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Questions tagged [vmware-esx]

VMware ESX is an enterprise-level computer virtualization product offered by VMware, Inc.

VMware ESX is an enterprise-level computer virtualization product offered by VMware, Inc. ESX is a component of VMware's larger offering, VMware Infrastructure, and adds management and reliability services to the core server product. VMware is replacing the original ESX with ESXi.

VMware states that the ESX product runs on bare metal. In contrast to other VMware products, it does not run atop a third-party operating system, but instead includes its own kernel. Up through the current ESX version 5.0, a Linux kernel is started first, and is used to load a variety of specialized virtualization components, including VMware's vmkernel component. This previously-booted Linux kernel then becomes the first running virtual machine and is called the service console. Thus, at normal run-time, the vmkernel is running on the bare computer and the Linux-based service console runs as the first virtual machine.

Source: wikipedia

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What kind of storage do people actually use for VMware ESX servers?

VMware and many network evangelists try to tell you that sophisticated (=expensive) fiber SANs are the "only" storage option for VMware ESX and ESXi servers. Well, yes, of course. Using a SAN is fast, reliable and makes vMotion possible. Great. But:…
Dirk Paessler
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How to run VMWare ESX or ESXi in a virtual machine?

Can VMWare ESX or ESXi be installed and used inside a virtual machine? It can be installed inside VMWare Workstation or Server, but then it doesn't work; the main symptoms are: It runs REALLY slowly. It lets you create VMs, but when powering up…
Massimo
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Running 100 virtual machines on a single VMWare host server

I've been using VMWare for many years, running dozens of production servers with very few issues. But I never tried hosting more than 20 VMs on a single physical host. Here is the idea: A stripped down version of Windows XP can live with 512MB of…
Dennis Kashkin
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How to extend a Linux PV partition online after virtual disk growth

VMware allows to extend the size of a virtual disk online - when the VM is running. The next expected steps for Linux system are: extend the partition: delete and create a larger one with fdisk extend the PV size with pvresize use free extents for…
Yves Martin
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Is it possible/advisable to run VMware Server ESX/ESXi on a laptop?

The idea of having a small footprint hypervisor as the primary OS on a laptop or desktop where every "real" OS is a guest appeals to me. Now I realize this software is more typically used on blades and the other servers but can it be done on a…
cletus
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High Load Average with modest CPU Utilization and almost no IO

The usual explanation for high load average with little cpu use under linux is too much IO (or more properly uninterruptable sleep). I have a service running on a cluster of 2-core VMs that exhibit modest CPU use (~55-70% idle) but higher than 2…
dbenhur
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Should Linux VM's in VMware/ESX have a swap partition?

On a VMware ESX setup what is the difference of these options?: a Linux VM with 1GB RAM and 1GB swap partition and the VM uses 1.5 GB ram a Linux VM with 1GB RAM and no swap partition and the VM uses 1.5 GB ram I mean, in both cases swap is being…
Sandra
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What happens to children when deleting a snapshot in vmware?

I'm new to virtualization and want to make sure I understand what will happen when I delete a snapshot Say I have a tree like this Base SnapshotA SnapshotB SnapshotC Two questions: If I delete SnapShotB does anything happen to SnapShotC?…
Cody
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Why don't people just use rsync to back up vmware guests?

If I am running a modern vmware ESXi system, I can drop in a statically linked rsync binary and rsync files to any destination over SSH. I'm trying to understand why most (all ?) backup of vmware guests is not done this way. If the VM is running,…
user227963
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Why not use vmware tools for time synchronisation?

We have two VMWare environments running a bunch of (mainly) Redhat 5.9 and 6.4 guests. We are having issues with time drift (minutes ahead per week). We use ntp, syncing to the local domain controller. This recommendation by VMWare specifically says…
Josh Smeaton
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Snapshot/rollback for libvirt+KVM?

I've recently begun using KVM for my development/test environment on a Linux host system with 8G memory. Prior, I was using VMware Fusion for my virtual environment, but my Macbook only has 2G memory. I tried VMware Server and ESX on the host…
jtimberman
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How to backup VMWare ESXi using free tools?

What do I need to do to establish backup of ESXi 3.5 or 4 server? It is my understanding that the server runs Linux, so as far as I understand the backup sequence should be: create a snapshot of VM copy files to a backup location delete snapshot I…
galets
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How to utilize spare workstation drive space for server storage/backup

So, given the fact that you can only get hard drives of about 160GB now for the cheapest price, I find i have a ton of extra drive space on workstations spread throughout my office. I'd like to utilize this space as a redundant RAID-like array of…
Erik Funkenbusch
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What happens when a disk fails in LVM?

I am configuring a linux server on an ESX 4.1 host. This server needs to have several TBs of data stored on it. We are currently debating whether or not to use LVM. Our current reasoning is that is is best to have multiple 2TB volumes (a limit…
Stew
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Has anyone achieved true differential sync with rsync in ESXi?

Berate me later on the fact that I'm using the service console to do anything in ESXi... I've got a working rsync binary (v3.0.4) that I can use in ESXi 4.1U1. I tend to use rsync over cp when copying VM's or backups from one local datastore to…
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