Year: 2015

Troubleshooting vSphere PSOD

dvdmorera Other Techy Stuff, vCenter, Virtualization, vSphere , , ,

VMware_PSOD The Screen of Death, as most of us know it as, is the result of a system crash. Windows has his famous Blue Screen of Death (BSOD), and VMware has a purple screen of death (PSOD). Of course there is also a Black Screen of Death, which is usually when Windows systems are missing a boot file or one or more of those files have become corrupted. Although there is a range of colors, the problem for many is How do I fix this? How do I know what caused this?

Many admins start with the obvious and simply reboot the machine hoping it was a hiccup, but chances are, there is a bigger problem going on that needs addressed. In VMware, just like other systems, a core dump file is created when the stop error is generated. This is where you start digging…

Where is my DUMP…file?!?

So, during the purple screen, the host is writing the dump file to a previously created partition called VMKcore. There is a chance that the core dump file won’t be written due to internal problems, so it is always a good idea to take a screen shot of the PSOD. Exporting the core dump file can be done via CLI, manually from vCenter path for both Windows and/or appliance, as well as vSphere Client and WebClient; which is the preferred method from most admin since it is so simple to do.

To export the logs from vSphere Web Client, use the following steps:

  • Open vSphere Web Client > Hosts & Clusters > Right click on vCenter > Export System Logs…

Sys_Logs

  • Choose the host that had the PSOD > Next

Sys_Logs_ESXi

  • Make sure you select CrashDumps, all others are optional

Sys_Logs_CrashDump

 

Once you have the dump file (vmkernel-zdump….), its time to look for the needle in the haystack. There are a lot of entries, and this file can be overwhelming to many people, but don’t stress, it is quite simple to find it. The first logical step is to find the crash entry point You can use the time when you noticed the PSOD or you can simply search within the log file for “@bluescreen”.

Find_@Bluescreen

Once you find this, you will see the exact cause for the PSOD. In the screenshot below, you can see that the error generated is in relation to E1000. You should automatically think vNIC/Drivers, as well as looking online for any VMware KB articles regarding the errors generated. In this case, there is a known issue for different versions of vSphere that have already been patched; so keeping up to date on patches is very important.

E1000_PSOD

 

The issue that triggered the PSOD in this environment was related to updates (fix) not being applied. The work around was to not use E1000e NIC on the VM but rather VMXNET3. Also, you HAVE to install the VMTools on your VMs. The VMTools have drivers needed for your VM to work properly. In this particular instance, VMTools were not installed on the VM. Once the tools were installed and the vNIC was switch to VMXNET3, the issue was resolved.

 

Refer to VMware’s KB2059053 for more info.

VMWORLD 2015 PREVIEW

dvdmorera VMworld 2015 , ,

VMworld2015It’s hard to believe it is conference season again. VMworld 2015 is only a month away (or less), and while VMware folks are gearing up to deliver the goods, you should also be getting ready in order to maximize your investment. Conferences are not just about the monetary investment, but also the personal time that we give up to travel across the country to acquire new knowledge.

This is my 6th or 7th VMworld this year (I lost count), so if VMworld 2015 will be your first one, you are in for a treat. I personally like the venue in San Francisco, not only is it familiar for returning attendees but also allows you to explore a great city. Did I mention they have really good breweries close by?!?!

In the United States, the venue will be the same, as I stated before, San Francisco Moscone Center. If you are registered, make sure you also register for the individual sessions. If you do not, you will have to wait outside and see if there is room available after the subscribed attendees have been seated.  Partner and TAM day are held on Sunday, so there is already a good amount of people at the conference center during that weekend. There is also a 5K fun run on Sunday Morning for charity. I participated last year and it was quite fun. More info here.

VMworld 5k Fun Run
VMworld 5k Fun Run

Last year vBrownBag hosted “Opening Acts” which were panel based discussions on many different topics. It is definitely worth your time. Follow vBrownBag on Twitter and visit Opening Acts 2015.

During the conference, there is a lot going on. Sessions from General sessions, deep dives, or just vendor based sessions are just some of many ways to acquire knowledge and professional connections. Make sure you network with other fellow geeks, you never know who you are going to meet, and often times it benefits you in different ways. Talk to the vendors. Yes, not just collect swag, but go talk to them. Many times I’ve been looking for a solution to a business requirements and my google search did not help, then I find out that one of the vendors has developed exactly what I’ve been looking for.

I hope to see many of you in San Francisco very soon…

 

 

Recover your VMs in a Snap with Veeam, NetApp & VMware

dvdmorera Backup & Recovery , , ,

recoveryWhen it comes to business continuity and disaster recovery, there are a plethora of options out there. From built-in vendor tools, third party tools and your typical backup/recovery strategy. Choosing a solution does not always result in the best solution, if we take into account the fact that no one person knows all the tools available, and no one has time to research them all. A lot of times tools are chosen based on the vendor’s size, reputation and word of mouth; and of course, a lot of marketing, which I am not a fan of. Every vendor will always say that their solution is the best out there, so don’t rely on marketing material, instead talk to colleagues and other IT individuals through social media, conferences, etc.

Recently I was tasked with providing a BC solution for a specific application. The business was overwhelmed when I presented six different approaches since they really didn’t know what they wanted. After some meetings, I was able to extract what they wanted to achieve, which was a cheap/free solution utilizing current infrastructure that provides granular, and fast recovery of VMs and file level. This sounded like a challenge, but luckily I had just attended a Veeam session at Cisco Live 2015.

The solution selected was Veeam Backup and Replication. This tool allowed for full visibility of existing NetApp volume snapshots of the VMware environment without having to run new backups/snapshots or any additional jobs. Veeam B&R, includes an Explorer tool that connects to both the VMware vCenter and the NetApp arrays. It is then capable of looking inside each volume snapshot, and present the actual VM instead of all individual files. At this point, you have the option to restore the entire VM or even individual files within that object. The great part about this is that if you have a snapshot for exchange server, you are actually able to restore files within that Exchange snap.

Veeam_Explorer

 

Veeam also supports other storage vendors such as HP Lefthand and 3PAR, and new storage vendors will soon be added to this product.

Give it a try, at some point this may be the right solution to a problem or business requirement.

New Beginnings

dvdmorera Other Techy Stuff , ,

new-beginningThroughout the career of an IT professional, there are many changes that come up during his/her career. People follow a certain path to move up the ladder, and others create their own path as they grow. Today marks a new beginning for me, as I leave the customer realm and join the partner side of IT.

Various opportunities were presented to me lately without really looking too hard, and I am glad they did. While I was content with my job, the issue was just that; I was content. I am the kind of person that loves to learn and be challenged in order to grow personally and professionally, and I hate to just coast.

As of now, I will be joining a great company, H.A. Storage, as a Senior Solutions Architect. I started my career as a consultant for a huge enterprise and worked my way down to smaller companies, which people would consider it backwards, but I wouldn’t have done it any other way. The experience I acquired throughout my career has allowed me to acquire over 20 IT certifications and a Masters degree, on top of a great deal of hands on experience in many areas.

I believe my education and experience has prepared me for this new role. I am ready and excited to help other companies with their projects and need of solutions within their environments.

I received many offers lately, but one company was an obvious choice, and that was H.A. Storage. I am proud to join a team of high level technical engineers, architects, and technologist that make IT happen. People are amazing, and I already feel part of the family. I am really looking forward to what the future holds at H.A. Storage.

Definitely check out H.A. Storage www.hastorage.com

ha-storage-logo

 

Drunk History – Storage

dvdmorera NetApp, Storage ,

For those of you that have watched this show (Drunk History), you either love it or hate. I love learning about history, specially when the narrators are drunk. It makes it very interesting and funny. Anyway, this blog post is not about the show, but about the history of storage breakthroughs that changed the way we do storage.

Anyway, there has been many technology advances that not only affected the storage realm, but also other software define solutions such as hypervisors. The birth of snapshots, array replication, cloning, etc are just some of the many advances that we now take for granted. Here is a good representation of the advances provided by NetApp for the last 30+ years.

NTAP_History

 

When you are shopping for hardware, consider the slide above and ask yourself, what company has the most experience and are the pioneers in the field.

I’m just going to leave this here…

drunk1