2013-09-30

DevopsDays TLV 2013

I will not be live blogging the sessions - but will embed the Twitter conversation below - and will add some thoughts about the sessions later on.

Here is the LiveStream of the event.

 

2013-09-29

Cluster Performance & Replication Capacity Planning Flings

VMware has released two new Flings.

vSphere Replication Capacity Planning Appliance

The vSphere Replication Capacity Planning Appliance allows administrators to model the network impact of a virtual machine replication without producing actual replication traffic. The appliance provides command-line tools to configure replication for any VM in a vSphere Virtual Center. The replication is established in preview mode and thus requires no storage space. Networking traffic, required for the replication, is measured and displayed in an easy-to-understand graphical format that allows you to estimate the network bandwidth required.
  • A command-line interface for configuring replication within the same or a remote Virtual Center or ESX host
  • A web page presenting traffic graphics for each replication
  • Does not write the actual replicated data and thus does not require any storage

This is a separate virtual appliance that you will need to deploy

image


The second Fling is related to Cluster performance

vCenter Cluster Performance Tool

vCenter Cluster Performance Tool is a Powershell script that uses vSphere PowerCLI to obtain performance data for a cluster by aggregating information from individual hosts.

You have the following options to specify in the script.

  • An “interval” of 20s or 300s. The default is 20s, and corresponds to real time statistics. 300s corresponds to the 5 min interval statistics.
  • A stats query flag to obtain the list of counter IDs available on the vCenter Server. You can then pass the desired counter ID from that list to obtain Performance metrics for the cluster.
  • Gathers all data of the specified interval type that is available on each host in the specified cluster
  • Easy and a quick way of obtaining performance data for a vCenter cluster
  • Data is saved in a CSV file, which can then easily be fed into any charting software
  • A chart, in PNG format, is also generated for visualization

Fling

 

vCenter 5.0 and above is needed for both.

Flings

Our engineers work on tons of pet projects in their spare time, and are always looking to get feedback on their projects (or “flings”). Why flings? A fling is a short-term thing, not a serious relationship but a fun one. Likewise, the tools that are offered here are intended to be played with and explored. None of them are guaranteed to become part of any future product offering and there is no support for them. They are, however, totally free for you to download and play around with them!

2013-09-23

Read the vSphere 5.5 Release Notes!!

My previous post on the 5.1 Release notes was quite popular as well as the 5.1.0a post as well…

So as always, the first things I do when a new version is released is:

So here are my takeaways and some questions regarding the 5.5 Release from yesterday.

Disclaimer:
These are my own thought and ramblings. I think they should be questions you should be asking VMware, your TAM and the support people. These are not the only items in the
Release Notes - just those that got my attention. Your mileage may differ and there may be other things that are of importance to in the original document.

Linked Mode

Takeaways:

  • I am finding less and less of a reason to use Linked Mode - seeing that you can register multiple vCenter Servers under the same SSO, even though - of course you cannot (and never could) mix vCenter versions for linked mode.
  • Also (as far as I know) linked mode will only work with the Windows version of vCenter.

CPUs

Takeaways:

  • No change from 5.1

No Linux

Takeaways:

  • Seems that MAC OS is getting all the love in this release - but Linux not so much.

Disk Space

Takeaways:

  • This could become an issue. VMware is pushing (quite hard I might say) that the appliance is ready for prime time - the amount of resources it can manage is much higher, but there are still fundamental issues with the "all-in-one" appliance.
    One of them is stated above.

Questions:

  • Embedded databases are all fine and dandy - but where are the tools to manage them? Bringing in a new database - without the tools to manage it is not something your DBA will be happy with.
  • There is no migration path out of a Virtual appliance with the embedded Postgres
  • How do you backup and restore a vCenter Virtual appliance and it's database?

IBM DB2

Takeaways:

  • Well done. Whoever thought of making this the default database in the first place needs to be taken out and publicly pelted with rotten tomatoes..

VDP

Takeaways:

  • That means that when you upgrade your environment - you will not have backups until you move to 5.5.
  • Always make sure that your backup solution supports the new version.

Simple Install

Takeaways:

  • Don't use a DHCP address for your vCenter Server.

Questions:

  • Why does the installation process allow the installation to start in the first place? This is a simple check that could be performed and throw an error if this is the case.
  • The appliance does work with DHCP - just saying…

Login fail

Takeaways:

  • I have read this three times. And I still do not understand what this means. A clarification would be great!

Simple install 2

Takeaways:

  • See my remarks two above..

Auto Deploy

Takeaways:

  • Something that people who are using AutoDeploy should take note of.

Roll back

Questions:

  • If they can be removed manually - then the rollback process should also be able to get rid of them.
  • If they are not removed - will this affect a second attempt of the SSO installation?

Foreigners

Takeaways:

  • Ok… Foreign languages and characters will cause trouble…
  • Use English.

Kickstart

Takeaways:

  • This is actually quite funny. Seriously though - something that I have to test on my kickstart scripts.

auto partition

Takeaways:

  • Whoops…
  • Good to know there is a option to solve it.
  • What is up with the capital letters in the middle?

Slow script

Questions:

  • Why not just change the registry value for the installation, let the process run smoothly, and change it back after you are done?

SSL expired

Takeaways:

  • This doesn't make sense.

Questions:

  • If you can put in the check for Web Client and SSO - why not do it for the rest of the components?
  • What will happen if you forget to check?

ESXCLI

Takeaways:

  • Something that you must know if you upgrade with ESXCLI

System Resource

Takeaways:

  • Well Done. There is very little or no reason to change the default values. If you have changed them (for whatever reason) then you will have to redo your changes after the upgrade.
  • There is always a question of what is better - fresh install or upgrade - your mileage will vary.

PowerCLI

Takeaways:

  • For those who are still using XP / 2003 - you have been warned. At least there is a solution.

Lost network

Takeaways:

  • This is the scenario  - not sure why you want to put the new one on a different subnet though..

Error 29107

Questions:

  • Why would this work a second time?

AD location

Takeaways:

  • I do not know very many environments that do not use Active Directory
  • That is a hell of a long time!!

Questions:

  • How would do you define a location? Subnets? countries? Active Directory Site?
  • I gather this is a bandwidth situation - so what are the minimums?

Domain Admins

Takeaways:

  • This will cause some people to tear their heads out over this if they do not read the this.

Questions:

  • How is this actually possible? Why is the group membership not respected?
  • Will other nested groups work? Or is this only a limitation of the Domain Administrators?

Expired certificate

Takeaways:

  • OK I will have to keep track of my certificates
  • This will make troubleshooting absolute hell.

Questions:

  • Why is it not possible to perform the check?

UPN

Questions:

  • If this is not supported - how does it then work?
  • Does a UPN work?

multiple network

Questions:

  • What reason would there be to have a SSO installation with more than one interface?

SR-IOV

Takeaways:

  • This is plain stupid - it should be fixed and limited in the code.

Questions:

  • Why does it let configure more than allowed?
  • When will this be corrected?
  • Does this any functional effects?

Dump collector

Takeaways:

  • This will something that you should take into consideration when designing your environment

Questions:

  • Has this changed from previous versions - and if so why?

Maybe it will work

Takeaways:

  • Someone put this in here just cover their ass.
  • I mean what kind of a solution is, "Try again - maybe it will work next time?"

Questions:

  • How many minutes?
  • What happens if it doesn't work the next time? How many more time should I try?
  • When will this be fixed?
  • How much of a problem will this be in practice?

elastic ports

Takeaways:

  • The amount of features that will not be available in the vSphere Client are becoming larger and larger.
  • VMware has yet to sever the cord and ditch the vSphere Client - so you will definitely still need both.
  • I did not know that the number of ports are automatically scaled in both directions

Questions:

  • How does the host know how many VM's it can run? (Skynet?)
  • Can the number of ports be changed in the Web Client?
  • Will the changes stick?

Host profiles

Takeaways:

  • This is a specific use case - if it is relevant then you should take note.

nothing to see here - move on

Questions:

  • If the message is incorrect - then why is is there?
  • Will this be fixed in next version?

host profile versions

Takeaways:

  • There are differences in Host Profiles between version 4.x and 5.5 (obviously)

Questions:

  • If this is expected - and the developers know the difference - then why can they not write a clause to check which version the Host is - and report correctly?
  • Will this be fixed in the next version?

Storage profiles

Takeaways:

  • The devil is in the details…
  • A specific case - might be relevant to your environment

Flash Cache

Questions:

  • Why are there options smaller sizes than 4MB - if it not supported?
  • Perhaps this is for a future use case?

DRS

Questions:

  • Why is it even an option to change the file extension?

DRS2

Questions:

  • If this can be ignored - then the error should not be there. Can you please remove it?

Flash Cache2

Questions:

  • Why is there even an option - if it is not supported - and does not work?

Flash Cache3

Takeaways:

  • That is not a good thing.

Questions:

  • Would it not be easier to validate the field before being applied instead of passing the non-valid parameter to the command?

Flash Cache4

Questions:

  • How exactly do you add this as a DRS rule?

DPM

Takeaways:

  • For those using DPM (How many of you actually do) - this change could have implications.

Questions:

  • Why was this change made? For what purpose?

vMotion fail

Questions:

  • I thought DRS was supposed to assure that the resources were present on the destination before migrating - so how can they not be enough?
  • Does DRS not take into account Flash Cache needs ?

where's the error

Takeaways:

  • Great another thing that looks like it works - but it doesn't.
  • The process did not succeed - then it should not report that it did.

Questions:

  • Can you please create a decent error telling us that this failed?

SMART

Takeaways:

  • Specific use case - if it applies

to Beta or not to Beta ..

Takeaways:

  • Beta to GA is ALWAYS a clean install - don't count on upgrades working

alignment

Takeaways:

  • Alignment is always important - not only for the Storage array - but for Flash Cache as well.

username

Takeaways:

  • I think that this makes sense - I know that the Linux guys would disagree - but this it the way it has been with Windows for as long as I can remember.

maximums

Takeaways:

  • The maximums are there for a reason - don't try and be smart.

Look mom - no Ctrl

Takeaways:

  • So that is why my machine will not reboot.

Questions:

  • Why is Chrome so special?

which order?

Takeaways:

  • What? What? Upgrade the Hardware version before you upgrade the VM HW version the process is:
    • VMware tools
    • Hardware version
  • So why is this specifically saying the exact opposite!!

Questions:

  • Which one is it? VMware Tools and then HW - or the other way around?

basic GUI

Takeaways:

  • Pushing the Web client - without providing basic functionality - is not a good strategy

Questions:

  • When will this be fixed?

EVC

Takeaways:

  • That means that EVC is basically useless in this case

Questions:

  • Should I plan to create new clusters?
  • Why does this not work?

vMotion2

Takeaways:

  • This is a specific case - pretty simple solution.

HA doesn't work

Takeaways:

  • Totally unacceptable!! I have to wait for 15 minutes for my VM to restart - of if I am lucky I will catch the message (no you won't..)
  • This is definitely not the way HA is supposed to work.
  • HA usually starts a VM on another host - that is the purpose of HA - if I am not mistaken.
  • Something that should make you not sleep at night - and at least upgrade all your 4.x hosts to 5.0 at least

Questions:

  • Why is there a prompt?
  • Can this default of 15 minutes be changed?

HA2

Takeaways:

  • No impact heh? But I need to reload the client don't I?