The days at the year’s end are usually the time to look back and to draw a resume.
I blogged on blazilla.de for nearly 7 years, but in December 2013 I decided that it was time for a new beginning: New blog platform, new content, another language, but the same topics. In January 2014 I started vcloudnine.de.
Until today, I wrote about 100 blog posts. According to Google Analytics, these are my Top 10 most visited blog posts for 2014:
Originally the VCP5-DCV Delta exam (VCP550D) was available until 30. November. I passed it on 22. November, about one week before the planned ending of availability. Yesterday, VMware announced the extended availability of the delta exam. You can find the announcement on the VMware Education and Certification Blog. The exam will be available through 10. March 2015. Previously requested authorizations are still valid.
This delta exam is focused on the differences between VMware vSphere 5.1 an vSphere 5.5, and it is available to existing VCP5-DCVs who took the VCP510 exam and need to recertify on or before 15. March 2015. The exam consists of 65 questions. You have 75 minutes time to answer them. If you’re a non-native english or japanese speaker, you will granted 30 minutes extra time.
After installing the Data Protector patch bundle 8.13, you may ran into this error when trying to restore data from a HP StoreOnce appliance.
[Normal] From: RSM@dpcm.lab.local "" Time: 04.12.2014 09:13:10
Restore session 2014/12/04-8 started.
[Normal] From: RMA@fileserver.lab.local "D2D_GW1 [GW 6408:0:7255964966039732580]" Time: 04.12.2014 09:13:12
STARTING Media Agent "D2D_GW1 [GW 6408:0:7255964966039732580]"
[Normal] From: RMA@fileserver.lab.local "D2D_GW1 [GW 6408:0:7255964966039732580]" Time: 04.12.2014 09:13:13
Loading medium from slot 192.168.200.101Store_1257902bf_54796efc_04f4_005c to device D2D_GW1 [GW 6408:0:7255964966039732580]
[Major] From: RMA@fileserver.lab.local "D2D_GW1 [GW 6408:0:7255964966039732580]" Time: 04.12.2014 09:13:15
[90:52] 192.168.200.101Store_1257902bf_54796efc_04f4_005c
Cannot read from device (JSONizer error: Device read failure)
[Normal] From: RMA@fileserver.lab.local "D2D_GW1 [GW 6408:0:7255964966039732580]" Time: 04.12.2014 09:13:15
Unloading medium to slot \\192.168.200.101\Store_1\257902bf_54796efc_04f4_005c from device D2D_GW1 [GW 6408:0:7255964966039732580]
[Normal] From: RMA@fileserver.lab.local "D2D_GW1 [GW 6408:0:7255964966039732580]" Time: 04.12.2014 09:13:15
ABORTED Media Agent "D2D_GW1 [GW 6408:0:7255964966039732580]"
[Normal] From: RSM@dpcm.lab.local "" Time: 04.12.2014 09:13:15
Restore Statistics:
Session Queuing Time (hours) 0,00
-------------------------------------------
Completed Disk Agents ........ 0
Failed Disk Agents ........... 1
Aborted Disk Agents .......... 0
-------------------------------------------
Disk Agents Total ........... 1
===========================================
Completed Media Agents ....... 0
Failed Media Agents .......... 0
Aborted Media Agents ......... 1
-------------------------------------------
Media Agents Total .......... 1
===========================================
Mbytes Total ................. 0 MB
Used Media Total ............. 1
Disk Agent Errors Total ...... 0
This problem is known and it is described in QCCR2A56465. A fix is available (new BMA, CMA, MMA and RMA binaries). Simply open a service request and ask for the fix. Make sure that you add a copy of the session messages or a screenshot to the service request.
This applies to upgrades from Data Protector 6.x and 7.x to 8.x and 9.x.
It seems that today is my debugging day… Yesterday I performed a Data Protector update from 7.03 to 8.13. During this update, the Data Protector IDB is migrated to another database format. Last night the backups went smoothly, but today I noticed that two old Detail Catalog Binary File (DCBF) directories were still referenced in the HP Data Protector IDB.
HP has brushed up the StoreServ 7000 series and updated the StoreServ 7200 and 7400 models. HP also added a new model to the 7000 series: The StoreServ 7440c.
New 3PAR StoreServ models:
| Model | 3PAR StoreServ 7200c | 3PAR StoreServ 7400c | 3PAR StoreServ 7440c |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nodes | 2 | 2 or 4 | 2 or 4 |
| CPUs | 2x 6-Core 1,8 GHz | 2x or 4x 6-Core 1,8 GHz | 2x or 4x 8-Core 2,3 GHz |
| Gen4 ASICs | 2 | 2 or 4 | 2 or 4 |
| On-Node Cache | 40 GB | 48 - 96 GB | 96 - 192 GB |
| Max Drives | 8 - 240 (max 120 SSDs) | 8 – 576 (max 240 SSDs) | 8 - 960 (max 240 SSDs) |
| Max Enclosures | 0 - 9 | 0 - 22 | 0 - 38 |
Old 3PAR StoreServ models
When you want to go fast, go slow. Otherwise you will get into trouble… Today I tried to quickly deploy a VM from a template and customize this VM with a customization specification. The codeword is “quickly”. The fun started with this error message:
Patrick Terlisten/ vcloudnine.de/ Creative Commons CC0
Fortunately I asked the VMware Knowledge Base, which lead me to VMware KB2086930 (Deploying a template with customization fails with the error: Authenticity of the host’s SSL certificate is not verified). This KB article is all you need to know to fix this error.
It’s a common practice to replace self-signed certificates, that are used in several VMware products, with CA signed certificates. I did this in my lab for my vCenter Server Appliance and my VMware Update Manager. While I was working with vRealize Orchestrator I noticed, that it is also using self-signed certificates (what else?). For completeness, I decided to replace the self-signed certificates with CA signed.
You don’t need a Microsoft Windows CA. You can use any other CA. There is no need to use a special vendor. I use a windows-based CA in my lab, so the screenshots reflect this fact. The way how certificates are replaced differs between vRealize Orchestrator Appliance and the windows-based standalone or vCenter Server embedded version. If you use the in the vCenter Server embedded or Standalone Orchestrator check Derek Seamans VMware vSphere 5.5 SSL Toolkit. I used the Orchestrator appliance.
The clock is ticking… Current VCP5-DCVs who need to recertify their VCP can do this until 30. November 2014 by passing the VCP5-DCV Delta exam (VCP550D). The exam can booked online via Pearson VUE and it’s delivered as an online exam. This means, that you don’t have to visit a Pearson VUE test center to take the exam. The costs for the exam are 90,- € plus taxes (in my case ~ 107 €).
While preparing for a VMware vSphere 5.5 update at a customer of mine, I stumbled over VMware KB2085618 (ESXi host cannot initiate vMotion or enable services and reports the error: Heap globalCartel-1 already at its maximum size.Cannot expand.). I checked the HP AMS version in the latest HP custom ESXi image and found out, that version hp-ams-esx-550.10.0.0-18.1198610 is included (source). Unfortunately the bug is not fixed in 10.0.0, but it’s fixed in 10.0.1 (source).
This is not a brand new issue and it’s well discussed in the VMTN. After applying the ESXi 5.5.0 U2 patches from 15. October 2014, you may notice the following symptoms:
VMware has released a couple of patches in October:
More specifically, it’s the patch ESXi550-201410401-BG that is causing the problem. It is reported that the patch ESXi510-201410401-BG is also cause problems. VMware has published a KB article under the the KB2092809. Citrix has also published a KB article under the ID CTX200278. The VMware KB2092809 includes a workaround. You have to add the line