Yellow Bricks

by Duncan Epping

Archives for 2009

vCenter Server 4.0 Patch 1

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Don’t think many people have noticed this KB article yet or even experienced this issue with HA but nevertheless it’s worth mentioning. Apparently there’s an issue with HA in vCenter 4.0 when a class A network is being used. When a node fails this will not be detected and thus the fail-over of VMs will not occur. Although not many customers are using these class A ranges it is something I think you all should be aware of. This issue has been resolved and VMware released the following KB article which contains a link to the patch:

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1013013
A vSphere 4.0 VMware High Availability cluster may not failover virtual machines when ESX is configured with certain IP addresses

You experience these symptoms:

  • In vCenter 4.0, VMware HA might not failover virtual machines when a host failure occurs.
  • When the ESX host’s IP address in a VMware HA enabled cluster is configured with certain IP addresses, the node failure detection algorithm fails.
  • You are susceptible to this issue when all of your Service Console Port(s) or Management Network IP address(s) on your ESX host fall within the following range:
    3.x.x.x – 9.x.x.x
    26.x.x.x – 99.x.x.x

Note: You are not affected if one of Service Console Port(s) or Management Network IP address(s) on your ESX host falls outside of this range.

New VMware vSphere Training by Train Signal

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David Davis just released a brand new computer based training, VMware vSphere. The CBT is nearly 18 Hours on 3 Jam Packed DVDs! I haven’t seen the CBT yet, but if it’s anywhere near the quality of the previous CBT it’s definitely worth it. David gave me a coupon code(VSPHERE25) which gives you guys a $ 25,- reduction so be sure to use it. Check the preview and head over to Train Signal and pick it up, definitely one of the easiest and most relaxed ways to get familiar with VMware vSphere!

Here’s a preview:

For those who are going to VMworld, Train Signal are sponsoring the VMworld 2009 Sunday night extravaganza, and also the VMworld 2009 Run. David Davis will be doing a “signing” / meet the author session on Wednesday at the VMworld bookstore from 12:00 till 13:00. If you want to have your copy signed be sure to get there on time.

HA Admission Control and DPM

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A couple of days ago we had a discussion on Admission Control and DPM internally at VMware. One of our customers had enabled DPM on a HA cluster. During the evening 4 out of 5 hosts where placed into standby mode because of this.

This customer, as many of our customers have these days, had vCenter running virtual. This of course led to the question; what happens if this one host fails and our virtual vCenter server is running on it?
That’s an easy one; nothing. It might not be the answer you are looking for but when the host fails that runs vCenter there’s no host or service left to get these hosts out of maintenance mode or restart your VMs.

Now maybe even more important; what causes this behavior?
This behavior is caused by the fact that admission control is disabled. If you disable admission control DPM will put hosts into standby mode even if it violates failover requirements. This means that if you have virtualized your vCenter server this is definitely something to be aware of.

For more info/background: http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1007006

VMworld Run the Golden Gate Bridge 2009, be there!

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We just opened up registrations for the VMworld Run The Golden Gate Bridge 2009 event! Several options have been discussed and basically they were pros and cons to every single time-slot/date we proposed and we decided to go with two categories and an evening event instead of an early event. We know that this time-slot is not optimal, but we do hope you will all be participating in this great initiative. Not only will you get to see beautiful parts of San Francisco and of course the Golden Gate Bridge, you will also help the “Save The Bay” organization by participating.

Here are the details:

Date

Monday, August 31, 2009 @ 6:30 PM local time

Address

Golden Gate Bridge (Shuttles will be provided from Moscone Center to the bridge and back)

Fees

$ 10,- (includes Nike dri-fit/cotton shirt)

Registration Closing Date

Sunday, August 23, 2009 @ 11:59 PM

Brief Description

Come join us for the first VMworld Fun Run. This event is only open to registered attendees of VMworld 2009 conference, sponsoring companies, partner companies and others associated with VMworld 2009. Event badges will be required to participate.

Course

The course will take the runner over the Golden Gate Bridge and back. We are planning on a 5K course and a 10K course. The exact distance(s) may change due to logistics.

Transportation

Shuttle bus transportation will depart from Moscone Center (VMworld HQ) and drop you off near the run launch pad. The buses will also return you to Moscone when you have finished. Bus schedules will be sent to you next week.

Beneficiary

All proceeds and sponsorship donations will be donated to Save The Bay. Save the Bay is the largest regional organization working to protect, restore and celebrate San Francisco Bay. (www.savesfbay.org)

Additional Information

Special thanks to the event sponsors: – list is coming

Be a part of this great initiative… REGISTER NOW!