vmware vsphere optimize and scale v6 lab guide

8/19/2019 VMware vSphere Optimize and Scale v6 lab guide

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VMware® Education Services

VMware, Inc.

www.vmware.com/education

VMware vSphere:

Optimize and ScaleLab ManualESXi 6 and vCenter Server 6


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www.vmware.com/education

VMware vSphere:

Optimize and ScaleESXi 6 and vCenter Server 6

Part Number EDU-EN-OS6-LAB

Lab Manual

Copyright/Trademark

Copyright © 2015 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. This manual and its accompanying

materials are protected by U.S. and international copyright and intellectual property laws.

VMware products are covered by one or more patents listed at http://www.vmware.com/go/

patents. VMware is a registered trademark or trademark of VMware, Inc. in the United States

and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of

their respective companies.

The training material is provided “as is,” and all express or implied conditions,

representations, and warranties, including any implied warranty of merchantability, fitness for

a particular purpose or noninfringement, are disclaimed, even if VMware, Inc., has been

advised of the possibility of such claims. This training material is designed to support aninstructor-led training course and is intended to be used for reference purposes in conjunction

with the instructor-led training course. The training material is not a standalone training tool.

Use of the training material for self-study without class attendance is not recommended.

These materials and the computer programs to which it relates are the property of, and

embody trade secrets and confidential information proprietary to, VMware, Inc., and may not

be reproduced, copied, disclosed, transferred, adapted or modified without the express

written approval of VMware, Inc.

Course development: Steve Schwarze

Technical review: Joe Desmond, John Krueger, Undeleeb Din, Jonathan Loux, Roy Freeman,

Carl Paterik, Javier Menendez, Robert Goto, Bryan Lenderman

Technical editing: James Brook

Production and publishing: Saiesh Jaganath, Ron Morton

The courseware for VMware instructor-led training relies on materials developed by the

VMware Technical Communications writers who produce the core technical documentation,available at http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.


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VMware vSphere: Optimize and Scale iii

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

Lab 1: Adding Active Directory Services and Creating Custom Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Lab 2: Using vSphere Management Assistant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Lab 3: VMware Monitoring Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Lab 4: Backing Up and Restoring vSphere Distributed Switches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Lab 5: Monitoring Network Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Lab 6: Policy-Based Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Lab 7: Managing Datastore Clusters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Lab 8: Working with Virtual Volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Lab 9: Monitoring Storage Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Lab 10: Monitoring CPU Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Lab 11: Monitoring Memory Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Lab 12: Diagnosing vSphere HA Cluster Resource Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Lab 13: Host Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Lab 14: Using vSphere PowerCLI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Lab 15: Using vSphere Auto Deploy on vCenter Server Appliance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Answer Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143


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iv VMware vSphere: Optimize and Scale


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Lab 1 Adding Active Directory Services and Creating Custom Roles 1

Lab 1

Adding Active Directory Services andCreating Custom Roles

Objective: Configure an identity source for vCenterSingle Sign-On and create a custom role

In this lab, you will perform the following tasks:

1. Log In to the Student Desktop

2. License the vCenter Server System and the ESXi Host

3. Create a Custom Role in vCenter Server

4. Use vSphere Web Client to Add the Domain Admins Group to Administrators

5. Create a Custom Role in vCenter Server

6. Assign Permissions on vCenter Server Inventory Objects

7. Verify Permission Usability


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2 Lab 1 Adding Active Directory Services and Creating Custom Roles

Task 1: Log In to the Student Desktop

You access and log in to your student desktop system to perform all lab activities for this course.

Students should do this task individually.Use the following information from the class configuration handout:

• Your student designation

• Standard lab password

1. Ask your instructor how to log in to the student desktop system in your lab environment.

For example, your instructor might have you use Remote Desktop Connection to connect to thestudent desktop system.

2. Log in to the student desktop system, using your student designation and the standard lab

password.

Task 2: License the vCenter Server System and the ESXi Host

You register licenses provided by your instructor for VMware vCenter Server™ Appliance™ andthe VMware ESXi™ host.

Students should do this task individually.

Use the following information from the class configuration handout:

• vSphere administrator user name


1. Ask your instructor for the license keys to register.

• VMware vCenter™ Server Standard™ 6 license key

• VMware vSphere® Enterprise Plus Edition™ 6 license key

2. Log in to the VMware vSphere® Web Client interface.

a. On the student desktop machine, double-click the Firefox shortcut.

b. In the Firefox window, click the vSphere Web Client bookmark.

c. If you receive a series of pop-up messages when you connect to the vSphere Web Client

through Firefox, respond that you understand the risks involved, add an exception, and

confirm the security exception.

d. Log in as the VMware vSphere® administrator with the standard lab password.


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3. Enter the new licenses for VMware vCenter Server™ and vSphere Enterprise.

a. In the left pane, click Administration and click Licenses.

b. In the middle pane, click the Licenses tab.

c. In the middle pane, click the plus sign to create new licenses.

d. In the text box on the Enter license keys page, enter the license keys that your instructor

gave you, one per line, and click Next.

e. On the Edit license names page, enter the new license names vCenter Server and

Enterprise Plus in the License Name dialog boxes and click Next.

f. On the Ready to complete page, click Finish.

4. Assign a vCenter Server license key to the vCenter Server instance.

a. In the middle pane, click the Assets tab.

b. Click the vCenter Server systems tab and click the Assign License link.

c. In the Assign License dialog box, select the vCenter Server license key.

d. Click OK .

5. Assign the vSphere Enterprise Plus Edition 6 license key to the ESXi host.

a. In the center pane, click the Hosts tab and click the Assign License link.

b. In the Assign License dialog box, select the vSphere Enterprise Plus Edition 6 license key.

c. Click OK .

d. If the ESXi host is disconnected, right-click the host and select Connect.

Task 3: Configure vCenter Server Appliance to Use Directory Services

You configure VMware vCenter™ Server Appliance™ to use directory services.


Use the following information from the class configuration handout:• vSphere administrator user name


• Windows domain

1. Restore the Firefox window containing the VMware vSphere® Web Client tab.

2. If necessary, log in with the vSphere administrator user name and standard lab password.

3. Point to the Home icon and select Home.


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4. In the left pane, click Administration and click System Configuration.

5. In the left pane, click Nodes and select your vCenter Server system.

6. On the System Configuration page, click the Manage tab.

7. Configure the vCenter Server system to use Active Directory.

a. In the middle pane, click Active Directory and click Join.

b. In the Domain text box, enter the Windows domain name.

c. Leave the Organizational unit text box empty.

d. In the user name and password text boxes, enter administrator and the standard lab

password.

e. Click OK .

8. At the top of the middle pane, click Actions and select Reboot.

9. In the Reboot window, enter a reason for the reboot and click OK .

vCenter Server Appliance takes several minutes to reboot. You can refresh the vSphere Web

Client page, or close the browser window and reopen it, to show when the appliance is back up.

10. Leave the browser open for the next task.

Task 4: Use vSphere Web Client to Add the Domain Admins Group toAdministrators

You grant the ESX Admins group the right to log in to VMware vCenter Server™ as administrators.



• Windows domain

• Base DN for users

• Base DN for groups

• Fully qualified domain name (FQDN)

• Primary server URL

• Windows domain administrator user name

• Nonprivileged domain account user name


2. In the left pane, click Administration.

3. Under Single Sign-On, select Configuration.


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4. Click the Identity Sources tab.

5. Click the Add Identity Source (green plus sign) icon.

6. In the Add identity source dialog box, select Active Directory as a LDAP Server for the

Identify source type.

7. In the Name text box, enter the Windows domain name.

8. In the Base DN for users text box, enter the base DN for users.

9. In the Domain name text box, enter the Windows domain name.

10. In the Domain alias text box, enter the Windows domain alias.

11. In the Base DN for groups text box, enter the base DN for groups.

12. In the Primary server URL text box, enter the primary server URL.

13. In the Username text box, enter the Windows domain administrator user name.

14. In the Password text box, enter the standard lab password.

15. Click Test Connection.

A dialog box appears indicating that the connection has been established.

16. Click OK .

17. Click OK to close the Add identity source dialog box.

18. In the left pane under Single-Sign-On, select Users and Groups.

19. Click the Groups tab.

20. Under Group Name, click Administrators.

21. In the bottom Group Members pane, click the Add member (blue person with green plus sign)

icon.

22. Select the Windows domain specified in the class configuration handout.

23. Select the Domain Admins group and click Add.

24. Click OK .

25. Log out of the vSphere Web Client.

26. Log in to the vSphere Web Client, using the nonprivileged account user name and standard lab

password.

You must specify your Windows domain in the user name.


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27. Select vCenter > Hosts and Clusters.

Q1. Do you see your host in the inventory?

1. You do not see any hosts in the inventory. Although you have permission to log in to the

server, you do not have permissions to see any of the vCenter Server objects in the inventory.


29. Log in to the vSphere Web Client, using the Windows domain administrator user name and

standard lab password.

You must specify your Windows domain in the user name.

30. Select vCenter > Hosts and Clusters.

Q2. Do you see your host in the inventory?

2. You do see hosts in the inventory. Domain administrators were given the right to see any of

the vCenter Server objects in the inventory.


Task 5: Create a Custom Role in vCenter Server You can create custom roles by using the role-editing facilities in the vSphere Web Client to create

privilege sets that match your user needs.

Students should do the steps in this task individually.




1. In the vSphere Web Client, log in with the vSphere administrator user name and standard lab

password.

2. In the left pane, click Administration and click Roles under Access Control.

3. In the middle pane, click the Create Role icon.The Create Role dialog box appears.

4. In the Create Role window, enter VM Creator-your_name in the Role name text box.

5. In the Privileges pane, select the desired privileges.

a. Under Datastore, select Allocate Space.

b. Under Network, select Assign network .

c. Under Resource, select Assign virtual machine to resource pool.


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d. Under Virtual machine > Configuration, select Add new disk , Add or remove device, and

Memory.

e. Under Virtual machine, select Interaction to include all privileges in this subcategory.

f. Under Virtual machine > Inventory, select Create new.

6. Click OK to add the role.

Task 6: Assign Permissions on vCenter Server Inventory Objects

You add permissions to an object by adding a user with a desired role to the permissions list of that

object.



• Your nonprivileged domain account name


2. In the middle pane, click VMs and Templates.

3. In the left pane, select your Training data center.

4. In the middle pane, click the Manage tab and click the Permissions tab.

5. On the Permissions tab, click the Add Permissions icon.

The Assign Permissions dialog box appears.

6. Click Add.7. From the drop-down menu in the Domain panel, select the vclass.local AD domain.

8. In the Users and Groups panel, select the nonprivileged domain account name.

9. Click Add.

10. Click OK .

11. In the Assigned Role panel, click the VM Creator - your_name role.

12. Leave the Propagate to children check box selected and click OK .

13. Verify that the permission appears on the Permissions tab.


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Task 7: Verify Permission Usability

Permissions grant users the right to perform the activities specified by the role on the object to which

the role is assigned.



• Your nonprivileged domain account name

• ESXi host

1. In the vSphere Web Client, notice that you are logged in as the vSphere administrator.


3. Log in to your vCenter Server system with your nonprivileged domain account name and

password.

4. In the vSphere Web Client, notice that you are logged in as the nonprivileged domain user.


6. In the middle pane, click Hosts & Clusters.

7. In the left pane, select your vCenter Server system.

You receive a message that you do not have permissions to view this object.

8. In the left pane, select your ESXi host.

The Getting Started tab for the Training data center appears in the middle pane.


10. Log in to your vCenter Server system as the vSphere administrator.

11. Leave the vSphere Web Client open for the next lab.


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Lab 2 Using vSphere Management Assistant 9

Lab 2

Using vSphere Management Assistant

Objective: Use vSphere Management Assistant to

manage ESXi hosts and virtual machines


1. Start SSH and vSphere ESXi Shell Services

2. Log In to the vSphere Management Assistant Appliance

3. Add the vCenter Server System and the ESXi Host as Target Servers

4. Add the ESXi Host Thumbprint to the vCenter Server Certificate Store

5. Use ESXCLI Commands to Query ESXi Host Properties

6. Use vicfg-ntp Commands to Configure NTP

Task 1: Start SSH and vSphere ESXi Shell Services

You start the SSH service for later use when you use PuTTY to log in directly to the VMware

ESXi™ host.Students should do this task individually.

1. In the VMware vSphere® Web Client, point to the Home icon and select Home.

2. In the left panel, click Hosts and Clusters.


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3. Expand the Hosts and Clusters inventory tree and select the ESXi host.

4. In the middle pane, click the Manage tab and click the Settings tab.

5. In the options list, select Security Profile under System.

6. In the Security Profile panel, scroll down to the Services section and click Edit.

7. In the Edit Security Profile dialog box, start the SSH and the VMware vSphere® ESXi™ Shell

services.

a. Select the SSH service.

b. Select Start and stop with host from the Startup Policy drop-down menu.

c. Click Start.

d. Select the ESXi Shell service and expand Service Details.

e. Select Start and stop with host from the Startup Policy drop-down menu.

f. Click Start.

g. Verify that the state of both services is Running and click OK .

Task 2: Log In to the vSphere Management Assistant Appliance

You use PuTTY to establish an SSH session to the VMware vSphere® Management Assistant

appliance.



• vSphere Management Assistant administrator user name


1. Minimize the Firefox window.

2. On the student desktop, double-click the PuTTY icon.

3. In the PuTTY window, click the vSphere Management Assistant saved session, click Load, andclick Open.

4. Log in as the vSphere Management Assistant administrator with the standard lab password.


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Task 3: Add the vCenter Server System and the ESXi Host as TargetServers

You configure vCenter Server systems and ESXi hosts as vSphere Management Assistant target

servers to simplify commands.

Due to the formatting of the lab book, commands might appear on two lines instead of one. All

commands must be entered on a single line unless otherwise indicated. All commands are case-

sensitive. When working at the vSphere Management Assistant command line, you can press the up

arrow key to display previous commands. When you find the desired command, use the backspace,

left arrow, and right arrow keys to modify the command as needed. Press Enter to run the command.



• vCenter Server FQDN

• ESXi FQDN



1. In the vSphere Management Assistance console, familiarize yourself with the commands by

running each command with the --help parameter.

esxcli --help

• vifp --help

• vifptarget --help2. Add the vCenter Server system as a server target.

vifp addserver server --authpolicy fpauth --username user

server is the vCenter Server fully qualified domain name (FQDN).

user is the vSphere administrator user name.

Any user with sufficient vCenter Server privileges can be specified, including VMware

vCenter™ Single Sign-On™ users. The vSphere administrator user name is used here because

it is the default vCenter Server Appliance administrator account.

3. When prompted for a password, enter the standard lab password.

4. When prompted to store the user name and password in the credential store, enter yes.

5. Add the ESXi host as a server target.

vifp addserver server --authpolicy fpauth --username root

server is the ESXi FQDN.


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6. When prompted for a password, enter the standard lab password.

Both lab partners must complete this step before continuing. Otherwise, the list of servers will

not be complete.

7. List the configured target servers.

vifp listservers

The vCenter Server system and the ESXi host appear in the list. Both vCenter Server instances

and both hosts must be listed.

You and your lab partner are both logged in and configuring target servers. Ensure that you

interact only with the vCenter Server instance and ESXi host that are assigned to you.

Task 4: Add the ESXi Host Thumbprint to the vCenter ServerCertificate Store

You add the ESXi host thumbprint to the certificate store on the vCenter Server system so that a

trust relationship exists between the host and the server. This trust relationship is necessary to runESXCLI commands.



• ESXi FQDN

1. Run an ESXCLI command with no thumbprint stored.esxcli -s server hardware cpu list


The command fails because no thumbprint for the ESXi host is stored in the vCenter Server

certificate store. As a result of running the command, the thumbprint of the ESXi host appears

as part of the error message.


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2. Add the ESXi host thumbprint to the vCenter Server certificate store.

/usr/lib/vmware-vcli/apps/general/credstore_admin.pl add

-s server -t thumbprint

server is the ESXi FQDN. thumbprint is the ESXi host thumbprint displayed in the last

command. You can copy the thumbprint into the command by selecting and right-clicking it.

Task 5: Use ESXCLI Commands to Query ESXi Host Properties

You use ESXCLI commands within the vSphere Management Assistant to query and manage ESXi

hosts.



• ESXi FQDN

1. Set the ESXi host as the current target server.

vifptarget -s server


As a result of running the command, the name of the target server appears as part of the

command prompt.

2. Display the CPU characteristics of the ESXi host.

esxcli hardware cpu list

3. Use the command output to determine CPU characteristics.

• Number of CPUs installed on the host __________

• Brand of the first CPU __________ • Family and model of the first CPU __________

• Core speed of the second CPU __________

4. Display the ESXi host memory.

esxcli hardware memory get


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5. Use the command output to determine memory characteristics.

• Amount of physical memory __________

• NUMA node count __________

6. Display the platform on which the ESXi software is installed.

esxcli hardware platform get

When viewing the platform information in a nested environment, such as a class hosted on the

VMware vClass2 platform, the return value is VMware Virtual Platform. In nonnested

environments, this command returns the name of the hardware vendor.

7. Use the command output to determine platform characteristics.

• Product name __________

• IPMI supported status __________

8. List the software version of ESXi that is installed on the host.

esxcli system version get

9. Display the time and date on the host.

esxcli hardware clock get

10. Determine the system host name.

esxcli system hostname get

11. Determine the system’s boot device.

esxcli system boot device get

Task 6: Use vicfg-ntp Commands to Configure NTP

You use vicfg-ntp commands in the vSphere Management Assistant to query and configure Network

Time Protocol (NTP) settings.

Students should do this task individually.Use the following information from the class configuration handout:

• NTP server address

1. List the NTP servers that are configured on the ESXi host.

vicfg-ntp --list

NTP servers are not yet configured.


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2. Stop the NTP service.

vicfg-ntp --stop

3. Add an NTP server.

vicfg-ntp --add server

server is the NTP server address.

4. List the configured NTP server.

vicfg-ntp --list

5. Start the NTP service.

vicfg-ntp --start

6. Minimize the PuTTY (vSphere Management Assistant session) window for use in upcoming

labs.


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Lab 3 VMware Monitoring Tools 17

Lab 3

VMware Monitoring Tools

Objective: Monitor memory, CPU, and storage

performance


1. Start Database Activity in a Virtual Machine

2. Examine Host and Storage Overview Charts

3. Configure Advanced Performance Charts

4. Start resxtop

5. Explore resxtop Output

6. Run resxtop in Batch Mode

7. Use Windows Performance Monitor to Display Captured Statistics


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Task 1: Start Database Activity in a Virtual Machine

You start a script to generate continuous database activity so that increased CPU and datastore usage

can be monitored.




1. In the VMware vSphere® Web Client interface, point to the Home icon and select Home.

2. Power on the Linux01 virtual machine and open a console window.

a. In the middle pane, click VMs and Templates.

b. Expand the VMs and Templates inventory tree and select the Linux01 virtual machine.

c. In the center pane, select Power > Power On from the Actions drop-down menu.

d. In the Recent Tasks pane, monitor the power-on action to completion.

e. Select Open Console from the Actions drop-down menu.

Do not download and use the Remote Console option in this lab environment.

f. When prompted, log in as root with the standard lab password.

The Linux virtual machines used in these labs do not have xWindows loaded, so they do not

present GUI interfaces. All commands are run from the command prompt.

3. In the terminal window, run the following command to generate continuous database activity.

./starttest1

The script performs continuous database operations to a medium-size database and must run

uninterrupted.


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Task 2: Examine Host and Storage Overview Charts

You use performance overview charts and advanced performance charts in the vSphere Web Client

to review captured performance statistics.


1. In the Firefox window, click the vSphere Web Client tab.

2. Review the Storage overview charts.

a. In the left pane, click the Storage icon.

b. Expand the Storage inventory tree and select the Shared datastore.

c. In the middle pane, click the Monitor tab and click the Performance tab.

d. Above the charts, verify that Space is selected from the View drop-down menu.

e. Correct the selection if necessary.

f. Review the overview charts to find the performance values.

• Space that is used by virtual disks, in the By File Type chart

• Total space that is used by the top objects, in the By Virtual Machines (Top 5) chart

3. Review the VMware ESXi™ host overview charts.

a. In the left pane, click the Hosts and Clusters icon.

b. In the Hosts and Clusters inventory tree, select the ESXi host.

c. In the center pane, click the Monitor tab and click the Performance tab.

d. Above the charts, verify that Home is selected from the View drop-down menu.

e. Correct the selection if necessary.

f. Review the overview charts to find the performance values.

• The time of any significant CPU spike, in the CPU (%) chart

• The time of any significant latency spike, in the Disk (ms) chart


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Task 3: Configure Advanced Performance Charts

You use performance overview charts and advanced performance charts in the vSphere Web Client

to review captured performance statistics.


1. In the chart links panel, click the Advanced link.

2. Collapse the links panel by clicking the


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6. Export an advanced chart as a graphic image.

a. Scroll to the top of the chart pane.

b. Click the Export icon and select To PNG.

c. In the Select location for download dialog box, click the Desktop icon to save the

document to the desktop of the student desktop system and click Save.

d. Minimize the Firefox window.

e. On the desktop of the student desktop system, double-click the exported.png file to view

the exported chart image.

f. Close the image viewer window.

7. Keep the Firefox browser window minimized for the next task.

Task 4: Start resxtop

You use the esxtop and resxtop commands to view and analyze real-time ESXi host performance

statistics. The resxtop command is available from the VMware vSphere® Management Assistant

command line. The esxtop command is available from the VMware vSphere® ESXi™ Shell.



• vSphere Management Assistant administrator user name


• ESXi FQDN

1. Restore the PuTTY (vSphere Management Assistant session) window that was minimized at the

end of the lab 2.

Ensure that your vSphere Management Assistant prompt indicates that you are working with

your ESXi host.

2. Display the manual page for resxtop.

man resxtop


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3. Press the Enter key to scroll down one line at a time to familiarize yourself with the contents of

the manual page.

You can also press the spacebar to scroll down one screen at a time.

The manual page provides a brief description of the counters that appear on the differentscreens.

4. Enter q to return to the vSphere Management Assistant command prompt.

5. Maximize the PuTTY (vSphere Management Assistant session) window.

6. Start resxtop.

resxtop

Task 5: Explore resxtop Output

You adjust the esxtop and resxtop output to show performance statistics for various classes of

objects and types of counters.




1. Enter d to display the disk adapter screen.

By default, 12 columns are displayed:

• ADAPTER

• PATH

• NPTH

• CMDS/s

• READS/s

• WRITES/s

• MBREAD/s

• MBWRTN/s

• DAVG/cmd

• KAVG/cmd

• GAVG/cmd

• QAVG/cmd


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2. Add the QSTATS field to the disk adapter output.

a. To view the Current Field Order list, enter f.

b. In the Current Field Order list, enter D to select the QSTATS field.

An asterisk appears next to the D: QSTATS field selection, indicating that the QSTATS

field is included in the resxtop output.

c. Press the Enter key to return to the statistics display and verify that the AQLEN column

appears in the output, to the right of NPTH.

3. Remove the PATH and NPTH fields from the disk adapter output.

a. To view the Current Field Order list, enter f.b. In the Current Field Order list, enter B and enter C to remove the asterisk from the PATH

and NPTH fields.

c. Press Enter to return to the statistics display and verify that 11 columns appear in the output.

4. To display the CPU statistics screen, enter c.

5. To filter the output so that only virtual machines are listed, enter uppercase V.

6. Expand the Linux01 virtual machine container.

a. To display the group expand/rollup prompt, enter e.

The prompt appears above the output table.

b. At the expand/rollup prompt, enter the GID of the Linux01 virtual machine.

The GID appears to the left of the virtual machine name in the statistics table. The Linux01group is expanded so that the child objects are displayed.

7. Remove all fields other than ID, GID, and NAME.

a. To view the Current Field Order list, enter f.

b. For each field with an asterisk, other than ID, GID, and NAME, enter the corresponding

letter to remove the asterisk.

c. Press Enter to return to the CPU screen and verify that only the ID, GID, and NAME fieldsare displayed.


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8. To save the current resxtop configuration, enter W .

9. When prompted, enter designation.config for the filename.

designation is your student designation. For example, if your student login name is StudentA,

then save the output configuration file as StudentA.config.

The /home/vi-admin path specification is optional. If you do not specify a path, the file is

saved to the vi-admin home folder by default.

10. Enter q to exit resxtop.

11. Start resxtop using the saved configuration file.

resxtop -c designation.config

designation is your student designation.

12. In the resxtop output, verify that CPU statistics is the current output and that only three

columns appear.

13. Enter q to exit resxtop.

Task 6: Run resxtop in Batch Mode

You run the esxtop and resxtop commands in batch mode. Batch mode is useful for capturing

data that is to be imported and analyzed by other tools, such as Windows Performance Monitor.




1. Start resxtop in batch mode.

resxtop -b -a -n 24 > designation.csv

designation is your student designation. For example, if your student designation is StudentA,

then you specify an output file as StudentA.csv.

resxtop runs in batch mode to capture and record 2 minutes of data by taking 24 samples at a

default sampling rate of 5 seconds.

2. Wait for the resxtop command to complete.

T k 7 U Wi d P f M it t Di l C t d


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Task 7: Use Windows Performance Monitor to Display CapturedStatistics

You import the CSV output of esxtop or resxtop into Windows Performance Monitor for

analysis.




1. Minimize the PuTTY (vSphere Management Assistant session) window.

2. Use WinSCP to copy the captured CSV file to the student desktop system.

a. On the student desktop, double-click the WinSCP icon.

b. In the WinSCP window, double-click the vSphere Management Assistant session.

You are automatically logged in.

c. In the right pane, find the designation.csv file that you saved in the previous task.

designation is your student designation. For example, if your student designation is

StudentA, then specify an output file as StudentA.csv.

d. Drag the designation.csv file to the desktop of the student desktop system.

e. When prompted, click Copy.

f. When the copy operation completes, close the WinSCP window.

g. When prompted, click OK to close WinSCP.

3. On the desktop of the student desktop system, start Windows Performance Monitor by double-

clicking the Performance Monitor shortcut.

4. In the Performance Monitor window, expand Monitoring Tools and select Performance

Monitor.

5. Right-click anywhere in the graph pane and select Properties.

6. Add the CSV data source.

a. In the System Monitor Properties window, click the Source tab.

b. Click Log files and click Add.

c. Navigate to the desktop of the student desktop system and open the CSV file.

d. Do not click OK after loading the CSV file.

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7. Configure data counters.

a. In the Performance Monitor Properties window, click the Data tab.

The window might appear to freeze as the Performance Monitor parses the CSV file.

b. In the Counters panel, press Shift+click to select all counters and click Remove.

c. Click Add.

d. Above Select instances from list, click All instances on the right side of the window.

e. In the Add Counters dialog box, select Vcpu from the Performance object pull-down menu.

f. Under Select counters from list, press Ctrl+click to select %Ready and %Used and click

Add.

The %CoStop counter is selected by default.

g. Click the first value to deselect the %CoStop counter.

h. Click OK .

i. In the Counters panel, verify that the %Ready and %Used counters appear.

8. Click OK .

9. Monitor the performance window output.

Q1. After the graph refreshes, does the graph continue to update?

1. No.

Q2. Why is the graph not updated?

2. The graph is not updated because the data is not sampled in real time. The data was read

from a static CSV file.

10. Close the Performance Monitor window.

11. Restore the minimized Firefox window and click the Linux01 console tab.

12. In the Linux01 console, select the terminal window and press Ctrl+C to stop the test script.

Leave the terminal window open for the next lab.

13. In the Firefox window, leave the vSphere Web Client and Linux01 console tabs open for the

next lab.

14. Leave the PuTTY (vSphere Management Assistant session) window open and minimized for

use in upcoming labs.


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4

Lab 4 Backing Up and Restoring vSphere Distributed Switches 27

Lab 4

Backing Up and Restoring vSphere

Distributed Switches

Objective: Configure and use backup and restore

operations on a vSphere distributed switch


1. Back Up the Distributed Switch Configuration

2. Prepare to Capture Mirrored Network Traffic

3. Configure Port Mirroring on the Distributed Switch4. Capture Traffic Using Port Mirroring

5. Restore the Distributed Switch Configuration

Task 1: Back Up the Distributed Switch Configuration

You save a backup of the dvs-Lab vSphere distributed switch configuration.



2. In the vSphere Web Client interface, point to the Home icon and select Networking.

3. In the Networking inventory tree, right-click the dvs-Lab distributed switch.

4. From the Actions drop-down menu, select Settings > Export Configuration.

5. In the Export Configuration dialog box, leave the Distributed switch and all port groups

radio button selected and click OK .

6 When prompted click Yes to save the exported configuration


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28 Lab 4 Backing Up and Restoring vSphere Distributed Switches

6. When prompted, click Yes to save the exported configuration.

7. Save the distributed switch configuration to the desktop of the student desktop machine, using

the default backup.zip file name.

Task 2: Prepare to Capture Mirrored Network Traffic

You use the Linux01 virtual machine to capture and monitor mirrored traffic.


1. In the Firefox window, click the Linux01 console tab.

2. In the Linux01 console, monitor ICMP network traffic.

tcpdump -nn icmp

3. Monitor the command output for a few seconds and verify that ICMP traffic is not being captured.

tcpdump output remains silent until ICMP traffic is detected on the network.

4. Leave the console window open, with the tcpdump command running uninterrupted.

5. In the Firefox window, click the vSphere Web Client console tab.

6. In the inventory tree, click the VMs and Templates icon.

7. Right-click the Linux02 virtual machine and select Power > Power On.

8. After the Linux02 virtual machine starts, sign on as root using the standard lab password..

The Linux02 virtual machine is used as the traffic source to be monitored.

9. At the Linux02 command prompt, ping the default router.

ping 172.20.10.10

If the ping command does not work, enter service network restart and repeat step 9.

10. Once the ping command begins working, click the Linux01 console tab.

11. In the console window, verify that the running tcpdump command is the same as before and

has not captured any ICMP traffic.

Task 3: Configure Port Mirroring on the Distributed Switch


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Task 3: Configure Port Mirroring on the Distributed Switch

You configure port mirroring so that the port connected to the Win01 machine is the mirror source

and the port connected to the Linux01 machine is the mirror destination. All the traffic present on

the Win01 port is forwarded to the Linux01 port for examination.Students should do this task individually.


2. In the left pane, click the Networking icon.

3. In the Networking inventory tree, select the dvs-Lab distributed switch.


5. Click the Port mirroring link.

6. In the Port mirroring panel, click the New link.

7. In the Add Port Mirroring Session dialog box, leave the Distributed Port Mirroring radio

button selected and click Next.

8. Under Edit properties, select Enabled from the Status drop-down menu.9. From the Normal I/O on destination ports drop-down menu, select Allowed.

10. Click Next.

11. Under Select sources, click the Select distributed ports icon.

12. In the Select Ports dialog box, select the check box for the row with a connected entity of

Linux02 and click OK .

13. Click Next.

14. Under Select destinations, click the Select distributed ports icon.

15. In the Select Ports dialog box, select the check box for the row with a connected entity of


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g , y

Linux01 and click OK .

16. Click Next.

17. Under Ready to complete, review settings and click Finish.

Task 4: Capture Traffic Using Port Mirroring

With mirroring between ports configured, you run the tcpdump command to capture any ICMP

traffic appearing on the Linux02 port that is duplicated on the Linux01 port.



2. Verify that the ping command is still reaching the default router at 172.20.10.10.

3. In the Linux01 console, examine the tcpdump output in the terminal window.

The output looks similar to the following example. The production network address is different

for student A and student B. The example uses the student A production network.

In this example, the local IP address involved in the ICMP exchange is in the Dynamic Host

Configuration Protocol (DHCP) range for student A’s production network (172.20.11.100

through 172.20.11.199). Student B observes a local address in the DHCP range of

172.20.110.100 through 172.20.110.199.

4. Record the local address that appears in the captured traffic. __________

The local address begins with 172.20.

5. In the Linux01 console window, press Ctrl+C to stop the tcpdump command.


7. In the Linux02 console, press Ctrl+C to stop the ping command.

8. At the Linux02 command prompt, examine the IP configuration.

ifconfig

9. Using the command output, verify that the Linux02IP address matches the address that you


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recorded in step 4.

10. Close the Command Prompt window.

Task 5: Restore the Distributed Switch Configuration

You restore the distributed switch configuration to reset any configuration change made since the

configuration was saved.

For this lab, changes made to the port mirroring configuration are discarded and port mirroring is

disabled.



2. In the Networking inventory tree, select the dvs-Lab distributed switch and verify that the port

mirroring session list appears in the middle pane.

3. From the Actions drop-down menu, select Settings > Restore Configuration.

4. In the Restore Configuration dialog box, click the Browse button, select the backup.zip file,and click Open.

5. Leave the Restore distributed switch and all port groups radio button selected and click

Next.

6. Under Ready to complete, review the settings and click Finish.

7. After the switch configuration is restored, verify that the port mirroring session list is empty.

8. In the Firefox window, leave the vSphere Web Client and Linux01 tabs open for the next laband close the Linux02 console tab.


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5

Lab 5 Monitoring Network Performance 33

Lab 5

Monitoring Network Performance

Objective: Use resxtop to monitor network performance


1. Prepare to Monitor Network Performance

2. Prepare the Client and the Server Virtual Machines

3. Measure Network Activity on an ESXi Physical Network Interface

4. Use Traffic Shaping to Simulate Network Congestion

5. Position the Client and the Server on the Same Port Group

6. Restart the Test and Measure Network Activity

7. Stop the Test and Analyze Results

Task 1: Prepare to Monitor Network Performance


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34 Lab 5 Monitoring Network Performance

You use the resxtop network statistics screen to monitor network performance.


1. Maximize the PuTTY (VMware vSphere® Management Assistant session) window.

Verify that your vSphere Management Assistant prompt indicates that you are working with

your ESXi host.

2. Start resxtop.

resxtop

3. To switch to the network statistics screen, enter n.

4. Change the update delay from the default 5 seconds to 10 seconds.

a. Enter s.

b. Enter 10.

5. Remove unused counters to make the resxtop network screen easier to monitor.

You monitor the MbTX/s and MbRX/s counters in upcoming tasks. Removing counters that are

not monitored during the test can make isolation of the MbTX/s and MbRX/s values easier.

a. To display the Current Field Order table, enter F.

b. In the Current Field Order table, to remove PKTRX/s and PKTTX/s, press the

corresponding keys and remove the asterisks.

c. Press Enter to return to the network statistics screen.

Task 2: Prepare the Client and the Server Virtual Machines


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You use scripts on the Linux01 and Linux02 virtual machines to generate network traffic so that

network performance can be measured. The Linux01 machine acts as a client, and the Linux02

machine acts as a server. You move the Linux02 virtual machine to the Management network.




• Management network DHCP range

• Production network DHCP range

1. Migrate the Linux02 virtual machine to the Management network.

a. In the Firefox window, click the vSphere Web Client tab.

b. In the Networking inventory tree, right-click the dvs-Lab distributed switch.

c. From the Actions drop-down menu, select Migrate VM to Another Network .

d. For the source network, leave Specific network clicked, click Browse, select pg-Production, and click OK .

e. For the destination network, click Browse, select the Management port group, and click OK .

f. Click Next.

g. Under Select virtual machines to migrate, select the Linux02 check box and click Next.

h. Click Finish.i. In the Recent Tasks pane, monitor the migration task to completion.

2. Power on the Linux02 virtual machine.

a. In the Firefox window, click the vSphere Web Client tab.

b. In the left pane, click the VMs and Templates icon.

c. In the inventory tree, click the Linux02 virtual machine.

d. From the Actions drop-down menu, select Power > Power On.

3. In the Recent Tasks pane, monitor the power on operation to completion.

4. From the Summary tab, record the Linux02 IP address. __________

The Linux02 IP address must be in your Management network DHCP range.

5. Power on the Linux01 virtual machine.


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a. In the inventory tree, select the Linux01 virtual machine.

b. From the Actions drop-down menu, select Power > Power On.

c. In the Recent Tasks pane, monitor the power on operation to completion.

6. From the Summary tab, record the Linux01 IP address. __________

The Linux01 IP address must be in the Production network DHCP range.

Initially, the Linux01 (client) and Linux02 (server) machines are positioned on different

network segments, across a router.

7. Start the server on Linux02.


b. Under the title of the Summary tab, click in the small black box to open a console window.

c. In the Linux02 console window, log in as root using the standard lab password.

d. Navigate to the network scripts folder.

cd netperf

e. Start the server program.

./netserver

The server program runs as a background process.

f. Verify that the server program is running.

ps -ef | grep netserver

The server and grep processes are listed.

Task 3: Measure Network Activity on an ESXi Physical NetworkInterface


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Interface

You measure the actual network performance of the VMware ESXi™ host network interface with

the Linux01 and Linux02 virtual machines positioned on different physical network segments across

a router. Requests sent from the Linux01 client enter the physical network through the ESXi

network interface vmnic2 that is bound to a dvs-Lab distributed switch uplink. The client requests

are routed to the management network where the Linux02 server is positioned, using the

Management port group on the dvs-Infrastructure distributed switch.


1. In the Firefox window, click the vSphere Web Client console tab.2. Start the client on Linux01.


b. Under the title of the Summary tab, click in the small black box to open a console window.

c. In the Linux01 console window, log in as root using the standard lab password.

d. Navigate to the network scripts folder.cd netperf

e. Start the client test script.

./nptest1.sh server

server is the Linux02 eth0 inet address that you recorded in task 2.

The client and server programs must run uninterrupted.

3. Monitor network activity and record your findings.

a. Switch to the PuTTY (vSphere Management Assistant session) window.

b. In the resxtop output, find the vmnic2 physical network interface.

c. Record the vmnic2 values for the separate resxtop updates in the Unrestricted test row of

the samples table.

• MbTX/s __________

• MbRX/s __________

Task 4: Use Traffic Shaping to Simulate Network Congestion

ffi h i l h k d i l i i l di i


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You use traffic shaping to control the network speed to simulate congestion, to simulate conditions

present if the ESXi hosts are moved to another location, or to control consumption of production

bandwidth.


1. Switch to the Firefox window and click the vSphere Web Client tab.

2. In the inventory tree, click the Networking icon.

3. In the networking inventory, expand the dvs-Lab distributed switch and select the pg-

Production port group.

4. In the middle pane, click the Manage tab and click Settings.

5. Click the Properties link and click Edit.

6. In the Edit Settings dialog box, click the Traffic shaping link.

7. Configure ingress and egress traffic shaping, using the configuration options.

a. Select Enabled from the Status drop-down menu.

b. In the Average bandwidth (kbit/s) text box, enter 10000.

c. In the Peak bandwidth (kbits/s) text box, enter 10000.

d. In the Burst size (KB) text box, enter 10000 and click OK .

8. Monitor network performance and record your findings.


b. In the resxtop output, find the vmnic2 physical interface item.

c. Record the vmnic2 values for the separate resxtop updates in the 10Mb/s test row of the

samples table.

• MbTX/s __________

• MbRX/s __________

9. Switch to the Firefox window.

10. In the middle pane, click Edit to configure traffic shaping a second time.


12. Configure ingress and egress traffic shaping, using the configuration options.

a Select Enabled from the Status drop down menu


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a. Select Enabled from the Status drop-down menu.

b. In the Average bandwidth (kbit/s) text box, enter 1000.

c. In the Peak bandwidth (kbits/s) text box, enter 1000.

d. In the Burst size (KB) text box, enter 1000 and click OK .



b. In the resxtop output, find the vmnic2 physical interface item.

c. Record the vmnic2 values for the separate resxtop updates in the 1Mb/s test row of the

samples table.

• MbTX/s __________

• MbRX/s __________

14. Switch to the Firefox window.

15. In the middle panel, click Edit to configure traffic shaping.


17. For both ingress and egress traffic shaping, select Disabled from each Status drop-down menu.

18. Click OK to close the Edit Settings dialog box.

Task 5: Position the Client and the Server on the Same Port Group

You migrate the Linux02 virtual machine back to the production network to show that virtual

machines communicating on the same ESXi host and virtual switch port group can communicate at

a faster rate than the rate dictated by the physical network hardware.



• Production network DHCP range

1. Stop the client.

a. In the Firefox window, click the Linux01 console tab.

b. In the Linux01 console, press Ctrl+C to stop the test script.

2. Stop the server.



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b. In the Linux02 console, press Ctrl+C to end the server program.


kill process_id

In the kill command, process_id is the netserver process ID as reported by the ps

command.

In the example ps output, the netserver process ID is 6487. The screenshot does not

include the leftmost columns of the ps output.

3. Migrate the Linux02 virtual machine to the production network.

a. In the Firefox window, click the vSphere Web Client tab.b. In the Networking inventory tree, right-click the dvs-Lab distributed switch.

c. From the Actions drop-down menu, select Migrate VM to Another Network .

d. For the source network, leave Specific network clicked, click Browse, select

Management, and click OK .

e. For the destination network, click Browse, select the pg-Production port group, and click

OK .

f. Click Next.

g. Under Select virtual machines to migrate, select the Linux02 check box and click Next.

h. Click Finish.

i. In the Recent Tasks pane, monitor the migration task to completion.


5. Restart the network service and verify that the IP address is within your production DHCP

range.


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a. In the terminal window, restart the network service.

service network restartThe network service might take up to a minute to restart and acquire a new DHCP address.

b. Verify that a new DHCP-assigned address was acquired.

ifconfig

c. In the ifconfig command output, verify that the IP address is in your Production network

DHCP range.

d. Record the Linux02 postmigration IP address. __________

Task 6: Restart the Test and Measure Network Activity

You measure network activity when the client and the server communicate across a virtual network

contained within a single ESXi host and port group.


1. In the Linux02 terminal window, start the server program.

./netserver


3. Start the client script.

./nptest1.sh server

server is the postmigration Linux02 IP address that you recorded in task 5.



b. In the resxtop output, find the vmnic2 row and verify that the traffic is no longer

traversing the physical interface.

c. Find the Linux01.eth0 row.

d. Record the vmnic2 values for the separate resxtop updates in the Same Portgroup row of

the samples table.

• MbTX/s __________

• MbRX/s __________ 5. Enter q to stop resxtop.

Task 7: Stop the Test and Analyze Results

You use samples that you recorded to determine whether network performance was affected by the


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You use samples that you recorded to determine whether network performance was affected by the

simulated congestion in an expected manner and to determine the fastest network configuration.


1. Stop the test.

a. Switch to the Firefox window and click the Linux01 console tab.

b. In the Linux01 console, press Ctrl+C to stop the client script.

c. In the Firefox window, click the Linux02 console tab,.

d. In the Linux02 console, kill the server process to end the server program.


kill process_id

process_id is the netserver process ID that appears in the ps command output.

2. Review the sample values recorded and answer the questions.

Q1. Is there an obvious difference in network throughput for each test?

1. Yes.

Q2. Which test resulted in the highest throughput (highest values)?

2. The same port group test.

Q3. Why was this test the fastest?

3. Because the network traffic was contained within the port group, handled completely by the

ESXi host, in software. Not only are general network operations faster in a purely software-

defined scenario, but network mechanics, such as frame collision, are handled more efficiently.

3. In the Firefox window, leave the vSphere Web Client tab open for the next lab and close the

Linux01 and Linux02 console tabs.

4. Leave the PuTTY (vSphere Management Assistant session) window open and minimized for

the next lab.


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6

Lab 6 Policy-Based Storage 43

Lab 6

Policy-Based Storage :

Objective: Use policy-based storage to create tiered

storage


1. Add Datastores for Use by Policy-Based Storage

2. Use vSphere Storage vMotion to Migrate a Virtual Machine to the Gold Datastore

3. Configure Storage Tags

4. Create Virtual Machine Storage Policies

5. Assign Storage Policies to Virtual Machines

Task 1: Add Datastores for Use by Policy-Based Storage

You create two small datastores for use by your VMware vCenter Server™ instance as simple tiered

storage. Each datastore is approximately 8 GB in size.



2. Point to the Home icon and select Storage.

3. Create datastores to be used as simple tiered storage.

a. In the Storage inventory tree, right-click the Training data center

b. From the Actions drop-down menu, select Storage> New Datastore.

c. In the New Datastore dialog box, click Next.

d. Under type, leave VMFS clicked and click Next.

e. In the datastore name text box, enter Gold.


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44 Lab 6 Policy-Based Storage

f. From the Select a host drop-down menu, select the VMware ESXi™ host.

g. In the disk/LUN list, select the entry for the lowest LUN number attached to an iSCSIdevice and click Next.

Local drives are labeled as VMware Serial Attached. Do not select these drives.

h. Keep the default partition configuration and click Next.

i. Review the datastore configuration and click Finish.

4. Repeat step 3 to add the second nonlocal datastore, named Silver.

Task 2: Use vSphere Storage vMotion to Migrate a Virtual Machine tothe Gold Datastore

You manually configure the migration of a virtual machine to one of the new datastores before

configuring policy-based storage.


1. Use VMware vSphere® Storage vMotion® to migrate the Win01 virtual machine to the Gold

datastore.

a. In the left pane, click the Hosts and Clusters icon.

b. In the Hosts and Clusters inventory tree, select the Win01 virtual machine.

c. From the Actions drop-down menu, select Migrate.

d. In the Migrate dialog box, click Change storage only and click Next.

e. In the datastore list, select the Gold datastore, leave all other settings at default values, and

click Next.

f. Review the migration details and click Finish.

g. In the Recent tasks pane, monitor the migration task to completion.

The migration must complete.

2. In the middle pane, click the Related Objects tab and click the Datastores tab to verify that

storage is set to the Gold datastore.

Task 3: Configure Storage Tags

You create the tags necessary to implement simple tiering. The Storage Tiers tag category contains


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the Gold and Silver identifier tags associated with individual datastores.


1. In the left pane, click the Storage icon.

2. In the Storage inventory tree, select the Gold datastore.

3. In the middle pane, click the Manage tab and click the Tags tab.

4. In the Tags panel, click the New Tag icon.

5. Configure a new tag category and the Gold identifier tag.

a. For Category, select New Category from the Category drop-down menu.

Selecting New Category expands the dialog box to include both tag and category

configuration options.

Categories can be created only as part of the identifier tag creation process.

b. In the Name text box, enter Gold Tier.

c. In the Category Name text box, enter Storage Tiers.

d. Click OK to accept the default values for the remaining settings.

6. In the Storage inventory tree, select the Silver datastore.

7. In the middle pane, click the New Tag icon.

8. Configure a new tag category and the Silver identifier tag.

a. In the Name text box, enter Silver Tier.

b. Select Storage Tiers from the Category drop-down menu.

c. Click OK .

Task 4: Create Virtual Machine Storage Policies

You assign storage policies to virtual machines and specify the configuration settings to be


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enforced.


1. Point to the Home icon and select Policies and Profiles.

2. In the left pane, click VM Storage Policies.

3. Create a Gold Tier storage policy.

a. In the Objects panel, click the Create a new VM storage policy icon.

b. In the Name text box, enter Gold Tier Policy and click Next.

c. Under Rule Sets, review the information provided and click Next.

d. For Rule-Set 1, click Add tag-based rule.

e. In the Add Tag-Based Rule dialog box, select Storage Tiers from the Categories drop-

down menu, select the Gold Tier check box, and click OK .

f. Click Next.

g. Under Compatible storage, verify that the Gold datastore is listed and click Next.

h. Under Ready to complete, click Finish.

4. Repeat step 3 to create a Silver Tier policy, using the Silver Tier tag.

Task 5: Assign Storage Policies to Virtual Machines

You assign the Gold and Silver policies to individual virtual machines and mitigate compliance issues.


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1. Point to the Home icon and select Hosts and Clusters.

2. Apply a virtual machine storage policy to a virtual machine.

a. In the Hosts and Clusters inventory tree, right-click the Win01 virtual machine.

b. From the Actions drop-down menu, select VM Policies > Edit VM Storage Policies.

c. In the Manage VM Storage Policies dialog box, select Gold Tier Policy from the drop-

down menu and click Apply to all.

d. In the list, verify that the Gold Storage policy is assigned to Hard disk 1.

e. Click OK .

f. Click the Summary tab.

g. In the VM Storage Policies panel, verify that the Gold Tier policy appears and that the

policy is compliant.The policy is compliant because the Win01 virtual machine was already moved to a policy-

appropriate datastore.

3. Apply a noncompliant storage policy to a virtual machine.

a. In the Hosts and Clusters inventory tree, select the Win02 virtual machine.

b. From the Actions drop-down menu, select VM Policies > Edit VM Storage Policies.

c. In the Manage VM Storage Policies dialog box, select Silver Tier Policy from the drop-

down menu and click Apply to All.

d. In the list, verify that the Silver Tier policy is assigned to Hard disk 1.

e. Click OK .

f. Click the Summary tab.

g. In the VM Storage Policies panel, verify that the Silver Tier policy appears and that the

policy is not compliant.

The Silver Tier policy is noncompliant because the Win02 virtual machine disk is stored on


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The Silver Tier policy is noncompliant because the Win02 virtual machine disk is stored on

a datastore that is not tagged as a part of the assigned policy.

4. Remediate the compliance issue.

a. From the Actions drop-down menu, select Migrate.

b. In the Migrate dialog box, click Change storage only and click Next.

c. In the datastore list, select the Silver datastore.

With a virtual machine storage policy assigned to the Win02 virtual machine, datastores are

listed as either Compatible or Incompatible in the migration dialog box.

d. Click Next.

e. Review the migration details and click Finish.

f. In the Recent tasks pane, monitor the migration task to completion.

The migration must complete.

5. In the VM Storage Policies panel, verify that the Silver Tier policy is reported as compliant.

6. If the Silver Tier policy is reported as noncompliant, remediate the compliance issue.

a. From the Actions drop-down menu, select VM Policies > Check VM Storage Policy

Compliance.

b. In the Recent Tasks pane, monitor the compliance check to completion,.

c. In the VM Storage Policies panel, verify that the Silver Tier policy is reported as being

compliant.

7. In the Firefox window, leave the vSphere Web Client tab open for the next lab.


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Lab 7 Managing Datastore Clusters 49

Lab 7

Managing Datastore Clusters

Objective: Create a datastore cluster and work with

vSphere Storage DRS


1. Create a Datastore Cluster That Is Enabled by vSphere Storage DRS

2. Evacuate a Datastore Using Datastore Maintenance Mode

3. Run vSphere Storage DRS and Apply Migration Recommendations

4. Clean Up for the Next Lab

Task 1: Create a Datastore Cluster That Is Enabled by vSphereStorage DRS

You create a datastore cluster that is enabled by VMware vSphere® Storage DRS™. The Gold and

Silver datastores are reused as members of the cluster.


1. In the vSphere Web Client, point to the Home icon and select Storage.

2. In the Storage inventory tree, right-click the Training data center.

3. From the Actions drop-down menu, select Storage > New Datastore Cluster.

4. In the New Datastore Cluster dialog box, create a cluster that is enabled by vSphere Storage DRS.

a. In the Datastore Cluster Name text box, enter Cluster-DRS.

b. Leave the Turn ON Storage DRS check box selected and click Next.

c. Leave No Automation (Manual Mode) clicked and click Next.

d. Click Next.

e In the Filter panel click Standalone Hosts select the ESXi host check box and click Next


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e. In the Filter panel, click Standalone Hosts, select the ESXi host check box, and click Next.

f. In the datastore list, select the Gold and Silver check boxes and click Next.

g. Review the configuration summary and click Finish.

In a production environment, the best practice is to select datastores that are connected to all

hosts in the cluster, and group them by storage capabilities.

5. In the Storage inventory tree, expand Cluster-DRS and verify that both the Gold and Silver

datastores appear.

6. Select the Gold datastore.

7. In the middle pane, click the Summary tab.

8. In the Details panel, verify that only one virtual machine is using the datastore.

9. Select the Silver datastore.

10. In the Details panel, verify that only one virtual machine is using the datastore.

11. In the Storage inventory tree, select Cluster-DRS.

12. In the middle pane, click the Manage tab and the Settings tab.

13. Under Services, click the Storage DRS link.

14. In the vSphere Storage DRS panel, expand each item and verify the settings.

• Automation Level is set to No Automation (Manual Mode).

• Space Threshold is 80 percent.

• I/O metrics for vSphere Storage DRS recommendations are enabled.

• Imbalances are checked every 8 hours.

• Minimum Space Utilization Difference is 5 percent.

Task 2: Evacuate a Datastore Using Datastore Maintenance Mode

You migrate the virtual machine stored on the Silver datastore to the Gold datastore to demonstrate

the capabilities of vSphere Storage DRS. This migration creates a cluster imbalance.


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1. In the Storage inventory tree, right-click the Silver datastore.2. From the Actions drop-down menu, select Maintenance Mode > Enter Maintenance Mode.

3. In the SDRS Maintenance Mode Migration Recommendations dialog box, read the provided

recommendation description.

4. Click Apply Recommendations.

5. If prompted to apply recommendations despite warnings, click Yes.

The Win02 virtual machine is migrated to the Gold datastore.

6. In the Recent Tasks pane, monitor the migration task to completion.

7. In the Storage inventory tree, verify that the Silver Tier datastore is in maintenance mode.

8. Click the Refresh icon, located on the left of the logged in user name, at the top of the vSphere

Web Client interface.

9. In the Details panel, verify that zero virtual machines are stored on the Silver datastore.

10. Right-click the Silver datastore.

11. From the Actions drop-down menu, select Maintenance Mode> Exit Maintenance Mode.

12. In the Storage inventory tree, verify that the Silver datastore icon no longer indicates

maintenance mode.

Task 3: Run vSphere Storage DRS and Apply MigrationRecommendations

You configure vSphere Storage DRS to maintain a balance in usage across all datastores in a cluster.


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The cluster imbalance is mitigated using vSphere Storage DRS recommendations.




3. Under Services, click the Storage DRS link.

4. Configure vSphere Storage DRS so that recommendations are reported.

a. In the vSphere Storage DRS panel, click Edit.

b. In the Edit Storage DRS Settings dialog box, expand the Storage DRS Automation

section.

c. Drag the Utilized Space slider to the far left to set the threshold to 50 percent.

The imbalance between the Gold and Silver datastore utilization is detected at a 50 percent

space threshold trigger.

d. Click OK .

5. Run vSphere Storage DRS and review recommendations.

a. In the middle pane, click the Monitor tab and click the Storage DRS tab.

b. Click the Recommendations link and click Run Storage DRS Now.

When the task completes, a vSphere Storage DRS recommendation appears in the

recommendation list.

c. Review the recommendation and reason.

vSphere Storage DRS recommends that the Win02 Hard disk 1 be moved from the Gold

datastore to the Silver datastore to balance datastore usage in the cluster.

6. Examine the vSphere Storage DRS recommendation alarm.

a. In the middle panel, click the Summary tab and find the yellow vSphere Storage DRS

recommendation alarm.

The administrator can reset the recommendation alarm manually. The vSphere Storage

DRS recommendation alarm is reset when the recommendation is applied.

7. Apply the vSphere Storage DRS recommendation.

a. In the middle pane, click the Monitor tab.

b. In the bottom-right corner of the Storage DRS Recommendations panel, click Apply


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Recommendations.

c. In the Recent Tasks pane, monitor the migration task to completion.

8. In the middle panel, click the Summary tab and verify that the yellow vSphere Storage DRS

recommendation alarm no longer appears.

9. Review vSphere Storage DRS history.

a. In the middle pane, click the Monitor tab.

b. Below the Recommendations link, click the History link.

c. Verify in the vSphere Storage DRS history that Hard disk 1 for Win02 was migrated from

Gold to Silver.

d. Verify in the vSphere Storage DRS history that Hard disk 1 was migrated from Silver to

Gold.

The migration occurs when the Silver datastore is evacuated.

Task 4: Clean Up for the Next Lab

You remove the vSphere Storage DRS cluster to prepare for the next lab.

Students should do this task independently.


2. From the Actions drop-down menu, select Delete.

3. When prompted, click Yes to remove the datastore cluster.

4. After the cluster is removed, verify that the Gold and Silver datastores appear in the Storage

inventory tree, under the Training data center.

5. In the Firefox window, leave the vSphere Web Client tab open for the next lab.


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Lab 8 Working with Virtual Volumes 55

Lab 8

Working with Virtual Volumes

Objective: Configure NFS-backed and iSCSI-backed

virtual volumes


1. Validate the Storage Endpoint

2. Create a vSphere Virtual Volumes Datastore Using NAS

3. Create a vSphere Virtual Volumes Datastore Using iSCSI

4. Migrate a Virtual Machine to a Virtual Volume

Task 1: Validate the Storage Endpoint

You verify that a storage provider is available and determine the storage resources that are provided.

Students should perform this task individually.


• Your assigned vCenter Server Appliance name



3. In the center pane, click vCenter Inventory Lists.

4. In the left pane, click vCenter Servers.

5. Select your assigned VMware vCenter Server™ Appliance™ name.

6. In the center pane, click the Manage tab.

7. On the Manage tab, click Storage Providers.


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Q1. In the Storage Provider text box, what is the storage provider URL?

1. http://172.20.10.97:8080/vasa/version.xml

Q2. What version of VMware vSphere API for Storage Awareness is used?

2. Version 2.0

Q3. Which types of storage systems are listed?

3. Both NAS and iSCSI

8. Click the Home icon and select Home.

Task 2: Create a vSphere Virtual Volumes Datastore Using NAS

You verify that a storage provider is available and determine the storage resources that are provided.

You also mount a VMware vSphere® Virtual Volumes™ datastore by using an NFS protocol

endpoint.

Students should perform this task individually.


• Student designation

1. In the center pane, click Hosts and Clusters.

2. In the left pane, right-click your assigned ESXi host name and select Storage > New

Datastore.

3. In the New Datastore window, click the VVOL button and click Next.

4. In the Datastore name text box, enter NAS-vVol-student_designation.

student_designation represents your student designation.

5. From the Backing Storage Container list, select NFSvVol and click Next.

6. On the Ready to complete page, click Finish.

7. Point to the Home icon and select Storage.

8. In the left pane, click the arrow to expand your assigned vCenter Server Appliance name and

the Training data center.

9. In the left pane, select the datastore that you created in step 6.

10. In the center pane, click the Manage tab and click Files.

11. In the center pane, click the Create a new folder icon.


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Lab 8 Working with Virtual Volumes 57

12. In the Create a new folder window, enter NAS-Files-student_designation and clickCreate.

vmware vsphere optimize and scale v6 lab guide

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