Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager

Have you ever wanted to know how to create and deploy a stand-alone virtual machine with a blank virtual hard disk (.vhd) using System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012? If so then we have the video for you. Microsoft’s own Tessa Wooley just posted a great how-to video demo that covers this entire process from start to finish:

Enjoy!

J.C. Hornbeck | System Center Knowledge Engineer

Here’s a new Knowledge Base article we published this morning that talks about an issue you might run into when trying to install System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008. This one deals with an accounts/permissions issue and fortunately it’s an easy one to resolve:

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Symptoms

Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 (SCVMM 2008 R2) setup may fail with the following error message during the Virtual Machine Manager Server portion of setup:

Unable to connect to the VMM database because of a general database failure. Ensure that the SQL Server is running and configured correctly, then try the operation again.
ID: 2605. Details: SQL error code: 15247

%ProgramData%\VMMLogs\ServerSetup.txt will have entries similar to the following:

[6/3/2011 4:00:18 PM] Data : bcpPath = "C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Binn\bcp.exe"
[6/3/2011 4:00:18 PM] * Exception : => Unable to connect to the VMM database because of a general database failure.Ensure that the SQL Server is running and configured correctly, then try the operation again.Microsoft.VirtualManager.Setup.Exceptions.BackEndErrorException: Unable to connect to the VMM database because of a general database failure.
Ensure that the SQL Server is running and configured correctly, then try the operation again. ---> Microsoft.VirtualManager.DB.CarmineSqlException: Unable to connect to the VMM database because of a general database failure.
Ensure that the SQL Server is running and configured correctly, then try the operation again. ---> System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException: User does not have permission to perform this action.
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection.OnError(SqlException exception, Boolean breakConnection)
at System.Data.SqlClient.TdsParser.ThrowExceptionAndWarning(TdsParserStateObject stateObj)
at System.Data.SqlClient.TdsParser.Run(RunBehavior runBehavior, SqlCommand cmdHandler, SqlDataReader dataStream, BulkCopySimpleResultSet bulkCopyHandler, TdsParserStateObject stateObj)
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlDataReader.ConsumeMetaData()
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlDataReader.get_MetaData()
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand.FinishExecuteReader(SqlDataReader ds, RunBehavior runBehavior, String resetOptionsString)
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand.RunExecuteReaderTds(CommandBehavior cmdBehavior, RunBehavior runBehavior, Boolean returnStream, Boolean async)
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand.RunExecuteReader(CommandBehavior cmdBehavior, RunBehavior runBehavior, Boolean returnStream, String method, DbAsyncResult result)
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand.RunExecuteReader(CommandBehavior cmdBehavior, RunBehavior runBehavior, Boolean returnStream, String method)
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior behavior, String method)
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior behavior)
at Microsoft.VirtualManager.DB.SqlRetryCommand.InternalExecuteReader()
--- End of inner exception stack trace ---
at Microsoft.VirtualManager.DB.SqlRetryCommand.InternalExecuteReader()
at Microsoft.VirtualManager.DB.SqlRetryCommand.ExecuteReader(Int32[] expectedDSColumns)
at Microsoft.VirtualManager.Setup.Helpers.SetupDatabaseHelper.RemoveSqlLogin(String connectinString, String loginName)
at Microsoft.VirtualManager.Setup.Configuration.DBConfigurator.GrantCarmineDBAccess()
at Microsoft.VirtualManager.Setup.Wizard.Configurator.GrantCarmineDBAccess()
at Microsoft.VirtualManager.Setup.Wizard.BackEnd.ConfigureServer()
at Microsoft.VirtualManager.Setup.Wizard.VMInstaller.Configure()
*** Carmine error was: DatabaseFailure (2605); SQLServer; 15247
--- SqlException details -----------------
System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException: User does not have permission to perform this action.
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection.OnError(SqlException exception, Boolean breakConnection)
at System.Data.SqlClient.TdsParser.ThrowExceptionAndWarning(TdsParserStateObject stateObj)
at System.Data.SqlClient.TdsParser.Run(RunBehavior runBehavior, SqlCommand cmdHandler, SqlDataReader dataStream, BulkCopySimpleResultSet bulkCopyHandler, TdsParserStateObject stateObj)
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlDataReader.ConsumeMetaData()
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlDataReader.get_MetaData()
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand.FinishExecuteReader(SqlDataReader ds, RunBehavior runBehavior, String resetOptionsString)
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand.RunExecuteReaderTds(CommandBehavior cmdBehavior, RunBehavior runBehavior, Boolean returnStream, Boolean async)
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand.RunExecuteReader(CommandBehavior cmdBehavior, RunBehavior runBehavior, Boolean returnStream, String method, DbAsyncResult result)
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand.RunExecuteReader(CommandBehavior cmdBehavior, RunBehavior runBehavior, Boolean returnStream, String method)
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior behavior, String method)
at System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior behavior)
at Microsoft.VirtualManager.DB.SqlRetryCommand.InternalExecuteReader()
Error = 15247
Index #0
Source: .Net SqlClient Data Provider
Number: 15247
State: 1
Class: 16
Server: servername\instance
Message: User does not have permission to perform this action.
Procedure: sp_helplogins
Line: 72

Cause

This may occur if the following conditions both apply:

Setup is being run as an account that does not have sysadmin rights on the SQL Server.
A service account is specified for the SQL instance that does have sysadmin rights on the SQL Server.

The SQL commands will initially be executed in the context of the user account running setup, not the service account. After installation, the service account will be used for normal operations.

Resolution

To allow setup to complete successfully in this scenario, hold down the SHIFT key and right-click on setup.exe on the Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 installation media. Choose Run as different user and then enter the credentials for the service account with sysadmin rights on the VMM server.

Notes:

Alternatively, you can log off the server and log back on as the service account user.
Before running setup, you will need to uninstall SCVMM from Control Panel\Programs and Features first before re-running setup.

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For the most current version of this article be sure to view it directly from the source here:

KB2562909 - System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 setup fails with Error 2605

J.C. Hornbeck | System Center Knowledge Engineer

If you are adding a new node to an existing cluster that is being managed by System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 (SCVMM), or if you had to rebuild a node of a cluster and need to add it back, here are the steps that are required:

First, here is the existing cluster:

We will add one more node so that we have nodes:

Next go to the SCVMM server and run a refresh:

Once the refresh is done we will see the new node in a pending state:

Next, right-click on the node and select "add to host cluster":

Once the node is added you will see both nodes\hosts back in SCVMM console as a cluster:

Note that when we add the host to SCVMM it installs the agent remotely onto it automatically. For Windows Server 2008 (except Core) we can install the client from the GUI manually if required. See http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb740757.aspx for more details. If you are using Windows Server 2008 Core you will need to follow the method below to install the SCVMM agent:

1. Install the VC Redist first, which is located on the SCVMM disk at : [DVD]\prerequisites\VCRedist\

2. Install the SCVMM agent by launching the following MSI command:

For 64-bit OS, msiexec.exe –I [DVD drive]\amd64\msi\Agent\vmmAgent.msi;

For 32-bit OS, msiexec.exe –I [DVD drive]\i386\msi\Agent\vmmAgent.msi;

Dhaval M Bhadeshiya | System Center Support Engineer

The steps below demonstrate how to remove a node from a cluster that is managed by System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 (SCVMM). In my example I have used a cluster named CLU224544 and I have 2 nodes. Both are physical boxes with Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 and the Hyper-V role installed. It’s a CSV cluster and is managed by SCVMM 2008 R2:

If we want to remove the standalone host from SCVMM then we can do it from the SCVMM console via the Administration ->Managed Computers tab:

To remove the node, simply right-click and select Remove:

Now if we are managing a cluster then we won’t be able to remove a cluster node from here. Even if you click "Remove" it will not remove the node. In order to remove the cluster node you first need to Evict the node from the cluster. You can do this from the cluster administration console as shown below:

Once you Evict the node from the cluster you have two options:

1. Go to the SCVMM console and refresh the host manually:

2. Wait for the automatic refresh to happen.

Either way, once the Refresh job is done you will see that the node is listed as a standalone host:

Here you can see that the cluster node is not available for removal:

After removing the node you see that host blr2r19-14 is no longer a part of the cluster so now you can remove it as a host. You can do this either from the screen below or from the Administration –> Managed Computers tab:

Dhaval M Bhadeshiya | System Center Support Engineer

We just published this one today so you’ll want to check this out if you’re seeing errors sharing an ISO in SCVMM:

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Symptoms

When using the System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) 2008 R2 console to share an ISO file during new virtual machine creation and placing it in the Hyper-v hosts, the following error may occur:

Virtualization platform on host XXXXXXX does not support shared DVD ISO images.
Remove the shared ISO image from hardware profile or select a different host
ID: 11028

Resolution

You must attach the shared ISO image file to the virtual machine after you create the virtual machine. You cannot attach the file during virtual machine creation.

1. First Place the VM’s on the Hyper-V hosts.
2. Then attached the ISO file using the following steps:

To configure a virtual machine to share an ISO image:

1. In Virtual Machines view of the VMM Administrator Console, right-click the virtual machine, and then click Properties.
2. Click the Hardware Configuration tab.
3. In the left pane, under Bus Configuration, click IDE devices, and then select the IDE device that is being used to capture the ISO image file.
4. Under Capture mode, select Existing image file, and then use the Browse button to select the shared ISO image file in the VMM library that you want to use.
5. To share the image file from the VMM library instead of attaching a copy of the image to the virtual machine, select the Share image file instead of copying it check box.
6. Click on OK.

More Information

For detailed information on enabling shared ISO images for Hyper-V Virtual Machines in SCVMM see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee340124.aspx

Query Words

VMM, SCVMM, VMM2008, VMM2008R2 ,SCVMM2008R2, 11028 ,Share ISO in SCVMM, ISO sharing in VMM,does not support shared DVD ISO images.

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For the most current information please see the following Knowledge Base article:

KB2567412 - Sharing an ISO file during new virtual machine creation in System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 results in "shared ISO" error ID: 11028

J.C. Hornbeck | System Center Knowledge Engineer

Hi Cluster Fans,

The System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 Beta (SCVMM 2012) has just been released and there are some great high-availability and clustering features coming to simplify datacenter management.

VMM Server High-Availability

Virtual Machine Manager has become a critical part of the datacenter or private cloud infrastructure, so keeping the VMM Server up and running is essential to maintain service continuity, monitor VMs and provision (or de-provision) VMs to respond to fluctuations in usage. Previously the VMM Server could be unavailable if it crashed, if the server hosting it crashed, or if that server needed to be shutdown for maintenance or patching. With VMM 2012 it is now possible to deploy the VMM Server on a Windows Server 2008 R2 Failover Cluster to give it high-availability and mobility between nodes. The failover can be planned (for maintenance) or automatic (in case of a failure) to ensure that VMM remains online. Deploying the VMM Server on a cluster is also very easy – simply begin the configuration on an existing cluster node and the installation process will detect that high-availability is possible and prompt for confirmation. An extra configuration step will appear asking for the standard client access information, such as the IP Address and a friendly name for the group. The VMM Server then should be installed on the other cluster nodes. It is important to note that the configuration of the VMM Library needs to be done on shared storage accessible by all nodes so that the VMM Server can always access the library regardless of which node it is running on. This can be done by creating a clustered File Server.

Cluster Deployment

Virtual Machine Manager 2012 now offers comprehensive management of not only VMs, but also the entire fabric, including networking, storage & clusters. To simplify administration through a single console, it has become important to not only manage Hyper-V host clusters, but be able to deploy them through VMM, including tasks such as cluster creation, along with storage, network, and resource management. This can be done by selecting “Create Hyper-V Cluster” from the Fabric view. A wizard is launched prompting for the cluster name and domain credentials. Next Hyper-V hosts which will be nodes are specified, networking options are selected, Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV) can be enabled, then cluster Validation is run, and now the highly-available infrastructure is ready for use. The cluster can even be streamlined as a part of a bare metal deployment during the configuration of the Hyper-V hosts. Furthermore, VMM 2012 gives the option of deploying standalone (non-clustered) VMs on a clustered host. This can be useful when virtualized domain controllers are being deployed because they should not all be clustered as this can lead to bad situation if the entire cluster shuts down. This is because the cluster needs access to a DC to start the clustered VMs, yet if all the DCs are on clustered VMs, then nothing can ever start – so having at least one DC on a non-clustered VM or on a physical server is required.

Cluster Update Management

Cluster patching is one of the most tedious tasks which administrators are faced with as it requires live migrating VMs from a host, pausing the node, patching, rebooting, un-pausing the node, and live migrating VMs back to the host…and this process must be repeated for every node in the cluster. VMM 2012 has released a feature called Update Management which automates this process, saving admins many hours each year. After an admin has defined a baseline of patches which they want to deploy via WSUS, they can scan all the nodes to determine which hosts are not compliant (or are missing Security or Critical devices). Once the non-compliant hosts are identified, “Remediating” the cluster will start an orchestrated patching workflow which places a node into maintenance mode (which will pause the node and serially live migrate VMs from it), installs the missing patches, removes the node from maintenance mode, and then repeating the process for the other nodes in the cluster. Update management even supports Windows Server 2008 clusters and can be automated using PowerShell!

Dynamic Optimization

During the day-to-day operations of a datacenter certain hosts may get overloaded with VMs due to failovers, patching, new deployments or a variety of other conditions which can trigger VM movement. It is important to avoid overcommitting a host with VMs which require more server resources than that host can offer, such as memory or processing power. In VMM 2012 the Dynamic Optimization (DO) feature will monitor hosts and dynamically load balance the VMs across the cluster once certain thresholds are hit to avoid over-utilizing a specific host. DO has both an automatic mode, as well as manual configuration, which can proactively detect problems when CPU, memory, disk IO or network IO are approaching certain limits, and it has configurable “aggressiveness” (which defines how balanced the cluster should be). These checks are run every 10 minutes by default, and if an issue is detected the VMs will be live migrated to the best available node in the cluster. DO even supports VMware and Citrix XenServer clusters and equivalent live migration technologies. This feature is similar to the PRO-Tips technology available in SCVMM 2008 R2, but it does not require System Center Operations Manager, making it significantly easier to deploy, configure and manage.

Power Optimization

Power Optimization (PO) is one of the best “Green IT” features to come out in a while and could save datacenters a significant amount of money by turning off unnecessary servers. PO is actually an extension of Dynamic Optimization (and only available in DO is in automatic mode), and it monitors the same server resources as DO. Once the user defines a power optimization schedule, VMM 2012 will analyze the hosts in the cluster. If it determines that the VMs can all run efficiently without one or more of the nodes and stay within the DO thresholds, it will live migrate VMs to other hosts and turn off the appropriate evacuated nodes. If utilization increases on the remaining active nodes such that one or more powered off nodes are needed again, they will be turned on and the cluster will be optimized by DO. During this process cluster quorum is tracked to ensure that the cluster remains online.

Hopefully this information helped you understand the benefits of these new System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 features related to Failover Clustering so you are encourage to try out the Beta today to get higher availability and simplified management while saving your IT department some money!

Symon Perriman
Technical Evangelist
Private Cloud Technologies
Microsoft

Here’s a heads up on yet another cool article I found over on the TechNet Wiki today regarding System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012. This is another one written by MVP Kristian Nese and it talks about the concept of services in SCVMM 2012:

For those of you that have tested and played around with VMM 2012, you may be aware of the new concept of services. VMM 2012 inherited the great possibility to create VM templates from VMM 2008 R2 and has taken this a bit further in 2012.

When you create a VM template in VMM 2012, you can define the following configuration:

Hardware Configuration (HW Profile)
OS Configuration (OS Profile)
Application Configuration (Application Profile)
SQL Server Configuration (SQL Profile)

It`s worth paying attention to that if you`re touching the Roles/Features in the OS profile, or/and the Application Profile/SQL Profile, as you will get a message when you deploy your VM that it needs to be deployed as a service since it contains additional configuration information (not only the HW profile with a reference to a vhd, networking, CPU`s, RAM, and the OS profile with admin password, domain information, time zone, and license key).

If you choose to continue, these options will be ignored.

So let`s move over to the Service Templates.

In SCVMM 2012 you can create a service that is a logical grouping of VMs that you can manage as a single entity. You can either create a single-tier service, or a multi-tier service….

You can continue reading Kristian’s article here.

J.C. Hornbeck | System Center Knowledge Engineer

On Thursday, July 14^th we will be giving online training to user groups about Failover Clustering & Hyper-V: Planning your Highly-Available Virtualization Environment. This event is run in collaboration with Microsoft’s User Group Support Services (UGSS) and will be presented by Technical Evangelist Symon Perriman.

The training will cover a range of beginner (Level 200) to intermediate (Level 300) themes related to Windows Server 2008 R2 Failover Clustering, Hyper-V and System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 & 2012. Topics include:

Clustering Basics
Guest Clustering & Host Clustering
Deployment & Validation
Optimizing for Hyper-V
Datacenter Management with SCVMM

This workshop will actually teach you or your user group leads how to redeliver this content, so that you can train others on this topic. It will cover key discussion points, frequently asked questions, common misconceptions, how to create demo environments, and how to deliver several eye-catching demos. There will be a live Q&A to address any questions you have.

This will be presented live at two times so anyone around the world can join during their day. The event will run for 90 minutes from 8am – 9:30am PST and again at 6pm – 7:30pm PST on Thursday, July 14^th.

To sign up, simply visit http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22CJ93QZY26/, complete the survey, and pick the time that you wish to attend.

See you there!

Symon Perriman
Technical Evangelist
Private Cloud Technologies
Microsoft
@SymonPerriman

Just wanted to let you know that the System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 SP1 hotfix rollup package dated July 12, 2011 was now available for download. Here’s the text from the KB describing the update:

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INTRODUCTION

This article describes the Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 (SCVMM 2008 R2) Service Pack 1 (SP1) issues that are resolved in the hotfix rollup package that was released on July 12, 2011.

MORE INFORMATION

List of issues that are resolved:

Issue 1

A Virtual-to-Virtual (V2V) migration to a Cluster Shared Volume (CSV) volume fails if the cluster node that owns the volume has insufficient disk space on the system volume. Additionally, you receive an error that resembles the following:

Error 2606
Unable to perform the job because one or more of the selected objects are locked by another job.

Issue 2

Virtual machine placement may show a host as having a zero rating. If you select the host, the following message is listed on the Rating Explanation tab:

The projected disk i/o utilization (IOPS) 0 exceeds the maximum disk i/o utilization (IOPS) of -1687.

Note This issue occurs if the disk IOPS reservation for the host placement is set to a value that is larger than 2097.

Issue 3

A cluster node might not enter Maintenance mode, and you receive the following error because of a timing issue:

Error (10697)
Could not initiate live migration of Virtual machine SCVMM vmname to virtual machine host servername using this cluster configuration.
(The group or resource is not in the correct state to perform the requested operation (0x139F))

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For the latest information and a download link please see the following KB article:

KB2562466 : Description of the System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 SP1 hotfix rollup package: July 12, 2011

J.C. Hornbeck | System Center Knowledge Engineer

I just wanted to let you know about a new Knowledge Base article we published today. You’ll definitely want to bookmark this one as it tells you how to troubleshoot a couple of the more common issues we see when adding a Hyper-V host in SCVMM 2008 or SCVMM 2008 R2:

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Summary

This article covers how to troubleshoot issues when adding a Hyper-V host in System Center Virtual Machine 2008 or System Center Virtual Machine 2008 R2.
Common errors that are logged in the VMM Administrator Console when an “Add virtual machine host” job fails include the following:

Error (421)
Agent installation failed on server.domain.com because of a WS-Management configuration error.

Error (2912)
An internal error has occurred trying to contact an agent on the server.domain.com server.

Error (2916)
VMM is unable to complete the request. The connection to the agent server.domain.com was lost.

Error (2927)
A Hardware Management error has occurred trying to contact server server.domain.com.

More Information

Step 1: Review the VMM Agent installation log file

On the Hyper-V host, review the “vmmAgent.msi_%date%_%time%.log” file that’s located in the %systemdrive%\ProgramData\VMMLogs directory.

Note: This log file may not exist if the failure occurs early in the installation process.

Step 2: Use the System Center Virtual Machine Configuration Analyzer (VMMCA)

The Virtual Machine Manager Configuration Analyzer is a diagnostic tool that administrators can use to evaluate important configuration settings for computers that either are serving or might serve VMM roles or other VMM functions. The Virtual Machine Manager Configuration Analyzer does the following:

· Scans the hardware and software configurations of the computers that you specify
· Evaluates these configurations against a set of predefined rules
· Displays error messages and warnings for any configurations that are not optimal for the VMM role or for other VMM functions that you specified for the computer

To download the Virtual Machine Manager Configuration Analyzer, visit the following Microsoft website:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=02d83950-c03d-454e-803b-96d1c1d5be24&displaylang=en

Step 3: Verify the recommended hotfixes are installed on the VMM and Hyper-V servers

On the VMM and Hyper-V servers, verify the recommended hotfixes are installed:

2397711 Recommended hotfixes for System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2
962941 Recommended hotfixes for System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008

Step 4: Verify the ports used by VMM are not blocked by a firewall

Verify the ports used by VMM to communicate with the Hyper-V host are not blocked by a firewall. By default, VMM uses the following ports to communicate with the Hyper-V host:

TCP port 80
TCP port 443
TCP port 2179

The following knowledge base article covers some tests to verify communication between the VMM and Hyper-V hosts:

2465160 Add Host or other action fails with (2916) 0x80338126 in System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008

For more information on the ports used by VMM, please reference the following TechNet article: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc764268.aspx

Step 5: Check for duplicate SPNs

Perform the steps documented in the following article to check for duplicate SPNs:

970923 Unable to add a managed host in SCVMM 2008 and SCVMM 2008 R2, Error 2927 (0x8033809d)

Step 6: Check for corrupted performance counters on the Hyper-V host

Review the following knowledge base article to determine if the Hyper-V host has corrupted performance counters:

2001247 SCVMM: Adding a host to System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 may fail with error 2912 / 0xc0000BBF

Step 7: Manually install the VMM Agent on the Hyper-V host

If the Add-VMHost job continues to fail, manually install the agent on the Hyper-V host by performing the steps documented in the following TechNet article: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc764218.aspx

Query Words

SCVMM Add-VMHost VMM 2008 R2 VM VMM2008

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For the latest information please see the following KB article:

KB2584907: How to troubleshoot issues when adding a Hyper-V host in System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 or System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2

J.C. Hornbeck | System Center Knowledge Engineer

Here’s a heads up on a nice article I found over on the TechNet Wiki today. This is another one written by MVP Kristian Nese and it talks about load balancing and cloud computing in relation to SCVMM 2012:

One characteristic of cloud computing is virtualized network access to your applications/services. The point is that no matter where you access the service, you are automatically directed to the available resources. We are using load balancing to distribute service requests to these resources.

This is normally implemented using hardware load balancers, like F5 Big IP servers.

What can be load balanced?

Access to application instances
Services such as DNS, FTP, HTTP, and HTTPS
Storage resources
Connections through intelligent switches

If you ask me, cloud computing would be difficult to “achieve” without load balancing. It provides redundancy through redirection, and fault tolerance when coupled with a failover mechanism.

So, this brings us to the Load Balancing feature in System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012….

You can continue reading Kristian’s article here.

J.C. Hornbeck | System Center Knowledge Engineer

I just wanted to let you know about a new Knowledge Base article we published this morning. This one talks about an issue where the Virtual Machine Manager Service can crash with VMs running Linux Integration Components v3.1 for Hyper-V:

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Symptoms

On System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008, R2, and R2 SP1 (SCVMM), the Virtual Machine Manager Service (vmmservice.exe) crashes unexpectedly and the VM Manager event log shows Event ID 19999 and 1:

Event 1999
Log Name: VM Manager
Source: Virtual Machine Manager
Date:
Event ID: 19999
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: SCVMM.Contoso.com
Description:
Virtual Machine Manager (vmmservice:368) has encountered an error and needed to exit the process. Windows generated an error report with the following parameters:
Event:VMM20
P1(appName):vmmservice
P2(appVersion):2.0.4521.0
P3(assemblyName):ViridianImplementation
P4(assemblyVer):2.0.4521.0
P5(methodName):M.C.V.VirVMIntegrationService.PopulateKVPElements
P6(exceptionType):System.ArgumentException
P7(callstackHash):939f

Event 1
Log Name: VM Manager
Source: Virtual Machine Manager
Date:
Event ID: 1
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: SCVMM.Contoso.com
Description:
System.ArgumentException: Version string portion was too short or too long.
at System.Version..ctor(String version)
at Microsoft.Carmine.ViridianImplementation.VirVMIntegrationService.PopulateKVPElements()
at Microsoft.Carmine.ViridianImplementation.VirVMIntegrationService.get_ComputerName()
at Microsoft.VirtualManager.Engine.BitBos.VMRefresherBase.UpdateVMAdditions(IVMComputerSystem vmComputer)
at Microsoft.VirtualManager.Engine.BitBos.VMRefresherBase.UpdateFullVMObjectToCarmine(IVMComputerSystem vmComputer, VMData vmData, UpdateRequired updateRequired, Boolean vmObjectHasChanged)
at Microsoft.VirtualManager.Engine.BitBos.VMRefresherBase.RunFullRefresher()
at Microsoft.VirtualManager.Engine.BitBos.VMRefresherBase.UpdateHostandVMs(VMRefresherType refresherType, Guid vmObjectId, VM tempVm)
at Microsoft.VirtualManager.Engine.BitBos.VmFullRefresher.RefreshData(HostReference hostRef)
at Microsoft.VirtualManager.Engine.RefreshDriver`1.RefreshThreadFunction(Object obj)-2147024809

Cause

The kernel version returned by the Linux guest’s KVP (Key Value Pair) Exchange is longer than expected. This causes an unhandled exception in SCVMM and the service crashes. This new feature is enabled by default in the integration components.

Resolution

Disabling the KVP daemon on the Linux virtual machine will prevent the SCVMM service crash. The command to make this change must be run as root.

/sbin/chkconfig --level 35 hv_kvp_daemon off

This will prevent the KVP service from auto starting while retaining all other functionality of hv_utils. hv_utils provides integrated shutdown, key value pair data exchange, and heartbeat features.

More Information

This issue has been seen with virtual machine guests running Red Hat 6.0, Red Hat 6.1 and CentOS 6.0.

This issue is expected to be fixed in a future release of integration components.

Linux Integration Services Version 3.1 for Hyper-V
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=26837

Query Words

SCVMM 2008 Service Crash Linux Red Hat Redhat Service Pack 1 System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 SCVMM VMM Hyper-V Linux CentOS

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For the latest information please see the following KB article:

KB2586286: The System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 Virtual Machine Manager Service crashes with virtual machines running Linux Integration Components v3.1 for Hyper-V

J.C. Hornbeck | System Center Knowledge Engineer

Here’s a heads up on another nice article I found over on the TechNet Wiki today. This is another one written by MVP Kristian Nese and it talks about creating compatibility profiles in SCVMM 2012:

Another interesting feature that I have found quite useful, is the possibility to create “Capability Profiles”. For example; you have a Hyper-V Cluster that also plays a part in one of your defined clouds. You want to make sure that everything that is put onto that cloud, are configured as Highly Available. There are many reasons for that, especially if you are dealing with Dynamic Optimization and Power Optimization – you want your resources to be available, and not directly attached to a physical server….

You can continue reading Kristian’s article here.

J.C. Hornbeck | System Center Knowledge Engineer

I know this one isn’t necessarily SCVMM specific but if you’re doing any work with Hyper-V then you’re going to want to know about these. These are the top "gotchas" or "known issues" that folks seem to have the most trouble with. "Gotchas" are also sometimes called "lessons learned" and "best practices" but whatever you call it, it’s a best practice to avoid a known "gotcha".

Hyper-V: Gotchas on the TechNet Wiki

J.C. Hornbeck | System Center Knowledge Engineer

As many of you probably already know, for a long time the Script Repository (a special-purpose gallery) has been an engine of great content and community engagement on TechNet. Well starting last week it was upgraded significantly and launched as the new TechNet Gallery, supporting not only just scripts but many other technical resources for Microsoft products including App-V, Exchange, and System Center.

Also of note is that in addition to English, the new gallery is available in French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Italian, Korean, Czech, Polish, and Turkish. Individuals’ contributions and engagement with the TechNet Gallery are tracked in their TechNet profiles and fully integrated with our reputation system which is also fully localized.

If IT resources like scripts, management packs, utilities, and extensions are important for your success, you’ll definitely want to bookmark this one.

TechNet Gallery

J.C. Hornbeck | System Center Knowledge Engineer

Here’s a new SCVMM 2008/OpsMgr 2007 KB article we published this morning. If you’re seeing an issue where PRO Tips alerts are unexpectedly being removed from the PRO Tips alerts window then you’ll want to check this one out:

=====

Symptoms

PRO Tips alerts in Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manger 2008 R2 (SCVMM 2008 R2) may display in the SCVMM PRO Tips Alerts Window and then automatically be removed from the list of active alerts.

Cause

This behavior occurs when there is no auto-remediation step for a warning or alert that is generated by the System Center Operations Manger 2007 R2 Pro Tips management packs for SCVMM. Auto-remediation is enabled on the Host Group under settings\PRO\Automatically implement PRO tips on this Host Group.

For example, a virtual machine may display a high CPU or high memory usage warning (PRO CPU Utilization or PRO Memory Utilization). Since the management pack does not have an automatic implementation step for individual virtual machines (as opposed to a host, for instance), the alert is automatically removed for the active PRO Tips window when SCVMM evaluates the status of the PRO Tip item.

Resolution

Unchecking Automatically implement PRO tips on this Host Group or implementing a custom override that contains a remediation action would cause the error or warning to be displayed until the corrective action occurred or was acknowledged in the OpsMgr console. The warnings and errors will, however, be displayed in the Operations Manager (OpsMgr) console like any other Management Pack (MP) alert.

More Information

This behavior is by design.

=====

For the most current version of this article please see the following:

2616165: PRO Tips alerts in Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manger 2008 R2 may display and then be automatically removed

J.C. Hornbeck | System Center Knowledge Engineer

The VMM team is proud to announce the public availability of the Release Candidate for System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 (VMM). It is ready for download as a full install package or as a vhd. As with the previous release there are a number of improved features -- with this release you will be able to do:

Setup Upgrade
- *New in RC -Upgrade- Setup will support the following upgrade paths:
  - VMM 2008 R2 SP1 > VMM 2012 RC > VMM 2012 RTM
  - VMM 2012 RC > VMM 2012 RTM
Fabric Management
- Hyper-V and Cluster Lifecycle Management – Deploy Hyper-V to bare metal server, create Hyper-V clusters, orchestrate patching of a Hyper-V Cluster
  - *New in RC:
    - ISO or CD-based OSD for environments with DHCP without WDS
    - OSD will now convert dynamic to fixed type of VHD destination
    - All network adapters on host can be configured during provisioning
  - *New in RC:
    - Ability to bypass cluster validation during cluster creation
    - Run cluster validation reports on-demand
    - New Cluster status tab to view an aggregated status and a cluster validation report
    - Ability to see current CSV owner in the properties of the cluster
- Third Party Virtualization Platforms - Add and Manage Citrix XenServer and VMware ESX Hosts and Clusters
- Network Management – Manage IP Address Pools, MAC Address Pools and Load Balancers
  - *New in RC:
    - Simplification of the logical networks in the Fabric workspace
    - Ability to see IP addresses that are in use from a IP pool
    - Added support for Microsoft Network Load Balancer
    - Gateway and DNS are no longer mandatory fields for logical networks
    - Load balancer can now support affinity to logical networks
- Storage Management – Classify Storage, Manage Storage Pools and LUNs
  - *New in RC
    - Create persistent sessions to iSCSI array and logon initiator to array
    - Better scalability of storage operations - LUN create, snapshot, clone, masking, and unmasking
    - Option to create storage groups per cluster (BETA only supported creation of storage group per node in a cluster)
    - Enablement of MPIO feature when provisioning a new Hyper-V server
    - Automatic MPIO device claim
    - Support for arrays that implement OnePortPerView
- Update Management- Keep your VMM Fabric Servers (VMM roles, hosts, and clusters) up-to-date with patches.
  - *New in RC:
    - Share a WSUS root server between System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2/ System Center Configuration Manager 2012 Beta
    - Hyper-V Cluster Orchestration- Nodes put into VMM Maintenance Mode can be set to trigger Maintenance Mode in Operations Manager.
Resource Optimization
- Dynamic Optimization – proactively balance the load of VMs across a cluster
- Power Optimization – schedule power savings to use the right number of hosts to run your workloads – power the rest off until they are needed.
  - *New in RC:
    - Set Operations Manager Mode for powered down hosts
- PRO – integrate with System Center Operations Manager to respond to application-level performance monitors.
  - *New in RC:
    - Support added for System Center Operations Manager 2012 Beta
    - VMM will ship two sample PRO Packs: Cluster scale out and Service scale out MPs
Cloud Management
- Abstract server, network and storage resources into private clouds
- Delegate access to private clouds with control of capacity, capabilities and user quotas
- Enable self-service usage for application administrator to author, deploy, manage and decommission applications in the private cloud
Service Lifecycle Management
- Define service templates to create sets of connected virtual machines, OS images and application packages
  - *New in RC:
    - Service Designer and Specialization UI enhancements
    - Added ability to use Service Template Patterns
- Compose operating system images and applications during service deployment
  - *New in RC:
    - IP-based provisioning
    - New application instance view
- Scale out the number of virtual machines in a service
- Service performance and health monitoring integrated with System Center Operations Manager
- Decouple OS image and application updates through image-based servicing
  - *New in RC:
    - Streamlined ability to enable OS VHD updates to a Service Template
    - Publish updated Service Templates in order to update Service Instances
- Leverage powerful application virtualization technologies such as Server App-V

FEEDBACK: Please read the following regarding providing feedback:

Submit bugs via the Connect Site.
When submitting bugs, please attach trace log details to help our team diagnose the issue. Collecting traces with debug view can be found in the VMM for System Center 2012 Troubleshooting guide: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=211124

DOWNLOADS:

Folder

Version

Category

Description

CDlayout

5007

MDC

This package includes the CD Layout for VMM 2012 RC. Use it to do a full
install of VMM 2012 RC.

EvalVHD

5007

MDC

This folder contains a pre-configured VHD to aid in the evaluation of the
Release Candidate. It is optional to use this VHD or do a full install of VMM
2012 RC. The VHD has all the necessary software already installed, including
the following:

Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise operating system
SQL Server 2008 R2
VMM RC
Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK) for Windows 7
Microsoft Storage Management Service
Web Deployment Tool

Load Balancer Providers

Build

Citrix[No login required]

http://community.citrix.com/display/ns/Citrix+NetScaler+LB+Provider+for+Microsoft+System+Center

F5[Login required]

http://devcentral.f5.com/LinkClick.aspx?link=http%3a%2f%2fdevcentral.f5.com%2fdownloads%2fplugins%2fF5LoadBalancerPowerShellSetup-214-x64.zip&tabid=73&mid=3221

Brocade

Download the
Brocade ServerIron ADX load balancer provider

Storage Provider

Partner	Version	Array	Link	Comments
EMC	4.3	CX, VMAX	Link	Registration Required
HP	10.0	EVA	Built-in to HP StorageWorks CommandView EVA 10.0	Requires SMI-S CIMOM to enabled
NetApp	4.0	FAS	Link	Registration Required

Documentation

Link

For documentation about VMM 2012 RC, see System Center
Virtual Machine Manager 2012 (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg610610.aspx)

The VMM Team

scvmm 2012

Here’s a new SCVMM 2008 Knowledge Base article we published this morning. If you’re seeing an issue where a P2V fails at 79% with Error 551 or 0x80070002 then you’ll want to check this one out:

=====

Symptoms

A P2V conversion using System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 (VMM 2008) fails at 79% completion with Error 551. The details reveal the information below:

VMM cannot access registry key value NetCfgInstanceId under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\vmm{GUID}system\ControlSet001\Control\Class\{GUID}\0043.
(The system cannot find the file specified (0x80070002))

Cause

This can occur when there is a ghosted network adapter on the P2V source machine.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, follow the steps outlined in the following KB article to remove any ghosted NICs on the source machine:

269155 - Error message when you try to set an IP address on a network adapter

=====

For the most current version of this article please see the following:

2616508: A System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 P2V fails at 79% with Error 551

J.C. Hornbeck | System Center Knowledge Engineer

Hi everyone, we have a couple exciting Microsoft virtualization & SCVMM career training opportunities coming up that you won’t want to miss:

http://mctreadiness.com/MicrosoftCareerConferenceRegistration.aspx?pid=270.

Virtualization Career Training

On Tuesday, October 4^th Technical Evangelists Symon Perriman and Rick Claus are hosting an online conference on Virtualization Career Training with Microsoft Learning. This half day virtual event (8am – 11am PST) will offer a Level 100 to 200 introduction for anyone who wants to learn more about Microsoft Virtualization and how it can help their career. It is free and public so sign up for this warm-up for the Jump Start event on October 6^th.

· Module 1 – Technology: Learn about Microsoft’s virtualization technologies, how they work, and the future roadmap to the Cloud!

· Module 2 – Career: Understand the importance of virtualization and Private Cloud, and how it can make or break an IT Professional’s career!

· Module 3 – Certification: Get prepared for your next steps towards a virtualization career by understanding and preparing for the Microsoft 70-659 Technical Specialist exam, Windows Server 2008 R2, Server Virtualization.

Learn More: http://mctreadiness.com/MicrosoftCareerConferenceRegistration.aspx?pid=270
Register: http://mctreadiness.com/MicrosoftCareerConferenceRegistration.aspx?pid=288

Instructor Bios: http://mctreadiness.com/MicrosoftCareerConferenceRegistration.aspx?pid=287

Virtualization Exam 70-659 Training

On Thursday October 6^th Technical Evangelist Symon Perriman and Technical Instructor Philip Helsel will host an online 8-hour deep dive training event for the Microsoft 70-659 Technical Specialist exam, Windows Server 2008 R2, Server Virtualization. This virtual event runs from 8am to 5pm PST and will include presentations, demos and live Q&A with the attendees. It costs $99 to attend, but includes a free exam voucher worth $150! It is public so sign up for some great training to help improve your career here: http://mctreadiness.com/MicrosoftCareerConferenceRegistration.aspx?pid=272. Register early to make the most of a weekly virtualization coaching newsletter!

System Center Virtual Machine Manager will be featured in Modules 1 - 5 where we will show you how to deploy VMM, install agents, use templates, deploy VMs, use the Self-Service Portal, manage VMware environments, use high-availability, run live migrations, perform P2V and V2V conversions, integrate with System Center Operations Manager (including PRO-tips), integrate with System Center Data Protection Manager and more!

· Module 1 – Installing and Configuring Host and Parent Settings

· Module 2 – Configuring Child Settings

· Module 3 – Managing and Monitoring Virtual Environments

· Module 4 – Ensuring High Availability and Recoverability

· Module 5 – Performing Migration

· Module 6 – Configuring Remote Desktop (RD) Role Services Infrastructure

Technologies that we will cover include: Windows Server 2008 R2, Hyper-V, System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM), System Center Operations Manager (OpsMgr), System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM), Windows Server Backup, Failover Clustering, Remote Desktop Services, Active Directory, Microsoft Assessment & Planning Toolkit (MAP), Virtual Machine Servicing Tool (VMST), Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) & more!

Learn More: http://mctreadiness.com/MicrosoftCareerConferenceRegistration.aspx?pid=274

Exam Information: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/Exam.aspx?ID=70-659

J.C. Hornbeck | System Center Knowledge Engineer

One of the very first operational steps when using System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) 2012 or an earlier version of VMM is adding a host. In VMM 2012 , this can be a Hyper-V, VMware ESX or a Citrix XenServer host. This article applies to only Hyper-V host addition.

As part of Hyper-V host addition, VMM installs an agent on the host machine. This agent communicates with the host using Windows Remote Management (WinRM) transport. We configure a listener for the ports that send and receive WS-Management protocol messages using either HTTP or HTTPS on any IP address. There can be three types of Hyper-V hosts:

1. Trusted: There is a two-way trust between the VMM management server domain and the domain that the host is in. We use HTTP over WinRM’s default port 5985 for WinRM communication.

2. Non-Trusted: There is no two-way trust between the VMM management server domain and the domain of the host. We use HTTPS over WinRM’s default port 5986 for WinRM communication.

3. Perimeter network (or DMZ): These are non-domain-joined machines. We use HTTPS over WinRM’s default port 5986 for WinRM communication.

Note: Earlier versions of VMM used HTTP over port 80.

If you are adding a host in a domain that has WinRM-related domain-wide Group Policy (GPO) settings enabled, the WinRM listener is already configured by the GPO settings. The listener created by Group Policy might conflict with the listener SCVMM host agent created during the agent installation. In previous versions of VMM, the agent installation would fail due to a Group Policy error (details below). In VMM 2012 we have started to support some of the Group Policy configurations as described later in this article. Note that since you cannot change anything at the local level (without domain admin permissions) with a Group Policy Object (GPO)-controlled policy setting. Our current recommendation to customers is to, if possible, disable the GPO for WinRM for the domain. Another reason for this recommendation is that any change to the WinRM GPO, after the hosts have been added, can disrupt the VMM management server-to-host communication. Further below, this article provides more detailed information about what is supported and how to troubleshoot it.

How can you check if WinRM is configured using a GPO in your host computer’s domain?

Open the Local Group Policy Editor on the host computer or the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC). The WinRM policy settings are located under the “Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows Remote Management (WinRM)\WinRM Service” node. Check if any of the following policies are configured:

1. Allow automatic configuration of listeners

2. Turn on Compatibility HTTP Listener

3. Turn on Compatibility HTTPS Listener

Sometimes the policy settings might not appear in the Local Group Policy Editor. You can enumerate the WinRM listeners on the host computer to find this information. To do this, open an elevated command prompt on the host computer, and then do the following:

a) For “Automatic configuration of listeners” type “winrm e winrm/config/listener”, and then press ENTER.

a) For “Turn on Compatibility HTTP Listener” type “winrm get winrm/config”, and then press ENTER.

Supported Configurations

We only support some Group Policy configurations. If it is possible, we recommended to fully or partially (only for the hosts OU) disable the GPO that contains WinRM policy settings. To partially disable a GPO, you can exclude the host OU or host computers from the GPO. Following are the currently supported configurations:

Group Policy setting enabled

Allow automatic configuration of listeners

(IPv4 and IPv6 filter should be set to *)

Turn on Compatibility HTTP Listener

Turn on Compatibility HTTPS listener

Adding a trusted Hyper-V host

Host can be added successfully.

Keep in mind that if the host is added while this Group policy setting is configured, the host agent will rely on the WinRM listeners created by the policy setting. The policy settings should not be changed after you add the host. Otherwise, communication with the host will be disrupted and the host can go into a “Needs attention” state.

Host can be added successfully.

Adding an un-trusted Hyper-V host

Host can be added successfully.

Error

If the host addition operation fails due to a conflict with a GPO, you will see the following error:

Error (421)

Agent installation failed on host1.contoso.com because of a WS-Management configuration error.

Recommended Action

Ensure that the Windows Remote Management service is enabled and running on the server host1.contoso.com. Additionally, in the Local Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc), navigate to Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows Remote Management (WinRM), and then ensure that there are no policy settings configured for WinRM Client or WinRM Service.

Note: This error can potentially happen due to multiple other reasons and not necessarily Group Policy settings.

Additional items

Additional items to keep in mind are the following:

1. If “Automatic configuration of listeners” is enabled, it’s important that the IPv4 and IPv6 filter is set to *.

2. In addition to the host addition operation, the information in this article also applies to the host upgrade operation.

3. The information in this article applies to only VMM 2012 RC and later. In previous versions of VMM, host addition fails if a WinRM service-related domain-wide GPO is enabled.

Wrapping Up

I hope that you found this post helpful. Please feel free to submit feedback through the Connect site and ask questions on the VMM forums. Also, make sure to visit the VMM 2012 TechNet Library!

Thanks,

Radhika Gupta [MSFT]

System Center Virtual Machine Manager Development