Advanced System Management

1. Advanced System Management

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

3. Abstract • After an environment is virtualized, IT professionals are faced with managing a virtualized architecture on an enterprise scale likely for the first time in their career. • This session goes beyond the point level GUI-driven management solutions offered by each virtualization platform vendor, instead examining scripting solutions for virtualization management. • You’ll also get a review of the available tools for centrally managing the virtual enterprise.

4. WHAT I ASSUME YOU (THE AUDIENCE) KNOWS • Virtualization platform familiarity • Basic knowledge of virtualization management concepts and problems

5. BY THE END OF THE SESSION, YOU’LL KNOW THE FOLLOWING • Post deployment tuning • How to overcome common management challenges

6. Post Deployment Tuning • Disk/Storage • Network • Routine Performance Spikes

7. General Tuning • Disable unused ports and devices • USB, Floppy, CD-ROM • Do not use virtual SMP unless required by apps • Disable unnecessary programs and services • Run a single application per VM • Consolidate virtual memorymaps by grouping like OS/applications

8. General Tuning • Install VM Tools or additions • Install paravirtualized drivers whenever possible • Video • Disable screen savers • Do not run X Windows

9. Management Tools • Point-level • Centralized management • CA Unicenter ASM • SWsoft • ZENworks Virtual Machine Management

10. CA Unicenter ASM

11. Controlling VM Sprawl • Domain VHD Audit Script • Connect to domain • Collect list of all computers • Connect to each computer and list all VHD, VMDK, and files over 800MB http://downloads.chriswolf.com

12. Domain VHD/VMDK Audit Script 'Create Log File Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject") Set objFile = objFSO.OpenTextFile (strLogFile, _ ForWriting, True) ' Connect to domain and collect computer accounts Const ADS_SCOPE_SUBTREE = 2 Set objConnection = CreateObject("ADODB.Connection") Set objCommand = CreateObject("ADODB.Command") objConnection.Provider = "ADsDSOObject" objConnection.Open "Active Directory Provider" Set objCommand.ActiveConnection = objConnection set objRootDSE = GetObject("LDAP://RootDSE") objCommand.CommandText = _ "SELECT Name, Location FROM 'LDAP://" & _ objRootDSE.Get("defaultNamingContext") & "'" _ & "WHERE objectClass='computer'" objCommand.Properties("Page Size") = 1000 objCommand.Properties("Timeout") = 30 objCommand.Properties("Searchscope") = ADS_SCOPE_SUBTREE objCommand.Properties("Cache Results") = False Set objRecordSet = objCommand.Execute objRecordSet.MoveFirst

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

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

15. Auditing Virtual MAC Addresses • Needed for MAC filtering, new deployments, VLANs • Virtual MAC Tool (VMware)www.runvirtual.com • Vbscript (Windows)downloads.chriswolf.com

16. VM Failover Issues • Linux file systems may re-mount as read only following a data path failover in a multipath environment • Solution: VMware patch (KB 51306) • Manual repair: “VMware ESX, Linux virtual machines and read-only file systems” SCSI Error : <0 0 0 0> return code = 0x20008 end_request: I/O error, dev sda, sector 4928181 Aborting journal on device dm-0 ext3_abort called. EXT3-fs error (device dm-0): ext3_journal_start_sb: Detected aborted journal Remounting filesystem read-only.

17. Resizing Virtual Hard Disks • VMware: vmware-vdiskmanager.exe -x <new size> <virtual disk file> • Microsoft: • VhdResizer (vmtoolkit.com) • Xen: xe disk resize

18. Adding a “VM” Property to AD Objects • Useful for knowing which servers are virtual and which are physical • Requires a schema modification • Requires scripted AD integration to initially set the property

19. Management Resources • Chriswolf.com • VMware, XenSource, MS, Virtual Iron, SWsoft scripting downloads • VMware SDKhttp://www.vmware.com/support/developer/ • XenSource KB http://kb.xensource.com/kbindex.jspa

20. USE AT THE OFFICE • http://downloads.chriswolf.com • Tons o’ scripts • VM appliances • Resource guides

21. RECOMMENDATIONS / SUMMARY • Don’t assume anything works as promised until you validate it • Centralized monitoring and script support make life easier • Share your experiences!

22. QUESTIONS? • Audience Q&A • akutz@lostcreations.com

23. FOR MORE INFORMATION • Virtualization: From the Desktop to the Enterprise • www.chriswolf.com • www.searchservervirtualization.com • www.vmblog.com • www.virtualization.info