Tag Archives: VMware

Clipboard Copy and Paste does not work in vSphere Client 4.1 and later

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Starting with vSphere 4.1, the Copy and Paste options are, by default, disabled for security reasons.

 

To enable this option for a specific virtual machine:

  1. Log into a vCenter Server system using the vSphere Client and power off the virtual machine.
  2. Select the virtual machine and click the Summary tab.
  3. Click Edit Settings.
  4. Navigate to Options > Advanced > General and click Configuration Parameters.
  5. Click Add Row.
  6. Type these values in the Name and Value columns:Name                                                Value
    • isolation.tools.copy.disable    false
    • isolation.tools.paste.disable   false

    Note: These options override any settings made in the VMware Tools control panel of the guest operating system.

  7. Click OK to close the Configuration Parameters dialog, and click OK again to close the Virtual Machine Properties dialog.
  8. Power on the virtual machine.

Note: If you vMotion a virtual machine to a host where the isolation.tools.*="FALSE" is already set, the copy and paste options are automatically activated for that virtual machine.

To enable this option for all the virtual machines in the ESX/ESXi host:

  1. Log in to the ESX/ESXi host as a root user and open the /etc/vmware/config file using a text editor.
  2. Add these entries to the file:isolation.tools.copy.disable="FALSE"
    isolation.tools.paste.disable="FALSE"
  3. Save and close the file.The Copy and Paste options are only enabled when the virtual machines restart or resume the next time or shutdown and power-on the VM for changes to take effect

Note: These options do not persist after an upgrade. If you upgrade to a newer version after enabling these options, the changes are lost and you may have to re-enable them.

 

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1026437

Disabling the Windows Logon Screen Saver

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Screen savers are not necessary for virtual machines, to disable Windows Logon Screen Saver:
  1. Click Start > Run, type regedit, click OK.
  2. Locate the following registry key:

    HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop

  3. Double-click the ScreenSaveActive string value item in the Details pane.
  4. In the Value data box, replace the number 1 with the number 0 , and then click OK.

Alternatively, you can save the attached registry file and double click it. The key above is set for you (Windows 2000 and 2003 only).

Configuring SNMP Traps for ESX 3.5 and ESX 4.0

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Details

To generate virtual machine and environmental traps from ESX 3.5 and ESX 4.0 hosts, you must configure and enable the embedded SNMP agent. You cannot use the Net-SNMP-based agent to generate these traps, although it can receive GET transactions and generate other types of traps.
 
This represents a change in behavior from ESX 3.0.x, in which the configuration file for the Net-SNMP-based agent controlled the generation of virtual machine traps. For more information, see Configuring SNMP on an ESX 3.0.x host (1008186).

Solution

Use the vicfg-snmp command from the Remote CLI or vSphere CLI to enable this SNMP agent and configure trap destinations. Each time you specify a target with the vicfg-snmp command, the settings you specify overwrite all previously specified settings. To specify multiple targets, specify them in a single command, separated by commas.

To enable and configure SNMP traps:
 
Note: For ESX 3.5, use the Remote CLI. For ESX 4.0, use the vSphere CLI. The commands for both are same.  vicfg-snmp.pl is located in the C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware vSphere CLI\bin directory after the VMware vSphere CLI installation, by default.
 

  1. Specify the communities and trap targets with the command:

    vicfg-snmp.pl –server <hostname> –username <username> –password <password> -t <target hostname>@<port>/<community>

    Note: Under ESX 4.0, you may need to use the -c <community> flag.

    For example, to send SNMP traps from the host host.example.com to port 162 on target.example.com using the public community, use the command:

    vicfg-snmp.pl –server host.example.com –username root –password password -t target.example.com@162/public
     

  2. To enable the SNMP service, run the command:

    vicfg-snmp.pl –server <hostname> –username <username> –password <password> –enable
     

  3. (Optional) Send a test trap to verify that the agent is configured correctly with the command:

    vicfg-snmp.pl –server <hostname> –username <username> –password <password> –test

The test trap generated is a warmStart trap.

source: http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1008065

Using Tech Support Mode in ESXi 4.1

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Enable the Tech Support Mode in ESXi 4.1

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1017910

Enabling and Accessing Tech Support Mode

To enable local or remote TSM from the Direct Console User Interface (DCUI):
  1. At the DCUI of the ESXi host, press F2 and provide credentials when prompted.
  2. Scroll to Troubleshooting Options, and press Enter.
  3. If you want to enable local TSM, select Local Tech Support and press Enter once. This allows users to login on the virtual console of the ESXi host.

    If you want to enable remote TSM, select Remote Tech Support (SSH) and press Enter once. This allows users to login via SSH on the virtual console of the ESXi host.

  4. Optionally, if you want to configure the timeout for TSM:
    1. Select Modify Tech Support timeout and press Enter.
    2. Enter the desired timeout value in minutes and press Enter.
  6. Press Esc three times to return to the main DCUI screen.
To enable local or remote TSM from the vSphere Client:
  1. Select the host and click the Configuration tab.
  2. Click Security profile > Properties.
  3. Click Local Tech Support or Remote Tech Support (SSH) and click Options.
  4. Choose the desired startup policy and click Start, then click OK.
  5. Verify that the daemon selected in step 3 shows as running in the Services Properties window.
To configure the TSM timeout value using the vSphere Client:
  1. Select the host and click the Configuration tab.
  2. Click Advanced Settings.
  3. Change the UserVars.TSMTimeOut field to the desired value in minutes.
  4. Click OK.
To access the local TSM:
  1. At the main DCUI screen, press ALT+F1 simultaneously. This opens a virtual console window to the host.
  2. Provide credentials when prompted.

    Note: When typing the password, characters are not displayed on the console.

To access the remote TSM:
  1. Open an SSH client.
  2. Specify the IP address or domain name of the ESX host.

    Notes:

    • Directions may vary depending on what SSH client you are using. For more information, consult vendor documentation and support.
    • By default, SSH works on TCP port 22.
  4. Provide credentials when prompted.

Disabling access to VMware Tools

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VMware KB:  http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1006354

Purpose

This articles provides steps to disable VMware Tools access for other users.

Resolution

Disabling access to VMware Tools in the system tray by setting ShowTray to 0  in the registry under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\VMware, Inc.\VMware , does not prevent other users from accessing the VMware Tools from the Control Panel.
 
To ensure users cannot access VMware Tools from the system tray or control panel:  
  1. Go to C:\Program files\VMware\VMware Tools .
  2. Right-click VMControlPanel.cpl properties and choose Security.
  3. Click Advanced and deselect Allow inheritable permissions.
  4. Click Deny for Read and Execute and Read for the users
  5. Log in as an Administrator.
  6. Right-click on the VMware Tools system tray icon.
  7. Choose Disable.
  8. In the registry editor, delete the VMware Tools key under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run .

CPUID – VMotion CPU Compatibility

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We have problems doing a vmotion (ESX 4) from virtual machines from a Dell R710 to a Dell PowerEdge 2950. It gives a SSE4.2 error before we can vmotion it.

A quick solution is to set CPU Masks. To do this, do the following:

  1. Shut down the server
  2. Edit settings
  3. Go to Options
  4. Choose CPUID Mask
  5. Select the Expose Options
  6. Click Advanced
  7. Set the following options:
    Feature Level Row Mask
    SSE4.2 1 ecx —- —- 0–0 —- —- —- —- —-
    80000001 edx —- 0— —- —- —- —- —- —-
  8. Press OK twice

Now you can do a vmotion.

Cannot issue a new session ticket because the maximum number of tickets have been issued

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This issue occurs when the Console tab is being viewed on 10 or more virtual machines in under 30 seconds.

This issue occurs when the number of session tickets exceeds the the amount of default concurrent connections that vpxd allows.    To workaround this issue, increase the Session Ticket maximum value to 1024.   To increase the Session Ticket maximum value:  

  1. Open the vCenter Server’s vpxd.cfg file in text editor.Notes:
    • In Windows Server 2003, the vpxd.cfg is located on the vCenter Server in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\. In Windows Server 2008, it is located in C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\.
    • For more information about editing files, see Editing files on an ESX host using vi or nano (1020302).
  2. In between the vpxd tags, insert:     <sessionTicket>
            <max>1024</max>
         </sessionTicket>
  3. Restart the VMware VirtualCenter Server service. For more information, see Stopping, starting, or restarting vCenter services (1003895).

VMware KB: 1020496