VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Stage Manager 1.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Revision: 20080530 Item: VMW-ENG-Q208-417 You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on our Web site at: http://www.vmware.com/support/ The VMware Web site also provides the latest product updates. If you have comments about this documentation, submit your feedback to: docfeedback@vmware.com © 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. Protected by one or more of U.S. Patent Nos.
Contents About This Book 11 Getting Started 1 Stage Manager Infrastructure and the Service Lifecycle 15 Visualizing the Enterprise Service Lifecycle 15 View of the Lifecycle Stages 16 Understanding Stage Manager in the VMware Infrastructure Environment Using Clusters, Hosts, Resource Pools, and Datastores 18 Leveraging VMware Infrastructure Capabilities 19 Guidelines for VirtualCenter and Stage Manager 19 17 2 Using the Stage Manager Web Console 21 Setting Browser Options 21 Accessing the Stage Manager
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Stage Manager Administration 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager 31 Managing Services 32 Preparing the Service Template 32 Creating Stages in the Service Template 32 Editing Stage Properties for the Service Template 33 Creating Services 33 Deleting Services 34 Managing Virtual Machine Templates 34 Reviewing the Four Methods of Creating Templates 35 Installing an Operating System and Applications on a Blank Template 35 Creating Blank Templates 36 Deploying Templates 37
Contents Editing Advanced Template Properties 56 Changing MAC Addresses 59 Adding Virtual Hard Disks to Templates 59 Editing Hard Disks 60 Unpublishing Templates 60 Deleting Templates 60 Accessing Virtual Machine Consoles of Templates 61 Importing Virtual Machines from VirtualCenter to New and Existing Configurations 61 Managing Media 63 Synchronizing the Media Library with Files in a Media Store 63 Editing Media Properties 64 Managing Users 64 Viewing Users and Sending Group Email 64 Adding New Users 66 D
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Deleting Virtual Machines and Configurations After Assessing Datastore Usage 88 Editing Template and Virtual Machine Properties After Assessing Datastore Usage 88 Adding NFS Datastores to Stage Manager 89 Adding Media Stores to Stage Manager 89 Removing Datastores 89 Configuring Network Settings 90 Highlights of the General Tab 90 Highlights of the IP Pool Tab 91 Using Static IP and DHCP Networking 92 Reviewing the Installation ID 93 Adding IP Addresses to the Stage Manage
Contents Service User and Service Administrator Operations 4 Working with Services 115 Accessing Services 115 Reviewing Service Operations 116 Editing Service Properties 116 Accessing the Lifecycle Stages of a Service 117 Editing Stages of a Service 117 Editing Stage Properties 118 5 Working with Configurations 119 Accessing Configurations 119 Accessing the Lifecycle Tab 120 Accessing the Archive Tab 120 Performing Configuration Operations 121 Creating Configurations 121 IP Address Assignment for Virtual
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Accessing Change Summaries for Configurations 140 Adding Virtual Machines to Existing Configurations 141 Accessing Consoles for Virtual Machines 142 6 Working with Virtual Machines 143 Accessing Virtual Machines 143 Performing Virtual Machine Operations 144 Accessing a Virtual Machine Console for the First Time 145 Changing the Virtual Machine Console Display Size 145 Deploying Virtual Machines 145 Deploying Virtual Machines on High Availability Clusters 147 Undeploying V
Contents Monitoring Resource Usage 167 Monitoring Deployed Virtual Machines 168 Appendixes A Client and Browser Support 173 B Guest Operating System Support 177 C Network Fencing 181 When to Fence Configurations 181 Fencing Overview 182 Fencing Options 183 Processor Type Incompatibility 186 Viewing Virtual Switches for Fences 186 Glossary 187 Index 203 VMware, Inc.
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About This Book The VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide describes VMware® Stage Manager and its components, commands, operations, configuration, and user interface. Intended Audience The guide is intended for IT administrators, developers, and testing engineers. The IT administrator might be a VMware Infrastructure administrator.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Technical Support and Education Resources The following sections describe the technical support resources available to you. To access the current versions of this book and other books, go to: http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs. Online and Telephone Support Use online support to submit technical support requests, view your product and contract information, and register your products. Go to: http://www.vmware.
Getting Started VMware, Inc.
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1 Stage Manager Infrastructure and the Service Lifecycle 1 Stage Manager organizes systems in the enterprise software lifecycle into services. These services represent the deliverables of IT separated into stages that span development and testing through production. Stage Manager increases IT service availability, accelerates response to configuration changes, promotes compliance with regulatory or workflow processes, and promotes efficient use of storage.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Regulatory or IT processes require different levels of access controls at different stages of the application lifecycle. Best practices, including the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) framework, advise you to use a staged process when bringing new services or changes to existing services to production. Stage Manager also provides an archive to store services.
Chapter 1 Stage Manager Infrastructure and the Service Lifecycle Understanding Stage Manager in the VMware Infrastructure Environment Stage Manager is an application that resides on and leverages the VMware Infrastructure product. See Figure 1‐2 for a view of the larger VMware environment. Figure 1-2.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide VMware VirtualCenter Server is a control point for the datacenter and provides datacenter services such as access control, performance monitoring, and configuration. VirtualCenter also provides advanced VMware Infrastructure capabilities described in “Leveraging VMware Infrastructure Capabilities” on page 19. ESX Server hosts continue to function even if the VirtualCenter Server becomes unreachable (for example, the network connection is severed).
Chapter 1 Stage Manager Infrastructure and the Service Lifecycle Leveraging VMware Infrastructure Capabilities Stage Manager leverages VMware Infrastructure capabilities such as VMware VMotion™, VMware DRS, and VMware High Availability. These are distributed services that enable efficient and automated resource management and high virtual machine availability. Stage Manager works with virtual machines registered with VirtualCenter and VMware Infrastructure admission controls.
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2 Using the Stage Manager Web Console 2 To get started with Stage Manager, you can become familiar with the main elements and operations of the Stage Manager Web console.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide To access the Stage Manager console 1 Obtain a Stage Manager account. If you do not have an account or need account information, see a Stage Manager administrator. 2 On a Windows machine connected to the Internet or your local intranet, open a browser window. 3 To connect to a Stage Manager Server system, navigate to https:///. The first time you access the console, an SSL warning might appear.
Chapter 2 Using the Stage Manager Web Console Specific Areas and Operations The Stage Manager Web console includes these areas and operations: Services – Shows the IT deliverables that enable business processes. The capabilities of services are primarily delivered in a production‐level context. A service has a Service Level Agreement (SLA) associated with it, and the maintenance of that service is a priority. A service in Stage Manager contains virtual configurations.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Resource Usage – Shows CPU and memory information for resource pools, services, and stages. This information is visible to Stage Manager administrators only. Deployed VMs – Provides details on deployed virtual machines and access to individual virtual machine consoles. This information is visible to Stage Manager administrators only.
Chapter 2 Using the Stage Manager Web Console Sample Service, Configuration, and Template in Stage Manager The Stage Manager Web console provides the Sample Service, Sample Configuration, and ttylinux‐4‐ESX3 objects. Use this service, configuration, and template to see how operations occur without the time‐consuming process of creating objects from scratch.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide To configure default display and deployment options 1 Set the first page to appear after logging in. 2 To prevent the display of information that usually appears at the top of the each page, deselect the Show Page Header by Default check box This information includes IP addresses, virtual machine descriptions, and snapshot thumbnails. Removing the header gives you more room to view the console. 3 Enter a number of rows to display on pages with tabular format.
Chapter 2 Using the Stage Manager Web Console To set passwords 1 Enter a password and confirm it. 2 Click Change Password. VMware, Inc.
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Stage Manager Administration VMware, Inc.
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3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager 3 Use the Stage Manager Web console to manage your Stage Manager environment. The operations in this chapter are restricted to Stage Manager administrators.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Managing Services Only Stage Manager administrators can set up the default service template that serves as the basis of new services, create services, and delete services. For information about other service operations, see Chapter 4, “Working with Services,” on page 115. Preparing the Service Template Stage Manager administrators can prepare the default template for new services by adjusting stage names, order, and properties, creating new stages, and deleting stages.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager 3 4 Provide stage details: Name. Specification of whether to restrict the stage to Stage Manager and service administrators. For example, you might want to prevent development or QA users from accessing deliverables for production. Resource pool. Click OK. Editing Stage Properties for the Service Template You can update the parameters for each stage in the service template.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide 4 From the list of available users, select the appropriate users and use the right and left arrows to assign them roles as service users or service administrators. Although Stage Manager administrators have access to all services, you might still assign specific roles for tracking purposes. For example, you can see users identified with service administrator access on the Services page. 5 Click OK.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager If VMware Tools is installed on the template and the version does not meet Stage Manager requirements, Installed (Requires Update) appears in the VMware Tools column. If Stage Manager cannot detect whether VMware Tools is installed, Unknown appears in the VMware Tools column. For VMware Tool requirements, see “Installing VMware Tools” on page 39.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Review guest customization information for Stage Manager and complete specific steps for Windows NT and Solaris templates. Shut down the guest operating system. Undeploy the template. Publish the template to make it available for building configurations. Creating Blank Templates Create a blank template to start the process described in “Installing an Operating System and Applications on a Blank Template” on page 35.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager Number of virtual CPUs. The datastore for virtual machines must be connected to a host that provides the required SMP technology for the guest operating system. If you choose a CPU number not currently compatible with the CPU of the host, you cannot deploy the virtual machine until you attach a host with the appropriate SMP support.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide To deploy a template without default preferences 1 In the left pane, click VM Templates. 2 If the template is published (available for configuration use), move the pointer over the template name and choose Unpublish from the menu. 3 Move the pointer over the template name and choose Deploy from the menu. 4 Specify the deploy options: a Select a resource pool.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager Installing Guest Operating Systems Installing a guest operating system requires entering the path name of an ISO image file. For information about adding ISO files to the Stage Manager media library, see “Managing Media” on page 63. To install a guest operating system on a template 1 In the left pane, click VM Templates. A template must be deployed to install an operating system on it. See “Deploying Templates” on page 37.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide To install VMware Tools 1 In the left pane, click VM Templates. A template must be deployed to install VMware Tools. See “Deploying Templates” on page 37. 2 Move the pointer over the template name and choose View Console from the menu. 3 Log in to the guest operating system inside the virtual machine console. 4 Click Install VMware Tools. Installing VMware Tools takes several minutes and requires you to restart the virtual machine.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager Prerequisites for Guest Customization Review these prerequisites: You must specify the correct guest operating system from the Template Properties page. Stage Manager uses this information to determine how to customize the operating system. You must install the version of VMware Tools packaged with ESX Server 3.5 or higher. The Stage Manager Web console also provides the correct version for installation.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Building a Microsoft Sysprep Package for Guest Customization Stage Manager can customize the network settings, such as the Windows SID, inside the guest operating system of a virtual machine based on a template. SIDgen is a tool packaged with Stage Manager to change the SID for most virtual machines running Windows 32‐bit guest operating systems. Under some circumstances, you need or can choose to replace SIDgen with Microsoft Sysprep.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Stage Manager Server\Tools\CustomizeGuest\Windows\Sysprep\win2k3_64 This location is for 64‐bit Windows 2003.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Consider disabling guest customization under these special circumstances: The software in the template is configured to use specific network settings. You have virtual machines that must remain untouched for specific security or integrity requirements. You are using unsupported guest operating systems outside the scope of those listed in Appendix B, “Guest Operating System Support,” on page 177.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager To disable the check of VMware Tools 1 In the left pane, click Settings. 2 In the Guest Customization tab, deselect the Only Allow Publishing of Templates With a Version of VMware Tools That Supports Guest Customization check box. 3 Click OK. Completing Guest Customization for Windows NT and Solaris Templates Windows NT and Solaris templates require extra steps for guest customization.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide 5 In the virtual machine console, enter these case‐sensitive commands: > > > > > /etc/init.d/volmgt stop /etc/init.d/volmgt start cp -p /cdrom/cdrom/customvm. /etc/init.d/customvm sh /etc/init.d/customvm install eject cdrom 6 Leave the virtual machine console. 7 Shut down the virtual machine from inside the guest operating system. See “Shutting Down Templates” on page 46. Importing Templates from Lab Manager 2.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager To shut down a Solaris guest operating system For Solaris guest operating systems, navigate to the virtual machine console and run this command: > shutdown -y -g0 -i5 Undeploying Templates You can undeploy a template to unregister the virtual machine from VirtualCenter. Undeploy a template before such operations as publishing, exporting, consolidating, cloning, and deleting a template.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide To publish a template 1 From the left pane, click VM Templates. A template must be undeployed to publish it. See “Undeploying Templates” on page 47. 2 Move the pointer over the template name and choose Publish from the menu. Importing Virtual Machines as Templates Importing a template implies copying a virtual machine external to the Stage Manager system into the template library.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager Importing a Template from an SMB Share You can import virtual machines as templates from an SMB share. Do not import templates manually with ESX Server commands. This operation involves specifying deployment and storage leases. See “Reviewing the Resource Cleanup Tab” on page 103. After importing a template, you must deploy the template to allow Stage Manager to assess the VMware Tools information and display it in the Virtual Machine Templates page.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Importing a Template from VirtualCenter If you have an existing virtual machine in a resource pool managed by VirtualCenter, only Stage Manager administrators can use the Import from VirtualCenter button to copy that virtual machine as a template under Stage Manager control. NOTE If a virtual machine has VirtualCenter snapshot files, Stage Manager only imports the original virtual machine as a template and discards any VirtualCenter snapshot files.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager Creating Templates from Active Virtual Machines in Stage Manager You can create a template from an active virtual machine in Stage Manager. After a virtual machine in a configuration undergoes changes, such as the addition of software or altered properties, you might want to use it as the basis of a new template. The new template is a linked clone of the original virtual machine. This operation involves specifying deployment and storage leases.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Cloning Existing Templates You can create a linked clone or a full clone of a template to take advantage of software already installed on that template. A linked‐clone operation generates a “quick” copy by creating a delta disk instead of copying an entire virtual hard disk. This operation addresses virtual machine proliferation by using “referential provisioning,” a process that involves storing new changes but referring back to a chain of delta disks.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager 3 4 Provide template details: Name (Optional) Description Time to undeploy the template Time to delete the template or mark the template for deletion Click OK. The new template appears on the Virtual Machine Templates page. To make a full clone of a template 1 In the left pane, click VM Templates. 2 Move the pointer over the template name, and choose Make Full Clone from the menu.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Exporting Templates You can export (copy) a template to an SMB share. This operation assumes that you enabled a shared folder with full control permissions at the share and file system level. Exporting can take up an extended period of time, depending on the size of the virtual machine. Export and import operations require an open SMB port on the ESX Server hosts.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager Consolidating a template only occurs on unpublished templates and can take an extended period of time, depending on the disk size and storage performance. Consolidation reduces the free space on datastores because the template no longer benefits from delta disks. To consolidate a template 1 In the left pane, click VM Templates. The template must be undeployed and unpublished. See “Undeploying Templates” on page 47 and “Unpublishing Templates” on page 60.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Guest OS – Guest operating system of the template. If you select a 64‐bit guest operating system, the datastore must be connected to an ESX Server host that provides the required 64‐bit processor for that guest OS. You can proceed without fulfilling this requirement but you cannot deploy the template until you attach a host with the correct processor.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager To edit advanced template properties 1 In the left pane, click VM Templates. 2 Move the pointer over the template name and choose Properties from the menu. 3 Click Advanced Properties. 4 Update the CPU settings: CPU Priority– Priority for shares of CPU. CPU Reservation – Minimum amount of CPU set aside for the template. CPU Limit – Maximum amount of CPU available for the template.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Supports Customization – Specification of whether the installed version of VMware Tools supports guest customization in Stage Manager. If the value of the VMware Tools Internal Version field is less than 7299, you cannot make use of guest customization unless you install a supported version of VMware Tools. Perform Customization When Adding to Configuration – Specification of whether guest customization is disabled.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager Changing MAC Addresses You can change a MAC address for an undeployed template. You might change a MAC address if you have a MAC conflict or if you need to discard saved state quickly and easily. To change the MAC address for a template 1 In the left pane, click VM Templates. 2 Move the pointer over the template name and choose Properties from the menu. 3 Click Advanced Properties. 4 Create a random MAC address: a Click Reset MAC Address.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Adding SCSI Virtual Hard Disks If you add a SCSI hard disk to a virtual machine, you might generate an operating system error message about missing drivers for this device. If this error occurs, download and install the appropriate driver, and contact VMware for further support. Editing Hard Disks You can update the bus number and bus ID of a hard disk. See “Editing Basic Template Properties” on page 55.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager Accessing Virtual Machine Consoles of Templates From a template console, you can perform operations ranging from installation of VMware Tools to media file activity for the guest operating system to snapshots of virtual machines. See “Performing Virtual Machine Operations” on page 144. If you take a snapshot, a revert point displays a thumbnail icon of the last snapshot point in the upper‐right corner of the page.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide 9 Click the Import VM from VirtualCenter button. 10 Complete the details for the import operation: a Select a virtual machine from the VirtualCenter inventory. Virtual machines have a light blue icon. You can only select virtual machines that are powered off and not already under Stage Manager control. b Enter a name for the virtual machine for use in Stage Manager. The name must contain alphanumeric characters (a–z, A–Z, 0–9), hyphens, underscores, or periods.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager c Specify whether to use static or DHCP IP address assignment. d If you specify static IP address allocation, enter an IP address. e Select the datastore for the virtual machine and click OK. Managing Media The media library enables you to store media image files. You can upload data (for example, drivers) to a template from the media library.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Make sure the media store containing the appropriate files is enabled. See “Enabling Resources” on page 77. For information about media stores, see “Highlights of the Media Store Tab” on page 72. To synchronize media from the media library 1 In the left pane, click Media. 2 Click the Synchronize Media button. To synchronize media from an NFS media store 1 Click Resources in the left pane.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager The Users tab presents this information: Name A gray icon indicates the user is disabled and cannot log in to the Web console. A blue and yellow icon indicates the user is enabled. A user can exist in the system without an enabled status. For example, you can disable a user on extended leave. Full name Role Administrator appears for users with Stage Manager administrator privileges. Service administrators appear as regular users.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide To send email notification to a group of users 1 Select a user group. 2 Enter the content of the email. 3 Click Send. To verify SMTP settings 1 In the left pane, click Settings. 2 Verify the information in the Email Preferences section. 3 Click Test SMTP Settings to verify the server connection works. Adding New Users Stage Manager administrators can add new users. This operation involves assigning user roles and selecting fencing modes.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager 6 Specify whether to use a network architecture mode for deploying configurations: Allow Traffic In and Out – Virtual machines can communicate with machines outside the fence and machines outside the fence can communicate with virtual machines in the fenced configuration. Allow Traffic Out – Virtual machines in a fenced configuration can initiate communication to machines outside the fence, and can receive messages back on the same connection.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Editing User Properties Editing user properties involves assigning user roles. See “Reviewing User Roles” on page 25. To edit user properties 1 In the left pane, click Users. 2 Move the pointer over the user name and choose Properties from the menu. 3 Update user information: Password The password requires at least six characters.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager Managing Resources Use the Resources link in the left pane to access settings in the Resource Pools, Hosts, Datastores, and Media Stores tabs. The information helps you to assess which resources are depleting. Review these definitions: Resource pool – Logical structure that allows delegation of control over the resources of a host. Resource pools compartmentalize all resources in a cluster.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Amount of CPU and memory in use and total amount of CPU and memory, as follows: Used – Dynamic amount consumed by virtual machines in this resource pool or any child resource pool. Total – Static upper‐bound on usage. The value is based on the upper limit configured for the resource pool and for any parent resource pool. Number of virtual machines using the resource pool. Messages or alerts about activity that might raise errors in Stage Manager.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager Name of the cluster. A compute resource (owner of the resource pool) can be a cluster or standalone host. The compute resource represents the sum of all CPU and memory of all hosts under it. If the compute resource is a standalone host, the cell in the Cluster column is empty.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide VM Creation Enabled – Allows you to store virtual machines in the datastore. Media Store Creation Enabled – Allows you to create media directories in the NFS datastore. These directories are known as media stores. Activity and errors for the most recent operation. Amount of datastore space in use and the total amount of space. Percentage of datastore space used. Alerts on VirtualCenter activity that might generate errors in Stage Manager.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager Use this tab to add a media store. From a table in the tab, you can disable or remove a media store. Other operations include synchronizing the contents of the media store with the Stage Manager media library and accessing media store properties. Attaching and Detaching Resource Pools Use the Resource Pools tab to attach a resource pool to Stage Manager. To attach a resource pool 1 In the left pane, click Resources.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Understanding Host States Review the various states that affect the Ready and Available status in the Hosts tab. See “Highlights of the Hosts Tab” on page 70. Ready States The following states affect the Ready status of hosts: Not Supported – Host is running a virtualization platform that Stage Manager does not support. You cannot use this host for Stage Manager operations.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager Entering Standby Mode – Host is in the process of entering standby mode in VirtualCenter. Host is waiting for all virtual machines to power off or is putting the operating system in standby mode. You cannot perform most operations on this host, including unregistering a virtual machine from the host. Removed from VirtualCenter – Host is removed from VirtualCenter.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Preparing and Unpreparing ESX Server Hosts Stage Manager prompts administrators to start the Prepare Hosts wizard after attaching a resource pool with hosts that are not yet prepared by Stage Manager. This preparation involves tasks such as installing an agent on the hosts. You can also start the wizard from the Hosts tab for any hosts that are unprepared.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager 3 Click OK. During the unprepare operation, Stage Manager tries to uninstall the Stage Manager agent and remove the default portgroup. If this attempt fails, Stage Manager continues to unprepare the host and relays these failures in a message. Renaming the Default Portgroup Under certain conditions, Stage Manager attempts to rename the default portgroup on a host.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide To enable a media store for media use 1 In the left pane, click Resources. 2 In the Media Stores tab, move the pointer over the media store and choose Enable Media Store from the menu. To enable virtual machine creation in a datastore 1 In the left pane, click Resources. 2 In the Datastores tab, move the pointer over the resource and choose Enable VM Creation from the menu. To enable media store creation in a datastore 1 In the left pane, click Resources.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager Importing virtual machines Transferring configurations to services (using the Copy Configuration radio button) To disable a resource pool, host, or datastore 1 In the left pane, click Resources. 2 In the Resource Pools, Hosts, or Datastores tab, move the pointer over the resource and choose Disable from the menu. To disable a media store for media use 1 In the left pane, click Resources.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide If you redeploy virtual machines in a suspended state, make sure that the other hosts are CPU compatible. The suspend operation for individual virtual machines suspends the state of virtual machines. If a configuration is fenced, all virtual machines in that configuration move together to another host. To undeploy all virtual machines in a resource pool 1 In the left pane, click Resources.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager On this page, a table includes this information: Access to the virtual machine console through the thumbnail icon. Name of the virtual machine includes a pop‐up menu to view the virtual machine console or undeploy the virtual machine. Status whether the virtual machine is deployed. Service, stage, and configuration the virtual machine resides in. A dash in the Configuration column indicates the virtual machine is a template.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Editing Host Properties Stage Manager administrators can edit properties for ESX Server hosts. To edit host properties 1 In the left pane, click Resources. 2 In the Hosts tab, move the pointer over the resource pool and choose Properties from the menu. 3 Review or update properties: a Enter a description. b Enter a user name and password for the host. c Select a virtual switch from the drop‐down list.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager Editing Datastore Properties Stage Manager administrators can edit VMFS and NFS datastore properties. To edit datastore properties 1 In the left pane, click Resources. 2 In the Datastores tab, move the pointer over the resource pool and choose Properties from the menu. 3 Review or update datastore properties: a Enter a display name. b Enter a value for Disk Space Threshold Yellow.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Viewing Virtual Machine Datastore Usage In the Virtual Machine Datastore Usage page, Stage Manager administrators can assess disk space usage for all virtual machines and complete maintenance tasks. On this page, a table includes this information: Virtual machine name that provides a pop‐up menu for operations. Name of the configuration containing the virtual machine. A dash appears in this column for templates. VMFS datastore for the virtual machines.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager To access virtual machine datastore usage 1 In the left pane, click Resources. 2 In the Datastores tab, click the View Datastore Usage button. To view the usage of a single datastore rather than the contents of all virtual machine datastores, click the Datastores tab, move the pointer over the datastore name, and choose Details from the menu.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Figure 3‐1 shows a basic example of virtual machine and internal nodes affected by a delete operation. Figure 3-1. Example of Nodes Affected by a Delete Operation E C A B D If you delete node D in this sample directory tree, node B stays intact because node C and E are dependent on it. If you delete node E, the space for node E and node C becomes available because the deletion affects all nodes up to a directory with child dependencies (node B).
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager To assess virtual machine disk space with the Context view 1 Click Resources in the left pane. 2 In the Datastores tab, click the View Datastore Usage button. To view the usage on a single datastore, move the pointer over the datastore name and choose Details from the menu. 3 Click the Refresh Disk Space button to ensure the data is current. 4 Move the pointer over the virtual machine name and choose Context from the menu.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Deleting Virtual Machines and Configurations After Assessing Datastore Usage You can delete virtual machines and configurations in the Virtual Machine Datastore Usage page. To delete virtual machines or configurations after assessing datastore usage 1 Click Resources in the left pane. 2 In the Datastores tab, click the View Datastore Usage button. To view the usage on a single datastore, move the pointer over the datastore name and choose Details from the menu.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager Adding NFS Datastores to Stage Manager You can add NFS datastores by attaching them to your ESX Server hosts through VirtualCenter. Adding Media Stores to Stage Manager Adding a media store involves enabling an NFS datastore in the Datastores tab for media and then adding the media store in the Media Stores tab. You can use the same NFS datastore for media and virtual machines. To add a media store 1 Click Resources in the left pane.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Disable the datastore. See “Enabling Resources” on page 77. Make sure media files associated with an NFS datastore are not in use before removing the datastore. If you remove an NFS datastore with media stores and you add the NFS datastore to the Stage Manager environment at a later time, you need to recreate media stores because the original ones are no longer available. To remove a datastore 1 Click Resources in the left pane.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager To edit system-wide network settings 1 In the left pane, click Network. 2 In the General tab, specify the choices for IP address allocation users see in the Stage Manager Web console, as follows: a Select the DHCP check box, Static (IP pool) check box, Static (manual) check box, or any mix of check boxes. Stage Manager allows you to use a different method of allocation for each virtual machine.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Virtual machine name. Virtual machines can use the same names unless they are in the same configuration. Configuration to which the virtual machine is assigned. Use this page to add and remove a range of IP addresses. Using Static IP and DHCP Networking You can use static IP or DHCP networking in Stage Manager on a per‐virtual machine basis. To avoid setting up an IP range, use DHCP to pull IP addresses from a DHCP server.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager Reviewing the Installation ID Stage Manager uses the installation ID to generate MAC addresses for virtual machines. If you have more than one Stage Manager installation on the same network, each installation must have a unique ID. Stage Manager randomly assigns an ID and allows the administrator to manually edit the value in case an ID collision occurs.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Removing IP Addresses from the Stage Manager IP Pool Stage Manager administrators can remove IP addresses from the IP pool. To remove IP addresses 1 From the IP Pool tab, click Remove. 2 Enter a range of IP addresses. The “From” address must be less than the “To” address. You cannot delete IP addresses allocated to a virtual machine. 3 Click Delete.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager Stage Manager uses persistent cookies (physically stored in the computer hard disk) to retain the login information. If you delete the browser cookies, this information is no longer available until the next time you log in Stage Manager Server IP address. Stage Manager Server DNS name. Amount of time the Stage Manager application remains active without user interaction. Frequency for checking whether ESX Server hosts are accessible or hung.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Frequency of garbage collection on datastores. Garbage collection is the automatic detection and freeing of images that are no longer in use. Stage Manager does not immediately delete files associated with a deleted virtual machine. Stage Manager stores virtual machine files in a tree of related‐linked clones (see “Assessing Virtual Machine Disk Space” on page 85).
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager 7 Specify whether to use a network architecture mode for deploying configurations: Allow Traffic In and Out – Virtual machines can communicate with machines outside the fence and machines outside the fence can communicate with virtual machines in the fenced configuration. Allow Traffic Out – Virtual machines in a fenced configuration can initiate communication to machines outside the fence, and can receive messages back on the same connection.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Microsoft Active Directory and Stage Manager Stage Manager administrators can configure Stage Manager to create and authenticate user credentials against an Active Directory server instead of the Stage Manager user database. This setup eases the user administration of the system. Instead of manually creating all the user accounts, you enable an entire company (or subset) of users by pointing the installation to the appropriate Active Directory domain or domain controller.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager Authenticating Users Against LDAP The procedures to authenticate LDAP users depend on whether the logged‐in Stage Manager administrator was authenticated using LDAP. To specify a user authentication method as a Stage Manager Administrator already authenticated against the LDAP server 1 In the left pane, click Settings. 2 If you plan to change a user from a non‐LDAP designation to an LDAP designation, select the Validate LDAP Users when Edited check box.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide 4 Move the pointer over the user name and choose Properties from the menu. 5 Specify the authentication method. Selecting the Is LDAP check box and clicking OK ensures an Active Directory domain, rather than the Stage Manager user database, authenticates this user when he or she logs in to the Web console. See “LDAP Binding and Group Strings” on page 100.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager Use
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Other OUs – StageManager (created inside of HeadOffice) Groups – Labusers group inside StageManager OU. The Labusers group contains users from both the DublinOffice and HeadOffice OU. Example Using an OU and Allowed Groups LDAP Binding String – LDAP://mydomain.com/OU=HeadOffice, dc=mydomain,dc=com LDAP Allowed Groups – Labusers In this example, only users in the HeadOffice OU that are also members of the Labusers group are validated.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager Adding a Stage Manager Server Capacity License Stage Manager capacity is licensed on a per‐processor or per‐socket basis for prepared ESX Server hosts. You need at least two processors of available licensed capacity to prepare a dual‐processor host. You can enter multiple capacity licenses. For example, if you have one capacity license for 10 CPU and another capacity license for 10 CPU, Stage Manager is licensed for 20 CPU.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide If a Stage Manager administrator changes the value after the initial setting, a user can extend a lease to the original maximum value. Once a user alters the lease time, the lease choices reset up to the latest value determined by the Stage Manager administrator. If the Stage Manager administrator sets the value of the lease time to Never Expires, a user without administrator privileges has the ability to set a lease time.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager 3 Specify the timeframe for email alerts on deployment and storage lease expiration: Amount of time before a template or configuration is automatically undeployed Stage Manager administrators receive notification of template expiration and service administrators receive notification of configuration expiration in a service.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide 3 Enter the port number. 4 Click OK. To change the VirtualCenter system 1 Unprepare all the hosts attached to Stage Manager. See “Preparing and Unpreparing ESX Server Hosts” on page 76. 2 Detach all the resource pools attached to Stage Manager. The resource pools can involve clusters and hosts. See “Attaching and Detaching Resource Pools” on page 73. 3 In the left pane of the console, click Settings.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager 6 (Optional) Enter a different name for the resource pool in Stage Manager. 7 Click OK. Credential Requirements for Connecting Stage Manager to the VirtualCenter Server To set up a connection with the VirtualCenter Server, Stage Manager requires a user who is part of a role in VirtualCenter with at least the privileges listed in Table 3‐1. As with other roles in VirtualCenter, you can assign Windows users or VirtualCenter users to this role.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide The privileges in Table 3‐1 appear in the Edit Role dialog box of the VI Client. Table 3-1.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager Table 3-1. Required Privileges for Connecting to the VirtualCenter Server (Continued) VI Client Privilege Category Required Privileges Virtual Machine Inventory Create Move Remove Interaction Select all options. For example, select Power On, Power Off, and all other options. Configuration Select all options. For example, select Rename, Add Existing Disk, and all other options.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide The Force Undeploy menu option is visible even when the Undeploy, Undeploy ‐ Save State, or Undeploy ‐ Discard State menu options are available. Although it is intended for special circumstances, the Force Undeploy menu option produces the same results as the Undeploy ‐ Discard State menu option in standard circumstances. To forcefully undeploy a template 1 From the left pane, click VM Templates.
Chapter 3 Managing and Configuring Stage Manager Undeploying Configurations with Force If standard undeploy operations do not work, Stage Manager administrators can forcefully undeploy a configuration to clean the Stage Manager database. An example of this kind of situation is when an ESX Server host goes offline or someone manually removes a virtual machine from VirtualCenter inventory. Service users cannot access this option.
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4 Working with Services 4 Services are the business functions that IT provides to the company. For example, a service might be an internal company Web site or email service. Services in Stage Manager contain configurations, the applications that enable the service. These configurations reside in various stages of the service lifecycle.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Number of configurations in the service archive Administrators for each service (different from the Stage Manager administrator who oversees the overall environment) Use this page to create or delete a service. From the table, you can access lifecycle and properties information for a specific service. See “Reviewing Service Operations” on page 116.
Chapter 4 Working with Services Accessing the Lifecycle Stages of a Service From the Services page, you can access the Lifecycle tab to work with stages of a service. You can view the stages (for example, Stage 1: Development) and configurations within each stage. For information about configuration operations from the Lifecycle tab, see “Accessing Configurations” on page 119. Stages with a key icon indicate stages with restricted access. This restriction is set in the properties of a stage.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide c Select a resource pool. d Click OK. The new stage appears as the first stage. Editing Stage Properties Stage Manager administrators and service administrators can change stage names, restrict user access, and assign resource pools. To modify stage properties 1 In the left pane, click Services. 2 Move the pointer over the service name and choose Details from the menu. 3 Click the Edit Stages button.
5 Working with Configurations 5 Configurations are the applications that enable a service. Each configuration contains one or more virtual machines. For example, a configuration for a Microsoft Exchange Server email service might include a virtual machine that provides hub transport and another virtual machine that provides client access. Stage Manager can replicate these configurations on demand.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Accessing the Lifecycle Tab The Lifecycle tab presents this information: Icons that provide access to virtual machine consoles. Configuration names with a pop‐up menu to perform various operations Status on whether the configuration is deployed or in the midst of an operation. Specification of whether the configuration is running in fenced mode. Creator of the configuration.
Chapter 5 Working with Configurations To access configurations in the Archive tab 1 In the left pane, click Services. 2 Move the pointer over the service name and choose Details from the menu. 3 Click the Archive tab. Performing Configuration Operations Configuration operations occur in the Lifecycle or Archive tabs.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide To create a configuration 1 In the left pane, click Services. 2 Move the pointer over the service name and choose Details from the menu. 3 Click New Configuration. 4 Enter a name for the configuration. 5 (Optional) Enter a description of the configuration. 6 (Optional for DHCP IP address allocation) Change the networking information for the gateway, subnet mask, and DNS settings for the virtual machines.
Chapter 5 Working with Configurations 13 Specify whether you want to make a full clone (rather than a linked clone) of the template. For information about types of clones, see “Cloning Configurations” on page 129. Select the Full Clone check box to activate the datastore list where you can select the storage location of the virtual machine. Linked clones remain on the same datastore as the original template.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Table 5‐1 describes IP address entry scenarios. Table 5-1. IP Address Entry Scenarios IP Management Template With Guest Customization Template Without Guest Customization Static (IP pool) Stage Manager assigns the IP address internally and configures the virtual machine.
Chapter 5 Working with Configurations When you deploy a configuration, you can specify whether to deploy a configuration with network fencing. Fencing is an architecture that isolates or “fences” groups of virtual machines on the same network from other machines. Fencing allows you to use multiple copies of identical configurations simultaneously. Without fencing, this is usually not possible because of IP address or machine name conflicts.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide 4 Specify whether to use a network architecture mode for deploying configurations: Allow Traffic In and Out – Virtual machines can communicate with machines outside the fence and machines outside the fence can communicate with virtual machines in the fenced configuration. Allow Traffic Out – Virtual machines in a fenced configuration can initiate communication to machines outside the fence, and can receive messages on the same connection.
Chapter 5 Working with Configurations To disable the calculation 1 Log in to the VMware Infrastructure Client. 2 Right‐click the cluster and select Edit Settings. 3 In the left pane of the dialog box, select VMware HA. 4 In the Admission Control section of the dialog box, select Allow virtual machines to be powered on even if they violate availability constraints. 5 Click OK. Undeploying Configurations Undeploying a configuration unregisters its virtual machines from VirtualCenter.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide standalone host). In this situation, the promote or demote operation still occurs but a message appears in the Lifecycle tab noting that the configuration is in the wrong resource pool. Undeploying and redeploying the configuration allows Stage Manager to place the configuration in the correct resource pool. For information about fenced configurations, see Appendix C, “Network Fencing,” on page 181.
Chapter 5 Working with Configurations Cloning Configurations Stage Manager allows you to create linked clones and full clones of an undeployed configuration. A linked clone operation generates a “quick” copy by creating a delta disk instead of copying an entire virtual hard disk. This operation addresses virtual machine proliferation by using “referential provisioning,” a process that involves storing new changes but referring back to a chain of delta disks.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide To clone a configuration 1 In the left pane, click Services. 2 Move the pointer over the service name and choose Details from the menu. The configuration must be undeployed to clone it. See “Undeploying Configurations” on page 135. 3 Move the pointer over the configuration name and choose Clone from the menu. 4 Provide clone details: 5 Name. (Optional) Description. Time to delete the configuration or mark the configuration for deletion.
Chapter 5 Working with Configurations Time to delete the configuration or mark the configuration for deletion. (Optional) Change summary. This summary can be helpful for auditing purposes and appears on the History tab. 5 Click OK. Cloning Archived Configurations to a Stage Configurations stored in the service archive are read‐only. You can clone an archived configuration to a stage of the service where the configuration originated.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Exporting and Importing Configurations Use Stage Manager to export and import configurations. These copy operations can take an extended period of time for each virtual machine in the configuration. The time depends on the size of the virtual machine. Exporting Configurations From the Lifecycle and Archive tabs, you can export (copy) an undeployed configuration and all its virtual machine files to SMB share.
Chapter 5 Working with Configurations Importing Configurations You can import (copy) a configuration and all its virtual machine files from SMB share. Export and import operations require an open SMB port on the ESX Server hosts. Although the installation of the Stage Manager software takes care of opening that port, be aware of this requirement in case someone closes the port after the installation. To check the port status, use the esxcfg-firewall -q smbClient command on each host.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Transferring Configurations to Other Services From the Lifecycle and Archive tabs, you can transfer a configuration from one service to another service. The transfer process can involve either a move or copy operation. For information about types of clones, see “Cloning Configurations” on page 129. This operation involves specifying a storage lease. See “Reviewing the Resource Cleanup Tab” on page 103.
Chapter 5 Working with Configurations Taking Snapshots and Reverting to Snapshots After deploying a configuration, you can take a snapshot and revert to the snapshot at a later time. A snapshot captures a complete configuration (including all its virtual machines) at a specific point in time. Stage Manager stores the snapshot with the configuration. Only one snapshot for a configuration is active at a time. The most recent snapshot replaces the previous one.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Suspending Configurations Suspending a deployed configuration “freezes” the CPU of the virtual machines. The virtual machines remain registered with VirtualCenter. To suspend a configuration 1 In the left pane, click Services. 2 Move the pointer over the service name and choose Details from the menu. 3 Move the pointer over the deployed configuration name and choose Suspend from the menu.
Chapter 5 Working with Configurations To power on a configuration 1 In the left pane, click Services. 2 Move the pointer over the service name and choose Details from the menu. 3 Move the pointer over the deployed configuration name and choose Power On from the menu. Resetting Configurations Resetting a configuration restarts the virtual machines in a configuration and clears the machine states. This operation does not shut down the guest operating systems.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide 3 Move the pointer over the undeployed configuration name and choose Consolidate from the menu. 4 Select a destination datastore. 5 Click OK. Editing Configuration Properties From the Lifecycle and Archive tabs, you can update the configuration parameters. This operation involves specifying deployment or storage lease. See “Reviewing the Resource Cleanup Tab” on page 103. To edit configuration properties 1 In the left pane, click Services.
Chapter 5 Working with Configurations Accessing Details on Virtual Machines in a Configuration From the Lifecycle and Archive tabs, you can navigate to details about each virtual machine in a configuration. The information ranges from deployment status to the internal or external IP addresses for the virtual machines.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Template upon which the virtual machine is based. (Not applicable to archived configurations) Priority for shares of CPU. (Not applicable to archived configurations) Priority for shares of memory. Delay time (in seconds) after booting this machine and before booting the next machine. Order to power on the virtual machines.
Chapter 5 Working with Configurations Adding Virtual Machines to Existing Configurations From the Virtual Machines tab of a configuration, you can add virtual machines based on Stage Manager templates. Only Stage Manager administrators have access to an Import VM from VirtualCenter option when adding virtual machines to a configuration. See “Importing Virtual Machines from VirtualCenter to New and Existing Configurations” on page 61.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Boot parameters: Integer number between zero and the total number of virtual machines indicating the boot sequence for the virtual machines. You do not need to use sequential numbers. Stage Manager can determine the relative order. If two virtual machines have the same number, Stage Manager does not apply a boot sequence. Integer number indicating the delay in seconds (or “pause”) between the power on process of this virtual machine and the next virtual machine.
6 Working with Virtual Machines 6 Virtual machines are the components of Stage Manager configurations. A host server can run multiple virtual machines concurrently and isolate each virtual machine in a self‐contained environment. Virtual machines are based on template images that contain guest operating systems, application servers, databases, directory servers, and other infrastructures used in IT deliverables. Only Stage Manager administrators can access and work with templates.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide The Configuration pop‐up menu near the upper‐left corner provides access other virtual machines in the same configuration. Click a thumbnail icon to see the console display, or click All Consoles to see all virtual machine consoles in a configuration. Click Configuration to view the details of virtual machines in the configuration.
Chapter 6 Working with Virtual Machines Accessing a Virtual Machine Console for the First Time When you initially deploy a template or configuration to access a virtual machine console, you must follow the instructions to install the ActiveX control. When you initially access an individual virtual machine console page using Firefox, a message notes that you must install the VMware Remote MKS Plug‐in to use the console. To install the VMware Remote MKS Plug-in 1 Click Install Plugin.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide To deploy a virtual machine 1 In the left pane, click Services. 2 Move the pointer over the service name and choose Details from the menu. 3 Move the pointer over the configuration name and choose Details from the menu. 4 In the Virtual Machines tab, move the pointer over the virtual machine name and choose Deploy from the menu. If all of the virtual machines in the configuration are undeployed, proceed to Step 5 for specific deployment options.
Chapter 6 Working with Virtual Machines Deploying Virtual Machines on High Availability Clusters If you deploy a virtual machine on a cluster with VMware HA, Stage Manager uses the same calculation that VirtualCenter has for assessing free slots available in the cluster. After assessing that the hosts have enough resources, Stage Manager powers on the virtual machines. If the hosts do not meet compatibility requirements, the deploy operation fails and Stage Manager displays a message.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide 4 Move the pointer over the virtual machine name and choose Undeploy ‐ Save State or Undeploy ‐ Discard State from the menu. For virtual machines that are powered off, you can only choose Undeploy because no state information is available to save or discard. Setting Up Remote Desktop Connections (Not applicable to virtual machine templates) From a virtual machine console page, you can remotely connect to a virtual machine configuration.
Chapter 6 Working with Virtual Machines 3 In the Stage column of the Lifecycle tab, click the thumbnail icon of the deployed virtual machine. 4 Move the pointer over the virtual machine console tab and choose Ctrl+Alt+Delete from the menu. Powering Off Virtual Machines Powering off a virtual machine is the equivalent of powering off a physical machine. To power off a virtual machine 1 In the left pane, click Services. 2 Move the pointer over the service name and choose Details from the menu.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide To reset a virtual machine 1 In the left pane, click Services. 2 Move the pointer over the service name and choose Details from the menu. 3 In the Stage column of the Lifecycle tab, click the thumbnail icon of the deployed virtual machine. 4 Move the pointer over the virtual machine name and choose Reset from the menu. Shutting Down Virtual Machines Use the virtual machine console to shut down the guest operating system.
Chapter 6 Working with Virtual Machines To suspend a virtual machine 1 In the left pane, click Services. 2 Move the pointer over the service name and choose Details from the menu. 3 In the Stage column of the Lifecycle tab, click the thumbnail icon of the deployed virtual machine. 4 Move the pointer over the virtual machine name and choose Suspend from the menu. Resuming the Operation of Suspended Virtual Machines Use the Resume operation to reverse a suspended state.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide 3 In the Stage column of the Lifecycle tab, click the thumbnail icon of the deployed virtual machine. 4 Move the pointer over the virtual machine name and choose Install VMware Tools from the menu. 5 Log in to the guest operating system inside the virtual machine console. 6 Click Install VMware Tools. Installing VMware Tools takes several minutes and requires you to restart the virtual machine.
Chapter 6 Working with Virtual Machines 4 Move the pointer over the virtual machine name and choose Revert from the menu. Reverting to the last snapshot of the machine loses the current state of the machine. If you perform the operation from the virtual machine console, Stage Manager turns off the virtual machine for a short time and then displays the console. The thumbnail icon of the snapshot appears in the upper‐right corner of the page.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide 3 In the Stage column of the Lifecycle tab, click the thumbnail icon of the deployed virtual machine. 4 Move the pointer over the virtual machine name and choose Eject CD from the menu. To swap an inserted CD with another CD 1 In the left pane, click Services. 2 Move the pointer over the service name and choose Details from the menu. 3 In the Stage column of the Lifecycle tab, click the thumbnail icon of the deployed virtual machine.
Chapter 6 Working with Virtual Machines Ejecting and Swapping Floppy Disks You can eject a floppy file or swap an inserted floppy file with another floppy file. To eject a floppy disk from a virtual machine 1 In the left pane, click Services. 2 Move the pointer over the service name and choose Details from the menu. 3 In the Stage column of the Lifecycle tab, click the thumbnail icon of the deployed virtual machine.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide For information about how Stage Manager administrators can consolidate a virtual machine from the resource management area of the Web console, see “Consolidating Virtual Machines After Assessing Datastore Usage” on page 87. To consolidate a virtual machine 1 In the left pane, click Services. 2 Move the pointer over the service name and choose Details from the menu. 3 Move the pointer over the configuration name and choose Details from the menu.
Chapter 6 Working with Virtual Machines 5 Review or edit the appropriate properties: Name – Virtual machine name that contains only alphanumeric characters (a–z, A–Z, 0–9), hyphens, underscores, or periods. Maximum length is 15 characters for Windows virtual machines and 64 characters for UNIX and Linux virtual machines. Description – (Optional) Maximum number of characters is 128. Service – Service containing the virtual machine. Stage – Stage of the service containing the virtual machine.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Hard Disks – Disk name, disk space, and bus type for each virtual hard disk. You can add, edit, or remove a new virtual hard disk. See “Adding Virtual Hard Disks to Virtual Machines” on page 162 and “Editing Hard Disks” on page 163. Resource Pool – Resource pool associated with the virtual machine. Host – ESX Server host associated with the virtual machine. CPU Priority – Priority for shares of CPU. Memory Priority – Priority for shares of memory.
Chapter 6 Working with Virtual Machines To edit advanced virtual machine properties 1 In the left pane, click Services. 2 Move the pointer over the service name and choose Details from the menu. 3 Move the pointer over the configuration name and choose Details from the menu. 4 Move the pointer over the virtual machine name and choose Properties from the menu. 5 Click Advanced Properties. 6 Update the CPU settings: CPU Priority– Priority for shares of CPU.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide VMware Tools Internal Version – Version of VMware Tools installed on the template. If VMware Tools is not installed, Not Applicable appears. For VMware Support cases, a VMware representative might request this version. Supports Customization – Specification of whether the installed version of VMware Tools supports guest customization in Stage Manager.
Chapter 6 Working with Virtual Machines Changing MAC Addresses You can change a MAC address for an undeployed virtual machine after adding the virtual machine to a configuration. You might change a MAC address if you have a MAC conflict or if you need to discard saved state quickly and easily. To change the MAC address for a virtual machine 1 In the left pane, click Services. 2 Move the pointer over the service name and choose Details from the menu.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide 7 In the Virtual Machines tab, move the pointer over the virtual machine name and choose Deploy from the menu. When you deploy the virtual machine, an error message might appear about a duplicate IP address because only Stage Manager is aware of the new IP address. If this error message appears, click No. 8 Navigate to the virtual machine console.
Chapter 6 Working with Virtual Machines 3 Move the pointer over the configuration name and choose Details from the menu. 4 Move the pointer over the virtual machine name and choose Properties from the menu. 5 Click Add Hard Disk. 6 Enter the disk information: 7 a Specify whether the bus type is BusLogic SCSI or LSI Logic SCSI. b Review these details on the bus number, bus ID, and disk size: If bus numbers are not available, None appears in the Bus Number list.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Deleting Virtual Machines You can delete undeployed virtual machines. To delete a virtual machine from the resource administration area of the Web console, see “Deleting Virtual Machines and Configurations After Assessing Datastore Usage” on page 88. To delete a virtual machine 1 In the left pane, click Services. 2 Move the pointer over the service name and choose Details from the menu. 3 Move the pointer over the configuration name and choose Details from the menu.
7 Monitoring Stage Manager 7 Use the Stage Manager Web console to view system statistics, resource usage, activity logs, and details on deployed virtual machines.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide The My Stage Manager column includes this information: Number of services, lifecycle and archived configurations, and lifecycle and archived virtual machines you created or can access. Number of deployment leases for lifecycle configurations and templates that expire in one week. Number of storage leases for lifecycle configurations, archived configurations, and templates that expire in one week.
Chapter 7 Monitoring Stage Manager Viewing Log Details If an operation fails, you can access more information about that error. To view details on an operation in the activity log From the Activity Log page, click a link in the Operation column to access details on that operation. Monitoring Resource Usage Stage Manager administrators can monitor resource usage using resource pool, service, and stage data.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide CPU and memory consumption: Used – Dynamic amount consumed by virtual machines in this stage. The value accounts only for virtual machines in a stage under Stage Manager control. Reserved – Amount that Stage Manager reserves from this resource pool for running virtual machines in both the resource pool for this stage and any child resource pool. Total – Static upper limit on usage.
Chapter 7 Monitoring Stage Manager Name of the ESX Server host. Person who deployed the virtual machine. Date and time of deployment. Creator of the virtual machine. Messages. VMware, Inc.
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Appendixes VMware, Inc.
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A A Client and Browser Support The following tables list browsers and operating systems for client machines accessing the Stage Manager Web console. Table A‐1 specifies support for 32‐bit operating systems. Table A-1. 32-Bit Client Operating System and Web Browser Support Operating System IE 5.5 IE 6.0 IE 7.0 Firefox 1.5 Firefox 2.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Table A-1. 32-Bit Client Operating System and Web Browser Support (Continued) Operating System IE 5.5 IE 6.0 IE 7.0 Firefox 1.5 Firefox 2.0 SP3 Yes Yes No No No SP4 Yes Yes No No No 2.
Appendix A Client and Browser Support Table A-2. 64-Bit Client Operating System and Web Browser Support (Continued) Operating System IE 5.5 IE6.0 IE 7.0 Firefox 1.5 Firefox 2.
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B B Guest Operating System Support The following tables list uniprocessor (UP) and multiprocessor (MP) operating systems, and the SIDgen and Microsoft Sysprep components for guest customization. Although Stage Manager uses guest customization on both Windows and UNIX‐based guest operating systems to configure network settings, these tables address only the Windows‐specific support for the SIDgen and Microsoft Sysprep components of guest customization.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Table B-1. 32-Bit Guest Operating Systems (Continued) UP MP SP2 Yes Yes Yes Yes R2 Yes Yes Yes Yes Server 2003 Web Edition SP1 Yes Yes Yes Yes XP Professional SP1 Yes No Yes Yes SP2 Yes No Yes Yes SP3 Yes Yes Yes Yes SP4 Yes Yes Yes Yes SP3 Yes Yes Yes Yes SP4 Yes Yes Yes Yes SP3 Yes Yes Yes Yes SP4 Yes Yes Yes Yes NT 4.
Appendix B Guest Operating System Support Table B-1. 32-Bit Guest Operating Systems (Continued) Operating System 5 AS/ES/WS SUSE Linux Solaris Microsoft Sysprep Support (Windows only) UP MP SIDgen Support (Windows only) Yes Yes N/A N/A Enterprise Server 9 (SLES) SP3 Yes Yes N/A N/A Enterprise Server 10 (SLES) Novell OES SP1 Yes Yes N/A N/A 10 Update 3 Yes Yes N/A N/A Table B‐2 specifies support for 64‐bit operating systems. Table B-2.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Table B-2.
C Network Fencing C Stage Manager uses network fencing, an architecture that isolates or “fences” virtual machine configurations while allowing full network access. Fencing enables you to work with live instances of the same configuration on the same network. For example, when you want to have concurrent development or testing on the same configuration, you can duplicate or clone the configuration and avoid any IP or MAC address collision with this technology.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide From a performance perspective, network fencing impacts the traffic flow between modules. Fencing requires a slightly higher number of resources on the host, such as memory, CPU, networking, and virtual machine slots. If you enable fencing but never use it, these resources do not come into play. Fencing Overview Virtual machines in a configuration have preconfigured (internal) IP addresses.
Appendix C Network Fencing Fencing a configuration does not require any changes to its virtual machines. Within a fenced configuration, virtual machines continue to use preassigned IP addresses to communicate with each other. For more information on IP address allocation in fenced configurations, see “Using Static IP and DHCP Networking” on page 92.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Allow Traffic Out – Virtual machines in a fenced configuration can initiate communication to machines outside the fence and can receive messages back on the same connection. Machines outside the fence cannot initiate communication to virtual machines in the fenced configuration.
Appendix C Network Fencing Block Traffic In and Out – Network traffic does not travel across the fence. Virtual machines in a fenced configuration cannot communicate with machines outside of the fence, and machines outside the fence cannot communicate with virtual machines in the fenced configuration. When you deploy a fenced configuration with this option, Stage Manager does not create a virtual router or assign external IP addresses. See Figure C‐4. Figure C-4.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Processor Type Incompatibility Deploying a configuration in fenced mode hosts all the virtual machines on a single ESX Server host. You must have a host connected to the datastore where the templates that serve as the basis of this configuration reside on. The host must have sufficient resources, such as memory, slots, and fences.
Glossary A Active Directory A Microsoft directory service that stores information about users, computers, and the Windows operating system. Active Directory enables administrators to set security policies, control resources, and deploy programs across an enterprise. You can point Stage Manager at a Microsoft Active Directory domain or domain controller to enable an entire company (or subset) of users. ActiveX Control An object that supports programmatic interfaces.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide B base disk The original virtual hard disk from which a virtual machine is derived. Virtual machines creates by linked clones in Stage Manager are comprised of a base disk and chain of delta disks that store the changes made to the original. This “referential provisioning” process addresses the potential disk consumption difficulties that come with virtual machine proliferation.
Glossary consolidate To combine an existing base disk and its chain of delta disks into a single base disk. Use consolidation to move a virtual machine or configuration to a new datastore. See also base disk, chain length, delta disk. D datastore Virtual representation of combinations of underlying physical storage resources in the datacenter. A datastore is the storage location (for example, a physical disk, a RAID, or a SAN) for virtual machine files.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide DRS (VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler) See VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS). E eject CD To eject the CD after the Insert CD operation in the virtual machine console. eject floppy To eject the floppy file after the Insert Floppy operation in the virtual machine console. enabled User flag to mark an object as available for use. ESX Server See VMware ESX Server. export To move a configuration or virtual machine to an SMB share.
Glossary force undeploy To forcefully undeploy a virtual machine or configuration after situations such as an ESX Server host goes permanently offline or someone manually removes a virtual machine from VirtualCenter inventory. FQDN (fully qualified domain name) The name of a host, including both the host name and the domain name. For example, the FQDN of a host named esx1 in the domain vmware.com is esx1.vmware.com. full clone (n.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide insert CD To associate an ISO image in the Stage Manager media library with a virtual machine. The ISO image appears within the virtual machine as if you inserted a CD. insert floppy To associate a floppy image in the Stage Manager media library with a virtual machine. The floppy image appears within the virtual machine as if you inserted a disk. internal IP address A preconfigured IP address for a virtual machine in a configuration.
Glossary LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) A protocol that enables you to locate organizations, individuals, or other resources from a server. M MAC (Media Access Control) address A hardware address that identifies each virtual or physical network adapter. media store A directory for media files on NFS datastores. Microsoft Sysprep A Microsoft utility for changing the SID of operating systems. You can build a Microsoft Sysprep package for guest customization in Stage Manager.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide Prepare Hosts wizard A wizard that prepares ESX Server hosts for Stage Manager use after attaching a resource pool. The wizard installs the Stage Manager agent on the hosts and collects information on user names, passwords, virtual switches, and datastores. privilege Authorization to perform a specific action or set of actions on a managed object or group of managed objects. promote To move a configuration into a later stage of the service lifecycle.
Glossary revert To return the virtual machine to an earlier state captured in a snapshot. revert point The state of a virtual machine as captured by a snapshot at a specific point in time. You can restore the status of an active virtual machine to its revert point. S SAN (storage area network) A large‐capacity network storage device that can be shared among multiple VMware ESX Server hosts. Shared storage (for example, SAN or NAS) is required for VMotion.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide SMB (Server Message Block) A network protocol for exchanging files between computers. You can use SMB with Windows and Linux operating systems. SMP (Symmetric Multiprocessing) The technology that enables you to assign two virtual processors to a virtual machine on any host machine that has at least two logical processors. SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) A protocol that facilitates email transmissions between servers.
Glossary Stage Manager agent Software installed on the ESX Server host that facilitates a connection to the Stage Manager Server system. Stage Manager automatically installs the agent during the process of preparing a host. Stage Manager Server Component of the Stage Manager environment installed with the Stage Manager Server software. Stage Manager Web console A browser‐based interface that provides access to all Stage Manager operations.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide U undeploy To unregister a virtual machine or configuration from an ESX Server host. This operation makes the resources associated with that virtual machine available for use by the rest of the virtual environment. unprepare To remove an ESX Server host from use in the Stage Manager environment. This operation uninstalls the Stage Manager agent and removes the default portgroup. user See service user.
Glossary virtual machine A virtualized x86 PC environment in which a guest operating system and associated application software can run. Multiple virtual machines can operate on the same host system concurrently. virtual machine configuration file (.vmx) A file containing a virtual machine configuration. This .vmx file exists after you create a virtual machine. The file contains details about the virtual hardware and other configuration areas.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) A feature that intelligently and continuously balances virtual machine workloads across your ESX Server hosts using the VirtualCenter and VMotion products. VMware DRS detects when virtual machine activity saturates an ESX Server host and triggers automated VMotion live migrations, moving running virtual machines to other ESX Server nodes so that all resource commitments are met.
Glossary response to configuration changes, promotes compliance with regulatory or workflow processes, and promotes efficient use of storage. Stage Manager requires the VMware Infrastructure product. VMware Tools A suite of utilities and drivers that enhances the performance and functionality of your guest operating system.
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide 202 VMware, Inc.
Index A accessing configurations 119 services 115 virtual machines 143 ActiveX control 145 activity log monitoring Stage Manager 166 viewing job details 167 adding capacity licenses 103 IP addresses to the IP pool 93 media stores 89 NFS datastores 89 stages to service templates 32 users 66 virtual hard disks to templates 59 virtual machines to existing configurations 141 virtual machines to new configurations 121 administration force operations 109 of media 63–64 of networks 90–94 of resources 69–90 of ser
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide consolidating 137 creating 121 defining 119 deleting 88, 124 demoting 127 deploying 124 deploying in fenced mode 126, 146, 183 deploying on clusters with VMware HA 126 editing properties 138 exporting 132 full cloning 129 importing 133 importing virtual machines from VirtualCenter 61 IP address assignment 123 leases 103, 122, 126, 130, 131, 133, 134, 138, 166 linked cloning 129 powering off 136 powering on 136 promoting 127 resetting 137 resuming operation of 136 reverting
Index detaching resource pools 73 disabling guest customization 43 resources 78 version check of VMware Tools 44 virtual machine and media store creation 78 disk space on datastores 85 G editing configuration properties 138 datastore properties 83 host properties 82 media store properties 83 resource pool properties 81 service properties 116 user properties 68 virtual hard disks 60, 163 virtual machine properties 156–160 enabling resources 77 virtual machine and media store creation 77 exporting configur
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide unpreparing 76 viewing deployed virtual machines 80 Hosts tab 70 I importing configurations 133 Lab Manager templates 46 templates 48 templates from SMB 49 templates from VirtualCenter 50 virtual machines from VirtualCenter 61 installing guest operating systems 39 VMware Tools 39 Internet Explorer, support for 173 IP addresses changing for virtual machines 161 removing 94 static and DHCP 122, 123, 141 IP Pool tab 91 L LDAP authenticating users 98–102 binding string and g
Index networking adding IP addresses 93 configuring settings 90 installation ID 93 IP pool 91 managing 90–94 removing IP addresses 94 static and DHCP IP address allocation 92 NFS datastores, adding 89 Notification tab 65 P pop-up menus 24 portgroups altering in VirtualCenter 19 renamed by Stage Manager 77 powering off configurations 136 virtual machines 149 powering on configurations 136 virtual machines 149 preparing hosts 76 prerequisites for guest customization 41 promoting, configurations 127 properti
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide S service templates creating stages 32 editing stage properties 33 preparing 32 services accessing 115 accessing lifecycle stages 117 adding stages 117 changing stage order 117 creating 33 defining 15, 115 deleting 34 deleting stages 117 editing properties 116 managing 32–34 modifying stage properties 118 preparing service templates 32 sample 25 transferring configurations 134 Services and Stages tab 167 shutting down guest operating systems 46 virtual machines 150 SMB, ex
Index suspending configurations 136 virtual machines 150 synchronizing media library with media store files 63 T template virtual machine consoles 61 templates accessing virtual machine consoles 61 adding virtual hard disks 59 blank 36 changing MAC addresses 59 consolidating 54 creating 48 creating by cloning existing templates 52 creating from active virtual machines 51 creating from scratch 35 deleting 60 deleting after ESX host failure 111 deleting with force 111 deploying 37 editing properties 55, 56
VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide changing IP addresses 161 changing MAC addresses 161 consolidating 87, 155 creating templates from 51 defining 143 deleting 88, 164 deploying 145 deploying on clusters with VMware HA 147 editing properties 156–160 ejecting CD images 153 ejecting floppy files 155 importing from VirtualCenter to configurations 61 inserting CD images 153 inserting floppy files 154 installing ActiveX 145 installing VMware Remote MKS Plugin 145 installing VMware Tools 151 leases 84, 103, 146, 1