Technical Notes

Installing the HA Agent fails on all hosts, except one

2012-02-13T10:50:00.000+02:00

Please read the following article from VMware KB.

Manually deleting linked clones or stale virtual desktop entries from VMware View Manager

2012-02-07T20:17:00.000+02:00

Please read the following article from VMware.

After a host power failure, vMotion fails with the error: Module is not loaded

2012-02-06T11:55:00.001+02:00

This issue occurs because the vMotion module fails to load automatically after a power failure. To resolve this issue, you must re-enable vMotion after the host power failure.
To re-enable vMotion:
Click the host in vCenter Server and then click the Configuration tab.
Click Properties on the vSwitch where the vMotion VMkernel port group is located.
Click the vMotion port group and click Edit.
Deselect the vMotion Enabled option.
Click OK and then click Close.
Connect to the host using SSH.
Run this command to verify if the vMotion module is loaded:
vmkload_mod -l | grep migrate
If the above command does not return any values, run this command to load the module:
vmkload_mod migrate
Run this command and verify if the vMotion module is now loaded:
vmkload_mod -l | grep migrate
Run this command to restart services:
services.sh restart
Repeat Steps 1 to 3 and select the vMotion Enabled option. This enables vMotion.
Migrate virtual machines to another host.
Reboot the host.
Run this command to verify if the vMotion module loads properly:
vmkload_mod -l | grep migrate
You must see an output similar to:
# vmkload_mod -l | grep migrate
migrate 2 252
For more info read the following article from VMware

Performing common virtual machine-related tasks with command-line utilities

2012-02-02T20:16:00.002+02:00

Please read the following article from VMware KB

Slow logins in Windows 7

2012-01-31T10:41:00.000+02:00

According to Microsoft the welcome screen may be displayed for 30 seconds during the logon process after you set a solid color as the desktop background in Windows 7 or in Windows Server 2008 R2
To fix this configure the value of the DelayedDesktopSwitchTimeout registry entry. This value determines the time-out interval of a session before Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 switches between sessions.
To configure the value of the DelayedDesktopSwitchTimeout registry entry, follow these steps:
Locate the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\SystemDouble-click the DelayedDesktopSwitchTimeout registry entry.
In the Value data box, type 5, and then click OK.
On the File menu, click Exit.

Adding a USB device to the virtual machine fails in ESXi 5

2012-01-30T10:28:00.000+02:00

After upgrading an ESXi 4.1 host to ESXi 5.0, you are unable to add a USB device to the virtual machine. The USB controller has been added to the virtual machine, but the USB device is not available.
This issue occurs if hostd loads before the USB Arbitrator in ESXi 5.0
To workaround this issue:
Connect to the host using SSH as the root user.
Open the /etc/init.d/usbarbitrator file using the vi editor.
Locate this line:
# chkconfig: 3 70 70
Change this line to:
# chkconfig: 3 17 83
Save and close the file.
Run these commands on the host:
chkconfig usbarbitrator off
chkconfig usbarbitrator on
Reboot the host.
Run this command to stop hostd service:
/etc/init.d/hostd stop
Run this command to stop the usbarbitrator service:
/etc/init.d/usbarbitrator stop
Run this command to start the usbarbitrator service:
/etc/init.d/usbarbitrator start
Run this command to start hostd service:
/etc/init.d/hostd start
For more information read the following article from VMware.

View Desktop logon credentials screen takes 60 seconds to appear

2012-01-30T10:16:00.000+02:00

When the Internet connectivity in your View desktop is disabled from a client using SSL, you experience these symptoms:
There is a delay of 60 seconds before you see the login credentials screen for the View desktop.
The login credentials screen may not appear and times out.
You may see a message stating that the certificate is invalid.
The View Client conducts a certificate revocation check when using SSL certificates. If the Internet connectivity is disabled, the client cannot complete this check and results in a 60 second delay before the logon screen is displayed.
To resolve this issue, reduce the timeout period for the certificate revocation check.
To reduce the certificate revocation check timeout:

In the client machine, click Start, type regedit, and click OK. The Registry Editor window opens.
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Cryptography > OID > EncodingType 0 > CertDllCreateCertificateChainEngine > Config.
Click Edit > New > DWORD Value.
In the Name field, type ChainUrlRetrievalTimeoutMilliseconds.
Right-click the entry and click Modify.
Under Base, select Decimal.
Under Value data, enter 15000.
Click Edit > New > DWORD Value.
In the Name field, type ChainRevAccumulativeUrlRetrievalTimeoutMilliseconds.
Right-click this entry and click Modify
Under Base, select Decimal.
Under Value data, enter 20000.
Close the Registry Editor.
Restart the client machine.

Use the View Client to connect to the desktop.
For more information read the following article from VMware.

Upgrading from vCenter Server 4.1 to 5.0 fails

2012-01-30T10:06:00.000+02:00

Upgrading from vCenter Server 4.1 to 5.0 fails and an exception is thrown while executing SQL script. This issue occurs if an index named INDX_TIME_ID in the VPX_HIST_STAT1 table was not deleted in a previous upgrade and continues to exist. The script to upgrade the table fails because of the index's constraint on the TIME_ID column.
To remove the lingering index on the table:
Launch SQL Server Management Studio and Connect to the SQL instance of the vCenter Server database.
Take a backup the vCenter Server database.
To back up the vCenter Server database, right-click the database and click Tasks > Back Up.
Expand the Databases folder.
Click the vCenter Server database name.
Click the New Query button on the toolbar. A blank query window appears.
Enter this SQL statement in the blank query window:

DROP INDEX VPX_HIST_STAT1.INDX_TIME_ID

Execute the statement by pressing the F5 key or by clicking the ! Execute button on the toolbar.
For more information read the following article from VMware KB.

How to correctly remove a LUN from an ESX host

2012-01-24T20:44:00.002+02:00

Please read the following article from VMware.

How to use PowerShell to run Exchange commands remotely

2012-01-24T20:22:00.000+02:00

Please read the following article from Technet.

Cannot login to the vCenter Server Appliance using the vSphere Client or vSphere Web Client after joining to Active Directory

2012-01-20T19:08:00.000+02:00

To resolve this issue:
Log in to the vCenter Server Appliance as root.
Reset the number of failed login attempts for the affected domain user with the command:
/sbin/pam_tally --user user@domain --reset
For more info read this article from VMware KB.

How to inspect spam logs in Exchange Server 2010

2012-01-19T11:55:00.001+02:00

Open an Exchange Management Shell on Edge Transport Server and use Get-AgentLog command to examine the logs:
Get-AgentLog -StartDate "01/01/2012 0:00:00" -EndDate "02/01/2012 23:59:59" | ? {$_.IPAddress -eq "a.b.c.d"} | more
Get-AgentLog -StartDate "01/01/2012 0:00:00" -EndDate "02/01/2012 23:59:59" | ? {$_.SmtpResponse -like "*5.1.1*"} | more

Configuring initial Exchange database

2012-01-12T22:58:00.000+02:00

To setup Exchange with a custom initial mailbox database name and non-default locations of database and log files, you can use the following command line:
setup /mode:install /roles:c,h,m,t /mdbname:MDB01 /DbFilePath:E:\MDB01DB\MDB01.edb /LogFolderPath:D:\MDB01LOG
For more information please read this article.

Troubleshooting ESX virtual machine performance issues

2012-01-12T21:46:00.002+02:00

Please read the following KB article from VMware.

Howto manually backing up and restoring the vCenter Server 4.x ADAM instance data

2011-12-15T12:56:00.002+02:00

Please read the following article from VMware KB

Unable to create snapshots on Windows guest operating systems

2011-12-12T12:05:00.001+02:00

Creating a snapshot (including the memory state) of a virtual machine on Windows fails
You see the error:
Cannot create a quiesced snapshot because the create snapshot operation exceeded the time limit for holding off I/O in the frozen virtual machine
The VMware Snapshot Provider service does not get installed when installing VMware Tools
Uninstalling and re-installing VMware Tools does not resolve this issue
This issue can occur on Windows 2003 and 2008 operating systems if the VMware Snapshot Provider does not get installed.
To work around this issue manually register the VMware Snapshot Provider:
Click Start > Run, type cmd, and click OK.
Enter these commands, in sequence:
regsvr32 "C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Tools\Drivers\vss\VCBRequestor.dll"
regsvr32 "C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Tools\Drivers\vss\VCBSnapshotProvider.dll"
"C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Tools\COMREG.EXE" -register "C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Tools\Drivers\vss\VCBSnapshotProvider.dll" "VMware Snapshot Provider" "vmvss" "VMware Snapshot Provider"
For more information read this article from VMware KB.

How to restore the default vCenter Server alarms

2011-12-12T11:58:00.000+02:00

To restore the default vCenter Server alarms, you must remove all existing alarm definitions in vCenter Server and then set the value of alarm.version to 0.
To delete all the existing alarm definitions in the vCenter Server:

Log in to the vCenter Server using the vSphere Client.
Click the Hosts and Clusters view.
Click the Alarms tab.
Click Definitions.
Note: All custom alarms must be manually recreated after they are removed. Ensure to note the custom alarms before removing.
Select all alarms, right-click, and click Remove.

To restore the default vCenter Server alarms, change the alarm version in vCenter Server:

Connect to vCenter Server using the vSphere Client.
Click Administration > vCenter Server Settings.
Click Advanced Settings.
Set alarm.version to 0.
Set alarms.upgraded to false
Restart the VMware VirtualCenter Server service.

For more information take a look at this VMware article.

How to reset domain admin password on a Windows Server 2008

2011-12-12T11:53:00.000+02:00

Boot onto DVD of Windows Server 2008
Choose “Repair your computer”
Launch cmd
Go to c:\windows\system32
Rename Utilman.exe to Utilman.exe.bak
Copy cmd.exe to Utilman.exe
Reboot on Windows
Do the keyboard shortcut Windows + U when on the logon screen
net user administrator Newpass123 inside the cmd
log on with the domain admin account and this new pass
change the password to remember it if needed
Reboot on the DVD to put back the original Utilman.exe

For more info take a look at this link

Setting up Serial Logging for Linux/UNIX virtual machines

2011-11-16T20:23:00.000+02:00

To enable Serial Logging:
Right-click the virtual machine or virtual appliance and click Edit Settings.
Click the Hardware tab and then click Add.
Select Serial Port and click Next.
Select Output to file and click Next.
Click Browse and navigate to the virtual machine for which you want to add a serial port.
In File Name, type SerialOutput and click OK.
Under Device Status, select Connect at power on and click Next > Finish.
Click the Options tab.
Click Boot Options and enter 10,000 in Power On Boot Delay.
Click OK to commit the changes.
Power on the virtual machine. The virtual machine waits for 10 seconds before it begins to load the operating system.
After the operating system loads (a blue background loads), you see this line on top of the screen:
Press any key to enter the Boot menu
Press the Space Bar to enter into the GNU GRUB.
Select the operating system, such as CentOS (2.6.18-164.9.1.el5), and press e to modify the grub options.
Use the down arrow key to select the line:
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.78-164.9.1.el5 ro root=LABEL=10 console
Press e to append this line:
console=ttys0,115200 console=tty0
Press Enter to commit the changes.
Press b to boot into the grub.
After a boot failure, power on the virtual machine, log in to the host that manages the virtual machine, and navigate to the home directory. You should see a file named SerialOutput, which is the new Serial Logging log.
For more info read the following article from VMware

How to add a DSRM startup option in Windows Server 2008 R2

2011-10-21T12:17:00.000+03:00

From this blog post we should open an administrator command prompt and enter these lines:
bcdedit /copy {current} /d "Directory Services Restore Mode"
bcdedit /set {GUID} safeboot dsrepair
bcdedit /timeout 10
where {GUID} is the result of the first command.

How to find the exact version of my Exchange 2010

2011-10-19T00:25:00.000+03:00

From a powershell console enter this command:
Get-Exchangeserver -Identity
If you want to know the exact version then enter this command:
gcm exsetup |%{$_.Fileversioninfo}
For more info take a look at this article from Technet.

How to update ESXi 5 using esxcli

2011-10-17T10:42:00.000+03:00

Please read the following article from VMware.

Exchange Management Console cannot close after installation of IE9

2011-10-16T23:57:00.000+03:00

This is a quick fix: You must turn off Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration using "Manage My Computer", add https://localhost to the IE9 trusted sites and reboot.

How to enable SAN certificates in a Windows 2008 R2 Enterprise CA

2011-10-15T21:29:00.004+03:00

Open a command prompt windows and enter these commands:
certutil –setreg policy\SubjectAltName enabled
certutil –setreg policy\SubjectAltName2 enabled
net stop certsvc
net start certsvc
Now you can submit your exchange SAN certificate request using this command line:
certreq -submit -attrib "CertificateTemplate:WebServer" c:\tmp\excertreq.req excert.cer
where excertreq.req is the request file and excert.cer is the issued certificate.
In case of error you must convert the .req file to ANSI format from Unicode using notepad.
For more info read Windows 2008 PKI / Certificate Authority (AD CS) basics and How to issue EV SSL certificates from an Enterprise CA

Troubleshooting "The RPC server is unavailable"

2011-10-14T21:08:00.000+03:00

Please read the following article from Microsoft Technet Wiki

How to disable EDNS probes in Windows Server 2008 R2 DNS server

2011-10-13T11:20:00.000+03:00

Open a command line and enter this command
dnscmd /config /EnableEDNSProbes 0
You don't have to reboot the server.

How to find my exchange server schema version

2011-10-09T13:03:00.002+03:00

From a domain controller open a command prompt and enter this command
dsquery * CN=ms-Exch-Schema-Version-Pt,cn=schema,cn=configuration,dc=yourdomainname,dc=local -scope base -attr rangeUpper
where yourdomainname is your domain name.
For more information read the following article Exchange Schema Versions - Common Questions & Answers

Exchange server schema versions

2011-10-09T12:58:00.000+03:00

Schema Version	rangeUpper Value
Exchange 2003 RTM	6870
Exchange 2003 SP1	6870
Exchange 2003 SP2	6870
Exchange 2007 RTM	10637
Exchange 2007 SP1	11116
Exchange 2007 SP2	14622
Exchange 2007 SP3	14625
Exchange 2010 RTM	14622
Exchange 2010 SP1	14726

How to enumerate the list of installed hotfixes in Windows using WMI

2011-10-05T11:37:00.000+03:00

From a command line enter the following command:
wmic qfe list full /format:htable > C:\tmp\hotfixes.htm
You can open the file htofixes.htm using your browser.

How to resize an LVM volume in CentOS 5

2011-09-26T21:01:00.000+03:00

Volume group name is VolGroup00
- create new partition /dev/sda3 with fdisk /dev/sda
- reboot with parted cd in text mode
- create pvolume
lvm pvcreate /dev/sda3
- display pvolumes
lvm pvdisplay
- extend volume group by adding new pvolume
lvm vgextend VolGroup00 /dev/sda3
- resize volume group by 32 GB
lvm lvextend -L+32G /dev/VolGroup00/LogVol00
- check filesystem for errors before resizing
e2fsck -f /dev/VolGroup00/LogVol00
- resize filesystem
resize2fs /dev/VolGroup00/LogVol00

Adding third-party device drivers to ESXi 4.1

2011-09-18T20:02:00.002+03:00

Please read the following article from VMware.

How to autostart a virtual machine in VMware Workstation

2011-09-17T16:46:00.000+03:00

Create a batch file with this line:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Workstation\vmrun.exe" -T ws start E:\VMs\wxp-a\wxp-a.vmx nogui
Replace wxp-a with the name of your virtual machine.
Call this batch from your windows startup menu.

How to reset Windows Update components

2011-09-14T22:23:00.000+03:00

Please read the following article from Microsoft.

VBscript code behind custom form in Exchange public folder is not running in Outlook 2010

2011-09-14T10:05:00.000+03:00

In Outlook 2010, the default behavior was changed to prevent scripts from running in public folders. To re-enable this behavior in Outlook, follow these steps:

Click File, and then click Options.
In the list of categories, click Trust Center, and then click Trust Center Settings.
In the Trust Center, click the E-mail Security category.
Click to enable Allow script in Public Folders.

For more information read the following article from Microsoft

NIC teaming using EtherChannel leads to intermittent network connectivity in ESXi

2011-09-06T11:33:00.003+03:00

When trying to team NICs using EtherChannel, the network connectivity is disrupted on an ESXi host. This issue occurs because NIC teaming properties do not propagate to the Management Network portgroup in ESXi.
When you configure the ESXi host for NIC teaming by setting the Load Balancing to Route based on ip hash, this configuration is not propagated to Management Network portgroup.
Solution:
After setting the load balancing property to Route based on ip hash for vSwitch0, set the same for Management Network portgroup.
To configure the NIC teaming properties:

    Select the ESX Server host.
    Click the Configuration tab.
    Click the Networking link.
    Click Properties link for the management network portgroup.
    Highlight the virtual switch in the Ports tab and click Edit.
    Click the NIC Teaming tab.
    Choose Route based on ip hash from the Load Balancing dropdown menu.
    Verify that there are two or more network adapters listed under Active Adapters.

Use these commands if the host does not stay connected to vCenter Server after the vSwitch load balancing policy change:
# vim-cmd hostsvc/net/vswitch_setpolicy --nicteaming-policy=loadbalance_ip vSwitch0
# vim-cmd hostsvc/net/portgroup_set --nicteaming-policy=loadbalance_ip vSwitch0 "Management Network"

For more information read the following articles from VMware KB:
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1022751
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003806
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1004048
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003677

How to register a vCenter in vSphere 5 Web Client from command line

2011-09-03T18:57:00.002+03:00

If you don't want to install Adobe Flash player in your server running vSphere 5 Web Client, then you can do that from a command line:

cd \Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\vSphere Web Client\scripts

admin-cmd register https://vsclient.mydomain.local:9443/vsphere-client vcenter.mydomain.local <username> <password>

where vcenter.mydomain.local is the vCenter address, vsclient.mydomain.local is the vSphere Web Client address (it may be the same server where vCenter is installed), <username> is an Administrator account in vCenter and <password> is his password.
Open this link from a browser to check the web client: https://vsclient.mydomain.local:9443/vsphere-client/

Hyper-V gotsas

2011-08-28T19:40:00.002+03:00

Please the following article from Microsoft

Setting the number of cores per CPU in a virtual machine

2011-08-27T12:10:00.001+03:00

Power off the virtual machine.
Right-click on the virtual machine and click Edit Settings.
Click Hardware and select CPUs.
Choose the number of virtual processors.
Click the Options tab.
Click General, in the Advanced options section.
Click Configuration Parameters.
Include cpuid.coresPerSocket in the Name column.
Enter a value (try 2, 4, or 8) in the Value column.

Note: Ensure that the number of vCPUs is divisible by the number of cpuid.coresPerSocket in the virtual machine. That is, when you divide the number of vCPUs by the number of cpuid.coresPerSocket, it must return an integer value. For example, if your virtual machine is created with 8 vCPUs, coresPerSocket can only be 1, 2, 4, or 8.
The virtual machine now appears to the operating system as having multi-core CPUs with the number of cores per CPU given by the value that you provided in step 9.

Click OK.
Power on the virtual machine.

For example:
Create an 8 vCPU virtual machine and set cpuid.coresPerSocket = 2. Window Server 2003 SE running in this virtual machine now uses all 8 vCPUs. Under the covers, Windows sees 4 dual-core CPUs. The virtual machine is actually running on 8 physical cores.
Only values of 1, 2, 4, 8 for the cpuid.coresPerSocket are supported for the multi-core vCPU feature in ESX 4.x.
In ESX 4.0, if multi-core vCPU is used, hot-plug vCPU is not permitted, even if it is available in the UI.
Only Hardware Version 7 virtual machines support the multi-core vCPU feature.

For more information read this article from VMware
Also read the article Use Coreinfo to view VM core and socket count

Dell PowerVault MD3620f storage arrays configured with VMware ESX/ESXi fail

2011-08-09T22:57:00.000+03:00

According to this VMware article you need to add a claim rule to ESX/ESXi host:
To add a claim rule:
Login to the ESX host as root. Run the command:
For MD3600i/MD3620i:
esxcli nmp satp addrule -V DELL -M MD36xxi -s VMW_SATP_LSI
For MD3600f /MD3620f:
esxcli nmp satp addrule -V DELL -M MD36xxf -s VMW_SATP_LSI

SNMP configuration steps for VI3 and vSphere 4.0/4.1

2011-08-09T20:56:00.002+03:00

Please read the following article from VMware.

How to use wget through proxy

2011-08-08T21:35:00.000+03:00

To get wget to use a proxy, you must set up an environment variable before using wget. Type this at the command prompt / console:

For Windows:
set http_proxy=http://proxy.example.com:8080

For Linux/Unix:
export http_proxy="http://proxy.example.com:8080"

Replace proxy.example.com with your actual proxy server.
Replace 8080 with your actual proxy server port.

You can similarly use ftp_proxy to proxy ftp requests. An example on Linux would be:
export ftp_proxy="http://proxy.example.com:8080"

Then you should specify the following option in wget command line to turn the proxy behavior on:
–proxy=on

Alternatively you can use the following to turn it off:
–proxy=off

You can use –proxy-username="user name" –proxy-passwd="password" to set proxy user name and password where required.
Replace user name with your proxy server user name and password with your proxy server password. Another alternative is to specify them in http_proxy / ftp_proxy environment variable as follows:
export http_proxy="http://username:password@proxy.example.com

For more info read the following article: How to use wget through proxy

How to debug ACLs in squid

2011-08-08T21:31:00.000+03:00

If ACLs are giving you problems and you don't know why they aren't working, you can use this tip to debug them.
In squid.conf enable debugging for section 33 at level 2. For example:
debug_options ALL,1 33,2
Then restart or reconfigure squid.
From now on, your cache.log should contain a line for every request that explains if it was allowed, or denied, and which ACL was the last one that it matched.
If this does not give you sufficient information to nail down the problem you can also enable detailed debug information on ACL processing
debug_options ALL,1 33,2 28,9
Then restart or reconfigure squid as above.
From now on, your cache.log should contain detailed traces of all access list processing. Be warned that this can be quite some lines per request.

How to install Dell Open Manage Server in vMA appliance

2011-08-08T13:43:00.006+03:00

- Login to vMA using vi-admin account
- Enter the follwing commands
sudo bash -l
export dist_base=el
export dist_ver=5
export dist=el5
- Optionally configure a proxy server to use: (assuming our proxy is proxy.mydomain.com listening to port 3128)
export http_proxy="http://proxy.mydomain.com:3128"
export ftp_proxy="http://proxy.mydomain.com:3128"
- Download and run bootstrap.cgi from Dell:
wget http://linux.dell.com/repo/hardware/latest/bootstrap.cgi
sh bootstrap.cgi
- Modify dell repository finding all lines starting with mirrorlist and setting osname=el5, for example:
vi /etc/yum.repos.d/dell-omsa-repository.repo
changed line: mirrorlist=http://…/mirrors.cgi?osname=el5&basearch=…
- Install and start omsa web server:
yum install srvadmin-webserver
sudo service dsm_om_connsvc start
- Open port 1311 in vMA's firewall entering the utility:
system-config-securitylevel-tui
- Try Open Manage Server opening in a browser the address:
https://vma.ipaddress.com:1311
where vma.ipaddress.com is vMA's IP address
- Remember to select Manage Remote Node in web interface and before you login check Ignore certificate warnings in the same page

For more information go to the Dell OM 6.5.1 Linux repository.
You can also read these articles:
http://www.liquidstate.net/2010/12/07/using-dell-openmanage-with-vmware-esxi-4-x/
http://techontip.wordpress.com/2011/07/27/dell-open-manage-server-administrator-for-esxi-4-1/
http://www.md3v.com/dell-openmanage-on-centos-5x

Windows PowerShell help link in Technet

2011-08-02T22:32:00.002+03:00

Just open the following link.

How to speed-up the execution of the first PowerCLI cmdlet

2011-08-02T22:21:00.000+03:00

Please read the following blog post.

Hyper-V Certificate Will Expire within 30 Days Event log message

2011-08-02T10:55:00.000+03:00

Please read the following article to resolve this problem.

USN and USN Rollback

2011-07-25T21:16:00.001+03:00

Please read the following articles from Microsoft:
USN and USN Rollback
How to detect and recover from a USN rollback in Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2008 R2
Force Domain Controller Removal
Clean Up Server Metadata

Thecus storage automatic shutdown from remote host

2011-06-30T12:42:00.005+03:00

- Load latest SSH and SYSUSER modules from http://naswebsite.com/wiki/Products or http://www.futterknecht.at/index.php/downloadsep/docpage/cat_view/34-thecus-n5200/35-n5200-modules/63-n5200miscmodules
- Optionally change password of user sys (default password is sys)
- On the remote host create rsa keys:
    ssh-keygen
    Do not enter a pass-phrase (so automatic logon works)
    Default filename and path is ok
    cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
    Copy content of id_rsa.pub
- Copy the contents of id_rsa.pub to Thecus storage into
    /raid/data/module/SSHD/system/etc/ssh/authorized_keys
    chmod 0600 /raid/data/module/SSHD/system/etc/ssh/authorized_keys
- At the first logon a warning appears that the hostkey is added to know_hosts. Enter yes to proceed.
- Enter the following command from remote host to poweroff Thecus
ssh sys@Thecus.IP.Address /sbin/poweroff

How to configure vMA as a destination of ESXi logs

2011-06-24T14:27:00.006+03:00

Add a second virtual disk to store your logs:
    Power off vMA
    Add a second virtual disk to the vMA VM
    Power on vMA
    Login using vi-admin
    Format the new Disk with the following command: fdisk /dev/sdb
        Use the n command to create a new partition
        Use the p command to make the new partition a primary partition
        Press 1 to make it partition #1
        Use the default for the First Cylinder
        Use the default for the Last Cylinder
        Use the p command to verify the partition table
        Use the w command to write the partition table to the hard disk
    Press Enter a couple of times to confirm it's finished and return to the command prompt
    Now we need to format the partition using the follow command: sudo mkfs -t ext3 /dev/sdb1

Now we have our new disk ready, we now need to mount it:

    Edit /etc/fstab using the following command: nano /etc/fstab
    Enter in the following line:
    /dev/sdb1 /var/log/syslog ext3 defaults,auto 1 2
    Use Ctrl+X then y to save the file
    Next: cd /var/log/ then mkdir syslog
    Change the owner of the /syslog dir: sudo chown vi-admin:root /var/log/syslog
    finally mount /var/log/syslog to mount the disk

Ok, now our new disk is mounted, we need to tell the vilogger application to store your logfiles there. The default location is /var/log/vmware so we need to change it:

    Edit the vilogger config file using: nano /etc/vmware/viconfig/vilogdefaults.xml
    (or /etc/vmware/vMA/vMA.conf in v4.1)
    Change the file to match this: /var/log/syslog (This appears twice, change both)
    Use Ctrl+X then y to save the file
    Restart vilogger by: service vmware-vilogd restart

Now vilogger is set to store your ESXi logfiles onto your new disk.

Stop the rsyslog daemon:
    sudo service rsyslog stop

Modify rsyslog file:
    sudo nano /etc/sysconfig/rsyslog
    Changed parameter: SYSLOGD_OPTIONS="-r -m 0"
    Use Ctrl+X then y to save the file

Restart rsyslog:
    sudo service rsyslog start

Open one firewall port on the vMA’s firewall:
    sudo iptables -I RH-Firewall-1-INPUT 2 -i eth0 -p udp --dport 514 -j ACCEPT

Save the rule to make sure that it stays there after a reboot:
    sudo service iptables save

Configure the ESXi host using vMA to send those logs to vMA:
    vifptarget -s vmsrv.address.local
    vicfg-syslog -s vMA.address.local
    For the free ESXi you can use vSphere Client to configure syslog:
    From the Advanced Settings of the Configuration tab select Syslog and set the
    Syslog.Remote.Hostname parameter to the IP address of vMA

Enable the vilogger in vMA to collect the logs:
    vilogger enable –server vmsrv.address.local –numrotation 20 –maxfilesize 10 –collectionperiod 10

View the logs:
    tail -f /var/log/syslog/vmsrv.address.local/vpxa.log

Read more in these links:
http://www.simonlong.co.uk/blog/2010/05/28/using-vma-as-your-esxi-syslog-server
http://www.vladan.fr/how-to-configure-vma-as-a-destination-of-esxi-log-files

How to Enable AHCI Support in Windows

2011-05-30T21:25:00.003+03:00

From this site we read:
Windows 7 and Windows Vista does not install AHCI device driver if it does not detect presence of AHCI support on the system during installation. As the result, if you enable the AHCI in BIOS after Windows is installed, the system may crash and become unbootable.
If you have just notice that your motherboard does indeed support AHCI after you have installed Windows 7 or Windows Vista, but have previously been disabled, here is the trick that enable AHCI support in Windows OS. The step has to be done before AHCI is turned on in BIOS to avoid any system crash.
Type RegEdit into Start Search and hit Enter to start Registry Editor.
If the UAC dialog box prompts and asks "Do you want to allow the following program to make changes to this computer?", click Yes button.
In Registry Editor, navigate to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\msahci
In the right pane, right click on Start and select Modify.
Set the value data for "Start" to 0, and click OK.
Default value (when AHCI is disabled): 3 for Windows 7 and 4 for Windows Vista.
Close Registry Editor.
Restart the computer.
Go to BIOS configuration and enable the AHCI support. Save the settings and reboot computer again.
After system boots up, Windows will automatically install device drivers for AHCI. After installation completed, Windows will restart for one more time.
The hard disk drives are now supporting AHCI standard.

How to Check if AHCI is Enabled on Windows
If you are unsure if AHCI has been enabled or not in Windows operating system, here is a simple way to verify and determine if the AHCI is already enabled on the system.
Type Device Manager in Start Search and hit Enter.
If the UAC dialog box prompts and asks "Do you want to allow the following program to make changes to this computer?", click Yes button.
Expand IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers section.
If AHCI driver is installed in Windows, there will be entry that reads something similar to Standard AHCI 1.0 Serial ATA Controller or Intel(R) 5 Series 6 Port SATA AHCI Controller.
If you can’t find anything that specifies AHCI Controller, chance is your system don’t have AHCI support in Windows yet (if your system does support AHCI). Follow steps above to enable AHCI in Windows before turning AHCI on in BIOS level.

Windows 7 Ultimate Tweaks & Utilities

2011-05-04T22:49:00.002+03:00

Please take a look at this link for more info.

How to use TMG AD Config tool

2011-04-10T17:46:00.000+03:00

In order to activate the proxy automatic discovery in a TMG 2010 installation you can mark Active Directory using the TMG AD Config tool. You can download the TMG AD Config Tool from Microsoft Download Center (look for the AdConfigPack.EXE). After download and install on TMG you can execute the following command line in order to register the AD marker key:
tmgadconfig add -default -type winsock -url http://mytmg.mydomain.com:8080/wspad.dat
For more info read Forefront TMG (ISA Server) Product Team Blog

Using the partedUtil command line utility on ESX and ESXi

2011-04-06T00:54:00.002+03:00

Please read the following article from VMware's KB.

Reloading a vmx file without removing the Virtual machine from inventory

2011-04-06T00:18:00.001+03:00

If you manually edit a vmx file your changes are not recognized from vSphere. You must remove the virtual machine from inventory and then add it again manually for the changes to be recognized. But we can do something else to reload the vmx file without removing the virtual machine from inventory:
First we must connect to ESXi using ssh. From this shell we must enter this command to find the Inventory ID of the virtual machine:
vmware-vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms | grep <virtual machine name>
The output of this command is the Inventory ID we want. So we can enter this command to reload the vmx file:
vmware-vim-cmd vmsvc/reload <inventory id>
For more information please take a look at this article from VMware's KB.

You cannot connect to Windows Live Mesh through a proxy server

2011-03-29T10:45:00.000+03:00

To correct this problem:
* Run inetcpl.cpl and go to Connections -> LAN settings. Clear Automatically detect settings and Use automatic configuration script check boxes. Check Use a proxy server for your LAN and enter proxy server address or IP and port. Check Bypass proxy server for local addresses.
* Open an elevated command prompt and enter this command
netsh winhttp import proxy source=ie
After that try to run Windows Live Mesh

VMware Workstation 7.1.3 and Windows 7 SP1

2011-03-29T10:21:00.001+03:00

Running VMware Workstation 7.1.3 on Windows 7 SP1 you are sometimes getting an error about allocating memory for your VMs. You might also have performance problems. The solution is to edit the file
C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware Workstation\config.ini
adding the parameter
vmmon.disableHostParameters = "TRUE"
After that you must restart windows.

Gathering esxtop performance data at specific times using crontab

2011-03-03T21:57:00.000+02:00

Please read the following article from VMware KB

How to remove Service Pack 1 backup files from Windows 7

2011-02-25T00:23:00.001+02:00

After a successful installation of Windows 7 SP1 you may want to save disk space deleting the backup files created by SP1 installer. After that you cannot uninstall SP1 from your computer.
From an elevated command prompt enter this command:
dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /spsuperseded
For more info read the Deployment Guide for Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 and Windows 7 with SP1

How to enable RAS tracing in Windows 7

2011-02-19T22:59:00.000+02:00

Open an elevated command prompt
To enable RAS logging, run the command "netsh ras diagnostics set rastracing * enabled"
To enable RAS logging, run the command "netsh ras diagnostics set rastracing * disabled"
The trace logs are created and available at %windir%\tracing folder
RAS Error codes are listed at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q163111

Verifying vCenter Server 4.1 jobs and stored procedures

2011-02-06T21:35:00.002+02:00

Please take a look at this article from VMware

Access Based Enumeration and DFS in Windows 2008 R2

2011-01-26T10:54:00.002+02:00

Please read the following article from MS Technet Blogs

How to customize the default local user profile when you prepare an image of Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 R2

2011-01-26T10:39:00.001+02:00

Please read the following article from Microsoft KB

How to use teredo protocol in Windows 7

2011-01-23T13:07:00.002+02:00

In Windows 7 Microsoft have configured DNS so that the system will never resolve any name to an IPv6 address, as long as the system only has link-local and Teredo IPv6 addresses. The trick is to provide windows with a 6to4 address reducted from your private IPv4 address. Use the following link to create an IPv6 address from your IPv4 address and go to your LAN properties to give this IPv6 static address to your TCP/IPv6 component. In my case the address is 2002:c0a8:3709:: and the prefix is always 48. Do not assign a default gateway address.
Open an elevated command prompt and enter the command
netsh int ipv6 show route
to print the ipv6 routing table. You will see the index of the teredo tunneling interface. In my case the index is 16, so I enter the following command to create a default route through this interface:
netsh interface ipv6 add route ::/0 interface=16
Try to ping ipv6.google.com to see if it's working.
Enter this command to check if teredo is enabled
netsh int teredo show state
If state is offline then enter this command to activate teredo
netsh int teredo set state type=client
and then
netsh interface ipv6 delete route ::/0 interface=16
netsh interface ipv6 add route ::/0 interface=16
We assume here that the interface index is 16.
Windows 7 deactivates this route if there is no ipv6 traffic for a certain period of time. To disable this functionality use the local group policy:
Run gpedit.msc and navigate to Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Network -> TCPIP Settings -> IPv6 Transition Technologies
Double click the "Teredo Default Qualified" setting, change it from "Not Configured" to "Enabled", and click OK, then close gpedit.msc
From an elevated command prompt enter the command gpupdate /force to force a refresh of the group policy.
In a windows domain environment teredo is always disabled. You must use the command
netsh int teredo set state type=enterpriseclient
to bypass this restriction
You must also open in your router/firewall the IPv4 udp port 3544 to the traffic travelling from your internal network to the Internet because this port is used from teredo protocol
For more info take a look at http://yorickdowne.wordpress.com/2008/01/26/ipv6-at-home-part-1-overview-teredo/

How to connect to a SMB share in a Windows Server using an alias name

2011-01-13T14:38:00.001+02:00

According to this Microsoft article when a client computer connects to a Microsoft Windows 2000-based computer or a Microsoft Windows Server 2003-based computer by using an alias name, the client may receive the following error message:

System error 52 has occurred.
A duplicate name exists on the network.

This problem can occur when you try to connect to the server by using a CNAME alias that is created in the DNS zone. For example, this problem may occur with a command similar to the following sample command

net view \\alias.domain name.com

where alias is a CNAME record that is created for the server in the domain name.com zone. The server is not "listening" on the alias, and therefore is not accepting connections to that name.
To resolve this problem in Windows Server 2003, follow these steps:
   1. Create the CNAME record for the file server on the appropriate DNS server, if the CNAME record is not already present.
   2. Apply the following registry change to the file server. To do so, follow these steps:
         1. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).
         2. Locate and click the following key in the registry:
            HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters
         3. On the Edit menu, click Add Value, and then add the following registry value:
            Value name: DisableStrictNameChecking
            Data type: REG_DWORD
            Radix: Decimal
            Value: 1
         4. Quit Registry Editor.
   3. Restart your computer.
You may also have to set the SPN (Service Principal Name) for the Alias Name:

setspn -a host/aliasname targetserver
setspn -a host/aliasname.contoso.com targetserver

The registry key that is mentioned is applicable only to SMB 1.0. To communicate over the SMB2.0 protocol, or CIFS (Common Internet File System), you do not have to set the registry key. SMB 2.0 allows for the functionality described in this article to work by default without additional configuration. Computers that run Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 support both SMB 1.0 and SMB 2.0. Windows includes an SMB client component (Client for Microsoft Windows) and an SMB server component (File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Windows). By default, SMB 2.0 is the file sharing protocol that is used when both client and server support it.
The SMB protocol revision to be used for file operations is decided during the negotiation phase. A Windows Vista or later client advertises to the server that it understands the new SMB 2.0 protocol. If the server understands SMB 2.0, SMB 2.0 is used for communication. Otherwise, the client and server use SMB 1.0. If SMB 1.0 is expected to be used, you can set the registry key that is mentioned above on Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista, or Windows 7.

How to image a Windows 2008 Server using WinPE and imagex

2010-12-19T21:23:00.007+02:00

We have a windows server 2008 R2 that we want to image to another server.
First we must create a Windows PE boot CD, that it will be used for the imaging of the server.
In a windows 7 PC, running a 64-bit Windows (a technician computer according to Microsoft documentation) we install Windows AIK. After that we open an elevated Deployment Tools Command Prompt from Windows 7 Start Menu and we enter the following commands:
DISM /Cleanup-Wim
copype.cmd amd64 c:\winpe_amd64
copy c:\winpe_amd64\winpe.wim c:\winpe_amd64\ISO\sources\boot.wim
Dism /Mount-Wim /WimFile:C:\winpe_amd64\winpe.wim /index:1 /MountDir:C:\winpe_amd64\mount
Dism /image:C:\winpe_amd64\mount /Add-Package /PackagePath:"C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools\amd64\WinPE_FPs\winpe-wmi.cab"
Dism /image:C:\winpe_amd64\mount /Add-Package /PackagePath:"C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools\amd64\WinPE_FPs\en-us\winpe-wmi_en-us.cab"
Dism /image:C:\winpe_amd64\mount /Add-Package /PackagePath:"C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools\amd64\WinPE_FPs\winpe-scripting.cab"
Dism /image:C:\winpe_amd64\mount /Add-Package /PackagePath:"C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools\amd64\WinPE_FPs\en-us\winpe-scripting_en-us.cab"
Dism /image:C:\winpe_amd64\mount /Add-Package /PackagePath:"C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools\amd64\WinPE_FPs\winpe-hta.cab"
Dism /image:C:\winpe_amd64\mount /Add-Package /PackagePath:"C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools\amd64\WinPE_FPs\en-us\winpe-hta_en-us.cab"
Dism /image:C:\winpe_amd64\mount /Add-Package /PackagePath:"C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools\amd64\WinPE_FPs\winpe-wds-tools.cab"
Dism /image:C:\winpe_amd64\mount /Add-Package /PackagePath:"C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools\amd64\WinPE_FPs\en-us\winpe-wds-tools_en-us.cab"
copy /y "C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\amd64\imagex.exe" C:\winpe_amd64\mount\Windows\System32\
copy /y "C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\amd64\bcdboot.exe" C:\winpe_amd64\mount\Windows\System32\
copy /y "C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools\amd64\BootSect.exe" C:\winpe_amd64\mount\Windows\System32\
copy /y "C:\Windows\System32\bcdedit.exe" C:\winpe_amd64\mount\Windows\System32\
If we have a folder with 3rd party drivers we can inject these drivers to windows PE image using the following command:
DISM /image:C:\winpe_amd64\mount /Add-Driver /driver:C:\tmp\drv\ /recurse
After the driver injection we unmount the wim file and commit changes using this command:
Dism /Unmount-Wim /MountDir:C:\winpe_amd64\mount\ /Commit
Then we copy the wim file to the iso folder of the working folder:
copy /y c:\winpe_amd64\winpe.wim c:\winpe_amd64\ISO\sources\boot.wim
Finally we create the bootable iso image entering this command:
oscdimg -n -bc:\winpe_amd64\etfsboot.com c:\winpe_amd64\ISO c:\winpe_amd64\winpe_amd64.iso
This ISO image can be written to a blank CD using a tool like ISO Recorder
Optionally we can create a bootable USB stick using the article How to create a bootable WinPE 2.0 USB key
Optionally we can use a tftp server to boot this WIM using these instructions:
Mount the Windows PE image to the \Mount folder of the working directory:
Dism /Mount-Wim /WimFile:C:\winpe_amd64\winpe.wim /index:1 /MountDir:C:\winpe_amd64\mount
Map a network connection to the root TFTP directory on the TFTP server and create a \Boot folder:
net use N: \\tftpServer\TFTPRoot
md N:\Boot
md N:\Boot\Fonts
Copy the PXE boot files from the mounted directory to the \Boot folder:
copy /y C:\winpe_amd64\mount\Windows\Boot\PXE\*.* N:\Boot
Copy the boot.sdi file to the PXE/TFTP server:
copy /y C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools\amd64\boot\boot.sdi N:\Boot
Copy fonts files to Fonts directory:
copy /y C:\winpe_amd64\ISO\boot\fonts\*.* N:\Boot\Fonts\
Unmount the current Windows PE image and copy the bootable Windows PE image to the \Boot folder renaming this file to boot.wim:
Dism /Unmount-Wim /MountDir:C:\winpe_amd64\mount\ /Commit
copy c:\winpe_amd64\winpe.wim N:\Boot\boot.wim
Then we we must create a BCD store by using the BCDEdit tool. Using this link we create the following batch file to create the BCD store:
file name: createBCD.cmd
--------------------------------
Rem Creates BCD (boot configuration data) for Windows PE
set BCD-File=c:\tmp\BCD
del %BCD-File%
Bcdedit /createstore %BCD-File%
Bcdedit /store %BCD-File% /create {ramdiskoptions} /d "Ramdisk options"
Bcdedit /store %BCD-File% /set {ramdiskoptions} ramdisksdidevice boot
Bcdedit /store %BCD-File% /set {ramdiskoptions} ramdisksdipath \boot\boot.sdi
Bcdedit -store %BCD-File% -create {dbgsettings} /d "Debugger settings"
Bcdedit -store %BCD-File% -set {dbgsettings} debugtype serial
Bcdedit -store %BCD-File% -set {dbgsettings} baudrate 115200
Bcdedit -store %BCD-File% -set {dbgsettings} debugport 1
for /f "tokens=1-3" %%a in ('Bcdedit /store %BCD-File% /create /d "MyWinPE Boot Image" /application osloader') do set guid1=%%c
Bcdedit /store %BCD-File% /set %guid1% systemroot \Windows
Bcdedit /store %BCD-File% /set %guid1% detecthal Yes
Bcdedit /store %BCD-File% /set %guid1% winpe Yes
Bcdedit /store %BCD-File% /set %guid1% osdevice ramdisk=[boot]\boot\boot.wim,{ramdiskoptions}
Bcdedit /store %BCD-File% /set %guid1% device ramdisk=[boot]\boot\boot.wim,{ramdiskoptions}
Bcdedit /store %BCD-File% /create {bootmgr} /d "Windows BootManager"
Bcdedit /store %BCD-File% /set {bootmgr} timeout 30
Bcdedit /store %BCD-File% /set {bootmgr} displayorder %guid1%
Bcdedit /store %BCD-File% /enum all
--------------------------------
Running this batch file the BCD file is created. After that we can copy this file to the tftp server:
copy /y c:\tmp\BCD N:\Boot
After this we can use a tftp server like this to boot our PE image. I use these settings for the tftpd configuration:

TFTP Security: Standard
Advanced TFTP Options
Option negotiation
Translate Unix file names
Allow '\' As virtual root

Use anticipation window of 8192 bytes (optional for higher transfer rates)

tftpd settings

We must also configure a DHCP server to give the boot client an IP address and this boot file: pxeboot.n12 (DHCP options 066 and 067)

dhcp options

Using the boot CD or the bootable USB stick or a tftp server we boot the PE image we created and we enter this command to find the partitions of our server:
diskpart
DISKPART> list disk
If we have only one disk this is disk 0 so we enter these commands:
DISKPART> select disk 0
DISKPART> list part
With this command we found the partitions we want to image. Usually there is a small System partition and a bigger Windows partition. Use the diskpart command "assign letter" to assign letters to these partitions so that we can use the imagex command to image these partitions:
imagex /capture C:\ D:\SystemPartition.wim "My System Partition"
imagex /capture D:\ D:\WindowsPartition.wim "My Windows Partition"
In this example C: is the system partition and D: is the Windows Partition.
Using the net use command map a network drive to a file server so that we can store these wim files to a network folder:
net use F: \\server\share
copy /y D:\SystemPartition.wim F:\Images
copy /y D:\WindowsPartition.wim F:\Images
In this example we copied the wim files to the Images folder in our file server.
Image restoration
We can restore these image files to another server using this procedure:
Boot the new server using one of the three aforementioned methods (boot CD, boot USB or tftp server)
Enter diskpart and create the partition scheme of the old server. For example:
diskpart
DISKPART>select disk 0
DISKPART>clean
DISKPART>create partition primary size=300
DISKPART>format quick fs=ntfs label="System"
DISKPART>assign letter="S"
DISKPART>active
DISKPART>create partition primary
DISKPART>format quick fs=ntfs label="Windows"
DISKPART>assign letter="W"
DISKPART>exit
If we are working with a UEFI based PC we use the following diskpart commands:
diskpart
DISKPART>select disk 0
DISKPART>clean
DISKPART>convert gpt
DISKPART>create partition efi size=100
DISKPART>format quick fs=fat32 label="System"
DISKPART>assign letter="S"
DISKPART>create partition msr size=128
DISKPART>create partition primary
DISKPART>format quick fs=ntfs label="Windows"
DISKPART>assign letter="W"
DISKPART>exit
For more info take a look at Technet documentation from Microsoft
We can also create a diskpart script using the above command an aply script using the command
diskpart /s
Use net use to create a network drive to map to the file server holding the the wim files:
net use F: \\server\share
After this we can apply the wim files to the new partitions:
imagex /apply F:\Images\SystemPartition.wim 1 S:\
imagex /apply F:\Images\WindowsPartition.wim 1 W:\
Finally use the BCDboot tool to copy common system partition files and to initialize boot configuration data:
W:\Windows\System32\bcdboot W:\Windows /l en-US
After this command we can reboot our new server to windows 2008 and make any customizations we want to do.

Setting up sysprep for use with vCenter running in Windows Server 2008

2010-12-10T15:15:00.000+02:00

When deploying a virtual machine through a vCenter Server running on Windows 2008, the customization option is not available.
According to this VMware KB article this issue occurs when the subfolders within the %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\sysprep folder do not have the appropriate sysprep files for the version of Windows you are trying to deploy. The default directory for the sysprep files is
C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\sysprep
By default, the ProgramData folder is a hidden folder in Windows 2008.

To view the ProgramData folder:
   1. Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > Windows Explorer.
   2. Click Organize > Folder > Search Options.
   3. Click the View tab.
   4. Select the Show hidden files and folders option and click OK.

The ProgramData folder has subfolders for each of your Windows operating system. You must extract and unzip the Deploy.cab from all the Windows installation DVD's SUPPORT\TOOLS folder and place the files in the appropriate folder within the
C:\ProgramData\VMware\Infrastructure\VirtualCenter\sysprep folder.
Within a Windows 2003 64bit operating system, the \SUPPORT\TOOLS\deploy.cab file of the installation media has these files:
    *deploy.chm
    *factory.exe
    *readme.txt
    *ref.chm
    *setupd.exe
    *setupmgr.exe
    *sysprep.exe
    *wininf_guide.doc

The subfolders within the C:\ProgramData\VMware\Infrastructure\VirtualCenter\sysprep folder are:
    * 2k
    * svr2003
    * svr2003-64
    * xp
    * xp-64

For example if the machine to be deployed has a 64bit version of Windows 2003, you must place the sysprep files (contents of deploy.cab) within the C:\ProgramData\VMware\Infrastructure\VirtualCenter\sysprep\srv2003-64 folder.

How to image OpenSuSE to a virtual machine

2010-12-10T14:20:00.003+02:00

This procedure was tested under OpenSuSE 11.x but it should also work for OpenSuSE 10.x.
The situation is this:
You want to convert a Linux machine running OpenSuSE to a virtual machine running under VMware Workstation.
The utility used to image the physical Linux machine was Clonezilla but the procedure should also work with Ghost or Acronis. After we made an image of the physical machine that image was restored to a new virtual machine that was created in VMware workstation 7. The problem is that the new VM won't boot because of the lack of appropriate drivers from initrd image of it. To correct this issue we must boot the VM using the OpenSuSE DVD and choosing to boot to rescue mode.
After that login to rescue system with username root and no password.
Find the partition layout of your system using the command fdisk -l
In my case the root and boot filesystem was in /dev/sda2
I created the following mount points:
mount /dev/sda2 /mnt
mount -t proc none /mnt/proc
mount -t sysfs none /mnt/sys
We now have the imaged system available under /mnt
We must also remount the dev filesystem using this command
mount -o bind /dev /mnt/dev
After this we chroot to the root filesystem of the imaged system using the command
chroot /mnt
Edit the files fstab, mtab, menu.lst and device.map to reflect the correct mount points and boot partitions
Include the necessary drivers in /etc/sysconfig/kernel editing the section INITRD_MODULES in this file.
In my case the new entry was
INITRD_MODULES="processor thermal ata_piix fan reiserfs mptspi"
but you can add more drivers if you want to.
Now change to the boot directory using the command
cd /boot
Rename the current initrd file for safekeeping
mv initrd-xxxx initrd-xxxx.old
where xxxx is different from one SuSE release to another
Enter this command to create a new initrd
mkinitrd -d /dev/sda2 (sda2 points to /)
extra modules can also be added with the -m switch if you want to:
mkinitrd -d /dev/sda2 -m mptspi
Make sure the name of the created initrd is the same as stated in the menu.lst or that the initrd link points to the new initrd file.
You can now reboot the system and if all went as planned the system now boots up and you can modify other needed components like networking.
You can remove your old nic entry (the nic used in the previous machine) by editing
/etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules
and reboot. That should bring the new nic back as eth0
For more info take a look in this link
Good Things To Know When Imaging Linux To Different Hardware

How to add a gPXE ROM image directly into a VMware virtual machine

2010-11-25T11:00:00.000+02:00

Please read the following article from etherboot.org

How to configure virtual machines to shutdown gracefully but not to start up automatically with a host

2010-11-18T10:12:00.000+02:00

Please take a look at this VMware KB article:
Virtual Machines do not shut down gracefully

Troubleshooting VMware High Availability (HA)

2010-11-12T13:34:00.002+02:00

Please read the following articles from VMware:
Troubleshooting VMware High Availability
Verifying and reinstalling the correct version of the VirtualCenter Server agents

Especially for ESXi use the following procedure to reinstall VirtualCenter HA agents:
To determine the version and build number of your VirtualCenter installation, click Help > About from within VirtualCenter.
Right-click on the ESXi host and click Disconnect to disconnect the ESXi host from VirtualCenter.
Log in to ESXi Troubleshooting Mode.
Run the following command to determine the version of the VirtualCenter agent (vpxa) that is installed:

cat `ls -t /var/log/vmware/vpx/vpxa*` | head -1

The output appears similar to:

Log for VMware VirtualCenter Agent, pid=1976, version=2.5.0, build=build-147633, option=Release, section=394

Ensure that the output matches the information from first step. If the versions do not match, reinstall the agents.

Reinstalling the ESX host management agents and HA agents on ESXi

Right-click on the ESXi host and click Disconnect. This disconnects the ESXi host from the VirtualCenter Inventory.
Log in to ESXi Troubleshooting Mode.Uninstall the vpxa and aam components from the VMware ESXi host using the following commands:

/opt/vmware/uninstallers/VMware-vpxa-uninstall.sh
/opt/vmware/uninstallers/VMware-aam-ha-uninstall.sh

Right-click on the ESXi host and click Connect. This initiates a re-install of the vpxa agent.
Add the host to the appropriate cluster. This initiates a re-install of the aam agent.

If the agent fails to automatically install when connecting the ESX host in the vCenter Server:
Verify that /tmp/vmware-root exists on the ESX host. vCenter stages the vpxa RPM in this folder. To add this directory, execute:

mkdir -p /tmp/vmware-root

How to install Oracle 10g R2 in Windows 7

2010-11-04T16:46:00.001+02:00

Copy oracle files in a folder on local hard disk.
Edit stage\prereq\client\refhost.xml file and add Windows OS like windows Vista
Open an elevated command prompt and run this command to start oracle installer:
setup.exe -ignoreSysPrereqs
Install Oracle as usual.

How to clone a running virtual machine in vSphere

2010-10-26T01:10:00.000+03:00

First you have to login to service console using a ssh client like putty. You can also do the same on a ESXi server if you have enabled the Remote Tech Support Mode.
Then you have to take a snapshot of the running virtual machine using vi client.
After that you have to create a new virtual machine using the vi client.
From the service console delete the virtual hard disk of the newly created virtual machine:

# cd /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/newvm
# rm *.vmdk

Then copy the virtual hard disk from the original virtual machine to the new virtual machine:

# vmkfstools -i /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/oldvm/oldvm.vmdk /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/newvm/newvm.vmdk

If you want to create a thin virtual hard disk use this syntax:

# vmkfstools -i /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/oldvm/oldvm.vmdk -d thin /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/newvm/newvm.vmdk

Delete the snapshot from the running original virtual machine using vi client.

For more info read this post.

Accessing the virtual machine's console directly from the command line

2010-10-23T13:12:00.002+03:00

Please read the following article from VMware.

Determining if a virtual machine is Fault Tolerant capable outside of vCenter Server

2010-10-21T22:06:00.000+03:00

Please read this article from VMware

Renaming a virtual machine and its files

2010-10-21T21:42:00.000+03:00

Please read this article from VMware

Configure Zyxel router using CLI

2010-09-30T23:08:00.000+03:00

Please check the following site:
http://kote.host.ge/network/modems/zyxel_dsl_router/index.html

How to configure nat port translation in a ZyXEL 661 ADSL router

2010-09-30T23:01:00.003+03:00

Problem
Configuring Port Mapping via web interface is not possible. Use telnet commands detailed below.

Solution
If you are having problems configuring port mapping on a Zyxel router, the below instructions should help you.
There is no way of doing this using the web GUI so please use the telnet command to configure port mapping. You can only do port address translation via the command line interface (telnet):

Example 1: translate external ports 4420 through 4422 to internal ports 8080 through 8082 ip 192.168.26.101

:4420 -> 192.168.26.101:8080
:4421 -> 192.168.26.101:8081
:4422 -> 192.168.26.101:8082

ip nat server load 1
ip nat server edit 2 svrport 4420 4422
ip nat server edit 2 intport 8080 8082
ip nat server edit 2 forwardip 192.168.26.101
ip nat server edit 2 active yes
ip nat server save

To display the table
ip nat server load 1
ip nat server disp 1

Notes: (1) The "load 1" is required to loading the set #1 (1st page) of rules, the "edit 2" refers to the 2nd rule (in set #1) (2) svrport refers to the ports as they appear on the WAN side before the translation (3) intport refers to the ports as they appear on the LAN side after the translation (4) if you view the port forwarding rules in the web interface (Network > NAT) the external ports (svrport) are shown in rule 1 (N-1)
If your firewall is enabled, then you will need to create a firewall rule based on the internal ports (intport).

Add WAN/LAN rule 1 Permit Source IP = any Destination IP = 192.168.26.101 Service = TCP/UDP Port 8080 to 8082

Example 2: translate external; ports 4420 through 4422 to internal port 80 on IPs 192.168.26.101 through 192.168.26.103

:4420 -> 192.168.26.101:80
:4421 -> 192.168.26.102:80
:4422 -> 192.168.26.103:80

ip nat server load 1
ip nat server edit 2 svrport 4420 4420
ip nat server edit 2 intport 80 80
ip nat server edit 2 forwardip 192.168.26.101
ip nat server edit 2 active yes
ip nat server edit 3 svrport 4421 4421
ip nat server edit 3 intport 80 80
ip nat server edit 3 forwardip 192.168.26.102
ip nat server edit 3 active yes
ip nat server edit 4 svrport 4422 4422
ip nat server edit 4 intport 80 80
ip nat server edit 4 forwardip 192.168.26.103
ip nat server edit 4 active yes
ip nat server save

The firewall is simpler
Add WAN/LAN rule 1 Permit Source IP = any Destination IP = 192.168.26.101 to 192.168.26.103 Service = http

A quick example
Forward port 8080 to internal server 192.168.1.231 port 80
ip nat server load 1
ip nat server disp 1
ip nat server edit 2 active 1
ip nat server edit 2 svrport 8080 8080
ip nat server edit 2 intport 80 80
ip nat server edit 2 forwardip 192.168.1.231
ip nat server save

For more info take a look at
http://www.granitecomputers.co.uk/resources/knowledge_detail.asp?kbid=19

Windows 7 / Vista loses local resources when connected to VPN

2010-09-23T16:32:00.002+03:00

Starting with Vista there is a hidden configuration setting called UseRasCredentials.
If this is set to 1 Windows uses the credentials of the VPN connection for all further accesses (this is contrary to the behaviour of XP).
To fix this problem:

Locate the .pbk file that contains the entry that you dial. You can find this file in location C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Network\Connections\Pbk
Open the file in Notepad.
Locate the following entry: UseRasCredentials=1
Modify the entry to the following: UseRasCredentials=0
On the File menu, click Save, and the click Exit.

vSphere Client performs slowly on a Windows 7 system

2010-09-21T23:46:00.000+03:00

From this KB article from VMware we read:

When running the vSphere Client on a Windows 7 machine, you experience these symptoms:

The performance of the vSphere Client is slow
Redraws are visibly noticeable, especially when maximising the vSphere Client

This issue occurs when desktop composition is enabled.
To disable desktop composition:

Right-click the shortcut for the vSphere Client and click Properties.
Click the Compatibility tab.
Select Disable desktop composition.
Click OK.

Run the vSphere Client.

Cloning and converting virtual machine disks with vmkfstools

2010-09-21T23:21:00.002+03:00

Please read this article from VMware KB.

How to rename a virtual machine disk (VMDK) in vSphere

2010-09-20T12:18:00.000+03:00

Please read this article from VMware KB

Slow mouse movement in a Windows Server 2008 R2 VM hosted in ESXi 4.1

2010-09-16T17:53:00.001+03:00

When you create a Windows 2008 Server R2 VM hosted in a vSphere 4.x hypervisor you see that the mouse is not moving as fast as it does in a Windows 2003 Server VM. This is what you must do to resolve this issue:

Power off the VM and change the total video RAM assigned to this VM using the Edit Settings menu. Set the Video card Display Memory to Auto-detect video settings.
Power on the VM again and after you login to the system go to the Device Manager and install the following driver for the Video-Card: C:\Program Files\Common Files\VMware\Drivers\wddm_video
Reboot the VM again.

Error in vSphere HA configuration after upgrading to vCenter 4.1

2010-09-16T16:33:00.001+03:00

After upgrading to vCenter Server 4.1, when you run an ESXi 4.0 host on that vCenter Server inventory, you see these symptoms:
The ESXi host reconfigures successfully for HA, but immediately displays an error
In the Summary tab, you see the error:
HA agent on in cluster has an error: error while running health check script
The issue occurs because the management agents on the ESXi host are not upgraded properly.
To resolve this issue, you must manually remove and reinstall the agents.

To manually remove and reinstall the agents:

Right-click the ESXi host and click Disconnect. This disconnects the ESXi host from the VirtualCenter Inventory.
Log in to the ESXi host using the Tech Support mode. For more information, see Tech Support Mode for Emergency Support (1003677) article in VMware.
Run these commands to uninstall the vpxa and aam components from the ESXi host:

/opt/vmware/uninstallers/VMware-vpxa-uninstall.sh
/opt/vmware/uninstallers/VMware-aam-ha-uninstall.sh

Right-click the ESXi host and click Connect. This re-installs the vpxa agent.
Add the host to the appropriate cluster. This re-installs the aam agent.

For more details see this KB article from VMware

How to replace vCenter 4.1 SSL certificate

2010-09-13T14:58:00.007+03:00

Please read the following articles:
http://www.vmware.com/resources/techresources/10124
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1030661
http://www.gavinadams.org/blog/2010/07/14/replacing-vcenter-4-1-ssl-certificate-with-active-directory-issued-one
How to create a self-signed certificate for VirtualCenter using OpenSSL
VirtualCenter Server Fails to Start After You Replace Default SSL Certificates with Custom SSL Certificates
VMware vCenter Server plugins fail after adding custom SSL certificates
vCenter Service Status displays an error for com.vmware.converter
vCenter Server Service Status plug-in cannot be enabled
http://derek858.blogspot.com/2009/11/vsphere-esxi-ssl-mystery-solved.html
How to generate Domain Root CA signed certificates for vCenter Server

vCenter 4 service does not start after server reboot

2010-09-13T12:15:00.003+03:00

This occurs if you are running the vCenter database (SQL Server) on the same server as vCenter itself.
To resolve this issue we need to create a dependency for the VMware VirtualCenter Server service for the following services:
MSSQL$SQLEXP_VIM
ADAM_VMwareVCMSDS
Run regedit and go to the key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\vpxd
Edit the DependOnService value adding these values:
MSSQL$SQLEXP_VIM
ADAM_VMwareVCMSDS
Restart the server to check if all is ok.
For more info check this post
http://www.vmadmin.co.uk/vmware/36-virtualcenter/198-vcenterservicedep

How to enable administrative shares in windows 7

2010-09-12T21:04:00.001+03:00

First use Network and Sharing Center to enable File and Print Sharing
Then run regedit and go to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
In this key enter a 32-bit word value named LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy with value equal to 1.
Restart the system to activate the change.
To disable this policy delete this value or make it 0.

Copying SQL Server databases with Backup and Restore

2010-09-11T19:40:00.009+03:00

Please read the following articles:
Copying Databases with Backup and Restore
How to Restore a Database to a N ew Location and Name (Transact-SQL)
Examples
-------------
How to change recovery model of a database
----------------------------------------------
alter database [Database1] set recovery full
alter database [Database1] set recovery simple
==================================
How to backup a database
---------------------------
backup database [Database1] to disk = 'c:\Backup\back.bak' with init
===============================================
How to find information about a database
-----------------------------------------
SP_HELPDB [Database1]
===============================================
How to find the logical name of the database
---------------------------------------------
RESTORE FILELISTONLY FROM DISK='full_path_of_backup_file'
===============================================
How to restore the database to a new server with a new name
------------------------------------------------------------
RESTORE DATABASE [Database2]
FROM DISK='full_path_of_backup_file'
WITH MOVE 'Database1' TO 'C:\Customers\DBS\Database2.mdf',
MOVE 'Database1_log' TO 'C:\Customers\DBS\Database2_log.ldf'
---------------------------------------
How to restore a vcenter database
---------------------------------------
----Alter Database to single user mode
ALTER DATABASE VIM_VCDB
SET SINGLE_USER WITH
ROLLBACK IMMEDIATE
----Restore Database
RESTORE DATABASE VIM_VCDB
FROM DISK='C:\Backup\VCDB.bak'
WITH REPLACE,
MOVE 'vcdb' TO 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\Data\VIM_VCDB.mdf',
MOVE 'vcdb_log' TO 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\Data\VIM_VCDB_log.ldf'
----If there is an error in statement above, enter the following
----command to revert to multi user
ALTER DATABASE VIM_VCDB SET MULTI_USER
GO

Migrating an existing vCenter Server database to 4.1 using the Data Migration Tool

2010-09-09T14:43:00.001+03:00

Please read the following articles:
Migrating an existing vCenter Server database to 4.1 using the Data Migration Tool
Backing-up and restoring vCenter Server 4.x
vCenter Server 4.1 Data Migration Tool fails with the error: HResult 0x2, Level 16, State 1
Using the Data Migration Tool to upgrade from vCenter Server 4.0 to vCenter Server 4.1 fails
Moving the VirtualCenter SQL database
Migrate vCenter 4.0 database to new vCenter 4.1 server

How to configure pagefile in windows 2008 Server Core

2010-09-09T00:23:00.001+03:00

From http://www.hyper-v.nu/blogs/jaapwess/?p=41 we read:
To configure the pagefile on a Hyper-V Server Core or Hyper-V Server you can use the following commands:

wmic computersystem set AutomaticManagedPagefile=False
wmic pagefileset where name="c:\\pagefile.sys" set InitialSize=4000,MaximumSize=6000

It is possible to check the pagefile settings using the following command:

wmic pagefile get /format:list

How to install ESXi 4.1 from USB or PXE using a script

2010-09-08T00:46:00.001+03:00

Please read the following links:
http://benincosa.org/blog/?p=171
http://virtualkenneth.com/2010/07/21/setting-up-vsphere-esxi-4-1-scripted-installation/
http://www.jonathanmedd.net/2011/01/install-esxi-4-1-from-a-usb-stick.html

How to enable remote connections to an SQL Server 2005 Express VMware VCenter Database

2010-09-07T12:47:00.006+03:00

- Enabled remote connection on SQL Server Surface Area Configuration
Open SQL Server Surface Area Configuration.
Select Surface Area Configuration for Services and Connections.
On the left side, expand your SQL Server instance -> Database Engine -> Remote Connections. On the right side, select Local and remote connections -> using both TCP/IP and named pipes.
On the left side, select SQL Server Browser -> Service.
On the right side, if the startup type is Disable, you need to change to Automatic and click Apply and click Start button to start the service. Then, click OK.
- Change this registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQLServer\LoginMode
(MSSQL.1 relates to the instance you want to play with – it could be MSSQL.2, or .3 etc).
It’s default value is 1. Set it to 2 to allow both windows authentication and sql logins.
You have to restart the SQL services before the changes apply.
- To change sa password open a command prompt and enter this command
osql -E -S vcenter\SQLEXP_VIM
You will see this prompt:
1>
In this prompt enter these commands (replace sapwd with your password)
ALTER LOGIN sa WITH PASSWORD = 'sapwd';
GO
ALTER LOGIN sa ENABLE;
GO
Type exit to exit osql
- Try to connect to SQL Server using sa account and entering your new password
osql -U sa -S vcenter\SQLEXP_VIM

Resources:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322336
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/325003
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322336
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sql_protocols/archive/2005/10/22/483684.aspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms165702.aspx
http://www.linglom.com/2007/08/31/enable-remote-connection-to-sql-server-2005-express/

How to Customize the Windows 7 Start Menu

2010-09-07T00:36:00.002+03:00

Read the following link:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/265-start-menu-customize.html

Windows 7 deployment articles

2010-09-03T12:12:00.008+03:00

Read these blog posts:
Capture and Apply Windows Images
Apply Images by Using ImageX
BCDboot Command-Line Options
Deploy a System Recovery Image
http://mikespcbabble.com/WinPE3.aspx
http://blog.brianleejackson.com/sysprep-a-windows-7-machine-start-to-finish-v2
http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Deploying-Windows-7-Part19.html
http://blog.brianleejackson.com/formatting-winpe-3-0-usb-flash-drive-dism
http://edge.technet.com/Media/Deploy-Windows-7-The-Easy-Way-Using-WDS-MDT-and-AIK-Step-By-Step/
http://www.the-d-spot.org/wordpress/2009/11/01/windows-7-lite-touch-installation-with-mdt-2010/
http://www.the-d-spot.org/wordpress/2009/11/16/windows-7-lite-touch-installation-with-mdt-2010-part-2/
http://www.cluberti.com/blog/2009/08/10/mdt-2010-and-deployment-from-a-usb-key/
http://www.cluberti.com/blog/2009/08/12/adding-additional-boot-options-to-your-deployment-usb-key/
http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/Dell+Business+Client+Operating+System+Deployment+-+The+.CAB+Files
http://driverpacks.net/

How to delete files older than x days in Linux

2010-09-02T21:15:00.002+03:00

To delete files older than 30 days in folder /home/user/path enter the command:
find /home/user/path -mtime +30 -exec rm {} \;
To delete also subdirectories enter the command:
find /home/user/path -mtime +30 -exec rm -rf {} \;

Message Tracking in Exchange 2007

2010-08-26T21:51:00.002+03:00

Please read these posts:
Message Tracking in Exchange 2007
Creating Graphical Reports for Exchange 2007
gsexdev.blogspot.com

How to enable copy and paste option in vSphere client 4.1

2010-08-25T13:37:00.002+03:00

from VMware KB we read that:
Starting with vSphere 4.1, the Copy and Paste options are, by default, disabled for security reasons.
To be able to copy and paste between the guest operating system and the remote console, you must enable the Copy and Paste options using the vSphere Client.
To enable this option:
   1. Log into a vCenter Server system using the vSphere Client and power off the virtual machine.
   2. Select the virtual machine, on the Summary tab click Edit Settings.
   3. Navigate to Options > Advanced > General and click Configuration Parameters.
   4. Click Add Row and type the following values in the Name and Value columns:
   isolation.tools.copy.disable – false
   isolation.tools.paste.disable – false
NOTE: These options override any settings made in the guest operating system’s VMware Tools control panel.
   5. Click OK to close the Configuration Parameters dialog, and click OK again to close the Virtual Machine Properties dialog.
   6. Power on the virtual machine.

To enable this option for all the virtual machines in the ESX/ESXi host:
In the ESX/ESXi host, open the /etc/vmware/config file using a text editor.
Add these entries to the file:
isolation.tools.copy.disable="FALSE"
isolation.tools.paste.disable="FALSE"
Save and close the file. The Copy and Paste options are enabled when the virtual machines restart or resume the next time.

How to install linux integration components 2.1 in a CentOS 5.x virtual machine running on Hyper-V R2

2010-08-21T22:07:00.004+03:00

- Download Linux Integration Components v2.1 from Microsoft Download site.
- Obtain the inputvsc.iso for the mouse driver from Project Satori

- Extract the .exe file into a temp folder. You will need only LinuxIC v21.iso file.

- Place the LinuxIC v21.iso file into your VM host server where you can mount the ISO as a CDROM on your CentOS Virtual Machine.
- Add a legacy network adapter to linux guest machine
- Install kernel-devel package and Development Tools using these commands
# yum install kernel-devel
# yum groupinstall "Development Tools"
# yum update
- Mount linux integration services iso and copy all contents to hard drive of linux guest
# mount /dev/cdrom /mnt
# mkdir /opt/lic21
# cp –R /mnt/* /opt/lic21/
- Change directory to where you copied the integration services and run
# make
# make install
- Shutdown and remove your legacy network adapter.

The InputVSC driver requires the Linux Integration Components to be installed, and supports the same guest distro versions. To install the InputVSC driver: (you must be root:)
- Download and attach the .ISO file to a Hyper-V guest with the Linux Integration Components already installed.
- Copy the contents of the .ISO to the desired directory
- Run setup.pl with the inputdriver argument:
# ./setup.pl inputdriver

NOTE: If you're using the x64 version of Centos, you have to perform an extra step.
Attach the Centos ISO that was used for installation in the virtual machine, and mount it:
mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
Install the adjtimex RPM for more accurate time keeping in the virtual machine:
rpm –ivh /mnt/cdrom/Centos/adjtimex-1.20-2.1.x86_64.rpm
To verify that all subcomponents are running, as the root user, issue the following command at a shell prompt:
/sbin/lsmod | grep vsc
Please remmeber when using Network Adapters on Hyper-V, NIC names would be changed from eth0 to seth0

Read also these posts:
http://www.howtoforge.com/installing-linux-integration-services-v2.1-hyper-v-r2-on-centos-5
http://stevenjbradbury.com/component/content/article/43-front-page-article/127-hyper-v-linux-integration-services-21
http://blogs.technet.com/b/enterprise_admin/archive/2010/03/09/linux-and-hyper-v-the-easy-way-brown-and-serve.aspx

Hyper-V backup can cause slow system boot / large registry files

2010-07-29T13:21:00.000+03:00

There is a bug in Windows 2008 and Windows 2008 R2. The startup time increases every time after you back up the data on all the disks of the computer in Windows Server 2008 R2, if the computer runs some virtual machines. For more details and a hotfix look at this KB article from Microsoft
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/982210
Also take a look at these posts
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/virtual_pc_guy/
http://garysgambit.blogspot.com/2010/05/windows-2008-hyper-v-vss-backup-bug.html
http://virtuallyaware.spaces.live.com/

Hyper-V resources in Microsoft

2010-07-29T12:45:00.000+03:00

Please take a look at the following link from Microsoft
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/bb802511.aspx

How To Reinstall Teamviewer After It Has Expired

2010-07-28T17:47:00.002+03:00

Please read the following posts
http://www.techbuzz.in/how-to-reinstall-teamviewer-after-it-has-expired.php
http://www.techbuzz.in/how-to-solve-teamviewer-commercial-use-suspected-problem.php
http://www.irongeek.com/i.php?page=security/madmacs-mac-spoofer
http://www.gorlani.com/publicprj/macmakeup/macmakeup.asp

Technical Notes

Installing the HA Agent fails on all hosts, except one

Manually deleting linked clones or stale virtual desktop entries from VMware View Manager

After a host power failure, vMotion fails with the error: Module is not loaded

Performing common virtual machine-related tasks with command-line utilities

Slow logins in Windows 7

Adding a USB device to the virtual machine fails in ESXi 5

View Desktop logon credentials screen takes 60 seconds to appear

Upgrading from vCenter Server 4.1 to 5.0 fails

How to correctly remove a LUN from an ESX host

How to use PowerShell to run Exchange commands remotely

Cannot login to the vCenter Server Appliance using the vSphere Client or vSphere Web Client after joining to Active Directory

How to inspect spam logs in Exchange Server 2010

Configuring initial Exchange database

Troubleshooting ESX virtual machine performance issues

Howto manually backing up and restoring the vCenter Server 4.x ADAM instance data

Unable to create snapshots on Windows guest operating systems

How to restore the default vCenter Server alarms

How to reset domain admin password on a Windows Server 2008

Setting up Serial Logging for Linux/UNIX virtual machines

How to add a DSRM startup option in Windows Server 2008 R2

How to find the exact version of my Exchange 2010

How to update ESXi 5 using esxcli

Exchange Management Console cannot close after installation of IE9

How to enable SAN certificates in a Windows 2008 R2 Enterprise CA

Troubleshooting "The RPC server is unavailable"

How to disable EDNS probes in Windows Server 2008 R2 DNS server

How to find my exchange server schema version

Exchange server schema versions

Schema Version

rangeUpper Value

How to enumerate the list of installed hotfixes in Windows using WMI

How to resize an LVM volume in CentOS 5

Adding third-party device drivers to ESXi 4.1

How to autostart a virtual machine in VMware Workstation

How to reset Windows Update components

VBscript code behind custom form in Exchange public folder is not running in Outlook 2010

NIC teaming using EtherChannel leads to intermittent network connectivity in ESXi

How to register a vCenter in vSphere 5 Web Client from command line

Hyper-V gotsas

Setting the number of cores per CPU in a virtual machine

Dell PowerVault MD3620f storage arrays configured with VMware ESX/ESXi fail

SNMP configuration steps for VI3 and vSphere 4.0/4.1

How to use wget through proxy

How to debug ACLs in squid

How to install Dell Open Manage Server in vMA appliance

Windows PowerShell help link in Technet

How to speed-up the execution of the first PowerCLI cmdlet

Hyper-V Certificate Will Expire within 30 Days Event log message

USN and USN Rollback

Thecus storage automatic shutdown from remote host

How to configure vMA as a destination of ESXi logs

How to Enable AHCI Support in Windows

Windows 7 Ultimate Tweaks & Utilities

How to use TMG AD Config tool

Using the partedUtil command line utility on ESX and ESXi

Reloading a vmx file without removing the Virtual machine from inventory

You cannot connect to Windows Live Mesh through a proxy server

VMware Workstation 7.1.3 and Windows 7 SP1

Gathering esxtop performance data at specific times using crontab

How to remove Service Pack 1 backup files from Windows 7

How to enable RAS tracing in Windows 7

Verifying vCenter Server 4.1 jobs and stored procedures

Access Based Enumeration and DFS in Windows 2008 R2

How to customize the default local user profile when you prepare an image of Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 R2

How to use teredo protocol in Windows 7

How to connect to a SMB share in a Windows Server using an alias name

How to image a Windows 2008 Server using WinPE and imagex

Setting up sysprep for use with vCenter running in Windows Server 2008

How to image OpenSuSE to a virtual machine

How to add a gPXE ROM image directly into a VMware virtual machine

How to configure virtual machines to shutdown gracefully but not to start up automatically with a host

Troubleshooting VMware High Availability (HA)

How to install Oracle 10g R2 in Windows 7

How to clone a running virtual machine in vSphere

Accessing the virtual machine's console directly from the command line

Determining if a virtual machine is Fault Tolerant capable outside of vCenter Server

Renaming a virtual machine and its files

Configure Zyxel router using CLI

How to configure nat port translation in a ZyXEL 661 ADSL router