->right-click the host in maintenance mode->Remove from vSphere Distributed Switch
7. Hosts and Clusters->Right Click the host in maintenance mode->Remove
8. Go to the KVM console of the host and change the IP and hostname
9. Back to the vSphere client->Cluster->Add host
10. Host->Attach Profile (Manage Profile)
11. Host Profiles->Apply Profile
12. Host Profiles->Check Compliance
13. Exit Maintenance mode

That should do it!

Just For Laughs review

So my friends and I spent thousands of dollars to stay for 5 days in Montreal and go to the Just For Laughs shows.

We figured the best shows to see would be the Galas with the big names.

But, the way it works is this: the headliner only hosts the show. They just introduce the comics. And, you can't find out before hand who you are actually gonna see. So, you buy tickets based on the big name.

All the headliners (Chevy Chase, Adam Samberg) didn't really do anything except read introductions from a TelePrompTer. I coulda done that.

Most of the comics weren't funny and we had lights shining in our eyes the whole show.

So disappointing.

Out of 5 Galas and 2 other shows in 5 nights, we might have seen a total of 5-6 good comics.

There were a few bright spots, but mostly it was just crude, lude and racist humour.

Ron White was pretty good, but his intro comic was actually funnier.

Oh well, lesson learned.

Update:

Just saw the Gala hosted by Russell Peters - now that it is how it should be done!  What a great show! George Wallace, Godfrey...actually all the comics were funny! Russell himself did a set too and was good.

Super glad they weren't all weak.

vSphere 5.5 bug with Traffic Shaping causes PSOD

I was recently installing a new vSphere 5.5 installation on IBM PureFlex x240's.

It consisted of 9 blades at one site and 9 at a 2nd location for DR.

These blades have 10gb nics.

As per my normal practice, I configured Traffic Shaping on the vMotion ports on the vDS.

Next morning I had a PSOD!

Ouch.  Updated to latest firmware and patch release of vSphere, but the problem did not go away.

After a call to VMware support, I was directed to this KB article:

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2070667

Apparently, although 5.1 has been patched, 5.5 hasn't yet (as of this writing - June 17, 2014).

The workaround is to turn off traffic shaping.

Something to watch out for.

VMware VSAN

I really like the new VMware VSAN technology. However, I can only think of one real use case.

 

VMware VSAN is a way to turn the commodity hard disks that sit inside your ESXi servers into a distributed storage array. It requires at least 1 SSD drive in each server, which it uses to increase the performance of the array.

 

It also requires a minimum of 3 hosts. This is where I start having problems with the product.

 

I have installed vSphere in many SMB’s and also large enterprise customers.

 

The SMB’s will typically purchase vSphere Essentials or Essentials Plus – it is a perfect fit for them. Provides them with enough capacity while being inexpensive enough to provide good value.

 

However, in order to make VSAN work, you really need 4 hosts or maybe 5.  I want N+2 redundancy for my clients, so I want to be able to take a host down (maintenance), and still be able to function. But then what if a host that is in production fails? So, I require that the system can handle a failure while a server is in maintenance.

For a SMB client with 3 servers, this isn’t going to work….VSAN will fail if it goes down to 1 server. But in a shared storage environment (and I sell a lot of the little EMC 3150 storage arrays), this would not be a problem.

And a SMB customer doesn’t want to purchase extra servers just so his VSAN can function – better to spend the money on a shared storage array that is dedicated for the purpose and has redundant service processors that handle failures, online updates etc.

 

For large enterprise customers, you just won’t be able to fit the storage requirements they have into servers. Many of these customers are purchasing blades (Cisco UCS is product that I install alot and love!) and you simply cannot fit a lot of storage inside these units.  In fact, I am now recommending just booting from either a) Auto Deploy server, or B) USB sticks (or a combination of both using the Stateless Caching feature of the Auto Deploy server.

 

So…where do I see this technology being useful?  In a VDI (Horizon View) deployment.  I would still see the customer using a SAN, but it makes sense to store the Replica’s (copies of the Golden Master images) on the VSAN for close and fast access.

 

This is just my opinion – let me know what you think.

 

Jim