This example has been used on a machine with VMware Workstation 9 installed locally.
To mount a VMDK-file you can use the VMware command vmware-mount like this
$ sudo vmware-mount /path/to/vmdk/file/name-of-vmdk-file.vmdk 1 /path/to/mount/point
In the example above we have mounted partition 1 in the VMDK-file from the disk /path/to/vmdk/file/name-of-vmdk-file.vmdk
The files are now accessible from the mount point /path/to/mount/point.
This has been tested in Ubuntu Linux 12.04 LTS.
This command is also available in the Windows version of VMware Workstation.
Tags: mount, vmdk, VMware, VMware Workstation, vmware-mount
Posted by Hans-Henry Jakobsen
This is just some short notes on how you can manage to install the free VMware 5.1 Hypervisor on a HP Z600 Workstation.
I assume you have already downloaded the installer from http://vmware.com
As always when you would like to utilize virtualization in your CPU you have to enable the following BIOS settings
Without making this change in BIOS the installer would stop with the Purple Screen Of Death (PSOD) and the error message “can’t detect the last level cache”.
If you have a old BIOS that does not support booting from a GPT partition then you need to change this at the beginning of the installation.
Press Shift+O during and type in space and
formatwithmbr
The boot option will now look like
runweasel formatwithmbr
You should now be able to install ESXi 5.1 on you HP Z600.
This might work on other HP models as well.
Tags: esxi5, free hypervisor, hp z600, VMware, z600
Posted by Hans-Henry Jakobsen
“Disable VMware ESX” is the warning message that is displayed when you open your VMware vSphere Client after the 60-day evaluation period has expired without typing in a new license key for your free VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5 install. You cannot type in the license key in the vSphere Client after the evaluation period has expired. If you do not type in the key before it expires you will not be able to power on VMs after they have been powered down.
This is a short howto describing how you can type in the license key for you free VMware Hypervisor after it has expired, since you cannot use the vSphere Client.
This requires that you have enabled the SSH service on your host before it expired and you can access it using your favourite SSH client to your ESXi host.
The file should look something like this if you have not entered any license information 00000-00000-00000-00000-00000.
This key should be replaced with the key you have gotten from VMware http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere-hypervisor/ when you downloaded the installer file.
This is a step by step description of how you can update the license file
~# vi /etc/vmware/vmware.lic
The key above is just an example and is not a valid key. Replace the key used above with the evaluation license key you received from VMware.
All this can be done without a reboot of the ESXi host.
Tags: esxi5, howto, license, ssh, vi, VMware, vSphere Client, vsphere hypervisor
Posted by Hans-Henry Jakobsen
This short post is about VMware Tools on VM guests running in a vSphere 5.x cluster/hosts.
This PowerCli one-liner creates a list of VM guests where the VMware Tools CDROM/ISO is mounted:
(Get-VM | Get-View | Where {$_.Runtime.ToolsInstallerMounted}) | % {$_.Name}
Unmount the VMware Tools installer CDROM on all VM guests. This is useful to run before you try to put at ESXi host in maintenance mode because VM guests thatare installing VMware Tools will not migrate because the VMware Tools is not on a shared storage. You will get the error message “The virtual machine is installing VMware Tools and cannot initiate a migration operation”.
(Get-VM | Get-View | Where {$_.Runtime.ToolsInstallerMounted}) | % {Dismount-Tools
This last one finds all VM guests running Windows as guest OS and upgrades VMware Tools without a reboot at the end
Get-VM | Where {$_.PowerState -eq "PoweredOn" -and $_.Guest.OSFullName -match "Win*"} | % {Update-Tools -VM $_ -NoReboot}
Tags: esxi5, get-view, get-vm, powercli, VMware, VMware Tools, vsphere
Posted by Hans-Henry Jakobsen
This post describes how you can download and install the latest version of VMware Tools to a linux guest from a ESXi 5.0 host. You need SSH access rights to a VMware host to follow this guide.
sftp username@vmhost.tld:/vmimages/tools-isoimages/linux.iso
Type in your password and the download will start
# mount linux.iso /media/cdrom/ -t iso9660 -o loop # scp /media/cdrom/VMwareTools-8.6.5-652272.tar.gz username@vmguest.tld:
# tar xfz VMwareTools-8.6.5-652272.tar.gz # cd vmware-tools-distrib # ./vmware-install.pl
Follow the instructions and finish the installer. A reboot may be required to load the necessary kernel modules.
Your VMware Tools are now installed and should work as it would on a normal VMware Tools installation.
This procedure can also be used on other operating systems. This is a list of all the VMware Tools ISO-images available in the /vmimages/tools-isoimages/ folder on a ESXi 5.0 host
sftp> ls -l -rwx------ 1 root root 12576768 Apr 13 09:17 darwin.iso -rwx------ 1 root root 256 Apr 13 09:17 darwin.iso.sig -rwx------ 1 root root 16021504 Apr 13 09:16 freebsd.iso -rwx------ 1 root root 256 Apr 13 09:18 freebsd.iso.sig -rwx------ 1 root root 65200128 Apr 13 09:15 linux.iso -rwx------ 1 root root 256 Apr 13 09:17 linux.iso.sig -rwx------ 1 root root 1738 Apr 13 09:17 linux_avr_manifest.txt -rwx------ 1 root root 540672 Apr 13 09:17 netware.iso -rwx------ 1 root root 256 Apr 13 09:16 netware.iso.sig -rwx------ 1 root root 13006848 Apr 13 09:17 solaris.iso -rwx------ 1 root root 256 Apr 13 09:16 solaris.iso.sig -rwx------ 1 root root 451 Apr 13 09:17 tools-key.pub -rwx------ 1 root root 13664256 Apr 13 09:18 winPre2k.iso -rwx------ 1 root root 256 Apr 13 09:17 winPre2k.iso.sig -rwx------ 1 root root 49 Apr 13 09:18 winPre2k_avr_manifest.txt -rwx------ 1 root root 62128128 Apr 13 09:17 windows.iso -rwx------ 1 root root 256 Apr 13 09:18 windows.iso.sig -rwx------ 1 root root 1069 Apr 13 09:17 windows_avr_manifest.txt
Tags: esxi5, firewall, sftp, VMware, VMware Tools, vSphere Client
Posted by Hans-Henry Jakobsen