Getting Rockstor to work in a VM for vSphere/ESXi Deployment

•    Rockstor will not always work with vSphere/ESXi in a VM format. You will have to edit one file after you deploy/install your Rockstor VM.
•    The first step is to navigate to the data store on your ESXi data store. You need to open the VMs folder directory.
•    Within the VM folder directory of your Rockstor VM, click on the .vmx file and download this (this is just the .vmx file which is for VM customization).
•    Once the file is downloaded, open the file in Notepad++ or another notepad type file, and add the following line in the .vmx file Do not use the enclosing quotes, only use the quotes around the TRUE statement:
    o    “disk.EnableUUID=”TRUE””
•    Once this has been changed, save the file.
•    Navigate back to your VM data store and VM folder directory.
•    Click on the Upload link in the top right of the folder directory.
•    Select the new .vmx customized file and upload it.
•    You might also have to do these steps in vSphere to finish the TRUE statement if it does not take:
    o    Right click on the VM.
    o    Click on the VM Options tab.
    o    Click on the Advanced section.
    o    Click Edit Configuration tab.
    o    In the disk.EnableUUID, change from FALSE to TRUE.
•    Now, Rockstor is ready to be used as a VM in your environment.

 

How to Login to vCenter or ESXi with PowerCLI

·         Open PowerShell ISE or the PowerCLI command line.

o   If you open through PowerShell or PowerShell ISE, you need to load the PowerCLI environment variables.

o   Open the "Initialize-PowerCLIEnvironment.ps1 script located at C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\Infrastructure\PowerCLI\Scripts.

§  (This will be here after you installed PowerCLI)

·         In order to get the PowerCLI to connect to servers on the network, you have to bypass the certificate error by putting in the following:

o   “Set-PowerCLIConfiguration –InvalidCertificateAction Ignore”

·         Then you can connect to your vCenter/ESXi server with the following command:

o   “Connect-VISever –Server “yourIPaddress/FQDN” –User “yourDomain\UserName” – Password “YourPassword”.

o   Example: Connect-VIServer –Server 1.1.1.1 –User vsphere.local\JohnDoe –Password 12345678

·         You should get a confirmation you have logged into the server and you can now start executing PowerCLI commands.

Update ESXi Through CLI

Update ESXi Through CLI

1.       Sometimes you will have to update your ESXi through the CLI because the ESXi you want to install has vCenter and you do not have redundant vCenters or cannot move it. If this is the case, you will have to shut down all the VMs on the ESXi and then you will have to patch the ESXi manually through CLI. First, you will have to upload the file to a datastore on the ESXi.

2.       The easiest way to do this is to create a folder on your datastore on the ESXi you will have to update through CLI. We will create a folder under the main datastore called “Updates”

3.       Once this is done, you can log into the web of the ESXi and start shutting down VMs. WARNING! I do not recommend shutting down the vCenter appliance this way! I have instructions on how to do this through this link https://defiance5050.blogspot.com/2018/08/safely-shutdown-vcenter-appliance.html .

4.       Once the systems are all shutdown, you can SSH into the ESXi (I know you can do all the pre-steps through CLI too, but completing the pre-requisites through GUI is much easier than CLI).

5.       After you SSH into the ESXi you want to update, enter the following command to put into maintenance mode:

a.       “vim-cmd hostsvc/maintenance_mode_enter”

6.       Next, use the “esxcli software vib update” command to execute the update. This is VMware’s recommended way of executing updates for ESXis along with the vSphere Patch/Upgrade Manager (you need the vCenter Appliance with vSphere for this to happen though, hence why we still need these instructions).

7.       Once it is done, reboot the ESXi by typing in the following:

a.       “reboot”

8.       After the ESXi has fully rebooted, you can take out of maintenance mode to bring the ESXi back online:

a.       “vim-cmd hostsvc/maintenance_mode_exit”

9.       Finally, do not forget to turn your vCenter appliance back on and your other systems too! Enjoy!

Safely Shutdown vCenter Appliance

Safely Shutdown vCenter Appliance

1.       First, you want to go and log on DIRECTLY to the vCenter appliance. DO NOT SHUT DOWN THROUGH ESXi page or vSphere! You can log on directly by going to the IP address/FQDN of your vCenter followed by the port number (5480) in an internet browser.

2.       Once you are logged on, you simply click on the “Shutdown” button in the top right of the web page. Boom, that is it, this is the SAFE way to shut down your vCenter Appliance.

Updating vCenter Appliance through GUI

Updating VMware vCenter

1.       Log onto your vCenter Appliance through the IP address and the port number (5480) at the end in the web browser.

 2.       Once you have logged in, click on the Update tab on the left-hand side.

3.       In the update tab, click on the Check Updates near the top right-hand side.

4.       Click on Check Repository.

5.       You should see a new section under the “Current Version Details”. It will be “Available Updates”.

a.       Here you can verify information on the update such as release date, version number, and more details to view the KB on the update.

6.       Click on the “Install Updates” tab on the right of this “Available Updates” section.

7.       Then click “Install All Updates” to begin the update process. Accept the license agreement, and wait for the display to show completed.

8.       Once all of the updates have been installed, the vCenter Appliance needs to be rebooted. Click on the “Summary” tab in the top left, then click on “Reboot” in the top right of the “Summary” screen.

9.       Verify the vCenter comes back up online, go into the updates and verify your update has been installed.