Just another Techie weblog
Nutanix offering 75% off ALL of our Nutanix Certification exams! That includes:
Once you’re ready to take the exam, just use the discount code P75NTXQ321 when you register.
Don’t wait too long! This offer is only available until April 30, 2021.
Enjoy 😊
LCM Inventory is getting failed with the error “ Foundation Service running on one of the nodes, test failed”
SSH to one of the CVM, and run below command to get the foundation service status
allssh ‘genesis status | grep foundation’
nutanix@NTNX-15SXXXXXXAAAA-A-CVM:192.168.1.10:~$ allssh ‘genesis status | grep foundation’
================== 192.168.1.10 =================
foundation: []
================== 192.168.1.11 =================
================== 192.168.1.12 =================
foundation: [14525, 14556, 14557]
================== 192.168.1.13 =================
================== 192.168.1.14 =================
As per the output, foundation service is running on one of the node( 192.168.1.12), ssh to the node where foundation service is running. And run the below command.
genesis stop foundation
nutanix@NTNX-15SXXXXXXAAAA-C-CVM:192.168.1.12:~$ genesis stop foundation
2021-02-17 13:15:16.382143: Stopping foundation (pids [14525, 14556, 14557])
Once genesis stop you can confirm it while running the command again.
nutanix@NTNX-15SXXXXXXAAAA-A-CVM:192.168.1.12:~$ allssh ‘genesis status | grep foundation’
================== 192.168.1.10 =================
foundation: []
================== 192.168.1.11 =================
================== 192.168.1.12 =================
foundation: []
================== 192.168.1.13 =================
================== 192.168.1.14 =================
Rerun LCM inventory, its running fine now
Enjoy 😊
Rubrik Supports Nutanix AHV Backups. In the current Rubrik release configuring Rubrik AHV backup are like 5min job or piece of cake.
In today article I will show how to add Nutanix AHV Cluster in Rubrik as Backup Source.
Click on the gear icon à on the menu select Nutanix Cluster
On Right of Page click + icon to add the Nutanix Cluster
You have to provide the below information
To get the Nutanix Cluster UUID & Certificate , SSH to Nutanix CVM
Run Below Command to get the Cluster UUID
NCLI Cluster info
To get the Nutanix Certificate:
print ssl.get_server_certificate ((‘Prism Element IP’, 9440),ssl_version=ssl.PROTOCOL_TLSv1_2)
Click Ok to add the Nutanix Cluster. Once Nutanix Cluster is added you can proceed with VM selection and assign desire SLA.
Best Regards,
Qamar Abbas
Yesterday I faced an issue which took more 2-3 hour to get sorted. I had old Nutanix Block on which I need to do the foundation when I started the foundation using Nutanix Foundation VM and got error foundation process failed with error “ Unable to set IPMI IPs)
Moving forward, I got an idea make one bootable using download IPMItool from SuperMicro Website, boot the nodes from USB Drive.
IPMICFG -vlan off
Incase if you have access on the hypervisor IPMItool can be used to trun-off the VLAN ID, using below command to turn off VLAN Id from ESXi Host.
/ipmitool lan set 1 vlan ID off
Once the VLAN off, I am able to access IPMI ports and proceed with foundation.
IPMICFG Can be download from below link
https://www.supermicro.com/SwDownload/SwSelect_Free.aspx?cat=IPMI
AHV use Open VSwitch(OVS) to connect the CVM, Hypervisor and gest Virtual machines to each other and to physical network.
Open VSwitch:
Open VSwitch is an opensource software switch implementation in the Linux Kernel. OVS acts like a Layer-2 switch which means its maintain the MAC Address table. Host, VMs connect to Virtual Ports on the switch.OVS support common switch features like VLAN Tagging, Load Balancing and link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP). Each AHV Host server maintain and OVS instance and all OVS instance combine to form a single logical switch.
Bridges:
Bridges act as virtual switch to manage traffic between physical and virtual network interfaces. By default AHV configuration includes an OVS called Br0 / Br0-up and a native Linux Bridge call Virbr0. The virbr0 Linux bridge is responsible for management and storage communication between CVM and AHV host. All the other traffic (storage, host, VM) flows through br0 OVS bridge.
Ports:
Ports are logical entity created in bridge that represent connectivity to virtual switch.
Bonds:
Bonded ports aggregate the physical interfaces on the AHV host. By default, the system creates a bond named br0-up /Br0 having all physical interfaces.
OVS bonds supports multiple load-balancing modes, including active-backup, balance-slb, and balance-tcp.
Today I have faced the strange issue, I tried to add new host to vcenter but unable to add to check the VCenter services I tried to login to Vcenter appliance Management UI but unable to login.
I tried to reset the Vcenter Appliance root passowrd but didn’t work. After troubleshoting I found the solution. Applmgmt Services was not running which was not allowing me login to management Console.
So Check the services status from Shell , open VCenter Appliance Console / SSH.
Access à Shell
#service-control –status
#service-control –start applmgmt
Once Services started , I am able to login to console & able to add ESXi host to VCenter.
As we all know VMware WorkStation is a great solution for testing /home lab activities. Lots of guys ask me how to deploy VMware VCenter Appliance deploy in VMware Workstation as using VCenter Installer it looks for ESXi host to deploy the VCenter Appliance. So below is the procedure you can follow to deploy VCenter Server on VMware Workstation.
Accept the License Agreement and click Next
Specify the Virtual Machine name & location and click Next
Specify the Deployment Type and click Next
Once provide the information Click next.
Once VCenter Appliance will be deployed. Logged into Virtual machines
Set the VCenter Appliance IP and access the Virtual Machines Management using any explorer
https:// Virtual Appliance IP:5480
Now the Stage 2, will be started. Click Setup to proceed.
Click Next start the Stage 2
Provide the NTP information, Enable SSH Access incase if you want to configure VCenter Sever HA.
As I am planning to configure VCenter HA, hence enabling SSH Access. Click Next to continue.
Select the desire SSO Configuration, as I am going to setup the new SSO Domain. So I am providing the SSO domain name & Password for the Administrator. Click Next to continue.
Select the CEP option you desire and click next.
Confirm the Summary information and click finish to start the STAGE 2 Configuration. Please note that once you click Next you can’t stop the process.
Process will take upto 10-15 mins to finish the deployment.
Below will the URLs to access the appliance.
Appliance Management:
https://appliance_ip/hostname:5480
VCenter
VCenter HA is active – Passive solution, A VCenter Appliance HA Cluster consists of three VCenter Instances, 1st instance used as active and cloned 2 times as Passive & witness nodes.
VCenter HA Requirements:
VCenter Server 6.5 and higher
Network Connectivity
Setting up VCenter Appliance HA:
Select VCenter à Configuration à VCenter HA
Select “Set Up VCenter HA” to continue the VCenter HA Configuration
Specify the VCenter HA Network, Additional NIC (VCenter HA Network) will be added in active VCenter.
Click Edit and Specify the deployment host, Storage and network for Passive Network.
Specify the Host Click Next
Specify the Datastore where you want to store the passive VCenter node.
Specify the Network for passive Node
Click Finish. Repeat the same for Witness VM.
Click Next to configure VCenter Nodes HA IPs.
Click Finish to Start the Process. Whole process can take upto 15-20 min depends on the VM Clone copy process.
VCenter HA has been configured. You can see two new VM Named with passive & Witness has been created.
Manual Failover
Click on Initiate Failover to start the manual failover.
Click Initiate Failover, to confirm the failover. Select force option if you want to initate the failover immediately.
Destroy VCener HA
Click Remove VCenter HA to destroy the Center HA configuration
As all we know VMWare has release the VSphere 7.0. In this article I will show how to upgrade VCenter Appliance 6.7 to 7.0.
Download VCenter Server Appliance from VMware Website. And mount the ISO. Browse to vcsa-ui-installer on Mounted Media and run installer.exe
Note: Before starting the upgrade, make sure DNS record and NTP is working fine. VCenter Appliance upgrade process will deploy the new VCenter appliance and copy the configuration and data from old appliance to newly deployed appliance. This means temporary you should the enough resources to accommodate the new VM.
Click Upgrade to start the Wizard. 
Click Next to continue 
Accept the license agreement and click Next
Connect the VCenter appliance 
Provide the ESXi Server where you want to deploy the new VCenter VM.
Provide the New VCenter VM name & provide the appliance Root Password.
Select deployment size and click next.
Select the datastore, incase if you want to save the disk as thin format select enable thin disk mode.
Provide the network information and temporary IP.
Review the configuration and click Finish to start the deployment.
In this Stage VM is already deployed, once deployment finished you can continue to start the Stage 2. In stage 2, VM will copy the data from old appliance and configure the new appliance. Click Continue
Click the next to start the wizard.
Select the upgrade data and click next.
Select the desire CEP option and click next.
Review the configuration and click Finish to start the process.
Accept the Warning, saying source VM will be shut down when new VM get the network configuration.
Whole process takes approx. 15-20 Min to finished.
Upgrade finished, Click Close to close the installation wizard.
VCenter is upgraded. You can access the VCenter appliance
First thing to be noticed, HTML5 is only available GUI going forward.
vCenter Server is the centralized management utility for VMware, and is used to manage virtual machines, multiple ESXi hosts, and all dependent components from a single centralized location. VMware vMotion and svMotion require the use of vCenter and ESXi hosts.
In this article, I will show Step by Step instruction how to deploy VMWare VCenter Server Appliance.
VCenter Server Appliance Requirements:
| Resource | Requirement |
| Disk storage on the host machine | Embedded Platform Services Controller:
vCenter Server Appliance with an External Platform Services Controller:
External Platform Services Controller Appliance:
|
| Memory in the vCenter Server Appliance | Platform Services Controller Only: 2GB Ram
All components on one Appliance.
|
| CPUs in the vCenter Server Appliance | Platform Services Controller Only: 2 CPUs
All components on one Appliance.
|
Notes:
Download VCenter Server Appliance from VMware Website. And mount the ISO. Browse to vcsa-ui-installer on Mounted Media and run installer.exe
Note: Before starting the installed, make sure to create the DNS A-Record for the VCenter Server along with reverse pointer for the same.
Click Install to start the Installation Wizward.
Click Next start the Appliance Deploy.
Accept License Agreement and click next
Select the Desire deployment type and click Next. I am proceeding with Embedded Platform in this article.
Provide the ESXI or VCenter Server information where you want to deploy the VCenter Appliance. And check ok.
Accept the ESX Server Certificate Warning.
ESXI is connected Click Next.
Based on the requirements select the deployment size, and storage size.
Select the datastore where you want to save the Appliance. Incase if you want to deploy the appliance in Thin Disk Mode, select the option “Enable Thin Disk Mode”
Provide the Network information, like VM IP hostname etc. Make sure before proceed next create the DNS Entries.
Click Finish to start the Appliance VM deployment.
Once VM Deployment finished, Stage 1 of VCenter Appliance got finished. Click Continue to start the Stage 2 of deployment.
Click Next start the Stage 2
Provide the NTP information, Enable SSH Access incase if you want to configure VCenter Sever HA.
As I am planning to configure VCenter HA, hence enabling SSH Access. Click Next to continue.
Select the desire SSO Configuration, as I am going to setup the new SSO Domain. So I am providing the SSO domain name & Password for the Administrator. Click Next to continue.
Select the CEP option you desire and click next.
Confirm the Summary information and click finish to start the STAGE 2 Configuration. Please note that once you click Next you can’t stop the process.
Process will take upto 10-15 mins to finish the deployment.
Below will the URLs to access the appliance.
Appliance Management:
https://appliance_ip/hostname:5480
VCenter
