Troubleshooting SVGA drivers installed and Slow Display Performance with VMware Tools on Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2 running on ESX 4.0

Details

  • You receive a black screen on the virtual machine when using Windows 7 or Windows 2008 R2 as a guest operating system on ESX 4.0.
  • You experience slow mouse performance on Windows 2008 R2 virtual machine.

Continue reading Troubleshooting SVGA drivers installed and Slow Display Performance with VMware Tools on Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2 running on ESX 4.0

Using NAT between the vCenter Server system and ESX hosts

Details

Each time you add an ESX host to vCenter Server, the IP address of vCenter Server is recorded on the ESX host. If the ESX host is behind a NAT and the vCenter Server is on a different network (and thus the address is not accessible due to the NAT), the host disconnects from vCenter Server after about a minute. 

For example, the vCenter Server system might be on the main network (10.10.10.0), and a few of the ESX hosts might be behind a firewall in the 192.168.5.x network. The hosts cannot reach the main network and thus become disconnected from vCenter Server. Continue reading Using NAT between the vCenter Server system and ESX hosts

Clean Up Your Migrated (P2V) Windows VMs

To show all devices that ever connected to your Windows VM (computer), do the following. Open a command prompt and type

set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1

Then, in the same command prompt, type devmgmt.msc to start the device manager.

In the device manager mmc choose View -> Show hidden devices.

This will be gone when you . . . → Read More: Clean Up Your Migrated (P2V) Windows VMs

VMware vCenter Error Call “PropertyCollector.RetrieveContents” for object “propertyCollector” on vCenter Server failed

I wanted to modify my templates. After converting a template to a VM I tried to edit the settings. I received the following error: Call “PropertyCollector.RetrieveContents” for object “propertyCollector” on vCenter Server “VC” failed.

Continue reading VMware vCenter Error Call “PropertyCollector.RetrieveContents” for object “propertyCollector” on vCenter Server failed

vSphere 4.1 is Here – Updating VMware vSphere ESX/ESXi Hypervisor to v4.1 through vCenter

Although the command line option to upgrade is preferred in some cases, here is the option to upgrade your ESX/ESXi hosts from the vCenter .

First we have to import the correct upgrade file, which you downloaded from the VMware site. Depending on your current installation you can download different files.

To upgrade ESXi . . . → Read More: vSphere 4.1 is Here – Updating VMware vSphere ESX/ESXi Hypervisor to v4.1 through vCenter

vSphere 4.1 is Here – Migrate vCenter to a New 64bit Server

Since I have been pondering around upgrading vCenters, it was a matter of time before i came across a 32bit v4 installation. Since this is not a very standard procedure and needs a bit of extra reading and research on the net, I am saving me some time by keeping a log. Those are . . . → Read More: vSphere 4.1 is Here – Migrate vCenter to a New 64bit Server

Fix “Transaction log for database ‘VIM_VCDB’ is full” errors

This is one of those “note to self posts”, in hope this may hit me again so I don’t go wandering the Internet all over again. I have a small VMware lab at home, and a few days ago I was confronted with an issue related to vCenter – the management application for VMware’s . . . → Read More: Fix “Transaction log for database ‘VIM_VCDB’ is full” errors

vSphere 4.1 is Here – Updating VMware vSphere ESX/ESXi Hypervisor to v4.1 with “vihostupdate”

Well I am happy to announce that Something has changed – again! Have you tried to find the VMware vSphere Host Update Utility? It was never downloadable – it was part of the vSphere Client which was bundled with your ESXi Installation.(by the way that has also been removed from the installation and is . . . → Read More: vSphere 4.1 is Here – Updating VMware vSphere ESX/ESXi Hypervisor to v4.1 with “vihostupdate”

vSphere 4.1 is Here – How to: Upgrade to vSphere 4.1 with an existing 64bit vCenter

With the release of vSphere 4.1 comes the challenge to upgrade your existing installation to this new version. Because I have been testing the beta for a while now, I couldn´t wait to try it in our new testing environment.

However, there are a few caveats:

VMware released a KB article with the supported . . . → Read More: vSphere 4.1 is Here – How to: Upgrade to vSphere 4.1 with an existing 64bit vCenter

Boot from an ISO and ruin (or Fix) Your Dedicated Hosting

Intro

OK so you went and splashed out on a Dedicated Hosting Pack only to find out you do not like the OS list included. You have IP KVM Access to the Machine and you feel you want to ruin it (OR Fix it). Lets assume you have debian and you want to install ESXi Here is How!
Continue reading Boot from an ISO and ruin (or Fix) Your Dedicated Hosting