Jonathan's Virtual Blog : How To

Updated System Center Virtual Machine Manager Configuration Analyzer (VMMCA)

Jonathan — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 23:11:00 GMT

Description

The VMMCA is a diagnostic tool you can use to evaluate important configuration settings for computers that either are serving or might serve VMM roles or other VMM functions. The VMMCA scans the hardware and software configurations of the computers you specify, evaluates them against a set of predefined rules, and then provides you with error messages and warnings for any configurations that are not optimal for the VMM role or other VMM function that you have specified for the computer.

Requirements

You must install and run the VMMCA on the computer that either currently is or will become your VMM 2008 server. To review the system requirements for the VMM 2008 server, go to http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=133516.

Prerequisite: Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA)

Note: The system requirements for the MBCA indicate that only Windows Server 2003 is supported. However, the VMMCA and the MBCA have been tested and are supported on Windows Server 2008 64-bit.

Where to get it

1) Download pre-req: Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer (MBCA)
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=97952

2) Download VMMCA
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=02d83950-c03d-454e-803b-96d1c1d5be24&displaylang=en

Common Usage Scenarios

The list of scenarios are not comprehensive, but will provide you with some common usage scenarios to provide you with an understanding of when to use VMMCA 2008.

Scenario 1 – I have a Windows Host that is in a not responding state. Use VMMCA 2008 to check the host for commonly known issues.

Scenario 2 – A Windows host shows a status of “Needs Attention”. Use VMMCA 2008 to check the this host for commonly known issues.

Scenario 3 – I am using SCVMM 2008 to manage a VMware environment, but I am unable to create new virtual machines on the VMware environment. Use VMMCA 2008 to evaluate the Virtual Center environment for commonly known issues.

Scenario 4 – I am using the integration between SCVMM 2008 and Operations Manager, but I am unable to see a particular VM or Host in the integrated mapping view. Use VMMCA 2008 to check the host or virtual machine for an operations manager agent.

Scenario 5 – I am using SCVMM 2008 to do P2V conversions and the job is failing. Use VMMCA 2008 to check the P2V source for commonly known issues.

Scenario 6 - I tried to create a Virtual Machine and it failed during customization and installation of virtual guest services. Use VMMCA 2008 on the Windows Host to find commonly known issues.

…

Updated SCVMM 2008 and 2008 R2 MPS Reports

Jonathan — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:39:00 GMT

Overview

The SCVMM 2008 and 2008 R2 Microsoft Product Support Reports helps Support Professionals, IT Pros and System Administrators gathering critical system and logging information used in troubleshooting support issues. Built upon the success of earlier versions of SCVMM MPS Reports, this new release adds compatibility for SCVMM 2008 R2 and Windows 2008 R2 OS platform.

Where to get it

SCVMM 2008 and 2008 R2 MPS Reports are available at the Download Center URL link here http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4e3dc013-c299-4b80-9735-64a8b9fa60c7

Data Collected

The Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) version of the MPS Reporting Tool gathers the following diagnostic data for the VMM server, the virtual machine hosts and library servers that the VMM server manages, and physical to virtual conversion (P2V) source computers:

Virtual Machine Manager traces
Virtual Machine Manager database
Windows event logs and virtual server event logs
IP address
Virtual Machine Manager setup logs
SQL Server setup logs
Registry information
Open ports information
System Information (msinfo)

Basic Instructions

INSTALLING THE MPS REPORTING TOOL
=================================
>>>To install the MPS Reporting Tool

Download the file MPSRPT_SCVMM.exe.
Copy the file to the computer on which you want to diagnose problems.
Open an elevated Command Prompt window with administrative privileges, and then run MPSRPT_SCVMM.exe., or right-click MPSRPT_SCVMM.exe, and then click "Run as Administrator".
Accept the End-User License Agreement (EULA).

By default, the MPS Reporting Tool is installed in the %SystemRoot%\MPSReports\VirtualMachineManager folder.

…

Download Virtual Machine Manager R2 Documentation

Jonathan — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 19:51:00 GMT

Downloadable documents are now available for VMM R2! Check them out on TechNet here: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=162764

Available documents for download

Deployment Guide
Guide to Operations Manager Integration
Security Guide
Operations Guide
Scripting Guide
Cmdlet Reference
Building PRO-Enabled Management Packs

Use the links in the following table to find documentation that you can download and print to help you deploy, operate, and maintain System Center Virtual Machine Manager VMM 2008 R2. You can also browse the product documentation online in the Technical Library.

Title	Description	Date Released or Updated	Availability
Virtual Machine Manager Deployment Guide	This guide provides information essential for the successful deployment of VMM 2008 and VMM 2008 R2. The topics in this guide provide detailed information about system requirements, installing VMM, upgrading or migrating from a previous version, and additional deployment and configuration information.	September 11, 2009	Download Read online
Virtual Machine Manager Guide to Operations Manager Integration	This guide provides information essential for the successful integration of System Center Operations Manager 2007 with Service Pack 1 (SP1) or Operations Manager 2007 R2 with System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) 2008 or VMM 2008 R2. The topics in this guide provide system and security requirements, detailed procedures for performing a successful integration, and troubleshooting for integration issues, whether you are a new VMM customer or you previously integrated Operations Manager with VMM 2008 or VMM 2008 R2 Beta. Procedures also are provided for enabling Performance and Resource Optimization (PRO) and configuring reporting in VMM. A successful Operations Manager integration is a prerequisite for both the PRO and reporting configurations.	September 11, 2009	Download Read online
Virtual Machine Manager Security Guide	This guide provides the information needed to successfully configure security for VMM 2008 and VMM 2008 R2. Topics include security basics (role-based security, ports and protocols used by VMM, and account requirements for administrative tasks); instructions for hardening the VMM server, database server, virtual machine hosts, library servers, and self-service Web servers against unauthorized access; domain and account requirements for integrating System Center Operations Manager 2007 with VMM; and security requirements for managing a VMware environment by using VMM.	September 11, 2009	Download Read online
Virtual Machine Manager Operations Guide	This guide provides information essential for the successful configuration of VMM 2008 and VMM 2008 R2. For new customers, this guide explains how to configure the required and optional features of VMM after setup. The guide also provides information about creating, managing, and migrating virtual machines; performing maintenance on virtual machines, their hosts, and the VMM server; and managing a VMware Infrastructure 3 (VI3) environment by using VMM.	September 11, 2009	Download Read online
Virtual Machine Manager Scripting Guide	This guide provides an overview of the Windows PowerShell – Virtual Machine Manager command shell and sample scripts that explain how to use Windows PowerShell scripting to manage your virtual system infrastructure.	September 11, 2009	Download Read online
Virtual Machine Manager Cmdlet Reference	As an alternative to using the VMM Administrator Console to administer your Virtual Machine Manager environment, you can use the cmdlets in the Windows PowerShell - Virtual Machine Manager command shell, which is an administrator-focused command-line shell. This guide provides the Help topics for the VMM 2008 and VMM 2008 R2 cmdlets.	September 11, 2009	Download
Building PRO-Enabled Management Packs	This document gives an overview of creating PRO-enabled management packs and walks you through the steps required to create a simple PRO-enabled management pack.	September 11, 2009	Download

Feedback on these? Please send it to: scvmfdbk@microsoft.com

…

‘Unsupported Cluster Configuration’ - Virtual Networks

Jonathan — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 21:23:00 GMT

There are a number of reasons a Virtual Machine (VM) can fall into a status of ‘Unsupported Cluster Configuration.’ A brief list, pulled from TechNet, shows that storage, networking, and other factors can cause this status. (Source: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc967323.aspx)

The virtual machine is on a LUN that contains more than one virtual machine.
The virtual machine is using non-clustered storage.
One or more virtual network adapters on the virtual machine are not connected to a highly available virtual network.
An ISO image is attached to highly available virtual machines.
A VMware HAVM is connected to a port group that does not exist on all nodes of the host cluster.

This article deals with the third bullet, which effectively means, ‘settings are not identical on all virtual network (VN) adapters.’ Here are the TechNet instructions. Next we’ll discuss checking these automatically.

For a virtual network to be considered common by VMM and available to highly available virtual machines on a host cluster, each virtual network in the host cluster must meet the following requirements:

The virtual network name must be identical on each host in the cluster. Virtual network names are case-sensitive, so the cases of all characters must match.

The host network adapters to which the virtual network is attached on each host in the cluster must have the same location.

The virtual network must have the same tag on each host in the cluster.

After you update the virtual network configurations on all nodes, refresh the cluster to ensure that each virtual network is detected as common. Then check the Networks tab in the host cluster properties to verify that the networks have been added to it.

So, check the Network Name, Location and Tag for inconsistencies. Once you have done this for all VNs on each Host in the Host Cluster, corrected any inconsistencies and refreshed the Host Cluster, the VMs will change back to a healthy status. Verifying all of this can take some time, and is prone to human error as these settings are case sensitive and take into account spaces. Instead, why not run a PowerShell script that will report all settings for you? (Scroll to the bottom to download the script).

Here are the three settings that must be consistent on all nodes.

Here’s the PowerShell script we’re going to use.

The script is saved as ‘VMNicInfo.ps1’ in the VMM Library. This way, it can be run from within the Admin console. I’ve created a folder named ‘Scripts’ to place it in. Refresh the library to see it.

Now we run the script by right clicking on it and answering a few prompts. Enter ‘r’ to run the script if prompted. Next, enter the name of your Host Cluster and press Enter. (This script must be run from an Admin console running on the VMM Server. To run it from the Admin console on a different system change ‘localhost’ to the name of your VMM Server and surround it with quotes.)

You see in the image above that the Name and Location are the same. There is no entry for Tag on either VN, so they match as well. In the example below we add a value to Tag on one of the systems.

Now we run the script again and see that the output reflects this change. (If this does not work for you make sure you have refreshed the Host Cluster, in the red box). You will also notice that the VMs running on the Host Cluster change to a state of ‘Unsupported Cluster Configuration.’

Change the Tag back to its previous value (nothing in my case) and perform another refresh to see your VMs change back to a healthy state.

That’s it. I hope this clears up any questions or misconceptions you may have had. Below is the script. Be sure to copy this to Notepad as it will remove all formatting characters. Or, download the script here, then run from a VMM PowerShell prompt.

#####################################################################

function DisplayNicInfo($VMHostName)

{

$yy= get-VirtualNetwork -VMHost $VMHostName;

$yy | ForEach-object {write-host " Name " $_.Name;

write-host " Locations " $_.Locations;

write-host " Tag " $_.Tag;

}

#####################################################################

$clusname = read-host "Host Cluster name to check"

Write-Host ""

$VMMServer = get-vmmserver -computername localhost

$Cluster = get-vmhostcluster -name $clusname

$VMHosts = get-vmhost -vmhostcluster $Cluster

$VMHosts | ForEach-object {Write-Host "VMHost: " $_.Name;

DisplayNicInfo($_.Name);

Write-Host ""}

Big thanks to Austin, who reworked the script into a thing of beauty. Go Perf! (http://blogs.technet.com/askperf)

Drivers Required for Offline P2V - How to Download, Extract and Stage

Jonathan — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 08:48:00 GMT

Drivers Required for Offline P2V - How to Extract and Where to Place

There are two types of P2V with SCVMM 2008: offline and online. Online is the way to go most of the time, if you are using Windows 2003 or higher. In a few instances you will need to perform an offline conversion instead. If the Source machine (the machine to be converted) is Windows 2000 SP4, you have no choice… Offline is the only option. Another time to use offline conversion is when the source machine is a domain controller. Here’s a doc to explain the ramifications (USN rollback situations):

Deployment Considerations for Virtualized Domain Controllers

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd348449.aspx

The offline conversion process entails booting the source machine into WinPE and copying the contents of the hard drive via BITS to the destination Host. WinPE as included in SCVMM is based on Vista SP1 (Windows 2008). This means that while there is a good chance the network and mass storage drivers required are included in WinPE, the list is not inexhaustible and there will be times when the correct driver needs to be provided. The rest of this article explains how to do this.

This article describes how to provide the correct network drivers for WinPE during the offline phase of P2V. The same principles apply when WinPE instead needs the correct mass storage drivers to access the disk.

Indications of a driver issue
When booted into the WinPE phase of an Offline P2V, WinPE has no network connectivity. 'ipconfig /all' at the command prompt returns an error or no information. Alternately, there may simply be a failure to access the disk as correct SCSI card drivers are required.

Errors from the 'scvmm_winpe_setupapi.log' file
(See Related Links at end of this post for instructions on creating this trace file)
Log excerpt
>>> [DIF_SELECTBESTCOMPATDRV - PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_105E&SUBSYS_105E8086&REV_78\3&61AAA01&0&48]
>>> Section start 2008/10/31 14:24:35.352

cmd: winpeshl.exe
dvi: No class installer for 'Ethernet Controller'
dvi: No CoInstallers found
dvi: Default installer: Enter 14:24:35.363
dvi: {Select Best Driver}
! dvi: Selecting driver failed(0xe0000228)
dvi: {Select Best Driver - exit(0xe0000228)}
! dvi: Default installer: failed!
! dvi: Error 0xe0000228: There are no compatible drivers for this device.

<<< Section end 2008/10/31 14:24:35.363
<<< [Exit status: FAILURE(0xe0000228)]

Locate the correct drivers for your network card
NOTE: Most manufacturers now provide a single installation application to install drivers in Windows for you. This single .EXE or .MSI file CANNOT be used without first extracting the file contents.

- The drivers must designed for VISTA or WINDOWS 2008. The version of WinPE used by
SCVMM is based on Vista/Windows 2008

- There must be .SYS, .INF, and .CAT files for the offline driver install
- It is recommended that drivers are downloaded from the NIC manufacturer's site.
(NOTE: If using SCVMM 2007, locate drivers designed for Windows 2003 instead)

Identify the Network Card (NIC)
The SCVMM Admin Console will detect the type of network card on the source machine, and this description may be good enough to locate the correct NIC driver online

If you need further details on the NIC
- Open Device Manager in the Source machine to determine the type of NIC used.
- The VEN identifies the NIC exactly and is useful in locating compatible drivers.

This can be easily found in Windows or in the WinPE trace log.
     - In Windows: The '%windir%\setupapi.log' file lists all installed hardware
     - In WinPE use the 'scvmm_winpe_setupapi.log'
     - Using the example above we see the VEN:

PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_105E&SUBSYS_105E8086&REV_78\3&61AAA01&0&48

Download the Correct NIC Driver
Search the vendor's site for the correct card. If you are unable to locate it, search the web for the VEN number.
Example keywords for this NIC: VEN 8086 DEV 105E

This is the vendor's site and lists of adapters that have matching VEN numbers
http://www.intel.com/support/network/sb/CS-012904.htm

Locate the correct driver on the vendor site. We will use this site for this example:
http://www.intel.com/support/network/sb/CS-006120.htm

- Select the correct NIC and you will be taken to a page listing drivers for different Windows builds.

- Choose the drivers for Vista 32bit.

- 'PROVISTA32.EXE' is the link you will select in this example

- On this page you see the actual download 'PROVISTA32_V13_4.exe' and a link to the 'ReadMe'

- Download and save the driver to a temp directory close to the root of C: such as ‘C:\temp’

- Open the online ‘Readme’ to determine how to properly extract the drivers from 'PROVISTA32_V13_4.exe'

Extract the contents of the Executable
Create a directory to extract the files to. Do NOT extract the files to the same directory in which the executable (PROVISTA32_V13_4.exe) resides

Example Steps

- Make a directory named 'c:\temp\Intelextracted'

- In this instance the readme shows that you type 'PROVISTA32_V13_4.exe /e /f c:\temp\Intelextracted’

- This extracts the files and saves them to 'c:\temp\Intelextracted'

- Open the c:\temp\Intelextracted directory and locate the correct drivers

- Sometimes you will find the files in a Platform directory that has a folder for the correct operating system. In this example you would open the PRO1000 folder as the card is a PRO1000. This folder contains a Win32 folder with many .inf, .cat and .sys files.

- Rename the Win32 directory to PRO1000 and place the directory in 'C:\Program
Files\Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008\Patch Import'

Perform P2V again with the correct drivers
Start the P2V process again, and this time when hardware has been detected and the network card description is show, click the 'Browse' button at the bottom and select the 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008\Patch Import\PRO1000' folder, then click Next

If you selected the correct drivers WinPE will now be able to initialize the NIC and gain network access during the offline process.

Related Links
Trace file creation during WinPE phase of P2V process

P2V: Converting Physical Computers to Virtual Machines in VMM
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc764232.aspx

Converting Physical Computers to Virtual Machines in VMM (P2V Conversions)
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb963740.aspx

Understanding Microsoft Virtualization Solutions - eBook download (did I mention FREE?)

Jonathan — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 22:54:00 GMT

I found this link on ‘Keith Combs' Blahg.’ Written by Mitch Tulloch with the Microsoft Virtualization team, this is THE reference for all things virtual: Hyper-V, SCVMM, App-V, Med-V, and USMT. Download and read today!

http://blogs.technet.com/keithcombs/archive/2008/12/19/thanks-for-attending-the-usa-virtualization-tour-ebook-download.aspx

Direct download link:

https://www.getvirtualnow.com/usevents/education/download/693371eBook.pdf

Technorati Tags: microsoft,scvmm,hyper-v review,virtual,virtualization,windows,app-v,med-v

Contributing Engineer: SCVMM 2008 Installation. Step-by-Step

Jonathan — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 22:47:00 GMT

Mike Briggs put this article together for one of his customers who was having a bit of difficulty installing SCVMM correctly. The SCVMM install process is well designed and easy to follow, but it helps if you read the directions... Needless to say, some people have a hard time putting on the brakes and reading the few pre-requisites required. I suggest you use this document as a reference point and mark it up for your own internal use. The professional formatting of this document took a bit of a beating when converted to HTML below, so download the attachment for use.

Download: Installing SCVMM 2008: Step-by-Step

Send all appreciation to Mike.

mbriggs@microsoft.com

___________________________________________

Installation Prerequisites

The following section discusses the hardware, Operating System, Software and Infrastructure Prerequisites to be considered before installing System Center Virtual Machine Manager.

Prerequisites are also provided for the individually installable SCVMM Components, VMM Server, Administrator Console, Self-Service Portal.

Hardware Requirements

Hardware Prerequisites are classified by the number of hosts and the associated virtual machines that will be managed by the SCVMM server.

The following table contains recommended and minimum requirements for managing up to 150 hosts.

Hardware Component	Minimum	Recommended
Processor	Pentium 4, 2 GHz (x64)	Dual-Processor, Dual-Core, 3.2 GHz (x64) or greater
RAM	2 GB	4 GB
Hard disk space (remote DB)	10 GB	40 GB
Hard disk space (local DB)	4 GB	SQL Server 2005 Express DB limit is 4 GB
Hard disk space (Library Server)	120 GB	120 GB

Operating System Prerequisites

SCVMM 2008 will install only on Microsoft Windows Server 2008 (x64) edition.

Additional Software Prerequisites

Software Requirement	Notes
Windows Remote Management (WinRM)	Included with Windows Server 2008 and service is set to start automatically.
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0	Included with Windows Server 2008 as a server feature. If not installed, it is installed as part of the setup process.
Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0	Required for Administrator Console and Self-Service Portal functionality on supported operating systems *other than Windows Server 2008.*
Windows PowerShell 1.0	Included with Windows Server 2008 as a server feature. PowerShell is required for the Administrator console and Self-Service Portal. If not installed, it is installed as part of the setup process.
Windows Server Internet Information Services (IIS)	Required for Self-Service portal. Must install the Web Server Role in Windows Server 2008 including IIS 6 Management Compatibility.
Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) 1.1	If not installed, it is installed as part of the setup process.

If you are using the same server for both the VMM server and the database server, you must install a supported version of Microsoft SQL Server 2005.

Note: For better performance, when managing a large number of hosts (> 150), it is recommended a separate machine be used to host the VMM database.

Note: If the default port (80) for the VMM Self-Service Portal is used by another Web site, you must either use a different dedicated port or specify a host header for the portal.

SCVMM 2008 Pre-Installation

Pre-Installation

The installation process for SCVMM begins with the following interface:

In addition to reviewing information about the product and connecting to the SCVMM website, we can run the VMM Configuration Analyzer prior to actually beginning the setup process. The configuration analyzer examines the server that will be hosting the Virtual Machine Manager function. The VMM configuration Analyzer is not included with the product and must be downloaded from the Microsoft public download site.

The Virtual Machine Manager Configuration Analyzer has a pre-requisite that must be installed first - the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer. This is mentioned on the download page for the Analyzer package, and a link is provided for the download.

Once the analyzer is installed, it can be used to scan computers to verify if they are suitable to function as a VMM Server, run the VMM Administrator console, function as a Self-Service Portal or be a Managed Host.

Note: Be sure to run the analyzer in the context of an account that has administrative permissions to all machines that are being scanned.

After the scan completes, a report is opened in Internet Explorer documenting the results of the scan.

The Configuration Analyzer can be downloaded from here.

System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 Configuration Analyzer

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=02d83950-c03d-454e-803b-96d1c1d5be24&DisplayLang=en

Installing Virtual Machine Manager Server

Installation Steps:

1. Select VMM Server under SETUP on the main screen.

Note: When you install the VMM server, only the domain account that you are logged on with is automatically added to the VMM Administrator user role.

2. Accept the license.

3. Join the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP).

4. Enter Product Registration information.

5. Execute the Prerequisites Check and make sure it completes successfully. If not, correct the problems and re-run the check.

6. Select an Installation location on the local machine.

7. Configure SQL Server settings.

8. Create a new library share on the VMM server or select a pre-configured share. As a 'best practice', you may want to consider using another volume on the VMM Server for better performance and storage capacity.

9. After setup is complete, you cannot remove or relocate the default library share, so give careful consideration to its location before installing the VMM server. You can specify an existing share on the VMM Server in place of the default location; however it must reside on the VMM Server. Additional Library Shares and Servers can be added in the future.

10. Specify ports to support SCVMM communications and designate a domain account to use for the VMM Service Account (Default is to use local system). If the Self- Service portal is being hosted on the VMM server, Port 80 will already be taken by the Default Website. You will either need to change the port in IIS Services Manager or set a different one for VMM communications.

11. Specify Local system or a domain account to use for the VMM Service Account (Default is to use local system).

12. Verify all the selections before selecting Install

13. Provided no issues are encountered, the install will complete and you will be able to check for Virtual Machine updates on the Microsoft website.

Note: When you install the VMM server, all accounts in the local Administrators security group are automatically added to the VMM Administrator user role.

VMM Administration Console

For ease of administration it is recommended that you install a Virtual Machine Manager Administrator Console on the same computer as the SCVMM server. You can install additional VMM Administrator Consoles on other computers to remotely access and manage the SCVMM server. When you install the VMM Administrator Console, the Setup Wizard also installs Windows PowerShell — Virtual Machine Manager Command shell. Additionally, if installing the VMM Administrator Console on another supported platform the .NET Framework version 2.0 is required.

If you plan to use the reporting feature of VMM, you must install a VMM Administrator Console on the same computer as the VMM server. The reporting feature of VMM relies upon System Center Operations Manager 2007 (OpsMgr), and for OpsMgr administrators to perform tasks on hosts and virtual machines from within the Server Virtualization Management Pack requires that the Windows PowerShell — Virtual Machine Manager command shell be installed on the VMM server.

Installation Steps:

1. In the setup menu select Administrator Console

2. Accept the License Terms

3. Review customer Experience Improvement program (CEIP) information

4. Execute the Prerequisites Check and make sure it completes successfully. If not, correct the problems and re-run the check.

5. Select an Installation location on the local machine.

6. Verify the Port Assignment.

The default port is 8100.

7. Verify all the selections before selecting Install.

Provided no issues are encountered, the install will complete and you will be able to check for Virtual Machine updates on the Microsoft website.

9. By default, a shortcut to the VMM Administrator Console will be placed on the desktop. Double-click on the shortcut and verify the Administrator console does open.

10. The first time you open the VMM Administrator Console, the Connect to Server dialog box opens. In the Connect to Server dialog box, do one of the following:

· If you installed the VMM Administrator Console on the same computer as the VMM server, click Connect to connect to the local VMM server (localhost) using the port that you assigned during the installation of the VMM server.

· If you want to use the VMM Administrator Console to connect to the VMM server on the different computer, in the Server name box, type the name of the computer where the VMM server is installed, followed by a colon and the port that you assigned during the installation of the VMM server.

Technorati Tags: microsoft,scvmm,hyper-v,virtual,virtualization

Ultimate Interactive How To for SCVMM

Jonathan — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 18:44:00 GMT

Need to add a Host? Click 'To add hosts'. Want to configure a SAN environment for VMM? There's a button for that too. This screen capture shows a few of the options available in the decision flow designed to take you to the right content for the job at hand.

Here's the link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/scvmm/cc835256.aspx

Content below is the table version of the interactive decision flow located here:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/scvmm/cc835256.aspx

Virtual Machine Manager 2008 Decision Flow

Updated: October 21, 2008

To use this high-level decision flow to help you implement System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) 2008, follow the path from top to bottom. After each decision point, click the link to review content about that feature. To view a flowchart version of this table, see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=126290 [ http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=126290 ] .

SCVMM Decision Flow Table

Step	Statement	Decision
1	Do you have VMM 2007 or VMM 2008 Beta installed?	If Yes, go to step 2. If No, go to step 3.
2	To Migrate to VMM 2008	See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125913 [ http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125913 ] Go to step 4.
3	To install VMM 2008 components	See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125914 [ http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125914 ] . Go to step 4.
4	Do you want to add hosts?	If Yes, go to step 5. If No, go to step 6.
5	To add hosts	See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125921 [ http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125921 ] . Go to step 6.
6	Do you want to add a VMware Infrastructure 3 Environment?	If Yes, go to step 7. If No, go to step 8.
7	To add a VMware VirtualCenter Server	See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=128560 [ http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=128560 ] . Go to step 8.
8	Do you want to configure a VMM library server?	If Yes, go to step 9. If No, go to step 10.
9	To configure a VMM library server	See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125945 [ http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125945 ] . Go to step 10.
10	Do you want to integrate Operations Manager 2007 with VMM?	If Yes, go to step 11. If No, go to step 12.
11	To integrate Operations Manager 2007 with VMM	See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125948 [ http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125948 ] . Go to step 12.
12	Do you want to configure delegated administration	If Yes, go to step 13. If No, go to step 14.
13	To configure delegated administration	See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125951 [ http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125951 ] . Go to step 14.
14	Do you want to configure a SAN environment for use with VMM?	If Yes, go to step 15. If No, go to step 16.
15	To configure a SAN environment for VMM	See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125953 [ http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125953 ] . Go to step 16.
16	Do you want to review optional post-installation tasks?	If Yes, go to step 17. If No, go to step 18.
17	To review optional post-installation tasks	See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125954 [ http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125954 ] .
18	To review VMM Operations content	See http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125955 [ http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125955 ] .

Technorati Tags: microsoft,scvmm,hyper-v,virtual,virtualization,windows

Troubleshooting and Data Collection During Offline P2V

Jonathan — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 11:36:00 GMT

When the P2V process fails there can be a number of issues to identify. A number of situations are discussed below. The machine being virtualized is referred to as the Source machine. The location where the virtualized machine is being copied is the Destination Host.

Use this article as your main reference for all P2V issues
P2V: Converting Physical Computers to Virtual Machines in VMM
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc764232.aspx

Requirements for the Source Machine
To perform a P2V conversion, your source computer:
- Must have at least 512 MB of RAM.
- Must have an Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) BIOS - Vista WinPE will not install on a non-ACPI BIOS.
- Must be accessible by VMM and by the host computer.
- Cannot be in a perimeter network (also known as a DMZ, demilitarized zone, and screened subnet) where the firewalls or IPsec settings prohibit communication.
- Must contain one of the following supported operating systems:
- Windows Server 2008 (32-bit)
- Windows Server 2008 (64-bit)
- Windows Server 2003 (32-bit) SP1 or later
- Windows Server 2003 (64-bit) SP1 or later
- Windows 2000 Server SP4 or later (Offline P2V only)
- Windows 2000 Advanced Server SP4 or later (Offline P2V only)
- Windows XP Professional (32-bit) SP2 or later
- Windows XP Professional (64-bit) SP2 or later
- Windows Vista (32-bit) SP1 or later
- Windows Vista (64-bit) SP1 or later

Errors and Resolutions
- Third party applications can lead to failures
- Disable all antivirus using MSCONFIG and reboot
- Disable all monitoring software such as Insight Manager (optional)
- Disable IIS on the source machine if running

Network Related - Source machine
Make sure that when rebooted into WinPE there is an IP address. There is a command prompt on the console. Type 'ipconfig /all' and verify with the customer that all IP settings are correct and match that of the SCVMM Server and Destination Host

If the IP starts with 169.254.x.x this is an auto-configed IP. This means there is no DHCP serve to provide an IP address or there are problems with the NIC drivers. It is preferable that the source and destination host are on the same subnet. If not test all routing by pinging…
     - Ping the SCVMM and Host SCVMM servers by DNS name, not IP. If they do not resolve, correct DNS
     - Ping the IP address of the default gateway and DNS servers. If they do not reply, correct IP settings
     - If IP information needs to be set manually in WinPE, at a command prompt type:
‘netsh interface ipv4 set address "Local Area Connection" static 10.241.0.7 255.255.0.0    10.241.0.2    1’
     Where:
‘netsh interface ipv4 set address "Local Area Connection" static %ipaddr% %subnet% %dns server% 1’

Network Related - Source and SCVMM machines
On Windows 2003 machines follow the 'Workaround' in this article (disregard the fact that it is a SQL KB. It is correct). This will disable TCP Offloading in Windows 2003 SP2, which can lead to a number of networking issues.

     942861 Error message when an application connects to SQL Server on a server that is running Windows Server 2003:
     "General Network error," "Communication link failure," or "A transport-level error"
     http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;942861

WMI and 'Access Denied' errors
Follow the article on this site ‘WMI Errors and SCVMM’

During 'Scan System' operation
Example Error
VMM does not have appropriate permissions to access the resource on the <destination_computer> server. Ensure that Virtual Machine Manager has the appropriate rights to perform this action.
ID: 2910
Details: Access is denied (0x80070005)

Resolution #1
- Make sure the computer object for the SCVMM server is in the Administrators group on the source machine
- Make sure the account specified in the SCVMM Admin Console is a member of the Administrators group on the source machine.
- SCVMM 2008 - If the machine is in a workgroup, make sure the Domain specified along with the Account and Password is actually the name of the source machine, not the domain of the SCVMM server

Resolution #2
Ensure that the following services are not set to 'Disabled,' and that you can start them successfully on the source machine
     - WMI
     - Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS)
     - HTTP SSL
     - RPC

Resolution #3
Enable auditing of object access to determine if the account specified in SCVMM or the SCVMM computer object are failing to access the source machine as required. Look for 'Failure' in the security log once configured and tested.

- Follow the first section of the article below 'For the local computer'
     325898 How to set up and manage operation-based auditing for Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition
     http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;325898

- Record any settings under 'Audit Policy' that are already configured
- Change configure all Policies to record Success and Failure
- If any Policies have an icon of gray servers instead of blue 0's and 1's you will not be able to make this change and must involve the customer's Group Policy administrator
- Back at a command prompt type 'gpupdate /force'
- Try the scan again, then check the Security log for ’Failure’ audits
- Set all Policies back to the state you recorded them as before making changes

Resolution #4
Make sure the DCOM (DCOMLaunch) service is set to Automatic and running. (Thanks to Pramod for this tip)

Non-ACPI HAL
If the source machine has a non ACPI HAL P2V cannot be performed.

P2V: Converting Physical Computers to Virtual Machines in VMM
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc764232.aspx

309283 HAL options after Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 Setup
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;309283

249694 How to move a Windows installation to different hardware
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;249694

Technorati Tags: microsoft,scvmm,hyper-v,virtual,virtualization,windows,P2V

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love PowerShell

Jonathan — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 09:58:00 GMT

An excerpt from Justin Zarb’s article on his ‘Virtual World’ site. Michael Michael is the tops in SCVMM. If he took the time to create these videos you can bet they are worth viewing.

Managing with Windows PowerShell

http://blogs.technet.com/virtualworld/archive/2007/10/18/quick-start-from-nothing-to-scvmm.aspx

Title

Length

Presenter

Managing with Windows PowerShell (1 of 4)

Introduction to Scripting in VMM

(7:15)

Michael Michael

Managing with Windows PowerShell (2 of 4)

Scheduling Virtual Machine Migrations

(3:17)

Michael Michael

Managing with Windows PowerShell (3 of 4)

Creating Backups with Checkpoints

(4:24)

Michael Michael

Managing with Windows PowerShell (4 of 4)

Viewing Job Information

(2:56)

Michael Michael

Technorati Tags: microsoft,scvmm,hyper-v,virtual,virtualization,windows,powershell

Flattening the SCVMM Learning curve

Jonathan — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 09:51:00 GMT

Below is an excerpt from Justin Zarb’s article on his ‘Virtual World’ site.

Quick Start from Nothing to SCVMM

http://blogs.technet.com/virtualworld/archive/2007/10/18/quick-start-from-nothing-to-scvmm.aspx

So I have been chatting to more and more people around System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) and this product is great! Compared to other virtualization management tools that I have used in the past (prior to myself joining MS) this product really stands up and stands proud! If you have not played with SCVMM it is soooo simple and sooooooo easy to get up and running and communicating to your virtualized estate. I strongly recommend you all to give it a try.

Anyway so whilst reading some of the techcenter articles I came across these for SCVMM. There is a range of how to video's that are here to set you on your way and get you going! Click on one of the links below and start getting SCVMM underway.......

Getting Started

Title	Length	Presenter
Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) Getting Started	(5:17)	Rakesh Malhotra
Tour of VMM Technical Overview	(16:25)	Keith Combs
VMM Introduction 1 Layout and Use	(3:28)	Edwin Yuen
VMM Introduction 2 How to Deploy a New Virtual Machine	(3:00)	Edwin Yuen
VMM Introduction 3 Physical to Virtual Machine Migration	(3:48)	Edwin Yuen
VMM Introduction 4 Virtual Machine to Virtual Machine Migration	(3:26)	Edwin Yuen

Setup

Title

Length

Presenter

VMM Setup

The Three Steps to Install VMM

(9:51)

Kerim Hanif

Technorati Tags: microsoft,scvmm,hyper-v,virtual,virtualization,windows,P2V,V2V