Vi3!35!25 Installation Guide

ESX Server 3 Installation Guide
ESX Server 3.5 and VirtualCenter 2.5
This document supports the version of each product listed and supports all subsequent versions until the document is replaced by a new edition. To check for more recent editions of this document, see http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.
VI-ENG-Q407-434
You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware 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
Copyright 20072010 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. This product is protected by U.S. and international copyright and intellectual property laws. VMware products are covered by one or more patents listed at http://www.vmware.com/go/patents. VMware is a registered trademark or trademark of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.
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Contents
AboutThisBook
1 IntroductiontoVMwareInfrastructure 11
VMwareInfrastructureataGlance 12 WhatsNewforInstallation 15 WhatsNewAboutInstallingVirtualCenterVersion 2.5 WhatsNewAboutInstallingESX Server 3.5 15 15
2 SystemRequirements 17
VMwareInfrastructureRequirements 17 VirtualCenter ServerRequirements 17 HardwareRequirements 17 VirtualCenter ServerSoftwareRequirements 18 VirtualCenterDatabaseRequirements 19 EndofSupportLifeforMicrosoftAccessDatabases 19 VI ClientRequirements 20 VI ClientHardwareRequirements 20 VI ClientSoftwareRequirements 20 VirtualCenterVIWebAccessRequirements 20 LicenseServerRequirements 21 LicenseServerHardwareRequirements 21 LicenseServerSoftwareRequirements 21 ESX Server 3Requirements 21 MinimumServerHardwareRequirements 21 EnhancedPerformanceRecommendations 24 HardwareandSoftwareCompatibility 25 SupportedGuestOperatingSystems 25 VirtualMachineRequirements 26
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3 VirtualCenterandESX Server 3LicensingOverview 27

LicensingTerminology 28 ESX Server 3Editions 28 VirtualCenter ServerEditions 30 VirtualCenterandESX Server 3LicensingModel 30 SingleHostandCentralizedLicenseTypes 30 CentralizedLicensing 31 SingleHostLicensing 32 LicenseKeyFunctionality 33 PerProcessorLicensing 33 PerInstanceLicensing 35 LicenseExpirationConsiderations 35 LicenseServerAvailability 35 UsinganExistingFLEXnetLicenseServer 39 ContactingSupport 40
4 RunningVMwareVirtualCenterandVMware ESX Server

in EvaluationMode 41
UsingESX ServerandVirtualCenterinEvaluationMode 41 LicensingVirtualCenterandESX ServerAftertheEvaluationPeriodExpires 42 ConsiderationsWhenYouSwitchESX ServerandVirtualCentertoLicensed Modes 43
5 LicensingVirtualCenterandESX Server 45
LicensingProcess 46 ObtainingLicenseFiles 48 SettingUpCentralizedLicensing 49 InstallingLicenseFiles 49 LocationoftheLicenseServer 49 ConfiguringLicenseServerLicensing 50 ChangingtheDefaultLicenseServerPorts 52 ChangingfromSingleHosttoCentralizedLicensing 53 SettingUpSingleHostLicensing 53 ConfiguringanESX ServerMachineforSingleHostLicensing 53 SingleHostandCentralizedLicensingintheSameEnvironment 54 ConfiguringLicensingforaMixedESX Server 2.xandESX Server 3.x Environment 55 ChangingfromCentralizedtoSingleHostLicensing 56
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Contents
LicenseFileContents 56 LicenseFileLocations 58 AddingNewLicenseFilestoLicenseServers 59 AddingNewLicenseFilestoSingleHosts 60 InstallingaLicenseServer 60 TroubleshootingLicensing 61 ReceivingLicenseActivationCodes 62 CheckingtheLicenseServer 62 CheckingtheLicenseFile 64 CheckingLicenseConfiguration 64
6 InstallingVMwareInfrastructureManagement 65
PreparingtheVirtualCenter ServerDatabase 66 ConfiguringanOracleConnectiontoWorkLocally 66 ConfiguringanOracleConnectiontoWorkRemotely 67 ConfiguringaSQLServerODBCConnection 68 ConfiguringMicrosoftSQLServer2005Express 71 MaintainingYourVirtualCenterDatabase 71 InstallingVMwareInfrastructureManagementSoftware 71 VirtualCenter ServerPrerequisites 72 ComponentsInstalled 72 InstallationProcedure 73 ConfiguringCommunicationBetweenVirtualCenterComponents 76 ConnectingtoYourVirtualCenter ServerThroughaFirewall 76 ConnectingtoYourManagedHostsThroughaFirewall 77 ConnectingHostswiththeLicenseServerThroughaFirewall 77 UninstallingVMwareInfrastructureComponents 77 InstallingVirtualCenterinaVirtualMachine 78
7 InstallingVMwareESX ServerSoftware 81
PreparingtoInstall 81 InstalledComponents 81 InstallationMethods 82 UsingRemoteManagementApplications 82 InstallationonSATADrives 82 LUNRequirements 83 InstallingESX Server 83 NavigationintheInstaller 84
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ESX ServerInstallationProcedure 84 MouseSelection 88 RecommendedPartitioning 88 AdvancedPartitioning 89 SettingYourTimeZone 92 PostinstallationConsiderations 93 LocatingtheInstallationLogs 93 AssigningNewHardwareontheServer 93 InstallingAdditionalDriversfromtheVMwareDriverDisk 93 VerifyingYourDeviceDriverMappings 94 DownloadingtheVI Client 94
A ESX ServerPartitioning 95
RequiredPartitions 95 OptionalPartitions 99
B RemoteandScriptedInstallations 101
ScriptingYourInstallations 101 EnablingScriptedInstallation 102 SettingUptheScript 103 CreatingaScriptUsingVIWebAccess 103 RunningaScriptedInstallationfromtheKickstartFile 107 EditingtheKickstartConfigurationFile 107 %includeSection 107 CommandSection 108 %packagesSection 112 %preSection 112 %postSection 112 %vmlicense_textSection 113 SampleKickstartFile 113
Index 115
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About This Book
Thismanual,theInstallationGuide,describeshowtoinstallnewconfigurationsof VMwareVirtualCenterandESX Server 3. TheInstallationGuidecoversESXServer3.5.ToreadaboutESX Server 3iversion3.5, see http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/vi_pubs.html. Foreaseofdiscussion,thisbookusesthefollowingproductnamingconventions:

FortopicsspecifictoESXServer3.5,thisbookusesthetermESXServer3. FortopicsspecifictoESXServer3iversion3.5,thisbookusestheterm ESX Server 3i. Fortopicscommontobothproducts,thisbookusesthetermESXServer. Whentheidentificationofaspecificreleaseisimportanttoadiscussion,thisbook referstotheproductbyitsfull,versionedname. WhenadiscussionappliestoallversionsofESXServerforVMware Infrastructure 3,thisbookusesthetermESXServer3.x.
Intended Audience
ThismanualisintendedforanyonewhoneedstoinstallESX Server 3.5and VirtualCenter2.5.TheinformationinthismanualiswrittenforexperiencedWindows orLinuxsystemadministratorswhoarefamiliarwithvirtualmachinetechnologyand datacenteroperations.
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Document Feedback
VMwarewelcomesyoursuggestionsforimprovingourdocumentation.Ifyouhave comments,sendyourfeedbackto: docfeedback@vmware.com
VMware Infrastructure Documentation

TheVMwareInfrastructuredocumentationconsistsofthecombinedVMware VirtualCenterandESXServerdocumentationset.
Abbreviations Used in Figures

ThefiguresinthismanualusetheabbreviationslistedinTable 1. Table 1. Abbreviations
Abbreviation database datastore dsk# hostn SAN tmplt user# VC VM# Description VirtualCenterdatabase Storageforthemanagedhost Storagediskforthemanagedhost VirtualCentermanagedhosts Storageareanetworktypedatastoresharedbetweenmanagedhosts Template Userwithaccesspermissions VirtualCenter Virtualmachinesonamanagedhost
Technical Support and Education Resources

Thefollowingsectionsdescribethetechnicalsupportresourcesavailabletoyou.You canaccessthemostcurrentversionsofthismanualandotherbooksbygoingto: http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs
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About This Book
Online and Telephone Support

Useonlinesupporttosubmittechnicalsupportrequests,viewyourproductand contractinformation,andregisteryourproducts.Goto http://www.vmware.com/support. Customerswithappropriatesupportcontractsshouldusetelephonesupportforthe fastestresponseonpriority1issues.Goto http://www.vmware.com/support/phone_support.html.
Support Offerings
FindouthowVMwaresupportofferingscanhelpmeetyourbusinessneeds.Goto http://www.vmware.com/support/services.
VMware Education Services

VMwarecoursesofferextensivehandsonlabs,casestudyexamples,andcourse materialsdesignedtobeusedasonthejobreferencetools.Formoreinformationabout VMwareEducationServices,gotohttp://mylearn1.vmware.com/mgrreg/index.cfm.
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Introduction to VMware Infrastructure
ThisbookdescribeseachseparateinstallerforsettingupVMwareESX Server 3and VirtualCentercomponents.Thischapterdescribesthecomponentsindividually,soyou knowwhichyouneedtoinstall. Thischaptercontainsthefollowingtopics:

VMwareInfrastructureataGlanceonpage 12 WhatsNewforInstallationonpage 15
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VMware Infrastructure at a Glance

Figure 11illustratesthesixbasiccomponentsofVMwareInfrastructure. Figure 1-1. VMware Infrastructure Components
VMware Infrastructure Client
license server
ESX Server hosts
VirtualCenter
database
Web browser
OneVirtualCenter ServermanagesmultipleESX Serverhosts. Eachshadedblockrepresentsaseparateinstallerorprocedure.TheVI Clientappears twice,becauseyoucandownloaditfromaVirtualCenter ServerorESX Serverhost.
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Chapter 1 Introduction to VMware Infrastructure
ThemajorcomponentsofVMwareInfrastructureare:
ESX ServerESX Serverprovidesavirtualizationlayerthatabstractsthe processor,memory,storage,andnetworkingresourcesofthephysicalhostinto multiplevirtualmachines. ESX Server 3installationincludesdocumentationintheformofmanpages availablefromtheserviceconsole.See InstallingVMwareESX ServerSoftware onpage 81.
VirtualCenterServerThisserverinstallsonaWindowsmachine,eitherphysical orvirtual,tocentrallymanageyourVMwareESX Serverhosts.The VirtualCenter ServerallowstheuseofadvancedVMwareInfrastructurefeatures suchasVMwareDRS,VMware HA,andVMotion. AVMwareSDKWebserviceisinstalledwiththeVirtualCenter Server. See InstallingVMwareInfrastructureManagementSoftwareonpage 71.
VirtualCenterPluginsOptionalapplicationsthatprovideadditionalcapabilities andfeaturestoVirtualCenter.Generally,pluginsarereleasedseparately,installon topofVirtualCenter,andcanbeupgradedindependently.Youcaninstallserver componentsofpluginsonthesamecomputerwheretheVirtualCenter Server resides,oronaseparateone.Aftertheservercomponentofapluginisinstalled, youcanactivatethepluginsclientcomponent,whichenhancestheVI Clientwith appropriateUIoptions. Documentationprovidedwitheachpluginoffersinformationonhowserver componentsofpluginsareinstalled. Forinformationonhowtoinstalltheclientcomponent,verifywhichpluginsare installed,andhowtodisableoruninstallpluginsthatyouarenotusing,seeBasic SystemAdministration.
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Thefollowingpluginsareavailable:
VMwareConverterEnablesyoutoconvertphysicalorvirtualmachinesinto ESX Servervirtualmachines.Afterconvertingthevirtualmachines,youcan addthemtoyourVirtualCenterinventory. VMwareUpdateManagerProvidessecuritymonitoringandpatching supportforESX Serverhostsandvirtualmachines. Inadditiontoanindependentservercomponentinstallation,thisrelease supportsthecombinedinstallationfortheVirtualCenter ServerandUpdate Manager.See InstallingVMwareInfrastructureManagementSoftwareon page 71.Ifyouareupgrading,seetheUpgradeGuide.Forinformationon UpdateManager,seetheUpdate ManagerAdministrationGuide.
VI ClientTheVI ClientinstallsonaWindowsmachineandistheprimary methodofinteractionwithVMwareInfrastructure.TheVI Clientactsas:

Aconsoletooperatevirtualmachines. AnadministrationinterfaceintotheVirtualCenter ServersandESX Server hosts.
TheVI ClientisdownloadablefromtheVirtualCenter ServerandESX Server hosts.TheVI Clientinstallationincludesdocumentationforadministratorsandfor consoleusers.See InstallingVMwareInfrastructureManagementonpage 65.
WebAccessAbrowserletsyoudownloadtheVI Clientfromthe VirtualCenter ServerorESX Serverhosts.Whenyouhaveappropriatelogin credentials,WebAccessalsoletsyouperformlimitedmanagementofyour VirtualCenter ServerandESX Serverhosts. LicenseserverThisserverinstallsonaWindowssystemtoauthorizethe VirtualCenter ServersandESX Serverhostsappropriatelyforyourlicensing agreement.AdministratorsmakechangestosoftwarelicensesusingtheVI Client. See SettingUpCentralizedLicensingonpage 49. DatabaseTheVirtualCenter Serverusesadatabasetoorganizeallthe configurationdatafortheVMwareInfrastructureenvironment.Forsmall deployments,thebundledMicrosoftSQLServer2005Expressdatabaseletsyouset upalimitednumbersofhostsandvirtualmachines(5hostsand50virtual machines).VirtualCentersupportsseveralotherdatabaseproductsforlarger deployments.See PreparingtheVirtualCenter ServerDatabaseonpage 66.
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Chapter 1 Introduction to VMware Infrastructure
Whats New for Installation

Thissectiondescribesproceduresforinstallingandupgradingpreviousversionsof VirtualCenterandESX Server.Thissectionisnotacomprehensivelistofnewfeatures.
Whats New About Installing VirtualCenter Version 2.5

NewfeaturesintroducedinVirtualCenter2.5include:
AninstallationwizardthatinstallsVirtualCenter,theVIClient,andplugin components Newevaluationmode Newlicenseserversupportofamultiplelicensefiledirectory AfeaturethatdetectspluginsinstalledonaVirtualCenter Serverduringa VI Clientinstallation
Othernewfeaturesdonothaveanimpactonanyinstallationorupgradeprocesses.
Whats New About Installing ESX Server 3.5

NewfeaturesintroducedinESX Server 3.5include:
NewevaluationmodeofferingfullaccesstoallESX Serverfeaturesforalimited time SATAdiskdrivessupportforESX Server 3.5installation
NewfeaturesintroducedinESX Serverversion 3.0.1includeanewupgradefeature thatallowsmigrationupgradeswithoutvirtualmachinedowntime. NewfeaturesintroducedinESX Serverversion 3.0include:

OnscreenHelpnolongerintheinstaller VMFS3,anewfilesystem VM3,anewvirtualmachineformat UpdatedVMwareTools NewVI Clientinstallation,downloadablefromachangedWebinterface
Othernewfeaturesdonothaveanimpactonanyinstallationorupgradeprocesses.
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System Requirements
Thischapterdescribesthehardwareandoperatingsystemrequirementsforhosts runningVirtualCenterandESX Server 3.Usetheinformationinthischaptertoensure thatyourenvironmentmeetstherequirementsforinstallation. Thischaptercontainsthefollowingtopics:

VMwareInfrastructureRequirementsonpage 17 ESX Server 3Requirementsonpage 21 SupportedGuestOperatingSystemsonpage 25
VMware Infrastructure Requirements

VirtualCentermanagesESX Serverhostsusingaserverandthreetypesofremote managementclients.
VirtualCenter Server Requirements

TheVirtualCenter Serverisaphysicalmachineorvirtualmachineconfiguredwith accesstoasupporteddatabase.
Hardware Requirements
TheVirtualCenter Serverhardwaremustmeetthefollowingrequirements:
Processor2.0GHzorhigherIntelorAMDx86processor.Processorrequirements canbelargerifyourdatabaseisrunonthesamehardware. Memory2GBRAMminimum.RAMrequirementscanbelargerifyourdatabase isrunonthesamehardware.

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Diskstorage560MBminimum,2GBrecommended.Youmusthave245MBfree onthedestinationdriveforinstallationoftheprogram,andyoumusthave315MB freeonthedrivecontainingyour%temp%directory. NOTEStoragerequirementscanbelargerifyourdatabaserunsonthesame hardwareastheVirtualCenter Servermachine.Thesizeofthedatabasevarieswith thenumberofhostsandvirtualmachinesyoumanage.Usingdefaultsettingsfor ayearwith25hostsand8to16virtualmachineseach,thetotaldatabasesizecan consumeupto2.2GB(SQL)or1.0GB(Oracle).
MicrosoftSQLServer2005ExpressdiskrequirementsThebundleddatabase requiresupto2GBfreediskspacetodecompresstheinstallationarchive. However,approximately1.5GBofthesefilesaredeletedaftertheinstallationis complete. NetworkingGigabitrecommended.
VirtualCenter Server Software Requirements

TheVirtualCenter Serverissupportedasaserviceonthe32bitversionsofthese operatingsystems:
Windows2000ServerSP4withUpdateRollup1(downloadUpdateRollup1from http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/server/evaluation/news/bulletins/rollu p.mspx) WindowsXPProSP2 Windows2003ServerSP1(allreleasesexcept64bit) Windows2003ServerR2
NOTEForanyoperatingsystemexceptWindowsServer2003SP1,installMicrosoft WindowsInstaller3.1,otherwiseyourVirtualCenterinstallationcanfail. See http://support.microsoft.com/?id=893803forinformationondownloading WindowsInstaller3.1. VirtualCenter 2.xinstallationisnotsupportedon64bitoperatingsystems. TheVirtualCenterinstallerrequiresInternetExplorer5.5orhighertorun.
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Chapter 2 System Requirements
VirtualCenter Database Requirements

VirtualCentersupportsthedatabaseformatslistedinTable 21. Table 2-1. Supported Database Formats (SEE UPDATE)
Database Type MicrosoftSQLServer2000Standard MicrosoftSQLServer2000Enterprise Service Pack, Patch, and Driver Requirements SP4 ForWindows2000andWindowsXP,apply MDAC2.8SP1totheclient. UseSQLServerdriverfortheclient. SP1orSP2 ForWindows2000andWindowsXP,apply MDAC2.8SP1totheclient. UseSQLnativeclientdriverfortheclient. ForWindows2000andWindowsXP,apply MDAC2.8SP1totheclient. UseSQLnativeclientdriverfortheclient. Applypatch9.2.0.8.0totheserverandclient. None Firstapplypatch10.2.0.3.0totheclientandserver. Then applypatch5699495totheclient.
MicrosoftSQLServer2005Enterprise
MicrosoftSQLServer2005ExpressSP2
Oracle9irelease2Standard Oracle9irelease2Enterprise Oracle10gStandardRelease1(10.1.0.3.0) Oracle10gEnterpriseRelease1(10.1.0.3.0) Oracle10gStandardRelease2(10.2.0.1.0) Oracle10gEnterpriseRelease2(10.2.0.1.0)
Eachdatabaserequiressomeconfigurationadjustmentsinadditiontothebasic installation.See PreparingtheVirtualCenter ServerDatabaseonpage 66.
End of Support Life for Microsoft Access Databases

SupportforMicrosoftAccesswasdiscontinuedwithVMwareVirtualCenter version 2.0.VirtualCenter 2.5comeswithabundledversionofMicrosoftSQLServer 2005Expressforsmalldeployments(upto5hostsand50virtualmachines).
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VI Client Requirements
ThefollowingsectionslistVI Clienthardwareandsoftwarerequirements.
VI Client Hardware Requirements

TheVI Clienthardwaremustmeetthefollowingrequirements:
Processor266MHzorhigherIntelorAMDx86processor(500MHz recommended). Memory256MBRAMminimum,512MBrecommended. DiskStorage150MBfreediskspacerequiredforbasicinstallation.Youmust have55MBfreeonthedestinationdriveforinstallationoftheprogram,andyou musthave100MBfreeonthedrivecontainingyour%temp% directory. NetworkingGigabitrecommended.
VI Client Software Requirements

TheVI Clientisdesignedforthe32bitversionsoftheseoperatingsystems:

Windows2000ProSP4 Windows2000ServerSP4withUpdateRollup1(downloadUpdateRollup1from http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/server/evaluation/news/bulletins/rollu p.mspx) WindowsXPProSP2 Windows2003SP1(allreleasesexcept64bit) Windows2003ServerR2 WindowsVistaBusiness WindowsVistaEnterprise
TheVI ClientrequirestheMicrosoft.NET2.0Framework.Ifyoursystemdoesnothave itinstalled,theVI Clientinstallerinstallsit.
VirtualCenter VI Web Access Requirements

TheVIWebAccessclientisdesignedforthesebrowsers:
WindowsInternetExplorer6.0orhigher,NetscapeNavigator7.0,Mozilla1.X, Firefox1.0.7andhigher. LinuxNetscapeNavigator7.0orlater,Mozilla1.x,Firefox1.0.7andhigher.
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License Server Requirements

Thissectiondescribesthelicenseserverrequirements.
License Server Hardware Requirements

Thelicenseserverhardwaremustmeetthefollowingrequirements:

Processor266MHzorhigherIntelorAMDx86processor. Memory256MBRAMminimum,512MBrecommended. DiskStorage25MBfreediskspacerequiredforbasicinstallation. NetworkingGigabitrecommended.
VMwarerecommendsthatyouinstallthelicenseserveronthesamemachineasyour VirtualCenter Servertoensureconnectivity.TheVMwareInfrastructureManagement InstallationCDinstallsalicenseserverwhenyouinstallVirtualCenter.
License Server Software Requirements

Thelicenseserversoftwareissupportedonthe32bitversionsofthefollowing operatingsystems:

Windows2000ServerSP4 WindowsXPPro(atanySPlevel) Windows2003(allreleasesexcept64bit)
ESX Server 3 Requirements

Thissectiondiscussestheminimumandmaximumhardwareconfigurations supportedbyESX Server 3version 3.5.
Minimum Server Hardware Requirements

YouneedthefollowinghardwareandsystemresourcestoinstallanduseESX Server 3.
Atleasttwoprocessors:
1500 MHzIntelXeonandlater,orAMDOpteron(32bitmode)for ESX Server 3 1500 MHzIntelXeonandlater,orAMDOpteron(32bitmode)forVirtual SMP 1500 MHzIntelViivorAMDA64x2dualcoreprocessors
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1GBRAMminimum. OneormoreEthernetcontrollers.Supportedcontrollersinclude:

BroadcomNetXtreme570xgigabitcontrollers IntelPRO/100adapters
Forbestperformanceandsecurity,useseparateEthernetcontrollersfortheservice consoleandthevirtualmachines. NOTEThe3Com3c990driverdoesnotsupportallrevisionsofthe3c990. For example,3CR990Bisincompatible.
ASCSIadapter,FibreChanneladapter,orinternalRAIDcontroller:
BasicSCSIcontrollersareAdaptecUltra160andUltra320,LSILogic FusionMPT,andmostNCR/SymbiosSCSIcontrollers. FibreChannel.SeetheStorage/SANCompatibilityGuide. RAIDadapterssupportedareHPSmartArray,DellPercRAID(Adaptec RAIDandLSIMegaRAID),andIBM(Adaptec)ServeRAIDcontrollers.
ASCSIdisk,FibreChannelLUN,orRAIDLUNwithunpartitionedspace.Ina minimumconfiguration,thisdiskorRAIDissharedbetweentheserviceconsole andthevirtualmachines. ForhardwareiSCSI,adiskattachedtoaniSCSIcontroller,suchastheQLogic qla405x. ForSATA,adiskconnectedthroughsupporteddualSASSATAcontrollersthatare usingSASdrivers.
ESX Server 3supportsinstallingandbootingfromthefollowingstoragesystems:
ATAdiskdrivesInstallingESX Server 3onanATAdriveorATARAIDis supported.However,ensurethatyourspecificdrivecontrollerisincludedinthe supportedhardware. StorageofvirtualmachinesiscurrentlynotsupportedonATAdrivesorRAIDs. VirtualmachinesmustbestoredonVMFSvolumesconfiguredonaSCSIorSATA drive,aSCSIRAID,oraSAN.
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SerialATA(SATA)diskdrivesSATAdiskdrives,pluggedintodualSATA/SAS controllers,aresupportedforinstallingESX Server 3andforstoringvirtual machinesonVMFSpartitions.EnsurethatyourSATAdrivesareconnected throughsupportedSATA/SAScontrollers:

mptscsi_pcieLSI1068E(LSISAS3442E) mptscsi_pcixLSI1068(SAS5) aacraid_esx30IBMserveraid8kSAScontroller ccissSmartArrayP400/256controller
megaraid_sasDellPERC5.0.1controller NOTESharingVMFSdatastoresonSATAdisksacrossmultipleESX Server 3hosts isnotsupported.
SCSIdiskdrivesSCSIdiskdrivesaresupportedforinstallingESX Server 3. TheycanalsostorevirtualmachinesonVMFSpartitions. Storageareanetworks(SANs)SANs,bothFibreChannelandiSCSI,are supportedforinstallingESX Server 3.Theycanalsostorevirtualmachineson VMFSdatastores.Forinformationaboutpreinstallationandconfigurationtasks andknownissueswithinstallingandbootingfromFibreChannelSANs,seethe SANConfigurationGuideatwww.vmware.com/support/pubs/vi_pubs.html. NOTETheminimumsupportedLUNcapacityforVMFS3is1200MB.
BeforedeployingESX Server 3onaSAN,seethelatestversionoftheESX ServerSAN CompatibilityGuideatwww.vmware.com/support/pubs/vi_pubs.html.
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Enhanced Performance Recommendations

ThelistsinprevioussectionssuggestabasicESX Server 3configuration.Inpractice, youcanusemultiplephysicaldisks,whichincludeSCSIdisks,FibreChannelLUNs, RAIDLUNs,andsoon. Herearesomerecommendationsforenhancedperformance:
RAMHavingsufficientRAMforallyourvirtualmachinesisimportantto achievinggoodperformance.ESX Server 3hostsrequiremoreRAMthantypical servers.AnESX Server 3hostmustbeequippedwithsufficientRAMtorun concurrentvirtualmachines,plusruntheserviceconsole. For example,operatingfourvirtualmachineswithRed Hat Enterprise Linuxor Windows XPrequiresyourESX Server 3hostbeequippedwithoveragigabyteof RAMforbaselineperformance:
1024MBforthevirtualmachines(256MBminimumperoperatingsystemas recommendedbyvendors 4) 272MBfortheESX Server 3serviceconsole
Runningtheseexamplevirtualmachineswithamorereasonable512MBRAM requirestheESX Server 3hosttobeequippedwithatleast2.2GBRAM.

2048MBforthevirtualmachines(512MB 4) 272MBfortheESX Server 3serviceconsole
Thesecalculationsdonottakeintoaccountvariableoverheadmemoryforeach virtualmachine.See theResourceManagementGuide. NOTETheESX Server 3hostmightrequiremoreRAMfortheserviceconsoleif youarerunningthirdpartymanagementapplicationsorbackupagents.
DedicatedfastEthernetadaptersforvirtualmachinesDedicatedgigabit Ethernetcardsforvirtualmachines,suchasIntelPRO/1000adapters,improve throughputtovirtualmachineswithhighnetworktraffic. DisklocationForbestperformance,alldatausedbyyourvirtualmachines shouldbeonphysicaldisksallocatedtovirtualmachines.Thesephysicaldisks shouldbelargeenoughtoholddiskimagestobeusedbyallthevirtualmachines. VMFS3partitioningForbestperformance,useVI ClientorVIWebAccesstoset upyourVMFS3partitionsratherthantheESX Server 3installer.UsingVI Clientor VIWebAccessensuresthatthestartingsectorsofpartitionsare64Kaligned, whichimprovesstorageperformance.
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ProcessorsFasterprocessorsimproveESX Server 3performance.Forcertain workloads,largercachesimproveESX Server 3performance. HardwarecompatibilityToensurethebestI/Operformanceandworkload management,VMwareESX Server 3providesitsowndriversforsupported devices.Besurethatthedevicesyouuseinyourserveraresupported.For additionaldetailsonI/Odevicecompatibility,downloadtheESX ServerI/O CompatibilityGuidefromwww.vmware.com/support/pubs/vi_pubs.html.
Hardware and Software Compatibility

Formoreinformationonsupportedhardwareandsoftware,downloadtheESX Server CompatibilityGuidesfromwww.vmware.com/support/pubs/vi_pubs.html.
SystemscompatibilityListsthestandardoperatingsystemsandserver platformsagainstwhichVMwaretests. I/OcompatibilityListsdevicesthatareaccesseddirectlythroughdevicedrivers intheESX Serverhost. StoragecompatibilityListsthecombinationsofHBAsandstoragedevices currentlytestedbyVMwareanditsstoragepartners. BackupsoftwarecompatibilityDescribesthebackuppackagestestedby VMware.
Supported Guest Operating Systems

TheVMwareGuestOperatingSystemInstallationGuideincludesinformationon supportedguestoperatingsystems.Youcandownloadthisdocumentat: http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/vi_pubs.html ESX Serverofferssupportforanumberof64bitguestoperatingsystems.See theGuest OperatingSystemInstallationGuideforacompletelist. Therearespecifichardwarerequirementsfor64bitguestoperatingsystemsupport. ForAMDOpteronbasedsystems,theprocessorsmustbeOpteronRevEandlater.For IntelXeonbasedsystems,theprocessorsmustincludesupportforIntelVirtualization Technology(VT).ManyserversthatincludeCPUswithVTsupportmightshipwithVT disabledbydefault,andVTmustbeenabledmanually.IfyourCPUssupportVTbut youdonotseethisoptionintheBIOS,contactyourvendortorequestaBIOSversion thatletsyouenableVTsupport. Todeterminewhetheryourserverhasthenecessarysupport,youcanuseaCPU CompatibilityToolathttp://www.vmware.com/download/vi/drivers_tools.html.
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Virtual Machine Requirements

EachESX Servermachinehasthefollowingrequirements.
Virtualprocessor

IntelPentiumIIorlater(dependentonsystemprocessor) One,two,orfourprocessorspervirtualmachine
NOTEIfyoucreateatwoprocessorvirtualmachine,yourESX Servermachine musthaveatleasttwophysicalprocessors.Forafourprocessorvirtualmachine, yourESX Servermachinemusthaveatleastfourphysicalprocessors.

VirtualchipsetIntel440BXbasedmotherboardwithNS338SIOchip VirtualBIOSPhoenixBIOS4.0Release6
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VirtualCenter and ESX Server 3 Licensing Overview
ThischapterdescribesthelicensingmodelsavailablewithESX Server 3and VirtualCenter. Thischaptercontainsthefollowingtopics:

LicensingTerminologyonpage 28 ESX Server 3Editionsonpage 28 VirtualCenter ServerEditionsonpage 30 VirtualCenterandESX Server 3LicensingModelonpage 30 LicenseKeyFunctionalityonpage 33 LicenseExpirationConsiderationsonpage 35 LicenseServerAvailabilityonpage 35 UsinganExistingFLEXnetLicenseServeronpage 39 ContactingSupportonpage 40
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Licensing Terminology
Termsyoumightencounterduringthelicenseredemptionandconfigurationprocess aredefinedbelow:
LicenseactivationcodeAlicenseactivationcode(LAC)isauniquecodethatis associatedwithoneormoreVMwareproductspurchased.Youreceivethiscode afteryourorderisprocessed,unlessyoupurchasedyourproductsfroman authorizedVMwarereseller,inwhichcaseyoureceiveapartneractivationcode. PartneractivationcodeApartneractivationcodeisauniquecodeidentifying ordersplacedthroughVMwarepartners.IfyoupurchasedVMware Infrastructure 3fromanauthorizedVMwarereseller,usethiscodetoregisteryour purchasetoyourVMwarestoreaccount. LicenseactivationportalThelicenseactivationportalisaselfserviceWebportal thatyoucanusetoredeemyourlicenseactivationcodesanddownloadlicensefiles forVMwareInfrastructure 3. PartneractivationportalApartneractivationportalisaselfserviceWebportal youusetoregisterapurchasemadefromanauthorizedVMwareresellertoyour VMwarestoreaccount.Youenteryourpartneractivationcodeintotheportaland downloadyourlicensefilesfromthelicenseactivationportal.
ESX Server 3 Editions

DependingontheeditionofVMwareInfrastructuresoftwareyoupurchased,you mightbeentitledtodifferentESX Server 3licencetypes. AfeweditionsincludelimitedaccesstothefeaturesetofESX Server 3.Certain standardfunctionalityisavailableonlywithanoptionaladdonlicense,atadditional cost.OthereditionsincludefullaccesstothefullfeaturesetofESX Server 3. ESXServereditionsrequireFLEXnetlicensefilesthatcanbecentralizedoronasingle host.Whenconfiguringyourhost,specifythelicencetypeforyourESX Server 3.For instructions,seeToconfigurecentralizedlicensingforanESX Serverhostonpage 51. LicensesfrompreviousreleasesofESXServerworkwithESXServer3.5.However, licensingcapabilitiesaddedtoESXServer3.5editions(forexample,VMware ConsolidatedBackup)arenotsupportedwithpreviouseditionsofESXServer.
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Chapter 3 VirtualCenter and ESX Server 3 Licensing Overview
Table 31displaysESX Server 3featuresarrangedbyedition. Table 3-1. Edition Features for ESX Server 3 Machines
Feature Licensetype VI Foundation Flexlicensefiles (centralizedor singlehost) Yes Yes Yes Yes Addon Addon Addon VI Standard Flexlicensefiles (centralizedor singlehost) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Addon Addon VI Enterprise Flexlicensefiles (centralizedor singlehost) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
VMFS VirtualSMPsupport VMwareConsolidatedBackup (VCB) VMwareUpdateManager VMwareHA ServerVMotionand Storage VMotion VMwareDRSandDPM (DistributedResource ManagementandDistributed PowerManagement) Guidedserverconsolidation, with purchaseof VirtualCenterServer ManageablebytheVI Client RemoteCLIaccess ManageablebyVirtualCenter in productionmode ManageablebyVirtualCenter inevaluationmode VirtualCenterManagement Agent
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
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VirtualCenter Server Editions

AtleastoneinstanceofaVirtualCenterlicenseisrequiredforVIFoundation, VI Standard,andVIEnterpriseeditions.ThefollowingVirtualCentereditionsare available:
VirtualCenterFoundationThiseditionletsyoumanageuptothreeESX Server hosts.Ifyouneedtomanagemorethanthreehosts,upgradetoVirtualCenter edition. VirtualCenterThisisanenterpriseleveleditionthatletsyoumanageuptothe systemmaximumnumberofhosts.Forinformationaboutsystemmaximums,see ConfigurationMaximumsforVMwareInfrastructure 3.
TwotypesofFLEXnetlicensingareavailable:singlehostandcentralized. For VirtualCenter,alllicensesmustbecentralized. YoucanconvertVirtualCenterFoundationeditiontoVirtualCentereditionbyadding anappropriatelicensefileandswitchingtheeditions.Thesoftwaredoesnotneedtobe reinstalled.Forinformationonswitchingbetweentheeditions,seeToconfigure centralizedlicensingfortheVirtualCenter Serveronpage 50.
VirtualCenter and ESX Server 3 Licensing Model

Unlessyouareusingevaluationmode,softwarelicensesarerequiredformost operationsinVirtualCenterandESX Server 3,suchasaddinghoststoyour VirtualCenterinventory.However,youcaninstall,launch,andconfigureVirtualCenter andESX Serverwithoutasoftwarelicense.See RunningVMwareVirtualCenterand VMware ESX Serverin EvaluationModeonpage 41.Twomodesoflicensingare available:singlehostandcentralized.
Single-Host and Centralized License Types

Forsinglehostlicenses,thelicensefilesarestoredonindividualESX Serverhosts. Centralizedlicensesarestoredonalicenseserver,whichmakestheselicensesavailable tooneormorehosts.Youcanrunamixedenvironmentusingbothsinglehostand centralizedlicensing. VirtualCenterandfeaturesthatrequireVirtualCenter,suchasVMotion,mustbe licensedincentralizedmode.ESX Serverfeaturescanbelicensedineithercentralized orsinglehostmode.
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Figure 31illustratesthethreetypesoflicenseenvironments. Figure 3-1. License File Locations in Single-Host, Mixed, and Centralized Environments
host-based licensing
VI Clients ESX host license file ESX host license file
mixed: host-based & server-based licensing

VI Clients ESX host license file ESX host license file VirtualCenter (recommended)* ESX host ESX host
server-based licensing
VI Clients ESX host
ESX host
VirtualCenter (recommended)*
license server
license server
license file
license file
* Features such as VMotion and VMware HA require VirtualCenter.
Centralized Licensing
Centralizedlicensingsimplifieslicensemanagementinlarge,dynamicenvironments byallowingaVMwarelicenseservertoadministerlicenses.Withcentralizedlicensing, youmaintainallyourVirtualCenter ServerandESX Serverlicensesfromoneconsole. CentralizedlicensingisbasedonFLEXnetmechanisms.Withcentralizedlicensing,a licenseservermanagesalicensepool,whichisacentralrepositoryholdingyourentire licensedentitlement.
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Whenahostrequiresaparticularlicensedfunctionality,thelicenseforthatentitlement ischeckedoutfromthelicensepool.Licensekeysarereleasedbacktothepoolwhen theyarenolongerbeingusedandareavailableagaintoanyhost. Theadvantagesofcentralizedlicensinginclude:

Youadministeralllicensingfromasinglelocation. NewlicensesareallocatedandreallocatedusinganycombinationofESX Server formfactors.For example,youcanusethesame32processorlicenseforsixteen 2processorhosts,eight4processorhosts,four8processorhosts,two16processor hosts,oranycombinationtotaling32processors. Ongoinglicensemanagementissimplifiedbyallowinglicensestobeassignedand reassignedasneeded.Assignmentchangesastheneedsofanenvironment change,suchaswhenhostsareaddedorremoved,orpremiumfeatureslike VMotion,DRS,orHAaretransferredamonghosts. Duringperiodsoflicenseserverunavailability,althoughnewlicensescannotbe issued,existingVirtualCenter Serverlicensedfunctionalitycontinuestooperate indefinitelyandexistingESX Serverlicensedfunctionalitycontinuestooperate withina14daygraceperiod.See LicenseServerAvailabilityonpage 35.
VMwarerecommendsusingthecentralizedlicensetypeforlarge,changing environments.
Single-Host Licensing
Withsinglehostlicensing,yourtotalentitlementforpurchasedfeaturesisdivided amongseparatelicensefilesresidingonESX ServerhostsandtheVirtualCenter Server. Withsinglehostlicensing,whensomeoneactivatesalicensedfeature,thefeaturefor thatentitlementmustresideinthelicensefileonthathost.Withsinglehostlicensing, youmaintainseparatelicensefilesoneachESX Serverhost.Distributionofunused licensesisnotautomatic,andthereisnodependenceonanexternalconnectionfor licensing.SinglehostlicensefilesareplaceddirectlyonindividualESX Serverhosts andreplacetheserialnumbersusedbypreviousversionsofESX Serverversion 2.x. Theadvantagesofsinglehostlicensinginclude:
SinglehostfilesrequirenolicenseservertobeinstalledforESX Serverhostonly environments. InaVirtualCenterandlicenseserverenvironment,singlehostlicensingallows ESX Serverhostlicensestobemodifiedduringperiodsoflicenseserver unavailability.
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License Key Functionality

SpecificentitlementtorunVMwaresoftwareisdeterminedbylicensekeys.Depending ontheESX ServerandVirtualCenterfeaturesyouwanttouse,purchasekeysbasedon oneofthefollowing:
PerprocessorbasisToactivateafeature,ahostrequiresafeaturelicenseforeach ofitsprocessors. PerinstancebasisToactivateasingleinstanceofcertainfeature,asinglelicense isrequiredregardlessofhowmanyprocessorsareused.
Licensedfeaturesalsodifferintheiroperationbasedonwhethertheyareconsideredto beESX ServerorVirtualCenterfeatures.ESX Serverfeaturescanbelicensedusing eithersinglehostorcentralizedlicensingmechanisms.Theydonotrequire VirtualCenteroralicenseservertouse.VirtualCenterfeaturesrequirecentralized licensing.ESX ServerfeaturesandVirtualCenterfeaturesalsodifferintheirbehavior whenthelicenseserverisnotavailable.See LicenseServerAvailabilityonpage 35. Table 32summarizesthelicensefeaturetypesforVMwareInfrastructure 3. Table 3-2. Summary of License Feature Types
Feature ESX Server VirtualCenter Server VirtualCenterAgentforESX Server VMwareConsolidatedBackup(VCB) ServerVMotionandStorageVMotion VMware HA VMwareDRSandDPM ESX Server or VirtualCenter ESX Server VirtualCenter VirtualCenter ESX Server VirtualCenter VirtualCenter VirtualCenter Per-Processor or Per-Instance PerProcessor PerInstance PerProcessor PerProcessor PerProcessor PerProcessor PerProcessor
Per-Processor Licensing
FormostVMwareInfrastructureproducts,youpurchaselicensesonaperprocessor basis,whichmeansthatyouneedtoindicatethetotalnumberofprocessors,nothosts, thatwillruntheproducts.Youcandeployandredeploythepurchasedprocessor capacity,soldinincrementsoftwoprocessors,onanycombinationofhosts.
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For example,youpurchaseESX ServerlicensesfortenprocessorsandVMotionlicenses forsixprocessors.Youcanthendeploythoselicensesonanyofthefollowing combinationsofservers:

ESX Serveronfive2processorhosts.EnableVMotiononthreehosts. ESX Serveronthree2processorhostsandone4processorhost.EnableVMotion onthree2processorhosts,oronone2processorhostanda4processorhost. ESX Serverontwo4processorhostsandone2processorhost.EnableVMotionon one4processorhostandone2processorhost. ESX Serveronone8processorhostandone2processorhost.VMotionbetween thesetwohostscannotbeenabledunlessyoupurchaseanadditional4processor VMotionlicense.
Specialconsiderationsinclude:
Dualcoreandquadcoreprocessors,suchasIntelx86processorsthatcombinetwo orfourindependentcentralprocessingunitsonasinglechip,countasone processor. Youcannotpartiallylicenseamultiprocessorhost.For example,a4CPUhost requiresalicensewiththecapacityforfourprocessors. Singleprocessorlicensingissupportedforserverbasedlicenses.Ingeneral,for serverbasedlicensing,checkoutoflicensesinoddquantitiesissupported. However,hostbasedfilescannotbegeneratedwithoddquantities.Theymustbe generatedinmultiplesoftwo.
Thefollowingfeaturesarelicensedonaperprocessorbasis:
ESX ServerTopoweronavirtualmachine,ahostmusthavelicensingona perprocessorbasis.Thismeansadualprocessorhostrequirestwomatching ESX Serverlicenses.AfourprocessormachinerequiresfourmatchingESX Server licenses.See ESX Server 3Editionsonpage 28. VMwareConsolidatedBackup(VCB)ToleveragethenewConsolidated BackupcapabilitiesandbackupofallvirtualmachinesrunningonanESX Server hostaVCBlicensekeymustbeavailableforeachprocessorwithinthathost. See theVirtualMachineBackupGuideforadescriptionofthisfeature. VirtualCenterAgentforESX ServerThisagentisinstalledonanESX Server hostwhenitisaddedtoyourVirtualCenter Server.Youmusthaveoneagent licensekeyforeachESX Serverprocessortobeaddedtoyour VirtualCenter Server.
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ServerVMotionandStorageVMotionTomigrateapoweredonvirtual machinebetweenhosts,eachESX ServerprocessorinvolvedmusthaveaVMotion licensekey.For example,ifyouuseVMotionfromadualprocessorESX Server hosttoanotherdualprocessorhost,youmusthavefourVMotionlicenses. See BasicSystemAdministration. VMware HATorestartvirtualmachineswhoseESX Serverhosthasfailed,the VirtualCenter ServermusthaveanHAlicensekeyforeachESX Serverprocessor intheHAcluster.See theResourceManagementGuide. VMwareDRSandDPMToprovideloadbalancingofvirtualmachinesamong hostsanddistributedpowermanagement,theVirtualCenter Servermusthavea DRSlicensekeyforeachESX ServerprocessorintheDRScluster.See theResource ManagementGuide.Asaprerequisite,DRSrequiresappropriateVMotionlicense keysforallhostsintheDRScluster.
Per-Instance Licensing
Featuresthatarelicensedonaperinstancebasisrequireonlyonelicensekeyper featureinstance,regardlessofthenumberofprocessorsused.TheVirtualCenter Server iscurrentlytheonlyfeaturelicensedonaperinstancebasis. ForinformationondifferenteditionsofVirtualCenter,seeVirtualCenter Server Editionsonpage 30.
License Expiration Considerations

WhentheFLEXnetlicenseserverexpiresalicense,theVIClientdoesnotimmediately displayamessageinformingyouthatthelicenseisexpiring.Themessagecanappear anytimeinthe24hoursaftertheFLEXnetlicenseserverexpiresthelicense. IfyouchangethelicenseserversystemtimewhiletheVI Clientisrunning,the VI Clientmightnotreportthelicenseexpiration.
License Server Availability

VMwareprovidesthefollowingmechanismsthathelppreventthelicenseserverfrom beingasinglepointoffailure.Thelicenseserveractsprimarilyasalicensedistribution mechanism.Ifyourlicenseserverbecomesunavailable,youcannotissueanynew licensestoenablenewhostsornewfeatures.
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However,alllicensedfunctionalitycurrentlyoperatingatthetimethelicenseserver becomesunavailablecontinuestooperateasfollows:
AllVirtualCenterlicensedfeaturescontinuetooperateindefinitely,relyingona cachedversionofthelicensestate.ThisincludesnotonlybasicVirtualCenter operation,butlicensesforVirtualCenteraddons,suchasVMotionandDRS. ForESX Serverlicensedfeatures,thereisa14daygraceperiodduringwhichhosts continueoperation,relyingonacachedversionofthelicensestate,evenacross reboots.Afterthegraceperiodexpires,certainESX Serveroperations,suchas poweringonvirtualmachines,becomeunavailable.
DuringtheESX Servergraceperiod,whenthelicenseserverisunavailable,the followingoperationsareunaffected:
Virtualmachinescontinuetorun.VI Clientscanconfigureandoperatevirtual machines. ESX Serverhostscontinuetorun.YoucanconnecttoanyESX Serverhostinthe VirtualCenterinventoryforoperationandmaintenance.Connectionstothe VirtualCenter Serverremain.VI Clientscanoperateandmaintainvirtual machinesfromtheirhosteveniftheVirtualCenter Serverconnectionisalsolost.
Duringthegraceperiod,restrictedoperationsinclude:
AddingESX ServerhoststotheVirtualCenterinventory.Youcannotchange VirtualCenteragentlicensesforhosts. Addingorremovinghostsfromacluster.Youcannotchangehostmembershipfor thecurrentVMotion,HA,orDRSconfiguration. Addingorremovinglicensekeys.
Whenthegraceperiodhasexpired,cachedlicenseinformationisnolongerstored.As aresult,virtualmachinescannolongerbepoweredon.Runningvirtualmachines continuetorunbutcannotberebooted. Whenthelicenseserverbecomesavailableagain,hostsreconnecttothelicenseserver. Norebootingormanualactionisrequiredtorestorelicenseavailability.Thegrace periodtimerisresetwheneverthelicenseserverbecomesavailableagain.
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Table 33displaysESX Serverlicensedoperationspermittedwhilethelicenseserveris unavailable. Operationsthatarenotpermittedareoperationsthatrequiretheacquisitionofnew licensesfromthelicenseserver. Table 3-3. Permitted ESX Server Operations When the License Server Is Unavailable
During Grace Period Permitted Permitted Permitted Permitted Permitted Permitted Permitted Permitted Permitted NotPermitted After Grace Period Expires NotPermitted Permitted Permitted Permitted Permitted Permitted Permitted Permitted NotPermitted NotPermitted
Component Virtualmachine
Attempted Action Poweron. Createanddelete. Suspendandresume. Configurevirtualmachinewith VI Client.
ESX Serverhost
Continueoperations. Poweronandpoweroff. ConfigureESX Serverhostwith VI Client. Modifylicensefileforsinglehost licensing. Restartvirtualmachineswithinthe failedhostsHAcluster. Addorremovelicensekeys.
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Table 34listsVirtualCenterlicensedoperationsthatarepermittedwhenthelicense serverisunavailable. Operationsthatarenotpermittedareoperationsthatrequiretheacquisitionofnew licensesfromthelicenseserver. Table 3-4. Permitted VirtualCenter Operations When the License Server Is Unavailable
When License Server Is Unavailable Permitted NotPermitted Permitted Permitted Permitted Permitted NotPermitted Permitted Permitted Permitted NotPermitted
Component VirtualCenter Server
Attempted Action RemoveanESX Serverhostfrominventory(seenext entry). AddanESX Serverhosttoinventory. Connect/reconnecttoanESX Serverhostin inventory. Moveapoweredoffvirtualmachinebetweenhosts ininventory(coldmigration). MoveanESX Serverhostamongfoldersin inventory. MoveanESX ServerhostoutofaVMotionDRSHA cluster(seenextentry). MoveanESX ServerhostintoaVMotionDRSHA cluster. ConfiguretheVirtualCenter ServerwithVI Client. StartVMotionbetweenhostsininventory. ContinueloadbalancingwithinaDRScluster. Addorremovelicensekeys.
NOTEIfyoureleaselicensesforlicensedfeatureswhilethelicenseserveris unavailable,thereleasedlicensescannotberedistributeduntilthelicenseserver becomesavailableagain.For example,ifyouremovethenetworkadapterassociated withVMotionwhilethelicenseserverisunavailable,thatVMotionlicenseisreleased andisunavailableuntilthelicenseserverisavailableagain.Removingahostfromthe VirtualCenterinventoryorremovingahostfromaclusterhasasimilareffect.
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TheVirtualCenter Serverusesaheartbeatmechanismtocheckwhetherthelicense serverisreachableandtodetermineiftherehavebeenanychangesinthelicensefile. Theheartbeatintervalisfiveminutes.ItmighttaketheVirtualCenter Serveruptofive minutestodetectiftherearelicensechangesorifthelicenseserverhasbecome unavailable. Whenthelicenseserverbecomesunavailable,orifachangeinthelicensefilecausesa checkedoutlicensetoberemoved,theVirtualCenter Servermarkstheaffectedlicenses asUnlicensedUse,andthelicensedfeaturescontinuetooperateasdescribedabove. Whenthelicenseserverbecomesavailableagain,orwhenlicensesarereaddedtothe licensefile,theVirtualCenter Serverchecksoutthelicensesagainandrevertsthemto theLicensedstate.Ifalicensecannotbecheckedout,thelicenseremainsinthe UnlicensedUsestate. Iflicenseserveravailabilityisaconcerninyourenvironment,consideroneofthe followingstrategies:
InstallthelicenseserveronthesamemachineastheVirtualCenter Server.Thisis thedefaultoptionprovidedbytheVirtualCenterinstaller. Installthelicenseserverinavirtualmachine,andplacethatvirtualmachineinan HAcluster.VMware HArestartsthelicenseservermachineonanotherESX Server hostincaseoffailure. UsesinglehostlicensefilesonESX Serverhosts.
Using an Existing FLEXnet License Server

Inmostcases,VMwarerecommendsinstallingthelicenseserveronthesamemachine astheVirtualCenter Server.However,ifyouhaveaFLEXnetlicenseserverinyour environmentprovidinglicensesforotherproducts,installtheVMwarelicenseserver onthatsystem. NOTETheVMwarelicenseserverissupportedonlyonWindowsoperatingsystems. YoucannotinstalltheVMwarelicenseserveronaLinuxbasedFLEXnetserver. See LicenseServerSoftwareRequirementsonpage 21. ToinstalltheVMwarelicenseserveronyourexistingFLEXnetserver,usethe standalonelicenseserverinstallerasdescribedinInstallingaLicenseServeron page 60.ThisinstallstheVMwarelicenseservervendordaemon,whichcancoexist withothervendordaemonsinstalledontheserver.
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Contacting Support
Ifyourequireassistancewithlicensing,contactVMwareforsupportasfollows:
IfyouhavenotreceivedlicenseactivationcodesforyourVI3purchaseorhave difficultiesusingyourlicenseactivationcodestoobtainlicensefiles,sendemailto vihotline@vmware.com. Ifyouobtainlicensefilesandhavedifficultiesconfiguringortroubleshooting licensedfeatures,fileasupportrequestathttp://www.vmware.com/support.
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Running VMware VirtualCenter and VMware ESX Server in Evaluation Mode
ThischapterprovidesinformationonhowtoinstallandrunVirtualCenter 2.5and ESX Server 3.5inanevaluationmodeandhowtoobtainlicenseswhentheevaluation modeexpires. Thischaptercontainsthefollowingtopics:

UsingESX ServerandVirtualCenterinEvaluationModeonpage 41 LicensingVirtualCenterandESX ServerAftertheEvaluationPeriodExpireson page 42
Using ESX Server and VirtualCenter in Evaluation Mode

BeforepurchasingandactivatinglicensesforyourESX Server 3.5and VirtualCenter 2.5,youcaninstallbothproductsandruntheminevaluationmode. Whenruninevaluationmode,intendedfordemonstrationandevaluationpurposes, yoursoftwareiscompletelyoperationalimmediatelyafterinstallation,doesnotrequire anylicensingconfiguration,andprovidesfullfunctionalityofESX Serverand VirtualCenterfor60daysfromthetimeyouinstallthem. Duringthe60dayevaluationperiod,thesoftwarenotifiesyouofthetimeremaining untiltheevaluationexpires.Theevaluationperiodcannotbepausedanditcannotbe restarted.
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Licensing VirtualCenter and ESX Server After the Evaluation Period Expires
Afterthe60dayevaluationperiodexpires,unlessyouobtainlicensesforyour software,youarenolongerabletoperformmostoperationsinVirtualCenterand ESX Server.For example,youcannotpoweronvirtualmachines,addnewhosts,oruse advancedESX ServerandVirtualCenterfeatures. IfyoudonotlicenseVirtualCenterbeforetheevaluationperiodexpires,allofthehosts intheVirtualCenterinventoryaredisconnected. NOTEReinstallingtheVirtualCenter Serverafterthe60dayevaluationexpiresdoes notrestarttheevaluationperiodfromthebeginning. Table 41detailstheESX Serverbehaviorafterevaluationmodeexpires.Theoperations thatarenotpermittedrequiretheacquisitionofnewlicenses. Table 4-1. ESX Server Operations After the 60-Day Evaluation Period
Component Virtualmachine Attempted Action Poweron Create/delete Suspend/resume ConfigurevirtualmachinewithVI Client ESX Serverhost Continueoperationsonexistinghosts Poweron/poweroff ConfigureESX ServerhostwithVI Client Restartvirtualmachineswithinthefailed hostsHAcluster Addorremovelicensekeys After 60 Days NotPermitted Permitted Permitted Permitted Permitted Permitted Permitted NotPermitted Permitted
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Chapter 4 Running VMware VirtualCenter and VMware ESX Server in Evaluation Mode
Considerations When You Switch ESX Server and VirtualCenter to Licensed Modes
WhenyouswitchyourVirtualCenterandESX Serverfromevaluationmodetothe licensedmode,considerthefollowing:
IfthenumberofESX Serverhostsyouaddtoyourinventoryexceedsthenumber allowedbyyourcurrentlicensingtype,youcannolongermanagetheexcesshosts. DeletetheextrahostsfromtheVirtualCenterinventoryorusetheVI Clientto directlyaccessthehostsandconfiguretheirlicensing. Haveallrequiredlicensesonyourlicenseserver,otherwiseyouwillnotbeableto useallfeaturesavailabletoyouduringthe60dayevaluation.
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Licensing VirtualCenter and ESX Server
Thischapterprovidesproceduresforredeeminglicensefilesandconfiguringlicense options. Thischaptercontainsthefollowingtopics:

LicensingProcessonpage 46 ObtainingLicenseFilesonpage 48 SettingUpCentralizedLicensingonpage 49 SettingUpSingleHostLicensingonpage 53 LicenseFileContentsonpage 56 LicenseFileLocationsonpage 58 AddingNewLicenseFilestoLicenseServersonpage 59 AddingNewLicenseFilestoSingleHostsonpage 60 InstallingaLicenseServeronpage 60 TroubleshootingLicensingonpage 61
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Licensing Process
Figure 51summarizesthelicenseconfigurationprocessesforESX Server 3. Figure 5-1. License Configuration Process for ESX Server 3
Purchase and install ESX Server 3
Power on the host
Use in evaluation mode
Install a license server or enter path to .lic file
Served
Change to licensed mode?
Local
Install a local file on the disk (/etc/vmware/)
Set the edition and add-on licenses
ESX Server 3 host is licensed
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Chapter 5 Licensing VirtualCenter and ESX Server
Figure 52summarizesthelicenseconfigurationprocessesfortheVirtualCenter Server. Figure 5-2. License Configuration Process for the VirtualCenter Server
Acquire VirtualCenter installer Purchase licenses
Evaluate VirtualCenter? Yes Run installer
No
Receive email from VMware or VMware partner
Follow email instructions to redeem licenses
Select Evaluation check box
Run installer
VirtualCenter 60-day evaluation
Deselect Evaluation check box
Install license server
Yes
Install license server?
No
Enter path to existing license server and your VirtualCenter Server edition
Select license file containing purchased licenses
(optional) Change license server configuration VirtualCenter is licensed
Copy purchased licenses to license directory
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AfteryoupurchaseVMwareInfrastructuresoftware,dothefollowingtoobtainanduse yourlicenses: 1 Decidewhichlicensingmodeltouse. VMwareInfrastructure3usesFLEXnetlicensing,whichoffersachoiceoflicense types:centralized,singlehost,ormixed.See SingleHostandCentralizedLicense Typesonpage 30. 2 Registeryourpurchase. WhetheryoupurchasedVMwareInfrastructure 3fromanauthorizedVMware resellerordirectlyfromVMware,registeryourpurchasetoyourVMwarestore account.See ObtainingLicenseFilesonpage 48. 3 Obtainlicensefiles. Afteryouregisteryourpurchase,usetheWebbasedlicenseactivationportalto generateanddownloadlicensefilesappropriatetothelicensingmodelyouchose inStep 1.See ObtainingLicenseFilesonpage 48. 4 5 InstallVirtualCenterandESX Server. ConfigureyourlicensingaccordingtothelicensetypeyouchoseinStep 1:
Toconfigurecentralizedlicensing,see SettingUpCentralizedLicensingon page 49. Toconfiguresinglehostlicensing,see SettingUpSingleHostLicensingon page 53. Toconfigureamixedlicenseenvironment,see SingleHostandCentralized LicensingintheSameEnvironmentonpage 54.
Obtaining License Files

Theprocessofobtaininglicensefilesvariesdependingonhowyoumadeyour purchaseofVMwareInfrastructure 3.Thefirststepinobtaininglicensefilesistoobtain oneormorelicenseactivationcodes,whichyoureceiveinoneofthreeways:
IfyoupurchasedVMwareInfrastructure3fromanauthorizedVMwarereseller, suchasDell,HewlettPackard,orIBM,youreceiveanemailmessagecontaining instructionsonhowtoredeemandactivateyourlicenses.Enterthepartner activationcodeintothepartneractivationportaltoregisteryourpurchase. ForothernewpurchasesofVMwareInfrastructure 3,youreceiveanemail containingalicenseactivationcode.
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Whenyoureceivetheemailcontainingyouractivationcodes,followtheinstructionsin theemailtoregisterlicenseactivationcodesandgeneratelicensefilesthroughthe Webbasedlicenseactivationportal. Foradditionalinformationonthelicenseactivationprocess,seethelicenseactivation portalonlineHelp.
Setting Up Centralized Licensing

Youcanconfigurecentralizedlicensingatinstallationtime.Afterinstallation,youcan makechangestolicensingthroughtheVI Client.
Installing License Files

Afteryouobtainyourlicensefiles,savethemasplaintextASCIIfilesinadirectoryyou canaccessfromyourlicenseservermachine.Usethe.lic extensionwhensavingyour licensefiles. NOTEThefileextension.lic isrequired. WhentheVMwarelicenseserverisinstalled,youcanimportthefilesintoyourlicense server.Centralizedlicensefilesareplacedatthefollowingdefaultlocationonthe machinerunningthelicenseserver:
C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware License Server\Licenses
See InstallingaLicenseServeronpage 60forinstructionsoninstallingastandalone licenseserver. See InstallingVMwareInfrastructureManagementSoftwareonpage 71for instructionsregardingtherecommendedlicenseserverinstallation.
Location of the License Server

VMwarerecommendsthatyoufollowthedefaultinstallationandplaceyourlicense serveronthesamemachineasyourVirtualCenter Server.Thishastheadvantageof simplicityofsetup,aswellasguaranteeingVirtualCentertolicenseserver communications.Changethisonlyifyouhaveagoodreason,suchasanexisting FLEXnetlicenseserver.Toaccessthelicenseserverdocumentation,choose: Start>Programs>VMware>VMware License Server>VMwareLicenseServerUser Guide.
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Configuring License Server Licensing

ThefirstprocedureinthissectiondescribesVirtualCentercentralizedlicensing configuration.IfyourenvironmentusesthedefaultVirtualCenterinstallation,orifyou havenoVirtualCenter Server,godirectlytoToconfigurecentralizedlicensingforan ESX Serverhostonpage 51. To configure centralized licensing for the VirtualCenter Server 1 2 3 4 FromtheVI Client,chooseAdministration>VirtualCenterManagementServer Configuration. ClickLicenseServerinthelistontheleft. ClicktheUsetheFollowingLicenseServerbutton. Tosetthelicenseserver: a b ClickEdittotherightofLicenseSources. ClickUseLicenseServer. Thisisthedefaultconfiguration. c EntertheportnumberandlicenseservermachinenameintheAddressfield, asinport@host. Forexample,withthedefaultlicenseserverport27000onalicenseserver calledlicense1,yourentrymightlooklikethis:
27000@license-1.vmware.com
d 5
ClickOKtoclosethedialogboxandsaveyourchanges.
(Optional)IfyoudonotwantVirtualCentertooverridethehostscurrentlicense setting,deselectthecheckboxforChangehostlicenseserversettingstomatch VirtualCenterssettingwhentheyareaddedtoinventory. SelectingthischeckboxcausestheVirtualCenter Servertooverridethehosts currentlicensesettingandinsteadusethelicenseserverusedbyVirtualCenter.
ClickOKtosaveyourchanges. Youdonothavetochangeanyothersettingstoenablecentralizedlicensing.
Thetotalnumberoflicensesconsumedandavailableonthelicenseserverare summarizedontheLicensestabintheAdminviewoftheVI Clientconnectedtothe VirtualCenter Server.(ThistabwaslabeledLicenseViewerinearlierversionsof VirtualCenter.)
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Ifyoudidnotselectthecheckboxfortheoptionalsetting,followtheprocedureinthe nextsectiontomanuallyconfigureESX Serverhoststousecentralizedlicensing. To configure centralized licensing for an ESX Server host 1 2 3 4 FromtheVI Client,selectthehostintheinventory. ClicktheConfigurationtab. UnderSoftware,clickLicensedFeatures. Tosetthelicenseserver: a ClickEdittotherightofLicenseSources. TheLicenseSourcesdialogboxappears. b ClicktheUseLicenseServerbutton. Thisisthedefaultconfiguration. c Enterthelicenseservermachinenameand,optionally,aportintotheAddress field.Ifyoudonotspecifyaport,thedefaultport,27000,isused. For example,withthedefaultlicenseserverport27000 onalicenseserver called license-1,yourentrymightlooklikethis:
license-1.vmware.com:27000
d 5
ClickOKtoclosethedialogboxandsaveyourchanges.
SettheESX Serveredition: a b ClickEdittotherightofESX ServerLicenseType. Specifytheeditionforthehost,orselectUnlicensedtoreleasethishosts licensesbacktothelicenseserver.TheESX ServerLicenseTypedialogbox displaysonlythoseeditionsthatareavailabletoyourESX Serverhost. ClickOKtoclosethedialogboxandsaveyourchanges.
c 6
Toconfigureaddonlicenses: a ClickEdittotherightofAddOns. TheAddOnsdialogboxappears. b SelecttheaddonproductsyouwanttouseandclickOK.
Thetotalnumberoflicensesconsumedandavailableonthelicenseserverare summarizedontheLicensestabintheAdminviewoftheVI Clientconnectedtothe VirtualCenter Server.(ThistabwaslabeledLicenseViewerinearlierversionsof VirtualCenter.)

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To configure local license server licensing for the VirtualCenter Server 1 2 3 4 FromtheVI Client,chooseAdministration>VirtualCenterManagementServer Configuration. ClickLicenseServerinthelistontheleft. ClicktheUselicenseservicesonthisVirtualCenter Serverbutton. (Optional)IfyoudonotwantVirtualCentertooverridethehostscurrentlicense setting,deselectthecheckboxforChangehostlicenseserversettingstomatch VirtualCenterssettingwhentheyareaddedtoinventory. SelectingthischeckboxcausestheVirtualCenter Servertooverridethehosts currentlicensesettingandinsteadusethelicenseserverusedbyVirtualCenter. MakesurethatyouuseanIPaddressthatisaccessiblefromtheESX Serverhost. IfyouconfigureVirtualCentertousealocallicenseserverandthehostnameofthe locallicenseserver(VirtualCentershost)isnotresolvablefromtheESX Server host,theESX Serverhostisnotabletoacquirelicensesfromthelocallicenseserver. 5 ClickOKtosaveyourchanges. Youdonothavetochangeanyothersettingstoenablelocallicenseserver licensing. Thetotalnumberoflicensesconsumedandavailableonthelicenseserverare summarizedontheLicensestabintheAdminviewoftheVI Clientconnectedtothe VirtualCenter Server.(ThistabwaslabeledLicenseViewerinearlierversionsof VirtualCenter.) NOTEIfyoudidnotselectthecheckboxfortheoptionalsetting,followtheprocedure inToconfigurecentralizedlicensingforanESX Serverhostonpage 51tomanually configureESX Serverhoststouselicenseserverlicensing.
Changing the Default License Server Ports

Bydefault,VirtualCenterandESX ServersoftwareisconfiguredtouseTCP/IPports 27000and27010tocommunicatewiththelicenseserver.Ifyoudidnotusethedefault portsduringlicenseserverinstallation,youmustupdatetheconfigurationoneach ESX Serverhost. Ifyouchangethedefaultportsforthelicenseserver,logintotheESX Serverhost serviceconsoleandopentheportsyouwant.
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To open a specific port in the service console firewall 1 2 Logintotheserviceconsoleastherootuser. Executethiscommand: esxcfg-firewall --openPort <portnumber>,tcp,out,"License Server"
Changing from Single-Host to Centralized Licensing

YoucanchangeyourESX Serverhostsfromsinglehostlicensingtocentralized licensing.Youmustgenerateanewlicensefile,installalicenseserver(ifyoudonot haveoneinstalled),andconfigureyourhoststousethenewlicensetype. To change ESX Server hosts from single-host licensing to centralized licensing 1 UsetheVMwarelicenseactivationportaltogenerateanddownloadanew centralizedlicensefilecontainingallthelicensesforyourESX Serverhostsandany associatedVirtualCenter Serverfeatures. Thelicenseactivationportalletsyougeneratebothsinglehostandcentralized licensefilesfromthesamelicenseactivationcode. 2 Ifyouhavenotinstalledalicenseserver,dosoasfollows:
TouseaFLEXnetlicenseserverinstalledinyourenvironment,see Usingan ExistingFLEXnetLicenseServeronpage 39. Toinstallastandalonelicenseserver,see InstallingaLicenseServeron page 60. ToinstallalicenseserveraspartofaVirtualCenterinstallation,see Chapter 6, InstallingVMwareInfrastructureManagement,onpage 65.
ConfigureyourVirtualCenter ServerandESX Serverhostsasdescribedin ConfiguringLicenseServerLicensingonpage 50.
Setting Up Single-Host Licensing

SinglehostlicensingrequiresavalidlicensefileoneachESX Serverhost.
Configuring an ESX Server Machine for Single-Host Licensing

Whenyoureceiveyourlicensefile,renameittovmware.licandplaceitonafile systemyoucanaccessfromyourVI Client. NOTEThefileextension.lic isrequired.
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To use the VI Client to configure single-host licensing 1 2 3 4 FromtheVI Client,selectthehostintheinventory. ClicktheConfigurationtab. UnderSoftware,clickLicensedFeatures. ClickEdittotherightofLicenseSources. TheLicenseSourcesdialogboxappears. 5 6 ClicktheUseHostLicenseFilebutton. ClickBrowseandlocatethelicensefile. Thisfilemustbelocatedontheclientmachine,notontheESX Serverhost.License filesmusthavea.lic extensionappearinthefilebrowser. 7 ClickOKtosaveyourchanges.
Single-Host and Centralized Licensing in the Same Environment

UsingsinglehostlicensesforESX Serverfeaturesandcentralizedlicensingfor VirtualCenterfeaturesinthesameenvironmentispermitted.However,doingso requireschangestothedefaultVirtualCenterconfigurationsettings.Ifyoudonot changetheVirtualCentersettings,thesettingscanoverridesinglehostlicensefiles:

WhentheVirtualCenter Serverrestarts. WhenthesinglehostESX Servermachinesareaddedtoinventoryagain.
AnysinglehostlicensefileontheESX Servermachineremainsunchangedbutignored. CAUTIONIfyourestoreanESX Servermachinetosinglehostlicensingwithout changingtheVirtualCenterdefaultconfiguration,theVirtualCenter Serversettings mightoverridethesinglehostsettingsontheESX Servermachine. To change VirtualCenter settings to allow single-host ESX Server licensing 1 2 3 FromtheVI Client,chooseAdministration>ServerSettings. ClickLicenseServerinthelistontheleft. DeselectthecheckboxforChangehostlicenseserversettingstomatch VirtualCenterssettingwhentheyareaddedtoinventory.
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ClickOKtosaveyourchanges. RemoveandAddanyaffectedESX Servermachineintheinventory.
NowitissafetoreconfiguresinglehostlicensingonanychangedESX Server machines.
Configuring Licensing for a Mixed ESX Server 2.x and ESX Server 3.x Environment
YoucanusetheVirtualCenter Server2.xtomanageamixedenvironmentofboth ESX Server 2.xandESX Server 3.xhosts.Youreceivelicenseactivationcodeswith purchasesofVMwareInfrastructure 3StandardeditionandVMwareInfrastructure 3 EnterpriseeditionthatcanberedeemedforbothESX Server 2.xserialnumbersandfor VMwareInfrastructure 3licensefiles. To configure licensing for the ESX Server 2.x hosts in the mixed environment 1 2 LeavethelicensingonexistingESX Server 2.xhostsusingserialnumbers unchanged. FornewESX Server 2.xinstallations,redeemyourlicenseactivationcode(s)onthe licenseactivationportalforESX Server 2.xserialnumbers. Providetheseserialnumbersatthetimeofinstallationorconfiguration. 3 Redeemyourlicenseactivationcode(s)togenerateacentralizedlicensefile containinglicensesforVirtualCenter Server,VirtualCenterManagementAgents, VMotion,andESX Server 3.x. YourgeneratedlicensefilecanincludeESX Server 3.xlicensesforthe ESX Server 2.xhostsforwhichyouobtainedESX Server 2.xserialnumbersin Step 2.Thisletsyoudistributelicensestothesehostsiftheyarelaterupgradedto ESX Server 3.x. 4 InstallandconfiguretheVirtualCenter Server2.xtousethecentralizedlicensefile yougenerated. See Chapter 6,InstallingVMwareInfrastructureManagement,onpage 65.
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Changing from Centralized to Single-Host Licensing

YoucanchangeyourESX Serverhostsfromthecentralizedlicensetypetothe singlehostlicensetype.TheVirtualCenter Serverandadditionalfeaturessuchas VMotion,VMwareDRS,andVMware HAmustremainincentralizedmode.Tochange thelicensetypeforyourESX Serverhosts,generatenewlicensefilesforeachhostand configurethehoststousethenewlicensetype. To change ESX Server hosts from a centralized license to a single-host license 1 UsetheVMwarelicenseactivationportaltogenerateanddownloadnew singlehostlicensefilesforeachESX Serverhost. Thelicenseactivationportalletsyougeneratebothsinglehostandcentralized licensefilesfromthesamelicenseactivationcode.Forsinglehostlicensing,you needonelicensefileforeachindividualESX Serverhost. 2 IfyouareusingtheVirtualCenter Server,changeyourVirtualCenter Server settingssothattheVirtualCenter Serverdoesnotoverridehostlicensesettings,as describedinSingleHostandCentralizedLicensingintheSameEnvironmenton page 54. ConfigureyourESX ServerhostasdescribedinConfiguringanESX Server MachineforSingleHostLicensingonpage 53.
License File Contents

Licensefilesaretextfilescontainingtwotypesofinformation:licensetypeandlicense keys. LicensetypeSpecifiestheTCP/IPportsthelicenseserverusestocommunicatewith ESX Serverhosts.VMwarerecommendsthatyounotmodifythesedefaultports.Ifyou doneedtoedittheports,useanASCIItexteditorandvalidateyoureditedlicenseat http://www.vmware.com/checklicense/. Alicensetypeheaderlookssimilartothefollowing:
SERVER this_host ANY 27000 VENDOR VMWARELM port=27010 USE SERVER
Thissectionappearsonlyinalicenseserverfileandindicatesthatlicensekeysshould beservedonalicenseserver.Thereisnomodesectioninsinglehostlicensefiles.
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LicensekeyContainsencryptedlicensekeys,oneforeachfeaturetowhichyouare entitled.Table 51liststheavailablelicensekeys. Table 5-1. License Keys

Feature Name ESX ServerFoundationedition ESX ServerStandardedition ESX ServerEnterpriseedition VMwareConsolidatedBackup VirtualCenter ServerFoundation VirtualCenter Server VirtualCenterManagementAgent VMwareServerVMotion VMwareStorageVMotion VMwareDRS VMwareDPM VMware HA License File Key PROD_ESX_STARTER PROD_ESX_FULL ESX_FULL_BACKUP PROD_VC_EXPRESS PROD_VC VC_ESXHOST VC_VMOTION VC_DRS VC_DAS License Type Available Centralizedorsinglehost Centralizedorsinglehost Centralizedorsinglehost Centralizedonly Centralizedonly Centralizedonly Centralizedonly Centralizedonly Centralizedonly
Centralizedfilesandsinglehostfilesaredifferentiatedbytwofeatures:
Singlehostlicensefilescontainnolicensetypesection.Centralizedfilescontaina licensetypesectionasthefileheader. SinglehostlicensefilescontainthestringlicenseType=Hostaspartofeach licensekeyblockinthefile.Centralizedlicensefilescontainthestring licenseType=Serveraspartofeachlicensekeyblockinthefile,asshowninthe examplesbelow.
Example 51showsatypicalsinglehostlicensekey. Example 5-1. Single-Host License Key

INCREMENT PROD_ESX_FULL VMWARELM 2005.05 31-dec-2008 uncounted \ VENDOR_STRING="licenseType=Host;vmodl=esxFull;desc=ESX Server \ Enterprise;capacityType=cpuPackage;gp=14;exclude=BACKUP;count=8" \ HOSTID=ANY ISSUED=06-AUG-2007 \ NOTICE="FulfillmentId=777;Name=VMware Internal" TS_OK \ SIGN="095A 14A7 ..."
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Example 52showsatypicalcentralizedlicensekey. Example 5-2. Centralized License Key

INCREMENT PROD_ESX_FULL VMWARELM 2005.05 31-dec-2008 8 \ VENDOR_STRING="licenseType=Server;vmodl=esxFull;desc=ESX Server \ Enterprise;capacityType=cpuPackage;gp=14;exclude=BACKUP" \ ISSUED=06-AUG-2007 NOTICE="FulfillmentId=1201;Name=VMware \ Internal" TS_OK SIGN="1F7F 98D5 ..."
License File Locations

AlicensefileresidesoneveryESX Servermachineoreverylicenseserver,depending onwhetheryouusecentralizedorsinglehostlicensing:
Centralizedlicensefilesareplacedatthefollowingdefaultlocationonthe machinerunningtheVMwarelicenseserver:
NOTEInVirtualCenter 2.0,thedefaultlocationofthelicensefilewas C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\VMware\ VMware License Server\vmware.lic.Thislocationnolongerexists. Youcanaddnewlicensefilestothelicensedirectory.See AddingNewLicense FilestoLicenseServersonpage 59.
Singlehostlicensefilesareplacedatthefollowingdefaultlocationonthe machinerunningESX Server.

/etc/vmware/vmware.lic
NOTEIncentralizedmode,thisfileexistsontheESX Servermachinebutcontains nolicensekeys. Youcanaddnewlicensestothesinglehostbyusingthelicenseactivationportal. See AddingNewLicenseFilestoSingleHostsonpage 60.
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Adding New License Files to License Servers

Thelicenseserversupportsalicensedirectoryformultiplelicensefiles.Ifyouobtained multiplelicensefiles(for example,fromseparateorders)andwanttomanageallthese licensesfromthesamelicenseserver,addthemtothelicenseserverdirectoryand restarttheserver. To add new licenses to the license server directory 1 Addthenewlicensefiletothefollowingdefaultdirectoryonthemachinerunning theVMwarelicenseserver:
RestarttheVMwareLicenseServerservice.
ThefollowingsequenceisforWindows2000Professional.Themenusandcommands forotherversionsofWindowscanvary. To restart the license server Windows Service 1 2 3 4 5 ChooseStart>Settings>ControlPanel. DoubleclickAdministrativeTools. DoubleclickServices. ScrollandrightclickVMwareLicenseServer. ChooseRestartfromthepopupmenu.
Youcanchangethedefaultlocationofyourcentralizeddirectory,oryourlicensefile. To change the default location of the license directory 1 Onthecomputerthatrunsthelicenseserverapplication,launchVMwareLicense ServerToolsbychoosingStart>Programs>VMware>VMwareLicenseServer> VMwareLicenseServerTools. ClicktheConfigServicestab. ClickBrowsenexttothePathtolicensefilefield,andchoosealicensefilefrom thelicensedirectory. Ifyouwantthelicenseservertousetheentirelicensedirectory,manuallyremove thenameofthefileleavingonlythenameofthedirectory. 4 5 ClicktheStart/Stop/Rereadtab. ClickStop.
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ClickStart. ClickReReadLicenseFiletoloadthenewlicensefiles.
Adding New License Files to Single Hosts

Hostbasedlicensingdoesnotsupportamultiplelicensefiledirectory.Ifyouhave multiplelicensefiles,youneedtocombinethemintoasinglelicensefilebyusingthe licenseactivationportal.Forexample,youcanaddnewlypurchasedlicensestoan existinglicensefile,orcombineentitlementsfromtwoseparatepurchasesintoasingle licensefile.Youcancombineevaluationlicensesandproductionlicensesinasinglefile, butproductsmightrequireconfigurationchangeswhentheevaluationlicensesexpire. YoucancombinethefilesbyusingtheVMwareWebbasedlicenseactivationportal. Forexample,youcancombinetwoESX Serverlicensefilesintoasinglelicensefile. See ObtainingLicenseFilesonpage 48.
Installing a License Server

Thissectiondescribesanindependentinstallationofthelicenseserver.Skipthissection ifyouareusingtheVMwareInfrastructureManagementinstaller,asdescribedin InstallingVMwareInfrastructureManagementSoftwareonpage 71.TheVMware InfrastructureManagementinstallerinstallsalicenseserver. Tocheckwhetheralicenseserverisinstalled,selectStart>Programs>VMwareand lookforVMwareLicenseServer.Ifalicenseserverisinstalled,VMwarerecommends reinstallingorupgradingthelicenseservertothelatestversion. InstallthelicenseserveronthesamemachinewheretheVirtualCenter Serverresides, oronaseparatemachine.Toensurethebestlicensepoolavailability,VMware recommendsinstallingthelicenseserveronthesamemachinewherethe VirtualCenter Serverresides. Usethisprocedurewithanyinstallationwhenyouwanttohaveastandalonelicense serveronamachineotherthanyourVirtualCenter Serverhost. ToinstalltheVMwarelicenseserversoftware,youmusthave:

HardwarethatmeetsSystemRequirementsonpage 17. AstaticIPaddressormachinenametobeusedbyyourlicenseserver.
ThefollowingprocedureassumesthatyouhaveAdministratorprivilegesona Windowssystem.
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To install a VMware license server 1 InserttheVMwareInfrastructureInstallationCD. IftheVMwareInfrastructureManagementInstallerappears,clickcanceltoexit. 2 3 4 5 6 Navigatetothe\vpxfolderontheinstallationCDanddoubleclick VMwarelicenseserver.exe. VerifythatyouareinstallingthelicenseserverandclickNext. Toacceptthelicenseagreement,selectIacceptthetermsinthelicenseagreement andclickNext. SelectthefolderinwhichyouwanttoinstallthelicenseserverandclickNext. TypethefullpathtoyourlicensefileorclickBrowsetolocatethisfileandclick Next. Thelicensefileshouldbelocatedinadirectoryyoucanaccessfromyourlicense servermachine. 7 8 ClickInstalltobegintheinstallation. ClickFinishtocompletethelicenseserverinstallation.
Afteryouinstallthelicenseserver,youcanaccessinformationaboutusingand configuringtheserverbyclickingStart>Programs>VMware>VMwareLicense Server>VMwareLicenseServerUserGuide. See alsoObtainingLicenseFilesonpage 48andInstallingLicenseFilesonpage 49.
Troubleshooting Licensing
Thissectionprovidesguidelinesfortroubleshootingyourlicensesetup.Ifyoucannot resolveyourproblemsusingtheinformationgiveninthissection,contactVMwarefor supportasfollows:
IfyouhavenotreceivedlicenseactivationcodesforyourVI3purchaseorhave difficultiesinusingyourlicenseactivationcodestoobtainlicensefiles,sendemail tovihotline@vmware.com. Ifyouobtainedlicensefilesandhavedifficultiesinconfiguringortroubleshooting licensedfeatures,fileasupportrequestathttp://www.vmware.com/support.
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Receiving License Activation Codes

VMwaresendslicenseactivationcodesandlicensinginformationtothelicense administratorlistedforaparticularpurchase.Ifyouarenotthelicenseadministrator, contactyourorganizationslicenseadministratorforyourlicenseactivationcodes. Ifyouneedtochangethelicenseadministratorforyourorder,contact vihotline@vmware.com.Includetherelevantordernumbersinyouremail. IfyoupurchasesVMwareInfrastructure 3fromanauthorizedVMwarereseller, registeryourpurchaseusingthepartneractivationcode(s)suppliedbythepartnerto generateyourlicensefiles.
Checking the License Server

Ifyouarehavingtroublecommunicatingwithyourlicenseserver,checkthefollowing:

CheckthatthelicenseserverWindowsserviceisrunning. Checkthatlicenseserverislistening. Checkthelicenseserverstatus.
To check that the license server Windows service is running 1 2 3 Onthemachineonwhichthelicenseserverisinstalled,chooseStart>Control Panel>AdministrativeTools>ServicestodisplaytheServicescontrolpanel. VerifythattheStatuscolumnfortheVMwareLicenseServerentryreadsStarted. IftheVMwareLicenseServerisnotstarted,rightclicktheserviceandchoose Start.
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To check that the license server is listening 1 2 3 Onthemachineonwhichthelicenseserverisinstalled,chooseStart>Command Prompt. Typenetstat -abatthecommandline. Verifythatthelmgrd.exeprocessislisteningonport27000andthatthe VMWARELM.exeprocessislisteningonport27010. Ifnot,thelicenseservermightnotbeinstalledormightnotbestarted.
To check the license server status 1 Onthemachineonwhichthelicenseserverisinstalled,chooseStart>Programs> VMware>VMwareLicenseServer>VMwareLicenseServerToolstolaunchthe LMTOOLSutility. ClicktheServerStatustabtodisplaytheServerStatuspage. ClickPerformStatusInquiry. Licenseserverinformation,includingthelocationofthelicensefile,appearsatthe bottomofthepage.
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Checking the License File

Ifyourlicenseserverisoperatingproperlyorifyouareusingsinglehostlicensing,but youcannotuselicensedfeatures,youhaveaproblemwithyourlicensefile.Checkthe following:

Validateyourlicensefileathttp://www.vmware.com/checklicense/. Ensurethatyouareusingthecorrecttypeoflicensefile.Ifyouareusingalicense server,useacentralizedfile.Ifyouareusingsinglehostlicensing,makesurethat youareusingasinglehostlicensefileoneachhost. Centralizedfilescontainablockofheadertextatthetop,andthestring VENDOR_STRING=licenseType=Serverappearsineachlicensekeyinthefile. Singlehostlicensefileshavenoheadertext,andthestring VENDOR_STRING=licenseType=Hostappearsineachlicensekeyinthefile.
Ifyouareusingacentralizedlicensefile,checkthatthelicensetypeheader informationappearsonlyonceandatthetopofthefile. Checkthatthelicensefilecontainsthecorrectkeysforthefeaturesyouwanttouse. See Table 51,LicenseKeys,onpage 57foralistofkeys. Ifyoueditedthelicensefile,checkthatyoudidnotmixcentralizedandsinglehost keysinasinglefile.
Checking License Configuration

Ifyourlicenseserver(ifused)isworkingcorrectly,andyourlicensefileiscorrect,check thatyoucorrectlyconfiguredlicensingforyourhostsusingtheVI Client:
Ifyouareusingcentralizedlicensing,followtheinstructionsinConfiguring LicenseServerLicensingonpage 50. Ifyouareusingsinglehostlicensing,followtheinstructionsConfiguringan ESX ServerMachineforSingleHostLicensingonpage 53.
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Installing VMware Infrastructure Management
ThischapterdescribeshowtoprepareyourVirtualCenterdatabase,installVMware InfrastructureManagementsoftware,andconfigurecommunicationbetween components.YoucaninstallVMwareInfrastructureManagementsoftwareona physicalsystemoronavirtualmachinerunningonanESX Server 3host. YoucaninstallVMwareInfrastructureonaphysicalsystemorinavirtualmachine runningonanESX Serverhost. Thischaptercontainsthefollowingtopics:

PreparingtheVirtualCenter ServerDatabaseonpage 66 InstallingVMwareInfrastructureManagementSoftwareonpage 71 ConfiguringCommunicationBetweenVirtualCenterComponentsonpage 76 UninstallingVMwareInfrastructureComponentsonpage 77 InstallingVirtualCenterinaVirtualMachineonpage 78
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Preparing the VirtualCenter Server Database

TheVMwareVirtualCenter Serverrequiresadatabasetostoreandorganizeserver data.VirtualCenterversion 2serversupportsOracle,SQLServer,andMicrosoftSQL Server2005Express. VirtualCenterrequiresadministrationcredentials(IDandpassword)tologintoan OracleorSQLdatabase.ContactyourDBAforthesecredentials,orinstallthebundled MicrosoftSQLServer2005Expressdatabase. NOTEMicrosoftSQLServer2005Expressisintendedtobeusedforsmalldeployments ofupto5hostsand50virtualmachines. Thedatabasetopicsarecoveredinthefollowingsections:

ConfiguringanOracleConnectiontoWorkLocallyonpage 66 ConfiguringanOracleConnectiontoWorkRemotelyonpage 67 ConfiguringaSQLServerODBCConnectiononpage 68 ConfiguringMicrosoftSQLServer2005Expressonpage 71 MaintainingYourVirtualCenterDatabaseonpage 71
Configuring an Oracle Connection to Work Locally

TouseanOracledatabaseasyourVirtualCenterdatabaseandhaveVirtualCenter accessthedatabaselocally,usethefollowingprocedure. Beforeyoubeginthisprocedure,reviewtherequireddatabasepatchesspecifiedin Table 21,SupportedDatabaseFormats(SEEUPDATE),onpage 19.Ifyoudonot prepareyourdatabasecorrectly,theVirtualCenterinstallermightdisplayerrorand warningmessages. To prepare an Oracle database to work locally with VirtualCenter 1 2 3 4 DownloadOracle9iorOracle10gfromtheOracleWebsite,installit,andcreatea database(VirtualCenter). DownloadOracleODBCfromtheOracleWebsiteifyouareusingOracle9i.Ifyou downloadedOracle10g,theODBCisincludedintheproductmedia. InstalltheOracleODBCcorrespondingdriverthroughtheOracleUniversal Installer(directionsareprovidedwiththedriver). (SEEUPDATE)Increasethenumberofopencursorsforthedatabase.Addtheentry open_cursors = 300totheC:\Oracle\ADMIN\VPX\pfile\init.orafile.
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Chapter 6 Installing VMware Infrastructure Management
To connect Oracle locally 1 CreateanewtablespacespecificallyforVirtualCenterusingthefollowingSQL statement:

CREATE TABLESPACE "VPX" DATAFILE 'C:\Oracle\ORADATA\VPX\VPX.dat' SIZE 1000M AUTOEXTEND ON NEXT 500K;
Createauser,suchasvpxAdmin,foraccessingthistablespacethroughODBC:
CREATE USER vpxAdmin IDENTIFIED BY vpxadmin DEFAULT TABLESPACE vpx;
Eithergrantdbapermissiontotheuser,orgrantthefollowingpermissionstothe user:
grant grant grant grant grant grant grant grant connect to <user> resource to <user> create view to <user> create any sequence to <user> # For VirtualCenter upgrade only create any table to <user> # For VirtualCenter upgrade only execute on dbms_job to <user> execute on dbms_lock to <user> unlimited tablespace to <user> # To ensure space limitation is not an issue
CreateanODBCconnectiontothedatabase.Thefollowingareexamplesettings:
Data Source Name: VMware VirtualCenter TNS Service Name: VPX User Id: vpxAdmin
Configuring an Oracle Connection to Work Remotely

TouseanOracledatabaseasyourVirtualCenterdatabaseandhaveVirtualCenter accessthedatabaseremotely,usethefollowingprocedure. Beforeyoubeginthisprocedure,reviewtherequireddatabasepatchesspecifiedin Table 21,SupportedDatabaseFormats(SEEUPDATE),onpage 19.Ifyoudonot prepareyourdatabasecorrectly,theVirtualCenterinstallermightdisplayerrorand warningmessages. To prepare an Oracle database to work remotely with VirtualCenter 1 2 3 InstalltheOracleclientontheVirtualCenter Servermachine. (SEEUPDATE)DownloadandinstalltheODBCdriver. Editthetnsnames.orafilelocatedatOra9Ior10g,asappropriate.
C:\Oracle\Oraxx\NETWORK\ADMIN
Inthisexample,xxiseither 9Ior10g.
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UsetheNet8ConfigurationAssistanttoaddthefollowingentry:
VPX = (DESCRIPTION = (ADDRESS_LIST = (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=vpxd-Oracle)(PORT=1521)) ) (CONNECT_DATA = (SERVICE_NAME = VPX) ) ) HOST =
Inthisexample,HOSTisthemanagedhosttowhichtheclientneedstoconnect.
Configuring a SQL Server ODBC Connection

WhenyouinstalltheVirtualCenter Server,youcanestablishaconnectionwithaSQL Serverdatabase.ThefollowingproceduredescribeshowtoconfigureaSQLServer ODBCconnection. SeeyourMicrosoftSQLODBCdocumentationforspecificinstructionsregarding configuringtheSQLServerODBCconnection. IfyouuseSQLServerforVirtualCenter,donotusethemasterdatabase. NOTEMicrosoftWindowsNTauthenticationisnotsupportedwithremoteSQL Server. Beforeyoubeginthisprocedure,reviewtherequireddatabasepatchesspecifiedin Table 21,SupportedDatabaseFormats(SEEUPDATE),onpage 19.Ifyoudonot prepareyourdatabasecorrectly,theVirtualCenterinstallermightdisplayerrorand warningmessages. To prepare a SQL Server database to work with VirtualCenter 1 2 OnyourMicrosoftSQLServer,createaSQLServerdatabaseusingEnterprise ManagerontheSQLServer. OnyourMicrosoftSQLServer,createaSQLServerdatabaseuserwithdatabase operator(DBO)rights. ThedefaultdatabasefortheDBOuseriswhatyoudefinedinStep 1. Makesurethedatabaseuserhaseitherasysadminserverroleorthe db_owner fixeddatabaseroleontheVirtualCenterdatabaseandtheMSDB database.(SEEUPDATE)
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Thedb_ownerroleontheMSDBdatabaseisrequiredforinstallationandupgrade only.Thisrolecanberevokedaftertheinstallationorupgradeprocessis completed. 3 4 5 6 OnyourVirtualCenter Server,opentheWindowsODBCDataSource Administrator. SelectSettings>ControlPanel>AdministrativeTools>DataSources(ODBC). SelecttheSystemDSNtab. TomodifyanexistingSQLServerODBCconnection: a b 7 SelecttheappropriateODBCconnectionfromtheSystemDataSourcelist andclickConfigure. ProceedwithStep 8.
TocreateanewSQLServerODBCconnection: a b ClickAdd. ForSQLServer2000,selectSQLServerandclickFinish. ForSQLServer2005,selectSQLNativeClientandclickFinish.
TypeanODBCdatastorename(DSN)nameintheNamefield. For example,typeVMware VirtualCenter.
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(Optional)TypeanODBCDSNdescriptionintheDescriptionfield. SelecttheservernamefromtheServerdropdownmenu. TypetheSQLServermachinenameinthetextfieldifyoucannotfinditinthe dropdownmenu.
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ClickNext. Selectoneoftheauthenticationmethods:
IfyouareusinglocalSQLServer,selectWindowsNTauthentication.Itisalso knownastrustedauthenticationandissupportedonlyiftheSQLServeris runningonthesamesystemastheVirtualCenter Server. IfyouareusingremoteSQLServer,selectSQLServerauthentication. WindowsNTauthenticationisnotsupportedonremoteSQLservers.
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TypeyourSQLServerloginnameandpasswordandclickNext. Askyourdatabaseadministratorforthisinformation.
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SelectthedatabasecreatedforVirtualCenterfromtheChangethedefault databasetomenuandclickNext. ClickFinish. FromtheODBCMicrosoftSQLServerSetupmenu,chooseTestDataSource. Ifthetestdatasourceisacceptable,clickOK.Ifitisnotacceptable,returnand reconfigureanyincorrectitems. ToclosetheODBCDataSourceAdministrator,clickClose.
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EnsurethattheSQLAgentisrunningonyourdatabaseserver. ThisappliestoSQLServer2000andSQLServer2005editions.
To identify the authentication type 1 2 3 OpenSQLServerEnterpriseManager. ClickthePropertiestabtoviewproperties. Checkthemode. ThemodeindicateseitherWindowsNTorSQLServerauthenticationtype.
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Configuring Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express

TheMicrosoftSQLServer2005Expressdatabasepackageisinstalledandconfigured whenyouselectMicrosoftSQLServer2005Expressasyourdatabaseduring VirtualCenterinstallationorupgrade.ThisisshowninInstallingVMware InfrastructureManagementSoftwareonpage 71.Noadditionalconfigurationis required. IfMicrosoftSQLServer2005Expressisalreadyinstalled,reviewtherequireddatabase patchesspecifiedinTable 21,SupportedDatabaseFormats(SEEUPDATE),onpage 19. Ifyoudonotprepareyourdatabasecorrectly,theVirtualCenterinstallermightdisplay errorandwarningmessages. See www.microsoft.com/sql/editions/express/default.mspx. NOTEVMwarerecommendsMicrosoftSQLServer2005Expressforsmall deploymentsonly(upto5hostsand50virtualmachines).
Maintaining Your VirtualCenter Database

AfteryourVirtualCenterdatabaseinstanceandVirtualCenterareinstalledand operational,performstandarddatabasemaintenanceprocesses.Theseinclude:
Monitoringthegrowthofthelogfileandcompactingthedatabaselogfile,as needed.Seethedocumentationforthedatabasetypeyouareusing. Schedulingregularbackupsofthedatabase. BackingupthedatabasebeforeanyVirtualCenterupgrade.
Seeyourdatabasedocumentationforinformationonbackingupyourdatabase.
Installing VMware Infrastructure Management Software

ThissectiondescribeshowtoinstallmanagementsoftwarebyusingtheVMware InfrastructureManagementCDordownloadpackage.TheVMwareInfrastructure ManagementCDallowsyoutochoosethecomponentsyouwanttoinstallandinstalls allselectedcomponentsinasingleprocedure.
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VirtualCenter Server Prerequisites

Beforeyoubegintheinstallationprocedure,ensurethatyouhavedonethefollowing:

EnsurethatyourhardwaremeetsSystemRequirementsonpage 17. MakesurethatthesystemyouuseforyourVirtualCenterinstallationbelongstoa domainratherthanaworkgroup.Ifassignedtoaworkgroup,the VirtualCenter Serverisnotabletodiscoveralldomainsandsystemsavailableon thenetworkwhenusingsuchfeaturesasVirtualCenterConsolidation.To determinewhetherthesystembelongstoaworkgrouporadomain,rightclick My ComputerandclickPropertiesandtheComputerNametab.TheComputer NametabdisplayseitheraWorkgrouplabeloraDomainlabel. CreateaVirtualCenterdatabase,unlessyouwanttouseSQLServer2005Express. See PreparingtheVirtualCenter ServerDatabaseonpage 66. ObtainandassignastaticIPaddressandhostnametotheWindowsserverthat willhosttheVirtualCenter Serverandthelicenseserver.ThisIPaddressmusthave avalid(internal)DNSregistrationthatresolvesproperlyfromallmanaged ESX Serverhosts.Forbestresults,ensurethattheWindowsservernameisexactly thesameastheDNShostname. YoucandeployVirtualCenterbehindafirewall.However,makesurethereisno NetworkAddressTranslation(NAT)firewallbetweenVirtualCenterandthehosts itwillmanage. Theinstallerautomaticallyinstallsalicenseserverforyou,unlessyouenterapath toanexistinglicenseserver.
Ifyouwanttouseanexistinglicenseserver,obtainthehostnameorIP address. Ifyouaregoingtoallowtheinstallertoinstallalicenseserver,youneeda validservedlicensefile. Becausethelicenseserverdoesnotsupportlicensefilesonanetworkshare, placeyourlicensefilesinadirectoryonasystemwhereyouareinstallingthe licenseserver.
Components Installed
TheVMwareInfrastructureManagementinstallerincludesthefollowingcomponents:

VMwareVirtualCenterServerAWindowsservicetomanageESXServerhosts. VIClientAclientapplicationusedtoconnectdirectlytoanESXServeror indirectlytoanESXServerthroughaVirtualCenterServer.

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Microsoft.NETFrameworkSoftwareusedbytheVirtualCenterServer,Database Upgradewizard,andtheVIClient. MicrosoftSQLServer2005ExpressAfreeversionoftheMicrosoftSQLServer databaseforsmallerscaleapplications.Ifyouenterapathtoanexistingdatabase, theinstallerdoesnotinstallMicrosoftSQLServer2005Express. VMwareUpdateManager(optional)AVirtualCenterpluginthatprovides securitymonitoringandpatchingsupportforESXServerhostsandvirtual machines. VMwareConverterEnterpriseforVirtualCenterServer(optional)A VirtualCenterpluginthatenablesyoutoconvertyourphysicalmachinestovirtual machines. VMwarelicenseserverAWindowsserviceallowingallVMwareproductstobe licensedfromacentralpoolandmanagedfromoneconsole.Ifyouenterapathto anexistinglicenseserver,theinstallerdoesnotinstallalicenseserver.
Installation Procedure
ThisproceduredescribeshowtoinstallallVMwareInfrastructuremanagement components. To install VMware Infrastructure Management 1 2 AsAdministratorontheWindowssystem,inserttheinstallationCD. WhentheVMwareInfrastructureManagementInstallerscreenappears,click Next. IftheVMwareInfrastructureManagementInstallerscreendoesnotappear, doubleclicktheautorun.exeicon. 3 4 5 6 ReadtheIntroductionpageandclickNext. SelectIacceptthetermsinthelicenseagreementandclickNext. TypeyourusernameandcompanynameandclickNext. SelectoneoftheinstallationtypesandclickNext. Thechoicesare:

InstalltheVI Client. InstalltheVirtualCenter Server. Chooseacustominstallationtoinstallmultiplecomponents.
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Selecttheoptioncorrespondingwiththedatabaseyouconfigured. Ifyouhavenotconfiguredasupporteddatabase,clickInstallMicrosoftSQL Server2005Express.Thisdatabaseissuitableforsmalldeploymentsofupto5 hostsand50virtualmachines. Ifyouhaveconfiguredasupporteddatabase,clickUseanexistingdatabaseand enteryourdatabaseconnectioninformation: a TypetheDSNassociatedwithyourdatabase. ThismustbeasystemDSN. b IfyourdatabaseisalocalSQLServerdatabaseusingWindowsNT authentication,leavetheusernameandpasswordfieldsblank.Otherwise, typetheusernameandpasswordassociatedwiththedatasourcenameand clickNext. Ifyourconnectionfails,awarningappears.ClickOKandreenteryour databaseconnectioninformationuntilyoucancontinue.
Selectoneofthefollowingoptions:
TouseVirtualCenterinevaluationmode,selectIwanttoevaluate VirtualCenterServerandclickNext. Ifyouchoosethisoption,theenterpriseleveleditionofVirtualCenteris installedinevaluationmode.TheVMwareLicenseServerisalsoinstalledso thatyoucanswitchtolicensedmodeduringoraftertheevaluationperiod.
TouseVirtualCenterinlicensedmodewithanexistinglicenseserver: i ii iii SelectUseanexistingLicenseServer. Enterthepathtoyourexistinglicenseserver. SelecttheVirtualCentereditionthatyoupurchasedandclickNext.
Ifyouchoosethisoption,theVMwareLicenseServerisnotinstalled.
TouseVirtualCenterinlicensedmodewhenyoudonothaveanexisting licenseserver: i ii Leavebothcheckboxesunselected. SelecttheVirtualCentereditionthatyoupurchasedandclickNext.
Ifyouchoosethisoption,theVMwareLicenseServerisinstalled.
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Entertheportandproxyinformationthatyouwanttouseoracceptthedefault informationshownonscreenandclickNext.Thisstepappliesonlytocustom installations. ThedefaultportforHTTPSis443.IfyouconfigureVirtualCentertouseadifferent portforHTTPS,youmustusetheconfiguredportnumberwhenyouloginto VirtualCenter.
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EnterinformationaboutthesystemonwhichyouareinstallingVirtualCenterand clickNext. Enter:
TheIPaddressordomainnameofthesystemonwhichyouareinstalling VirtualCenter. Theloginandpasswordthatyouusetologintothesystemonwhichyouare installingVirtualCenter.
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ForVMwareUpdateManager,youcanusethesamedatabasethatyouusefor VirtualCenter,oryoucanuseanotherdatabase.SeeStep 7. ForVMwareUpdateManager,entertheportandproxyinformationthatyouwant touseoracceptthedefaultinformationshownonscreen.Thisstepappliesonlyto custominstallations. ForVMwareConverter,entertheportinformationthatyouwanttouseoraccept thedefaultinformationshownonscreen.Thisstepappliesonlytocustom installations. ClickNexttocontinuethroughthedeploymentoptionsscreens.
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AcceptthedefaultdestinationfoldersandclickNext. Ifyoudonotwanttoacceptthedefaultdestinationfolders:
ForVMwareInfrastructure,clickChangetoselectanotherlocationandclick Next. Fordownloadingpatches,clickChangetoselectanotherlocationandclick Next.
CAUTIONToinstalltheVMwareInfrastructurecomponentsonadriveotherthan theC:drive,verifythereisenoughspaceintheC:\WINDOWS\Installerfolderto installtheMicrosoftWindowsInstaller.msifile.Ifyoudonothaveenoughspace, becauseofaknownissuewithWindowsInstaller,yourVMwareInfrastructure installationmightfail.
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ClickInstall. Installationmighttakeseveralminutes.Multipleprogressbarsappearduring installationoftheselectedcomponents.
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ClickFinishtocompletetheVMwareInfrastructureinstallation.
Configuring Communication Between VirtualCenter Components

TheVirtualCenter ServermustbeabletosenddatatoeveryVirtualCentermanaged hostandreceivedatafromeachVI Client.Toenableanymigrationorprovisioning activitiesbetweenVirtualCentermanagedhosts,thesourceandtargethostsmustbe abletoreceivedatafromeachother.(SEEUPDATE) Duringnormaloperations,VirtualCenterislisteningfordatafromitsmanagedhosts andclientsondesignatedports.Additionally,themanagedhostsarelisteningfordata fromVirtualCenterondesignatedports.Ifafirewallexistsbetweenanyofthese elements,aholemustbecreatedtoallowdatatransfertothesedesignatedports. Thefollowingsectionsdescribehowtofacilitatethiscommunication.Forinformation onSDKcommunications,seetheVMwareSDKdocumentation.Foramorethorough discussionoffirewallconfiguration,seetheServerConfigurationGuide.
Connecting to Your VirtualCenter Server Through a Firewall

ThedefaultportsthattheVirtualCenter Serverusestolistenforconnectionsfromthe VI Clientareports80,443,and902.TheVirtualCenter Serveralsousesport443tolisten fordatatransferfromtheVIWebAccessClientandotherSDKclients. IfyouhaveafirewallbetweenyourVirtualCenter Serveranditsclients,youmust configureameansfortheVirtualCenter Servertoreceivedatafromthem. ToenabletheVirtualCenter ServertoreceivedatafromtheVI Client,openports80, 443,and902inthefirewalltoallowdatatransferfromtheVI Clienttothe VirtualCenter Server.ToenabletheVirtualCenter ServertoreceivedatafromtheVI WebAccessClient,openport443inthefirewall.Consultyourfirewallsystem administratorforadditionalinformationonconfiguringportsinafirewall. IfyouwanttheVirtualCenter ServertouseadifferentporttoreceiveVI Clientdata,see BasicSystemAdministration. TotunneltheVI Clientdatathroughthefirewalltothereceivingportonthe VirtualCenter Server,seeBasicSystemAdministration.VMwaredoesnotrecommended thismethodbecauseitdisablestheVirtualCenterconsolefunction.
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Connecting to Your Managed Hosts Through a Firewall

Port902isthedefaultportthatVirtualCenterusestosenddatatothemanagedhosts. IfyouhaveafirewallbetweenyourVirtualCenter ServerandVirtualCentermanaged host,youmustconfigureameansfortheVirtualCenter Servertosenddatatothe VirtualCentermanagedhost. IfyouhaveafirewallbetweentwoVirtualCentermanagedhostsandyouwantto performanysourceortargetactivities,suchasmigrationorcloning,youmust configureameansforthemanagedhoststoreceivedata. ManagedhostsalsosendaregularheartbeatoverUDPport902tothe VirtualCenter Server.Thisportmustnotbeblockedbyfirewalls. To enable a VirtualCenter managed host to receive data on the default port (SEEUPDATE)Openport902inthefirewalltoallowdatatransfertotheVirtualCenter managedhostfromtheVirtualCenter ServeroranotherVirtualCentermanagedhost. Consultyourfirewallsystemadministratorforadditionalinformationonconfiguring theports.
Connecting Hosts with the License Server Through a Firewall

Ports27000and27010arethedefaultportsthatthelicenseserverusestocommunicate withESX Serverhosts.IfyouareusingcentralizedlicensingwithyourESX Serverhosts andhaveafirewallbetweenyourESX Serverhostsandyourlicenseserver,openthese ports. Youcanchangethedefaultportsbyeditingthelicensefile.Whenyoueditthelicense file,useanASCIItexteditor.Validatetheeditedlicensefileat http://www.vmware.com/checklicense/.Afterchangingtheports,openthenewports youchoseinthefirewall.Consultyourfirewallsystemadministratorforadditional informationonconfiguringtheports.ForinformationonconfiguringtheESX Server firewall,seetheServerConfigurationGuide.
Uninstalling VMware Infrastructure Components

TheVMwareInfrastructurecomponentsareuninstalledseparately,eveniftheyareon thesamemachine.YoumusthaveAdministratorprivilegestouninstallthe VirtualCentercomponent. CAUTIONIfyoutrytouninstalltheVirtualCenter Serverwhileitisrunning,youmust confirmthatyouwanttotakeaction.Uninstallinginthiswaycausesadisruptiontoany VI Clientsconnectedtotheservice.Thiscancausedataloss.
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UninstallingtheVMwareInfrastructurecomponentsdoesnotuninstalltheMicrosoft .NETFramework.DonotuninstalltheMicrosoft.NETFrameworkifyouhaveother applicationsonyoursystemthatdependuponit. To uninstall a VMware Infrastructure Component using the Add/Remove Programs Tool 1 2 3 4 AsAdministratorontheWindowssystem,chooseStart>Settings>ControlPanel >Add/RemovePrograms. ToselectaVMwareInfrastructurecomponent,scrollthroughthelistofinstalled programs,selectthecomponenttoremove,andclickChangeorRemove. ClickYestoconfirmthatyouwanttoremovetheprogram. ClickFinish.
Installing VirtualCenter in a Virtual Machine

YoucaninstallyourVirtualCentercomponentsinaWindowsvirtualmachine,which runsonanESX Serverhost.DeployingyourVirtualCenterinthevirtualmachinehas thefollowingadvantages:
RatherthandedicatingaseparateservertoyourVirtualCenter,youcanplaceitin avirtualmachinerunningonthesameESX Serverhostwhereyourothervirtual machinesrun. YoucanprovidehighavailabilityfortheVirtualCenter Serverbyusing VMware HA. YoucanmigratethevirtualmachinecontainingyourVirtualCenterfromonehost toanother,enablingmaintenanceandotheractivities. YoucancreatesnapshotsoftheVirtualCentervirtualmachineandusethemfor backups,archiving,andsoon.
To install VirtualCenter in a Virtual Machine 1 Onastandaloneserver,installtheESX Server. See InstallingVMwareESX ServerSoftwareonpage 81. 2 OnanymachinethathasnetworkaccesstoyourESX Serverhost,installthe VI Client. ToinstallonlytheVI Client,performacustominstallationasdescribedinTo installVMwareInfrastructureManagementonpage 73.
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UsingtheVI Client,accesstheESX Serverhostdirectlytocreatethevirtual machineforhostingVirtualCenter. Forinformationoncreatingvirtualmachines,seeBasicSystemAdministration.
Inthevirtualmachine,installVirtualCenterfollowingproceduresdescribedinthis chapter.
FormoredetailsoninstallingandrunningVirtualCenterinavirtualmachine,see RunningVirtualCenterinaVirtualMachineatwww.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_vc_in_vm.pdf
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Installing VMware ESX Server Software
ThischapterdescribeshowtoinstallandconfigureESX Server. Thischaptercontainsthefollowingtopics:

PreparingtoInstallonpage 81 InstallingESX Serveronpage 83 PostinstallationConsiderationsonpage 93 DownloadingtheVI Clientonpage 94
Preparing to Install
ThissectiondescribesthecomponentsthatareinstalledduringESX Serverinstallation, describesthetwoavailableinstallationmethods.Italsodetailshowtoselectaboot driveforinstallation.
Installed Components
TheVMwareESX Server 3.5installationincludesthefollowingcomponents:

VMwareESX ServerSoftwaretomanageandservevirtualmachines. VMwareVIWebAccessSoftwaretoallowWebbrowseraccesstotheESX Server host.
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Installation Methods
TwoinstallationmodesareavailableforinstallingVMwareESX Serversoftware:
GraphicalmodeThisisagraphical,mousebasedinstallationprogramtoinstall orupgradeESX Server.Thisistherecommendedinstallationmethod. See InstallingESX Serveronpage 83. TextmodeThisisatextbasedinterfacetoinstallorupgradeESX Server.Choose thisinstallationmethodifyourvideocontroller,keyboard,ormousedoesnot functionproperlyusingthegraphicalinstaller.See InstallingESX Serveron page 83.
Using Remote Management Applications

IfyouuseremotemanagementapplicationssuchasIntegratedLightsOut(iLO),Dell RemoteAccessCard(DRAC),IBMmanagementmodule(MM),orRemoteSupervisor AdapterII(RSAII)toinstallESX Server,becarefulusingthevirtualCDfeature.You mightencountercorruptionproblemsifyouusethisinstallationmethodwithsystems underload.Ifyoumustusethismethod,runthemediatestprovidedbytheESX Server Installer. IfaremoteinstallationfromanISOimagefails,carryouttheremoteinstallationfrom thephysicalCDROMmedia.
Installation on SATA Drives

WheninstallingESX ServerSATAdrives,considerthefollowingsituations:
EnsurethatyourSATAdrivesareconnectedthroughsupportedSAScontrollers:

mptscsi_pcieLSI1068E(LSISAS3442E) mptscsi_pcixLSI1068(SAS5) aacraid_esx30IBMserveraid8kSAScontroller ccissSmartArrayP400/256controller megaraid_sasDellPERC5.0.1controller
DonotuseSATAdiskstocreateVMFSdatastoressharedacrossmultiple ESX Serverhosts.
See ESX Server 3Requirementsonpage 21forcompletehardwarerequirements. See ESX ServerPartitioningonpage 95foradescriptionofpartitioning requirements.
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Chapter 7 Installing VMware ESX Server Software
LUN Requirements
AlthoughESX Serversupportsupto256LUNsforoperation,theinstallersupportsa maximumof128LUNs.Ifyouhavemorethan128LUNs,connectthemafterthe installationiscomplete.TheminimumsupportedLUNcapacityforVMFS3is1200MB. (SEEUPDATE)AnESX Serverhostsupportsonlythefirst256LUNsloadedatboottime. Yourbootvolumemustbeencounteredinthefirst256LUNs,ortheESX Serverhost canhangatstartup.Ifyouhaveacontrollerloading256LUNsbeforethebootvolume, reducethenumberofLUNsonthatcontrollerto256orless. IfyouhavenotinstalledESX Serversoftware,arrangePCIcontrollercardstodetermine theLUNorder. VMwarerecommendsthatyoudonotrearrangedrivecontrollersamongPCIslotsafter youinstalltheESX Serversoftware. IfyouwantanESX ServerhosttobootfromaSAN,allocateanentireLUNtoeach ESX Serverhost.See theSANConfigurationGuideforpostinstallationconfiguration. See RequiredPartitionsonpage 95foradescriptionofVMFS. ESX ServersoftwaredoesnotsupportbootingfromasharedLUN.Ifyouinstall ESX ServersoftwareontoasharedLUN,youmightoverwritethedataontheshared LUN. YoumustdeterminethestatusofyouravailableLUNs.Theinstallercannotdetermine ifaLUNisshared. CAUTIONVMwarerecommendsthatyoudisconnecttheSANbeforeyoubeginthe ESX Serverinstallprocess.Thereisoneexception:IfyouarebootingfromaSAN,then onlythesystemLUNshouldbepresentedtotheESX Server.AllotherLUNsshouldnot bepresentedtotheESX Serverduringtheinstallprocess.
Installing ESX Server

See theUpgradeGuidetoupgradefromapreviousESX Serverversion. PrepareforthisinstallationbyreadingPreparingtoInstallonpage 81.
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Navigation in the Installer

TonavigateandperformactionsintheESX Serverinstaller,presstheTabkey,spacebar, directionalarrows,orEnterkey.Youcan:

MovethehighlightbetweenselectionfieldswiththeTabkey. Makeaselectionwithinafieldusingthearrowkeysorbytypingavalue. PressTabuntilthehighlightisintheOKbox,andpresseitherthespacebaror Enterkey.
ESX Server Installation Procedure

ThissectiondescribeshowtoinstalltheESX Serversoftwareonyourservermachine usingeitherthegraphicalortextinstaller. VerifythenetworkcableispluggedintotheEthernetadapterthatyouareusingforthe serviceconsole. TheESX Serverinstallerneedsalivenetworkconnectiontoproperlydetectcertain networksettings,suchasthemachinenameunderDHCP. To install ESX Server 1 PoweronthemachinewiththeVMwareESX ServerCDintheCDdrive. TheESX Serverbeginsitsbootprocessuntilthemodeselectionpageappears. Ifthispagedoesnotappear: a b Rebootthemachine. PressthekeyrequiredtoenteryourmachinesBIOSSetuppage. ThiskeyisoftenF1,F2,orF10. c d 2 SettheCDdriveasthefirstbootdevice. Rebootthemachine.
PressEntertostartthegraphicalinstaller,ortype esx textandpressEnterto startthetextinstaller. AseriesofinstallationmessagesscrollpastuntiltheCDMediaTestpageappears.
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ClickTesttohavetheinstallerinspecttheinstallationCDmediaforerrors.

IfyouclickSkip,continuenowwithStep 4. IfyouclickTest,aprogressbarappears.TheCDmediaisbeingtestedfor errors.Whentestingiscomplete,aMediaCheckResultdialogboxappears andclickOK.
TheWelcomepageappears. 4 ClickNext(graphicalinstaller)orOK(textinstaller). TheSelectKeyboardpageappears. 5 SelectyourkeyboardlanguagefromthelistandclickNext(graphicalinstaller)or OK(textinstaller). TheMouseConfigurationpageappears. 6 SelectyourmouseandclickNext(graphicalinstaller)orOK(textinstaller). Mouseconfigurationisnotacriticalsetting.AfterESX Serverisinstalled,the settingisignored.See MouseSelectiononpage 88. 7 Selectthetypeofinstallation. TheSelectInstallationTypedialogboxappearsonlyiftheinstallerdetectsa previousESX Serverinstallation.
InstallForacleaninstallationpreservingnoESX Serverconfigurationdata, selectInstallandclickNext(graphicalinstaller)orOK(textinstaller). UpgradeIfyouareupgrading,seetheUpgradeGuide.Donotcontinuewith thisprocedure.
AccepttheVMwarelicenseagreement. Youcannotinstallthisproductunlessyouacceptthelicenseagreement.
Ifyouareusingthegraphicalinstaller,readthroughtheenduserlicense agreementandselectIacceptthetermsofthelicenseagreementandclick Next. Ifyouareusingthetextinstaller,readthroughtheenduserlicenseagreement andselectAcceptEndUserLicenseandclickOK.
IfanydrivesorLUNsareinitialized,awarningdialogboxappears. Ifyoudonothavedataonthedrive,clickOKtoallowpartitioningtooccur.You mustinitializeadrivetouseitduringinstallation.
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Selectapartitioningoption.
RecommendedConfiguresdefaultpartitions,basedonthecapacityofthe harddrive.ContinuewithRecommendedPartitioningonpage 88. AdvancedYouspecifyallpartitionsettings.ContinuewithAdvanced Partitioningonpage 89.
10 SelecthowtheESX Serverwillboot:
Fromadrive(installontheMBRofthedrive)Usethisoptionformost installations. ThisdrivemustmatchthefirstbootdevicesetinthehostBIOS.Ifthese settingsdonotmatch,thehostcannotbootintotheESX Serversoftware. TobootanESX ServerhostfromaSAN,chooseaSANbasedLUNfromthe dropdownmenu.Ifyouareusingthetextinstaller,clickOK.
FromapartitionUsethisoptionforlegacyhardwarethatstoresBIOS informationintheMBR. Ifyouareusingthetextinstaller,clickOK.
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Toadddefaultoptionstothebootcommand,enterthemintotheGeneralkernel parametersfield. AnyoptionsyouenterarepassedtotheESX Serverkerneleverytimeitboots.
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ClickNext(graphicalinstaller)orOK(textinstaller)tocontinuetheinstallation. SelectthenetworkinterfaceforusebytheESX Serverconsole.Ifyouareusingthe textinstaller,clickOK. Virtualmachinenetworktrafficsharesthisnetworkadapteruntilyouconfigurea virtualswitchforanothernetworkadapter.Youcanconfigureothernetwork adaptersatalatertimefromtheVI Client.
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ConfiguretheESX ServerhostnetworkIPaddress.Ifyouareusingthetext installer,clickOK. VMwarerecommendsthatyouuseastaticIPaddresstosimplifyclientaccess. Ifyoudonothavetherequirednetworkconfigurationinformation,seeyour networkadministratorforassistance.
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EntertheESX Serverhostname.Typethecompletemachinename,includingthe domainwhereappropriate. ThisoptionisavailableonlyifyouuseastaticIPaddress. VI ClientscanuseeitherthehostnameortheIPaddresstoaccesstheESX Server host.
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IfyournetworkrequiresaVLANID,enteraVLANID. SelectCreateadefaultnetworkforvirtualmachinestocreateadefaultportgroup forvirtualmachines.Thisoptionisselectedbydefault. IfyouselectCreateadefaultnetworkforvirtualmachines,yourvirtualmachines shareanetworkadapterwiththeserviceconsole,whichisnottherecommended configurationforoptimumsecurity.Ifyoudonotselectthisoption,createa networkconnectionforyourvirtualmachinesasdescribedintheServer ConfigurationGuide.
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ClickNext(graphicalinstaller)orOK(textinstaller). Setyourtimezone.See SettingYourTimeZoneonpage 92. Enterarootpassword. TypethesamepasswordintobothfieldsandclickNext(graphicalinstaller)orOK (textinstaller). Therootpasswordmustcontainatleastsixcharacters.Awarningappearsifthe passwordsdonotmatch.
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ConfirmyourinstallationconfigurationandclickNext(graphicalinstaller)orOK (textinstaller).
CAUTIONThisisyourlastopportunitytocancelandreturntoyourprevious configuration.WhenyouclickNextorOK,theinstallerbeginspartitioningand formattingthefilesystem. Progressbarsappeartoshowthestatusoftheinstallation,andadialogbox informsyouwhentheinstallationcompletes. 22 ClickFinishtoexit.
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Mouse Selection
Herearesomemouseidentificationhints:

Iftheconnectorisround,yourmouseisaPS/2orabusmouse. Iftheconnectoristrapezoidalwithnineholes,itisaserialmouse. Iftheconnectorisaflatrectanglewithaslot,itisaUSBmouse.
TrytofindanexactmatchIfyoucannotfindanexactmatch,chooseamousetype thatiscompatiblewithyours.Otherwise,choosetheappropriategenericmousetype. ThreebuttonmouseemulationDuringtheinstallation,selectingthisboxenables youtousemiddlemousebuttonfunctionalitybyclickingbothmousebuttonsatonce.
Recommended Partitioning
FollowthisproceduretoselectRecommendedasapartitioningoptioninToinstall ESX Serveronpage 84. To partition your hard drive using the recommended partitioning 1 2 SelectavolumeonwhichtoinstalltheESX Serversoftware. TopreserveexistingVMFSpartitionswithexistingvirtualmachines,selectKeep virtualmachinesandtheVMFS. Thisusuallyappliesonlyifyouareinstallingontopofapreviousversionof ESX Server. 3 SelectRecommendedpartitioningandclickNext(graphicalinstaller)orOK(text installer). Awarningdialogboxappears. 4 5 ClickYestocontinuewithyourpartitioningselection. (Optional)Changethepartitionsettings:

NewSelectadiskandclickthisbuttontocreateanewpartition. EditSelectapartitionandclickthisbuttontochangeanexistingpartition. DeleteSelectapartitionandclickthisbuttontoremoveanexistingpartition. ResetClickthisbuttontorestorethedefaultpartitioningscheme.
ClickNext(graphicalinstaller)orOK(textinstaller),andcontinuewithToinstall ESX Serveronpage 84.
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Advanced Partitioning
Withadvancedormanualpartitioning,theinstallerliststhedriveswithexisting partitionsandtheamountofavailablespace.Youmustcreateallpartitions, determiningaspecificmountpoint,filesystem,andcapacity. EachESX Serverhostrequiresfivespecificpartitions.Ifthehosthasnetworkstorage, onlythefirstthreerequiredpartitionsmustbeconfiguredonlocalstorage. See ESX ServerPartitioningonpage 95fordescriptionsofrequiredandoptional partitions. FollowthisproceduretoselectAdvancedasapartitioningoptioninToinstall ESX Serveronpage 84.Thisproceduredescribeshowtopartitionyourharddrive usingmanualpartitioning. To partition local storage 1 2 SelectavolumeonwhichtoinstalltheESX Serversoftware. TopreserveexistingVMFSpartitionswithexistingvirtualmachines,selectKeep virtualmachinesandtheVMFS. Thisusuallyappliesonlyifyouareinstallingontopofapreviousversionof ESX Server. 3 SelectAdvancedpartitioningandclickNext(graphicalinstaller)orOK(text installer). Awarningdialogboxappears. 4 5 ClickYestocontinuewithyourpartitioningselection. Tocreateapartition,clickNew. TheAddPartitiondialogboxappears. 6 Tocreateabootpartition,usethefollowingsettings:

MountPoint/boot FileSystemext3 Size(MB)VMwarerecommends100MB AdditionalSizeOptionsFixedsize
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Tocreateaswappartition,usethefollowingsettings:
MountPointNotapplicable.Thisdropdownmenuisdisabledwhenyou selectswapforfilesystem. FileSystemswap Size(MB)VMwarerecommends544MB. AdditionalsizeoptionsFixedsize
Tocreatearootpartition,usethefollowingsettings:

MountPoint/ FileSystemext3 Size(MB)VMwarerecommendsatleast5GBfortherootpartition,butyou canfilltheremainingcapacityofthedrive. AdditionalsizeoptionsFillallspaceupto(MB)
CAUTIONIfyoudonotformata /partition,theinstallationfailsatthelaststep.Format allnecessarypartitionsbeforeproceedingtothenextstepoftheinstallation. 9 (Optional)Tocreatealogpartition(recommended),usethefollowingsettings:

MountPoint/var/log FileSystemext3 Size(MB)500MBistheminimumsize.VMwarerecommends2000MBfor thelogpartition AdditionalsizeoptionsFillallspaceupto(MB)
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(Optional)Createadditionallogicalpartitions. Forbestperformance,useVI ClientorVIWebAccesstosetupyourVMFS3 partitionsratherthantheESX Serverinstaller.UsingVI ClientorVIWebAccess ensuresthatthestartingsectorsofpartitionsare64Kaligned,whichimproves storageperformance.
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IfyourESX Serverhosthasnonetworkstorageandonelocaldisk,youmustcreate twomorerequiredpartitionsonthelocaldisk(foratotaloffiverequired partitions):
vmkcoreAvmkcorepartitionisrequiredtostorecoredumpsfor troubleshooting.VMwaredoesnotsupportESX Serverhostconfigurations withoutavmkcorepartition. vmfs3Avmfs3partitionisrequiredtostoreyourvirtualmachines. Thesevmfsandvmkcorepartitionsarerequiredonalocaldiskonlyifthe ESX Serverhosthasnonetworkstorage.
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ClickNext(graphicalinstaller)orOK(textinstaller)tocontinuewithToinstall ESX Serveronpage 84.
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Setting Your Time Zone

Thegraphicalinstallerletsyouselectyourtimezoneusingamap,alistoflocations,or alistoftimezones. To set the time zone using the map 1 2 3 4 ClicktheMaptabtodisplaythemap. Clickthemaponthecitynearesttoyourlocation. SelectthecheckboxforusingUTC(CoordinatedUniversalTime)ifappropriate. (Thisoptionisselectedbydefault.) ClickNexttocontinuetheinstallationwithStep 20onpage 87.
To set the time zone using a location 1 2 3 4 ClicktheLocationtabtodisplayalistofcities. Selectacityinyourtimezonefromthescrollinglist. SelectthecheckboxforusingUTC,ifappropriate. ClickNexttocontinuetheinstallationwithStep 20onpage 87.
To set the time zone based on UTC offset from GMT 1 2 3 4 5 ClicktheUTCOffsettab. Selectanoffsetfromthelist. Selectthecheckboxtocompensatefordaylightsavingtime(ifappropriate). SelectthecheckboxforusingUTC,ifappropriate. ClickNexttocontinuetheinstallationwithStep 20onpage 87.
To set the time zone using the text installer 1 2 3 SelectthecheckboxforusingUTC,ifappropriate. Selectacityinyourtimezonefromthescrollinglist. ClickOKtocontinuetheinstallationwithStep 20onpage 87.
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Postinstallation Considerations
Thissectiondiscussesinstallationlogsandhardwareanddriveradditions.
Locating the Installation Logs

Afteryouinstallandreboot,logintotheserviceconsoletoreadtheinstallationlogs:

/root/install.logisacompletelogoftheinstallation. /root/anaconda-ks.cfgisakickstartfilecontainingtheselectedinstallation.
Assigning New Hardware on the Server

Afteryouinstallthenewhardwareonyoursystem,useVirtualCentertoassignthe hardwaretothevirtualmachines.See BasicSystemAdministration. Bootingorrebootingthemachinedoesnotmaketheserviceconsoledetectnewly installedhardware.Tomaketheserviceconsoledetectsnewlyinstalledhardware,log intotheserviceconsoleasroot,anddooneofthefollowing:

Runthecommandkudzuatacommandprompt. Manuallyeditthe/etc/modules.conf file.
To run kudzu 1 2 3 Loginasrootontheserviceconsole. Atacommandprompt,typekudzu. Thekudzuutilitydetectsanynewhardwareandaddsappropriateentriestothe /etc/modules.conffile.
To edit modules.conf Ifyoueditthe/etc/modules.conffilebyhand,addanaliaslineforthenewdevice. For example,ifyouareaddinganewSCSIadapterthatusesadrivernamed adapXXXX,addthisline:

alias scsi_hostadapter adapXXXX
Installing Additional Drivers from the VMware Driver Disk

VMwareprovidesadriverdiskforadevicethatisnothandledbydriversinthisrelease ofESX Server.Usedriverdiskstoupgradethedriversonanexistingsystemorinstall newdriversontoanexistingsystem.
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Verifying Your Device Driver Mappings

Duringtheupgrade,theESX Serverinstallerrenamesthe /etc/vmware/vmware-device.map.localfileto /etc/vmware/vmware-device.map.local.orig. Aftertheupgrade,comparethevmware-device.map.local.origfilewiththenewly createdvmware-device.map.localfileandmakeanynecessarychanges.The locationsofsomedrivershavechangedinESX Server 3.5.Withtheadditionofnew driversinESX Server 3.5,furthercustomizationofvmware-device.map.localmight notbenecessary.
Downloading the VI Client

TheVI ClientisaWindowsprogramthatyoucanusetoconfiguretheESX Serverhost andtooperateitsvirtualmachines.YoucandownloadVI ClientfromanyESX Server 3 host. YoumustobtaintheURLofanESX Serverhost.ThisistheIPaddressormachinename. To download the client 1 2 FromaWindowsmachine,openaWebbrowser. EntertheURLfortheESX Serverhost. For example,enterhttp://testserver.vmware.com/ TheVMwareESX Serverwelcomepageappears. 3 ClicktheDownloadtheVI ClientlinkunderGettingStarted. Asecuritywarningdialogboxappears. 4 5 ClickYes. Installtheclient. SeeToinstallVMwareInfrastructureManagementonpage 73.
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ESX Server Partitioning
ESX Serverhostshaverequiredandoptionalpartitions. Thisappendixcontainsthefollowingtopics:

RequiredPartitionsonpage 95 OptionalPartitionsonpage 99
Required Partitions
AnESX Serverlocalbootvolumerequiresthreespecificpartitionsforoperation.In addition,alocalorremoteVMFSpartitionisrequiredtostoreyourvirtualmachines, anda vmkcore partitionisrequiredtoprovidecoredumpsfortechnicalsupport. For/var/log,VMwarerecommendsaseparatepartitiontopreventunexpecteddisk spaceconstraintsfromcompromisingESXServeroperations.Increasethispartitionby 512MBifyouuseKickstart,ortoperformaremoteorscriptedinstallationfromtheESX Servermachine.
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Table A1describestherequiredpartitions. Table A-1. ESX Server Required Partitions

Recommended Storage by Host Disk Configuration Internal Disk with External SAN, NAS, or iSCSI 100MB Location: internal disk
Mount Point /boot
Type ext3
SAN Only 100MB Location: LUN0
Internal Disk Only 100MB
Partition Description Storesinformationrequiredtoboot theESX Serverhostsystem. For example,thisiswherethegrub andLILObootloadersreside. Thebootdriveusuallydefaultsto thespecified/bootpartition location.
Notapplicable
swap
544MB Location: internal disk
544MB Location: LUN0
544MB
AllowsESX Servertousedisk spacewhenmorememoryis neededthanthephysicalRAM allows. Theminimumvalueis100MB. Note:Donotconfusethe ESX Serverswappartitionwith virtualmachineswapspace. See theResourceManagementGuide.
ext3
5GB Location: internal disk
5GB Location: LUN0
5GB
ContainstheESX Serveroperating systemandservices,accessible throughtheserviceconsole.Also containsthirdpartyaddon servicesorapplicationsyouinstall. Note:Runningtheinstallation scripttocopythecontentsofthe ESX ServerinstallationCD requiresabout460MBofspace.
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Appendix A ESX Server Partitioning
Table A-1. ESX Server Required Partitions (Continued)

Recommended Storage by Host Disk Configuration Internal Disk with External SAN, NAS, or iSCSI 1.2GB
Mount Point Notapplicable
Type VMFS3
SAN Only 1.2GB
Internal Disk Only 1.2GB
Partition Description AVMFSpartitionisrequired. However,VMFSpartitionsdonot needtobelocatedonalocalor bootdrive. VMFSpartitionscanbelocatedon a:

LocalSCSIvolume NetworkedSCSIvolume SAN
Usedtostorevirtualmachine virtualdisks.VMware recommends8GBstorageper virtualmachine. Notes:
AnynumberofVMFSvolumes canbecreatedoneachLUNas longasthespaceisavailable. VMFS2issupportedin readonlymodetoimport legacyvirtualmachines. IfyouwanttheESX Server hosttobootfromaSAN,read LUNRequirementson page 83forVMFSpartitioning requirements.
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Table A-1. ESX Server Required Partitions (Continued)

Recommended Storage by Host Disk Configuration Internal Disk with External SAN, NAS, or iSCSI 100MB Location: anydisk
Mount Point Notapplicable
Type vmkcore
SAN Only 100MBper host sharing theSAN Location: CoreLUN
Internal Disk Only 100MB
Partition Description A100MBvmkcorepartitionis requiredforeachESX Serverhost. CanbelocatedonalocalSCSI volume,anetworkedSCSIvolume, oraSAN.Itcannotbelocatedona softwareiSCSIvolume. Usedtostorecoredumpsfor debuggingandtechnicalsupport. EachESX Serverhostmusthavea vmkcorepartitionof100MB.If multipleESX Serverhostssharea SAN,configureavmkcore partitionwith100MBforeachhost.
/var/log
ext3
2000MB Location: internal disk
2000MB
Optional. Usedtostorelogfiles.
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Appendix A ESX Server Partitioning
Optional Partitions
Table A2describestheoptionalpartitions. For/tmpand/home,VMwarerecommendsseparatepartitionstopreventunexpected diskspaceconstraintsfromcompromisingESXServeroperations. Table A-2. ESX Server Optional Partitions
Recommended Storage by Host Disk Configuration Internal Disk with External SAN/NAS/ iSCSI 512MB
Mount Point /home
Type ext3
SAN Only
Internal Disk Only
Partition Description Optional. Usedforstoragebyindividual users.
/tmp
ext3
1024MB
1024MB
Optional. Usedtostoretemporaryfiles. Optional. Usedtostoreavirtualmachine usingaRAWdiskformat.
Notapplicable
vfat
anydisk
Notapplicable /vmimages
LVM ext3
NA NA
ObsoletewithESX Server 3.0. Removefromupgradedservers. ObsoletewithESX Server 3.0. Removefromupgradedservers.
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Remote and Scripted Installations
YoucaninstallESX Serverusingremoteandscriptedinstallations. Thisappendixcontainsthefollowingtopics:

ScriptingYourInstallationsonpage 101 EnablingScriptedInstallationonpage 102 SettingUptheScriptonpage 103 EditingtheKickstartConfigurationFileonpage 107
Scripting Your Installations

AfteryouinstallESX Serveronasystem,youcanquicklydeployorprovisionmore ESX Serversystemsthatsharethesameorsimilarconfigurations.Youcansetupa scripttoaidintheinstallation.TheESX Serverscriptedinstallationmethodisbasedon RedHatskickstartinstallationmethod.Thescriptisakickstartconfigurationfile, whichconsistsofthechoicesyouwanttomakeduringtheinstallationoftheESX Server software. ForallofyourserverstohavethesameconfigurationastheoriginalESX Serversystem, makethesamechoicesforthescriptthatyoumadewhenyouinstalledESX Serveron theoriginalsystem. Theinstallationcanrununattendedasintheoriginalinstallation,butiftheinstaller encountersanunspecifiedsettingforthesystem,youmustrespondtothepromptthat appears.
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Afteryousetupthescript,youcanuseittoinstallESX Serverfilesineitherofthe followingways:

FromtheESX ServerCDinthelocalCDROMdriveofthenewsystem. Acrossthenetwork,usinginstallationfilesthatarehostedonaremoteserver.
Enabling Scripted Installation

AfteryouinstallESX Serveronasystem,youmustenablethescriptedinstallation featurebeforeyoucanuseWebAccesstocreateaninstallationscript. To enable scripted installation 1 2 LogintotheESX Serverserviceconsoleasroot. Openthefollowingfileinatexteditorsuchasvi: /usr/lib/vmware/webAccess/tomcat/apache-tomcat-5.5.17/webapps/ui /WEB-INF/struts-config.xml Locatethescriptedsection. Commentoutthelinereading:
<action path="/scriptedInstall" type="org.apache.struts.actions.ForwardAction" parameter="/WEB-INF/jsp/scriptedInstall/disabled.jsp" />
3 4
Uncommentthefollowinglines:
<!-<action path="/scriptedInstall" type="com.vmware.webcenter.scripted.ProcessAction"> <forward name="scriptedInstall.form1" path="/WEB-INF/jsp/scriptedInstall/form1.jsp" /> <forward name="scriptedInstall.form2" path="/WEB-INF/jsp/scriptedInstall/form2.jsp" /> <forward name="scriptedInstall.form3" path="/WEB-INF/jsp/scriptedInstall/form3.jsp" /> <forward name="scriptedInstall.form4" path="/WEB-INF/jsp/scriptedInstall/form4.jsp" /> <forward name="scriptedInstall.form5" path="/WEB-INF/jsp/scriptedInstall/form5.jsp" /> <forward name="scriptedInstall.form6" path="/WEB-INF/jsp/scriptedInstall/form6.jsp" /> <forward name="scriptedInstall.form7" path="/WEB-INF/jsp/scriptedInstall/form7.jsp" /> </action> -->
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Appendix B Remote and Scripted Installations
6 7
Saveandclosethefile. Typeservice vmware-webAccess restart.
Setting Up the Script

AfteryouinstallESX Serverononesystemandenablescriptedinstallationsonthat system,youcansetupascriptnecessaryforperformingascriptedinstallationof ESX Serveronothersystems. Whenyousetupthescript,choosethenetworkingmethod(staticIPorDHCP)forthe serveronwhichyouwillinstallESX Server.Youcanspecifyuniquenetwork identificationinformation,includingthestaticIPaddressandhostnameofeach system,oryoucanuseDHCPinitiallytoquicklysetupanumberofESX Server systems.Inaddition,youcaneditthekickstartconfigurationfiletocommentoutthe networkcommand,whichcausestheinstallertopromptyoufornetworkinformation duringtheinstallation.SeeEditingtheKickstartConfigurationFileonpage 107. IfyouuseDHCPinitiallytocreateoneinstallationscriptthatisusedtodeploynew ESX Serversystems,youmustthenconfigureeachsystemseparatelyandassigna uniquehostnameandIPaddress.Thisrequirementisinadditiontoconfiguringthe serverwiththeManagementInterfacewizard. Youcanalsocreatemultiplescripts,eachcontaininguniquenetworkidentification informationyouspecifywhenyousetupthescript. Youmustcopythescriptgeneratedattheendofthesetupprocesstoafloppydiskor toanetworkaccessibleserver. Inaddition,youmustaccesstheESX Serverinstallationfiles.Thefilescanbeonthe ESX ServerCDROMorstoredonaseparateserverandaccessedacrossthenetwork. Tocreateyourscript,youcaneitherusetheVIWebAccessgraphicalinterfacetospecify yourscriptoptions,oryoucanmanuallycreateandeditakickstartconfigurationfile.
Creating a Script Using VI Web Access

TheVIWebAccessinterfaceletsyoucreateakickstartconfigurationfileusinga graphicalinterface. To set up the script 1 LaunchasupportedWebbrowserandentertheURLofyourESX Server installationtoopenVIWebAccess. TheWelcomepageappears.
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ClickLogintotheScriptedInstaller. TheScriptedInstallpageappears.
EntertheinformationthatthescriptneedstoconfigureanotherESX Serversystem: a b
IntheInstallationTypelist,selectInitialInstallationtoperformanew installation.SelectUpgradetoupgradeanexistingESX Serversystem. IntheInstallationMethodlist,selectfromthefollowingoptions: SelectRemotetoperformaremotenetworkinstalloptionfromaHTTPorFTP serverthatcontainstheESX Serverinstallationfiles.IntheRemoteServer URLfield,typethedefaultdirectorylocationofyourrootfolderalongwith thenameoftheserverthatcontainstheESX Serverinstallationfiles,likethis:
http://<hostname>:/default location ftp://<hostname>:/default location
Forexample:
ftp://<hostname>:/var/ftp/pub/build
where<hostname>isthenameassignedtotheHTTPorFTPserver.
SelectCDROMtoinstallfromtheCDonthelocalCDROMdriveonthenew system. SelectNFStoperformanetworkinstallusingtheNetworkFileSystem(NFS) application.IntheRemoteServerURLentryfield,typethehostmachine namealongwiththemountpoint,likethis:

<hostmachine>:<mountpoint>
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IntheNetworkMethodlist,selectDHCPiftheESX Serversystemwillhave adynamicIPaddress.SelectStaticIPiftheESX Serversystemwillhavea staticIPaddress. VMwarerecommendsthateachESX ServersystemhaveitsownstaticIP address.However,youcanuseDHCPtodeploynewESX Serversystems fromthesamefloppyimage,andconfigureeachsystemseparatelyandassign auniquehostnameandIPaddress.Oryoucancreatemultiplefloppyimages containingthenetworkidentificationinformationyouspecifyhere.
d e
IfyournetworkrequiresaVLANID,typeoneintheVLANIDfield. SelectCreateadefaultnetworkforVMstocreateadefaultnetworkfor virtualmachines. Selectthisoptiontocreateaportgroupfortheserviceconsoleandaport groupforthevirtualmachines.Ifyoudonotselectthisoption,onlytheservice consoleportgroupiscreated,andyoumustcreatetheportgroupforthe virtualmachinesmanually.
IntheTimeZonelist,selectthetimezonefortheserveryouwillinstall. ThelistdefaultstosettingoftheoriginalESX Servermachine.
g h 4
IntheRebootAfterInstallationlist,selectYestohavethesystemrebootafter theinstallationiscomplete. UnderRootPassword,specifytherootpassword.Typetherootpasswordin thePasswordfield.TypethispasswordasecondtimeintheAgainfield.
ReadthroughtheenduserlicenseagreementandselecttheIhavereadandaccept thetermsinthelicenseagreementcheckbox. IftheESX ServersystemwillhaveastaticIPaddress,theNetworkingOptions pageappears. IftheESX ServersystemwilluseDHCP,skiptoStep 7.
EnterthehostnameintheHostnamefield,theIPaddressintheIPAddressfield, thenetmaskintheNetmaskfield,thenetworkgatewayintheGatewayfield,and thedomainnameserverintheNameserverfield. Includethefulldomainnameifyouarerunningwithdomains.
ClickNexttocontinue. ThePartitionConfigurationpageappears.
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UnderPartitionConfiguration,specifythefollowingforeachpartitioninthe serviceconsole:

IntheDrivelist,selectfromthelistofdisks. IntheMountPointfield,specifythemountpoint. Ataminimum,youshouldspecifytheboot(/boot)androot(/)mount points. IntheSizefield,specifythesizeofthepartitioninmegabytes(MB).Specify anintegervaluehere,suchas500.DonotappendthenumberwithMB. See Appendix A,ESX ServerPartitioning,onpage 95forrecommended partitionsizes.
IntheTypelist,selectthetypeoffilesystem.Choosefromvmfs,vmcore,ext3, andswap.Selectswapifthepartitionisaswappartition.Youmustcreatea swappartition. SelecttheGrowcheckboxifyouwantthepartitiontogrowuntilitfillsthe availablespaceonthedisk(ifany),oruptothemaximumsizesetting. VMwarerecommendsyoudonotletyourbootandswappartitionsgrow.
FromtheLicensingModelist,specifyoneofthefollowing:
PostInstallChoosethisoptiontoconfigurelicensingmanuallyafter installation. UseLicenseServerChoosethisoptiontoretrievelicensesfromalicense server. UseHostLicenseFileChoosethisoptiontouploadalicensefile.
9 10
ClickNexttocontinue. IfyouselectedtheLicenseServerlicensingtype,enterthecentralizedlicensing information.

LicenseServerEnterthelicenseservertouse. PortEntertheporttowhichtoconnect. ESX ServerEditionSelecttheeditionyoupurchased.
11 12 13
IfyouselectedFileBasedlicensing,specifyorbrowseforthelicensetoupload. ClickNexttocontinuetothenextconfigurationscreen. ClickDownloadKickstartFiletocreateakickstartconfigurationfile.
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Running a Scripted Installation from the Kickstart File

Afteryoucreateakickstartfile,useoneofthefollowingprocedurestorunyour scriptedinstallation,dependingonwhetheryouselectedtoinstallfromanESX Server installationCDROMorfrominstallationfileshostedonaremoteserver. To run a scripted installation using a CD 1 2 3 4 Copyyourkickstartfiletoafloppydisk. Insertthefloppydiskintothefloppydriveofthemachineonwhichyouwantto installESX Server. InserttheESX ServerInstallationCDintotheCDROMdrive. Bootupthemachine. Themodeselectionpageappears. 5 6 Typeesx ks=floppy. PressEntertostartthescriptedinstallation.
To run a scripted installation using a PXE server 1 2 UploadyourkickstartfiletoanNFSorHTTPserver. SpecifytheinstallationmethodinthePXEserverbootoptions,where<ksurl>is theURLtoaccessthekickstartfileand<methodurl>istheURLtoaccessthe uploadedinstallationfiles.
Editing the Kickstart Configuration File

Thekickstartconfigurationfileisatextfilecontainingtheoptionsspecifiedforthe ESX Serverinstallation.Youcanedityourkickstartconfigurationfiletomodifythe optionsyouspecifiedusingtheVIWebAccessinterface,ortospecifyadditional optionsnotavailableinthatinterface. See theRedHatEnterpriseLinux3:SystemAdministrationGuideavailableat www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/RHEL3Manual/pdf/rhelsagen.pdf.
%include Section
Usethe%includesectiontodirectthekickstartparsertoadditionalkickstartfilesthat mightincludemorekickstartcommands.Thesectioncontainsthefollowingcommand:
%include </path/to/file>
Youcanaddseveral%includesectionstoyourkickstartfile.
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Command Section
ThecommandsectioncontainstheoptionsspecifiedfortheESX Serverinstallation. Thissectionisrequiredandmustappearfirstinthekickstartfile. MostofthecommandsthatcanbeincludedinthissectionarestandardRedHat kickstartcommands.SomecommandsareVMwarespecific.TheVMwarespecific commandsarelistedinTable B1.SeetheRedHatEnterpriseLinux3:System AdministrationGuideforinformationonoptionalcommandsthatarenotVMware specific. Table B-1. Kickstart Commands for ESX Server Installation
Command autostep(optional) authorauthconfig(required) --enablemd5 --enablenis --nisdomain=<domain> --nisserver --useshadowor --enableshadow --enablekrb5 --krb5realm= --krb5kdc= --krb5adminserver= bootloader (required) --append= --driveorder= --location=[mbr|partit ion|none] --md5pass= --password= Description Similartointeractive.Usemostlyfordebugging. Setupauthenticationforthesystem. Usesmd5baseduserpasswords. EnablesNISsupport.Bydefault,thiscommanduseswhateverdomain itfindsonthenetwork. SetstheNISdomain.Requires--enablenis. SetstheNISserver(broadcastsbydefault.)Requires--enablenis. Enablesshadowpasswordfile. EnablesKerberos5toauthenticateusers. SpecifiestheKerberos5realmtowhichyoursystembelongs. SpecifiestheKDCsthatserverequestsfortherealm.Separatethe namesofmultipleKDCswithcommas. SpecifiestheKDCinyourrealmthatisalsorunningtheKADM5 administrationserver. SetsuptheGRUBloader. Specifiesextrakernelparametersforwhenthesystemisbooting. SpecifieswhichdriveisfirstintheBIOSbootorder. Specifieswherethebootloaderisinstalled.Thevaluesare:mbr(forthe masterbootrecord),partition(forthefirstsectorofthepartition withthevmnixkernel),ornone(donotinstallthebootloader). SetstheGRUBbootloaderpasswordwiththemd5encrypted password. SetstheGRUBbootloaderpassword.
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Table B-1. Kickstart Commands for ESX Server Installation (Continued)

Command --upgrade clearpart(optional) --linux --all --drives= --initlabel firewall(optional) --enabled --disabled --high --medium --trust= --ssh --telnet --smtp --http --ftp --port= install(optional) <cdrom|nfs|url> Description Upgradestheexistingbootloaderconfigurationandpreservesanyold entries. Removespartitionsfromthesystembeforecreatingnewpartitions. Notrequiredifyouusetheupgradecommand. RemovesallLinuxpartitions. Removesallpartitionsfromthesystem. Specifieswhichdrivestoclearpartitionsfrom. Initializesthedisklabeltothedefaultforyourarchitecture. Configuresfirewalloptionsinkickstart. Rejectsallincomingconnectionsunlesstheyarearesponseto outboundrequests. Allowsallincomingconnections. Deprecated;sameas--enabled. Deprecated;sameas--enabled. Specifiesdeviceswhosetrafficisallowedtogothroughthefirewall. Allowsthespecifiedservicetopassthroughthefirewall. Allowsthespecifiedservicetopassthroughthefirewall. Allowsthespecifiedservicetopassthroughthefirewall. Allowsthespecifiedservicetopassthroughthefirewall. Allowsthespecifiedservicetopassthroughthefirewall. Specifiesportsallowedthroughthefirewall. Specifiesthatthisisafreshinstallationratherthananupgrade. Specifiesthetypeofinstallation.Thevaluesare: --server= --dir= <url> cdrominstallsfromtheCDROMdrive nfsinstallsfromthespecifiedNFSserver urldownloadsacrossthenetwork
SpecifieswhichNFSservertoconnectto.Usewithnfs. SpecifieswhichdirectoryontheNFSservertomount.Usewithnfs. DefinesthelocationoftheWeaselruntimeenvironment.Usedwith url (http/ftp).
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Command interactive(optional) Description Usestheinformationprovidedinthekickstartfileduringthe installation,butallowsforinspectionandmodificationofthegiven values. Setsthekeyboardtypeforthesystem. Specifiesthekeyboardmapfortheselectedkeyboardtype. Setsthelanguagetouseduringinstallation. Specifiesthevaluefortheselectedlanguage,for examplelang en_US. Setsthelanguage(s)toinstallonthesystem. Specifiesthevalueforthelanguagesupport.Usethesamelanguage codesyouusedwithlang. Specifieswhichlanguagewillbeadefaultwheninstallingmorethan onelanguage. Configuresthemouseforthesystem,bothinGUIandtextmodes. Specifiesthetypeofmouse. Specifiesthedevicethemouseison. Letsyouuseatwobuttonmouseasathreebuttonmouse. Simultaneousclicksontheleftandrightmousebuttonsare recognizedasthemiddlemousebuttonbytheXWindowSystem. Configuresnetworkinformationforthesystem. Ifsetto1(default),createsaportgroupforvirtualmachines.Ifyoudo notwanttocreateaportgroup,setthevalueto0. SpecifiesaVLANtousefornetworking.Settoanintegerbetween0 and4095. Specifiesnetworksettings. SpecifiesanEthernetdeviceforinstallation. SetsanIPaddressforthemachinetobeinstalled. DesignatesthedefaultgatewayasanIPaddress. DesignatestheprimarynameserverasanIPaddress. DirectsnottoconfigureaDNSserver. Specifiesnetmaskfortheinstalledsystem. Specifiesthehostnamefortheinstalledsystem.
keyboard(required) <keyboardType> lang (required) <languageType> langsupport (required) <languageType> --default mouse (required) <mouseType> --device= --emulthree
network(optional) --addvmportgroup=<1 or 0> (VMwarespecific) --vlanid=<vlanid> (VMwarespecific) --bootproto=[dhcp|stat ic] --device= --ip= --gateway= --nameserver= --nodns --netmask= --hostname=
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Command partorpartition Description Createsapartitiononthesystem. Notrequirediftheupgradecommandisused. <mntpoint> --size= --grow --maxsize= --ondisk=or--ondrive= Specifieswherethepartitionwillbemounted. Definestheminimumpartitionsizeinmegabytes. Specifiesthatthepartitioncangrowtofillanyavailablespaceorupto themaximumsizesetting. Specifiesthemaximumsizeinmegabytesforapartitiontogrow. Specifiesthediskonwhichpartitionswillbecreated.For example, part --ondisk=sdacreatespartitionsonthefirstSCSIdriveonthe system. Setsthefilesystemtypeforthepartition. Specifiesthatthepartitionshouldbecheckedforbadsectors. Rebootsthesystemafterscriptedinstallationisfinished. Setstherootpasswordforthesystem. Specifiesthatthepasswordisencrypted. Specifiesthepasswordvalue. Performsthekickstartinstallationintextmode. Setsthetimezoneforthesystem. SetsthesystemhardwareclocktoUTC(GreenwichMean)time. Specifiesthetimezoneforthesystem. Upgradesthesystem. AcceptstheESX Serverlicenseagreement.
--fstype= --badblocks reboot(optional) rootpw (required) [--iscrypted] <password> text (optional) timezone (required) [--utc] <timezone> upgrade(optional) vmaccepteula (required)
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Command vmlicense(optional) Description Specifieslicenseinformation.Ifyouspecifycentralizedlicensing,the commandtakestheform: vmlicense --mode=server --server=<server> [--features=<features>] [--edition=<edition>] where<server>isthehostnameorIPaddressofthelicenseserverin theformatport@hostname.<features>isanoptional, commaseparatedlistoffeaturestorequestfromthelicensingserver, and<edition>istheESX Serveredition. Ifyouspecifysinglehostlicensing,thecommandtakestheform: vmlicense --mode=file [--features=<features>] [--edition=<edition>] Thecontentsofthelicensefilemustbeincludedinthe %vmlicense_textsectionofthekickstartfile. zerombr(optional) Zeroesoutthemasterbootrecord.
%packages Section
Thissectionspecifiespackagesforinstallation.The%packagessectionisrequiredfor successfulinstallationandmustfollowthecommandssection.Thesectionconsistsof thefollowingtwolines:
%packages @ base
%pre Section
The%presectionletsyouspecifyascripttorunpriortoinstallation.Thissectionis optionalandmustcomeafterthecommandssection.See theRedHatEnterpriseLinux 3: SystemAdministrationGuideformoreinformationonpreinstallationscripting.
%post Section
The%postsectionletsyouspecifyascripttorunafterinstallation.Thissectionis optionalandmustcomeafterthecommandssection.See theRedHatEnterpriseLinux3: SystemAdministrationGuideformoreinformationonpostinstallationscripting.
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%vmlicense_text Section
ThissectioncontainsthelicensefilefortheESX Serverinstallation.Omitthissectionif youdidnotspecifysinglehostlicensing.Thissectionmustcomeafterthecommands section.
Sample Kickstart File

ThefollowingisasamplekickstartfileforanESX Serverinstallationusingalicense server:
# Installation Method cdrom # root Password rootpw --iscrypted $1$MpR$n9sgFQJweS1PeSBpqRRu.. # Authconfig authconfig --enableshadow --enablemd5 # BootLoader ( The user has to use grub by default ) bootloader --location=mbr # Timezone timezone America/Los_Angeles # X windowing System skipx # Install or Upgrade install # Text Mode text # Network install type network --device eth0 --bootproto dhcp # Language lang en_US # Language Support langsupport --default en_US # Keyboard keyboard us # Mouse mouse generic3ps/2 --device psaux # Reboot after install ? reboot # Clear Partitions clearpart --all --initlabel --drives=sda # Partitioning part /boot --fstype ext3 --size=100 --ondisk=sda part / --fstype ext3 --size=1500 --ondisk=sda part None --fstype vmkcore --size=100 --ondisk=sda part None --fstype vmfs3 --size=900 --grow --maxsize=2500 --ondisk=sda part swap --size=256 --grow --maxsize=512 --ondisk=sda #VMware Specific Commands vmaccepteula
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vmlicense --mode=server --server=27000@license.vmware.com --edition=esxFull --features= backup %packages @ base %post
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Index
Numerics
27000, port 52 27010, port 52
D
databases Oracle 66 preparing 66 SQL Server 68 device driver mappings 94 device drivers 94 DPM, by edition 29 DRAC 82 driver disks 93 DRS, by edition 29
A
activation code, license 48 ATA disks 22
B
backing up virtual machines 29 backup 34 Consolidated Backup 34 BIOS 86 boot device 86 boot loader options 86 booting from SAN 83, 86 kernel parameters 86
E
editions 34 end user license agreement 85 ESX Server, editions 34 EULA 85 evaluation licenses 60
C
centralized licensing configuring 50 description 31 clients, firewall 76 configuring, ports 76 Consolidated Backup 34 Consolidated Backup, licensing 29
F
firewall 76
G
grace period, license server 35 guest operating systems 25
H
HA, by edition 29 hosts firewall 76
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I
IDE disks 23 ILO 82 installation logs 93 installation script, creating 103 installing ESX Server 83 license server 60 on SANs 23 Oracle database 66 VirtualCenter Server 71 iSCSI licensing 29
listening ports 76 local Oracle database 66 logs, installation 93 LUNs, shared 83
M
mappings, device driver 94 master boot record 86 memory, server requirements 22 Microsoft Access database end of support life 19 modules.conf file 93 MSDE, preparing database 71
K
kernel parameters, boot 86 kickstart commands 108 kickstart file, creating 103 kudzu utility 93
N
NAS, licensing 29
O
ODBC databases 68 operating systems, guest 25 Oracle, preparing database 66
L
LAC 28 license activation code 28, 48 license files installing 49 locations of 58 obtaining 40, 48 license keys 32 license pool 31 license server availability 35 grace period 35 install 60 licenses, evaluation 60 licensing centralized 31 single host 32
P
PAC 28 partitioning advanced 89 optional 99 options 86 recommended 88 required 95 partner activation code 28 partner activation portal 28 ports 27000 52 27010 52 configuring 76 firewall 76 license server 52
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Index
R
reinstalling VirtualCenter 77 remote Oracle database 66 removing VirtualCenter 77 RSA II 82
U
uninstalling VirtualCenter 77 upgrading device drivers 94
V
VCB 29, 34 VI Client, downloading 94 VMFS3 91 vmkcore 91 VMotion, licensing 34 VMware Consolidated Backup 29, 34 VMware DRS, licensing 35 VMware HA, licensing 35
S
SANs booting from 83, 86 SATA disks 23, 82 scripted installation 107 SCSI 22 SCSI adapters 93 SCSI disks 23 SDK 13 shared LUNs 83 single-host licensing configuring 53 description 32 SMP, licensing 29 specifications ESX Server system minimum 21 performance recommendations 24 SQL Server, preparing database 68 support, guest operating system 25 system requirements ESX Server 21 license server 21 VI Client 20 VI Web Access 20 VirtualCenter database 19 VirtualCenter Server 17
T
TCP/IP ports 27000 52 27010 52
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Updates for the ESX Server 3 Installation Guide
LastUpdated:May14,2010 ThisdocumentprovidesupdatestotheESXServer3.5andVirtualCenter2.5versionof theESXServer3InstallationGuide.Updateddescriptions,procedures,andgraphicsare organizedbypagenumbersothatyoucaneasilylocatetheareasoftheguidethathave changes.Ifthechangespansmultiplesequentialpages,thisdocumentprovidesthe startingpagenumberonly. ThefollowingisalistofupdatestotheESXServer3InstallationGuide:

UpdatesfortheTableofSupportedDatabaseFormatsonPage 19 UpdatetotheToprepareanOracledatabasetoworklocallywithVirtualCenter ProcedureonPage 66 UpdatefortheToprepareanOracledatabasetoworkremotelywithVirtualCenter ProcedureonPage 67 UpdatesfortheToprepareaSQLServerdatabasetoworkwithVirtualCenter ProcedureonPage 68 UpdatesfortheConfiguringCommunicationBetweenVirtualCenterComponents SectiononPage 76 UpdatefortheToenableaVirtualCentermanagedhosttoreceivedataonthe defaultportProcedureonPage 77
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Updates for the Table of Supported Database Formats on Page 19

ThefollowingrowshouldappearinTable 21:
MicrosoftSQLServer2005Standard InstallSP1orSP2forMicrosoftSQLServer2005. ForWindows2000andWindowsXP,apply MDAC2.8SP1totheclient. UsetheSQLNativeClientdriverfortheclient.
Table 21doesnotmentionsupportforversionslaterthan10.2.0.3.0ofOracle 10g EnterpriseRelease2,andthesupportfortwonewOraclepatches.Therowshould appearasfollows:

OracleDatabase10gRelease2 (10.2.0.1.0)StandardEdition OracleDatabase10gRelease2 (10.2.0.1.0)EnterpriseEdition Afterapplyingpatch10.2.0.3.0totheclientand server,applypatch5699495totheclient.Also applypatches6085625and6452485totheserver.
Note:VMwaresupports10.2.0.3.0andlater versionsofOracleDatabase10gRelease2.
Update to the To prepare an Oracle database to work locally with VirtualCenter Procedure on Page 66
Step 4intheToprepareanOracledatabasetoworklocallywithVirtualCenter procedureisapplicableonlyifyouareusingOracle9i.IfyouareusingOracle10g,the databaseisconfiguredtouse300opencursorsbydefault.
Update for the To prepare an Oracle database to work remotely with VirtualCenter Procedure on Page 67
TheToprepareanOracledatabasetoworkremotelywithVirtualCenterprocedure shouldbereplacedwiththefollowingsteps: 1 2 InstalltheOracleclientontheVirtualCenter Servermachine. Editthetnsnames.orafilelocatedinOra9ior10g,asappropriate.
C:\Oracle\Oraxx\NETWORK\ADMIN
Inthisexample,xxiseither 9ior10g.
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CreateanewtablespacespecificallyforVirtualCenterbyrunningthefollowing SQLstatement:
CREATE TABLESPACE "VPX" DATAFILE 'C:\Oracle\ORADATA\VPX\VPX.dat' SIZE 1000M AUTOEXTEND ON NEXT 500K;
Createauser(forexample,vpxAdmin),foraccessingthetablespacethrough ODBC:
CREATE USER vpxAdmin IDENTIFIED BY vpxadmin DEFAULT TABLESPACE vpx;
Eithergrantdbapermissiontotheuser,orgrantthefollowingpermissionstothe user:
grant grant grant grant grant grant connect to <user> resource to <user> create view to <user> execute on dbms_job to <user> execute on dbms_lock to <user> unlimited tablespace to <user> # To ensure space limitation is not an issue
UsetheNet8ConfigurationAssistanttoaddthefollowingentry:
VPX = (DESCRIPTION = (ADDRESS_LIST = (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=vpxd-Oracle)(PORT=1521)) ) (CONNECT_DATA = (SERVICE_NAME = VPX) ) )
Inthisexample,HOSTisthemanagedhosttowhichtheclientneedstoconnect. 7 CreateanODBCconnectiontothedatabase. Thefollowingareexamplesettings:

Data Source Name: VMware VirtualCenter TNS Service Name: VPX User Id: vpxAdmin
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Updates for the To prepare a SQL Server database to work with VirtualCenter Procedure on Page 68
ThefollowingtextshouldappearintheToprepareaSQLServerdatabasetoworkwith VirtualCenterprocedure: Makesurethatthedatabaseuserhasthefollowingpermissions:
MicrosoftSQLServer2000Makesurethatthedatabaseuserhasthedb_owner fixeddatabaseroleontheVirtualCenterdatabaseandtheMSDBdatabase. The db_ownerroleontheMSDBdatabaseisrequiredforinstallationandupgrade only.Youcanrevokethisroleaftertheinstallationorupgradeprocessis completed.Do notgranttheSystemAdministratorsserverroletothedatabase user.However,iftheSystemAdministratorsrolewaspreviouslygrantedwhilethe databasewasusedwithVirtualCenterServer2.0.x,donotrevoketheSystem Administratorsrole.Leaveitasis. MicrosoftSQLServer2005Makesurethatthedatabaseloginhaseitherthe sysadminserverroleorthedb_ownerfixeddatabaseroleontheVirtualCenter databaseandontheMSDBdatabase.Thedb_ownerroleontheMSDBdatabaseis requiredforinstallationandupgradeonly.Youcanrevokethisroleafterthe installationorupgradeprocessiscomplete.
Updates for the Configuring Communication Between VirtualCenter Components Section on Page 76
ThefollowingtextshouldappearintheConfiguringCommunicationBetween VirtualCenterComponentssection: Port443isrequiredforcommunicationfromVirtualCentertoESXServerhosts.
Update for the To enable a VirtualCenter managed host to receive data on the default port Procedure on Page 77
TheToenableaVirtualCentermanagedhosttoreceivedataonthedefaultport procedureshouldcontainthefollowinginformationaboutthetypeofportsthatmust beopenedtoenabledatareception: ToallowdatatransfertotheVirtualCentermanagedhostfromtheVirtualCenterServer oranotherVirtualCentermanagedhost,openport902inthefirewallforincomingTCP connectionsandoutgoingUDPconnections.
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Update for the LUN Requirements Section on Page 83

IntheLUNRequirementssection,informationprovidedonthenumberofLUNs supportedduringtheboottimeshouldbeasfollows: WhenanESXServerhostisrestarting,itsupportsonlythefirst256LUNsloadedat boottime.Ifyourbootvolumeisnotoneofthefirst256LUNs,theESXServerhost mightstoprespondingatstartup.ThetotalnumberofLUNsinthesystemshouldnot bemorethan256.Ifyouhavecontrollersloading256LUNsbeforethebootvolume, reducethenumberofLUNsonthecontrollersto256orless.
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Update6
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ESX Server 3 Installation Guide

ESX Server 3.5 and VirtualCenter 2.5

ESX Server 3 Installation Guide

VMware, Inc. 3401 Hillview Ave. Palo Alto, CA 94304 www.vmware.com

ESX Server 3 Installation Guide

3 VirtualCenterandESX Server 3LicensingOverview 27

4 RunningVMwareVirtualCenterandVMware ESX Server

ESX Server 3 Installation Guide

About This Book

ESX Server 3 Installation Guide

VMware Infrastructure Documentation

Abbreviations Used in Figures

Technical Support and Education Resources

About This Book

Online and Telephone Support

VMware Education Services

ESX Server 3 Installation Guide

Introduction to VMware Infrastructure

ThisbookdescribeseachseparateinstallerforsettingupVMwareESX Server 3and VirtualCentercomponents.Thischapterdescribesthecomponentsindividually,soyou knowwhichyouneedtoinstall. Thischaptercontainsthefollowingtopics:

ESX Server 3 Installation Guide

VMware Infrastructure at a Glance

ESX Server hosts

OneVirtualCenter ServermanagesmultipleESX Serverhosts. Eachshadedblockrepresentsaseparateinstallerorprocedure.TheVI Clientappears twice,becauseyoucandownloaditfromaVirtualCenter ServerorESX Serverhost.

Chapter 1 Introduction to VMware Infrastructure

ESX Server 3 Installation Guide

VI ClientTheVI ClientinstallsonaWindowsmachineandistheprimary methodofinteractionwithVMwareInfrastructure.TheVI Clientactsas:

Aconsoletooperatevirtualmachines. AnadministrationinterfaceintotheVirtualCenter ServersandESX Server hosts.

TheVI ClientisdownloadablefromtheVirtualCenter ServerandESX Server hosts.TheVI Clientinstallationincludesdocumentationforadministratorsandfor consoleusers.See InstallingVMwareInfrastructureManagementonpage 65.

Chapter 1 Introduction to VMware Infrastructure

Whats New for Installation

Whats New About Installing VirtualCenter Version 2.5

AninstallationwizardthatinstallsVirtualCenter,theVIClient,andplugin components Newevaluationmode Newlicenseserversupportofamultiplelicensefiledirectory AfeaturethatdetectspluginsinstalledonaVirtualCenter Serverduringa VI Clientinstallation

Whats New About Installing ESX Server 3.5

NewevaluationmodeofferingfullaccesstoallESX Serverfeaturesforalimited time SATAdiskdrivessupportforESX Server 3.5installation

NewfeaturesintroducedinESX Serverversion 3.0.1includeanewupgradefeature thatallowsmigrationupgradeswithoutvirtualmachinedowntime. NewfeaturesintroducedinESX Serverversion 3.0include:

OnscreenHelpnolongerintheinstaller VMFS3,anewfilesystem VM3,anewvirtualmachineformat UpdatedVMwareTools NewVI Clientinstallation,downloadablefromachangedWebinterface

ESX Server 3 Installation Guide

Thischapterdescribesthehardwareandoperatingsystemrequirementsforhosts runningVirtualCenterandESX Server 3.Usetheinformationinthischaptertoensure thatyourenvironmentmeetstherequirementsforinstallation. Thischaptercontainsthefollowingtopics:

VMwareInfrastructureRequirementsonpage 17 ESX Server 3Requirementsonpage 21 SupportedGuestOperatingSystemsonpage 25

VMware Infrastructure Requirements

VirtualCenter Server Requirements

Processor2.0GHzorhigherIntelorAMDx86processor.Processorrequirements canbelargerifyourdatabaseisrunonthesamehardware. Memory2GBRAMminimum.RAMrequirementscanbelargerifyourdatabase isrunonthesamehardware.

ESX Server 3 Installation Guide

MicrosoftSQLServer2005ExpressdiskrequirementsThebundleddatabase requiresupto2GBfreediskspacetodecompresstheinstallationarchive. However,approximately1.5GBofthesefilesaredeletedaftertheinstallationis complete. NetworkingGigabitrecommended.

VirtualCenter Server Software Requirements

Windows2000ServerSP4withUpdateRollup1(downloadUpdateRollup1from http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/server/evaluation/news/bulletins/rollu p.mspx) WindowsXPProSP2 Windows2003ServerSP1(allreleasesexcept64bit) Windows2003ServerR2

Chapter 2 System Requirements

VirtualCenter Database Requirements

Oracle9irelease2Standard Oracle9irelease2Enterprise Oracle10gStandardRelease1(10.1.0.3.0) Oracle10gEnterpriseRelease1(10.1.0.3.0) Oracle10gStandardRelease2(10.2.0.1.0) Oracle10gEnterpriseRelease2(10.2.0.1.0)

Eachdatabaserequiressomeconfigurationadjustmentsinadditiontothebasic installation.See PreparingtheVirtualCenter ServerDatabaseonpage 66.

End of Support Life for Microsoft Access Databases

ESX Server 3 Installation Guide

VI Client Hardware Requirements

VI Client Software Requirements

Windows2000ProSP4 Windows2000ServerSP4withUpdateRollup1(downloadUpdateRollup1from http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/server/evaluation/news/bulletins/rollu p.mspx) WindowsXPProSP2 Windows2003SP1(allreleasesexcept64bit) Windows2003ServerR2 WindowsVistaBusiness WindowsVistaEnterprise

TheVI ClientrequirestheMicrosoft.NET2.0Framework.Ifyoursystemdoesnothave itinstalled,theVI Clientinstallerinstallsit.

VirtualCenter VI Web Access Requirements

WindowsInternetExplorer6.0orhigher,NetscapeNavigator7.0,Mozilla1.X, Firefox1.0.7andhigher. LinuxNetscapeNavigator7.0orlater,Mozilla1.x,Firefox1.0.7andhigher.

Chapter 2 System Requirements

License Server Requirements

License Server Hardware Requirements

Processor266MHzorhigherIntelorAMDx86processor. Memory256MBRAMminimum,512MBrecommended. DiskStorage25MBfreediskspacerequiredforbasicinstallation. NetworkingGigabitrecommended.

VMwarerecommendsthatyouinstallthelicenseserveronthesamemachineasyour VirtualCenter Servertoensureconnectivity.TheVMwareInfrastructureManagement InstallationCDinstallsalicenseserverwhenyouinstallVirtualCenter.

License Server Software Requirements