ESXi Stuff

WIP...

Installation

WIP...

Setup

WIP...

Laying out the Datastores

An "Admin" Datastore

• Utilities
• ISOs
• CloneMe
• Manager

Maintenance

• SSL Certificates
• ghettoVCB
• Troubleshooting
• How to Copy files between ESXi hosts using SCP Command
• HOW TO FIX VMWARE ESXI VIRTUAL MACHINE 'INVALID STATUS'

ESXi from the Command Line

Basic Concepts

• ESXi appears to be based on BusyBox
  • So... If you're bashing your head against a wall trying to figure out how do do something low-level, check out the documentation for BusyBox.
  • Basically tho... Most of the functionality is very close to typical Linux, so the man pages on a Linux machine will get you very close.

Usability Fixes

ESXi has a NON-EDITABLE shell profile at /etc/profile.

Luckily, there's an override file at /etc/profile.local

After any changes you make to this file,

• source /etc/profile.local

enables your changes.

To make the changes persist over a restart of the server:

• /sbin/auto-backup.sh

To tell ESXi to save the changes.

The Shell Prompt

The shell prompt (when you're in a directory on a mounted volume) is fugly & useless.

• vi /etc/profile.local

PS1="[\u@\h \e[1;33m\A \W\e[m]\$ "

(My current preference...)

See here or here for a couple of articles about customising your prompt...

Useful Aliases

• vi /etc/profile.local

alias ll="ls -l"

PATH

By default, the execution PATH is /bin:/usr/bin . This is fine if you don't want to add executables elsewhere.

I tend to put various utility scripts & such in sub-folders of /vmfs/volumes/Admin/Utilities

This can also be fixed in /etc/profile.local

• vi /etc/profile.local

PATH=/bin:/usr/bin:/vmfs/volumes/Admin/Utilities/Scripts
export PATH

(Note that /vmfs/volumes/Admin/Utilities/Scripts will be specific to your system...)

Caveat

Remote execution through SSH does not read the /etc/profile.local file.

One solution is to put your custom executables in the /bin folder. BUT, this is not maintainable. It can break on reboot and will DEFINITELY break on upgrades.

A better solution is to put a symbolic link there.

eg.:

• ln -s /vmfs/volumes/Admin/Utilities/Scripts/MyCustomCode.sh /bin

Or...

Just provide the complete path on the command line when running scripts via SSH:

• ssh root@esxi1 /vmfs/volumes/Admin/Utilities/Scripts/MyCustomCode.sh

ESXi Command sets

• vim-cmd
• esxcli

Neat Tricks

Copying a VM from one server to another

Start by shutting down the VM...

Then SSH into the originating server.

• ssh root@esxi0

Next, copy the VM to the destination server.

• scp -r /vmfs/volumes/VMs/TinkersVM root@esxi1:/vmfs/volumes/VMs

Wait a while...

Then... let's see if it'll register & run like the restored backups do.

w00t!

That'd be a Yes.

Messing about with the DCUI screen

• Creating a welcome message on the DCUI screen of an ESXi host (2046347)
• Welcome message for the Direct Console User Interface (DCUI)-BE6K/7K
• How to add a splash of color to ESXi DCUI Welcome Screen

Oddities

SCP Copy Stalled and/or rekeyed ciphers

See:Copy Files between ESXi Hosts by using SCP (Secure Copy) Command / SCP Copy Stalled Fix

But more usefully... See:SSH Frequently Asked Questions

Basically... It really doesn't mean much.

Older Notes (Mostly still on the TinkerNet Wiki)

Why virtualize your server infrastructure (Morton Hjorth)

• Open VM Tools
• Licensing
• UPS Handling
• ESXi from the Command Line
• Passwordless SSH
• WebUI Through a Proxy
• ghettoVCB
• Add cron Job
• Allowing SSH & SCP between ESXi Hosts
  • SSH Client must be enabled in the ESXi firewall (for the outbound connection)
  • How to Open and Close Firewall Ports on vmWare ESXi Hosts
• Making ESXi talk MQTT
• Troubleshooting
• Various Observations
• SSL Certificates
• How to Copy files between ESXi hosts using SCP Command
• HOW TO FIX VMWARE ESXI VIRTUAL MACHINE 'INVALID STATUS'