Jonathan's Virtual Blog : Network

SCVMM 2008 R2 Communication Issues

Jonathan — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 19:54:00 GMT

I’ve seen a number of customers run into networking and general communication issues following a move to Windows 2008 R2. And to manage Windows 2008 R2 you must be running SCVMM 2008 R2. Both require checking for updates.

Windows 2008 R2 – Make sure the network card drivers are up to date… all of them. If the server vendor does not have drivers updated for Windows 2008 (or R2), check the site of the actual NIC manufacturer as most built-in NICs are simply rebranded. This will solve a majority of your networking issues off the bat. Make sure you update the drivers on the VMM Server as well as the Hosts.

SCVMM 2008 R2 – Did you upgrade from SCVMM 2008 to SCVMM 2008 R2? If so, you should check each Host in the SCVMM Admin Console to determine if the agents have been updated. If not, update them now by right clicking on them and selecting ‘Update Agent.’

If you have performed the actions detailed above and are still experiencing communication issues with Hosts you can uninstall the ‘Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager Agent’ manually on the Hosts from ‘Control Panel> Programs and Features.’ After this, go back to the SCVMM Admin Console, remove the Host by right clicking on it and selecting ‘Remove Host.’ Once removed, add it back with the Admin Console by selecting ‘Add Host’ under Actions on the right side of the console. This will clear up any agent update issues.

This covers two of the most common issues seen lately. If still experiencing issues check some of the other posts on this site that address other possible reasons. Good luck, and enjoy the new product!

Free Evaluation Download!

System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 – Evaluation http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=292de23c-845c-4d08-8d65-b4b8cbc8397b&displaylang=en

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Creating Virtual Networks on Clustered Hosts leaves some binding work to be done

Jonathan — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 01:52:00 GMT

If you ever happen to set up a new virtual network on a Cluster node/Host you may find that your work is not entirely done. First, the Host that you added the VN to will in fact have networking set up correctly. What may appear odd is that the other Hosts in the cluster (nodes) will also show the new virtual network name correctly, but the virtual network bindings are not set up?! What’s going on here?

Simply, the requirement that all Hosts in a Cluster have matching network names is met as it should be. The problem is that although the name of the virtual network is created on the other nodes, there are no network bindings. The reason for this is simple: VMM has no way of knowing which network is the correct one to bind to. Left unchecked, it might bind to the wrong external network, or even an iSCSI network if you have one set up, and then where would your Cluster be? Wrecked. So, following a successful virtual network creation and binding on the initial node, you must manually bind the new virtual network to the correct network on each Host. There will be an error in the initial Host job in fact prompting you to do so. With this done, your new virtual network will be up and running correctly on all nodes. I hope this helps those of you who have run across this.

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Resolve Communication Issues in SCVMM - Part 1

Jonathan — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 22:51:00 GMT

Disable Task Offloading and Update WMI

Communications issues with SCVMM can take on the form of access denied, timeouts, and often as intermittent connectivity issues. The steps in this post are the same ones I use to resolve a good number of customer issues.

Feedback on this article is welcome. If you have technical questions please post them appropriately in the forums:

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/category/virtualmachinemanager/

Two types of issues are addressed here

1) Many new settings available to NIC drivers that do not always function as well as would be expected.

2) SCVMM relies heavily on WMI. The updates listed in this article resolve issues with WMI that will allow SCVMM to function properly.

This MDSN article lists all values available.

Using Registry Values to Enable and Disable Task Offloading
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa938424.aspx

WMI

Install three WMI updates on all Windows 2008 server running Hyper-V (and therefore are SCVMM Hosts)

958124 A wmiprvse.exe process may leak memory when a WMI notification query is used heavily on a Windows Server 2008-based or Windows Vista-based computer

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;958124

954563 Memory corruption may occur with the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) service on a computer that is running Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista Service Pack 1

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;954563

955805 Certain applications become very slow on a Windows Server 2008-based or Windows Vista SP1-based computer when a certificate with SIA extension is installed

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;955805

Network Settings

NOTE

- If working with a core server you may want to connect via remote registry and make these changes.
- All values should be set to '0' EXCEPT for the last one which is related to IPSEC, and thus Kerberos. Leave this one alone ---> 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Ipsec\EnabledOffload'

1 - Locate all physical NICs in the registry under:
'HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}'

2 - There will be folders with four digits, starting with '0000'. Locate the ones that show the physical NIC names on the right. Look for the 'DriverDesc' value on the right; this should have the name of a NIC such as 'HP NC360T PCIe Gigabit Server Adapter.' For each of these, make the changes below.

3 - Disable All Vendor specific Offloading
Set values for any entries below that include the word 'Offload' to '0' (Disabled)
*FlowControl

No description available

*IPChecksumOffloadIPv4
     Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the calculation of IPv4
checksums.
*TCPChecksumOffloadIPv4
     Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the calculation of TCP Checksum
over IPv4 packets.
*TCPChecksumOffloadIPv6
     Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the calculation of TCP checksum
over IPv6 packets.
*UDPChecksumOffloadIPv4
     Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the calculation of UDP Checksum
over IPv4 packets.
*UDPChecksumOffloadIPv6
     Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the calculation of UDP Checksum
over IPv6 packets.
*LsoV1IPv4
     Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the segmentation of large TCP
packets over IPv4 for large send offload version 1 (LSOv1).
*LsoV2IPv4
     Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the segmentation of large TCP
packets over IPv4 for large send offload version 2 (LSOv2).
*LsoV2IPv6
     Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the segmentation of large TCP
packets over IPv6 for large send offload version 2 (LSOv2).
*IPsecOffloadV1IPv4
     Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the calculation of IPsec headers
over IPv4.
*IPsecOffloadV2
     Describes whether the device enabled or disabled IPsec offload version 2
(IPsecOV2). IPsecOV2 provides support for additional crypto-algorithms, IPv6, and
co-existence with large send offload version 2 (LSOv2).
*IPsecOffloadV2IPv4
     Describes whether the device enabled or disabled IPsecOV2 for IPv4 only.
*RSS
     Receive side scaling
*TCPUDPChecksumOffloadIPv4
     Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the calculation of TCP or UDP
checksum over IPv4.
*TCPUDPChecksumOffloadIPv6
     Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the calculation of TCP or UDP
checksum over IPv6.

4 - Disable Offloading in Windows.
Use the following registry values to enable or disable task offloading for the TCP/IP protocol:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\TCPIP\Parameters\DisableTaskOffload

Setting this DWORD value to ‘1’ disables all of the task offloads from the TCP/IP transport. Setting this value to zero enables all of the task offloads.

Related Links
Network Issues with Windows Server 2008 RDP and VS/Hyper-V on Dell Servers
http://www.petri.co.il/network-issues-with-windows-server-2008-rdp-on-dell-servers.htm

WinRM (Windows Remote Management) Troubleshooting

Jonathan — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 01:44:00 GMT

What is WinRM?

New in Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2008 (and Server 2008 Core) are WinRM & WinRS. Windows Remote Management (known as WinRM) is a handy new remote management service. WinRM is the “server” component of this remote management application and WinRS (Windows Remote Shell) is the “client” for WinRM, which runs on the remote computer attempting to remotely manage the WinRM server. However, I should note that BOTH computers must have WinRM installed and enabled on them for WinRS to work and retrieve information from the remote system.

While WinRM listens on port 80 by default, it doesn't mean traffic is unencrypted. Traffic by default is only accepted by WinRM when it is encrypted using the Negotiate or Kerberos SSP. WinRM uses HTTP (TCP 80) or HTTPS (TCP 443). WinRM also includes helper code that lets the WinRM listener to share port 80 with IIS or any other application that may need to use that port.

WinRM with SCVMM uses Kerberos for authentication, and does not support fall-back to NTLM. There will be an error instead. If no credentials are specified, then the logged-on credentials are used to authenticate against the remote machine. This allows for a single sign-on experience.

What is WinRS?

Remote Shell, (WinRS) is used to execute a program on a remote host. Similar in operation to the former Sysinternals tool PSExec, WinRS leverages Windows Remote Management to let you launch processes on remote machines. For example, if you want to perform a directory listing on the system drive on a remote machine, you can remotely launch ‘dir’ using this syntax:

winrs -r:machinename dir

Another handy use of WinRS can be when installing software on remote systems. If you want to quietly install an application using an MSI file onto a remote machine, use the following syntax. This syntax assumes the MSI file has already been deposited into the C:\ folder.

winrs -r:machinename msiexec.exe /i c:\install.msi /quiet

When specifying the remote machine, the following are valid:

· Localhost

· NetBIOS name

· Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN)

· IP address

How to install WinRM

The WinRM is not dependent on any other service except WinHttp. If the IIS Admin Service is installed on the same computer, you may see messages that indicate WinRM cannot be loaded before Interent Information Services (IIS). However, WinRM does not actually depend on IIS: these messages occur because the load order ensures that the IIS service starts before the HTTP service. WinRM does require that WinHTTP.dll be registered.

(Stated simply: WinRM service should be set to Automatic (Delayed Start) on Windows Vista and Server 2008)

· The WinRM service starts automatically on Windows Server 2008.

· On Windows Vista, the service must be started manually.

· UPDATE! Windows 2003 requires an update for WinRM

936059 An update is available for the Windows Remote Management feature in Windows Server 2003 and in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;936059

How to configure WinRM

To set the default configuration type:

winrm quickconfig (or the abbreviated version, winrm qc)

‘winrm qc’ performs the following operations:

1. Starts the WinRM service and sets the service startup type to auto-start.

2. Configures a listener for the ports that send and receive WS-Management protocol messages using either HTTP or HTTPS on any IP address.

3. Defines ICF exceptions for the WinRM service and opens the ports for HTTP and HTTPS.

(Note: Winrm quickconfig also configures Winrs default settings)

If ‘winrm qc’ throws an error:

If the firewall is disabled the quick config command will fail. The firewall can either be started in Services long enough to run ‘winrm qc’ or the commands below can be run:

sc config "WinRM" start= auto

net start WinRM

winrm create winrm/config/listener?Address=*+Transport=HTTP

netsh firewall add portopening TCP 80 "Windows Remote Management"

Group Policy configuration:

WinRM can be configured by group policies.

1. Type gpedit at a command prompt. The Group Policy Object Editor window opens.

2. Look for the Windows Remote Management and Windows Remote Shell Group Policy Objects (GPO) under Administrative Templates and Windows Components.

Troubleshoot WinRM

Common Issues:

1. If the ISA2004 firewall client is installed on the computer, it can cause a Web Services for Management (WS-Management) client to stop responding. To avoid this issue, install ISA2004 Firewall SP1.

2. Antivirus software can prevent proper WinRM communication. Disable antivirus software and reboot the machine if the Antivirus software is known to scan processes and protocols, or if there is any doubt about the software.

Test WinRM communication on the local and remote machines

This section addresses how to test whether WinRM is working on the local system, and whether it can communicate with the remote system. Test remote communication in both directions between machines.

Local communication:

Locate listeners and addresses: (No output means WinRM is not installed)

winrm e winrm/config/listener

Localhost Ping:

(Successfully completing this step pretty much insure complete access to WSMan on the local system)

Winrm id

Further:

Check state of configuration settings:

winrm get winrm/config

Check the state of WinRM service:

winrm get wmicimv2/Win32_Service?Name=WinRM

Remote communication:

Locate listeners and addresses:

winrm e winrm/config/listener

Remote Ping:

(Successfully completing this step pretty much insure complete access to WSMan on the remote system)

Winrm id –r:machinename

Further:

Check state of configuration settings:

winrm get winrm/config -r:machinename

Check the state of WinRM service:

winrm get wmicimv2/Win32_Service?Name=WinRM -r:machinename

Sample Commands

Here are some sample commands to play with. If you cannot get the ‘Test WS-Man...' step to work, none of the steps following will work either (you're probably not using the right credentials to access the remote machine). One more caveat, the remote commands work best on domain joined machines. For workgroup machines, the WinRM service needs additional configuration.

Description	Command
Run from an Elevated* Command prompt*
Quickly configure the WS-Man service	winrm QuickConfig
Quickly delete the WS-Man listener	winrm invoke Restore winrm/Config @{}
Run from an standard* Command prompt*
Display your machine's basic hardware info	winrm enumerate wmicimv2/Win32_ComputerSystem
Display your operating system properties	winrm get wmicimv2/Win32_OperatingSystem
Output your OS info in XML	winrm get wmicimv2/Win32_OperatingSystem -format:pretty
Test WS-Man access to a remote machine**	winrm id -remote:<some machine>
Grab a remote machine's WS-Man config	winrm get winrm/Config -r:<some machine>
Grab a remote machine's CPU load	winrm g wmicimv2/Win32_Processor?DeviceID=CPU0 -fragment:LoadPercentage -r:<some computer>
Grab a remote machine's free memory	winrm g wmicimv2/Win32_OperatingSystem -fragment:FreePhysicalMemory -r:<some computer>
Stop a service on a remote machine	winrm invoke stopservice wmicimv2/Win32_Service?name=w32time -r:<some computer>
Start a service on a remote machine	winrm invoke startservice wmicimv2/Win32_Service?name=w32time -r:<some computer>
Reboot a remote machine	winrm invoke reboot wmicimv2/Win32_OperatingSystem -r:<some computer>
Run a command on a remote machine (this uses winrS, not winrM)	winrs -r:<some computer> ipconfig /all
Run from PowerShell
Use PowerShell to grab the WS-Man Win32_OperatingSystem XML output	[xml]$osInfo = winrm get wmicimv2/Win32_OperatingSystem /format:pretty
Display the OS version property	$osInfo.Win32_OperatingSystem.Version
Display the last boot time	$osInfo.Win32_OperatingSystem.LastBootupTime.DateTime
Put free memory metric into an XML variable	[xml]$freemem = cmd /c "winrm get wmicimv2/Win32_OperatingSystem -fragment:FreePhysicalMemory -f:pretty -r:<some computer>"
Display the free memory value	$freemem.XMLFragment.FreePhysicalMemory

**Note: This step verifies that you have good connectivity to the remote machine, WS-Man is running and properly configured on the remote machine, AND you have the correct permissions to fully leverage WS-Man on the remote machine. If this step fails, it's probably a permissions issue.

Advanced Concepts

URI Aliases

URI aliases can simplify the Winrm command line. The following URI aliases are supported:

wmi = http://schemas.microsoft.com/wsman/2005/06/wmi

wsman = wsman:microsoft.com/wsman/2005/06/

cimv2.9 = http://schemas.dmtf.org/wsman/2005/06/cimv2.9

cimv2 = http://schemas.microsoft.com/wsman/2005/06/wmi/root/cimv2

For example, the following command:

winrm get http://schemas.microsoft.com/wsman/2005/06/wmi/root/cimv2/Win32_Service?Name=WSMan

Gets replaced with:

winrm get wmi/root/cimv2/Win32_Service?Name=WinRM

Performing an Invoke Operation

‘Invoke’ initiates commands

winrm invoke StartService wmicimv2/Win32_Service?Name=WinRM -r:machinename @{}

This will likely return ‘ReturnValue = 10’ on a remote system where WinRM is running

WS-Man (WinRM) Architecture

The following diagram shows a high-level overview of the WS-Man (WinRM) architecture. In the diagram the 'Client' is querying the 'Server' for WS-Man information. Note that HTTP.sys and WinHTTP support the HTTP(s) transport for WS-Man, not IIS. In addition, IIS (or another web publishing service) can co-exist with WS-Man and share port 80.

Remember:

WinHTTP = Client

HTTP.SYS = Server

The Windows Remote Management architecture consists of components on the client and server computers. The following illustration shows the components on both computers, how the components interact with other components, and the protocol that is used to communicate between the computers.

Requesting Client

The following WinRM components reside on the computer that is running the script that requests data.

· WinRM application

This is the script or Winrm command-line tool that uses the WinRM scripting API to make calls to request data or to execute methods. For more information, see the WinRM Scripting API [ http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa384469(VS.85).aspx ] .

· WsmAuto.dll

The OLE automation layer that provides scripting support.

· WsmCL.dll

C API layer within the operating system.

· HTTP API

WinRM requires support for HTTP and HTTPS transport.

Responding Server

The following WinRM components reside on the responding computer.

· HTTP API

WinRM requires support for HTTP and HTTPS transport.

· WsmAuto.dll

The OLE automation layer that provides scripting support.

· WsmCL.dll

C API layer within the operating system.

· WsmSvc.dll

WinRM listener [ http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa384465(VS.85).aspx ] service.

· WsmProv.dll

Provider subsystem.

· WsmRes.dll

Resource file.

· WsmWmiPl.dll

WMI plug-in [ http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa384465(VS.85).aspx ] . This allows you to obtain WMI data through WinRM.

· Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) driver and WMI IPMI provider

These components supply any hardware data that is requested using the IPMI classes. For more information, see Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) Classes [ http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa390891(VS.85).aspx ] . BMC hardware must have been detected by the SMBIOS or the device created manually by loading the driver. For more information, see Installation and Configuration for Windows Remote Management [ http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa384372(VS.85).aspx ] .

References

Installation and Configuration for Windows Remote Management

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa384372(VS.85).aspx

Windows Remote Management Command-Line Tool (Winrm.cmd)

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc781778.aspx

How can Windows Server 2008 WinRM & WinRS help you

http://windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/How-Windows-Server-2008-WinRM-WinRS.html

The things that are better left unspoken Remotely managing your Server Core using WinRM and WinRS

http://blogs.dirteam.com/blogs/sanderberkouwer/archive/2008/02/23/remotely-managing-your-server-core-using-winrm-and-winrs.aspx

Redmond Print First Look WinRM & WinRS

http://redmondmag.com/columns/article.asp?EditorialsID=2262

Otto Helweg - Management Matters A Few Good Vista WS-Man (WinRM) Commands

http://blogs.technet.com/otto/archive/2007/02/09/sample-vista-ws-man-winrm-commands.aspx

Windows Remote Management Architecture

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa384464(VS.85).aspx

How to Troubleshoot Host Status - Quick Table

Jonathan — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 03:18:00 GMT

From the Microsoft TechNet SCVMM TechCenter

Article URL: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb740860.aspx

(Don't forget the VMMCA tool. This should always be top in your troubleshooting list. More info here.)

The table below works as a quick reference for why you may be experiencing connectivity issues. This will at least get you off and running in the right troubleshooting direction!

You can use Host Properties dialog box to check the overall status of a host, the status of the agent that is installed on the host, and the status of the virtualization software that is installed on the host. These are important indicators of the operational state of a host. Should a host status indicate a need for attention, see the Troubleshooting Guide for System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM)

(http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=83589 [ http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=83589 ] ).

Note

The host status values do not change in the VMM Administrator Console until the VMM server performs a refresh.

The following table describes the host status types and values.

Status Type

Status Value and Definition

Overall host status

· OK—no issues exist with any host status.

· Needs Attention—a problem exists with one or more host statuses.

Agent connection status

· Responding—the VMM server is able to communicate with the agent.

· Not Responding—the VMM server is unable to communicate with the agent.

· Access Denied—the agent is no longer associated with the VMM server.

Agent version status

· Current—the version of the agent is up to date.

· Needs update—the version of the agent must be upgraded to match the version of VMM server.

· Unsupported—the version of the agent is not supported for any VMM functions.

Virtual Server service status

· Running—the Virtual Server service is started.

· Stopped—the Virtual Server service is stopped.

Virtual Server version status

· Current—the version of Virtual Server is up to date.

· Needs update—the version of Virtual Server needs to be upgraded.

· Unsupported—the version of Virtual Server is not supported for any VMM functions.

To view the status values of a host

1. In Hosts view, navigate to the host group that contains the host, and then, in the results pane, double-click the host.

2. In the Host Properties dialog box, click the Status tab.

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

How to Troubleshoot Slow BITS Performance, Hosts 'Not Responding' and 'Needs Attention' Communication Issues

Jonathan — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 15:37:00 GMT

You find yourself with one of the following situations

1. Deployment or migration of data utilizing LAN (not SAN Transfer) is very slow in general

2. BITS is slow in one direction only: Fast from Host01 to Host02, but slow from Host02 to Host01 for example

3. Host reports in SCVMM Admin Console "Host not responding" or "Needs attention"

4.     Under 'Status' of the Host the following may show "Not Responding"
    - Connection status
    - Agent Status

All of these issues can be related to networking components. Three common tasks can be performed to address this

1. Test for BITS errors

2. Verify GPO settings

3. Correct vendor specific and Windows system settings for ‘Task Offloading’ (This item will likely have the greatest effect)

Additional Items that just make sense

Verify all network settings on all involved SCVMM and Hyper-V systems. Set the network speed on the NICs and switches. Do not leave as auto negotiate. Also, remove all NIC teaming software. Network Card drivers currently do not always play nice with virtualization technologies. (Uninstall the teaming software. Disabling will not prevent drivers from loading at startup). If you cannot remove your teaming software at this time, at least make sure the namespace is available by typing ‘wmic nic’ at an elevated command prompt. If you get a screen full of data, you may be ok. If you get any kind of error, yank teaming software now and reboot.

1 - BITS Errors
Determine if BITS (Background Intelligent Transfer Service) is encountering errors. Attempt a P2V/Migration/Deployment transfer with SCVMM. While the transfer is occurring between servers, run the following commands on both servers:
Bitsadmin /list /allusers /verbose >bitsadmin.txt

Example BITS output below shows how long the transfer lasted (MODIFICATION TIME minus CREATED TIME). Retry delay shows that there were no errors. This is a clean run. If there are errors review the system and application event logs for errors that are BITS related. Involve your network team as well for a trace.

Example output…

BITSADMIN version 1.0 [ 5.1.2600.0 ]
BITS administration utility.
(C) Copyright 2000-2001 Microsoft Corp.

GUID: {BA568D81-B234-47F2-9BA3-686743F89794} DISPLAY:
https://cotoso.com:443/8272f226d8b8cd818406b28de9b6ad0f012b9a55/C:A5cProgramDataA5cM
icrosoftA5cWindowsA5cHyperVA5calbtest1A5cvmguest.iso/E:A5cVirtualMachinesA5calbtest
1A5cvmguest.iso
TYPE: UNKNOWN STATE: TRANSFERRED OWNER: NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM
PRIORITY: FOREGROUND FILES: 1 / 1 BYTES: 42948608 / 42948608
CREATION TIME: 12/3/2008 9:04:48 AM MODIFICATION TIME: 12/3/2008 9:16:44 AM
COMPLETION TIME: 12/3/2008 9:16:44 AM
NOTIFY INTERFACE: UNREGISTERED NOTIFICATION FLAGS: 3
RETRY DELAY: 60 NO PROGRESS TIMEOUT: 0 ERROR COUNT: 0
PROXY USAGE: NO_PROXY PROXY LIST: NULL PROXY BYPASS LIST: NULL
DESCRIPTION: VMM LAN Transfer Job
JOB FILES:
42948608 / 42948608 WORKING
https://contoso.com:443/8272f226d8b8cd818406b28de9b6ad0f012b9a55/C:A5cProgramDataA5c
MicrosoftA5cWindowsA5cHyperVA5calbtest1A5cvmguest.iso/E:A5cVirtualMachinesA5calbtes
t1A5cvmguest.iso -> E:\VirtualMachines\albtest1\vmguest.iso

2 - Verify GPO settings
By default, BITS transfers are wide open, not throttled down. Follow the MDSN article and look for the following settings in case they have been changed from default values.
- Any setting with 'Peercache' in the name is not relevant
- The rest of the settings should be set to 'Not Configured' or 'Disabled' to ensure that BITS is not being throttled at all. 'Maximum network bandwidth for BITS background transfers' is most important to be set to 'Not Configured' or 'Disabled'

BITS uses the following Group Policies to configure BITS
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa362844(VS.85).aspx

The group policies for BITS are located in the registry here…

HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\BITS

(Note that only those policies that are configured are listed in the registry.)

REMEMBER: Run ‘gpupdate /force’ following any changes from an elevated command prompt

3 - Disable Task Offloading
This work can be done easily on a non-Core server by disabling all properties on the 'Advanced' tab of all NICs. You should then follow the manual directions below to verify the rest of the Offload related settings for the NICs, and to disable this feature in Windows.

If working with a core server you may want to connect via remote registry and make these changes.
This MDSN article lists all values available.

Using Registry Values to Enable and Disable Task Offloading
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa938424.aspx

All values should be set to '0' EXCEPT for the last one which is related to IPSEC, and thus Kerberos. Leave this one alone. 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Ipsec\EnabledOffload'

A. Locate all physical NICs in the registry under:
'HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}'

B. There will be folders with four digits, starting with '0000'. Locate the ones that show the physical NIC names on the right. Look for the 'DriverDesc' value on the right; this should have the name of a NIC such as 'HP NC360T PCIe Gigabit Server Adapter.' For each of these, make the changes below.

C. Disable All Vendor specific Offloading
Set values for any entries below that include the word 'Offload' to '0' (Disabled)
*FlowControl

No description available

*IPChecksumOffloadIPv4
     Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the calculation of IPv4
checksums.
*TCPChecksumOffloadIPv4
     Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the calculation of TCP Checksum
over IPv4 packets.
*TCPChecksumOffloadIPv6
     Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the calculation of TCP checksum
over IPv6 packets.
*UDPChecksumOffloadIPv4
     Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the calculation of UDP Checksum
over IPv4 packets.
*UDPChecksumOffloadIPv6
     Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the calculation of UDP Checksum
over IPv6 packets.
*LsoV1IPv4
     Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the segmentation of large TCP
packets over IPv4 for large send offload version 1 (LSOv1).
*LsoV2IPv4
     Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the segmentation of large TCP
packets over IPv4 for large send offload version 2 (LSOv2).
*LsoV2IPv6
     Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the segmentation of large TCP
packets over IPv6 for large send offload version 2 (LSOv2).
*IPsecOffloadV1IPv4
     Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the calculation of IPsec headers
over IPv4.
*IPsecOffloadV2
     Describes whether the device enabled or disabled IPsec offload version 2
(IPsecOV2). IPsecOV2 provides support for additional crypto-algorithms, IPv6, and
co-existence with large send offload version 2 (LSOv2).
*IPsecOffloadV2IPv4
     Describes whether the device enabled or disabled IPsecOV2 for IPv4 only.
*RSS
     Receive side scaling
*TCPUDPChecksumOffloadIPv4
     Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the calculation of TCP or UDP
checksum over IPv4.
*TCPUDPChecksumOffloadIPv6
     Describes whether the device enabled or disabled the calculation of TCP or UDP
checksum over IPv6.

D. Disable Offloading in Windows.
Use the following registry values to enable or disable task offloading for the TCP/IP protocol:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\TCPIP\Parameters\DisableTaskOffload

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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

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