vSphere Compatibility Matrixes

LastUpdated:May5,2011

Introduction
ThefollowingmatrixesdescribeversioncompatibilitiesforVMwareESX,VMwarevCenterServer,andVMwarevSphereClient.Whereappropriate, informationaboutVMwareServerandVMwarevCenterUpdateManagerisalsoprovided.
ESXandvSphereClientCompatibility ESXandvCenterServerCompatibility VMwareConsolidatedBackupCompatibilitywithESXandvCenterServer vCenterServerandvSphereClientCompatibility VMwarevCenterConverterClientandServerPlugInCompatibilitywithvSphereClientandvCenterServer VMwarevCenterUpdateManagerClientandServerPlugInCompatibilitywithvSphereClientandvCenterServer vCenterServerUpgradePath DatabaseCompatibilityforvCenterServerandvCenterOrchestrator DatabaseCompatibilityforVMwarevCenterUpdateManager BrowserCompatibilityforvSphereWebAccess OperatingSystemCompatibilityforvSphereClient,vCenterServer,vCenterUpdateManager,vCenterConverter,andvCenterOrchestrator
Yesmeanstheversionsarecompatible,Nomeanstheversionsarenotcompatible.N/Ameansthatthesupportcombinationdoesnotapply. ESX 3.5andlaterincludesESXandESXiversions.

VMware, Inc.

ESX and vSphere Client Compatibility
Table 1liststheversioncompatibilityforESXwithvSphereClient. Table 1. ESX and vSphere Client Version Compatibility
vSphere Client 2.5 U6 ESX 3.0.x4 Yes

4.0 Yes

4.0 U1 Yes

4.0 U2 Yes

4.0 U3 Yes

4.1 Yes

4.1 U1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes Yes
ESX 3.52 ESX 4.0 ESX 4.0 U1 ESX 4.0 U2 ESX 4.0 U3 ESX 4.1 ESX 4.1 U1

Yes5 No No No No No No

Yes1 Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes Yes1
1. Thefirsttimeyoutrytoconnect,adifferentvSphereClientisdownloadedandinstalled.Forall subsequentconnections,theclientlauncherstartsthecorrectclientforyourESX/ESXiinstance. 2. Includingallupdatesunlessotherwisenoted. 3. ApplicabletoESX3.0.3. 4. ThisproductreleasehasreachedalimitedsupportornonsupportedstatusaccordingtoVMware supportlifecyclepolicy. Seehttp://www.vmware.com/support/policies/eos_vi.htmlformoreinformation. 5. DonotusetheVIClientshippedwithESX3.5U5.DownloadandupgradetothenewerVIClient includedwithVC2.5U6.
ESX and vCenter Server Compatibility
Table 2liststheversioncompatibilityforESXandvCenterServer. Table 2. ESX and vCenter Server Version Compatibility
vCenter Server 2.5 U5U6 ESX 3.0.3 U1 ESX 3.5 U2 - U5 ESX 4.0 ESX 4.0 U1 ESX 4.0 U2 ESX 4.0 U3 ESX 4.1 ESX 4.1 U1 Yes Yes No No No No No No 4.0 No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No 4.0 U1 No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No 4.0 U2 No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No 4.0 U3 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No 4.1 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 4.1 U1 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
VMware Consolidated Backup Compatibility with ESX and vCenter Server
Table 3liststheVMwareConsolidatedBackup(VCB)versionscompatiblewithESXandvCenterServercombinations.Notethefollowing:
IncaseswherethereisnocompatibilitybetweenvCenterServerandESX,theVCBsupportislistedasN/A. VCB1.0.2impliesthelatestupdateofversion1.0.2,VCB1.0.3impliesthelatestupdateofversion1.0.3,VCB1.1impliesthelatestupdateofversion1.1.
Table 3. VMware VCB Compatibility with ESX and vCenter Server
ESX vCenter Server 2.51 VCB 1.12 1.5 1.5U1 1.5U23 4.0 VCB 1.5U1 4.0 U1 VCB 1.5U1 4.0 U2 VCB 1.5U1 4.0 U3 VCB 1.5U1 1.5U2 4.1 VCB 1.5U2 4.1 U1 VCB 1.5U2

VCB 1.5U1 1.5U2

VCB 1.5U1 VCB 1.5U1 1.5U2 VCB 1.5U1 1.5U2 VCB 1.5U1 1.5U2 N/A N/A
VCB 1.5U1 1.5U2 VCB 1.5U1 1.5U2 VCB 1.5U1 1.5U2 VCB 1.5U1 1.5U2 N/A N/A
VCB 1.5U2 VCB 1.5U2 VCB 1.5U2 VCB 1.5U2 VCB 1.5U2 VCB 1.5U2

4.0 U1

VCB 1.5U1

4.0 U2

4.0 U3

4.1 4.1 U1

N/A N/A
1. Includingallupdatesunlessotherwisenoted. 2. ESX3.5isrequiredtoperformanetworkbasedbackupwithVCB1.1. 3. SupportedwithESX3.5U5andvCenter2.5U5,2.5U6.

vCenter Server and vSphere Client Compatibility
Table 4liststheversioncompatibilityforvCenterServerandvSphereClient. Table 4. vCenter Server and vSphere Client Version Compatibility
vCenter Server 2.5 U6 4.0 4.0 U1 4.0 U2 4.0 U3 4.1 4.1 U1 vSphere Client 2.5 U6 Yes Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes
4.0 Yes Yes Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes
4.0 U1 Yes1 Yes Yes Yes Yes1 Yes1 Yes
4.0 U2 Yes1 Yes Yes Yes Yes1 Yes1 Yes
4.0 U3 Yes1 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes1 Yes
4.1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes Yes
4.1 U1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes Yes
1. Thefirsttimeyoutrytoconnect,adifferentvSphereClientisdownloadedand installed.Forallsubsequentconnections,theclientlauncherstartsthecorrectclient foryourvCenterServer.
VMware vCenter Converter Client and Server Plug-In Compatibility with vSphere Client and vCenter Server
Table 5liststheversioncompatibilityforvCenterServerandvCenterConverterServer. Table 5. vCenter Converter Server Compatibility with vCenter Server
vCenter Server 2.5 2.5 U1 2.5 U2 2.5 U3 2.5 U4U6 4.0 4.0 U1 4.0 U2 4.0 U3 4.1 4.1 U1 vCenter Converter Server 2.5 U4 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No 2.5 U5 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No 2.5 U6 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No 4.1.0 No No No No No Yes No No No No No 4.1.1 No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No 4.2 No No No No No No No No No Yes1 Yes
4.2.1 No No No No No No No No No No Yes1
1. SupportsimportingfromandtovCenterServer2.5andlater.
Table 6liststheversioncompatibilityforvCenterConverterserverandvCenterConverterclientplugin. Table 6. vCenter Converter Client Compatibility with vCenter Converter Server
vCenter Converter Client Plug-In 2.5 2.5 U1 2.5 U2 2.5 U3 2.5 U4U6 4.1.0 4.1.1 4.2 4.2.1 vCenter Converter Server 2.5 U6 No No No No Yes No No No No 4.1.0 No No No No No Yes No No No 4.1.1 No No No No No No Yes No No 4.2 No No No No No No No Yes No 4.2.1 No No No No No No No No Yes
Table 7liststheConverterClientpluginversionscompatiblewiththevSphereClient. Table 7. vCenter Converter Client Plug-In Compatibility with vSphere Client
vCenter Converter Client Plug-In 2.5 U6 4.1.0 4.1.1 4.2 4.2.1 vSphere Client 2.5 U6 Yes No No No No 4.0 No Yes No No No 4.0 U1 No Yes Yes No No 4.0 U2 No Yes Yes No No 4.0 U3 No Yes Yes No No 4.1 No No No Yes No 4.1 U1 No No No No Yes
VMware vCenter Update Manager Client and Server Plug-In Compatibility with vSphere Client and vCenter Server
Table 8liststheversioncompatibilityforvCenterServerandvCenterUpdateManagerServer. Table 8. vCenter Update Manager Server Compatibility with vCenter Server
vCenter Server 2.5 U6 4.0 4.0 U1 4.0 U2 4.0 U3 4.1 4.1 U1 vCenter Update Manager Server 1.0 U6 Yes No No No No No No 4.0 No Yes No No No No No 4.0 U1 No No Yes No No No No 4.0 U2 No No No Yes No No No 4.0 U3 No No No No Yes No No 4.1 No No No No No Yes No 4.1 U1 No No No No No No Yes

Table 9liststheversioncompatibilityforvCenterUpdateManagerserverandvCenterUpdateManagerclientplugin. Table 9. vCenter Update Manager Client Compatibility with vCenter Update Manager Server
vCenter Update Manager Client Plug-In 1.0 U6 4.0 4.0 U1 4.0 U2 4.0 U3 4.1 4.1 U1 vCenter Update Manager Server 1.0 U6 Yes No No No No No No 4.0 No Yes No No No No No 4.0 U1 No No Yes No No No No 4.0 U2 No No No Yes No No No 4.0 U3 No No No No Yes No No 4.1 No No No No No Yes No 4.1 U1 No No No No No No Yes
Table 10liststhevCenterUpdateManagerclientpluginversionscompatiblewiththevSphereClient. Table 10. vCenter Update Manager Client Plug-In Compatibility with vSphere Client
vCenter Update Manager Client Plug-in 1.0 U6 4.0 4.0 U1 4.0 U2 4.0 U3 4.1 4.1 U1 vSphere Client 2.5 U6 Yes No No No No No No 4.0 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No 4.0 U1 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No 4.0 U2 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No 4.0 U3 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No 4.1 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No 4.1 U1 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
vCenter Server Upgrade Path
Table 11liststhesupportedvCenterServerupgradepaths. Table 11. vCenter Server Upgrade Path
From vCenter Server Version 2.5 U6 4.0 4.0 U1 4.0 U2 4.0 U3 4.1 4.1 U1 To vCenter Server Version
2.5 U6 No No No No No No No

4.0 No No No No No No No

4.0 U1 Yes Yes No No No No No
4.0 U2 Yes Yes Yes No No No No
4.0 U3 Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No
4.1 Yes1,2 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 No No No
4.1 U1 Yes1,2 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes No
1. ForvCenter2.5andvCenter4.0versionsthatareon32bitsystemsthiswillbea migrationratherthanupgrade. 2. GuidedConsolidationupgradefrom2.5to4.1willnotdodatamigration.
Database Compatibility for vCenter Server and vCenter Orchestrator
Table 12providesalistofsupporteddatabasesforvCenterServerandvCenterOrchestrator. Table 12. Database Compatibility for vCenter Server
vCenter Server Vendor Microsoft

vCenter Orchestrator

4.1 4.1 U4.0 U1U3 4.1 4.1 U1

Database Server

SQLServer2000StandardEdition(SP4) SQLServer2000EnterpriseEdition(SP4) SQLServer2005StandardEdition(SP3)32bit SQLServer2005StandardEdition(SP3)64bit SQLServer2005EnterpriseEdition(SP3)32bit SQLServer2005EnterpriseEdition(SP3)64bit SQLServer2005Express SQLServer2008StandardEdition(SP1)32bit SQLServer2008StandardEdition(SP1)64bit SQLServer2008StandardEdition(SP2)32bit SQLServer2008StandardEdition(SP2)64bit SQLServer2008EnterpriseEdition(SP1)32bit SQLServer2008EnterpriseEdition(SP1)64bit SQLServer2008EnterpriseEdition(SP2)32bit SQLServer2008EnterpriseEdition(SP2)64bit SQLServer2008R2StandardEdition32bit SQLServer2008R2StandardEdition64bit SQLServer2008R2EnterpriseEdition32bit SQLServer2008R2EnterpriseEdition64bit SQLServer2008Express32/64bit(Experimentalsupport)

2.5 U6

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes1 No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes
No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes1 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No
No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes1 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes1 No
No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No Yes
No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No Yes
No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No

Oracle

1. 2. 3. 4.
Oracle9iStandardEdition,Release2[9.2.0.8]
Maximumof5hostsand50virtualmachines. Supportedwithversion10.2.0.3.0orhigher. Requires10.2.0.4versionorhigher. AllservicepackversionsassociatedwiththeDatabaseServeraresupportedunlessstatedexplicitly.
Table 12. Database Compatibility for vCenter Server (Continued)
vCenter Server Vendor Oracle (Continued) Database Server
Oracle9iEnterpriseEdition,Release2[9.2.0.8] Oracle10gStandardEdition,Release1[10.1.0.3.0] Oracle10gEnterpriseEdition,Release1[10.1.0.3.0] Oracle10gStandardEdition,Release2[10.2.0.3.0]32bit Oracle10gStandardEdition,Release2[10.2.0.3.0]64bit Oracle10gEnterpriseEdition,Release2[10.2.0.3.0]32bit Oracle10gEnterpriseEdition,Release2[10.2.0.3.0]64bit Oracle11gStandardEdition,Release1[11.1.0.7.0]32bit Oracle11gStandardEdition,Release1[11.1.0.7.0]64bit Oracle11gEnterpriseEdition,Release1[11.1.0.7.0]32bit Oracle11gEnterpriseEdition,Release1[11.1.0.7.0]64bit Oracle11gStandardEdition,Release2[11.2.0.1.0]32bit Oracle11gStandardEdition,Release2[11.2.0.1.0]64bit Oracle11gEnterpriseEdition,Release2[11.2.0.1.0]32bit Oracle11gEnterpriseEdition,Release2[11.2.0.1.0]64bit 2.5 U4.0 U1 4.0 U2 4.0 U3 4.1 4.1 U1 4

4.0 U1U3 4.1 4.1 U1

Yes Yes Yes Yes2 Yes2 Yes2 Yes2 No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No
No No No Yes3 Yes3 Yes3 Yes3 Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No
No No No Yes3 Yes3 Yes3 Yes3 Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
No No No Yes3 Yes3 Yes3 Yes3 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
No No No Yes2 Yes2 Yes2 Yes2 Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No
DB2Enterprise9.532bit DB2Workgroup9.532bit DB2Express9.532bit DB2ExpressC9.532bit DB2Enterprise9.564bit DB2Workgroup9.564bit DB2Express9.564bit DB2ExpressC9.564bit
vCenter Server Vendor IBM (continued) Database Server

DB2Enterprise9.7.232bit DB2Workgroup9.7.232bit DB2Express9.7.232bit DB2ExpressC9.7.232bit DB2Enterprise9.7.264bit DB2Workgroup9.7.264bit DB2Express9.7.264bit DB2ExpressC9.7.264bit 2.5 U4.0 U1 4.0 U2 4.0 U3 4.1 4.1 U1 4

No No No No No No No No

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Database Compatibility for VMware vCenter Update Manager
Table 13providesalistofsupporteddatabasesforVMwarevCenterUpdateManager. Table 13. Database Compatibility for VMware vCenter Update Manager
vCenter Server Update Manager Vendor Microsoft Database Server
SQLServer2000StandardEdition(SP4) SQLServer2000EnterpriseEdition(SP4) SQLServer2005StandardEdition(SP3)32bit SQLServer2005StandardEdition(SP3)64bit SQLServer2005EnterpriseEdition(SP3)32bit SQLServer2005EnterpriseEdition(SP3)64bit SQLServer2005Express SQLServer2008StandardEdition(SP1)32bit SQLServer2008StandardEdition(SP1)64bit SQLServer2008StandardEdition(SP2)32bit SQLServer2008StandardEdition(SP2)64bit SQLServer2008EnterpriseEdition(SP1)32bit SQLServer2008EnterpriseEdition(SP1)64bit SQLServer2008EnterpriseEdition(SP2)32bit SQLServer2008EnterpriseEdition(SP2)64bit SQLServer2008R232bit SQLServer2008R264bit SQLServer2008Express32/64bit(Experimentalsupport)
1.0 U6 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
4.0 No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No
4.0 U1 No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No
4 U2 No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No
4.0 U3 No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No
4.1 No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No No
4.1 U1 No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No
Oracle9iStandardEdition,Release2[9.2.0.8] Oracle9iEnterpriseEdition,Release2[9.2.0.8] Oracle10gStandardEdition,Release1[10.1.0.3.0] Oracle10gEnterpriseEdition,Release1[10.1.0.3.0]
1. Supportedwithversion10.2.0.3.0orhigher. 2. Tocreatea32bitDSNbyusingthe32bitOracleclientona64bitoperatingsystem,applyOraclepatch5699495.
Table 13. Database Compatibility for VMware vCenter Update Manager (Continued)
vCenter Server Update Manager Vendor Oracle

(continued)

Oracle10gStandardEdition,Release2[10.2.0.3.0]32bit2 Oracle10gStandardEdition,Release2[10.2.0.3.0]64bit Oracle10gEnterpriseEdition,Release2[10.2.0.3.0]32bit Oracle10gEnterpriseEdition,Release2[10.2.0.3.0]64bit Oracle11gStandardEdition,Release1[11.1.0.7.0]32bit Oracle11gStandardEdition,Release1[11.1.0.7.0]64bit Oracle11gEnterpriseEdition,Release1[11.1.0.7.0]32bit Oracle11gEnterpriseEdition,Release1[11.1.0.7.0]64bit Oracle11gStandardEdition,Release2[11.2.0.1.0]32bit Oracle11gStandardEdition,Release2[11.2.0.1.0]64bit Oracle11gEnterpriseEdition,Release2[11.2.0.1.0]32bit Oracle11gEnterpriseEdition,Release2[11.2.0.1.0]64bit

1.0 U6 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 No No No No No No No No
4.0 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No
4.0 U1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No
4 U2 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No
4.0 U3 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
4.1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No
4.1 U1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Browser Compatibility for vSphere Web Access
ForinformationaboutbrowserscompatibleforvSphereWebAccess,seeKB1033383.
Operating System Compatibility for vSphere Client, vCenter Server, vCenter Update Manager, vCenter Converter, and vCenter Orchestrator
Table 14liststheoperatingsystemssupportedforvSphereClient,vCenterServer,vCenterGuestOSCustomization(OSCust.),vCenterUpdateManager,vCenterConverter,andvCenterOrchestrator.In addition,itshowsthepatchingtypesupportedfortheVMwarevCenterUpdateManager:Scan(S)andRemediate(R).
Table 14. Operating System Compatibility for vSphere Client, vCenter Server, vCenter Update Manager, vCenter Converter, and vCenter Orchestrator
vSphere Client vCenter Server Guest OS Cust. vCenter Update Manager Server Vendor Microsoft11 Operating System WindowsXPPro WindowsXPPro64bit Windows2000Server Windows2000Professional Windows2000AdvancedServer WindowsServer2003 WindowsServer200364bit WindowsVistaBusiness WindowsVistaEnterprise WindowsVistaEnterprise64bit WindowsVistaBusiness64bit 2.5 Yes No Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes1 Yes
vCenter Converter Server 4.2 Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes OS Cloning P2V Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes V2V Yes Yes No No
vCenter Orchestrator Client 4.0 No No No No No Yes Yes No No No No No 4.1 No Yes No No No Yes Yes No No N/A No N/A
OS Patching SR SR SR SR SR SR SR SR SR SR SR SR
Server 4.0 No No No No No Yes Yes No No No No No 4.1 No No No No No No Yes No No N/A No N/A
4.0 Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
4.1 Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
2.5 Yes No Yes No Yes1 Yes No No No No No No
4.0 Yes No No No No Yes Yes No No No No No
4.1 No Yes No No No No Yes No No No No No
4.0 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
4.1 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
4.1 Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes No No No No No
No7 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
WindowsVistaSP2(32bitand64 Yes bit)
1. SupportedfromvCenterServer2.5Update4. 2. ForvCenterServer2.5supportedfromUpdate6.ForvCenterServer4.0supportedfromUpdate1. 3. SupportedwithvCenter4.1Update1. 4. SupportedwithvCenterServer4.0. 5. SupportedfromvCenterServer4.0Update1. 6. 32bitapplicationincompatibilitymodeon64bitplatform. 7. V2Vcloningsupported,butnoreconfigurationorcustomizationperformed(resultantvirtualmachinemightnotboot). 8. SupportedwithvCenter4.0Update2. 9. SupportedwithvCenterOrchestrator4.0Update1. 10. Supportedwith32bitclientshippedstandalone. 11. AllservicepackversionsassociatedwiththeOperatingSystemsaresupportedunlessstatedexplicitly. 12. SupportedwithvCenter4.0Update3. 13. AppliesonlyforVMwaretoolsandhardwareupgradewithvCenterUpdateManager4.0Update3.Patchingoftheguestopearatingsystemisnotsupported. 14. SupportedwithvCenterUpdateManager4.0Update3.

Table 14. Operating System Compatibility for vSphere Client, vCenter Server, vCenter Update Manager, vCenter Converter, and vCenter Orchestrator (Continued)
vSphere Client vCenter Server Guest OS Cust. vCenter Update Manager Server Vendor Microsoft11 (continued) Operating System Windows7 Windows764bit WindowsServer2008Enterprise WindowsServer2008Standard WindowsServer2008Datacenter WindowsServer2008Enterprise 64bit 2.5 No No No No No No 4.0 Yes5 Yes
vCenter Converter Server 4.2 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No OS Cloning P2V Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes V2V Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
vCenter Orchestrator Client 4.0 No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes9 No No No No No No 4.1 Yes10 Yes Yes Yes
OS Patching SR13 SR SR SR SR SR SR SR SR13 No No S S S S
Server 4.0 No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes9 No No No No No No 4.1 No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No
4.1 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No
2.5 No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No
4.0 No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes12 No No No No No No
4.1 No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No

4.0 Yes2 Yes Yes Yes

2 1, 4 1, 4
4.1 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
4.0 No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes14 No No No No No No
4.1 No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes12 No No No No No No

Yes1, 4 Yes

Yes10 Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No
WindowsServer2008Standard64 No bit WindowsServer2008Datacenter 64bit WindowsServer2008R2 Red Hat Linux AS2.1 ES2.1 RedHatDesktop3 RedHatDesktop4 AS3.0,Update5 ES3.0,Update5 No No No No No No No No
Yes1, 4 Yes1, 4 Yes2 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

No7 No

vSphere Client vCenter Server Guest OS Cust. vCenter Update Manager Server Vendor Operating System 2.5 No No No No No 4.0 No No No No No No No No No No No No No 4.1 No No No No No No No No No No No No No 2.5 No No No No No No No No No No No No No 4.0 No No No No No No No No No No No No No 4.1 No No No No No No No No No No No No No 4.0 Yes Yes Yes No Yes8 Yes Yes No No Yes8 No No Yes8 4.1 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes3 Yes3 Yes Yes 4.0 No No No N/A N/A No No N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 4.1 No No No N/A N/A No No N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A OS Patching No No No N/A N/A No No N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A vCenter Converter Server 4.2 No No No No No No No No No No No No No OS Cloning P2V Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes V2V No7 No No No

vCenter Orchestrator Client 4.0 No No No No No No No No No No No No No 4.1 No No No N/A N/A No N/A No No No No N/A No 4.0 No No No No No No No No No No No No No Server 4.1 No No No N/A N/A No N/A No No No No N/A No
Red Hat Linux AS4.0,Update2 (continued) ES4.0,Update2 AS4.5 RHEL4.5ServerPlatform64bit RHEL4.8ServerPlatform(32bit and64bit)

No7 No7 No7 No

RHEL5ServerPlatform(32bitand No 64bit) RHEL5DesktopPlatform RHEL5.3ServerPlatform(32bit and64bit) RHEL5.4ServerPlatform(32bit and64bit) RHEL5.5ServerPlatform(32bit and64bit) RHEL6.0ServerPlatform(32bit and64bit) SUSE Linux SLES11SP1(32bitand64bit) SLES11(32bitand64bit) No No No No No No No

No7 No7 No7 No7 No7

vSphere Client vCenter Server Guest OS Cust. vCenter Update Manager Server Vendor SUSE Linux Operating System 2.5 4.0 No No No No No No No No No 4.1 No No No No No No N/A N/A No 2.5 No No No No No No No No No 4.0 No No No No No No No No No 4.1 No No No No No No N/A N/A No 4.0 Yes Yes8 Yes Yes4 Yes4 Yes Yes Yes
vCenter Converter Server 4.2 No No No No No No No No No OS Cloning P2V Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No V2V No7 No7 No7 No7 No7 No No No
vCenter Orchestrator Client 4.0 No No No No No No No No No 4.1 No No N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 4.0 No No No No No No No No No Server 4.1 No No N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
OS Patching N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
4.1 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
4.0 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
4.1 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
SLES10,SP1,andSP2(32bitand No 64bit) SLES10SP3(32bitand64bit) No
SLES8,SP1andSP2(32bitand64 No bit) Ubuntu Linux Ubuntu8.04(32bitand64bit) Ubuntu8.10(32bitand64bit) Debian Linux Debian4.0R2 Debian5.0R2(32bitand64bit) Debian5.0R1(32bitand64bit) Debian5.0(32bitand64bit) No No No No No No

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From the main or right-click menu, select Reboot or Shut Down.
If you select Reboot, the ESX/ESXi host shuts down and reboots. If you select Shut Down, the ESX/ESXi host shuts down. You must manually power the system back on.
Provide a reason for the shut down. This information is added to the log.
Stop an ESX Host Manually
You can manually shut down an ESX host. Procedure Log in to the ESX service console. Run the shutdown command. For example:shutdown -h now ESX shuts down. When it is finished, a message indicates that it is safe to power off your system. 3 Press the power button until the machine powers off. For information about accessing the service console, see Connect to the Service Console, on page 29.

Starting vCenter Server

vCenter Server runs as a Windows service. vCenter Server starts when you start the Windows machine on which it is installed. It also restarts when that machine is rebooted.
Verify That vCenter Server Is Running
You can verify that the vCenter Server service is running. Procedure 1 Go to the Services console for your version of Windows. For example, select Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services and click VMware VirtualCenter Server. The Status column indicates whether the service started. Right-click the vCenter Server service and select Properties. In the VMware vCenter Server Services Properties dialog box, click the General tab and view the service status.
Restart the vCenter Server System
The vCenter Server service starts when the machine on which it is installed is booted. You can manually restart the vCenter Server system. If you have manually stopped the vCenter Server service or must start it for any reason, perform the steps below.
Chapter 2 Starting and Stopping the vSphere Components
Procedure 1 Go to the Services console for your version of Windows. For example, select Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services and click VMware VirtualCenter Server. Right-click VMware VirtualCenter Server, select Start, and wait for startup to complete. Close the Properties dialog box.
Stop the vCenter Server System
vCenter Server is a Windows service. You can use the Windows interface to select the service and stop it. You should not have to stop the vCenter Server service. The vCenter Server should operate without interruption. Continuous operation ensures that all monitoring and task activities are performed as expected. Procedure 1 Go to the Services console for your version of Windows. For example, select Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services. 4 Click VMware VirtualCenter Server Service. Right-click VMware VirtualCenter Server, select Stop, and wait for it to stop. Close the Properties dialog box.

VMWARE-ROOT-MIB.mib VMWARE-TC-MIB.mib VMWARE-PRODUCTS-MIB.mib VMWARE-SYSTEM-MIB.mib VMWARE-ENV-MIB.mib VMWARE-RESOURCES-MIB.mib VMWARE-VMINFO-MIB.mib VMWARE-OBSOLETE-MIB.mib (for use with versions of ESX/ESXi prior to 4.0) VMWARE-AGENTCAP-MIB.mib VMWARE-VC-EVENT-MIB.mib
The management software can now receive and interpret traps from vCenter Server or ESX/ESXi systems.

SNMP Diagnostics

Use SNMP tools to diagnose configuration problems. You can use the following tools to diagnose problems with SNMP configuration:
Type vicfg-snmp.pl --server <hostname> --username <username> --password <password> --test at the vSphere command-line interface to prompt the embedded SNMP agent to send a test warmStart trap. Type vicfg-snmp.pl --server <hostname> --username <username> --password <password> --show to display the current configuration of the embedded SNMP agent. The SNMPv2-MIB.mib file provides a number of counters to aid in debugging SNMP problems. See SNMPv2 Diagnostic Counters, on page 65. The VMWARE-AGENTCAP-MIB.mib file defines the capabilities of the VMware SNMP agents by product version. Use this file to determine if the SNMP functionality that you want to use is supported.
Using SNMP with Guest Operating Systems
You can use SNMP to monitor guest operating systems or applications running in virtual machines. The virtual machine uses its own virtual hardware devices. Do not install agents in the virtual machine that are intended to monitor physical hardware. Procedure
Install the SNMP agents you normally would use for that purpose in the guest operating systems. No special configuration is required on ESX.

VMware MIB Files

VMware MIB files define the information provided by ESX/ESXi hosts and vCenter Server to SNMP management software. You can download these MIB files from the VMware Web site. Table 5-1 lists the MIB files provided by VMware and describes the information that each file provides. Table 5-1. VMware MIB Files
MIB File VMWARE-ROOT-MIB.mib VMWARE-AGENTCAP-MIB.mib VMWARE-ENV-MIB.mib VMWARE-OBSOLETE-MIB.mib Description Contains VMwares enterprise OID and top level OID assignments. Defines the capabilities of the VMware agents by product versions. Defines variables and trap types used to report on the state of physical hardware components of the host computer. Defines OIDs that have been made obsolete to maintain backward compatibility with earlier versions of ESX/ESXi. Includes variables formerly defined in the files VMWARE-TRAPS-MIB.mib and VMWARE-VMKERNEL-MIB.mib. Defines OIDs to uniquely identify each SNMP agent on each VMware platform by name, version, and build platform. Defines variables used to report information on resource usage of the VMkernel, including physical memory, CPU, and disk utilization. The VMWARE-SYSTEM-MIB.mib file is obsolete. Use the SNMPv2-MIB to obtain information from sysDescr.0 and sysObjec ID.0. Defines common textual conventions used by VMware MIB files. Defines traps sent by vCenter Server. Load this file if you use vCenter Server to send traps. Defines variables for reporting information about virtual machines, including virtual machine traps.

snmpInBadCommunityNames

snmp 4

snmpInBadCommunityUses

snmp 5
snmpInASNParseErrs snmpEnableAuthenTraps

snmp 6 snmp 30

snmpSilentDrops

snmp 31

snmpProxyDrops

snmp 32

System Log Files
In addition to lists of events and alarms, vSphere components generate assorted logs. These logs contain information about activities in your vSphere environment.

View System Log Entries

You can view system logs generated by vSphere components. The following task describes how to access and view system logs. Procedure From the Home page of a vSphere Client connected to either a vCenter Server system or an ESX/ESXi host, click System Logs. From the drop-down menu, select the log and entry you want to view.
Select View > Filtering to refer to the filtering options. Enter text in the data field. Click Clear to empty the data field.

External System Logs

VMware technical support might request several files to help resolve any issues you have with the product. This section describes the types and locations of log files found on various ESX 4.0 component systems. NOTE On Windows systems, several log files are stored in the Local Settings directory, which is located at C:\Documents and Settings\<user name>\Local Settings\. This folder is hidden by default.

ESX/ESXi System Logs

You may need the ESX/ESXi system log files to resolve technical issues. Table 5-15 lists log files associated with ESX systems. Table 5-15. ESX/ESXi System Logs
Component ESX Server 2.x Service log ESX Server 3.x or ESX Service log vSphere Client Agent log Virtual Machine Kernel Core file Location /var/log/vmware/vmware-serverd.log /var/log/vmware/hostd.log /var/log/vmware/vpx/vpxa.log /root/vmkernel-core.<date> and /root/vmkernel-log.<date> These files are present after you reboot your machine. Syslog log Service Console Availability report VMkernel Messages VMkernel Alerts and Availability report VMkernel Warning Virtual Machine log file Virtual Machine Configuration file /var/log/messages /var/log/vmkernel /var/log/vmkernel /var/log/vmkernel /var/log/vmkwarning vmware.log in the same directory as the.vmx file for the virtual machine
<virtual_machine_name>/<virtual_machine_name>.vmx located on a datastore associated with the managed host. Used the virtual machine summary page in the vSphere Client to determine the datastore on which this file is located.

Virtual machines

Located within a host, virtual disks on a datastore, associated within a cluster or resource pool. Can be listed as a child object to hosts, clusters, or resource pools. Can be moved between hosts or clusters. When adding to a cluster or resource pool, you must specify or have in the cluster or resource pool a designated target host. A template is a master copy of a virtual machine that can be used to create and provision new virtual machines. In vCenter Server only. Child object to datacenters and network folders. There are two types of networks: vNetwork Standard Switches (vSwitches) and vNetwork Distributed Switches. vNetwork Standard Switches are associated with a single host and are discovered when hosts are added to the vSphere environment. You can add and remove vNetwork Standard Switches through the vSphere Client. vNetwork Distributed Switches span multiple hosts. You can add and remove vNetwork Distributed Switches through the vSphere Client. In vCenter Server only. Child object to datacenters and datastore folders. Datastores are logical containers that hold virtual disk files and other files necessary for virtual machine operations. Datastores exist on different types of physical storage devices, including local storage, iSCSI and Fibre Channel SANs, and NFS. You create datastores by formatting storage devices or by mounting NFS volumes on your host. In addition, you can add a host with existing datastores to the inventory. Central repositories for virtual machine provisioning media such as virtual machine templates, ISO images, floppy images, VMDK files, guest customization files, and so on.

Templates Networks

Datastores

Libraries

Chapter 6 Managing the vSphere Client Inventory
Viewing Object Relationships
One of the features of managing your virtual infrastructure with vSphere is viewing relationships between inventory objects. You can view the relationships between inventory objects relationships in the following ways: Using the Maps feature Clicking an object in the inventory Shows the inventory object relationships in graphical form. Provides a list of tabbed content that lists related objects. For example, a datastore has a virtual machine tab that lists the virtual machines that use the datastore. There is also a host tab that list the hosts that can access the datastore. Provides a view of the set of virtual machines that run on a particular host, cluster, or resource pool. Each object has a tab that displays all the virtual machines associated or contained within it. When you view the hosts and clusters page, virtual machine folders are not displayed. Because virtual machine names are unique within virtual machine folders, you might see more than one virtual machine with the same name. To view virtual machines as they are arranged in the folder hierarchy, use the VMs and Templates view. Selecting VMs and Templates from the Home page Selecting Datastores from the Home page Selecting Networking objects from the Home page Displays all virtual machines and templates. Through this view you can organize virtual machines into folder hierarchies. Displays all datastores in the datacenter. Through this view you can organize datastores into arbitrary folder hierarchies. Displays all abstract network devices, called vSwitches and vNetwork Distributed Switches. Through this view you can organize networking devices into arbitrary folder hierarchies.

Ensure a communication channel through a firewall, if needed. If any managed host in the vCenter Server environment is behind a firewall, ensure that the managed host can communicate with vCenter Server and with all other hosts. See the ESX Server Configuration Guide or the ESXi Server Configuration Guide for information on which ports are necessary. Make sure NFS mounts are active. If NFS mounts are unresponsive, the operation fails.
NOTE If you are connecting your vSphere Client to an ESX/ESXi host directly, the tasks in this section do not apply.
Add a Host to a vCenter Server Cluster
Use the vSphere Client to add a host to a cluster. Procedure 3 In the vSphere Client, display the inventory and select the cluster where you will add the host. From the File menu, select New > Add Host. Enter the managed host connection settings and click Next. a b Type the name or IP address of the managed host in the Host name field. Enter the Username and Password for a user account that has administrative privileges on the selected managed host. vCenter Server uses the root account to log in to the system and then creates a special user account. vCenter Server then uses this account for all future authentication. 4 (Optional) Select Enable Lockdown Mode to disable remote access for the administrator account after vCenter Server takes control of this host. This option is available for ESXi hosts only. Selecting this check box ensures that the host is managed only through vCenter Server. Certain limited management tasks can be performed while in lockdown mode by logging into the local console on the host.
Chapter 7 Managing Hosts in vCenter Server
Confirm the Host Summary information and click Next. Select whether to assign a new or existing license key to the host and click Next. Specify what should happen to the resource pools on the host. The options are:
Put all the hosts virtual machines into the clusters root resource pool. Create new resource pool for the hosts virtual machines. The default resource pool name is derived from the hosts name. Type over the text to supply your own name.
Click Next. Click Finish.
Add a Host to a vCenter Server Datacenter
Use the vSphere Client to add a host to a datacenter. Procedure 3 In the vSphere Client, display the inventory and select the datacenter or folder where you will add the host. Select File > New > Add Host. Enter the managed host connection settings and click Next. a b Type the name or IP address of the managed host in the Host name field. Enter the Username and Password for a user account that has administrative privileges on the selected managed host. vCenter Server uses the root account to log in to the system and then creates a special user account. vCenter Server then uses this account for all future authentication. 4 (Optional) Select Enable Lockdown Mode to disable remote access for the administrator account after vCenter Server takes control of this host. This option is available for ESXi hosts only. Selecting this check box ensures that the host is managed only through vCenter Server. Certain limited management tasks can be performed while in lockdown mode by logging into the local console on the host. 7 Confirm the Host Summary information and click Next. Select whether to assign a new or existing license key to the host and click Next. Select the location for the host's virtual machines and click Next. Select a virtual machine folder, or the datacenter itself if you do not want to place the virtual machines into a folder. 8 Click Finish.

vApps can be created on folders, hosts, resource pools, DRS-enabled clusters, and within other vApps. Procedure 5 Start the New vApp Wizard on page 106 The New vApp wizard allows you to create a new vApp. Name the vApp on page 106 The name you enter is used as the vApps display name in the inventory. Select the vApp Destination on page 106 The destination is the host, cluster, resource pool, or vApp on which the vApp will run. Allocate vApp Resources on page 107 Determine how much CPU and memory should be allocated for the vApp. Complete the vApp Creation on page 107 The Ready to Complete page enables you to review the vApps configuration.
Start the New vApp Wizard
The New vApp wizard allows you to create a new vApp. Procedure
Select File > New > vApp to open the New vApp wizard.

Name the vApp

The name you enter is used as the vApps display name in the inventory. The name can be up to 80 characters long. This name must be unique within the folder. Procedure On the Name and Folder page, enter a name for the vApp. Select a location in the inventory for the vApp. If you are creating a vApp from within another vApp, the vApp Inventory Location selection is unavailable. 3 Click Next.
Select the vApp Destination
The destination is the host, cluster, resource pool, or vApp on which the vApp will run. NOTE This step does not appear if you create a vApp from a host, cluster, resource pool, or another vApp within the inventory.
Chapter 10 Managing VMware vApp
Procedure 1 On the Destination page, select a host, cluster, or resource pool where this vApp will run and click Next. If you selected a DRS-enabled cluster and the cluster is in DRS manual mode, select the host as the destination for the vApp. The message in the Compatibility panel indicates whether the validation for this destination succeeded or if a specific requirement was not met. 2 Click Next.

Allocate vApp Resources

Determine how much CPU and memory should be allocated for the vApp. Procedure In the Resource Allocation page, allocate CPU and memory resources for this vApp. Click Next.
Complete the vApp Creation
The Ready to Complete page enables you to review the vApps configuration. Procedure 3 Review the new vApp settings on the Ready to Complete page. (Optional) Click Back to edit or change any settings. Click Finish to create the new vApp.

Populate the vApp

Virtual Machine Hardware Versions, on page 143 Virtual Machine Properties Editor, on page 144 Adding New Hardware, on page 159 Converting Virtual Disks from Thin to Thick, on page 167
Virtual Machine Hardware Versions
All virtual machines have a hardware version. The hardware version of a virtual machine indicates the lowerlevel virtual hardware features supported by the virtual machine, such as BIOS, number of virtual slots, maximum number of CPUs, maximum memory configuration, and other characteristics typical to hardware. The default virtual machine hardware version of a newly created virtual machine is the most recent version available on the host where the virtual machine is created. If you need to create a virtual machine with a hardware version older than the highest supported in order to increase compatibility, you can use the custom virtual machine creation path. The hardware version of a virtual machine can be lower than the highest version supported by the ESX/ESXi host it is running on if:
You migrate a virtual machine created on an ESX/ESXi 3.x or earlier host to an ESX/ESXi 4.x host. You create a new virtual machine on an ESX 4.x host using an existing virtual disk that was created on an ESX/ESXi 3.x or earlier host. You add a virtual disk created on an ESX/ESXi 3.x or earlier host to a virtual machine created on an ESX/ESXi 4.x host.
Virtual machines with hardware versions lower than 4 can run on ESX/ESXi 4.x hosts but have reduced performance and capabilities. In particular, you cannot add or remove virtual devices on virtual machines with hardware versions lower than 4 when they reside on an ESX/ESXi 4.x host. To make full use of these virtual machines, upgrade the virtual hardware as described in the Upgrade Guide.
Table 13-1 lists virtual machine hardware versions, the ESX/ESXi versions on which they can be created, edited, and run, the vCenter Server versions on which they are fully supported, and a brief description of the hardware versions capabilities. Table 13-1. Virtual Machine Hardware Versions
Version 7 ESX/ESXi 4.x ESX Server 3.x ESX Server 2.x create, edit, run Version 4 create, edit, run create, edit, run Version 3 run run create, edit, run Compatible with vCenter Server version vCenter Server 4.x VirtualCenter Server 2.x and higher VirtualCenter Server 1.x and higher
NOTE Virtual machine hardware version 4 may be listed as VM3 in documentation for earlier versions of ESX and ESXi. Virtual machine hardware version 3 may be listed as VM2 in documentation for earlier versions of ESX.
Determine the Hardware Version of a Virtual Machine
You can determine the hardware version of a virtual machine by looking in the Summary tab for the virtual machine or the Virtual Machine Properties dialog box. Procedure Select the virtual machine in the inventory. Select one of the two methods for viewing the version information.

CPU Families and Feature Sets
Processors are grouped into families. Processors within a given family generally have similar feature sets. Processor families are defined by the processor vendors. You can distinguish different processor versions within the same family by comparing the processors model, stepping level, and extended features. In some cases, processor vendors have introduced significant architectural changes within the same processor family, such as the SSSE3 and SSE4.1 instructions, and NX/XD CPU security features. By default, vCenter Server identifies mismatches on features accessible to applications as incompatible to guarantee the stability of virtual machines after migrations with VMotion. Server hardwares CPU specifications will usually indicate whether or not the CPUs contain the features that affect VMotion compatibility. If the specifications of a server or its CPU features are unknown, VMwares bootable CPU identification utility (available for download from the VMware website) can be used to boot a server and determine whether its CPUs contain features such as SSE3, SSSE3, and NX/XD. For more information on identifying Intel processors and their features, see Application Note 485: Intel Processor Identification and the CPUID Instruction, available from Intel. For more information on identifying AMD processors and their features, see CPUID Specification, available from AMD. NX/XD Considerations The AMD No eXecute (NX) and the Intel eXecute Disable (XD) technology serve the same security purpose. They mark memory pages as data-only to prevent malicious software exploits and buffer overflow attacks. Refer to the documentation for your guest operating system to determine whether it supports NX and XD. In ESX/ESXi 3.0 and later, NX and XD technology is exposed by default for all guest operating systems that can use it (trading off some compatibility for security by default). Hosts that were previously compatible for VMotion in ESX Server 2.x might become incompatible after upgrading to ESX/ESXi 3.0 and later, because the NX or XD is now exposed when it was previously suppressed, but you can use per-virtual machine CPU compatibility masks to restore compatibility.
SSE3 Considerations Within the Intel P4 and AMD Opteron processor families, VMware places a restriction between processors that do support the SSE3 instructions and processors that do not support the SSE3 instructions. Because they are application level instructions that bypass the virtualization layer, these instructions could cause application instability if mismatched after a migration with VMotion. SSSE3 Considerations Within the Intel P4 and Intel Core processor families, VMware places a restriction between processors that do support the SSSE3 instructions and processors that do not support the SSSE3 instructions. Because they are application level instructions that bypass the virtualization layer, these instructions could cause application instability if mismatched after a migration with VMotion. SSE4.1 Considerations Within the Intel Core 2 processor family, VMware places a restriction between processors that do support the SSE4.1 instructions and processors that do not support the SSE4.1 instructions because they are application level instructions that bypass the virtualization layer, and could cause application instability if mismatched after a migration with VMotion.

Procedure On the vSphere Client Home page, click Roles. Right-click the Roles tab information panel and click Add. Type a name for the new role. Select privileges for the role and click OK.

Clone a Role

You can make a copy of an existing role, rename it, and later edit it. When you make a copy, the new role is not applied to the same users or groups and objects. If you create or modify a role on a vCenter Server system that is part of a connected group in Linked Mode, the changes you make are propagated to all other vCenter Server systems in the group. However, assignments of roles to specific users and objects are not shared across linked vCenter Server systems. Prerequisites You must be logged in as a user with Administrator privileges. Procedure 3 On the vSphere Client Home page, click Roles. To select the role to duplicate, click the object in the list of Roles. To clone the selected role, select Administration > Role > Clone.
A duplicate of the role is added to the list of roles. The name is Copy of <rolename>.

Edit a Role

When you edit a role, you can change any of the privileges selected for that role. When completed, these new privileges are applied to any user or group assigned the edited role. If you create or edit a role on a vCenter Server system that is part of a connected group in Linked Mode, the changes you make are propagated to all other vCenter Server systems in the group. However, assignments of roles to specific users and objects are not shared across linked vCenter Server systems. Prerequisites You must be logged in as a user with Administrator privileges. Procedure On the vSphere Client Home page, click Roles. To select the role to edit, click the object in the list of Roles. Select Administration > Role > Edit Role. Select privileges for the role and click OK.

Remove a Role

When you remove a role, if it is not assigned to any users or groups, the definition is removed from the list of possible roles. When you remove a role that is assigned to a user or group you can remove all assignments or replace them with an assignment to another role. CAUTION Be sure that you understand how users will be affected before removing all assignments or replacing them. Users that have no permissions granted to them cannot log in to vCenter Server.
Prerequisites You must be logged in as a user with Administrator privileges. If you are removing a role from a vCenter Server system that is part of a connected group in Linked Mode, check the usage of that role on the other vCenter Server systems in the group before proceeding. Removing a role from one vCenter Server system also removes the role from all other vCenter Server systems in the group, even if you choose to reassign permissions to another role on the current vCenter Server system. Procedure On the vSphere Client Home page, click Roles. To select the role to remove, click the object in the list of roles. Select Administration > Role > Remove. Click OK. The role is removed from the list and is no longer available for assigning to users or groups. If the role is assigned to a user or group, a warning message appears. 5 Select a reassignment option and click OK.

You can set alarms to trigger when the state changes from green to yellow, yellow to red, red to yellow, and yellow to green. Triggers are defined for the default VMware alarms. You can change the trigger conditions (thresholds, warning values, and alert values) for the default alarms. Action The operation that occurs in response to the trigger. For example, you can have an email notification sent to one or more administrators when an alarm is triggered. The default vCenter Server alarms are not preconfigured with actions. You must manually set what action occurs when the triggering event, condition, or state occurs.
NOTE Some alarms contain triggers that are not supported in the vSphere Client and cannot be changed. However, you can still configure the alarm actions, enable or disable the alarm, and change the alarm name. If your environment requires changes to these alarm triggers, create custom alarms by using the vSphere Client or the VMware vSphere APIs. This chapter includes the following topics:
Alarm Triggers, on page 238 Alarm Actions, on page 248 Alarm Reporting, on page 253 Creating Alarms, on page 253 Managing Alarms, on page 257 Managing Alarm Actions, on page 261 Preconfigured VMware Alarms, on page 264

Alarm Triggers

You configure alarm triggers to generate warnings and alerts when the specified criteria is met. Alarms have two types of triggers: condition or state triggers, and event triggers. Condition or State Triggers Monitor the current condition or state of virtual machines, hosts, and datastores. This includes power states, connection states, and performance metrics, such as CPU and disk usage. To set alarms on other objects in the inventory, including datacenters, clusters, resource pools, and networking objects, use event triggers. NOTE You can set a condition or state alarm at the datacenter level that monitors all virtual machines, hosts, or datastores in the datacenter. Event Triggers Monitors events that occur in response to operations occuring with any managed object in the inventory, the vCenter Server system, or the license server. For example, an event is recorded each time a virtual machine is cloned, created, deleted, deployed, and migrated.
Chapter 21 Working with Alarms
Condition and State Triggers
Use condition triggers and state triggers to set alarms on performance metrics, power states, and connection states for virtual machines, hosts, and datastores. To set alarms on other objects in the inventory, you must use event triggers. Condition and state triggers use one of the following operator sets to monitor an object:

The Defined In column displays the object on which the alarm was created.
View Alarms Triggered on an Object
You view triggered alarms on an object on the objects Alarms tab. Procedure 3 Display the object in the inventory. Select the object and click the Alarms tab. Click Triggered Alarms.
View All Alarms Triggered in vCenter Server
You view triggered alarms in the Alarms tab of the Status bar. Procedure 3 Display the vSphere Client inventory. If necessary, select View > Status Bar to display the status pane at the bottom of the vSphere Client. In the Status bar, click Alarms.
The list of triggered alarms displays in the status pane. What to do next You can also view alarms for a selected inventory object in the Triggered Alarms pane of the Alarms tab.

Managing Alarm Actions

You can change alarm actions on the preconfigured vSphere alarms and on custom alarms. Use the vSphere Client to disable alarm actions, identify disabled alarm actions, remove alarm actions, and run commands as alarm actions. To manage alarm actions, the vSphere Client must be connected to a vCenter Server system.

Disable Alarm Actions

Disabling an alarm action stops the action from occuring when the alarm triggers. It does not disable the alarm from triggering. When you disable alarm actions on a selected inventory object, all actions for all alarms are disabled on that object. You cannot disable a subset of alarm actions. The alarm actions will continue to fire on the child objects. Required privilege: Alarm.Disable Alarm Action Procedure Display the object in the inventory. Right-click the object and select Alarm > Disable Alarm Actions.
The actions defined for the alarm will not occur on the object until they are enabled.

Enable Alarm Actions

Enabling alarm actions resumes all actions set for triggered alarms. Required privilege: Alarm.Disable Alarm Actions Procedure Display the object in the inventory on which the alarm is defined. Right-click the object and select Alarm > Enable Alarm Actions.

Daily Weekly

Enter the Start Time and Interval. For example, to run the task at 2:30 pm every four days, enter 2:30 and 4.
1 Enter the Interval and Start Time. 2 Select each day on which to run the task. For example, to run the task at 6 am every Tuesday and Thursday, enter 1 and 6 am, and select Tuesday and Thursday. Enter the Start Time. Specify the days by using one of the following methods. n Enter a specific date of the month. n Select first, second, third, fourth, or last, and select the day of the week. last runs the task on the last week in the month that the day occurs. For example, if you select the last Monday of the month and the month ends on a Sunday, the task runs six days before the end of the month. In Interval, enter the number of months between each task run.

Monthly

Click Next. Set up email notifications and click Next. Click Finish.
The vCenter Server system adds the task to the list in the Scheduled Tasks window.
Canceling Scheduled Tasks
Canceling a task stops a running task from occurring, regardless of whether the task was a real-time task or a scheduled task. The operation cancels only the running task. If the task being canceled is a scheduled task, subsequent runs are not canceled. Tasks that arent running can be cleared when they are in a queued or scheduled state. In such cases, because the cancel operation is not available, either remove the task or reschedule it to run at a different time. Removing a scheduled task requires that you recreate it to run it in the future, rescheduling does not. You can cancel the following tasks:
Connecting to a host Cloning a virtual machine Deploying a virtual machine Migrating a powered off virtual machine. This task is cancelable only when the source disks have not been deleted.
If your vSphere uses virtual services, you can also cancel the following scheduled tasks:
Change the power state of a virtual machine Make a snapshot of a virtual machine
Change or Reschedule a Task

Performance Metrics

Performance metrics are collected on ESX/ESXi servers and vCenter Servers for managed objects and the physical and virtual devices associated with these objects. Each object and device has its own set of data counters that provide the metadata for the metrics. The performance metrics for VMware vSphere are organized into tables for each metric group: cluster services, CPU, disk, management agent, memory, network, system, and virtual machine operations. Each table contains the following information: Counter Label Lists the display name of each data counter. Indicates the name of the data counter as displayed in the APIs and advanced performance charts. In some cases the labels are different in the overview performance charts. Provides a brief description of the metric. Measurement used during the statistics interval. The Stats Type is related to the unit of measurement and can be one of the following:

Description Stats Type

Rate - Value over the current statistics interval. Delta - Change from previous statistics interval. Absolute - Absolute value, independent of the statistics interval.
How the statistic quantity is measured across the collection interval, for example, kiloBytes (KB) and kiloBytesPerSecond (KBps). NOTE For some statistics, the value is converted before it is displayed in the overview performance charts. For example, memory usage is displayed in KiloBytes by the APIs and the advanced performance charts, but it is displayed in MegaBytes in the overview performance charts.

Rollup Type

Indicates the calculation method used during the statistics interval to roll up data. Determines the type of statistical values that are returned for the counter. For real-time data, the value shown is the current value. One of:
Average - Data collected is averaged. Minimum - The minimum value collected is rolled up. Maximum - The maximum value collected is rolled up. Summation - Data collected is summed. Latest - Data collected is the most recent value.

Collection Level

Indicates the minimum value to which the statistics collection level must be set for the metric to be gathered during each collection interval. You can assign a collection level of 1 to 4 to each collection interval enabled on your vCenter Server, with 4 containing the most data counters. Indicates the entity for which the counter applies. One of: