Following a discovered issue with Update 1 for ESX4.0 which was released on the 23rd November, VMware re-relase Update1a to fix the problems. Potentially a situation could occur when the ESX host could be left in an unstable state with the upgrade failing. The issue is caused by an upgrade to a the glibc file contained in Update 1. The new version of glibc (version 5.3) introduces a change to the locking mechanism. Previously, a bug was reported that affected users running HP Insight Manager agents on their ESX hosts. However, the bug also affected users that run RPM commands during the upgrade process.

The fixed version of Update 1 (dubbed Update 1a) fixes the aforementioned issues. Update 1a can be obtained via Update Manager and the patch download site.

The offical KB is here

Enhancements

I don’t know how many of you out there have been using VDR to backup your VMware estate. VDR is a good option for a quick deduplicated backup solution – albeit there have been a few issues. Initially Xtravirt used VDR to backup our production infrastructure as well as development and test virtual machines. However, occasionally we were recieving the well documented 3902 error which would stop the backup jobs from running. A sample of this error is below.

11/23/2009 5:33:11 AM: Normal backup using Xtravirt Daily backup

11/23/2009 5:33:48 AM: Failed to create snapshot for XenCenterServer, error -3902 ( file access error)

11/23/2009 5:33:57 AM: Task incomplete

The issue seemed to be resolved by rebooting the VDR virtual appliance, although this brought with it, its own problems (not counting the annoyance of rebooting it every other day). Well, thank goodness VMware have got their finger out and released an updated version that resolves (to be seen and tested) the issue.

VMware VDR

The upgrade path is documented here. Basically, uninstall your existing VDR plugin from your machine, import the new OVF appliance and connect it to the backup destination (existing VMDK\CIFS share\RDM).  If you are using VDR or are looking at testing it, ensure you use the updated version. Make sure you review the release notes before getting your hands dirty. Although it does not mention the ‘fix’ that is mentioned on the forums here, other information worthy of note included:

The enhancements have been made for this release of Data Recovery.

• File Level Restore Functionality is Officially SupportedFile Level Restore (FLR) provides a way to access individual files within restore points for Windows virtual machines. In previous versions of Data Recovery, FLR was provided as an experimental feature. File Level Restore feature is now officially supported.

• Integrity Check Stability and Performance ImprovedThe integrity check process is faster and more stable. Note that integrity checks are computationally intensive processes and can take significant periods of time. The exact amount of time integrity checks take varies based on of the size of the deduplication store. Even with these enhancements, integrity checks that take several hours are not unexpected.

• Integrity Checks Provides Improved Progress InformationWhen an integrity check is running, a progress indicator is displayed. This progress indicator has been improved, although it does not provide the optimal level of detail.

Enhanced CIFS Shares Support

Perhaps ‘Enhanced CIFS Shares Support’ is code for ‘now works.’

When I saw this I have to admit that I started to ge a bit worried. Its not everyday you get a mark like this next to your name.

VMware, do you want to tell me something ?!? Someone give me some points or take some away, quick !!

You may have already seen vAlarm, a free utility to monitor alarms from a vcenter server. After I finished writing that application I thought, what would be useful next? So, I have written and released a free log viewer application for esx called VLogView.

Let me know what you think.

What is Capacity Planning?

This Xtravirt White Paper discusses Capacity Planning (Workload Profiling) and the reasons why it is an important first step to any virtualization exercise.

Prompted by the frustrations of trying to convince customers of the importance of fully understanding their environment before embarking on a virtualization project, this papers aim is to clear up misconceptions about the purpose and importance of this exercise.

Capacity Planning will be referred to as “Workload Profiling” as this name better represents the core activity of the exercise. Workload profiling is where a software tool such as VMware Capacity Planning, PlateSpin Recon or Lanamark is installed in a customer’s existing environment and configured to systematically gather performance and inventory data over a period of time, typically several weeks. At the end of the exercise the data is analysed and a report is generated showing the usage of the environment. This data is then used as the basis for the virtualization design phase.

The key point to note is that it’s not simply about determining how much new server hardware is required to support the new virtual environment (i.e. Capacity Planning), it’s also about having the detailed information to be able to make informed design decisions during the design phase.

The Whitepaper can be read here

Service packs are a collection of updates to a product that resolve known issue or workarounds; they may also introduce new features or extended the capabilities of existing ones. Moreover, service packs update systems to the most current code base. Being on the current code base is important because that’s where Microsoft focuses on fixing problems. For example, any such work done on Windows 2008 is targeted at the next service pack and hotfixes are built against the existing available base.

This post lists the Hyper-V specific fixes within the service pack.

I received an email in my inbox tonight – ESX 3.0.2 support ends as of August 7th 2009. More information can be viewed at VMwares site here.

Overview

There is a lot of talk about at the moment with regards to VDI – is it happening or isn’t it. There have been some industry spokes people discussing when VDI will ‘really’ take off.

Something a VDI project should consider carefully is application delivery – how are applications in a VDI environment deployed to users? In a base image? Virtualized?

This article by Danny Clarke from Add3 provides an insight in to Application Virtualization.

Application Virtualization is a concept which enables organisations to deploy their users’ applications quickly, easily and securely without many of the headaches, risks or costs associated with traditional techniques.

Application Virtualization technologies typically do this by isolating or ‘sandboxing’ applications into self-contained packages or ‘bubbles’ which make it possible to not only deliver different versions or configurations of previously conflicting applications but also streamline the entire application lifecycle from instigation, through deployment, support, updates/patches to retirement.

This white paper provides an overview, the components and some of the business and technical benefits of Application Virtualization

The whitepaper can be read here

I recieved this in my inbox courtesy of Quest

The Desktop Virtualization Group is pleased to announce today’s release of Quest vWorkspace 6.2. Here are some of the exciting features and changes for this version of vWorkspace.

vWorkspace NetApp Integration

vWorkspace is now integrated with NetApp FlexClone technology. Here are some of the benefits of this integration:

• Rapid deployment of virtual desktops.
• An average of ninety percent disk utilization reduction saving valuable SAN or NAS storage (savings vary based on use case).
• Continuous desktop access due to advanced protection and fail over.
• VMware Platform support only.

Enhanced Multimonitor Support

Improvements have been made to enhance the user experience when using multiple monitors supporting a wider variety of orientations and mix/match resolutions.

Enhanced Graphic Acceleration Support

Graphics Acceleration improvements expand the applications which are accelerated, as well as improved speed and quality. Applications that use Microsoft DirectDraw are also now accelerated.

Enhanced USB Redirection

The USB Redirection feature has been enhanced with the following features:

• Improved support for audio and video USB based devices.
• Overall improved performance.
• Additional tuning and device exclusion options are included.

Web Access and Microsoft SharePoint Integration (Experimental)

vWorkspace Web Access can now be used with Microsoft SharePoint.  Please note this feature is experimental, and currently not supported by Quest Support.  It is important that the Quest vWorkspace Web Access and Microsoft Office SharePoint Integration Release Notes are reviewed before implementing this experimental feature.

Other Features

• An alternative sysprep mode has been added for provisioning virtual machines on VMware platforms for use with provisioning domain joined machines which will be joined to an AD OU. This overcomes limitations introduced since Virtual Center Update 3..

• Additional status information has been added to the vWorkspace Management Console when Desktops or Other Servers nodes are selected.

• Modifications have been made to the database verification process to allow for version upgrades without including a database upgrade.

It is important that you review the vWorkspace 6.2 documentation and release notes for further information on resolved and known issues.

The release and product documentation are available on the vWorkspace web site at http://www.vworkspace.com, as well as the Quest SupportLink web site at http://support.quest.com/.

Overview

This excellent Visio icon pack for VMware & virtualization has been re-released as a free member download. It contains over 70 unique icons together with a user guide and sample diagram templates.

It is designed for Windows Operating Systems and has been designed to run on Microsoft Visio 2003 and Microsoft Visio 2007, although also runs on Mac Omnigraffle. They are not compatible with Microsoft Visio 2000 or 2002.

Download here