sheenaustin.com » VMWare

Script to Hot Backup VMWare ESX Virtual Machines

Sheen — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:25:01 +0000

I was searching for the best way to implement vmware-cmd to snapshot live VMs and then rsync them to another location of my choice and look what I found!

There is a free script called ghettoVCB.sh that does the trick.

The script allows you to backup live virtual machines and also maintains only a selected number of snapshots that you would like to keep. Check it out!

Using Rsync in VMWare

Sheen — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 12:51:00 +0000

VMWare ESX runs a modified Linux Kernel. Sometimes, when you are doing basic administration tasks, you might find that there are certain Linux tools that you miss. One of the tools I miss most is the rsync tool. Its a very handy tool when it comes to data transfer. I searched high and low for a proper tool to do the job but never found one until now.

The problem with installing a standard Linux package into VMWare ESX is that it will almost certainly mean that you go down the path of installing a whole bunch of dependencies along with it and eventually something might stop working. The best way around this, obviously, is to compile a static package from source with all dependencies included.

Thus, searching around the internet, I found this rsync package that was statically compiled to work on VMWare ESX 3.5. on the VMWare communities page here. I have used it and found it to work without any issues on VMWare ESX 4.0.

Please remember – this is not supported and if you decide to use this, you do so at your own risk.

Using APC PowerChute with VMWare ESX

Sheen — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:29:44 +0000

In case of a power shutdown, we need to gracefully shutdown all virtual machines.
This is possible with an APC UPS that has a Network Management Card.

The process to do this is:
SSH to the vmware ESX server.
Execute the following commands to open up the required ports:

esxcfg-firewall -o 80,tcp,out,”APC PowerChute Port 80″
esxcfg-firewall -o 3052,tcp,out,”APC PowerChute Port 3052″
esxcfg-firewall -o 3052,tcp,in,”APC PowerChute Port 3052″
esxcfg-firewall -o 3052,udp,out,”APC PowerChute Port 3052″
esxcfg-firewall -o 3052,udp,in,”APC PowerChute Port 3052″

Then install the APC Network Shutdown Software

rpm -ihv pcns-2.2.1-100.i386.rpm

Then configure the software

/usr/local/bin/PowerChute/PCNSConfig.sh
Type 3 and press enter
Type in the IP address of the Management Card and press enter
Port 80
Enter the Username, Password and Authentication Phrase
Repeat for the second management card
Answer No to registering another management card
Answer Yes to starting the service

Now you can configure the event actions etc by pointing your web browser to http://servername:3052/

Other commands

/etc/rc.d/init.d/PowerChute stop
/etc/rc.d/init.d/PowerChute start
To uninstall, type rpm -e pcns

Please Note:
Once logged on to the web interface, click the ComputerName link
Specify the Configure Shutdown settings
UNTICK Turn off the UPS after the shutdown finishes.
Click Apply

This step is EXTREMELY important, otherwise once this server has shutdown it will power off the UPS regardless of other servers connected to the UPS.