Chris McCain - Mastering VMware® Infrastructure3

The VMware Tools install drivers and features for better memory management, optimized SCSI drivers, and enhanced video and mouse, among other benefits.</p> <p> <strong>Master It </strong>Install the VMware Tools into a guest operating system.</p> <p> <strong>Manage and modify a virtual machine. </strong>A running virtual machine is limited in its modifications. Only a hard disk can be added to a running virtual machine, but CD/DVD-ROM drives, floppy drives, and network adapters can all be configured while the virtual machine is in a powered-on state.</p> <p> <strong>Master It </strong>Add a new network adapter to a virtual machine.</p> <p> <strong>Master It </strong>Add a new hard drive to a virtual machine.</p> <p> <strong>Create templates and deploy virtual machines. </strong>Templates save administrators a great deal of time when deploying new virtual machines. Not only will templates reduce deployment times, but they also help reduce mistakes for new machines.</p> <p> <strong>Master It </strong>Prepare VirtualCenter for guest operating system customizations. </p> <div class="title"> <p>Chapter 7</p> <p>Migrating and Importing Virtual Machines</p> </div> <empty-line > <p>The process of building a virtual infrastructure is at its peak with the conversion of existing systems into virtual machines. Consolidating physical systems provides significant intrinsic savings in the areas of physical space, power consumption, and hardware costs. In this chapter, we'll look at the native tools available for performing a server consolidation by migrating physical computers into virtual machines.</p> <p>In this chapter you will learn to:</p> <p>♦ Use the VirtualCenter 2.5 Consolidation feature.</p> <p>♦ Perform physical-to-virtual migrations of running computers</p> <p>♦ Perform physical-to-virtual migrations of computers that are powered off</p> <p>♦ Import virtual appliances</p> <div class="title"> <p>Guided Consolidation</p> </div> <p>VMware VirtualCenter 2.5 includes a new feature called Consolidation that provides a simple-to-use capacity-planning utility. This utility allows administrators to monitor physical computers as potential virtualization candidates. As the monitoring period goes on, the guided Consolidation capacity planner becomes increasingly confident about its recommendations for virtualization.</p> <p>Before consolidation can begin, there must be a datacenter object and a host added to the VirtualCenter inventory. The Consolidation feature is accessible from the Consolidation button on the top menu of VirtualCenter 2.5. The feature is installed as part of VirtualCenter 2.5 and has its own corresponding Windows service called the VMware Capacity Planner Service. The service must run under the context of a user account with the following settings on the VirtualCenter Server:</p> <p>♦ Membership in the local administrators group</p> <p>♦ The Log On as a Service right</p> <cite> <div class="title">Log On As a Service</div> <p>The Log On as a Service right can be configured through the Local Security Policy on the VirtualCenter Server computer or via a Group Policy Object (GPO) in Windows Active Directory. You can find the Log On as a Service right in the following location in the Group Policy Object Editor (gpedit.msc): Computer Configuration | Windows Settings | Security Settings | Local Policies | User Rights Assignment. </p> </cite> <p>While VMware has a more robust product in the VMware Capacity Planner, this light version is a perfect fit for the small- and medium-sized businesses. The Consolidation feature can scan systems that exist as members of a workgroup or part of a domain. A set of default credentials can be configured when scanning systems with similar administrator account settings, while at the same time custom credentials can be set for the nondomain systems or those with nonstandard administrator account settings.</p> <p>Perform the following steps to configure the Service and Default.credentials for the VirtualCenter Consolidation feature:</p> <p>1. Use the Virtual Infrastructure (VI) Client to connect to the VirtualCenter 2.5 Server.</p> <p>2. Click the Administration menu button and then select the Consolidation Settings option.</p> <p>3. In the Consolidation Configuration dialog box, shown in Figure 7.1, click the Change button in the Service Credentials section.</p> <img src=#i_244.png" > <p> <strong>Figure 7.1</strong>The Consolidation feature defaults must be configured with accounts that include the appropriate administrative rights.</p> <empty-line > <p>4. In the Enter Credentials dialog box, shown in Figure 7.2, enter the username and password for a user account with membership in the local administrators group and the Log On as a Service user right. Preface the user account with the appropriate domain name for a domain account or the server name for a nondomain account.</p> <p>5. Click the OK button.</p> <p>6. Click the Change button in the Default Credentials section of the Consolidation Configuration dialog box.</p> <p>7. Enter the username and password with administrative rights on the target systems to be monitored.</p> <p>8. Click OK.</p> <img src=#i_245.png" > <p> <strong>Figure 7.2</strong>The service account credentials should be prefaced with the domain or server name where the account is stored.</p> <empty-line > <p>The various services involved in the Consolidation feature can be monitored from the Service Status tab of the Consolidation Configuration dialog box, as shown in Figure 7.3.</p> <img src=#i_246.png" > <p> <strong>Figure 7.3</strong>The Consolidation feature includes several child services that facilitate the data-gathering and recommendation processes.</p> <empty-line > <p>Once you've set the defaults, you can initiate an analysis of systems from the Analysis tab. As noted earlier, the analysis of target systems becomes more confident as time passes and the amount of data collected increases. Typically, it takes about 24 hours for the analysis algorithms to become confident in the consolidation plan. As the confidence builds, it will be reflected in the Confidence column on the Analysis tab, as shown in Figure 7.4.</p> <img src=#i_247.png" > <p> <strong>Figure 7.4</strong>The Consolidation feature generally takes about 24 hours to gain confidence in its recommendations.</p> <empty-line > <p>Perform the following steps to begin an analysis with the Consolidation feature of VirtualCenter 2.5:</p> <p>1. Use the VI Client to connect to the VirtualCenter 2.5 Server.</p> <p>2. Click the Consolidation menu button and then click the Analysis tab.</p> <p>3. Click the Add to Analysis button.</p> <p>4. In the Add to Analysis dialog box, shown in Figure 7.5, click the Show domain drop-down list to view the list of domains and workgroups discovered by the VirtualCenter Consolidation feature.</p> <img src=#i_248.png" > <p> <strong>Figure 7.5</strong>The Consolidation feature discovers domains and workgroups of potential target computers.</p> <empty-line > <p>5. Select the appropriate domain or workgroup to which the target computers belong.</p> <p>6. Once the list of computers is displayed, select the computer or computers to be monitored.Читать дальше