How to Reset Expired SSO Admin Password?

1. Connect with that machine where SSO is Installed.
2. Click Start > Run, type cmd, and click OK. The Command Prompt window opens.
3. Navigate to the directory SSOInstallDirectory\utils. By default, the installation directory is C:\ProgramFiles\VMware\Infrastructure\SSOServer\utils.
4. Run this command:
   
   rsautil reset-admin-password
5. Enter the master password when prompted.
   
   Note: This is the password selected for the SSO administrator during the SSO installation. If you have changed your SSO administrator password later, the master password is still the original on

 

Cloud Computing Explained - What is Cloud Computing?

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Request a free voucher to take exam 74-409, which gets you a certification in Server Virtualization with Windows Server Hyper-V and System Center. Earn this certification if you are an IT professional who is responsible for designing, implementing, managing, and maintaining a virtualization infrastructure and/or want proof of your skills on current Microsoft virtualization technologies.

The number of free exams is limited, so be sure to schedule your appointment to lock-in your free exam. Vouchers expire and all exams must be taken by June 30, 2014. To register for your exam, go to http://www.register.prometric.com and, when prompted, use your voucher code to schedule your exam.

Link for this is :-
http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/offers/virtualizationsquaredoffer

Configuring the VMware vCloud Director cell maintenance message (1026337)

Purpose

This article provides information about turning the VMware vCloud Director cell maintenance message on and off.

Resolution

If you want to stop a cell and let users know that you are performing maintenance, you can turn on the maintenance message.

When the maintenance message is turned on, users that attempt to log in to the cell from a browser see a message stating that the cell is down for maintenance. Users that attempt to reach the cell using the vCloud API receive a similar message.

 

To turn on the maintenance message:

1. Stop the cell with the command:
   
   service vmware-vcd stop
   
2. Run the command:
   
   $VCLOUD_HOME/bin/vmware-vcd-cell maintenance
   
   
   For example:
   
   /opt/vmware/cloud-director/bin/vmware-vcd-cell maintenance

When you are finished performing maintenance on a cell and are ready to restart the cell, you can turn off the maintenance message.

 

To turn off the maintenance message:

1. Run the command:
   $VCLOUD_HOME/bin/vmware-vcd-cell stop
   For example:
   /opt/vmware/cloud-director/bin/vmware-vcd-cell stop
   
2. Start the cell with the command:
   
   service vmware-vcd start

 

Source:-

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1026337 

Using the pktcap-uw tool in ESXi 5.5 (2051814)

Purpose

The pktcap-uw tool is an enhanced packet capture and analysis tool that can be used in place of the legacy tcpdump-uw tool. Thepktcap-uw tool is included by default in ESXi 5.5.

Note: The tcpdump-uw tool can only capture packets/frames at the vmkernel interface level and cannot capture frames at the uplinks, or vSwitch, or virtual port levels. The new pktcap-uw tool allows traffic to be captured at all points within the hypervisor for greater flexibility and improved troubleshooting.

 

This article provides information on using the pktcap-uw tool for packet capture and analysis.

Resolution

Using the pktcap-uw tool

• To obtain basic help and syntax information, use the -h option:
  
  # pktcap-uw -h |more
  
• To view a live capture of a vmkernel port's traffic:
  
  # pktcap-uw --vmk vmkX
  For example, to capture frames/packets on vmk0:  
  
  # pktcap-uw --vmk vmk0
  
• To view a live capture of a specific physical network card on the host (vmnic):
  
  # pktcap-uw --uplink vmnicX
  For example, to capture frames/packets on vmnic7:  
  
  # pktcap-uw --uplink vmnic7
• To view a live capture of a particular vSwitch port for a virtual machine, use the --switchport option:
  
  # pktcap-uw --switchport switchportnumber
  For example, to capture frames or packets to and from a virtual machine connected to dvSwitchport 8: 
  
  # pktcap-uw --switchport 8
• To capture the output to a file, use -o option:
  
  # pktcap-uw --vmk vmk# -o file.pcap
  For example, to capture the packets from vmk0 and save to test.pcap file under /tmp directory : 
  
  # pktcap-uw --vmk vmk0 -o /tmp/test.pcap
  Note: To end the capture, ensure to use Cntrl-C multiple times instead of Cntrl-Z because Cntrl-Z may leave background processes running that may prevent subsequent pktcap-uw commands from running and report the error:
  
  error: Can't create the session, Exiting

Request a Product Feature

To request a new product feature or to provide feedback on a VMware product, please visit the Request a Product Feature page.

Source:-

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2051814

Capturing a network trace in ESXi using Tech Support Mode or ESXi Shell (1031186)

Purpose

This article provides information on capturing network traces in ESXi 4.0 Update 1, ESXi 4.1, and ESXi 5.x. You may want to capture the network traces to investigate network problems.

Resolution

To capture the network traces in ESXi 4.x and ESXi 5.x, you can use the tcpdump-uw command in the Tech Support Mode.

Note: In ESXi 5.x, Tech Support Mode is replaced by ESXi Shell. For more information, see Using ESXi Shell in ESXi 5.0 and 5.1 (2004746).

The tcpdump-uw command is based on the standard tcpdump utility. Network traces are captured from the perspective of a network interface. The examples in this article use vmk0, though any VMKernel network interface could be used.

Capturing network traces with tcpdump-uw

• To list the vmkernel interfaces, use the esxcfg-vmknic command with the -l option:
  
  # esxcfg-vmknic -l
  
• To display packets on the vmkernel interface vmk0, use the tcpdump-uw command with the -i option:
  
  # tcpdump-uw -i vmk0
  Note:
  
  • By default, the tcpdump and tcpdump-uw commands capture only the first 68 bytes of data from a packet.
  • For ESXi 5.5, see Using the pktcap-uw tool in ESXi 5.5 (2051814).
    
    
• To capture the entire packet, use the tcpdump-uw command with the -s option with a value of 1514 for normal traffic and 9014 if Jumbo Frames are enabled.
  
  Normal traffic: # tcpdump-uw -i vmk0 -s 1514Jumbo Frames enabled: # tcpdump-uw -i vmk0 -s 9014 -B 9
  
  Note: By default, tcpdump-uw can only capture a maximum of 8138 bytes due to buffer constraints. The -B 9 option increases the buffer to allow the capture of up to 9014 bytes.
  
• To display all of the packets on vmk0 with verbose detail,  use the tcpdump-uw command with the -vvv option:
  
  # tcpdump-uw -i vmk0 -s 1514 -vvv
  Note: Refer the help page for tcpdump-uw command for more -v options.
  
• To display only the TCP packets on vmk0, use the tcp option with the tcpdump-uw command.
  
  # tcpdump-uw -i vmk0 -s 1514 tcp
• To see traffic to/from only a single IP address, you can use the host option:
  
  # tcpdump-uw -i vmk0 -s 1514 host x.x.x.x
  
• To avoid seeing unwanted traffic types in the tcpdump-uw output, use the not option. For example, to filter out DNS and SSH traffic, use the following command: 
  
  # tcpdump-uw -i vmk0 -s 1514 port not 22 and port not 53
  
  Note: This is useful when doing a packet capture on a VMkernel interface when that same interface is also being used for an active SSH session.
  
• To save the dump in pcap format for later use with Wireshark, use the traffic.pcap option.
  
  # tcpdump-uw -i vmk0 -s 1514 -w traffic.pcap
  
• If the trace is running for long time, you can split the trace pcap file to chunks of desired size using the-C option.
  
  # tcpdump-uw -i vmk0 -s 1514 -C 100M -w /var/tmp/test.pcap
• To limit
•  the log files to a specified number, you can use the -W option. You can use this option if a trace must be set running for a long period of time, waiting for an even to occur. 
  
  For example:
  
  # tcpdump-uw -i vmk0 -s 1514 -C 100M -W 10 -w /var/tmp/test.pcap
  This command creates 10 trace files of size 100MB each. This ensures that you do not run out of space on ESX.
  
  Note: This option has the same effect of rotating the log files.

Additional Information

By default, packet captures on the vmkernel network interface (vmk) only captures the network traffic moving to and from the vmkernel on that interface. It does not capture other traffic moving across the Virtual Switch.

To capture all traffic moving across the Virtual Switch:

• Use a third-party packet sniffer software inside one of the virtual machines on the vSwitch.
• The network interface of the virtual machine will need to be configured for promiscuous mode. For more/related information, seeConfiguring promiscuous mode on a virtual switch or portgroup (1004099).

Source:-

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1031186

Accessing Direct Console User Interface (DCUI) from an SSH session

You may want to access the DCUI if you want to troubleshoot issues and there are no remote management tools available, such as DRAC, iLo, or RSA, to access the ESXi host.

For this Use Any SSH Client (Putty) > Provide the ESXi IP/Name, Username and Password >

To access the DCUI from an SSH session, run this command:

# dcui


To exit the DCUI, press Ctrl+C.

Typical administration tasks includes:-
- Reset ‘root’ password
- Configure Lockdown mode
- Configure, Restart, Test and Restore the VMware ESXi Management Network
- Restart Management Agents
- Configure Keyboard
- Troubleshoot
- View System Logs
- Reset System Configuration (Factory Reset)
-  Shutdown/Restart the VMware ESXi Host

Most actions are carried out by using [F2] on the keyboard or [F11] confirm changes, along with typical options such as [Y] and [N] to various system prompts. Before carrying out any task you will be required to supply the ‘root’ password. However, the first law of security is to secure the physical server – so take care to ensure your access to ILO/RAC/BMC interfaces are properly secured. Although the VMware ESX host can be rebooted from the DCUI this is regarded as an action of last resort. If the VMware ESX hosts has running VMs these will crash, and may or may not be restarted on other hosts depending on whether they are part of a cluster.

KB Reference:-

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2039638

Traffic Filtering and DSCP Marking in vSphere 5.5

In a vSphere distributed switch 5.5 and later, by using the traffic filtering and marking policy, you can protect the virtual network from unwanted traffic and security attacks or apply a QoS tag to a certain type of traffic.

The traffic filtering and marking policy represents an ordered set of network traffic rules for security and for QoS tagging of the data flow through the ports of a distributed switch. In general, a rule consists of a qualifier for traffic, and of an action for restricting or prioritizing the matching traffic.

The vSphere distributed switch applies rules on traffic at different places in the data stream. The distributed switch applies traffic filter rules on the data path between the virtual machine network adapter and distributed port, or between the uplink port and physical network adapter for rules on uplinks.

This is in additional to being able to tag traffic and pass Quality of Service (QoS) or Differentiated services Code Point (DSCP) values up to the physical network for prioritization.

ACL’s allow you to create fine grain control of what traffic is allowed in or out of a VM, set of VM’s or an entire port group. The feature is configured at the port group level and allows for an unlimited number of rules. The rules are processed in the VMkernel, meaning no external appliance is needed which equates to no single point of failure and faster processing of rules and in some cases reduced network traffic since rule processing happens before the traffic leaves the ESXi host.

You can create this at the VM Portgroup Level and Uplink Portgroup Level.

How to Create Traffic Filtering Rules

1. Traffic filtering refers to the ability to allow or disallow different types of traffic. vSphere Distributed Switch can also pass class of service information on to a physical switch with Traffic Filtering. Begin by logging on to vSphere Web Client and navigate to the [Networking] section.

2. Click on a port group that is on the distributed switch. In this example, we select [Marketing-Test]. Click on [Manage] and click on [Edit].

3. Click on [Traffic Filtering and Marking], and then change the Status to [Enabled]. Then click on the Add [+] icon to set the filtering rule.

4. By default, “Tag” is selected as the preferred action. Change it to [Drop] so as to add an access control list to the port group.

5. Select the type of traffic direction preferred, here we retain the default selection. Then click on the Add [+] icon and click on [New IP Qualifier].

The VDS supports packet classification, based on the following three different types of qualifiers:

• MAC SA and DA qualifiers
• System traffic qualifiers
• vSphere vMotion, vSphere management, vSphere FT, and so on
• IP qualifiers
• Protocol type, IP SA, IP DA, and port number

After the qualifier has been selected and packets have been classified, users have the option to either filter or tag those packets. When the classified packets have been selected for filtering, users have the option to filter ingress, egress, or traffic in both directions.

6. Here you have options to change protocols, source ports and destination ports. We change the Protocol from TCP(6) to [ICMP (1)].

7.  In this example, we retain the default Source Address and change the Destination Address. We enter the IP address of a server named esxi01, apply the changes and click on [OK].

8. The new qualifier has been successfully created. Click on [OK].

9. We now opened the VM Console and attempt to ping esxi01. Notice that the pings are failing because we the traffic filter is in place.

10. Change the Action to [Allow] and click on [OK].

11. We switch back to the VM Console and see that the pings are now successful. To summarize, traffic filtering gives the ability to do create Access Control Lists at the Distributed Port Group level.

Where are the Storage Profiles in vSphere 5.5?

So now the question is that in vSphere 5.5 where are the Storage Profiles?????  Storage Profiles are now renamed to Storage Policies.

Understanding Virtual Machine Storage Policies

Storage policies that you define for virtual machines, capture storage characteristics that virtual machine home files and virtual disks require to run applications within the virtual machine.

When you create a storage policy, you can reference storage capabilities advertised by a storage system. You can also reference user-defined datastore tags.

Although storage policies and storage capabilities have similar semantics, policies describe what users require for their virtual machines, while storage capabilities refer to what the system can offer.

You can create several storage policies to define different types and classes of storage requirements.

Each storage policy is not only a set of constraints that apply simultaneously. A single policy can include alternative sets of subpolicies, or rule-sets, that represent equally acceptable storage requirements.

The virtual machine home files (.vmx, .vmsd, .nvram, .log, and so on) and the virtual disks (.vmdk) can have separate storage policies as shown in the following table.

Example Storage Policy for a Virtual Machine

Example Virtual Machine Files	Example for a Storage Policy	Example for a Datastore Compliant with the Storage Policy
windows_2008r2_test.vmx	Storage Policy 2	datastore02, datastore05, datastore10
windows_2008r2_test.vmxf
windows_2008r2_test.log
windows_2008r2_test.nvram
windows_2008r2_test.vmem
windows_2008r2_test.vmsd
windows_2008r2_test.vmdk	Storage Policy 3	datastore05
windows_2008r2_test_1.vmdk	Storage Policy 5	datastore10

When you create, clone, or migrate a virtual machine, you can apply the storage policy to the virtual machine. You can then place the virtual machine to one of the datastores that has capabilities compatible with the policy requirements.

If you select a datastore that does not match the policy, the Policy shows that the virtual machine is using noncompliant storage.

So how to create storage policies in vSphere 5.5. So let's start with demo:-

1. First, Open the Web Client UI and then Click on VM Storage Policies Icon:-

2. Then enable the VM Storage Policies on your Cluster/ESXi Host:-

     First Click on Enable VM Storage Policies Icon --> Select ESXi Host --> Click on Enable Button --> Once Enabled Click on Close Button.

3. Now what we need to create Storage Policies

So in this demo i will demonstrate how to create these storage policies with the Help of Storage Tags

4. To Create a new storage tag and storage category and assign it to datastore follow the instructions

5. Then to Create a new VM Storage Policy click on Create a new VM Storage Policy button

6. Give the Name and Description to VM Storage Policy then Click on Next

7. Click on Next

8. Then Select the category and Tag for Creating the VM Storage Policy 

9. You will get the datastores list with whom this Tag is linked --> Click on Next

10. Click on Finish to finally create the policy

11. Then while Creating the New VM / Cloning the VM or while performing the Storage vMotion of the VM you will get the option to select the storage policy then after that you will two categories one is Compatible and another is Incompatible.  Select the appropriate datastore from Compatible list and even for the existing VM you can select the appropriate storage policy to check that whether that VM is in right storage according to the Workload requirement

To link storage policy with the existing VM

If the VM has multiple vDisks then you can select different storage policies for the different vDisks as per the workload requirement.