Comments on: ESX and the Service Console Are Going Away http://www.boche.net/blog/index.php/2010/06/17/esx-and-the-service-console-are-going-away/ Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:05:19 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Hari http://www.boche.net/blog/index.php/2010/06/17/esx-and-the-service-console-are-going-away/comment-page-1/#comment-2312 Hari Thu, 26 Aug 2010 23:14:42 +0000 http://www.boche.net/blog/?p=2396#comment-2312 Hello, Is there any limit on the number of hosts that can be managed by a vMA? ANy limit on the number of VMs? Is there any best practice guide on this? Hello,

Is there any limit on the number of hosts that can be managed by a vMA? ANy limit on the number of VMs? Is there any best practice guide on this?

]]> By: Hari http://www.boche.net/blog/index.php/2010/06/17/esx-and-the-service-console-are-going-away/comment-page-1/#comment-2311 Hari Thu, 26 Aug 2010 23:14:13 +0000 http://www.boche.net/blog/?p=2396#comment-2311 Hi, Is there any limit on the number of hosts that can be managed by a vMA? ANy limit on the number of VMs? Is there any best practice guide on this? Hi,

Is there any limit on the number of hosts that can be managed by a vMA? ANy limit on the number of VMs? Is there any best practice guide on this?

]]> By: VCAP-DCA Objective 8.3 – Administer vSphere Using the vSphere Management Assistant http://www.boche.net/blog/index.php/2010/06/17/esx-and-the-service-console-are-going-away/comment-page-1/#comment-2283 VCAP-DCA Objective 8.3 – Administer vSphere Using the vSphere Management Assistant Sun, 08 Aug 2010 12:58:29 +0000 http://www.boche.net/blog/?p=2396#comment-2283 [...] section of the VCAP covered here briefly. It’s no secret as noted here that the service console is on its way out, so knowledge of command-line based administration and [...] [...] section of the VCAP covered here briefly. It’s no secret as noted here that the service console is on its way out, so knowledge of command-line based administration and [...]

]]> By: Brandon http://www.boche.net/blog/index.php/2010/06/17/esx-and-the-service-console-are-going-away/comment-page-1/#comment-2226 Brandon Mon, 19 Jul 2010 01:02:15 +0000 http://www.boche.net/blog/?p=2396#comment-2226 Can you increase the resolution in the vMA? Being stuck with it so small makes it hard to view all VMs and such when looking at a densly populated host with resxtop etc. I have been getting along just fine with the vMA and esxi. I made the move with the transition to vSphere and also went usb thumbdrives/diskless servers. Pretyt neat-o. Can you increase the resolution in the vMA? Being stuck with it so small makes it hard to view all VMs and such when looking at a densly populated host with resxtop etc. I have been getting along just fine with the vMA and esxi. I made the move with the transition to vSphere and also went usb thumbdrives/diskless servers. Pretyt neat-o.

]]> By: Martin W http://www.boche.net/blog/index.php/2010/06/17/esx-and-the-service-console-are-going-away/comment-page-1/#comment-2171 Martin W Tue, 06 Jul 2010 14:14:26 +0000 http://www.boche.net/blog/?p=2396#comment-2171 I don't think the hardware monitoring on ESXi is as mature as on ESX. Dell and HP have some sort of custom "offline" packs and what not, but they've never managed to notify me about broken memory and disks. However the full agents in ESX have always worked, which is why all our hosts are ESX nowadays. If ESX is going away, I sure hope they'll fix this issue since its a deal breaker right now. I don’t think the hardware monitoring on ESXi is as mature as on ESX. Dell and HP have some sort of custom “offline” packs and what not, but they’ve never managed to notify me about broken memory and disks. However the full agents in ESX have always worked, which is why all our hosts are ESX nowadays. If ESX is going away, I sure hope they’ll fix this issue since its a deal breaker right now.

]]> By: Future vCenter And SRM Requirement For 64 bit OS Means More vCenter VMs – Gestalt IT http://www.boche.net/blog/index.php/2010/06/17/esx-and-the-service-console-are-going-away/comment-page-1/#comment-2134 Future vCenter And SRM Requirement For 64 bit OS Means More vCenter VMs – Gestalt IT Thu, 24 Jun 2010 20:32:29 +0000 http://www.boche.net/blog/?p=2396#comment-2134 [...] The looming transition to a console-less ESXi eventually means more management virtual appliances in the future too. Solutions which will continue to need a ESX console or similar will have to substitute their own appliance to operate with ESXi. This means even more justification for additional ESX/ESXi hosts and thus greases the decision to virtualize vCenter as well. I expect to see management clusters of ESX hosts become more common in the future than even the use of management networks today. ESX hosts have bigger and badder hardware now than ever before allowing for higher consolidation ratios and larger applications to easily run in virtual machines, but it will be interesting to see if the vCenter as a VM best practices change over time. I personally feel that continuing to separate the database from the virtualized vCenter will continue to be a smart choice. Running a separate, and even virtualized, SQL instance ensures not only better performance of vCenter as a VM but enhances DR scenarios. In fact, those that already have the vCenter database on a remote instance will likely have a safer upgrade to the 64 bit vCenter. The new 64 bit requirements will no doubt make for an interesting migration scenario, and I’m sure we will see some positive and negative opinions. Let me know your thoughts on a 64 bit vCenter as a VM in the future! You might also want to read these other posts...Design Challenges Of Virtualized vCenter With A vNetwork Distributed SwitchVMware vCenter 4 minimum RAM requirement, is it 2GB or 3GB?Scalability in the cloudLikewise Agreement Means Active Directory Integration In Future vSphere Versions3PAR Management Plug-In For VMware vCenter Originally posted at VM /ETC » gestaltit Tags: 64-bit, gestaltit, site recovery manager, sqlpass, SRM, upgrade, vCenter, VirtualCenter, vmware blog comments powered by Disqus var disqus_url = 'http://gestaltit.com/all/tech/virtualization/rich/future-vcenter-srm-requirement-64-bit-os-means-vcenter-vms/ '; var disqus_container_id = 'disqus_thread'; var facebookXdReceiverPath = 'http://gestaltit.com/wp-content/plugins/disqus-comment-system/xd_receiver.htm'; var DsqLocal = { 'trackbacks': [ ], 'trackback_url': 'http://gestaltit.com/all/tech/virtualization/rich/future-vcenter-srm-requirement-64-bit-os-means-vcenter-vms/trackback/' }; (function() { var dsq = document.createElement('script'); dsq.type = 'text/javascript'; dsq.async = true; dsq.src = "http://gestaltit.disqus.com/disqus.js?v=2.0&slug=future_vcenter_and_srm_requirement_for_64_bit_os_means_more_vcenter_vms&pname=wordpress&pver=2.33"; (document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0] || document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0]).appendChild(dsq); })(); [...] [...] The looming transition to a console-less ESXi eventually means more management virtual appliances in the future too. Solutions which will continue to need a ESX console or similar will have to substitute their own appliance to operate with ESXi. This means even more justification for additional ESX/ESXi hosts and thus greases the decision to virtualize vCenter as well. I expect to see management clusters of ESX hosts become more common in the future than even the use of management networks today. ESX hosts have bigger and badder hardware now than ever before allowing for higher consolidation ratios and larger applications to easily run in virtual machines, but it will be interesting to see if the vCenter as a VM best practices change over time. I personally feel that continuing to separate the database from the virtualized vCenter will continue to be a smart choice. Running a separate, and even virtualized, SQL instance ensures not only better performance of vCenter as a VM but enhances DR scenarios. In fact, those that already have the vCenter database on a remote instance will likely have a safer upgrade to the 64 bit vCenter. The new 64 bit requirements will no doubt make for an interesting migration scenario, and I’m sure we will see some positive and negative opinions. Let me know your thoughts on a 64 bit vCenter as a VM in the future! You might also want to read these other posts…Design Challenges Of Virtualized vCenter With A vNetwork Distributed SwitchVMware vCenter 4 minimum RAM requirement, is it 2GB or 3GB?Scalability in the cloudLikewise Agreement Means Active Directory Integration In Future vSphere Versions3PAR Management Plug-In For VMware vCenter Originally posted at VM /ETC » gestaltit Tags: 64-bit, gestaltit, site recovery manager, sqlpass, SRM, upgrade, vCenter, VirtualCenter, vmware blog comments powered by Disqus var disqus_url = 'http://gestaltit.com/all/tech/virtualization/rich/future-vcenter-srm-requirement-64-bit-os-means-vcenter-vms/ '; var disqus_container_id = 'disqus_thread'; var facebookXdReceiverPath = 'http://gestaltit.com/wp-content/plugins/disqus-comment-system/xd_receiver.htm'; var DsqLocal = { 'trackbacks': [ ], 'trackback_url': 'http://gestaltit.com/all/tech/virtualization/rich/future-vcenter-srm-requirement-64-bit-os-means-vcenter-vms/trackback/' }; (function() { var dsq = document.createElement('script'); dsq.type = 'text/javascript'; dsq.async = true; dsq.src = "http://gestaltit.disqus.com/disqus.js?v=2.0&slug=future_vcenter_and_srm_requirement_for_64_bit_os_means_more_vcenter_vms&pname=wordpress&pver=2.33"; (document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0] || document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0]).appendChild(dsq); })(); [...]

]]> By: Future vCenter And SRM Requirement For 64 bit OS Means More vCenter VMs | VM /ETC http://www.boche.net/blog/index.php/2010/06/17/esx-and-the-service-console-are-going-away/comment-page-1/#comment-2129 Future vCenter And SRM Requirement For 64 bit OS Means More vCenter VMs | VM /ETC Wed, 23 Jun 2010 10:19:10 +0000 http://www.boche.net/blog/?p=2396#comment-2129 [...] The looming transition to a console-less ESXi eventually means more management virtual appliances in the future too. Solutions which will continue to need a ESX console or similar will have to substitute their own appliance to operate with ESXi. This means even more justification for additional ESX/ESXi hosts and thus greases the decision to virtualize vCenter as well. I expect to see management clusters of ESX hosts become more common in the future than even the use of management networks today. [...] [...] The looming transition to a console-less ESXi eventually means more management virtual appliances in the future too. Solutions which will continue to need a ESX console or similar will have to substitute their own appliance to operate with ESXi. This means even more justification for additional ESX/ESXi hosts and thus greases the decision to virtualize vCenter as well. I expect to see management clusters of ESX hosts become more common in the future than even the use of management networks today. [...]

]]> By: Kelvin Papp http://www.boche.net/blog/index.php/2010/06/17/esx-and-the-service-console-are-going-away/comment-page-1/#comment-2116 Kelvin Papp Tue, 22 Jun 2010 07:47:34 +0000 http://www.boche.net/blog/?p=2396#comment-2116 "My dependence on the service console stems from the lack of useful troubleshooting tools in the spartan ESXi unsupported console (nevermind the fact that it is unsupported.)" My understanding is that the wording surrounding the use of Tech Support Mode" will be ammended to remove the references to "Unsupported" in future releases of ESXi and it's associated documentation. In it's current guise it is supported, albeit under the direction/instruction of VMware Tech Support. “My dependence on the service console stems from the lack of useful troubleshooting tools in the spartan ESXi unsupported console (nevermind the fact that it is unsupported.)”

My understanding is that the wording surrounding the use of Tech Support Mode” will be ammended to remove the references to “Unsupported” in future releases of ESXi and it’s associated documentation.

In it’s current guise it is supported, albeit under the direction/instruction of VMware Tech Support.

]]> By: Russell http://www.boche.net/blog/index.php/2010/06/17/esx-and-the-service-console-are-going-away/comment-page-1/#comment-2112 Russell Mon, 21 Jun 2010 21:22:16 +0000 http://www.boche.net/blog/?p=2396#comment-2112 My dependence on the service console stems from the lack of useful troubleshooting tools in the spartan ESXi unsupported console (nevermind the fact that it is unsupported.) That and whenever other VMware tools (looking at you SRM) don't do something gracefully and now I have to scour a dozen datastores registering (or unregistering) virtual machines. vMA hardly provides sufficient flexibility with automation and PowerCLI is going to require learning a new toolset to replace one that is already pretty much working. It isn't so much that people are "clinging to old ways" as it is that people already have tools, etc. in place to manage ESX via the service console. Things like nagios probes, scripts to kick VMs in the pants, etc. will all need to be re-developed using something like PowerCLI which is going to suck for a lot of shops who have tons of scripts written in perl, Python or even bash. My dependence on the service console stems from the lack of useful troubleshooting tools in the spartan ESXi unsupported console (nevermind the fact that it is unsupported.)

That and whenever other VMware tools (looking at you SRM) don’t do something gracefully and now I have to scour a dozen datastores registering (or unregistering) virtual machines.

vMA hardly provides sufficient flexibility with automation and PowerCLI is going to require learning a new toolset to replace one that is already pretty much working. It isn’t so much that people are “clinging to old ways” as it is that people already have tools, etc. in place to manage ESX via the service console.

Things like nagios probes, scripts to kick VMs in the pants, etc. will all need to be re-developed using something like PowerCLI which is going to suck for a lot of shops who have tons of scripts written in perl, Python or even bash.

]]> By: Kelvin Papp http://www.boche.net/blog/index.php/2010/06/17/esx-and-the-service-console-are-going-away/comment-page-1/#comment-2108 Kelvin Papp Mon, 21 Jun 2010 15:03:19 +0000 http://www.boche.net/blog/?p=2396#comment-2108 Great post. @Sketchy - Jumbo Frames can be enabled on ESXi via Tech Support Mode if needed: (http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1003677) There's very little that can't be achieved on ESXi, in comparison to "traditional" ESX via a combination of vCenter, RCLI, and vMA as has already been mentioned. The crux for several of our customers at the moment, is the reliance on the Service Console for 3rd party application integration (vReplicator for example), and the pervasive mentality that "less" cannot possibly be "more". Having forced myself to get to grips with ESXi over the past few months, I can honestly say that i'm sold. This time last year I too would have been a "cold dead hands" person... no more! Great post.

@Sketchy – Jumbo Frames can be enabled on ESXi via Tech Support Mode if needed:
(http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1003677)

There’s very little that can’t be achieved on ESXi, in comparison to “traditional” ESX via a combination of vCenter, RCLI, and vMA as has already been mentioned. The crux for several of our customers at the moment, is the reliance on the Service Console for 3rd party application integration (vReplicator for example), and the pervasive mentality that “less” cannot possibly be “more”.

Having forced myself to get to grips with ESXi over the past few months, I can honestly say that i’m sold. This time last year I too would have been a “cold dead hands” person… no more!

]]> By: Sketchy http://www.boche.net/blog/index.php/2010/06/17/esx-and-the-service-console-are-going-away/comment-page-1/#comment-2101 Sketchy Fri, 18 Jun 2010 17:41:45 +0000 http://www.boche.net/blog/?p=2396#comment-2101 Isn't the Service Console still needed for some configurations? I remember being forced to make some changes in the SC when configuring my vswitch and ISCSI portgroups to handle jumbo's, and multipathing. Isn’t the Service Console still needed for some configurations? I remember being forced to make some changes in the SC when configuring my vswitch and ISCSI portgroups to handle jumbo’s, and multipathing.

]]> By: Tom http://www.boche.net/blog/index.php/2010/06/17/esx-and-the-service-console-are-going-away/comment-page-1/#comment-2096 Tom Thu, 17 Jun 2010 23:59:15 +0000 http://www.boche.net/blog/?p=2396#comment-2096 http://www.unitrends.com/weblog/index.php/2010/06/07/why-vmware-is-committing-suicide-whistling-past-the-graveyard/ This is an interesting viewpoint on ESXi -- that VMware will be eaten out from under just like Novell was. VMware fans are welcome to say how awesome VMware is, but everyone said the same about Novell and look what happened. :) Be nice if some vExperts have time and interest to comment about this link's ideas. Thank you, Tom http://www.unitrends.com/weblog/index.php/2010/06/07/why-vmware-is-committing-suicide-whistling-past-the-graveyard/

This is an interesting viewpoint on ESXi — that VMware will be eaten out from under just like Novell was. VMware fans are welcome to say how awesome VMware is, but everyone said the same about Novell and look what happened. :)

Be nice if some vExperts have time and interest to comment about this link’s ideas.

Thank you, Tom

]]> By: Ryan B http://www.boche.net/blog/index.php/2010/06/17/esx-and-the-service-console-are-going-away/comment-page-1/#comment-2095 Ryan B Thu, 17 Jun 2010 21:05:56 +0000 http://www.boche.net/blog/?p=2396#comment-2095 Funny, I read this about 15 minutes after officially documenting that we will be using ESXi instead of ESX for an upcoming data center build-out. Maybe I'll add a link to this blog post ;) Funny, I read this about 15 minutes after officially documenting that we will be using ESXi instead of ESX for an upcoming data center build-out. Maybe I’ll add a link to this blog post ;)

]]> By: jason http://www.boche.net/blog/index.php/2010/06/17/esx-and-the-service-console-are-going-away/comment-page-1/#comment-2094 jason Thu, 17 Jun 2010 20:31:13 +0000 http://www.boche.net/blog/?p=2396#comment-2094 @Chad Sakac - I support both so my lab straddles both platforms; I actually run ESX and ESXi in the same cluster since it is supported by VMware and I have a very limited number of hardware hosts. Like yourself, I deployed ESXi on mainstream lab servers to "force myself" into learning the RCLI and vMA. @Chad Sakac – I support both so my lab straddles both platforms; I actually run ESX and ESXi in the same cluster since it is supported by VMware and I have a very limited number of hardware hosts. Like yourself, I deployed ESXi on mainstream lab servers to “force myself” into learning the RCLI and vMA.

]]> By: drakpz http://www.boche.net/blog/index.php/2010/06/17/esx-and-the-service-console-are-going-away/comment-page-1/#comment-2093 drakpz Thu, 17 Jun 2010 19:38:28 +0000 http://www.boche.net/blog/?p=2396#comment-2093 For the record, I'm the 'cold dead hands' person ;-). Joking apart, I do really like the service console and will probably miss it, but have been using esxi a lot lately and while I don't have immediate plans to migrate my existing esx hosts, I don't see it as a major pain, since we're standardizing with 'official' management tools (vcenter, powercli, etc) anyway. So, while my personal taste still favours the SC, there's so much coolness in esx (and esxi) that I really won't protest when the glorious ESX will come to an end. There are lots of valid reason to shrink and minimize the hypervisor, and to standardize it as much as possible (much more predictable envs for vmware support to deal with, to mention one). Still, it sounded funny, didn't it? ;-) For the record, I’m the ‘cold dead hands’ person ;-) . Joking apart, I do really like the service console and will probably miss it, but have been using esxi a lot lately and while I don’t have immediate plans to migrate my existing esx hosts, I don’t see it as a major pain, since we’re standardizing with ‘official’ management tools (vcenter, powercli, etc) anyway. So, while my personal taste still favours the SC, there’s so much coolness in esx (and esxi) that I really won’t protest when the glorious ESX will come to an end. There are lots of valid reason to shrink and minimize the hypervisor, and to standardize it as much as possible (much more predictable envs for vmware support to deal with, to mention one).

Still, it sounded funny, didn’t it? ;-)

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