IT From All Angles

Hyper-V Guests: Ubuntu 10.04 Alpha 3 Synthetic Devices

rss.manager@itfromallangles.com — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 06:00:00 GMT

A brief walk-through on using Hyper-V Synthetic Devices with Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) Alpha 3. Since Lucid uses a 2.6.32 kernel we get the benefit of not having the modules precompiled. Also since Lucid is using a version which is newer then 2.6.32.9 we also get the benefit of the SMP fixes in the VMBUS module.

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Poshboard 3.0 Basic Performance Widgets

rss.manager@itfromallangles.com — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:00:00 GMT

I have recently began working on the Poshboard project (http://poshboard.codeplex.com) which is a Silverlight/.NET application which at a very basic level allows you to use Powershell via a website, however the real value in this technology is in the graphing capabilities...

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Linux-VServer: The Basics

rss.manager@itfromallangles.com — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:00:41 GMT

Linux-VServer is a lightweight context-based virtualization implementation. It allows a shared kernel to support multiple instances and distributions. Read on to learn the basics.

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Microsoft Virtualization MVP 2010

rss.manager@itfromallangles.com — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 17:39:49 GMT

I have been awarded the MVP award by Microsoft in Virtualization for the year 2010 (I also had it last year 2009). So if you are an MVP and going to the summit I will see you there.

http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/

Hyper-V Guests: Debian and Ubuntu Kernel Install Image

rss.manager@itfromallangles.com — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 22:40:00 GMT

This article describes installation of a custom kernel image compiled with Hyper-V Synthetic Drivers and Linux-VServer functionality on Ubuntu and Debian.

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Hyper-V Guests: Ubuntu 10.04 Alpha1 (Lucid Lynx)

rss.manager@itfromallangles.com — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 22:00:00 GMT

This article will provide you with the steps to enable Hyper-V synthetic device driver support on Ubuntu Linux 10.04 Alpha1 amd64.

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Hyper-V Guests: Compile Linux 2.6.32 on Debian

rss.manager@itfromallangles.com — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:43:21 GMT

This article is a step-by-step of compiling a linux kernel on Debian 5 using kernel.org sources specifically for the purpose of getting drivers for Hyper-V synthetic devices.

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Hyper-V Guests: Compile Linux 2.6.32 on Ubuntu

rss.manager@itfromallangles.com — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:16:05 GMT

This article is a step-by-step of compiling a linux kernel on Ubuntu 9.10 using kernel.org sources specifically for the purpose of getting drivers for Hyper-V synthetic devices.

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Hyper-V Guests: Linux Kernel 2.6.32 Released

rss.manager@itfromallangles.com — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:00:26 GMT

Good Morning! At least it feels unusually good over here. As many of you know this last summer Microsoft opened the code for the Hyper-V Synthetic device drivers (Linux Integration Components). here

This move allowed linux developers to integrate the drivers into the linux kernel. Today Linus Torvalds released the first version of the linux kernel with these drivers installed. here

Over the next few days I will be heads down putting some different distributions through their paces on the new kernel, and developing documentation to help most you implement this in your environments.

Hyper-V Guests: Linux Integration Components (v2) on Oracle Enterprise Linux

rss.manager@itfromallangles.com — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 23:00:00 GMT

In this article I am documenting the process for installing the Hyper-V Integration Components (v2) within a Oracle Enterprise Linux 5.3 VM. My environment consists of x64 VMs, I have not taken the time to test this process for x86 VMs, however it should hold true, as long as you update the package names to reflect the appropriate architecture.

In my testing I have found that the current versions (v1 and v2) do not work with linux kernels 2.6.20 or newer (with some exceptions for v2), which means in order to use the ICs you will need to have 2.6.19 or older. Oracle Enterprise Linux 5.3 included the Linux 2.6.18-128 kernel.

Now before we get started you need to deploy a new VM with Oracle Enterprise Linux installed. Please do not attempt to follow these instructions on a production machine, do it in test until you are comfortable with the process, then do it in prod.

STEP 1 – Verify Your Kernel
Login as root
Verify the kernel is older than 2.6.20
# uname –a

STEP 2 - Install Pre-Requisites and Pre-Stage Files for Linux Integration Components
Login as root
Configure Oracle Enterprise Linux to use the Public Yum Server.
# cd /etc/yum.repos.d
# wget http://public-yum.oracle.com/public-yum-el5.repo
# nano /etc/yum.repos.d/public-yum-el5.repo
Update the section labeled [el5_u3_base] to reflect enabled=1
Install Prerequisites
# yum install kernel-devel gcc
Prestage Integration Components files (make sure you mounted the LIC iso as a CD drive on the VM)
# mkdir /opt/linux_ic
Copy files from cd
# cp -R /media/CDROM/* /opt/linux_ic/
# cd /opt/linux_ic

STEP 3 – Install the Linux Integration Components
Execute installation script
# cd /opt/linux_ic
# ./setup drivers

STEP 4 - Configure Networking to Use Synthetic Devices
Copy configuration to new interface names
# cp /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-seth0
Edit the script to change the device name from eth0 to seth0
# nano /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-seth0
Shutdown the VM
# shutdown –h now
Configure the VM Properties to use the Synthetic Devices

That is it. You have now completed the installation of the Linux Integration Components for Hyper-V on Oracle Enterprise Linux. This will allow you to use the much more performant drivers of the synthetic storage and network systems provided by VMBUS.

Oracle Enterprise Linux: http://edelivery.oracle.com/linux

Oracle Public Yum Repository Config File: http://public-yum.oracle.com/public-yum-el5.repo

Linux Integration Components v2 RC2: https://connect.microsoft.com/SelfNomination.aspx?ProgramID=1863&pageType=1&SiteID=495

Hyper-V Guests: Linux Integration Components on RHEL and CentOS

rss.manager@itfromallangles.com — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:00:00 GMT

In this article I am documenting the process for installing the Hyper-V Integration Components within a Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 or a CentOS 5.3 VM. My environment consists of x64 VMs, I have not taken the time to test this process for x86 VMs, however it should hold true, as long as you update the package names to reflect the appropriate architecture.

In my testing I have found that the current versions (v1 and v2) do not work with linux kernels 2.6.20 or newer, which means in order to use the ICs you will need to have 2.6.19 or older. Since both RHEL 5.3 and CentOS 5.3 included the Linux 2.6.18-128 kernel.

While reading the Hyper-V Integration Components readme they talk about implementing the Xen kernel (x2v) this is not necessary, and really is kind of a hinderance for a lot of production environments. I will not be installing this as part of this article.

Now before we get started you need to deploy a new VM with Red Hat or CentOS installed. Please do not attempt to follow these instructions on a production machine, do it in test until you are comfortable with the process, then do it in prod.

STEP 1 – Verify Your Kernel
Login as root
Verify the kernel is older than 2.6.20
# uname –a

STEP 2 - Install Pre-Requisites and Pre-Stage Files for Linux Integration Components
Login as root
If using Red Hat make sure you have registered with RHN so that yum will work (this is not applicable to CentOS)
Install Kernel Development Package and Compiler
# yum install kernel-devel gcc
Prestage Integration Components files (make sure you mounted the LIC iso as a CD drive on the VM)
# mkdir /opt/linux_ic
Copy files from cd
# cp -R /media/CDROM/* /opt/linux_ic/
# cd /opt/linux_ic
Verify Symbolic Link is intact (look for build – if it is highlighted in red then the link is broken)
# ls –l /lib/modules/2.6.18-128.el5/
See where the link should be pointed
# ls –l /usr/src/kernels/
Remove the existing Symbolic Link
# rm /lib/modules/2.6.18-128.el5/build
Create a new Symbolic Link
# ln –s /usr/src/kernels/2.6.18-128.1.16.el5-x86_64/ /lib/modules/2.6.18-128.el5/build

STEP 3 – Install the Linux Integration Components
Execute installation script
# cd /opt/linux_ic
# ./setup drivers

That is it. You have now completed the installation of the Linux Integration Components for Hyper-V on RHEL or CentOS. This will allow you to use the much more performant drivers of the synthetic storage and network systems provided by VMBUS.

Hyper-V Guests: Disk I/O Performance Test

rss.manager@itfromallangles.com — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 20:00:00 GMT

All I have been getting a lot of questions offline lately for what I do to test the performance of Linux VMs with and without the Linux ICs. So here is a quick write-up on how I do my tests.

Note: These tests we done on a beefy system, however it was by no means a production server, and it did have other load at the time. You should experience better performance numbers assuming you have an adequately sized host.

VM was Debian 5 amd64 with a single core, 1GB of RAM, no GUI, and a 40GB vhd file.

Test is a single command:

# dd if=/dev/zero of=/test.file bs=4M count=1000 conv=notrunc

Upon the conclusion of the copy it will give you specifics of the transfer. It will give you a MB/s and a seconds data point.

Without Integration Components – 46MB/sec total 89 seconds

With Integration Components – 189MB/sec total 22 seconds

Another method of testing I have been using is hdparm:

# hdparm –t /dev/hda

SCVMM 2008 R2: Explanation of Maintenance Mode

rss.manager@itfromallangles.com — Sat, 30 May 2009 20:00:51 GMT

Cheng Wei on the SCVMM product team has an excellent write-up on what Maintenance Mode actually means, and what takes place under the covers when you enable maintenance mode.

You can find the full article here.

Top Reported Issues for Hyper-V (Q3)

rss.manager@itfromallangles.com — Fri, 29 May 2009 20:00:00 GMT

The Windows Server Core Team has posted Microsoft Support highest reported issues pertaining to Hyper-V in Q3 of 2009. I recommend reading through these before considering calling Microsoft Support and logging a call, which can save you some money (or prepaid incidents).

Anyways a lot of the issues are pretty obvious (such as update to the RTM version of Hyper-V).

Have yourself a look and save yourself some money. Full article can be found here.

Hyper-V Guests: Mouse Integration on Linux VMs

rss.manager@itfromallangles.com — Tue, 19 May 2009 22:00:00 GMT

This article describes getting mouse integration working on Hyper-V Linux VMs. This will only work with v1 of the Linux Integration Components which will not work with Hyper-V 2008 R2. So if you are using Hyper-V 2008 and the Linux Integration Components v1 then read on.

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Hyper-V Guests: Linux Integration Components Ubuntu and Debian

rss.manager@itfromallangles.com — Tue, 12 May 2009 21:00:00 GMT

In this article I am documenting the process for installing the Hyper-V Integration Components within a Ubuntu or Debian VM. I am specifically writing this for Ubuntu 8.04.2 and Debian 5, however I have additionally confirmed that this process works on both...

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Exchange 2003 OAB: Missing Entries

rss.manager@itfromallangles.com — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 10:00:00 GMT

The following describes a scenario and resolution which I recently resolved. The AffectedListName was a Mail-Enabled Security Group which was not able to be found in the GAL on any client using Cached-Exchange Mode.

Our scenario was caused by a existing group being renamed but the SMTP address not being changed.

I am using the following variables which you will need to change to suit your environment:
AdministrativeGroupName
MailboxServerName
AffectedListName
AffectedListOldName
Company.com

Enable Diagnostic Logging:
Using Exchange System Manager -> Administrative Groups -> AdministrativeGroupName -> Servers -> MailboxServerName
Right-click and Properties of MailboxServerName.
Diagnostics Logging Tab
Service MSExchangeSA
Category OAL Generator
Logging Level Maximum

Enable Full Download of OAB if Differential Fails:
Create REG_DWORD named “OAL post full if diff fails” at the following location
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeSA\Parameters\
Set Value to 1 to enable 0 to disable. Do not leave enabled long term. No service restart is necessary.

Rebuild Recipient Update Services for All Scopes (this varies based on the number of domains):
Using Exchange System Manager -> Recipients -> Recipient Update Services
Right-click and Rebuild on all items.

Rebuild Default Offline Address List:
Using Exchange System Manager -> Recipients -> Offline Address Lists
Right-click and Rebuild on Default Offline Address List.

Monitor Application Log on MailboxServerName:
Open Event Viewer and watch for Warning and Error Events
I was receiving a warning entry indicating:
OALGen skipped some entries in the offline address list '\Global Address List'. To see which entries are affected, event logging for the OAL Generator must be set to at least medium.
This event was Event ID 9327 Source MSExchangeSA Category OAL Generator
I was receiving an error entry indicating:
OALGen will skip user entry 'AffectedListName' in address list '\Global Address List' because the SMTP address '' is invalid.
This event was Event ID 9325 Source MSExchangeSA Category OAL Generator
Correct SMTP Address on Entry:
Using Exchange Active Directory Users and Computers find the object in question
Right-click and properties.
Email Address Tab
The Primary SMTP address was AffectedListOldName@Company.com – Which conflicted with the Recipient Policy. I updated it appropriately and was able to regenerate the Default Offline Address List.

Rebuild Default Offline Address List:
Using Exchange System Manager -> Recipients -> Offline Address Lists
Right-click and Rebuild on Default Offline Address List.

Monitor Application Log on MailboxServerName:
Open Event Viewer and watch for Warning and Error Events
You should not receive any errors or warnings if everything worked. The following entry will confirm proper resolution.
I received an information entry indicating:
Offline address list generation finished.
This event was Event ID 9107 Source MSExchangeSA Category OAL Generator

Confirm Resolution:
Cache-mode enabled client can “Download Address Book” (via Send/Receive) and see the updated entry in the GAL.

Post-Mortem Tasks:
Disable Diagnostic Logging
Disable Full Download of OAB

Analysis (Why This Happens):
When using Cached Exchange Mode, the Exchange Server allows the client to download a subset of Address Lists to the local hard disk. This allows the Address Lists to be available when the user is not online. When Cached Exchange Mode is disabled the client directly accesses the Address Lists off of the Server. During processing of the Offline Address Lists entries are verified against the Recipient Policies and errors result in the entry being skipped in the OAB. This is a very common issue that most often is ignored, but actually has a very low bar for resolution, once you iron out the process.

Hyper-V Server 2008 with Intel Quad NIC

rss.manager@itfromallangles.com — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 10:00:00 GMT

OK, so I am deploying a new Virtualization Infrastructure. In doing so I ran across a problem I had not seen before so I thought I would log the scenario, in order to be of help to someone some day...

My hardware was a Dell PowerEdge2950 with an Intel Pro 1000 VT Quad NIC installed in the original config.

I installed Hyper-V Server 2008 and immediately went to work configuring the machine and found that the only network cards detected were the onboard broadcoms. Now since we plan on using more than 2 interfaces, this just will not work. I tried manually installing the drivers off of the Dell page, however I was receiving "OS not supported." This is no doubt due to an overzealous install checker. I tried a few different drivers and finally came to the conclusion that in order to make this work I would need to ditch the NICs or get my hands dirty. Dirty it is.

Step 1: Extract the drivers from the executable installer. I did this using the "/e=path /s" included with the dell driver. The same thing could most likely be done with 7-Zip or another compression/extraction utility. 7-zip is free here.

Step 2: Drill down into the extracted files to find the inf file. In my case it was under payload.

Step 3: Use pnputil to install the driver.
pnputil -i -a "full_path_of_inf"

Step 4: Ensure that device shows link so that you will be able to see it using the Hyper-V Configuration Tool.

This should work on more scenarios then I described. Good luck.

Automating DFS Replication Health Reports

rss.manager@itfromallangles.com — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:00:00 GMT

The storage team has a post on how to automate the generation of DFS Replication Health Reports.

These reports include a massive amount of information, and can be incredibly helpful in determining the status of your replication. Reports can also be manually generated with the File Server Management Tool. I personally find that reporting is one of those things that really lends itself to automation.

Complete article here.

SCVMM 2008 Upgrade

rss.manager@itfromallangles.com — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 10:00:00 GMT

Both the Evaluation and Workgroup Editions of System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 can be upgraded to the Retail SKU. Michael on the SCVMM team has a post describing the process.

Article can be found here.