confugring host

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Configuring a Host Configuring a Host From the Configuration tab, you can view and modify the configuration options of an ESX Server host’s hardware and software. The following topics describe how to configure specific hardware and software options: [email protected] | Copyright © 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. Configuring a Host : Configuring Storage Options Configuring Storage Options The VirtualCenter interface monitors formatted, mounted volumes. On the Configuration Storage information panel, datastores and other volumes are presented in a layout that shows an overview and details. An overview of each volume is presented in the list under Storage. To view the details for a particular volume, highlight its name in the overview list. For detailed information about storage options, see the Server Configuration Guide. (Choose Help > Manuals.) Conditions Configuring Storage Options Using the Datastore Browser Viewing Networks Configuring Virtual Switches and Port Groups Configuring Processors Configuring Memory Storage Adapters Network Adapters Time Configuration Configuring Licensed Features Configuring DNS and Routing Configuring Options for Virtual Machines Associated with the Host Security Profile Editing System Resource Allocation Modifying Advanced Settings for VMkernel Configuration Parameters Monitoring Host Health Status Connecting or Disconnecting a Host Removing Hosts Configuring VMotion Technology on an ESX Server 2.x Host VI Client must be connected to: VirtualCenter Server Inventory panel object: Inventory button > Hosts & Clusters > datacenter object Page 1 of 54 Configuring a Host 6/25/2009 file://D:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temp\~hh94E4.htm

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Page 1: Confugring Host

Configuring a Host

Configuring a Host From the Configuration tab, you can view and modify the configuration options of an ESX Server host’s hardware and software.

The following topics describe how to configure specific hardware and software options:

[email protected] | Copyright © 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

Configuring a Host : Configuring Storage Options

Configuring Storage Options The VirtualCenter interface monitors formatted, mounted volumes. On the Configuration Storage information panel, datastores and other volumes are presented in a layout that shows an overview and details.

An overview of each volume is presented in the list under Storage. To view the details for a particular volume, highlight its name in the overview list.

For detailed information about storage options, see the Server Configuration Guide. (Choose Help > Manuals.)

Conditions

• Configuring Storage Options

• Using the Datastore Browser

• Viewing Networks

• Configuring Virtual Switches and Port Groups

• Configuring Processors

• Configuring Memory

• Storage Adapters

• Network Adapters

• Time Configuration

• Configuring Licensed Features

• Configuring DNS and Routing

• Configuring Options for Virtual Machines Associated with the Host

• Security Profile

• Editing System Resource Allocation

• Modifying Advanced Settings for VMkernel Configuration Parameters

• Monitoring Host Health Status

• Connecting or Disconnecting a Host

• Removing Hosts

• Configuring VMotion Technology on an ESX Server 2.x Host

VI Client must be connected to:

VirtualCenter Server

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > Hosts & Clusters > datacenter object

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[email protected] | Copyright © 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

Configuring a Host : Configuring Storage Options : Creating a Datastore or Partition

Creating a Datastore or Partition Use the Add Storage wizard to create a datastore or partition.

For an ESX Server host, you have the following options:

Conditions

Adding a Volume on a SCSI Disk On an ESX Server host, you can add a datastore or other volume on a Fibre Channel, iSCSI, or local SCSI disk.

To add a volume on a Fibre Channel, iSCSI, or local SCSI disk

If the LUN is not partitioned, the entire LUN is used. If the LUN contains one or more blocks of free space, for each block, you can use only that free space. If the LUN contains one or more unformatted VMFS (VMware File System) partitions, for each partition, you can use only that partition. If the LUN contains two or more blocks of unformatted space, you can use all the free space and unformatted partitions as a single file system.

In most cases, the unpartitioned space on a disk or LUN is monolithic. In some cases, the unpartitioned space can be divided by one or more existing datastores. In such cases, the disk or LUN appears in the list for each block of contiguous, unpartitioned space.

If the disk you are formatting is blank, the entire disk space is presented to you for storage configuration. If the disk or LUN you are formatting is not blank, the following options become available:

To reach this panel: Host object > Configuration tab > Hardware Storage link

Related Topics: Creating a Datastore or Partition Viewing Datastore Information Using the Datastore Browser

• Adding a Volume on a SCSI Disk

• Adding a Volume on a Network File System

VI Client must be connected to:

VirtualCenter Server ESX Server host

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > Hosts & Clusters > host object

To reach this panel:

Host object > Configuration tab > Hardware Storage link > Add Storage link

1. Select the server icon in the inventory panel.

2. Click the Configuration tab and click Storage.

3. Click the Add Storage link at the top right of the Storage chart.

4. Select the Disk/LUN storage type.

5. Click Next.

6. Select the location of the disk or LUN to partition.

7. Click Next.

8. Review the current disk layout in the top panel and select a configuration option from the bottom panel.

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The entire disk or LUN is formatted and any file systems or data previously stored on this device are destroyed. VMware recommends that you select this option, so that a single VMFS datastore occupies the entire disk space.

The Datastore Label must be unique within the current VirtualCenter Server instance.

Make any changes to the appropriate page.

Adding a Volume on a Network File System You can also use the Add Storage wizard to mount an NFS volume and use it as if it were a VMFS datastore.

To mount an NFS volume

Make any changes to the appropriate page.

Configuring a Diagnostic Partition on an ESX Server Host To run your ESX Server host, you need a diagnostic partition, or a dump partition, to store core dumps for debugging and technical support. You can create the diagnostic partition on a local disk, or on a private or shared SAN LUN. A diagnostic partition cannot be located on an iSCSI LUN accessed through a software initiator.

If you selected Recommended Partitioning during ESX Server 3 installation, the installer created a diagnostic partition, and you do not need to configure one. If you selected Advanced Partitioning during ESX Server 3 installation, and did not create a diagnostic partition, you must create one using the following procedure. For more information on ESX Server 3 installation, see the Installation Guide.

You must create a diagnostic partition for an ESX Server 3i host. Each ESX Server 3i host must have a 100MB diagnostic partition. If multiple ESX Server 3i hosts share a SAN, configure a diagnostic partition with 100MB for each host.

• Use the entire device

• Use free space

9. Click Next.

10. Enter a datastore name.

11. Click Next.

12. Select a Maximum file size value from the drop-down menu.

13. Select a Capacity value from the drop-down menu, or click Maximum capacity.

14. Click Next.

15. Review the options you entered.

16. Click Finish.

1. Select the server icon in the inventory panel.

2. Click the Configuration tab and click Storage.

3. Click the Add Storage link at the top right of the Storage chart.

4. Select Network File System and click Next.

5. Specify the following items

Server Enter the name or IP address of the file server.

Folder Specify the path to the folder that you want this datastore to correspond to.

Mount NFS read only

Select this check box if you want this datastore to be read only.

Datastore Name

Enter a name for the datastore.

6. Click Next.

7. Review the options you entered.

8. Click Finish.

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To create a diagnostic partition

If you don’t see Diagnostic as an option, the ESX Server host already has a diagnostic partition. You can query and scan your host’s diagnostic partition by using the esxcfg-dumppart -l command in the command-line interface. See the ESX Server 3 Configuration Guide or the ESX Server 3i Configuration Guide, as appropriate for your system.

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Storage Options : Viewing Datastore Information

Viewing Datastore Information You can use the VI Client to view a list of all the datastores in the inventory. You can also view information about a specific datastore, including:

Conditions

To view the datastores

Click the arrow next to the Inventory button in the navigation bar and choose Datastores

1. Log into the VMware VI Client and select a server from the inventory panel.

2. Click the Configuration tab and click Storage under hardware.

3. Click the Add Storage link.

4. Select Diagnostic and click Next.

5. Specify the type of the diagnostic partition:

• Private Local – Creates the diagnostic partition on a local disk. This partition stores fault information only for your ESX Server host.

• Private SAN Storage – Creates the diagnostic partition on an unshared SAN LUN. This partition stores fault information only for your ESX Server host.

• Shared SAN Storage – Creates the diagnostic partition on a shared SAN LUN. Multiple hosts will access this partition, and it might store fault information for more than one host.

6. Click Next.

7. Select the device to use for your diagnostic partition and click Next.

8. Review the partition configuration information and click Finish.

• The hosts that a datastore is connected to

• The virtual machines on the datastore

• The total capacity and amount of free space present on the datastore

VI Client must be connected to:

VirtualCenter Server ESX Server host

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > Datastores > datastore object (On VirtualCenter Server only) Inventory button > Hosts & Clusters > host object

To reach this panel or dialog box:

Varies. See below in individual procedures

Minimum required privileges:

Read-Only User privileges, to view datastore Host > Configuration > Storage Partition Configuration Datastore > Rename

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to display the Datastores information panel.

To view information about a specific datastore

With the Datastores panel displayed, click the datastore in the inventory panel. The corresponding Summary, Virtual Machines, and Hosts tabs appear.

[email protected] | Copyright © 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

Configuring a Host : Configuring Storage Options : Modifying Datastore Properties

Modifying Datastore Properties From the Datastore Properties dialog box, you can do the following:

Conditions

Changing the Names of Datastores You can change the name of an existing VMFS-based datastore.

If the VirtualCenter Server manages your host, you cannot change the name of a datastore if you connect directly to the host by using the VI Client. You must connect to the VirtualCenter Server.

To edit the name of the datastore

Adding Extents to Datastores You can expand a VMFS datastore by attaching a hard disk partition as an extent.

To add one or more extents to a datastore’s spanned volumes

• Changing the Names of Datastores

• Adding Extents to Datastores

• Editing the Storage Paths

VI Client must be connected to:

VirtualCenter Server

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > Datastores > datastore object Inventory button > Hosts & Clusters > host object

To reach this panel or dialog box:

Host object > Configuration tab > Hardware Storage link > Properties link

Minimum required privileges:

Read-Only User privileges, to view datastore Datastore > Browse Datastore Host > Configuration > Storage Partition Configuration Datastore > Rename

1. Select a server from the inventory panel.

2. Click the Configuration tab and click Storage.

3. Select the datastore name to edit and click the Properties link.

4. Click Change.

5. Type a new datastore name and click OK.

6. Click Close.

1. Click the arrow next to the Inventory button in the navigation bar and choose Hosts and Clusters.

2. Select the host and click the Configuration tab.

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If a disk or partition you add was formatted previously, it will be reformatted and lose the file systems and any data it contained.

By default, the entire free space available on the storage device is offered to you.

Editing the Storage Paths Change the storage paths in the Manage Paths dialog box.

Conditions

To edit the storage paths

If Preferred does not appear as an option, make sure that the multipathing policy is set to Fixed.

3. Click Storage.

4. In the Storage list, right-click a datastore and choose Properties.

5. Click Add Extent.

6. On the Extent Device page, select the disk to add as the new extent and click Next.

7. Review the current layout of the disk you are using for the extent to make sure the disk doesn’t contain important information.

8. Click Next.

9. On the Extent Size page, set the capacity for the extent.

10. Click Next.

11. Review the proposed extent layout and the new configuration of your datastore and click Finish.

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > Datastores > datastore object Inventory button > Hosts & Clusters > host object Host in ESX Server inventory

To reach this panel or dialog box:

Host object > Configuration tab > Hardware Storage link > datastore object in list > Properties link > Manage Paths button

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > Storage Partition Configuration

1. Click the arrow next to the Inventory button in the navigation bar and choose Hosts and Clusters.

2. Select the host and click the Configuration tab.

3. Click Storage.

4. In the Storage list, right-click a datastore and choose Properties.

5. Click Manage Paths.

6. To set the multipathing policy:

a. Click the top Change button.

b. Select Fixed or Most Recently Used (default).

c. Click OK.

7. If you set the multipathing policy to fixed, specify the preferred path:

a. From the paths list, select the path to designate as preferred.

b. Click the bottom Change button.

c. In the Preference pane, select Preferred.

d. Click OK.

8. Click OK.

9. Click Close.

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[email protected] | Copyright © 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

Configuring a Host : Configuring Storage Options : Removing Existing Datastores

Removing Existing Datastores You can remove a datastore that you are not using. You cannot remove a datastore if it holds virtual disks of a running virtual machine.

Caution: Removing a datastore from the ESX Server system breaks the connection between the system and the storage device that holds the datastore and stops all functions of that storage device.

To remove a datastore

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Storage Options : Upgrading Datastores

Upgrading Datastores ESX Server 3 includes VMFS version 3 (VMFS-3). If your datastore was formatted with VMFS-2, you can only read files stored on VMFS-2, but you cannot use them. To use the files, upgrade VMFS-2 to VMFS-3.

When you upgrade VMFS-2 to VMFS-3, the ESX Server file-locking mechanism ensures that no remote ESX Server or local process is accessing the VMFS volume being converted. ESX Server preserves all files on the datastore.

As a precaution, before you usethe upgrade option, consider the following items:

Caution: The VMFS-2 to VMFS-3 conversion is a one-way process. After converting the VMFS-based datastore to VMFS-3, you cannot revert it back to VMFS-2.

To upgrade the VMFS-2 to VMFS-3

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Configuring a Host : Using the Datastore Browser

Using the Datastore Browser

1. Select a server from the inventory panel.

2. Click the Configuration tab and click Storage.

3. Select the datastore to remove and click Remove.

4. Confirm that you want to remove the datastore.

• Back up the VMFS-2 volume to upgrade.

• Be sure no powered-on virtual machines are using this VMFS-2 volume.

• Be sure no other ESX Server host is accessing this VMFS-2 volume.

• Be sure this VMFS-2 volume is not mounted on any other ESX Server host.

1. Select a server from the inventory panel.

2. Click the Configuration tab and click Storage.

3. Click the datastore that uses the VMFS-2 format.

4. Click Upgrade to VMFS-3.

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Use the Datastore Browser to manage the contents of datastores in the VI Client inventory. You can use the Datastore Browser to do the following:

The Datastore Browser operates in a manner similar to file system applications like Windows Explorer. It supports many common file system operations, including copying, cutting, and pasting files.

Conditions

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Configuring a Host : Using the Datastore Browser : Searching a Datastore

Searching a Datastore You can use the Datastore Browser to search a datastore.

To search a datastore

The panel on the right side of the dialog box displays the file system on the datastore.

If you search for Files and Folders, ISO images and disk files appear as the type File. If

• View or search the contents of a datastore.

• Add to the VI Client inventory a virtual machine or template stored on a datastore.

• Copy or move files from one location to another, including to another datastore.

• Upload a file from the client computer to a datastore.

• Download a file from a datastore to the client computer.

• Delete or rename files on a datastore.

VI Client must be connected to:

VirtualCenter Server ESX Server host

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > Datastores > datastore object Inventory button > Hosts & Clusters > host object

To reach this panel or dialog box:

Right-click on datastore icon and choose Browse Datastore. Click Browse on the Datastore Summary page.

Minimum required privileges:

Read-Only User privileges, to view datastore Datastore > Browse Datastore Datastore > Remove File to delete a file

Related Topics Searching a Datastore Adding a Virtual Machine or Template to Inventory Moving Files Copying Files Uploading Files Downloading Files Renaming Files Deleting Files

1. Right-click the datastore you want to search and choose Browse Datastore.

2. Click the Search tab.

3. In the Search for files of type drop-down list, select the type of files to search for.

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you search specifically for ISO Images or disk files, they appear as the appropriate type.

The search results appear in the right pane of the Datastore Browser.

[email protected] | Copyright © 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

Configuring a Host : Using the Datastore Browser : Adding a Virtual Machine or Template to Inventory

Adding a Virtual Machine or Template to Inventory If a virtual machine or template is present on a datastore, but not registered with the VI Client inventory, you can use the Datastore Browser to add it to the inventory.

If you want the template to retain its original name, do not enter a name in the Add to Inventory wizard. VirtualCenter uses the original name if the field in the wizard is left blank.

To add a virtual machine or template to inventory

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Configuring a Host : Using the Datastore Browser : Moving Files

Moving Files You can use the Datastore Browser to move files to a new location, either on the same datastore or on a different datastore.

Note: Virtual disk files are moved or copied as-is, without format conversion. If you move a virtual disk to a datastore on a different type of host from the source host, you might need to convert the virtual disks before you can use them.

To move a file

[email protected] | Copyright © 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

Configuring a Host : Using the Datastore Browser : Copying Files

Copying Files You can use the Datastore Browser to copy files to a new location, either on the same datastore or on a different datastore.

Note: Virtual disk files are moved or copied as-is, without format conversion. If you move a virtual disk to a datastore on a different type of host from the source host, you might need to

4. In the File or folder name text box, enter all or part of the filename to search for.

5. Click Search Now.

1. Right-click the datastore and choose Browse Datastore.

2. Navigate to the virtual machine or template to add to inventory.

3. Right-click the virtual machine or template and choose Add to Inventory.

4. Follow the steps in the Add to Inventory wizard to finish adding the virtual machine or template.

1. Right-click the source datastore and choose Browse Datastore.

2. Browse to and select the file to move.

3. Click the Move To button on the Datastore Browser toolbar.

4. Browse to and select the destination location and click Move.

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convert the virtual disks before you can use them.

To copy a file

[email protected] | Copyright © 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

Configuring a Host : Using the Datastore Browser : Uploading Files

Uploading Files You can use the Datastore Browser to upload a file from the VI Client machine to a datastore in the VI Client inventory.

Note: If you upload a disk file, VirtualCenter does not recognize it as a disk.

To upload a file

A progress indicator displays the progress of the upload tasks.

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Configuring a Host : Using the Datastore Browser : Downloading Files

Downloading Files You can use the Datastore Browser to download files from a datastore to the VI Client machine.

If you download a disk file, the VI Client downloads all the files associated with that disk, such as additional extents.

To download a file

A progress indicator displays the progress of the download task.

[email protected] | Copyright © 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

Configuring a Host : Using the Datastore Browser : Renaming Files

1. Right-click the source datastore and choose Browse Datastore.

2. Browse to and select the file to copy.

3. Press Ctrl+C to copy the file.

4. Navigate in the Datastore Browser to the location to copy the file to.

5. Press Ctrl+V to paste the file.

1. Right-click the destination datastore and choose Browse Datastore.

2. Browse to the location to upload the file to.

3. Click the Upload icon in the Datastore Browser toolbar.

4. Navigate to and select the item to upload.

5. Click Upload.

1. Right-click the source datastore and choose Browse Datastore.

2. Browse to and select the file to download.

3. Click the Download icon in the Datastore Browser toolbar.

4. Navigate to and select the location to download the file to.

5. Click Download.

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Renaming Files You can use the Datastore Browser to rename a file.

To rename a file

The filename is highlighted and becomes editable.

[email protected] | Copyright © 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

Configuring a Host : Using the Datastore Browser : Deleting Files

Deleting Files You can use the Datastore Browser to delete files.

Caution: VMware recommends that you do not delete virtual machine files with the Delete from Disk command, because it can break the virtual machine configuration. Use the Virtual Machine Properties editor (right-click the virtual machine in the inventory panel and choose Edit Settings) to make configuration changes.

To delete a file

[email protected] | Copyright © 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

Configuring a Host : Viewing Networks

Viewing Networks The Network option in the Inventory navigation button menu displays the list of available networks.

Conditions

To view the networks

In the navigation bar, click the arrow next to the Inventory button and choose Networks.

To view information about a specific network

To see detailed information about a network, select the network in the inventory. The Networks information panel appears on the right side of the window and contains the corresponding Virtual Machines and Hosts tabs.

[email protected] | Copyright © 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Double-click the file in the Datastore Browser.

2. Type the new filename and press Enter.

1. In the Datastore Browser window, select the file to delete.

2. Click the Delete icon in the Datastore Browser toolbar.

VI Client must be connected to:

VirtualCenter Server

To reach this panel: Inventory button > Networks > network object

Minimum required privileges:

Read-Only User privileges

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Virtual Switches and Port Groups

Configuring Virtual Switches and Port Groups Use VirtualCenter to create abstracted network devices called virtual Ethernet switches (also called virtual switches or vSwitches). Each virtual switch is a network hub that virtual machines can use. A virtual switch can route traffic internally between virtual machines or link to an external network by connecting to physical Ethernet adapters, also known as uplink adapters.

A vSwitch models a physical Ethernet switch. The default number of logical ports for a vSwitch is 56. However, you can create a vSwitch with up to 1016 ports in ESX Server. You can connect one network adapter of a virtual machine to each port. Each uplink adapter associated with a vSwitch uses one port.

Each vSwitch can also have one or more port groups assigned to it. Each logical port on the vSwitch is a member of a single port group. Port groups aggregate multiple ports under a common configuration and provide a stable anchor point for virtual machines connecting to labeled networks. Each port group is identified by a network label, which is unique to the current host. A VLAN ID, which restricts port group traffic to a logical Ethernet segment within the physical network, is optional.

For detailed information about virtual switches (vSwitches) and port groups, see the Server Configuration Guide. (Choose Help > Manuals.)

The following sections describe how to create and configure virtual switches and port groups:

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Virtual Switches and Port Groups : Using the Add Network Wizard

Using the Add Network Wizard You can use the Add Network Wizard to create a virtual switch on an ESX Server host, or to create a port group on a virtual switch.

Conditions

For more information about how to add a virtual switch or port group, see one of the following:

• Using the Add Network Wizard

• Using the vSwitch Properties Dialog Box - Ports Tab

• Using the Network Adapters Tab of the vSwitch Properties Dialog Box

• Using the vSwitch/Port Group Properties Dialog Box

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this page or dialog box:

Host object > Configuration tab > Hardware Networking link > Add Networking link (to add a vSwitch) Host object > Configuration tab > Hardware Networking link > Properties link for vSwitch > Add (to add a port group)

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > Network Configuration

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Virtual Switches and Port Groups : Using the vSwitch Properties Dialog Box -Ports Tab

Using the vSwitch Properties Dialog Box - Ports Tab You can use the ports tab of the vSwitch properties dialog box to carry out a number of configuration tasks on virtual switches and port groups.

Conditions

For more information about the task you want to perform, see one of the following:

Virtual Switch Tasks

Port Group Tasks

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Virtual Switches and Port Groups : Using the Network Adapters Tab of the vSwitch Properties Dialog Box

Using the Network Adapters Tab of the vSwitch Properties Dialog Box You can use the Network Adapters tab of the vSwitch Properties dialog box to add uplink adapters to a virtual switch or to remove them. You can also use this tab to configure the uplink speed of a network adapter.

Conditions

• Adding a Virtual Switch

• Adding a Port Group

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this page or dialog box:

Host object > Configuration tab > Hardware Networking link > Properties link for vSwitch > Ports tab

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > Network Configuration Network > Delete Network

• Editing the Number of Ports for a Virtual Switch

• Editing Security Policy for a Virtual Switch

• Editing the Traffic Shaping Policy for a Virtual Switch

• Editing Failover and Load Balancing Policy for a Virtual Switch

• Editing Service Console Properties

• Adding a Port Group

• Removing a Port Group

• Editing the Nework Label and VLAN ID for a Port Group

• Overriding Policies for a Port Group

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For more information about the task you want to perform, see one of the following:

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Virtual Switches and Port Groups : Using the vSwitch/Port Group Properties Dialog Box

Using the vSwitch/Port Group Properties Dialog Box Use the vSwitch/Port Group Properties dialog box to edit properties for virtual switches and port groups. The dialog box has four tabs: General, Security, Traffic Shaping, and NIC Teaming.

Conditions

For more information about the task you want to perform, see one of the following:

[email protected] | Copyright © 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

Configuring a Host : Configuring Virtual Switches and Port Groups : Adding a Virtual Switch

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this page or dialog box:

Host object > Configuration tab > Hardware Networking link > Properties link for vSwitch > Network Adapters tab

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > Network Configuration Network > Delete Network

• Adding a Network Adapter

• Removing a Network Adapter

• Editing the Network Adapter Speed

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this page or dialog box:

Host object > Configuration tab > Hardware Networking link > Properties link for vSwitch > vSwitch or Port Group > Edit

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > Network Configuration

• Editing the Number of Ports for a Virtual Switch

• Editing Security Policy for a Virtual Switch

• Editing the Traffic Shaping Policy for a Virtual Switch

• Editing Failover and Load Balancing Policy for a Virtual Switch

• Editing Service Console Properties

• Editing the Nework Label and VLAN ID for a Port Group

• Overriding Policies for a Port Group

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Adding a Virtual Switch Use the Add Network wizard to create a virtual switch.

Conditions

To add a new virtual switch

ESX Server 3i does not have a service console.

Virtual machines reach networks through uplink adapters. All network traffic is routed locally within the host. A vSwitch can transfer data to external networks only when one or more network adapters are attached to it. When two or more adapters are attached to a single vSwitch, they are transparently teamed.

You can create a vSwitch with or without adapters. Virtual machines can connect to a host-only network but usually do not. Changes are reflected in the Preview pane.

Network traffic between the newly created virtual switch and the physical network is passed over the selected NICs.

Use network labels to identify migration-compatible connections common to two or more hosts.

Make any needed changes to the appropriate page.

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Virtual Switches and Port Groups : Removing a Virtual Switch

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this page or dialog box:

Host object > Hardware Networking link > Add Networking link

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > Network Configuration Network > Delete Network

1. Click the arrow next to the Inventory button in the navigation bar and choose Hosts and Clusters.

2. Select the host and click the Configuration tab.

3. Click the Networking link under Hardware.

4. Click the Add Networking link.

5. Select a connection type:

• Virtual Machine lets you add a labelled network to handle virtual machine network traffic.

• VMkernel lets you connect the VMkernel, which runs services for VMotion and IP Storage to the physical network.

• Service Console adds support for host management traffic.

6. Click Next.

7. Select Create a virtual switch.

8. Use the check boxes to select the network adapters your vSwitch will use.

9. Click Next.

10. Under Port Group Properties, select or type a network label.

11. In the VLAN ID field, enter a number between 1 and 4095.

12. Click Next.

13. Review the options you entered.

14. Click Finish.

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Removing a Virtual Switch You can remove a virtual switch from the Configuration tab.

To remove a virtual switch

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Virtual Switches and Port Groups : Editing the Number of Ports for a Virtual Switch

Editing the Number of Ports for a Virtual Switch A virtual switch serves as a container for port configurations that use a common set of network adapters, including sets that contain no network adapter at all. Every virtual switch provides a finite set of ports through which virtual machines, the service console (on ESX Server 3 hosts), and the VMkernel can reach one or more networks.

Conditions

To edit virtual switch ports

The hardware configuration page for this server appears.

Modifications do not take effect until you reboot your host.

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Virtual Switches and Port Groups : Editing Security Policy for a Virtual Switch

1. Click the arrow next to the Inventory button in the navigation bar and choose Hosts and Clusters.

2. Select the host and click the Configuration tab.

3. Click the Networking link under Hardware.

4. Click Remove next to the virtual switch to remove.

5. Click Yes.

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this panel:

Configuration tab > Hardware Networking link > Properties link > Ports tab

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > Network Configuration

1. Log in to the VI Client and select the host from the inventory panel.

2. Click the Configuration tab, and click Networking.

3. On the right side of the screen, find the vSwitch to edit and click Properties for that vSwitch.

4. Click the Ports tab.

5. Select the vSwitch to edit.

6. Click Edit.

7. On the General tab, select the number of ports.

8. Click OK.

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Editing Security Policy for a Virtual Switch You can set Layer 2 security policy for a virtual switch. You can override the switch-level settings for individual port groups by editing the settings for the port group.

Layer 2 is the data link layer. The three elements of the Layer 2 Security policy are promiscuous mode, MAC address changes, and forged transmits. In non-promiscuous mode, a guest adapter listens to traffic only on its own MAC address. In promiscuous mode, it can listen to all the packets. By default, guest adapters are set to non-promiscuous mode.

For more information on security, see the ESX Server 3 Server Configuration Guide or the ESX Server 3i Configuration Guide as appropriate for your system.

To edit the Layer 2 Security policy

If the guest operating system changes the MAC address back to match the MAC address in the .vmx configuration file, inbound frames will be passed again.

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Virtual Switches and Port Groups : Editing the Traffic Shaping Policy for a Virtual Switch

Editing the Traffic Shaping Policy for a Virtual Switch ESX Server shapes traffic by establishing parameters for three outbound traffic characteristics: average bandwidth, burst size, and peak bandwidth. You can set values for these characteristics through the VI Client, establishing a traffic shaping policy for each uplink adapter:

1. Log in to the VI Client and select the server from the inventory panel.

2. Click the Configuration tab and click Networking.

3. Click Properties for the vSwitch whose Layer 2 Security policy to edit.

4. In the Properties dialog box for the vSwitch, click the Ports tab.

5. Select the vSwitch item and click Edit.

6. Click the Security tab.

7. In the Policy Exceptions pane, select whether to reject or accept the Layer2 Security policy exceptions:

• Promiscuous Mode

• Reject – Placing a guest adapter in promiscuous mode has no effect on which frames the adapter receives.

• Accept – Placing a guest adapter in promiscuous mode causes it to detect all frames passed on the vSwitch that are allowed under the VLAN policy for the port group that the adapter is connected to.

• MAC Address Changes

• Reject – If you set the MAC Address Changes to Reject and the guest operating system changes the MAC address of the adapter to anything other than what is in the .vmx configuration file, all inbound frames are dropped.

• Accept – Changing the MAC address from the guest operating system has the intended effect: frames to the new MAC address are received.

• Forged Transmits

• Reject – Any outbound frame with a source MAC address that is different from the MAC address set on the adapter is dropped.

• Accept – No filtering is performed and all outbound frames are passed.

8. Click OK.

• Average Bandwidth establishes the number of bits per second to allow across the vSwitch, averaged over time—the allowed average load.

• Burst Size establishes the maximum number of bytes to allow in a burst. If a burst exceeds the burst size parameter, excess packets are queued for later transmission.

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If the queue is full, the packets are dropped. When you specify values for these two characteristics, you indicate what you expect the vSwitch to handle during normal operation.

To edit the Traffic Shaping policy

When traffic shaping is disabled, the tunable features are dimmed. You can selectively override all traffic-shaping features at the port group level if traffic shaping is enabled.

The Status policy here is applied to each virtual adapter attached to the port group, not to the vSwitch as a whole.

The following fields define network traffic parameters:

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Virtual Switches and Port Groups : Editing Failover and Load Balancing Policy for a Virtual Switch

Editing Failover and Load Balancing Policy for a Virtual Switch Use Load Balancing and Failover policies to determine how network traffic is distributed between adapters and how to reroute traffic in the event of an adapter failure by configuring the following parameters:

The Load Balancing policy determines how outgoing traffic is distributed among the network adapters assigned to a vSwitch.

Note: Incoming traffic is controlled by the Load Balancing policy on the physical switch.

In some cases, you might lose vSwitch connectivity when a failover or failback event occurs. This causes the MAC addresses used by virtual machines associated with that vSwitch to appear on a different switch port than they previously did. To avoid this problem, put your

• Peak Bandwidth is the maximum bandwidth the vSwitch can absorb without dropping packets. If traffic exceeds the peak bandwidth that you establish, excess packets are queued for later transmission after traffic on the connection returns to the average and there is enough capacity to handle the queued packets. If the queue is full, the packets are dropped. Even if you have spare bandwidth because the connection was idle, the peak bandwidth parameter limits transmission to no more than peak until traffic returns to the allowed average load.

1. Log in to the VI Client and select the server from the inventory panel.

2. Click the Configuration tab and click Networking.

3. Select a vSwitch and click Properties.

4. Click the Ports tab.

5. Select the vSwitch and click Edit.

6. Click the Traffic Shaping tab.

• Status – If you enable the policy exception in the Status field, you set limits on the amount of networking bandwidth allocation for each virtual adapter associated with this particular port group. If you disable the policy, services have a clear connection to the physical network by default.

• Average Bandwidth – A value measured over a particular period of time.

• Peak Bandwidth – A value that is the maximum bandwidth allowed and that can never be smaller than average bandwidth. This parameter limits the maximum bandwidth during a burst.

• Burst Size – A value specifying how large a burst can be in kilobytes (KB). This parameter controls the amount of data that can be sent in one burst while exceeding the average rate.

• Load Balancing policy

• Failover Detection: Link Status/Beacon Probing

• Network Adapter Order (Active/Standby)

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physical switch in portfast or portfast trunk mode.

To edit the failover and load balancing policy

The hardware configuration page for this server appears.

You can override the failover order at the port group level. By default, new adapters are active for all policies. New adapters carry traffic for the vSwitch and its port group unless you specify otherwise.

If you select Yes, whenever a virtual NIC is connected to the vSwitch or whenever that virtual NIC’s traffic is routed over a different physical NIC in the team because of a failover event, a notification is sent over the network to update the lookup tables on the physical switches. In almost all cases, this is desirable for the lowest latency of failover occurrences and migrations with VMotion.

Do not use this option when the virtual machines using the port group are using Microsoft Network Load Balancing in unicast mode. No such issue exists with NLB running in multicast mode.

This option determines how a physical adapter is returned to active duty after recovering from a failure. If failback is set to Yes (default), the adapter is returned to active duty immediately on recovery, displacing the standby adapter that took over its slot, if any. If failback is set to No, a failed adapter is left inactive even after recovery until another active adapter fails, requiring its replacement.

1. Log in to the VI Client and select the server from the inventory panel.

2. Click the Configuration tab and click Networking.

3. Select a vSwitch and click Edit.

4. Click the Ports tab.

5. To edit the Failover and Load Balancing values for the vSwitch, select the vSwitch item and click Properties.

6. Click the NIC Teaming tab.

7. In the Load Balancing list , select one of the following options for how to choose an uplink:

• Route based on the originating port ID – Choose an uplink based on the virtual port where the traffic entered the virtual switch.

• Route based on ip hash – Choose an uplink based on a hash of the source and destination IP addresses of each packet. For non-IP packets, whatever is at those offsets is used to compute the hash.

• Route based on source MAC hash – Choose an uplink based on a hash of the source Ethernet.

• Use explicit failover order – Always use the highest order uplink from the list of Active adapters that passes failover detection criteria.

8. In the Network failover detection list, select one of the following options to use for failover detection:

• Link Status only – Relies solely on the link status that the network adapter provides. This option detects failures, such as cable pulls and physical switch power failures, but not configuration errors, such as a physical switch port being blocked by spanning tree or misconfigured to the wrong VLAN or cable pulls on the other side of a physical switch.

• Beacon Probing – Sends out and listens for beacon probes on all NICs in the team and uses this information, in addition to link status, to determine link failure. This option detects many of the failures mentioned above that are not detected by link status alone.

9. Select Yes or No to notify switches in the case of failover.

10. Select Yes or No to disable or enable failback.

11. Set Failover Order to specify how to distribute the work load for adapters. To use some adapters but reserve others for emergencies, you can set this condition using the drop-down menu to place them into the following groups:

• Active Adapters – Continue to use the adapter when the network adapter connectivity is available and active.

• Standby Adapters – Use this adapter if one of the active adapter’s connectivity is unavailable.

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Virtual Switches and Port Groups : Preparing To Modify the Service Console Connection

Preparing To Modify the Service Console Connection Caution: If the host you are configuring has only one service console connection, modifying this connection in any way might disconnect all management agents, including the client you are using to make the changes.

Because ESX Server 3i does not have a service console, you cannot modify the service console on ESX Server 3i hosts.

VMware recommends that you:

After you log in with the second client, you can log out from the first client.

For detailed information about creating virtual switch connections, see the Help topic Configuring Virtual Switches and Port Groups and the Server Configuration Guide (choose Help > Manuals).

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Virtual Switches and Port Groups : Editing Service Console Properties

Editing Service Console Properties Caution: If you edit the service console settings, you might disconnect all management agents, including this one, and you will have to reconfigure the service console connection at the host system site. See the Help topic Preparing To Modify the Service Console Connection.

To edit service console properties

A warning dialog box appears to explain that modifying your service console connection might disconnect all management agents.

You can use the Security, Traffic Shaping, and NIC Teaming tabs

• Unused Adapters – Do not use this adapter.

1. Create a backup service console connection with a new IP configuration—specified statically or obtained through DHCP.

2. Open a second VMware Infrastructure Client, and connect it to the IP address you configured in Step 1.

3. Using the second client, modify the original service console connection as you planned.

4. Open another VI Client and connect it to the IP address of the original service console connection that you modified in Step 3.

5. After you log in, close the client you opened in Step 2 and delete the backup connection you created in Step 1.

1. Log in to the VMware VI Client and select the host from the inventory panel.

2. Click the Configuration tab and click Networking.

3. On the right side of the screen, find the vSwitch to edit and click Properties for that vSwitch.

4. Click the Ports tab.

5. Select Service Console and click Edit.

6. To continue with the service console configuration, click Continue modifying this connection.

7. Edit port properties, IP settings, and effective policies as necessary.

8. Click OK.

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Only one default gateway can be configured per TCP/IP stack.

Because ESX Server 3i does not have a service console, you cannot modify the service console on ESX Server 3i hosts.

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Virtual Switches and Port Groups : Adding a Port Group

Adding a Port Group Port groups aggregate multiple ports under a common configuration and provide a stable anchor point for virtual machines connecting to labeled networks. Each port group is identified by a network label, which is unique to the current host. A VLAN ID, which restricts port group traffic to a logical Ethernet segment within the physical network, is optional.

To add a port group

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Virtual Switches and Port Groups : Removing a Port Group

Removing a Port Group You can use the vSwitch Properties dialog box to remove a port group.

To remove a port group

A dialog box appears with the message, “Are you sure you want to remove <Port Group

1. Log in to the VMware VI Client and select the host from the inventory panel.

2. Click the Configuration tab and click Networking.

3. On the right side of the screen, find the vSwitch that to add a port group to and click Properties for that vSwitch.

4. In the vSwitch Properties dialog box, click the Ports tab.

5. Click Add.

6. On the Connection Type page, select one of the following connection types:

• Virtual Machine – Add a labelled network for virtual machine network traffic.

• VMkernel – Add a labelled network for the VMkernel to handle traffic for VMotion, iSCSI, and NFS.

• Service Console – Add a network for service console network traffic. This option is available only on ESX Server 3 systems. ESX Server 3i systems do not have a service console.

7. Click Next.

8. On the Connection Settings page, do the following:

a. In the Network Label text box, enter a name for the port group.

b. (Optional) In the VLAN ID dropdown list, select a VLAN ID for this network.

c. Click Next.

9. On the Summary page, review the new port group configuration and click Finish.

1. Log in to the VMware VI Client and select the host from the inventory panel.

2. Click the Configuration tab, and click Networking.

3. On the right side of the screen, find the vSwitch to remove a port group from and click Properties for that vSwitch.

4. In the vSwitch Properties dialog box, click the Ports tab.

5. Select the port group to remove, and click Remove.

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Name>?”

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Virtual Switches and Port Groups : Editing the Nework Label and VLAN ID for a Port Group

Editing the Nework Label and VLAN ID for a Port Group To change the Network Label and VLAN ID for a port group

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Virtual Switches and Port Groups : Overriding Policies for a Port Group

Overriding Policies for a Port Group By default, port groups use the security, traffic shaping, and NIC teaming policies defined for their virtual switch. However, you can override these policies for individual port groups.

To override policies for a port group

For more information on these settings, see Editing Security Policy for a Virtual Switch.

For more information on these settings, see Editing the Traffic Shaping Policy for a Virtual Switch.

For more information on these settings, see Editing Failover and Load Balancing Policy for a Virtual Switch.

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6. Click Yes.

1. Log in to the VMware VI Client and select the host from the inventory panel.

2. Click the Configuration tab and click Networking.

3. On the right side of the screen, find the vSwitch to edit and click Properties for that vSwitch.

4. Click the Ports tab.

5. Select the port group, and click Edit.

6. Click the General tab.

7. Edit the Network Label or the VLAN ID and click OK to save the new settings.

1. Log in to the VMware VI Client and select the host from the inventory panel.

2. Click the Configuration tab and click Networking.

3. On the right side of the screen, find the vSwitch to edit and click Properties for that vSwitch.

4. Click the Ports tab.

5. Select the port group and click Edit.

6. Click the Security tab.

7. Select the check box for the labeled network policy to override.

8. Click the Traffic Shaping tab.

9. Select the check box to override the enabled or disabled Status.

10. Click the NIC Teaming tab.

11. Select the associated check box to override the load balancing or failover order policies.

12. Click OK.

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Virtual Switches and Port Groups : Adding a Network Adapter

Adding a Network Adapter You can use the Add Adapter wizard to add additional physical uplink adapters to a virtual switch.

To add a network adapter

The hardware configuration page for this server appears.

If you select an adapter attached to another virtual switch, it is removed from that virtual switch and reassigned to the current switch.

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Virtual Switches and Port Groups : Removing a Network Adapter

Removing a Network Adapter You can remove a network adapter from a virtual switch if you no longer want that adapter to serve as an uplink adapter for the physical switch.

To remove a network adapter

A dialog box appears with the message, “Are you sure you want to remove <adapter name>?”

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Virtual Switches and Port Groups : Editing the Network Adapter Speed

1. Log in to the VI Client and select the host from the inventory panel.

2. Click the Configuration tab and click Networking.

3. On the right side of the screen, find the vSwitch to add a network adapter to and click Properties for that vSwitch.

4. Click the Network Adapters tab and click Add.

5. On the Adapter page, select one or more adapters from the list.

6. On the NIC Order page, configure failover order by distributing adapters between the following two groups:

• Active Adapters – Continue to use the adapter when the network adapter connectivity is available and active.

• Standby Adapters – Use this adapter if one of the active adapter’s connectivity is unavailable.

7. Click Next.

8. On the Summary page, review the list of adapters that will be added to this virtual switch and click Finish.

1. Log in to the VI Client and select the host from the inventory panel.

2. Click the Configuration tab and click Networking.

3. On the right side of the screen, find the vSwitch to remove a network adapter from and click Properties for that vSwitch.

4. Click the Network Adapters tab and click Remove.

5. Click Yes.

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Editing the Network Adapter Speed You can use the Adjust Adapter Speed dialog box to adjust the adapter speed.

Conditions

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Processors

Configuring Processors The host Processors panel displays information about the processors associated with the host.

Conditions

Under General, the following information is available:

Under System, information such as system manufacturer and model appears. On Dell servers running ESX Server 3i, you can select the device that the server boots from. See Configuring the Boot Device on an ESX Server 3i Host.

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Processors : Enabling Hyperthreading

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this dialog box:

Configuration tab > Hardware Networking link > Properties link > Network Adapters tab > Edit

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > Network Configuration

Related Topics: Using the Network Adapters Tab of the vSwitch Properties Dialog Box

Inventory panel object: Inventory button > host object

To reach this panel: Configuration tab > Processors link

Minimum required privileges:

Read-Only User privilege

Related Topics: Enabling Hyperthreading

• Model – Processor model.

• Physical Processors – Number of physical processors on the host.

• Processor Speed – Speed of processor.

• Processor Cores per Socket

• Hyperthreading – Whether hyperthreading is enabled. See Enabling Hyperthreading.

• Logical Processors – Number of logical processors on the host.

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Enabling Hyperthreading Hyperthreading technology allows a single physical processor to behave like two logical processors in that they can run two independent applications at the same time.

In the Processors Properties dialog box, select the Enabled check box to enable hyperthreading. Deselect the check box to disable hyperthreading.

For more information on hyperthreading, see the Resource Management Guide.

Conditions

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Processors : Configuring the Boot Device on an ESX Server 3i Host

Configuring the Boot Device on an ESX Server 3i Host On servers running ESX Server 3i, you can select the device that the server boots from.

Conditions

To configure the boot device

If you do not select Apply and Reboot on OK, the new setting takes effect when the host is next rebooted.

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Memory

Configuring Memory The host Memory panel displays the following information about memory on the host.

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this dialog box:

Configuration tab > Processors link > Properties link

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > Hyperthreading

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > ESX Server 3i host object

To reach this dialog box:

Configuration tab > Processors link > Boot Options link

1. On the Configuration tab for the ESX Server 3i host, click the Processors link.

2. Click the Boot Options link.

3. Select a boot device from the drop-down menu.

4. To reboot immediately from the device you have selected, select Apply and Reboot on OK.

5. Click OK.

Total Total memory.

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Conditions

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Memory : Memory Properties for ESX Server

Memory Properties for ESX Server To change the amount of memory allocated to the service console, type the amount of memory you want to allocate in the Service Console field in the Memory Properties dialog box and click OK.

Because ESX Server 3i does not have a service console, this setting does not apply to ESX Server 3i hosts.

Conditions

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Configuring a Host : Storage Adapters

Storage Adapters Under Storage Adapters, the following information about host storage adapters is available.

System Memory allocated for the VMkernel, device drivers, and the virtualization layer. See the Resource Management Guide. (Choose Help > Manuals.)

Virtual Machines

Memory allocated to virtual machines. See Memory Resources.

Service Console

Memory allocated to the service console on an ESX Server 3 host. ESX Server 3i hosts do not have a service console. See Memory Properties for ESX Server for information about changing this value.

Inventory panel object: Inventory button > host object

To reach this panel: Configuration tab > Memory link

Minimum required privileges:

Read-Only User privileges

Related Topics: Memory Properties for ESX Server

Inventory panel object: Inventory button > ESX Server host object

To reach this dialog box:

Configuration tab > Memory link > Properties link

Privilege needed to do this task:

Host > Configuration > Memory

Related Topics: Configuring Memory

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To scan the host for storage adapters and VMFS file systems, click Rescan. See Scanning for Storage Adapters and VMFS File Systems.

Conditions

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Configuring a Host : Storage Adapters : iSCSI Properties

iSCSI Properties The information in the following table includes the topics, subtopics, and procedures that describe how to configure iSCSI properties.

Device Name of the storage device.

Type Type of storage device.

Target ID Target ID of the SCSI controller.

Inventory panel object: Inventory button > host object

To reach this panel: Configuration tab > Storage Adapters link

Privilege needed to view this panel:

Read-Only User privileges

Related Topics: iSCSI Properties Scanning for Storage Adapters and VMFS File Systems

Main topic Subtopic Procedure

About iSCSI Storage

iSCSI Initiators

Naming Requirements

Discovery Methods

iSCSI Security

Configuring Hardware-Initiated iSCSI Storage

Installing an iSCSI Hardware Initiator

Viewing an iSCSI Hardware Initiator

To view the iSCSI hardware initiator properties

Configuring an iSCSI Hardware Initiator

Setting up the iSCSI name and IP address for the hardware initiator

Dynamic Discovery

CHAP Authentication

Configuring Viewing an iSCSI To view the iSCSI

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Conditions

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Configuring a Host : Storage Adapters : About iSCSI Storage

About iSCSI Storage ESX Server 3.0 or later supports iSCSI technology that allows your ESX Server system to use an IP network to access remote storage. With iSCSI, SCSI storage commands that your virtual machine issues to its virtual disk are converted into TCP/IP protocol packets and transmitted to a remote device, or target, that stores the virtual disk. To the virtual machine, the device appears as a locally attached SCSI drive.

See these topics:

iSCSI Initiators

Naming Requirements

Discovery Methods

iSCSI Security

iSCSI Initiators To access remote targets, your ESX Server host uses iSCSI initiators. Initiators transport SCSI requests and responses between the ESX Server system and the target storage device on the IP network.

ESX Server supports hardware-based and software-based iSCSI initiators:

Guest operating systems in virtual machines cannot access iSCSI HBAs directly. Guest operating systems can access virtual SCSI drives, which ESX Server maps over iSCSI.

This release does not support using both the hardware and software iSCSI initiators on the same ESX Server system. Use the software initiator only when iSCSI traffic goes over

Software-Initiated iSCSI Storage

Software Initiator software initiator properties

Configuring an iSCSI Software Initiator

To enable the iSCSI software initiator

Dynamic Discovery

CHAP Authentication

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this panel: Configuration tab > Storage Adapters link

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > Storage Partition Configuration

• A hardware iSCSI initiator lets you use a third-party host bus adapter (HBA) with the iSCSI over TCP/IP capability. This specialized iSCSI adapter is responsible for all iSCSI processing and management. The iSCSI adapter exposes itself as a SCSI HBA to the guest operating system.

• The ESX Server software iSCSI initiator, which is built into VMkernel, allows your ESX Server system to connect to the iSCSI storage device through the standard network adapter. The software initiator handles the iSCSI processing while communicating with the network adapter through the network stack. The software initiator lets you use the iSCSI technology without having to purchase specialized hardware.

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standard network adapters, not when the specialized iSCSI adapters are used.

Naming Requirements All iSCSI initiators and targets that use the network have unique and permanent iSCSI names and are assigned addresses for access. The iSCSI name provides a correct identification of a particular iSCSI device, an initiator or a target, regardless of its physical location.

Use one of the following name formats for the initiators.

Discovery Methods To determine which storage resource on the network is available for access, the iSCSI initiators that the ESX Server system supports use these discovery methods.

The static discovery method is available only with the hardware-initiated storage.

iSCSI Security Because iSCSI technology uses the Internet to connect to remote targets, you mustensure the security of the connection. The IP protocol itself does not protect the data it transports, and it cannot verify the legitimacy of initiators that access targets on the network. Therefore, you need to take specific measures to guarantee security across IP networks.

ESX Server supports the Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) that your iSCSI initiators can use for authentication purposes. After your initiator establishes the initial connection with the target, CHAP verifies the identity of the initiator and checks a CHAP secret that your initiator and the target share. This can be repeated periodically during the iSCSI session.

When configuring iSCSI initiators for your ESX Server system, make sure that CHAP is enabled. For more information about SCSI security, see the Server Configuration Guide (choose Help > Manuals).

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IQN (iSCSI qualified name)

Can be up to 223 characters long and has the following format: iqn.<year-mo>.<reversed_domain_name>:<unique_name> where:

<year-mo> The year and month your domain name was registered

<reversed_domain_name> The official domain name, reversed

<unique_name> Any name you want to use, for example, the name of your server

Example: iqn.1998-01.com.mycompany.myserve

EUI (extended unique identifier)

The eui. prefix followed by the 16-character name. The name includes 24 bits for the company name assigned by the IEEE and 40 bits for a unique ID such as a serial number.

• Dynamic Discovery – The initiator discovers iSCSI targets by sending a SendTargets request to a specified target address. You enter the address of the target device so that the initiator can establish a discovery session with this target. The target device responds by forwarding a list of additional targets that the initiator is allowed to access.

• Static Discovery – For hardware-initiated storage: After the target device used in the SendTargets session sends you the list of additional available targets, they appear on the Static Discovery list. You can manually add any additional targets to this list, or remove targets you don’t need.

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Configuring a Host : Storage Adapters : Configuring Hardware-Initiated iSCSI Storage

Configuring Hardware-Initiated iSCSI Storage With the hardware-based iSCSI storage implementation, you use a specialized third-party adapter that can access iSCSI storage over TCP/IP. This iSCSI adapter handles all iSCSI processing and management for your ESX Server system.

Conditions

Install and configure the iSCSI hardware adapter before you set up the datastore that resides on an iSCSI storage device. For information on the datastore, see Creating a Datastore or Partition.

Use the following instructions when preparing and setting up datastores that you access through the iSCSI hardware connection:

Installing an iSCSI Hardware Initiator ESX Server 3.0 requires that your host system use the QLogic QLA4010 iSCSI HBA to initiate iSCSI transactions.

See the I/O Compatibility Guide for ESX Server (choose Help > Manuals).

For information on obtaining and installing the adapter, see the QLogic Web site at www.qlogic.com.

Viewing an iSCSI Hardware Initiator Before you begin configuring the iSCSI hardware initiator, make sure that the iSCSI HBA is successfully installed and appears on the list of adapters available for configuration. If the initiator is installed, you can view its properties on the iSCSI Initiator Properties dialog box.

Conditions

To view the iSCSI hardware initiator properties

You can now configure your hardware initiator or change its default characteristics.

Configuring an iSCSI Hardware Initiator

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this panel: Configuration tab > Storage Adapters link

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > Storage Partition Configuration

• Installing an iSCSI Hardware Initiator

• Viewing an iSCSI Hardware Initiator

• Configuring an iSCSI Hardware Initiator

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this dialog box:

Configuration tab > Storage Adapters link > Properties link

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > Storage Partition Configuration

1. Select a server from the inventory panel.

2. Click the Configuration tab and click Storage Adapters.

3. Under HBA, choose the initiator to configure.

4. Click Properties.

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To configure the iSCSI hardware initiator, set up the initiator’s iSCSI name, IP address, target addresses and CHAP parameters. See the following sections:

After you configure your iSCSI hardware initiator, rescan, so that all LUNs that the initiator has access to appear on the list of storage devices available to your ESX Server. See Scanning for Storage Adapters and VMFS File Systems.

Setting up the iSCSI name and IP address for the hardware initiator You can configure the iSCSI name and addrewss for a hardware initiator.

Conditions

To set up the iSCSI name and IP address for the hardware initiator

Make sure the name you enter is properly formatted; otherwise, some storage devices might not recognize the iSCSI hardware initiator. See Naming Requirements.

The alias is a name that you use to identify the iSCSI hardware initiator.

Dynamic Discovery Use the Dynamic Discovery tab to set up target discovery addresses.

Conditions

To set up target discovery addresses for the hardware or software initiator

See Discovery Methods.

• Setting up the iSCSI name and IP address for the hardware initiator

• Dynamic Discovery

• CHAP Authentication

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this dialog box:

Configuration tab > Storage Adapters link > Properties link > Configure button

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > Storage Partition Configuration

1. In the iSCSI Initiator Properties dialog box, click Configure.

2. To change the default iSCSI name for your initiator, enter the new name.

3. Enter the iSCSI alias.

4. Type values for the following settings:

• IP Address

• Subnet Mask

• Default Gateway

• Preferred DNS Server

• (Optional) Alternate DNS server

5. Click OK.

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this dialog box:

Configuration tab > Storage Adapters link > Properties link > Dynamic Discovery tab

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > Storage Partition Configuration

1. In the iSCSI Initiator Properties dialog box, click the Dynamic Discovery tab.

2. To add a new iSCSI target your ESX Server host can use for a SendTargets session, click

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(Continued in Dynamic Discovery – Add or Edit)

Dynamic Discovery – Add or Edit (Continued from Dynamic Discovery)

Conditions

After your ESX Server host establishes the SendTargets session with this target device, any newly discovered targets appear in the Static Discovery list.

(Continued in Static Discovery)

Static Discovery (Continued from Dynamic Discovery – Add or Edit)

Conditions

Static Discovery – Add or Edit (Continued from Static Discovery)

Conditions

If you remove a dynamically discovered static target, the target can be returned to the

Add.

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this dialog box:

Configuration tab > Storage Adapters link > Properties link > Dynamic Discovery tab > Add or Edit button

Minimum required privileges

Host > Configuration > Storage Partition Configuration

3. Enter the target’s information and click OK.

4. To change or delete a specific target, select the target and click Edit or Remove.

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this dialog box:

Configuration tab > Storage Adapters link > Properties link > Static Discovery tab

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > Storage Partition Configuration

5. Click the Static Discovery tab to display all dynamically discovered targets.

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this dialog box:

Configuration tab > Storage Adapters link > Properties link > Static Discovery tab > Add or Edit button

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > Storage Partition Configuration

6. For the hardware initiator only: To add a target accessible to your ESX Server host, click Add and enter the target’s information.

7. To change or delete a specific dynamically discovered target, select the target and click Edit or Remove.

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list the next time a rescan occurs, the HBA is reset, or the system is rebooted.

CHAP Authentication This topic discusses how to set up the CHAP parameters for the hardware or software initiator.

Conditions

To set up CHAP parameters for the hardware or software initiator

The tab displays the default CHAP parameters. See iSCSI Security.

(Continued in CHAP Authentication – Configure)

CHAP Authentication – Configure (Continued from CHAP Authentication)

Conditions

All new targets use the CHAP secret to authenticate the initiator. Any established sessions are not affected.

If you decide to disable CHAP, all sessions that require CHAP authentication end immediately.

See Scanning for Storage Adapters and VMFS File Systems.

To create a datastore on an iSCSI storage device, see Creating a Datastore or Partition.

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Configuring a Host : Storage Adapters : Configuring Software-Initiated iSCSI Storage

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this dialog box:

Configuration tab > Storage Adapters link > Properties link > CHAP Authentication tab

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > Storage Partition Configuration

1. In the iSCSI Initiator Properties dialog box, click the CHAP Authetication tab.

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this dialog box:

Configuration tab > Storage Adapters link > Properties link > CHAP Authentication tab > Configure button

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > Storage Partition Configuration

2. To make any changes to the existing CHAP parameters, click Configure.

3. To keep CHAP enabled, select Use the following CHAP credentials.

4. To use a new CHAP name, deselect Use initiator name and enter a name.

5. If needed, specify the CHAP secret.

6. Click OK.

7. Perform a rescan.

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Configuring Software-Initiated iSCSI Storage With the software-based iSCSI implementation, you don’t need to purchase specialized hardware but can use a standard network adapter to connect your ESX Server system to a remote iSCSI target on the IP network. The ESX Server software iSCSI initiator built into VMkernel facilitates this connection by communicating with the network adapter through the network stack.

Before configuring software-based iSCSI storage, enable network connectivity and configure the iSCSI software initiator.

Use the following workflow when preparing and setting up datastores that use iSCSI software-initiated connection to access the iSCSI storage:

See the Server Configuration Guide for information about VMkernel configuration. (Choose Help > Manuals.)

To do so, enable the iSCSI software client service. For information about opening firewall ports, see the Server Configuration Guide. (Choose Help > Manuals.)

See Configuring an iSCSI Software Initiator.

See Creating a Datastore or Partition.

See Scanning for Storage Adapters and VMFS File Systems.

Viewing an iSCSI Software Initiator The software iSCSI adapter that your ESX Server system uses to access a software-initiated iSCSI storage device appears in the list of available adapters. You can use the VI Client to review its properties.

Conditions

To view the iSCSI software initiator properties

You can now configure your software initiator or change its default characteristics.

Configuring an iSCSI Software Initiator When you configure the iSCSI software initiator, enable your initiator and set up the initiator’s target addresses and CHAP parameters. See the following sections:

After you configure your iSCSI software initiator, rescan, so that all LUNs that the initiator has access to can appear on the list of storage devices available to your ESX Server. See Scanning for Storage Adapters and VMFS File Systems.

1. Configure the VMkernel TCP/IP networking stack.

2. (For ESX Server 3 only) Open a firewall port.

3. Configure the iSCSI software initiator.

4. Set up the datastore.

5. Rescan for new iSCSI LUNs.

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this dialog box:

Configuration tab > Storage Adapters link > Properties link

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > Storage Partition Configuration

1. Select a server from the inventory panel.

2. Click the Configuration tab and click Storage Adapter.

3. Under iSCSI Software Adapter, choose the available software initiator.

4. Click Properties.

• Enabling the iSCSI Software Initiator

• Dynamic Discovery

• CHAP Authentication

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Enabling the iSCSI Software Initiator To enable the iSCSI software initiator

Conditions

Make sure the name you enter is properly formatted; otherwise, some storage devices might not recognize the iSCSI software initiator.

The alias is a name that you use to identify the iSCSI software initiator.

Setting Up Target Discovery Addresses for the Software Initiator See Dynamic Discovery.

Setting Up CHAP Parameters for the Software Initiator See CHAP Authentication.

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Configuring a Host : Storage Adapters : Scanning for Storage Adapters and VMFS File Systems

Scanning for Storage Adapters and VMFS File Systems If a new LUN becomes accessible through the adapter, ESX Server registers this new virtual device for virtual machines to use. If an existing LUN is no longer used and appears to be gone, it is removed from use by virtual machines.

Consider performing a rescan when:

Conditions

To perform a rescan

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this dialog box:

Configuration tab > Storage Adapters link > Properties link > Configure button

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > Storage Partition Configuration

1. In the iSCSI Initiator Properties dialog box, click Configure.

2. To enable the initiator, select Enabled.

3. To change the default iSCSI name for your initiator, type the new name.

4. Enter the iSCSI alias or change the existing one.

5. Click OK.

• Any changes are made to storage disks or LUNs available to your ESX Server system

• Any changes are made to storage adapters

• Datastores are created

• Existing datastores are edited or removed

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this panel: Configuration tab > Storage Adapters link > Rescan link

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > Storage Partition Configuration

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You can also select an individual adapter and click Rescan to rescan only that adapter.

If new LUNs are discovered, they appear in the disk/LUN list.

If new datastores or VMFS volumes are discovered, they appear in the datastore list.

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Configuring a Host : Network Adapters

Network Adapters The host Network Adapters panel displays the following information about network adapters on the host:.

Conditions

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Configuring a Host : Time Configuration

Time Configuration The Time Configuration panel displays the following information about the date and time on the host:

1. In the VI Client, select a host and click the Configuration tab.

2. Choose Storage Adapters in the Hardware panel and click Rescan above the Storage Adapters panel.

3. To discover new disks or LUNs, select Scan for New Storage Devices.

4. To discover new datastores, select Scan for New VMFS Volumes.

Device Name of the network adapter.

Speed Network adapter speed.

Configured Configured speed of the network adapter.

vSwitch vSwitch associated with this network adapter.

Networks Networks associated with the network adapter.

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this panel: Configuration tab > Hardware Network Adapters link

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > Network Configuration

Date & Time

The current local date and time. Time displayed in the VI Client is always the local time in the location of the VI Client machine.

Server The time zone location set for the

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Conditions

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Configuring a Host : Time Configuration : Setting the Date and Time

Setting the Date and Time You can use the Time Configuration dialog box to set the date and time.

Conditions

To set the date and time

Use the local date and time for the location of the VI Client machine. The date and time are translated to GMT on the host.

ESX Server 3i hosts do not have a service console or a service console firewall. This setting is unavailable on ESX Server 3i hosts.

See Configuring NTP Server Settings.

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Location host.

NTP Client

Displays whether the host’s NTP client is running.

NTP Servers

The host names or IP addresses of configured NTP servers.

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this panel: Configuration tab > Software Time Configuration link

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > Change Date Time Settings

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this panel:

Configuration tab > Software Time Configuration link > Properties link

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > Change Date Time Settings

1. Select the host icon in the inventory panel.

2. Click the Configuration tab and click Time Configuration.

3. Click the Properties link at the top right of the panel.

4. Set the time and date.

5. Enter the location of the ESX Server host in the Location text box.

6. On an ESX Server 3 host, select NTP Client Enabled to open the service console firewall ports that the NTP service uses.

7. (Optional) Click Options to open the NTP Client (ntpd) Options dialog box.

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Licensed Features

Configuring Licensed Features The host Licensed Features panel displays the licensing information for features on this host.

Conditions

The License Sources section displays the license source currently used by the host. Available options include:

The ESX Server Edition section displays the edition name of the host license, the number of CPUs the license covers, and the features for this license type.

The Add-Ons section displays the add-ons licensed on this host.

For information about licensing for ESX Server 3, see the Installation Guide. For information about licensing for ESX Server 3i, see the Setup Guide. (Choose Help > Manuals.)

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Licensed Features : Configuring License Sources

Configuring License Sources You can choose whether the host looks for licenses on a license server or on the host itself.

Conditions

Inventory panel object: Inventory button > host object

To reach this panel: Configuration tab > Licensed Features link

Minimum required privileges:

Global > Licenses

Related Topics: Configuring License Sources Configuring ESX Server Licensing Configuring Add-on Licensing

Evaluation Mode

Indicates that the host is in Evaluation Mode. Evaluation Mode provides unlimited host services during the evaluation period. This setting is not available after the evaluation period has expired.

Serial Number

Indicates that the host uses serial-number based licensing.

License Server

Indicates that the host is using a license server. The license server associated with this host if you are using Centralized License Server as your licensing model.

Host License File

Indicates that the host is using a license file. .

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

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To have the host access licenses on a license server

See Configuring ESX Server Licensing.

To use license files stored on the host

See Configuring ESX Server Licensing.

To configure a host to use a serial number

See Configuring ESX Server Licensing.

To configure a host to use evaluation mode

See Configuring ESX Server Licensing.

For more information about licensing on ESX Server 3 hosts, see the Installation Guide. For more information about licensing on ESX Server 3i hosts, see the Setup Guide. (Choose Help > Manuals.)

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Licensed Features : Configuring ESX Server Licensing

Configuring ESX Server Licensing Conditions

To reach this dialog box:

Configuration tab > Licensed Features link > License Sources link > Edit

Minimum required privileges:

Global > Licenses

1. Select Use License Server (recommended).

2. Enter the license server machine name, and, optionally, a port in the Address field.

3. Click OK.

4. After you configure the license source for a host, choose an ESX Server license type to acquire from the license source.

1. Select Use Host License File.

2. To upload a local license file to the host, browse to the license file’s location and click OK.

3. After you configure the license source for a host, choose an ESX Server license type to acquire from the license source.

1. Select Use Serial Number.

2. Type or paste the serial number into the Serial Number text box.

3. Click OK.

4. After you configure the license source for a host, choose an ESX Server license type to acquire from the license source.

1. Select Use Evaluation Mode.

2. Click OK.

3. After you configure the license source for a host, choose an ESX Server license type to acquire from the license source.

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this dialog box:

Configuration tab > Licensed Features link > ESX Server License Type > Edit

Minimum required Global > Licenses

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To set the ESX Server license type

See Configuring Add-on Licensing.

For more information about licensing on ESX Server 3 hosts, see the Installation Guide. For more information about licensing on ESX Server 3i hosts, see the Setup Guide. (Choose Help > Manuals.)

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Licensed Features : Configuring Add-on Licensing

Configuring Add-on Licensing To change the add-on licensing for this host, select the check box for each add-on to license. Licenses for add-ons that appear with checks but no boxes are required by this host.

Conditions

You must manually select the check boxes for add-on licenses such as those for VMware Consolidated Backup and VMotion in order for these licenses to be acquired.

Add-on licenses such as those for VC Management Agents, VMware DRS, and VMware HA are implicitly acquired when hosts are added to the VirtualCenter inventory or to a DRS/HA-enabled cluster.

For more information about licensing on ESX Server 3 hosts, see the Installation Guide. For more information about licensing on ESX Server 3i hosts, see the Setup Guide. (Choose Help > Manuals.)

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Configuring a Host : Configuring DNS and Routing

Configuring DNS and Routing The host DNS and Routing panel displays DNS and routing configurations for this host. To change the DNS and routing configuration, click Properties.

Conditions

privileges:

1. Click Edit to the right of ESX Server Edition.

2. Select an appropriate license type, or select Unlicensed to release this host’s licenses back to the License Server.

3. Click OK.

4. After you configure the ESX Server license type to acquire from the license source, enable any additional add-on licenses for the host.

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this dialog box:

Configuration tab > Licensed Features link > Add-Ons > Edit

Minimum required privileges:

Global > Licenses

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Configuring a Host : Configuring DNS and Routing : DNS Configuration

DNS Configuration On the DNS Configuration tab, the name of the host is entered into the name field by default. The preferred DNS server addresses are preselected, as is the domain.

Conditions

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Configuring a Host : Configuring DNS and Routing : Routing Configuration

Routing Configuration On the Routing tab, the service console and the VMkernel are often not connected to the same network, and therefore each needs its own gateway information. A gateway is needed for connectivity to machines not on the same IP subnet as the service console or VMkernel.

For the service console, the gateway device is needed only when you have two or more vswifs using the same subnet. The gateway device is needed to decide which vswif is used for the default route.

Because ESX Server 3i does not have a service console, these settings do not apply to ESX Server 3i hosts.

Conditions

Inventory panel object: Inventory button > host object

To reach this panel: Configuration tab > DNS and Routing link

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration

Related Topics: DNS Configuration Routing Configuration

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this dialog box:

Configuration tab > DNS and Routing link > Properties link > DNS Configuration tab

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this dialog box:

Configuration tab > DNS and Routing link > Properties link > Routing tab

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Options for Virtual Machines Associated with the Host

Configuring Options for Virtual Machines Associated with the Host You can configure startup and shutdown properties and the delay settings for the virtual machines associated with the host. You use the Virtual Machine Startup and Shutdown Properties dialog box and the Virtual Machine Autostart Settings dialog box to configure these settings. See Configuring Virtual Machine Startup and Shutdown Properties.

You can also configure the default swapfile location for virtual machines associated with the host by using the Virtual Machine Swapfile Location dialog box. See Configuring Virtual Machine Swapfile Properties for the Host.

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Options for Virtual Machines Associated with the Host : Configuring Virtual Machine Startup and Shutdown Properties

Configuring Virtual Machine Startup and Shutdown Properties You can configure the automatic startup and shutdown properties and the delay settings for virtual machines.

Conditions

To configure virtual machine startup and shutdown

This delay allows time for VMware Tools or the booting system to run scripts.

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach these dialog boxes:

Configuration tab > Virtual Machine Startup/Shutdown link > Properties link

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > Virtual Machine Auto-Start Configuration

1. Click the Inventory button in the navigation bar, expand the inventory as needed, and click the appropriate managed host.

2. Click the Configuration tab to display configuration information for the host.

3. Click the Virtual Machine Startup/Shutdown link, and click Properties.

4. Select Allow virtual machines to start and stop automatically with the system.

5. Click Continue immediately if the VMware Tools starts to have the operating system boot immediately after VMware Tools starts.

6. To have the operating system start after a brief delay, enter a Default Startup Delay time.

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This shutdown delay applies only if the virtual machine has not already shut down before the delay period elapses. If the virtual machine shuts down before that delay time is reached, the next virtual machine starts shutting down.

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Options for Virtual Machines Associated with the Host : Configuring Virtual Machine Autostart Settings

Configuring Virtual Machine Autostart Settings The virtual machine autostart settings allow you to configure a startup and shutdown delay for each virtual machine.

To configure virtual machine autostart settings

If you select Use specified settings, type a Startup Delay time in seconds. Select or deselect Continue immediately if the VMware Tools start.

If you select Use specified settings, type a Shutdown Delay time in seconds. Then choose a shutdown action from the Perform shutdown action list.

Caution: You must enter a value in the Shutdown Delay time text field when you change the shutdown action; the text field cannot be empty. If you don't, you cannot save the shutdown action changes. Also, if you changed the shutdown action setting when accessing the setting from outside the VI Client, that change is not be reflected in the Autostart Settings manager if you did not also set the shutdown delay to a non-negative value.

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Configuring a Host : Configuring Options for Virtual Machines Associated with the Host : Configuring Virtual Machine Swapfile Properties for the Host

Configuring Virtual Machine Swapfile Properties for the Host From the Virtual Machine Swapfile Location dialog box, you can configure the default swapfile location for virtual machines on the host.

If VirtualCenter Server manages your host, you cannot change the swapfile location if you connect directly to the host by using the VI Client. You must connect to the VirtualCenter Server.

Conditions

7. Select a shutdown action.

8. Enter a Default Shutdown Delay value to delay shutdown for each virtual machine by a certain amount of time.

9. Use Move Up and Move Down to specify the order in which the virtual machines start when the system starts.

10. To configure user-specified autostartup and autoshutdown behavior for any virtual machine, select the virtual machine in the list and click Edit.

1. In the Startup Settings group, select either Use default or Use specified settings.

2. In the Shutdown Settings group, select either Use default or Use specified settings.

3. Click OK.

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

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By default, swapfiles for a virtual machine are located on a VMFS3 datastore in the folder that contains the other virtual machine files. However, you can instead configure your host to place virtual machine swapfiles on an alternative datastore. You might use this option to place virtual machine swapfiles on lower-cost or higher-performance storage, depending on your needs. You can also override this host-level setting for individual virtual machines.

Setting an alternative swapfile location might cause migrations with VMotion to complete more slowly. For best VMotion performance, store virtual machine swapfiles in the same directory as the virtual machine.

To configure a host’s default virtual machine swapfile location

The Configuration tab displays the selected swapfile location. If configuration of the swapfile location is not supported on the selected host, the tab indicates that the feature is not supported.

If the host is part of a cluster, and the cluster settings specify that swapfiles are to be stored in the same directory as the virtual machine, you cannot edit the swapfile location from the host configuration tab. To change the swapfile location for such a host, use the Cluster Settings dialog box. See Configuring a Virtual Machine Swapfile Location for a Cluster.

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Configuring a Host : Security Profile

Security Profile From the host Security Profile panel, you can configure firewall properties and virtual machine delegate settings for this host.

Conditions

To reach these dialog boxes:

Configuration tab > Virtual Machine Swapfile Location link

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > Virtual Machine Swapfile Location

1. Click the Inventory button in the navigation bar, expand the inventory as needed, and click the appropriate managed host.

2. Click the Configuration tab to display configuration information for the host.

3. Click the Virtual Machine Swapfile Location link.

4. Click Edit.

5. Select either Store the swapfile in the same directory as the virtual machine or Store the swapfile in a swapfile datastore selected below.

6. If you selected Store the swapfile in a swapfile datastore selected below, select a datastore from the list, and click OK.

Inventory panel object: Inventory button > host object

To reach this panel: Configuration tab > Security Profile link

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Security Profile and Firewall

Related Topics: Configuring Firewall Properties Configuring Lockdown Mode Configuring Virtual Machine Delegate Settings

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For more information about security profiles, see the Server Configuration Guide (choose Help > Manuals).

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Configuring a Host : Security Profile : Configuring Firewall Properties

Configuring Firewall Properties The Firewall Properties dialog box lists all the services and management agents you can configure for the host.

Conditions

In this dialog box, select the check boxes for the services and agents to enable. The Incoming Ports and Outgoing Ports columns indicates the port or ports that VirtualCenter opens for the service, and the Protocol column indicates the protocol the service uses.

ESX Server 3i hosts do not have a service console firewall to configure. The Incoming Ports and Outgoing Ports columns do not appear. However, you can still use this dialog box to select the services and agents to enable for the ESX Server 3i host.

By default, daemon processes start when any of their ports are opened and stop when all of their ports are closed. To change the startup policy for a daemon, see Setting Service or Client Startup Options.

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Configuring a Host : Security Profile : Setting Service or Client Startup Options

Setting Service or Client Startup Options You can change the startup policy for the selected service or client. You can also start, stop, or restart a service at any time.

Conditions

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this dialog box:

Configuration tab > Security Profile link > Firewall > Properties link

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > Security Profile and Firewall

Related Topics: Setting Service or Client Startup Options Configuring NTP Server Settings

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this dialog box:

Configuration tab > Security Profile link > Firewall > Properties link > service or client, running > Options

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > Security Profile and Firewall

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To change the startup policy

To stop, start, or restart a service

Click a Service Commands buttons to start, stop, or restart the service or client immediately.

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Configuring a Host : Security Profile : Configuring NTP Server Settings

Configuring NTP Server Settings The NTP Server Settings dialog box enables you to do the following:

Conditions

To add, edit, or remove an NTP server

If you do not select this check box, you must manually restart the service for your changes to take effect.

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1. Select one of the startup policy options:

• Start if any ports are open, and stop if all ports are closed

• Start and stop with system

• Start and stop manually

2. Click OK when you are finished making changes in the dialog box, or click Cancel to close the dialog box without making any changes.

• Add, edit, and remove NTP servers

• All actions described in Setting Service or Client Startup Options

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this dialog box:

Configuration tab > Security Profile link > Firewall > Properties link > NTP Client > Options button or Configuration tab > Time Configuration link > Properties link > Options button

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > Security Profile and Firewall

Related Topics: Setting Service or Client Startup Options

1. Select NTP Settings.

2. Do one of the following:

• To add an NTP server, click Add and enter the IP address or fully qualified domain name of an NTP server and click OK.

• To edit an entry, select an entry under NTP Servers and click Edit. Enter an IP address or fully qualified domain name and click OK.

• To remove an entry, select it and click Remove.

3. Select Restart NTP service to apply changes to restart the NTP service.

4. Click OK.

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Configuring a Host : Security Profile : Configuring Lockdown Mode

Configuring Lockdown Mode Enabling lockdown mode disables remote access to the host for the administrator account. Use lockdown mode to ensure that only VirtualCenter manages the host. You can perform certain limited management tasks while in lockdown mode by logging in to the local console on the host.

To enable or disable lockdown mode

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Configuring a Host : Security Profile : Configuring Virtual Machine Delegate Settings

Configuring Virtual Machine Delegate Settings To perform most administrative activities—for example, configuring devices, memory, and so forth—a virtual machine runs as a root user. Operating as root gives the virtual machine authorization to manage its resources.

If you are creating, configuring, and operating virtual machines on an NFS system, you might need to create a different user, known as a delegate user, to access the NFS system to create virtual machines, manage virtual machine files, and so forth.

Caution: Changing the delegate user for an ESX Server host is experimental and VMware does not support this implementation. Use of this function might result in unexpected behavior.

Conditions

To configure the virtual machine delegate

If it is not, right-click the host icon in the inventory panel, and choose Enter Maintenance Mode.

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1. Click the Inventory button in the navigation bar, expand the inventory as needed, and click the appropriate managed host.

2. Click the Configuration tab to display configuration information for the host.

3. Click Security Profile.

4. Click the Edit link next to Lockdown Mode.

5. Do one of the following:

• Select Enable Lockdown Mode to turn lockdown mode on for this host.

• Deselect Enable Lockdown Mode to turn lockdown mode off for this host.

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this dialog box:

Configuration tab > Security Profile link > Virtual Machine Delegate > Edit link

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration

1. Ensure that the host is in maintenance mode.

2. In the Virtual Machine Delegate dialog box, enter the user name for the delegate user.

3. Click OK.

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Configuring a Host : Editing System Resource Allocation

Editing System Resource Allocation Use the Edit System Resource Allocation dialog boxes to change allocations for system resources.

Conditions

Shares – CPU shares for this resource pool with respect to the parent’s total. Sibling resource pools share resources according to their relative share values bounded by the reservation and limit. Choose Low, Normal, or High, which specify share values respectively in a 1:2:4 ratio. Choose Custom to give each virtual machine a specific number of shares, which expresses a proportional weight.

Reservation – Guaranteed CPU allocation for this resource pool. Select Expandable Reservation to specify that more than the specified reservation is allocated if resources are available in a parent.

Limit – Upper limit for this resource pool’s CPU allocation. Select Unlimited to specify no upper limit.

Shares – Memory shares for this resource pool with respect to the parent’s total. Sibling resource pools share resources according to their relative share values bounded by the reservation and limit. Choose Low, Normal, or High, which specify share values respectively in a 1:2:4 ratio. Choose Custom to give each virtual machine a specific number of shares, which expresses a proportional weight.

Reservation – Guaranteed memory allocation for this resource pool. Select Expandable Reservation to specify that more than the specified reservation is allocated if resources are available in a parent.

Limit – Upper limit for this resource pool’s memory allocation. Select Unlimited to specify no upper limit.

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Configuring a Host : Modifying Advanced Settings for VMkernel Configuration Parameters

Modifying Advanced Settings for VMkernel Configuration Parameters Use the Advanced Settings option to view and modify the configuration parameters of the VMkernel.

Conditions

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

To reach this panel:

Configuration tab > System Resource Allocation link > system, console, vmotion

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > System Resource Settings

1. Edit the CPU Resources:

2. Edit the Memory Resources:

3. Click OK.

Inventory panel object: Inventory button > host object

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When you configure an ESX Server host, various system parameters are assigned predetermined values. These parameters control settings for memory, the processor, and networking, for example, and affect the running of virtual machines. You can view these settings from the management interface. Changing these values can help fine-tune the running of virtual machines.

Changes to the VMkernel.Boot parameters do not take effect until the next reboot.

Caution: Do not make any changes to these settings unless you are working with the VMware support team or otherwise have thorough information about the values to provide for the settings. There is no error checking for strings. String fields accept any input, correct or incorrect. Check your entries before you click OK.

Default values are stored on the server in /proc/vmware/config. You can reset those values if you accidentally change them.

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Configuring a Host : Modifying Syslog Settings for an ESX Server 3i Host

Modifying Syslog Settings for an ESX Server 3i Host Conditions

All ESX Server hosts run a syslog service (syslogd), which logs messages from the VMkernel and other system components to a file. On an ESX Server 3 host, you can configure syslog behavior by editing the /etc/syslog.conf file. On an ESX Server 3i host, you can use the VI Client or the Remote CLI to configure the following options:

To configure syslogd on an ESX Server 3i host

The datastore path should be of the form [<datastorename>] </path/to/file>, where the path is relative to the root of the volume backing the datastore. For example, the datastore path [storage1] var/log/messages maps to the

To reach this dialog box:

Configuration tab > Advanced Settings link

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > Advanced Configuration

Inventory panel object: Inventory button > host object

To reach this dialog box:

Configuration tab > Advanced Settings link

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > Advanced Configuration

Related topics System Logs

• Log file path – Specifies a datastore path to a file in which syslogd logs all messages.

• Remote host – Specifies a remote host to which syslog messages are forwarded. You can also specify the port on which the remote host receives messages.

1. Select the host in the VI Client inventory.

2. Click the Configuration tab.

3. Click Advanced Settings.

4. Select Syslog in the tree control.

5. In the Syslog.Local.DatastorePath text box, enter the datastore path for the file to which syslog will log messages.

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path /vmfs/volumes/storage1/var/log/messages.

If no path is specified, the default path is /var/log/messages.

If no value is specified, no forwarding takes place.

To receive the forwarded syslog messages, your remote host must have a syslog service installed and correctly configured. Consult the documentation for the syslog service installed on your remote host for information on configuration.

By default, this option is set to 514, which is the default UDP port that syslog uses. Changes to this option take effect only if Syslog.Remote.Hostname is configured.

Changes to the syslog options take effect immediately.

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Configuring a Host : Monitoring Host Health Status

Monitoring Host Health Status The host health monitoring tool allows you to monitor the health of a variety of host hardware components including:

The host health monitoring tool presents data gathered using Systems Management Architecture for Server Hardware (SMASH) profiles. The information displayed depends on the sensors available on your server hardware.

Conditions

To monitor the health of a host

The sensor data is displayed in a tree. The root of the tree displays the overall host health status.

If a component is functioning normally, the status indicator is green. The status indicator changes to yellow or red if a system component violates a performance threshold or is not functioning properly. Generally, a yellow indicator signifies degraded performance. A red indicator signifies that a component stopped operating or exceeded the highest threshold.

The Reading column displays the current values for the sensors. For instance, the column displays rotations per minute (RPM) for fans and degrees Celsius for temperature.

6. In the Syslog.Remote.Hostname text box, enter the name of the remote host to which syslog data will be forwarded.

7. In the Syslog.Remote.Port text box, enter the port on the remote host to which syslog data will be forwarded.

8. Click OK.

• CPU processors

• Memory

• Fans

• Temperature

• Voltage

• Software components

Inventory panel object: Inventory button > host object

To reach this dialog box:

Configuration tab > Health Status link

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Configuration > Advanced Configuration

1. Log in to VirtualCenter Server using the VI Client, and select the host in the inventory.

2. Click the Configuration tab, and click Health Status.

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You can set an alarm to trigger based on the overall health status of the host. For more information, see Creating and Editing Alarms.

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Configuring a Host : Monitoring Host Health Status : Resetting Sensors

Resetting Sensors Some host hardware sensors display data that is cumulative over time. You can reset these sensors to clear the data in them and begin collecting new data.

To reset sensors

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Configuring a Host : Monitoring Host Health Status : Refreshing Health Status Data

Refreshing Health Status Data The VI Client refreshes the data from host health sensors automatically every few minutes. You can also refresh data manually.

To refresh health status data

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Configuring a Host : Connecting or Disconnecting a Host

Connecting or Disconnecting a Host You can connect or disconnect a host that a particular VirtualCenter Server is managing.

Conditions

1. On the host Configuration tab, click Health Status.

2. Click Reset Sensors.

1. On the host Configuration tab, click Health Status.

2. Click Refresh.

VI Client connected to:

VirtualCenter Server

Inventory panel object:

Inventory button > host object

Virtual machine must be powered:

OFF if not DRS-enabled or migrated off of the host to be disconnected

To reach this dialog box:

Host object > right-click > Connect | Remove

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Inventory > Remove Host from Cluster Host > Inventory > Move Host

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Disconnecting a managed host does not remove it from the VirtualCenter inventory. It temporarily suspends all VirtualCenter monitoring activities. The managed host and its associated virtual machines remain in the VirtualCenter inventory. Removing a managed host removes the managed host and all its associated virtual machines from the VirtualCenter inventory.

To connect to a managed host

When the managed host's connection status to VirtualCenter is changed, the statuses of the virtual machines on that managed host are updated to reflect the change.

When the managed host is connected, the disconnected designation is removed and the object name is in bold. All associated virtual machines are similarly labeled.

To disconnect a managed host

When the managed host's connection status to VirtualCenter is changed, the statuses of the virtual machines on that managed host are updated to reflect the change.

When the managed host is disconnected, the word disconnected is appended to the object name in parentheses, and the object is dimmed. All associated virtual machines are similarly dimmed and labeled.

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Configuring a Host : Removing Hosts

Removing Hosts You can remove hosts from a cluster or from VirtualCenter.

Related Topics:

Removing a Host from a Cluster

Removing a Host from VirtualCenter

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Configuring a Host : Removing Hosts : Removing a Host from a Cluster

Removing a Host from a Cluster You can remove hosts from a cluster by selecting them from either the inventory panel or information panel list view and dragging them to a new location within the inventory (either to a folder as a standalone host or to another cluster).

Conditions

Host > Inventory > Maintain

1. Click the Inventory button in the navigation bar, expand the inventory as needed, and click the managed host.

2. If needed, add the managed host to the VirtualCenter inventory (see Adding a Host).

3. Right-click the managed host icon in the inventory panel and choose Connect.

1. Click the Inventory button in the navigation bar, expand the inventory as needed, and click the managed host.

2. If needed, add the managed host to the VirtualCenter inventory (see Adding a Host).

3. Right-click the managed host icon in the inventory panel and choose Disconnect.

4. Click Yes.

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When a host is removed from a cluster, the resources it provides are deducted from the total cluster resources, and the virtual machines deployed on it are either to be migrated to other hosts within the cluster or remain with the host and are removed from the cluster, depending on their current state.

A host can be removed from a cluster only if all the virtual machines on it are powered off and the host is placed into maintenance mode.

To remove a host from a cluster

What happens next depends on the type of cluster:

The term maintenance mode is added to the host name in parentheses.

When the host has no running virtual machines, it is in maintenance mode.

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Configuring a Host : Removing Hosts : Removing a Host from VirtualCenter

Removing a Host from VirtualCenter Removing a managed host from VirtualCenter breaks the connection and stops all monitoring

VI Client connected to: VirtualCenter Server

Inventory panel object: Inventory button > host object

Virtual machine must be powered:

OFF if not DRS-enabled or migrated

To reach this dialog box: Host object > right-click > Connect | Remove

Minimum required privileges:

Host > Inventory > Remove Host from Cluster Host > Inventory > Move Host Host > Inventory > Maintain

1. From a VI Client connected to a VirtualCenter Server, click the Inventory button in the navigation bar, expand the inventory as needed, and click the managed host.

2. Right-click the managed host icon in the inventory panel and choose Enter Maintenance Mode.

• Automatic DRS clusters: DRS migrates all virtual machines to a different host.

• Partially Automatic or Manual DRS clusters: DRS displays five-star recommendations for each running virtual machine to be moved to a different host. When you accept the recommendations, the virtual machines are migrated.

• Clusters not enabled for DRS: You must power off or migrate all running virtual machines.

3. If necessary (if the cluster is not enabled for DRS), power off all virtual machines on the host or migrate them.

4. Click Yes.

5. Move the host to another cluster or another datacenter:

a. Select the host icon in the inventory panel.

b. Drag the host icon to the new location. A blue box surrounds the cluster or datacenter name.

c. Release the mouse to move the host.

6. Right-click the host, and choose Exit Maintenance Mode to remove the maintenance mode on the host.

7. Restart any virtual machines, as needed.

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and managing functions of that managed host and of all the virtual machines on that managed host. The managed host and its associated virtual machines are removed from the inventory. Historical data remains in the VirtualCenter database.

If possible, remove managed hosts while they are connected. Removing a disconnected managed host does not remove the VirtualCenter agent from the managed host.

Disconnecting a managed host does not remove it from VirtualCenter. It temporarily suspends all VirtualCenter monitoring activities. The managed host and its associated virtual machines remain in the VirtualCenter inventory.

Removing a managed host from VirtualCenter does not remove the virtual machines from the managed host or datastore. It removes only VirtualCenter's access to the managed host and virtual machines on that managed host.

To remove a managed host

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Configuring a Host : Configuring VMotion Technology on an ESX Server 2.x Host

Configuring VMotion Technology on an ESX Server 2.x Host You can configure an ESX Server 2.x host managed by VirtualCenter Server 2.0 for VMotion.

To configure an ESX Server 2.x host for VMotion

To configure an ESX Server 3.0 host for VMotion, configure a virtual switch for VMotion as described in Adding a Virtual Switch.

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1. Click the Inventory button in the navigation bar, expand the inventory as needed, and click the appropriate managed host.

2. To remove the VirtualCenter agent from the managed host, ensure that the managed host is in a connected state.

3. Right-click the managed host icon in the inventory panel and choose Remove.

4. Click Yes to confirm that you want to remove the managed host and all its associated virtual machines.

• VirtualCenter removes the managed host and associated virtual machines from the VirtualCenter environment.

• VirtualCenter returns all associated processor and migration licenses to Available status.

1. Click the Inventory button in the navigation bar, expand the inventory as needed, and click the appropriate managed host.

2. Right-click the managed host icon in the inventory panel, and choose Properties.

3. To enable VMotion for this host, select Enable VMotion.

4. Select the port group to use for VMotion from the VMotion Port Group Name drop-down list.

5. Enter a unique IP address in the IP Address field.

6. Enter a valid gateway IP address in the Gateway field.

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