Advanced System Management

Advanced System Management

• Presented by Andrew Kutz• Principal• l o s t c r e a t i o n s• akutz@lostcreations.com• www.lostcreations.com

Abstract

• After an environment is virtualized, IT professionals are faced with managing a virtualized architecture on an enterprise scale likely for the first time in their career.

• This session goes beyond the point level GUI-driven management solutions offered by each virtualization platform vendor, instead examining scripting solutions for virtualization management.

• You’ll also get a review of the available tools for centrally managing the virtual enterprise.

WHAT I ASSUME YOU (THE AUDIENCE) KNOWS

• Virtualization platform familiarity• Basic knowledge of virtualization

management concepts and problems

BY THE END OF THE SESSION, YOU’LL KNOW THE

FOLLOWING• Post deployment tuning• How to overcome common

management challenges

Post Deployment Tuning

• Disk/Storage• Network• Routine Performance Spikes

General Tuning

• Disable unused ports and devices• USB, Floppy, CD-ROM

• Do not use virtual SMP unless required by apps• Disable unnecessary

programs and services• Run a single application per VM• Consolidate virtual memory

maps by grouping like OS/applications

General Tuning

• Install VM Tools or additions• Install paravirtualized drivers

whenever possible• Video• Disable screen savers• Do not run X Windows

Management Tools

• Point-level• Centralized management• CA Unicenter ASM• SWsoft• ZENworks Virtual Machine

Management

CA Unicenter ASM

Controlling VM Sprawl

• Domain VHD Audit Script• Connect to domain• Collect list of all computers• Connect to each computer and list all

VHD, VMDK, and files over 800MBhttp://downloads.chriswolf.com

Domain VHD/VMDK Audit Script'Create Log File

Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")Set objFile = objFSO.OpenTextFile (strLogFile, _ ForWriting, True) ' Connect to domain and collect computer accountsConst ADS_SCOPE_SUBTREE = 2Set objConnection = CreateObject("ADODB.Connection")Set objCommand = CreateObject("ADODB.Command")objConnection.Provider = "ADsDSOObject"objConnection.Open "Active Directory Provider"Set objCommand.ActiveConnection = objConnectionset objRootDSE = GetObject("LDAP://RootDSE")objCommand.CommandText = _ "SELECT Name, Location FROM 'LDAP://" & _ objRootDSE.Get("defaultNamingContext") & "'" _ & "WHERE objectClass='computer'"objCommand.Properties("Page Size") = 1000objCommand.Properties("Timeout") = 30objCommand.Properties("Searchscope") = ADS_SCOPE_SUBTREEobjCommand.Properties("Cache Results") = FalseSet objRecordSet = objCommand.ExecuteobjRecordSet.MoveFirst

Domain VHD/VMDK Audit Script

' Output domain computer accounts, connect to each ' computer, and enumerate virtual disk files or' files larger than 800 MBDo Until objRecordSet.EOF strComputer = objRecordSet.Fields("Name").Value objFile.WriteLine "System: " & strComputer Set objWMIsvc = GetObject("winmgmts:" &_ "{impersonationlevel=impersonate}!\\" & _ strComputer & "\root\cimv2") 'Check for connection error. If systems are 'unreachable, ensure that a software firewall 'is not blocking WMI connections. If Err = 462 Then objFile.Writeline("*** System Unreachable ***") Err.Clear Else

Domain VHD/VMDK Audit Script

'Enumerate VHDs and VMDKs set colFiles = objWMIsvc.ExecQuery _ ("Select * from CIM_DataFile where Extension =" & _ " 'vhd' or Extension = 'vmdk' or FileSize " & _ "> 838860800") ' Note: 838860800 is the byte value of 800 MB 'List VHDs on host For Each objVHD In colFiles objFile.WriteLine(objVHD.Name & " -- " & _ objVHD.FileSize & " bytes") Next End If objfile.writeline("-------------------------------") objfile.writeline() objRecordSet.MoveNextLoop' All done!WScript.Echo("Audit Complete!")

Auditing Virtual MAC Addresses

• Needed for MAC filtering, new deployments, VLANs

• Virtual MAC Tool (VMware)www.runvirtual.com

• Vbscript (Windows)downloads.chriswolf.com

VM Failover IssuesLinux file systems may re-mount as read

only following a data path failover in a multipath environment

Solution: VMware patch (KB 51306)Manual repair: “VMware ESX, Linux virtual

machines and read-only file systems”

SCSI Error : <0 0 0 0> return code = 0x20008 end_request: I/O error, dev sda, sector 4928181 Aborting journal on device dm-0 ext3_abort called. EXT3-fs error (device dm-0): ext3_journal_start_sb: Detected aborted journal Remounting filesystem read-only.

Resizing Virtual Hard Disks

• VMware: vmware-vdiskmanager.exe -x <new size> <virtual disk file>

• Microsoft: • VhdResizer

(vmtoolkit.com)• Xen: xe disk resize

Adding a “VM” Property to AD Objects

• Useful for knowing which servers are virtual and which are physical

• Requires a schema modification• Requires scripted AD integration

to initially set the property

Management Resources

• Chriswolf.com • VMware, XenSource, MS, Virtual Iron,

SWsoft scripting downloads• VMware SDK

http://www.vmware.com/support/developer/ • XenSource KB

http://kb.xensource.com/kbindex.jspa

USE AT THE OFFICE

• http://downloads.chriswolf.com

• Tons o’ scripts• VM appliances• Resource guides

RECOMMENDATIONS / SUMMARY

• Don’t assume anything works as promised until you validate it

• Centralized monitoring and script support make life easier

• Share your experiences!

QUESTIONS?

• Audience Q&A• akutz@lostcreations.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION

• Virtualization: From the Desktop to the Enterprise

• www.chriswolf.com • www.searchservervirtualization.com • www.vmblog.com • www.virtualization.info