Tag: Upgrade

vCenter services not starting after 6.7 Update 3f upgrade

After upgrading a 3 vCenter Enhanced Link Mode environment a customer experienced the following error:

Server is at a higher functional level (1) than partner (<partner vCenter server>)(0) and cannot perform at a lower level.

When checking the domain functional level of each of the three servers, they all state that they are at level 1. The other server are starting like normal.

One server is not starting the vmdir service and it is also that service that is reporting the error. Most of the other services on a vCenter is dependant on this the vmdir.

I do not have a solution as of now. I might have a reason for the issue, and I might have a workaround. VMware is currently trying to figure out how to fix this.

Update Manager ELX_bootbank_elx-esx-libelxima.so driver conflict

Just provisioned the HPE ESXi 6.7 Update 3 custom OEM image onto some HP DL560 Gen10 servers.

After I updated the servers using update manager and the HPE vibsdepot I ran into problems. Turns out there is a conflict between the VMware provided driver and the HPE provided driver.

The result is that I cannot install all updates to satisfy compliance.

Checking the esxupdate.log file on the ESXi hosts I get the following error:

ValueError: VIBs ELX_bootbank_elx-esx-libelxima.so_12.0.1108.0-03 and ELX_bootbank_elx-esx-libelxima.so_12.0.1108.0-03 have unequal values of the 'payloads' attribute: '[elx-esx-libelxi: 1602.936 KB]' != '[elx-esx-libelxi: 1493.833 KB]'

VMware vCenter Appliance Installer on Ubuntu Linux

I have found that, when working with VMware vSphere, there are many benefits of running Linux on your workstation.

Things like tight integration with SSH, ISO files, API’s, Python are all things that make your life easier not only on Linux, but also when working with VMware.

Continue reading VMware vCenter Appliance Installer on Ubuntu Linux

Unable to VMotion to new Lenovo SR650 Host

Hi,

I have had an annoying issues at two customer sites now, and I want to share the solution with you.

The problem is that you cannot VMotion VMs to a newly installed ESXi 6.5 hosts running on Lenovo SR650 hardware. The CPU used in the new host is Intel Xeon Gold 6154 Processor, and the old hosts are using Intel Xeon Processor E7-4880 v2. I do not think that the source CPU model is relevant to the issue it could be any supported Intel CPU in the same cpu family.

When trying to VMotion the following error is displayed:

The virtual machine requires hardware features that are unsupported or disabled on the target host:
"""""""""""""* General incompatibilities
"
If possible, use a cluster with Enhanced vMotion Compatibility (EVC) enabled; see KB article 1003212.

CPUID details: incompatibility at level 0x1 register 'ecx'.
Host bits: 0110:0010:1101:1000:0011:0010:0000:0011
Required: x1xx:xx1x:10x1:1xx0:xx1x:xx1x:xxxx:xx11

If you then try to enable EVC in the cluster it complains that the new hosts has an issue, and returns this error:

The host's CPU hardware should support the cluster's current Enhanced vMotion Compatibility mode, but some of the necessary CPU features are missing from the host. Check the host's BIOS configuration to ensure that no necessary features are disabled (such as XD, VT, AES, or PCLMULQDQ for Intel, or NX for AMD). For more information, see KB article 1003212.

Continue reading Unable to VMotion to new Lenovo SR650 Host

vRealize Operations Manager 6.6.1 Upgrade failed

Hi,

just updated a vRealize Operations Manager server today from 6.0.2 to 6.6.1, and unfortunately I got an error during the fourth step of nine (4/9):

Failed The PAK action "apply_system_update" script "/usr/lib/vmware-vcopssuite/python/bin/python updateCoordinator.pu -p " failed

As I was in the middle of a vCenter upgrade and some other stuff, that was a little annoying, and I could not really find any articles on the particular problem, so I did some digging around in the appliance, and it turns out that it is not pleased with the certificate on the appliance.

Continue reading vRealize Operations Manager 6.6.1 Upgrade failed

vCenter Recent Tasks Descriptions and Names are broken after VCSA Upgrade

After upgrading VCSA from version 6.5 to 6.5 Update 1 you might experience a problem with Task Names and object Descriptions. Names are not “resolved” to its human understandable name, but instead they are written as a API object name.

For instance a host profile compliance check would normally be “Compliance check” but is instead written as “profile.ComplianceManager.check.label” or a VMotion is written as “Drm.ExecuteVMotionLRO.label”

Continue reading vCenter Recent Tasks Descriptions and Names are broken after VCSA Upgrade

Migrate folder structure from old to new vSphere vCenter

Sometimes I find it easier to create a new vCenter server then migrate the old one, and it is a perfectly good solution in many cases.

But annoyingly there is a lot of manual work involved.

One problem is the VM’s and Templates folders. They do not follow the host, so you have to create the folder structure manually and move each VM into the correct folder. Well I am way to lazy to do that by hand, so it’s time to Automate!

FCoE Adapters and datastores missing after vSphere ESXi 6.5 Install

Today I upgraded some HP BL460c Gen9 Blade Servers from ESXi 6.0 to ESXi 6.5. I always reinstall when going from 5.5 to 6.0 or 6.0 to 6.5, so After the server was done installing I found that the FCoE adapters and datastores was missing.

The servers are connected to some HP 3PAR storage using HP FlexFabric 10Gb 2-port 536FLB Adapters.

To regain access to your storage you need to enable the FCoE adapters using the esxcli command.

Continue reading FCoE Adapters and datastores missing after vSphere ESXi 6.5 Install