The following is a guide on how to get Oracle 10g R2 RAC installed on ESX 3.5 using CentOS Virtual Machines. Quite a mouthful, isn’t it? This was written up by Justin Mungal. In the guide Justin covers every thing needed to get Oracle RAC installed on ESX 3.5 and then some. It should be noted that this is not for production, nor is it supported. However, it will give you a good handle on getting your lab up and running.

Here are the topics:

• Pre-requisites
• Hypervisor Configuration and VM Creation
• CentOS 5.4 installation
• Virtual Machine Storage Configuration
• Clusterware and RAC pre-installation procedures
• Installing Oracle Clusterware
• Installing Oracle 10g R2 Database
• Creating a database with DBCA
• RAC Verification

The guide itself is entirely too long (but very very detailed) to copy here, and so it can be found here.

About The Author

Justin Mungal has been working in IT for about 8 years. He’s a former SQL Server DBA with a background in System’s Administration. He’s currently employed as an Oracle DBA at a technology company in San Antonio, Texas.

Moving along with our series of esxcfg & VCDX related series of posts, we come to esxcfg-vswitch. The example we’ll work with here has us setting up a new virtual switch, adding an uplink NIC, adding a port group with VLAN 393, and changing the MTU. Ready? Here we go:

1. Add the vSwitch:
   [root@ProfessionalVMware root]# esxcfg-vswitch –add NewSwitch
   [root@ProfessionalVMware root]# esxcfg-vswitch -l
   Switch Name    Num Ports   Used Ports  Configured Ports  MTU     Uplinks  
   vSwitch0       64          5           64                1500    vmnic0   

  PortGroup Name      VLAN ID  Used Ports  Uplinks  
  VM Network          0        0           vmnic0   
  Service Console     0        1           vmnic0   
  VMkernel            0        1           vmnic0   

Switch Name    Num Ports   Used Ports  Configured Ports  MTU     Uplinks  
NewSwitch      64          1           64                1500             

  PortGroup Name      VLAN ID  Used Ports  Uplinks  

2. Add the uplink:
   [root@ProfessionalVMware root]# esxcfg-vswitch –link vmnic1 NewSwitch
   [root@ProfessionalVMware root]# esxcfg-vswitch -l
   Switch Name    Num Ports   Used Ports  Configured Ports  MTU     Uplinks  
   vSwitch0       64          5           64                1500    vmnic0   

  PortGroup Name      VLAN ID  Used Ports  Uplinks  
  VM Network          0        0           vmnic0   
  Service Console     0        1           vmnic0   
  VMkernel            0        1           vmnic0   

Switch Name    Num Ports   Used Ports  Configured Ports  MTU     Uplinks  
NewSwitch      64          3           64                1500    vmnic1   

  PortGroup Name      VLAN ID  Used Ports  Uplinks  

3. Now to add the port group & VLAN 393
   [root@ProfessionalVMware root]# esxcfg-vswitch –add-pg=NewPg NewSwitch
   [root@ProfessionalVMware root]# esxcfg-vswitch –vlan=393 -p NewPg NewSwitch
   [root@ProfessionalVMware root]# esxcfg-vswitch -l
   Switch Name    Num Ports   Used Ports  Configured Ports  MTU     Uplinks  
   vSwitch0       64          5           64                1500    vmnic0   

  PortGroup Name      VLAN ID  Used Ports  Uplinks  
  VM Network          0        0           vmnic0   
  Service Console     0        1           vmnic0   
  VMkernel            0        1           vmnic0   

Switch Name    Num Ports   Used Ports  Configured Ports  MTU     Uplinks  
NewSwitch      64          3           64                1500    vmnic1   

  PortGroup Name      VLAN ID  Used Ports  Uplinks  
  NewPg               393      0           vmnic1   

4. Now the MTU:

[root@ProfessionalVMware root]# esxcfg-vswitch -m 123 NewSwitch
[root@ProfessionalVMware root]# esxcfg-vswitch -l
Switch Name    Num Ports   Used Ports  Configured Ports  MTU     Uplinks  
vSwitch0       64          5           64                1500    vmnic0   

  PortGroup Name      VLAN ID  Used Ports  Uplinks  
  VM Network          0        0           vmnic0   
  Service Console     0        1           vmnic0   
  VMkernel            0        1           vmnic0   

Switch Name    Num Ports   Used Ports  Configured Ports  MTU     Uplinks  
NewSwitch      64          3           64                123     vmnic1   

  PortGroup Name      VLAN ID  Used Ports  Uplinks  
  NewPg               393      0           vmnic1   

In summary, the commands we used:

• esxcfg-vswitch –l
• esxcfg-vswitch –add
• esxcfg-vswitch –link
• esxcfg-vswitch –add-pg
• esxcfg-vswitch –vlan
• esxcfg-vswitch –m

Questions? Comments? Drop a line in the comments.

As a plethora of my last posts suggest, I am spinning up study towards my VCDX. My first stop on that journey will be with the Enterprise Admin exam. Along the way I hope to share bits that I learn, review, and otherwise enjoy about the process. Today that is figuring out all manner of information about the NICs or network cards installed in the ESX host, and how to manipulate them. Let’s get started:

Question: What NICs?

Answer: esxcfg-nics –l

Example:

[root@ProfessionalVMware root]# esxcfg-nics -l
Name    PCI      Driver      Link Speed    Duplex MTU    Description                  
vmnic0  02:00.00 e1000       Up   1000Mbps Full   1500   Intel Corporation 82545EM Gigabit Ethernet Controller (Copper)
vmnic1  02:02.00 e1000       Up   1000Mbps Full   200    Intel Corporation 82545EM Gigabit Ethernet Controller (Copper)
vmnic2  02:03.00 e1000       Up   1000Mbps Full   200    Intel Corporation 82545EM Gigabit Ethernet Controller (Copper)

If you excuse the wrapped console output for a moment, you will see that there are three interfaces, vmnic0 –2. You’ll also notice how the PCI ordering is done, and that these particular NICs use the Intel e1000 driver (it is in a VM after all).

Question: How do I change the duplex/speed?

Answer: Using esxcfg-nics –s 10/100/1000 –d “full/half” vmnic#

Example:

[root@ProfessionalVMware root]# esxcfg-nics -d half -s 10 vmnic1
[root@ProfessionalVMware root]# esxcfg-nics -l
Name    PCI      Driver      Link Speed    Duplex MTU    Description                  
vmnic0  02:00.00 e1000       Up   1000Mbps Full   1500   Intel Corporation 82545EM Gigabit Ethernet Controller (Copper)
vmnic1  02:02.00 e1000       Up   10Mbps   Half   200    Intel Corporation 82545EM Gigabit Ethernet Controller (Copper)
vmnic2  02:03.00 e1000       Up   1000Mbps Full   200    Intel Corporation 82545EM Gigabit Ethernet Controller (Copper)

What you see above is that I changed the speed and duplex of vmnic1 to 10 half. I also made it bold! These settings are rather cruel, but every now and again a good BOFH has to do what a good BOFH has to do.

Question: I preformed the above speed and duplex changes on the accounting groups box… now how do I fix it?

Answer: A good, pleasantly worded apology, and the following: esxcfg-nics –a vmnic#

Example:

[root@ProfessionalVMware root]# esxcfg-nics -a vmnic1
[root@ProfessionalVMware root]# esxcfg-nics -l
Name    PCI      Driver      Link Speed    Duplex MTU    Description                  
vmnic0  02:00.00 e1000       Up   1000Mbps Full   1500   Intel Corporation 82545EM Gigabit Ethernet Controller (Copper)
vmnic1  02:02.00 e1000       Up   10Mbps   Half   200    Intel Corporation 82545EM Gigabit Ethernet Controller (Copper)
vmnic2  02:03.00 e1000       Up   1000Mbps Full   200    Intel Corporation 82545EM Gigabit Ethernet Controller (Copper)
[root@ProfessionalVMware root]#

You’ll notice the speed/duplex did not change. You may have to let this sit for a few seconds (or as long as it took me to write the last sentence), before it corrects itself. Here it is all corrected:

[root@ProfessionalVMware root]# esxcfg-nics -l
Name    PCI      Driver      Link Speed    Duplex MTU    Description                  
vmnic0  02:00.00 e1000       Up   1000Mbps Full   1500   Intel Corporation 82545EM Gigabit Ethernet Controller (Copper)
vmnic1  02:02.00 e1000       Up   1000Mbps Full   200    Intel Corporation 82545EM Gigabit Ethernet Controller (Copper)
vmnic2  02:03.00 e1000       Up   1000Mbps Full   200    Intel Corporation 82545EM Gigabit Ethernet Controller (Copper)

As always, if you have questions or comments, drop a line in the comments.

Like the last several posts, this one hails from the storage section of the Enterprise Admin Blueprint. The Enterprise Admin exam is one of the several requirements to becoming a VCDX. As I go down this path, I hope to share with you some of my exam prep in the hope that it will help you as well.

Seems this is becoming part of a series. Like the last few posts, this one was also produced from objective 1.1 of the VCDX Blueprint, and is part of my exam prep.

Task:

esxcfg-module – Unload/Load modules & check module status.

The Command:

[root@ProfessionalVMware root]# esxcfg-module
Usage: esxcfg-module <options> <module>
   -g|–get-options   Get the options for a given module and whether it is loaded on boot.
   -s|–set-options   Set the options for a given module.
                      WARNING this may be overwritten by per device options.
   -e|–enable        Enable a given module, indicating it should be loaded on boot.
   -d|–disable       Disable a given module, indicating it should not be loaded on boot.
   -q|–query         Query enabled modules options.
   -l|–list          List all modules and whether they are enabled.
   -h|–help          Show this message.

In this case I’ve only included the relevant output.

Checking Module Status:

[root@ProfessionalVMware root]# esxcfg-module -l
Device Driver Modules
Module         Enabled Loaded 
vmklinux       true    true   
mptscsi_2xx    true    true   
e1000          true    true   
lvmdriver      true    true   
vmfs3          true    true   
etherswitch    true    true   
shaper         true    true   
tcpip          true    true   
cosShadow      true    true   
migration      true    true   
nfsclient      true    true   
deltadisk      true    true   
vmfs2          true    true   

Loading/Unloading:

[root@ProfessionalVMware root]# esxcfg-module –disable vmfs2
[root@ProfessionalVMware root]# esxcfg-module –list
Device Driver Modules
Module         Enabled Loaded 
vmklinux       true    true   
mptscsi_2xx    true    true   
e1000          true    true   
lvmdriver      true    true   
vmfs3          true    true   
etherswitch    true    true   
shaper         true    true   
tcpip          true    true   
cosShadow      true    true   
migration      true    true   
nfsclient      true    true   
deltadisk      true    true   
vmfs2          false   true   
[root@ProfessionalVMware root]# esxcfg-module –enable vmfs2
[root@ProfessionalVMware root]# esxcfg-module –list
Device Driver Modules
Module         Enabled Loaded 
vmklinux       true    true   
mptscsi_2xx    true    true   
e1000          true    true   
lvmdriver      true    true   
vmfs3          true    true   
etherswitch    true    true   
shaper         true    true   
tcpip          true    true   
cosShadow      true    true   
migration      true    true   
nfsclient      true    true   
deltadisk      true    true   
vmfs2          true    true   

Thanks for tuning in.

Seems this is becoming part of a series. Like the last few posts, this one was also produced from objective 1.1 of the VCDX Blueprint, and is part of my exam prep.

Task:

Manage VMFS file systems using command line tools.

Solution:

[root@ProfessionalVMware root]# vmkfstools
No valid command specified

OPTIONS FOR FILE SYSTEMS:

vmkfstools -C –createfs vmfs3
               -b –blocksize #[mMkK]
               -S –setfsname fsName
           -Z –extendfs extension-partition
   deviceName

           -P –queryfs -h –humanreadable
           -T –tovmfs3
               -x –upgradetype [zeroedthick|eagerzeroedthick|thin]
           -u –upgradefinish
   vmfsPath

In this case I’ve only included the relevant output.

Creating a VMFS file system:

[root@ProfessionalVMware root]# vmkfstools –create vmfs3 –b 8M –s NewVolume vmhba1:2:0:3

Getting some details on a VMFS file system:

[root@ProfessionalVMware root]# vmkfstools -P /vmfs/volumes/storage1/
VMFS-3.31 file system spanning 1 partitions.
File system label (if any): storage1
Mode: public
Capacity 34628173824 (33024 file blocks * 1048576), 34158411776 (32576 blocks) avail
UUID: 4b6ac385-66ac6b08-056e-000c29a47f2f
Partitions spanned (on "lvm"):
    vmhba0:0:0:3

While the content may seem obvious to some, this post is here to help those that still have their exams to prep for, or find themselves wandering about aimlessly on the CLI trying to configure NFS. Thanks for tuning in.

Like the last post, this one also hails from objective 1.1 of the VCDX Blueprint, and is part of my exam prep.

Task:

Configure an NFS Datastore using command line tools.

Solution:

[root@ProfessionalVMware root]# esxcfg-nas
esxcfg-nas <options> [<label>]
-a|–add                Add a new NASc filesystem to /vmfs volumes. 
                        Requires –host and –share options.
                        Use –readonly option only for readonly access.
-o|–host <host>        Set the host name or ip address for a NAS mount.
-s|–share <share>      Set the name of the NAS share on the remote system.
-y|–readonly           Add the new NAS filesystem with readonly access.
-d|–delete             Unmount and delete a filesystem.
-l|–list               List the currently mounted NAS file systems.
-r|–restore            Restore all NAS mounts from the configuration file.
                        (FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY).
-h|–help               Show this message.

More specifically:

[root@ProfessionalVMware root]# esxcfg-nas –add –host 192.168.15.252 –share /storage/iso ISO
Connecting to NAS volume: ISO
ISO created and connected.

Result:

[root@ProfessionalVMware root]# esxcfg-nas –list
ISO is /storage/iso from 192.168.15.252 mounted

While the content may seem obvious to some, this post is here to help those that still have their exams to prep for, or find themselves wandering about aimlessly on the CLI trying to configure NFS. Thanks for tuning in.

While this actually requires no special settings, I figure it’s worth noting, if for nothing more than to state that in VMware Fusion 3, ESX 3.5 requires no additional settings to be operational. Basically it works as follows:

1. Download the ESX ISO (vmware.com/download/vi)
2. In VMware Fusion create a new virtual machine, choosing said ISO:
   
3. The correct OS is installed automatically. The version may be ‘incorrect’ but it works just fine:
    
4. And all installed:
   

Also of note: The splash screen seemingly does a lookup against the hostname you have configured to produce the IP address displayed.

The last time we touched upon LUN resigning, it was during an odd hour of the night. Looking back now, some interesting VMware KB articles have cropped up around this very topic.

First there is KB 9453805, which covers this process for VI3, seemingly from top to bottom, it also greatly expands on my post, by having you check the datastores view and remove the old LUN/datastore. Oh yeah, it provides instructions on how to do it from the VI Client, good stuff.

Next there is KB 1005751. This one covers much the same as the above, but from the service console, for those of you who are inclined to do it that way.

Finally, there is also KB 1011387, which covers how to handle this process in ESX(i) 4.

Now when bad things happen, you can be prepared! (Photo by: kait jarbeau )

Can’t be much more descriptive than that. Check the release notes here.

What’s New

Notes:

1. Not all combinations of VirtualCenter and ESX Server versions are supported and not all of these highlighted features are available unless you are using VirtualCenter 2.5 Update 4 with ESX Server 3.5 Update 4. See the ESX Server, VirtualCenter, and VMware Infrastructure Client Compatibility Matrixes for more information on compatibility.
2. This version of ESX Server requires a VMware Tools upgrade.

The following information provides highlights of some of the enhancements available in this release of VMware ESX Server:

Expanded Support for Enhanced vmxnet Adapter — This version of ESX Server includes an updated version of the VMXNET driver (VMXNET enhanced) for the following guest operating systems:

• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition (32-bit)
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition (64-bit)
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Web Edition
• Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional (32-bit)

The new VMXNET version improves virtual machine networking performance and requires VMware tools upgrade.

This particular topic comes up from time to time in discussions. Yes it is OK to run Exchange on VMware, and Exchange 2007 on VMware is a supported configuration… for more info, follow the links below:

The Podcast – Wednesday, Jan 14, for another round of the VMware Communities Roundtable podcast

The Webinar – Jan 15: Exchange 2007 on VMware: Technical Case Study.

The White Paper – Deploying Exchange Server 2007 on VMware Infrastructure: A VMware Internal Case Study

The original post from VMware