A. Mikkelsen

After we upgraded to vSphere 4.1, the SCSI adaptor of all our WINXP guests changed from LSI Logic Parallel  to BusLogic Parallel. This change should normally not create any warnings or problems it VMware Tools are up to date.

But after the upgrade all our WINXP guests got the following warning when powered on in the event log.

I then changed the SCSI adaptor back to LSI Logic Parallel and I now got almost the same warning.

I contacted VMware support and they told me that it was a known “feature”/”bug” and send me the following link to suppress the waring in the Event log.
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1007122

There is two ways to suppress the warning.

Through vSphere Client

• Using the vSpher Client logon to your vCenter server.
• Poweroff the VM.
• Edit the VM’s settings
• Navigate to Options > Advanced > General
  
• Click Configuration Parameters
• Add the following rows, by using Add Row
  • If you have a BusLogic Parallel SCSI adaptor

  buslogic.noDriver = "FALSE"

  • If you have a LSI Logic Parallel SCSI adaptor

  lsilogic.noDriver = "FALSE"

• Click OK twice to close the dialogs and save the changes.
• PowerOn the VM

Editing the VMX file

• Open a SSH to the host ex. using Putty
• Navigate to the VM’s files (relpace with your own path)

  cd /vmfs/volumes/lun01/winxp01/

• Open the config file  in your favorit editor .

  vi winxp01.vmx

• Add the following line to the file
  • If you have a BusLogic Parallel SCSI adaptor

• buslogic.noDriver = "FALSE"

  • If you have a LSI Logic Parallel SCSI adaptor

  lsilogic.noDriver = "FALSE"

• Save and close the config file.
• PowerOn the VM

I haven’t tested if it possible to add the lines to the global config file on each host (/etc/vmware/config) for all VM’s..

I will test this next week.

But ESX as a VM with running VM’s is new.

It’s now possible to run ESX as a VM on an ESX server or in a Workstation.

See howto
http://www.vcritical.com/2009/05/vmware-esx-4-can-even-virtualize-itself/

This isn’t new!
But what is new, is that it’s now possible to run VM’s inside the hosts.

The performance isn’t the best, but it’s OK for testing.

Read the full article here.

Today i came accoss this handy little guide to boost performance of a VM.

1. Disable the pre-logon screensaver:
   Open Regedit
   HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop
   Change the value of “ScreenSaveActive” to 0.
2. Disable updates of the last access time attribute for your NTFS filesystem, especially for i/o intensive vm’s this is a real boost:
   Open CMD
   fsutil behavior set disablelastaccess 1
3. Disable all visual effects:
   Properties on your desktop
   Appearance -> Effects
   Disable all options.
4. Disable mouse pointer shadow:
   Control Panel -> Mouse
   Click on the tab “pointers” and switch “enable pointer shadow” off.

A big thanks goes to Yellow Bricks – Read the full guide here

Eric Siebert has writen a very good and explaining guide on how to troubleshoot snapshots on ESX 3.x.

Read it here or read my local copy.

Today i came accross a cool article about how to easy get your VM to boot from CD.
This only applies to ESX 3.0.x and not ESX 3.5.x, because in ESX 3.5.x you are able to use the VI Client to set this option and many more.

Read the full story here:

In summery:
add the following line anyware to your VM’s .vmx file.

bios.bootDelay = “boot delay in milliseconds”

Ex. Setting the boot delay to 15000 gives you 15 sec. to hit the F2.

Xtravirt.com has released a guide on how to configure shared storage on a Workstation 6 to use with ESX.
http://www.xtravirt.com/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=75&func=startdown&id=16 

Also read “How to run ESX 3.x on a Workstation 6”

Again Nice job.

A. Mikkelsen

Edit and add the following to the VMX file :

scsi1.present = “TRUE”
scsi1.virtualDev = “lsilogic”
scsi1.sharedBus = “virtual”
disk.locking = “false”
scsi1:0.present = “TRUE”
scsi1:0.fileName = “Shared.vmdk”

Notice that the SCSI target is 1:0 and not 0:1

After this you should be able share the disk between 2 VM’s.