Hi,

WARNING: Enabling WC without BBU will cause data corruption when system is shutoff incorrectly.

I have found quite a few posting regarding performance issues with ESXi and LSI IR. Probably due to the write caching being disabled by default on these controllers.

You can change this with LSIUtil (http://www.lsi.com/DistributionSystem/AssetDocument/support/downloads/hbas/fibre_channel/hardware_drivers/LSIUtil%20Kit_1.60.zip), but by default this does not work on ESXi because it's slightly different:

/tmp # ./lsiutil

LSI Logic MPT Configuration Utility, Version 1.60, July 11, 2008

sh: /sbin/modprobe: not found

sh: /bin/mknod: not found

Couldn't open /dev/mptctl or /dev/mpt2ctl!

0 MPT Ports found

/tmp #

I made the following change to the source of LSIUtil and then it works on my ESXi 4.0:

--- lsiutil/mpt2sas_ctl.h       2008-04-17 20:30:40.000000000 +0200

+++ lsiutil.fix/mpt2sas_ctl.h   2009-07-05 22:58:58.000000000 +0200

@@ -56,8 +56,8 @@

/**

• HACK - changeme (MPT_MINOR = 220 )

  */

-#define MPT2SAS_MINOR          MPT_MINOR+1

-#define MPT2SAS_DEV_NAME       "mpt2ctl"

#define MPT2SAS_MINOR          MPT_MINOR2

+#define MPT2SAS_DEV_NAME       "mptctl_sas"

#define MPT2_MAGIC_NUMBER      'm'

#define MPT2_IOCTL_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT (10) /* in seconds */

-

/tmp # ./lsiutil.new

LSI Logic MPT Configuration Utility, Version 1.60, July 11, 2008

sh: /sbin/modprobe: not found

sh: /bin/mknod: not found

1 MPT Port found

     Port Name         Chip Vendor/Type/Rev    MPT Rev  Firmware Rev  IOC

1.  /proc/mpt/ioc0    LSI Logic SAS1068E B3     105      011c0200     0

Select a device:  1

1.  Identify firmware, BIOS, and/or FCode

2.  Download firmware (update the FLASH)

4.  Download/erase BIOS and/or FCode (update the FLASH)

8.  Scan for devices

10.  Change IOC settings (interrupt coalescing)

13.  Change SAS IO Unit settings

16.  Display attached devices

20.  Diagnostics

21.  RAID actions

22.  Reset bus

23.  Reset target

42.  Display operating system names for devices

45.  Concatenate SAS firmware and NVDATA files

59.  Dump PCI config space

60.  Show non-default settings

61.  Restore default settings

66.  Show SAS discovery errors

69.  Show board manufacturing information

97.  Reset SAS link, HARD RESET

98.  Reset SAS link

99.  Reset port

e   Enable expert mode in menus

p   Enable paged mode

w   Enable logging

Main menu, select an option:  21

1.  Show volumes

2.  Show physical disks

3.  Get volume state

4.  Wait for volume resync to complete

23.  Replace physical disk

26.  Disable drive firmware update mode

27.  Enable drive firmware update mode

30.  Create volume

31.  Delete volume

32.  Change volume settings

33.  Change volume name

50.  Create hot spare

51.  Delete hot spare

99.  Reset port

e   Enable expert mode in menus

p   Enable paged mode

w   Enable logging

RAID actions menu, select an option:  32

Volume 0 is Bus 0 Target 0, Type IM (Integrated Mirroring)

Volume 0 Settings:  write caching disabled, auto configure

Volume 0 draws from Hot Spare Pools:  0

Enable write caching:  yes

Offline on SMART data: 

Auto configuration: 

Priority resync: 

Hot Spare Pools (bitmask of pool numbers): 

RAID ACTION returned IOCLogInfo = 00010005

RAID actions menu, select an option:  0

Main menu, select an option:  0

-

I was doing a slow SCP while enabling WC and you can see my improvement in the attached screenshot.

Let me know if it works for you.

Upon trying to open VpxClient.exe, I get the following error:

"VpxClient has stopped working

A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Please close the program."

My only option is to click "Close the program". I have searched to no avail for a solution and have tried various things. I have tried copying the system.dll file to ..\Launcher\Lib directory, editing the VpxClient.exe XML Configuration file, adding Environment Variables, running Registry cleaners, etc... nothing has worked so far.

I have attached a screen shot of the error. (Not that it provides anything more than I already have)

It worked flawlessly and then one day, randomly, it decided to throw me the error and its been that way ever since. Any suggestions/insight is greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

GJBenzie

Copy/Paste from my desktop to the VM console via the vSphere client does not work.  Guest clipboard doesn't ever get into client's clipboard and vice versa.  (See steps to reproduce for details).

ESXi: 4.1.0-260247, vSphere client: 4.1.0-258902

I first noticed this in Lab Manager, but then I verified that its not working through the vsphere client connected directly to the host either.  However, the clipboard does work with the 4.1 client connected to a 4.0.0-208111 vcenter server.

Upgrading the guests' VMware tools & hardware version does not help.  Happens on both windows & linux guests and multiple varieties of windows clients (haven't tried it from a linux box).

Steps to reproduce:

1. On client desktop start notepad

2. type 'desktop' in notepad

3. Select 'desktop' and copy to clipboard (Ctrl+C)

4. Open guest console, start notepad

5. Paste into (guest's) notepad

1. nothing happens ('desktop' should appear)

6. type 'guest' in (guest's) notepad

7. Select 'guest' and copy to clipboard (Ctrl+C)

8. Paste into client's notepad

1. 'desktop' appears (should be 'guest')

Hi All,

Does anyone know how to kill the process which uses / lock the datastore deletion process on ESXi 4?

I've got this provblem in VI Client when I was in the middle of deleting the Local Datastore

Remove datastore

The resource vim.host.DatastoreSystem ESXi02_VMFS is in use.

This is live production environment so is it possible to kill just the process without having to reboot the whole ESXi 4 host ?

thanks.

Kind Regards,

AWT

I am having a problem with ESXi 4 that i cant figure out. I have enabled the iscsi feature and have pointed it to the correct place. But when i do a rescan for new storage it doesnt bring anything up. If i click on the "Paths" button it shows the Lun number correctly but under Status it shows as DEAD with a red diamond. What am i missing here? This is the ESXi 4 60-day trial version...im guessing it is licensed for iSCSI use. Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks

hi,

I take care for one ESXi 4.0.0-171294 (2009-06-22) box, that suddenly lost connectivity from  vSpher client. I get: vSphere client could not connect to the vCenter server. Details: The server took too long to respond. (The operation has timed out).

I followed the http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1003870

1. dns hostname resolvning is OK

2. ping OK

3. could not check because the commands are for ESX and do not work in ESXi

4. telnet 902 OK

5. the username is OK

6. we did not change any permissions

I also found the tread http://communities.vmware.com/thread/211725 but still cant solve it

any ideas how continue troubleshooting?

more info bellow:

list of storage space (it seems to be ok)

Filesystem                Size      Used Available Use% Mounted on

visorfs                 215.9M    184.8M     31.1M  86% /

vmfs3                   930.8G    502.6G    428.2G  54% /vmfs/volumes/4a853ad0-6b64a298-dd71-001517832738

vmfs3                   274.0G    235.7G     38.3G  86% /vmfs/volumes/4a853a75-9fe462d1-d174-001517832738

nfs                       1.8T    285.4G      1.5T  15% /vmfs/volumes/a595776e-6664f08e

nfs                       1.8T    285.4G      1.5T  15% /vmfs/volumes/b2f833c4-32855697

nfs                       1.8T    285.4G      1.5T  15% /vmfs/volumes/8259d688-dada9bf6

vfat                    285.9M    230.2M     55.7M  81% /vmfs/volumes/c2a427e4-2d317086-fef9-b5750d88536c

vfat                    249.7M      4.0k    249.7M   0% /vmfs/volumes/0f7cc67f-212a26d5-6da6-a6b5787df90c

vfat                    249.7M     59.3M    190.4M  24% /vmfs/volumes/26653d79-219714bc-ad80-5f2413542f4b

vfat                      4.0G    384.0k      4.0G   0% /vmfs/volumes/4a7adea5-e1b49bf8-f937-001517832739

list of CPU usage (hostd is constantly arround 100% - 1 core? - is that normal?)

     ID    GID NAME             NWLD   %USED    %RUN    %SYS   %WAIT    %RDY

      1      1 idle                8  664.87  666.14    0.00    0.00  140.52

      2      2 system              6    0.01    0.01    0.00  600.00    0.00

      3      3 vim                 1    0.00    0.00    0.00  100.00    0.00

      6      6 helper             47    0.10    0.11    0.00 4700.00    0.01

      7      7 drivers             9    0.01    0.01    0.00  900.00    0.00

      8      8 vmotion             4    0.00    0.00    0.00  400.00    0.00

     13     13 vmkapimod          13    0.00    0.00    0.00 1300.00    0.00

     16     16 init.4181           1    0.00    0.00    0.00  100.00    0.00

    167    167 busybox.4330        1    0.00    0.00    0.00  100.00    0.00

    171    171 vmklogger.4334      1    0.00    0.00    0.00  100.00    0.00

    631    631 FT                  1    0.00    0.00    0.00  100.00    0.00

    707    707 busybox.4888        1    0.00    0.00    0.00  100.00    0.00

    747    747 ntpd.4927           1    0.00    0.01    0.00  100.00    0.00

    763    763 sh.4942             1    0.00    0.00    0.00  100.00    0.00

    773    773 hostd.4952         17  100.17  100.84    0.00 1613.25    0.00

    785    785 sh.4964             1    0.00    0.00    0.00  100.00    0.00

    795    795 vobd.4974           8    0.00    0.00    0.00  800.00    0.00

    814    814 slpd.5002           1    0.00    0.00    0.00  100.00    0.00

    876    876 sh.5064             1    0.00    0.00    0.00  100.00    0.00

    886    886 openwsmand.5074     3    0.01    0.01    0.00  300.00    0.01

    903    903 sh.5093             1    0.00    0.00    0.00  100.00    0.00

    931    931 sh.5121             1    0.00    0.00    0.00  100.00    0.00

    937    937 sh.5127             1    0.00    0.00    0.00  100.00    0.00

    938    938 busybox.5128        1    0.00    0.00    0.00  100.00    0.00

    947    947 net-cdp.5139        1    0.00    0.00    0.00  100.00    0.00

    955    955 ash.5147            1    0.00    0.00    0.00  100.00    0.00

    956    956 ash.5148            1    0.00    0.00    0.00  100.00    0.00

    963    963 dcui.5155           1    0.00    0.00    0.00  100.00    0.00

    964    964 ash.5156            1    0.00    0.00    0.00  100.00    0.00

    968    968 busybox.5160        1    0.00    0.00    0.00  100.00    0.00

   1079   1079 sfcbd.5272          1    0.00    0.00    0.00  100.00    0.00

   1080   1080 cimslp.5273         1    0.00    0.00    0.00  100.00    0.00

   1083   1083 sfcbd.5276          1    0.00    0.00    0.00  100.00    0.00

   1084   1084 sfcbd.5277          1    0.00    0.00    0.00  100.00    0.00

   1085   1085 sfcbd.5278          1    0.00    0.00    0.00  100.00    0.00

   1129   1129 sfcbd.6036          4    0.00    0.00    0.00  400.00    0.00

   1130   1130 sfcbd.6037          4    0.00    0.00    0.00  400.00    0.00

   1502   1502 SBSERVER            4    5.36    5.61    0.04  397.49    0.16

   1568   1568 ELROND              4    3.10    3.35    0.02  399.41    0.35

   1640   1640 GIMLI               6   12.80   13.24    0.04  588.84    1.21

   1777   1777 TERMINAL            4    9.51    9.95    0.05  393.03    0.28

  47036  47036 sfcbd.80688         3    0.00    0.00    0.00  300.00    0.00

173186 173186 MGMT                4    2.97    3.33    0.00  399.72    0.28

349609 349609 SISTEM2             4    1.59    1.69    0.00  400.00    0.14

1476103 1476103 sfcbd.2400758       2    0.00    0.00    0.00  200.00    0.00

6479756 6479756 dropbearmulti.1     1    0.02    0.02    0.00  100.00    0.01

6479757 6479757 ash.10509465        1    0.00    0.00    0.00  100.00    0.00

6480125 6480125 esxtop.10509941     1    0.45    0.42    0.00  100.00    0.00

6482077 6482077 sh.10508407         1    0.00    0.00    0.00  100.00    0.00

list of proceses

WID  CID  World Name            Command

4096      console

4097      idle1

4098      idle2

4099      idle3

4100      idle4

4101      idle5

4102      idle6

4103      idle7

4104      AsyncTimeout

4105      DeviceTaskmgmtWatchdog

4106      PathTaskmgmtWatchdog

4107      idle0

4108      helper0-0

4109      helper1-0

4110      helper1-1

4111      helper1-2

4112      helper2-0

4113      helper2-1

4114      helper2-2

4115      helper3-0

4116      helper4-0

4117      helper5-0

4118      helper6-0

4119      helper6-1

4120      helper6-2

4121      helper6-3

4122      helper7-0

4123      helper8-0

4124      helper9-0

4125      helper10-0

4126      helper11-0

4127      helper11-1

4128      helper11-2

4129      helper11-3

4130      helper12-0

4131      helper12-1

4132      helper12-2

4133      helper12-3

4134      helper13-0

4135      helper14-0

4136      helper15-0

4137      helper15-1

4138      helper15-2

4139      helper16-0

4152      helper16-13

4155      helper17-0

4163      OCFlush

4164      BCFlush

4165      reset-handler

4166      reset-watchdog

4167      memsched

4168      pshare-est

4169      vmscan

4170      lpage

4171      helper18-0

4179      PathTaskmgmtHandler

4180      DeviceTaskmgmtHandler

4181 4181 init                 /sbin/init

2379928 4952 hostd                hostd

2384026 4952 hostd                hostd

4291      helper19-0

4292      helper19-1

4293      helper19-2

4294      helper19-3

4295      helper19-4

4296      helper19-5

4297      helper19-6

4298      helper19-7

4320      usb

4330 4330 busybox              syslogd

4334 4334 vmklogger            vmklogger

8445 8445 vmx                  /bin/vmx

4350      NMP-failover

8447      vmm0:SBSERVER

8448      vmm1:SBSERVER

8449 8445 mks:SBSERVER         /bin/vmx

8450 8445 vcpu-0:SBSERVER      /bin/vmx

8452 8445 vcpu-1:SBSERVER      /bin/vmx

8566 8566 vmx                  /bin/vmx

8567      vmm0:ELROND

8568      vmm1:ELROND

8569 8566 mks:ELROND           /bin/vmx

8570 8566 vcpu-0:ELROND        /bin/vmx

8581 8566 vcpu-1:ELROND        /bin/vmx

4527      iscsi_trans_vmklink

4541      ata_piix

4542      ata_piix

4544      ahci

4545      ahci

4546      ahci

4547      ahci

4548      ahci

4549      ahci

4551      aacraid

4570      helper20-0

143844 4952 hostd                hostd

2400758 2400758 sfcbd                /sbin/sfcbd

2400759 2400758 sfcbd                /sbin/sfcbd

8710 8710 vmx                  /bin/vmx

8711      vmm0:GIMLI

8712      vmm1:GIMLI

8713      vmm2:GIMLI

8714      vmm3:GIMLI

8721 8710 mks:GIMLI            /bin/vmx

8722 8710 vcpu-0:GIMLI         /bin/vmx

8724 8710 vcpu-1:GIMLI         /bin/vmx

8725 8710 vcpu-2:GIMLI         /bin/vmx

8726 8710 vcpu-3:GIMLI         /bin/vmx

4640      DVSSync send world

4641      DVSSync ack world

4642      DVSSync recv world

4669      helper21-0

381540 4952 hostd                hostd

4773      FS3ResMgr

4786      nfsRemountHandler

4787      nfsLockFileUpdate

4799      ipmi_si_drv

4807      helper22-0

4814      Accept

4821      vmotionServer

8933 8933 vmx                  /bin/vmx

8934      vmm0:TERMINAL

8935      vmm1:TERMINAL

8936 8933 mks:TERMINAL         /bin/vmx

8937 8933 vcpu-0:TERMINAL      /bin/vmx

8939 8933 vcpu-1:TERMINAL      /bin/vmx

4888 4888 busybox              inetd

4927 4927 ntpd                 /sbin/ntpd

4942 4942 sh                   /bin/sh

4952 4952 hostd                hostd

4964 4964 sh                   /bin/sh

4974 4974 vobd                 vobd

4975 4974 vobd                 vobd

4976 4974 vobd                 vobd

4977 4974 vobd                 vobd

4978 4974 vobd                 vobd

4979 4974 vobd                 vobd

4980 4974 vobd                 vobd

4981 4974 vobd                 vobd

4982 4952 hostd                hostd

4983 4952 hostd                hostd

5002 5002 slpd                 /sbin/slpd

226201 4952 hostd                hostd

9146 4952 hostd                hostd

5064 5064 sh                   /bin/sh

5074 5074 openwsmand           /sbin/openwsmand

5075 5074 openwsmand           /sbin/openwsmand

5076 5074 openwsmand           /sbin/openwsmand

5093 5093 sh                   /bin/sh

5121 5121 sh                   /bin/sh

5127 5127 sh                   /bin/sh

5128 5128 busybox              crond

5139 5139 net-cdp              /usr/sbin/net-cdp

5147 5147 ash                  /bin/ash

5148 5148 ash                  /bin/ash

5155 5155 dcui                 /sbin/dcui

5156 5156 ash                  /bin/ash

5160 5160 busybox              getty

5162 4952 hostd                hostd

5163 4952 hostd                hostd

5164 4952 hostd                hostd

5165 4952 hostd                hostd

9745463 4952 hostd                hostd

5245 4952 hostd                hostd

5246 4952 hostd                hostd

5272 5272 sfcbd                /sbin/sfcbd

5273 5273 cimslp               /bin/cimslp

5276 5276 sfcbd                /sbin/sfcbd

5277 5277 sfcbd                /sbin/sfcbd

5278 5278 sfcbd                /sbin/sfcbd

10511775      helper18-3

6036 6036 sfcbd                /sbin/sfcbd

6037 6037 sfcbd                /sbin/sfcbd

6193 6036 sfcbd                /sbin/sfcbd

6211 6037 sfcbd                /sbin/sfcbd

10512504      helper18-2

6301 4952 hostd                hostd

6318 6036 sfcbd                /sbin/sfcbd

285135 285135 vmx                  /bin/vmx

285136      vmm0:MGMT

285137      vmm1:MGMT

285138 285135 mks:MGMT             /bin/vmx

285139 285135 vcpu-0:MGMT          /bin/vmx

285141 285135 vcpu-1:MGMT          /bin/vmx

6756 6036 sfcbd                /sbin/sfcbd

6805 6037 sfcbd                /sbin/sfcbd

6808 6037 sfcbd                /sbin/sfcbd

80688 80688 sfcbd                /sbin/sfcbd

80692 80688 sfcbd                /sbin/sfcbd

80693 80688 sfcbd                /sbin/sfcbd

10513285      helper18-3

10509463 10509463 dropbearmulti        dropbear

10509465 10509465 ash                  -ash

10513585 10513585 sh                   /bin/sh

10513586 10513586 ps                   ps

572725 572725 vmx                  /bin/vmx

572726      vmm0:SISTEM2

572727      vmm1:SISTEM2

572728 572725 mks:SISTEM2          /bin/vmx

572729 572725 vcpu-0:SISTEM2       /bin/vmx

572731 572725 vcpu-1:SISTEM2       /bin/vmx

Hello!

Just installes SBS2011 on ESXi4 and after install in device manager there is still one driver missing for the (translated) basic system device.

The hardware-id is PCI\VEN_15AD&DEV_0740&SUBSYS_074015AD&REV_10

I think it's a pci device. But how to fix this? No driver is available via Windows Update.

Best regards,

Sven Reichelt

Windows 2008 R2 , x64 VM. I have a SAN LUN (with a single VMFS dedicated to this VM for OS partition) connected inside ESXi. I have installed 2 vNICs for access to an iSCSI network. The  host's vmk ports, vswitches, etc have been setup according to vmware/eqluallogics iSCSI configuration guidelines. Jumbo frames, flow control, etc. It all works well. Performance is good. To use equallogics snapshot software, I installed the MS iSCSI initiator and various Equallogic tools for MPIO. I created a LUN for  data files.

So, it works, but the issue I am having is that approximately every 30 minutes or so, the initiator seems to lose connection with the SAN, its shows iSCSIPrt events 7 and 20, indicating it lost a connection to the data LUN and a vss-control LUN (used for snapshotting). Once this happens, both of those LUNs are re-connected exactly 1 minute later. During this downtime, the VM completely locks up. No network access, even the VM's console inside of the vSphere client locks up.

I am wondering if anyone has heard of this sort of thing or can point me to where the logs are kept in ESXi (/var/log?, I have to still setup a vMA appliance).

Also, is this not a good idea to do iscsi initiator inside a VM? This is to be a production box, but if this is not a supported/good idea, then I will investigate other configurations.

Anyone else's thoughts/experiences would be welcome. I am wondering if it would be better to add in 2 more NICs and dedicate them to iSCSI initiator traffic, instead of using the current 2 SAN nics (HP NC382T cards) for all SAN traffic (esxi sw initiator to SAN, and MS initiator to SAN). I am wondering if having the VM's C drive connected to SAN in ESXi's software iSCSI initiator AND having the same VM's second drive connected via MS iSCSI initiator (both using the same 2 NICs on the ESXi host) might be causing issues.

I need to troubleshoot the freezing issues, not sure where to start. I have this all working on a test physical server without issue, so its got to be something on the vmware side of things. I think.

Hello,

I have 2 test servers who where installed using the "VMware ESXi 3.5 U4 Installable with HP Management Agents and Customizations" image.

In health status I can see my raid config status, controller status, etc..

I upgraded one of the servers to ESXi4 with the "VMware ESXi 4.0 (upgrade ZIP)" using the vSphere Update Client

When opening the vSphere Client and checking the heath status on the ESXi4 server I can not see the raid status and disk status.  I only can see the status of the extra SAS controller used by the tapestreamer. (not the disks or Raid controller where my disks are attached to).

Are there new HP Management Agents available for ESXi 4?

See attached files to see difference between ESXi3 and ESXi4.

I'm using vSphere ESXi 4.0.

I logged in to my host server through vSphere client. Then on the vSphere client interface, I went to "Configuration" tab -> "Networking" link under Hardware, -> "Properties" link -> clicked on Edit of "Management Network" under "Ports" tab -> "IP Settings". Then I changed the IP Address, Subnet Mask, and VMKernel Default Gateway. Clicked "OK". after this, my vSphere client lost connection to that host, I cannot log in anymore using the old or new IP.

Log in Error message: vSphere client could not connect with the vSphere Server "xxx.xx.x.xx". Details: A connection failure occurred (unable to connect to the remote server).

I don't know what those changes I made mean (was just tinkering around), and want to revert to the old IP now. How can I do so through my client terminal? Do not wish to go to the physical host server to do it (but if that's what it takes, how to do it as well?)

Thanks so much. Really need help.

Just installed ESXi first time ever, set up 2 virtua machines, going to install guest OS's shortly, but wondered in general how to go about copying vm's up to network storage periodically. VM's on stored on host's storage. In the past, using VMWare Server, just went into the host OS and copied vm's up to network storage, either manually or with SyncToy.

Am using the VI client to administer this one-off ESXi host right now - is there a way to use the client to send copies of vm's to a fileserver store on the network?

thx

-steve

Hello, I am new to ESXi and am using a home server as a learning tool. I just installed ESXi 4.0.

My setup is: Host with ESXi 4.0 running from USB key drive (4GB), my main VM drive is a RAID1 array of two 250GB drives, and my "bulk" storage is a 320GB drive in (non-RAID) SATA.

My goal: backuping the main VM drive to a portable USB drive.

I bought the USB drive, it's a WD My Passeport 250GB drive.

After enabling SSH, I plugged it on the host, through SSH, I can see the OS recognizes it (it shows up in fdisk -l). I then launch fdisk /dev/disks/mpx.***** (the portable drive), delete all partitions, create a new partition, primary #1, type VMFS and set it to use the entire drive. I write the changes to disk and after a fdisk -l reflects the changes... All is good.

I was unsure of how exactly on what FS to put on the drive, but ended up seeing only how to make it VMFS from the ESXi host (AFAIK I can not format it to ext3 from ESXi).

The problem: I launch: vmkfstools -C vmfs3 /dev/disks/mpx.vmhba35***

After half a second, I get the following error message:

Creating vmfs3 file system on "mpx.vmhba35:C0:T0:L0:1" with blockSize 1048576 and volume label "none".

Usage: vmkfstools -C vmfs3 /vmfs/devices/disks/vml... or,

       vmkfstools -C vmfs3 /vmfs/devices/disks/naa... or,

       vmkfstools -C vmfs3 /vmfs/devices/disks/mpx.vmhbaA:T:L:P

Error: vmkfstools failed: vmkernel is not loaded or call not implemented.

Looking at /var/log/messages, I see the following relevant lines:

Jul 21 00:54:15 vmkernel: 0:01:49:47.825 cpu0:4103)NMP: nmp_CompleteCommandForPath: Command 0x16 (0x41000409fcc0) to NMP device "mpx.vmhba35:C0:T0:L0" failed on physical path "vmhba35:C0:T0:L0" H:0x0 D:0x2 P:0x0 Valid sense data: 0x5 0x20 0x0.

Jul 21 00:54:15 vmkernel: 0:01:49:47.825 cpu0:4103)ScsiDeviceIO: 747: Command 0x16 to device "mpx.vmhba35:C0:T0:L0" failed H:0x0 D:0x2 P:0x0 Valid sense data: 0x5 0x20 0x0.

Jul 21 00:54:15 vmkernel: 0:01:49:47.825 cpu1:28897)Resv: 276: SCSI-2 Reservations are not supported by device mpx.vmhba35:C0:T0:L0.

Jul 21 00:54:15 vmkernel: 0:01:49:47.827 cpu1:28897)LVM: 6492: LVMProbeDevice failed on (3462500512, mpx.vmhba35:C0:T0:L0:1): Device does not contain a logical volume

Now I did some research, but did not come up with much (sadly like most things ESXi). The only lead I got was something about block sizes. So I tried the same vmkfstools line with different -d 1m from 1m to 8m with no luck, always the same exact problem...

Would anyone have any input on this? I am a bit stumped.

Thank you, I really appreciate the help.

I noticed that dell open manage was available for download:

Dell OpenManage VIB for ESXi 4.0

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=R227503&SystemID=PWE_R905&servicetag=&os=ESXi&osl=en&deviceid=21859&devlib=0&typecnt=0&vercnt=1&catid=-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=36&fileid=326356

On the installation directions it lists:

Custom Instructions for oem-dell-openmanage-esxi_6.1-0000.zip:

##################

1) Download the appropriate RCLI (Remote Command Line Interface) package from http://www.vmware.com/download/ depending on whether your system is running on Microsoft Windows or Linux.

2) Copy the Dell OpenManage bundle to a directory on your system.

3) Use the vihostupdate command. If you are using Microsoft Windows, navigate to the folder where you have installed the RCLI utilities to use this command. If you are using Linux, this command is installed when you install the RCLI RPM .

4) Execute the command Vihostupdate -- server -i -b .

5) The command output displays a successful or a failed update.

You must enable CIM OEM providers on the VMware ESXi 4 system after installing the Dell OpenManage bundle to manage a system with Dell OpenManage Server Administrator.

Using vSphere Client to Enable CIM OEM Providers:

To enable CIM OEM providers using VMware vSphere Client, you need to have the vSphere Client tool installed. You can download and install the tool from http://where is the IP address of the VMware ESXi 4 system.

To enable CIM OEM providers on the VMware ESXi 4 system using vSphere Client:

1) Log on to the VMware ESXi 4 system in which vSphere Client is installed.

2) Click the Configuration tab.

3) Under the Software section on the left side, click Advanced Settings.

4) In the Advanced Settings dialog box, click "UserVars" on the left pane.

5) Change the value of the "CIMOEMProvidersEnabled" field to 1.

6) Click OK.

7) Restart your system for the change to take effect. Use the Summary tab in vSphere Client to restart the system.

##################

So I downloaded the zip.

Put the system in maintenance.

Attempt to update via vihostupdate.pl, which gives the error:

unpacking e:\oem-dell-openmanage-esxi_6.1-0000.zip ...

metadata.zip.sig does not exist

signature mismatch : metadata.zip

Unable to unpack update package.

I verified the zip files are valid.

I am patching from a windows 2003 system. I am running esxi build 175625.

Ideas?

It appears the hp cim patch has the same issue:

http://communities.vmware.com/message/1307359#1307359

Hello all,

I inherited (via a company aquisition) an HP DL380 G5 server with ESX4.0 installed. I could access the HP Insight Management page on this server via a browser. I reloaded it with the HP-specific ESXi4.1 image, but lost the browser-based Insight Management. I've done some searching, but can't find specific information on how to get it back, and I admit I am a bit new to ESXi, so I'm sure there is some fundamental piece to the puzzle I am missing.

Can someone lend a hand?

Thanks, Jason

Hi,

Just looking for advice and recommendations on setting up a new 1.6TB datastore within ESXi 4.1.  I am adding this new datastore which is actually my 3rd one.  This new datastore is going to be provisioned for our file server.  Currently, our file server is a physical server and we simply want to move our data to a Windows 2008 VM with access to all this new storage once we get it copied over.  In order to do this, when creating the new datastore would it be best to choose a 4MB or 8MB block size?  I would like to utilize all this space for this one VM which will house all our data.  Also, in the beginning of the wizard it asks which one of my two hosts to attach this new datastore to...does this really matter?

Just thinking...would it be best to create one or two virtual disks for this VM?  Guess I'm just a little confused on setting all this up.  Any help is appreciated!

Hi

I have a few hosts on ESX 3.0.1 that I need to upgrade.

Since the VM's running on these hosts are on a shared LUN, can I simply shutdown the VM's and the host, unplug the iSCSI NIC cable and perform a fresh install of ESXi4.1 U1?

How would I registered the VM's back on this server?

Thanks, Maelito

I have been creating all my VMs as Thin and I just noticed that some of them have turned into Thick. I haven't cloned or moved any of them. At most I have been using Snapshots on some of them. But I didn't look right after snapshots so I don't know if that is what caused it.

I am worried that they are changing on their own. If it's because of snapshots, is there anyway around that? And if I delete the snapshots will that let them go back to thin?

If any more turn into thick, I am in trouble as I have been using thin to over provision.

Using ESXi 4.1 U1 installable, on a Dell R710 with internal SAS array. Thanks.

We purchased a DroboElite for our QA environment which currently has three ESXi4 hosts.  Under heavy loads, the iSCSI performance will begin to degrade rapidly up to the point where the LUN usually gets disconnected from the host.  Sometimes, the host will automatically reconnect and other times, a reboot of the DroboElite is required.  I've been back and forth with Data Robotics for weeks troubleshooting the issue without any success.  I've made the changes to the HB timeout settings in the 'hidden' console as suggested by DR and also tried connecting to two different gigabit switches (dell powerconnect).  Nothing has helped thus far.

Does anyone have experience with these units?  Any suggested configuration changes I can make?

Thanks!

Hi All,

My Dell Open Manage service failed on my Dell Power Edge Server after upgrading from ESXi 4.0 to ESXi 4.1. I know I need to update the Dell Open Manage offline bundle to a newer version in order to make it work on ESXi 4.1. However, whatever I have done on updating the Dell Open Manage bundle, it just give me the below error :

C:\temp\2>"c:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware vSphere CLI\bin\vihostupdate.pl"  -server 172.16.3.28 -i -b OM-SrvAdmin-Dell-Web-6.3.0-2075.VIB-ESX40i_A00.9.zip

Enter username: root

Enter password:

Please wait patch installation is in progress ...

No matching bulletin or VIB was found in the metadata.No bulletins for this plat

form could be found. Nothing to do.

I know the command is correct as I can successfully install the Open Manage  offline Bundle from an FRESH ESXI 4.1 Installation on a testing server. However, I don't want and can't  start from the very beginning on my production server. Any idea to get around this problem is mostly welcome!!

I’m having some difficulty accessing directly attached USB devices through ESXi. I wonder if anyone can offer any advice?

I’ve updated my ESXi installation (just a single Dell T605, managed with vSphere Client) from 4.0 to 4.1 specifically so I can use USB passthrough – I’ve got an APC SmartUPS which connects through USB.

When I connect a USB device to the server (and once the usbarbitrator service is manually started), the message log shows several entries, including one that says “device is available for passthrough”. However, the vSphere Client “add USB device” option is greyed out and “there are no USB devices available on the host” is displayed in the info pane. The guest is in a version 7 VM with a USB controller already installed.

The support console offers a couple of extra clues. Firstly, the devices I’ve tried to connect (it’s not just the UPS: I’ve tried a USB HD and a USB flash drive too) show up fine if I do “lsusb”. Secondly, I’ve tried using “vim-cmd vmsvc/device.connusbdev” (although I don’t understand how to properly get the path info for any given device) but whatever I try, I always end up with the command itself returning without error, but a message in both the host and VM event logs that says, “Error message from VMWareHost: Unable to connect the USB device "(null)" to the virtual machine (error code 13).” If the VM is powered off, the device is added, but described as “not present” and disappears when the machine is powered on.

Full disclosure: I accidentally installed the two bulletins that make up the 4.0 -> 4.1 upgrade in the opposite order to that suggested. This doesn’t appear to have caused problems in any other respect.

So… can anyone help? Does anyone recognise the problem? Can anyone suggest where I should look next or what I might be able to try? Should I have to start the usbarbitrator service manually – this doesn’t seem to be a feature of most of the walkthroughs? Should the error message always be for device “null” in the event log – surely a real device ID should be shown here?

Any help is very much appreciated!