Jonathan's Virtual Blog : Tips

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.

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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.

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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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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

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Are All of My Servers Really Up to Date?

Jonathan — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 20:47:00 GMT

With a single command you can pull a list of all installed updates. Use this to compare patch levels on all systems so you can easily target those not meeting the bar.

We start with simple commands, then build on these to create robust queries with optional CSV and HTML formatting. I think of these commands, which I use on a daily basis, as basics for my Toolkit. If you don’t have a Toolkit I suggest you create one now. Place your often used tools in a folder such as ‘C:\Toolkit’ so that they are always at hand. Grab the first five items under ‘Top 10 Downloads’ from Sysinternals.com to round out your basics.

TIP: Go one step further and sign up for a Live Mesh account with your Windows Live ID. With this you can keep your Toolkit directory, and other directories, synched up across all machines you designate. The folders will be available privately online as well. Further, remote control is built-in for all Mesh enabled systems. Sweet! Clearly remote capabilities are geared more towards workstations than servers, but I use it for both.

And yeah, it’s free. Get started here.

Basic Commands

Warm up by opening an elevated command prompt on your SCVMM server (or any server for that matter). If your command window does not show ‘Administrator:’ as below, you are not running an elevated console.

> Single command to pull updates.
wmic qfe

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=963660 VMM2008R2-03 Update                        KB963660
                       NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM 2/26/2009
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=967062 VMM2008R2-03 Update                        KB967062
                       NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM 2/26/2009

You should see a torrent of information scroll through the command window. This is a list of all QFEs (Hotfixes and Updates) installed, along with a good bit of extraneous info.

> Now let's work on formatting. This is my everyday method.
wmic qfe list brief

Update KB963660 NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM 2/26/2009
Update KB967062 NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM 2/26/2009

Now some of the noise is removed and it is easier to read the list of updates.

TIP: Is KBXXXXXX installed on this system?!? I can only remember the last three digits of the update anyway… Easy to check. Just pipe your output to ‘find.’

wmic qfe list brief | find /i "660"

Update KB963660 NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM 2/26/2009

Apparently it is installed. Nice.

> This is good, but we can do better.
wmic qfe get csname,hotfixid,description

VMM2008R2-03 Update KB963660
VMM2008R2-03 Update KB967062

Now we're getting somewhere. We've selected the header for only those columns we are interested in and have returned a clean list of updates along with the system name.

This much you can keep in your head. You might want to create a batch file for items in the next section.

Advanced Queries

Now that you've waded into the deep end let's perform some real work. These are the commands to place in a batch file for your Toolkit. The steps below assume you have already created a ‘C:\Temp’ directory on your system. CSName is not required for the next two commands; it is implied.

> Create a CSV file from the output.
wmic /output:c:\temp\qfe.csv QFE GET HotFixID,Description /format:csv

The resulting CSV file lists these items, ready to be opened in Excel: Node,Description,HotFixID

> CSV files are not as interesting as HTML, so let's shift output formats.
wmic /output:c:\temp\qfe.html QFE GET HotFixID,Description /format:htable

Now you have a clean multicolored table with results, complete with column headers.

Remote Systems

The only thing left to do is perform this same work on remote machines. First a single machine, then a list of systems. Replace <remotesystem> with your remote system name. Note that we add CSName to pull the remote name.

> List remote system updates.
wmic /node:"<remotesystem>" /output:c:\temp\qfe_remote.html QFE GET CSName,HotFixID,Description /format:htable

If this did not work for you keep in mind that you must be an administrator on the remote machine, and Remote Management must be enabled.

> Finally, let's feed a list of server names and create a single HTML file. Create a file named 'serverlist.txt' with one system per line.
wmic /node:@serverlist.txt /output:c:\temp\qfe_serverlist.html QFE GET CSName,HotFixId,Description /format:htable

That's it. You should have a table similar to this.

Enjoy your new tools. Thanks for reading!

For further reference:

MSDN - WMI Command Line Tools
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa394531.aspx

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)