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com/mvp
For : www.exchange-mail.org
By : Martin Tuip (ajax@sharepointserver.com)
Version : 1.0
Status : Concept
Version date : 2 May 2003
Changes
Changes
All rights reserved. Nothing in this publication may be duplicated and/or made public in
any way whatsoever, including by means of printing, photocopying, microfilm or
otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers; this injunction also
applies to any adaptation of the publication either in part or in full.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................1
2 Prerequisites...........................................................................................................................2
6 Using the VMware SCSI Disk Driver for Windows Guest Operating Systems .....................38
7 Getting two machines with Host Only mode VMs to communicate with each other. ............40
1 Introduction
By hearing the word clustering you easily think of very powerful machines, expensive hardware and
hard to configure Storage Area Networks (SANs). Luckily for us there is also VMWare. This tool
emulates virtual machines so that you can also configure a set of virtual Windows 2003 machines
which run for instance on your desktop. This is possible if you have a reasonable fast processor and
enough memory. If you are capable of doing so then you can also install these virtual machines as a
Windows 2003 cluster.
As I (Martin Tuip) would like to guide you into the world of clusters I’ve decided to write this step-by-
step guide that will guide you through the steps to install a Window 2003 cluster on VMWare.
It is necessary that there be good working knowledge of Windows 2000/2003 and some knowledge of
Microsoft Cluster Services (MSCS). This document is restricted to the description of which steps are
needed within VMWare and doesn’t describe further the configuration of possible cluster aware
applications. Also there will not be an extensive description of all possibilities for VMWare. For more
information see www.vmware.com
The minimal system requirements for the configuration as described in this document are:
Used software:
Martin Tuip
May 2003
ajax@sharepointserver.com
If you have any comments or feedback then send them to the above email address.
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2 Prerequisites
There are a few prerequisites to get everything functioning at first go. However, there are some times
you might learn a lot from things failing. Remember that these are just virtual machines and won’t
harm anything. Prerequisites are:
- A working Active Directory on a testmachine or another VMWare server. You can install Active
Directory on these clusters, but it would make things more complex.
- A working DNS Server, which you will install on your Active Directory machine
- A copy of the administrator account in the test Active Directory (named clustersa).
- Do NOT install DHCP on your servers if you are running this in your live network and be
carefull with applying IP addresses to the server. I’m not responsible for any network failures if
you make mistakes.
- The VMWare servers need to have fixed IP addresses. Clusters don’t like DHCP assigned
addresses and actually you won’t be able to finish the Cluster installation.
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Starting point is the preparation of a Windows 2003 cluster for Exchange 2003 with the following
hardware specs.
VMware makes use of virtual disks. Initially a little space is used on the physical hard disk, but when
data is put on the virtual disk the size of this file will increase on the physical drive. Due to this it isn’t
necessary to have the full size of the virtual disks (13.5Gb) available on the physical disk.
Two network interfaces (NICs) have to be configured per node, one public cluster NIC and one private
NIC. This last one is for the cluster heartbeat.
Press ‘CTRL+N’.
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Enter the name for the Virtual Machine and the path on where the software bits of the Virtual Machine
(like Virtual disks) have to be saved and click on ‘Next >’.
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Enter the amount of memory the Virtual Machine is allowed to use and click on ‘Next >’.
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Select ‘CTRL+D’.
Hard disks
As first the hard disks are being added that have to function as shared storage.
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Click on ‘Add’.
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This disk will be used for the Quorum. Select 0.5 GB at ‘Disk Size’ and click on ‘Next >’.
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Repeat the steps above for the remaining shared disks that are needed.
L Be Aware! The shared disks have to be added as SCSI as this is necessary for the correct
functioning of MSCS.
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Click on ‘Add’
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Start Windows Explorer and navigate to the folder where the Virtual Machine is created. (in this
example it is Z:\VMware virtual machines\clusternodeA).
Open with Notepad the file <vm name>.vmx and add at the end the following line:
Disk.locking = FALSE
This makes sure that both nodes can access the same disks at the same time in case of cluster
failover. MSCS is intelligent enough to prevent that both nodes actually do this at the same time.
To use the driver when you are installing a Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP guest operating
system in a newly created virtual machine, follow these steps. Download the driver from
http://www.vmware.com/download/downloadscsi.html
1. Save the downloaded file -- vmscsi_<xxxx>.flp -- to a folder or directory of your choice on your
host computer.
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2. In the Configuration editor (Settings > Configuration Editor) configure your virtual machine's
floppy drive to use the file vmscsi_<xxxx>.flp. Be sure the Connect at Power On check box is
not selected.
3. Insert the installation CD in the CD-ROM drive and begin installing the operating system.
4. Watch the messages at the bottom of the character-mode screen during the early stages of
the installation. One of the messages tells you to press F6 if you need to install a third-party
SCSI or RAID driver. When this message appears, press F6.
5. Use the Devices menu to connect the floppy drive, so your virtual machine can use the driver
files contained in vmscsi_<xxxx>.flp.
6. Continue with the installation, following the instructions provided by the installer.
7. As you are installing the SCSI driver, warning messages inform you that the driver has not
passed Windows logo testing. You may safely ignore these messages. Click Yes to continue
installing the software.
Put the Windows 2003 Enterprise Edition CD in the CD-ROM player and switch on the first Virtual
Machine.
The error message will show that you don’t have the VMWare SCSI driver installed. This will be done
during the installation of Windows 2003 Enterprise Edition. Click ‘OK’.
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VMware will now boot. Press F6 when the option is show non the bottom of the screen.
Press ‘S’ to specify an Additional Device for installing the SCSI driver.
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Be Aware! Do not click on the text ‘VMware Tools is not running. Click on this text to install’. The
installation will then be aborted with an error message. Install the VMWare tools after the node is
completely installed.
Make sure you install Windows 2003 on the IDE partition and not on one of the SCSI disks. Also
format the disk with NTFS. Do not install the cluster service on the first node yet. First the NICs and
the virtual disks have to be configured.
VMWare Workstation has to be started again for the second Virtual and the “New Virtual Machine
Wizard’ has to be complete don the same way as the first Virtual Machine. Make sure the first disk is
an IDE disk.
Start after the completion of the wizard the ‘Configuration Editor’ again and add an extra NIC ‘host-
only’ mode.
Be Aware! Install Windows 2003 Enterprise Edition first. If you add shared disks in this stage then the
system partition will not get the drive letter C:
Before powering on the second Virtual Machine follow the steps in 2.1.2.
Put the Windows 2003 Enterprise Edition CD in the CD-ROM drive, ‘Power On’ the Virtual Machine
and install Windows 2003.
• Give NIC 1 an IP address on the LAN and give NIC 2 an address in a different subnet, for
instance 10.0.0.2.
• Rename Local Area Connection #1 to LAN and Local Area Connection #2 to Heartbeat B
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Select ‘Add hardware’ in the ‘Configuration Editor’ of VMware for the second Virtual Machine.
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Give as ‘existing disk file’ the path and filename from the first SCSI disk that was created fro the first
Virtual Machine, which is in this example ‘Z:\VMware Virtual Machines\clusternodeA\quorum.vmdk’,
and click on ‘Advanced >’.
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Repeat these steps in the same order for the possible remaining shared disks.
The configuration file for this virtual machine doesn’t have to be changed.
When the machine is installed and made member of the Windows 2003 domain, make sure the first
Virtual Machine is also on line and install on the second node also the cluster services.
The cluster is now operational and can be configured further to what you want.
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Open the Cluster Administrator from the ‘Administrative Tools’ in the progam menu. Click ‘File’ then
‘New’ then ‘Cluster’
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Fill in the domain and cluster name. In this case I used ‘Cluster’. Click ‘Next >’
Enter the name of the computer that will be first node in the cluster. This is ‘clusternodea’ or the name
of your first node. Click ‘Next >’
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If everything is correct then the progress bar will turn green and then click ‘Next >’. If not you can
solve any problems that show and restart from the beginning of this chapter.
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Enter the login information for the cluster service account. Click ‘Next >’
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Click ‘Finish’
The Cluster Administrator will now show your cluster with the first active node.
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Installing the second node is almost identical to installing the first node
Open the Cluster Administrator from the ‘Administrative Tools’ in the progam menu. Click ‘File’ then
‘New’ then ‘Node’
Select the second clusternode name. In this case ‘clusternodeb’. Click ‘Next >’
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If everything is correct then the progress bar will turn green and then click ‘Next >’. If not you can
solve any problems that show and restart from the beginning of this chapter.
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Enter the login information for the cluster service account. This has to be identical to the one used
with installing the first node. Click ‘Next >’
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Click ‘Finish’
The Cluster Administrator will now show your cluster with the two nodes.
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5 Step-by-Step guide
1. Make a Virtual Machine (VM) with at least 2 hard disks. One has to be IDE 0:0 and the other SCSI
0:0. The IDE disk will be used for the OS; the SCSI disk will be used to share with the second
Virtual Machine.
2. Add the line ‘disk.locking=false’ to the end of the configuration file of the first Virtual Machine. This
will prevent locking of all virtual disks.
3. Install two NICs on the first VM, one ‘host-only’ and one ‘bridged’. The ‘host only’ NIC will be used
for the cluster heartbeat and will only communicate with the second VM. The ‘bridged’ NIC will be
used to let the VM communicate with the LAN.
4. Switch on the first VM; install Windows 2003 Enterprise Edition and clustering services. Format
the SCSI disks with NTFS and make sure the disks are ‘basic’ disks. Switch the VM off.
6. Install 2 NICs on the second VM, one ‘host-only’ and one ‘bridged’. The ‘host only’ NIC will be
used for the cluster heartbeat and will only communicate with the first VM. The ‘bridged’ NIC will
be used to let the VM communicate with the LAN.
7. Switch on the second VM, install Windows 2003 Enterprise Edition and but not clustering services.
8. Switch off the second VM and add the same SCSI disks that were configured for the first VM (and
in the same order). Point the disks to the same virtual disk files as used by the first VM.
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6 Using the VMware SCSI Disk Driver for Windows Guest Operating Systems
To use SCSI disks in a Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 virtual machine, you need a special SCSI driver available from
this download page.
Use of the updated driver also improves SCSI virtual disk performance in Windows 2000 virtual machines. However, do not
use this driver when you are installing the guest operating system. Rather, add the driver after you install the guest operating
system.
To use the driver when you are installing a Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP guest operating system in a newly created
virtual machine, follow these steps.
8. Save the downloaded file -- vmscsi_<xxxx>.flp -- to a folder or directory of your choice on your host
computer.
9. In the Configuration editor (Settings > Configuration Editor) configure your virtual machine's floppy drive to use
the file vmscsi_<xxxx>.flp. Be sure the Connect at Power On check box is not selected.
10. Insert the installation CD in the CD-ROM drive and begin installing the operating system.
11. Watch the messages at the bottom of the character-mode screen during the early stages of the installation. One of
the messages tells you to press F6 if you need to install a third-party SCSI or RAID driver. When this message
appears, press F6.
12. Use the Devices menu to connect the floppy drive, so your virtual machine can use the driver files contained in
vmscsi_<xxxx>.flp.
13. Continue with the installation, following the instructions provided by the installer.
14. As you are installing the SCSI driver, warning messages inform you that the driver has not passed Windows logo
testing. You may safely ignore these messages. Click Yes to continue installing the software.
If you prefer, you may use a utility such as rawrite on Windows or dd on Linux to make a physical floppy disk from the
floppy image file.
• You may want to upgrade an existing virtual machine with a SCSI drive. During the upgrade, you update the SCSI
driver in the virtual machine -- using the driver in the vmscsi_<xxxx>.flp floppy image file. The process is
essentially the same as that described above for installation.
As with new installations, you may either connect the virtual machine's floppy drive to the image file or use a utility
such as rawrite on Windows or dd on Linux to make a physical floppy disk.
• You may have a virtual machine that boots from an IDE virtual disk and want to add a SCSI disk to that virtual
machine. To do so, use the Configuration Editor (Settings > Configuration Editor) to add the new virtual disk. The
next time you boot the virtual machine, Windows will detect the new drive. Follow the instructions provided to add
the new hardware, using the driver from the vmscsi_<xxxx>.flp floppy image file.
As with new installations, you may either connect the virtual machine's floppy drive to the image file or use a utility
such as rawrite on Windows or dd on Linux to make a physical floppy disk.
Note: This scenario assumes that you continue to boot your virtual machine from the original IDE virtual disk.
To add the VMware SCSI Controller to a Windows guest operating system, complete the following steps.
1. In the virtual machine, open the Control Panel. Choose Start > Control Panel.
2. Click Switch to Classic View, and then double-click the System icon.
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INSTRUCTIONS:
--Decide to accept or change the current Host Only subnet (run ipconfig /all to see what it is for VMNet1). You
must have a different VMNet1 subnet for each physical host you intend to connect. Unless you get unlucky, you
probably already do.
--HKLM\System\CCS\Services\VMNetDHCP\Parameters\VirtualEthernetSegments\1\HostIPAddress. The IP
address is stored as hex, with octets reversed: for example, 0x01a0a8c0 resolves to c0.a0.81.01 or decimal
192.168.160.1. Change this to match the subnet you picked. The .1 address here will become the gateway
address for all your Host Only VM NICs. Remember, only change the third octet: you have to stay with
192.168.xxx.1
--Change the subnet in the vmnetdhcp.conf file in winnt\system32: Find the Virtual Ethernet segment 1 section.
Adjust all IP address entries to reflect the new subnet and hostIPAddress. Check your work twice! Don't miss
any!
--Add static routes on your physical host(s): Assume your physical hosts are A, B and C. Their corporate/"real"
IP addresses are: A = 157.1.1.1 and B = 157.1.1.2, C = 157.1.1.3. Your VMWare subnets are .160 (on A) and
.161 (on B) and .162 (on C):
On machine A:
route ADD 192.168.161.0 MASK 255.255.255.0 157.1.1.2 -p
route ADD 192.168.162.0 MASK 255.255.255.0 157.1.1.3 -p
On machine B:
route ADD 192.168.160.0 MASK 255.255.255.0 157.1.1.1 -p
route ADD 192.168.162.0 MASK 255.255.255.0 157.1.1.3 -p
On machine C:
route ADD 192.168.160.0 MASK 255.255.255.0 157.1.1.1 -p
route ADD 192.168.161.0 MASK 255.255.255.0 157.1.1.2 -p
--Reboot.
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--Assign static IP addresses to your VMWare machines, using .3 to .127 on your subnets. Host only mode
doesn't give you a default gateway when it assigns you a DHCP address--you have to configure static
addresses rather than use the VMWare DHCP server. (.1 is reserved for the physical host/gateway. .2 is
reserved for the NAT. .128 to .254 are for dynamic DHCP assignments.) If you want to try hacking up VMNet1
to use the VMWare DHCP, it works just fine--till windows yanks your default gateway out from under you when it
temporarily loses connection to the gateway you want. Not really worth the trouble, unless you want to run a
script every 10 minutes to check and reset your routing table on each physical host. I've found no way to make
Windows stop failing over to the virtual NIC gateways when it loses contact with the "real" default gateway.
Use 192.168.nnn.1 as your default gateway, and also for DNS, unless you already have a specific DNS server
you want to use. Remember, you have to use a DNS server that's on your own network segment, or have the
physical host forward DNS requests for you (which the VMWare DHCP service does automatically for you). If
you're going to do Active Directory or Exchange, you're going to have to set up a DNS server of your own. Do it
on a physical host, not on one of your images. For convenience, add domain suffixes in IP properties to each
VMWare machine. Don't go AD integrated with your DNS, and remember to turn on Dynamic updates
(unsecured) for each zone. For details on setting up a DNS server appropriately for Exchange, and for how you
need it here, look at the alternate server recovery section of this paper:
http://support.microsoft.com/support/exch2000/whitepapers/e2kdbrecovery.doc
WORKAROUNDS:
You may get redirected to "random" machines and wrong IP addresses when using NetBIOS names because of
WINS/DNS latency on corpnet. Make HOSTS/LMHOSTS files if this happens.
Another method for getting access to servers off your segment: change the NIC in the VM to NAT mode
temporarily. If I go into vmnetnat.conf and temporarily change the IP address to match the HostIPAddress (in
the registry), it seems to work for full network access without having to reconfigure my IP settings in the VM.
Cycle VMWare services in control panel to make changes effective. Change it back when done!
Access from home to your VMs: TS into any one of the host machines, and then start a TS session to the VM
from there. NOTE: if your host OS is win2K, always start your VM sessions in a TS session, not the console
session, so you can better control them remotely.
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