Category Archives: Virtualization

Hyper-V Host Patching – Cluster Aware Updading vs. Virtual Machine Manager Fabric Patching

Posted on by
Reply

Windows Server 2012 Logo

In the past weeks I was giving a Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V workshop to customers and as we went to the Hyper-V host management I talked about how you can update your Hyper-V infrastructure and how you can automatically update your Hyper-V cluster.

If we do not think about System Center Orchestrator we have basically two solutions to fully upgrade our Hyper-V clusters first is the System Center Virtual Machine Manager Fabric Patching which is available since System Center 2012. The second one is a new one called Cluster Aware Updating which is included in Windows Server 2012.

Both solutions do basically the same thing and using the same concept:

  1. Scanning the Hyper-V host for updates
  2. Putting the first node in maintenance mode and pause the node in the cluster
  3. Moving all virtual machines to other nodes of the cluster
  4. Installing the patches
  5. rebooting the server
  6. checking if all services are up again
  7. stop the maintenance mode
  8. start doing the same with the next node

This is basically what both solutions are doing, but there are small differences between them and both have advantages and disadvantages.

Cluster Aware Updating (CAU)

  • Moving not only virtual machines to other nodes, it does also move other cluster roles and cluster disks to other nodes
  • Cluster Aware Updating can use different update sources (Windows Update, Microsoft Update, WSUS, SCCM,…)
  • You can apply hotfixes via CAU
  • Cluster Aware Updating has APIs for third party vendors
  • You can do driver or firmware updates via CAU
  • You can schedule it via Self-Updating mode
  • Run pre- and post-scripts
  • Update Approval process over WSUS or SCCM
  • Only supporting Windows Server 2012
  • Coordination via cluster role

System Center Virtual Machine Manager

  • Does only move virtual machines to other nodes
  • Needs a WSUS server where the updates come from
  • Only updates which can be installed via WSUS
  • Virtualization (Fabric) Administrator will create update baselines and approve updates
  • Not third-party integration
  • Log – logs which administrator approved the updates
  • Integration in System Center Operations Manager, sets host in maintenance mode on SCOM so no alerts are generated.
  • Role based update management
  • Supports Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V.
  • Coordination via Virtual Machine Manager

Both solution do a great job and can of course be extended by using Windows PowerShell, System Center Orchestrator or third-party products.

The two main differences are Windows Server 2012 Cluster Aware Updating is definitely the newer solution with extensibility for third-party solutions with support for other cluster roles not just Hyper-V. Where System Center Virtual Machine is the clear winner, is where you have security roles in place and you need logs and other security features. And System Center Virtual Machine Manager has also a connection to System Center Operations Manager which lets you set Hyper-V nodes to maintenance mode.

More information about System Center Universe DACH/Europe in Bern Switzerland

Posted on by
Reply

SCU2013

Some days ago System Center Universe DACH/Europe was announced and finally we got more information on the event it self.

Finally the event will be a two day event on September 16th/17th 2013 in Bern Switzerland. There will be sessions in 4 parallel tracks, 2 Keynotes (day 1 and day 2) and approx. 36 Breakout sessions with a lot of System Center and Windows Server specialist, Microsoft MVPs and Microsoft employees as speakers.

Markus Erlacher (CH) General Manager itnetx and former Microsoft Senior Technical Solution Professional http://www.itnetx.ch/ @markuserlacher
Maarten Goet (NL) Microsoft MVP [System Center Cloud & Datacenter Management] http://www.opslogix.com/ http://www.inovativ.nl/ @maarten_goet
Thomas Maurer (CH) Microsoft MVP [VIrtual Machine] http://www.itnetx.ch/ http://www.thomasmaurer.ch/ @thomasmaurer
Mike Resseler (BE) Microsoft MVP [System Center Cloud & Datacenter Management] http://scug.be/mike/ @mikeresseler
Travis Wright (USA) Principal Program Manager for Windows Server & System Center Microsoft Corp / @radtravis
Marcel Zehner (CH) Microsoft MVP [System Center Cloud & Datacenter Management] http://www.itnetx.ch/ http://blog.scsmfaq.ch/ @scsmfaq
Pete Zerger (USA) Microsoft MVP [System Center Cloud & Datacenter Management] @pzerger
Philipp Witschi (CH) Virtualization and Fabric Management Subject Matter Expert http://www.itnetx.ch/ @philippwitschi
Carsten Rachfahl (D) Microsoft MVP [VIrtual Machine] http://www.hyper-v-server.de/ @hypervserver
Andreas Baumgarten (D) Microsoft MVP [System Center Cloud & Datacenter Management] http://startblog.hud.de/ @abaumgarten
Stefan Roth (CH) Cloud Architect, SCOM Subject Matter Expert  http://www.itnetx.ch/ http://blog.scomfaq.ch/ @scomfaq.
Stefan Johner (CH) Cloud Engineer, SCSM Subject Matter Expert http://www.itnetx.ch/ http://scsmlab.com/ @scsmlab
Mike Epprecht (CH) Technical Evangelist DPE Microsoft Switzerland  @fastflame
Stefan Koell (A) Microsoft MVP [System Center Cloud & Datacenter Management] http://code4ward.net/ @stefankoell
Markus Klein (D) Microsoft MVP [System Center Cloud & Datacenter Management] http://www.ms-privatecloud.info/ @markusklein01
Michel Lüscher (CH) Senior Consultant - MCS Switzerland
Thomas Roettinger (D) Program Manager Server and Cloud Division Microsoft Germany @troettinger

If you need more information about System Center Universe Europe check out the System Center Universe website and checkout the blog post from Stefan Roth: System Center Universe DACH/Europe (SCU DACH) – FAQ

Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V: Configure VM Processor Compatibility for Legacy Operating Systems

Posted on by
1

Windows Server 2012 Logo

In Windows Server 2008 R2 you had a setting in the Hyper-V Manager GUI to enable Processor Compatibility for legacy operating systems such as Windows NT 4.0 Server or Windows Server 2000. In Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V this setting is gone from the GUI, but you can still change it via Windows PowerShell.

By using the Get-VMProcessor cmdlet you can list the virtual CPU information of your Hyper-V virtual machines.

Hyper-V Get-VMProcessor

As you can see you can find a property called CompatibilityForOlderOperatingSystemsEnabled which is set to “False” by default and this is okay in 99% of all cases. But even if Windows NT 4.0 Server or Windows Server 2000 is not officially supported by Microsoft anymore there are some customers which have to run some VMs with legacy operating systems and by changing this setting via Windows PowerShell and the Set-VMProcessor cmdlet you can allow VMs to run old operating systems.


Set-VMProcessor NT4VM -CompatibilityForOlderOperatingSystemsEnabled 1

And of course you can also change it back


Set-VMProcessor NT4VM -CompatibilityForOlderOperatingSystemsEnabled 0

Virtual Machine Backup and Recovery: Five Critical Decisions

Posted on by
1

Virtual Machine Backup and Recovery

Together with Symantec, Mahmoud Magdy (Microsoft MVP for Exchange Server) and Mikko Nykyri (VMware vExpert) we produced a whitepaper called “Virtual Machine Backup and Recovery: Five Critical Decisions”. This whitepaper covers an overview about virtualization and the challenges which come with the new workloads in terms of backup and recovery.

Because of the outstanding economy, flexibility, and service levels it offers, virtualization is  transforming data centers at breakneck speed: by 2016, an estimated 80 percent of the world’s x86 servers will be virtual machines (VMs).1 But the speed of this transformation, along with  the high resource utilization, ease of cloning,  moving workloads, and other ways virtualization  works its magic, raise challenges for “traditional” IT services and the teams that deliver them. Nowhere is the complexity that virtualization creates for traditional IT services more apparent than in backup and recovery, which participants in a recent Symantec survey ranked among their least-successful IT initiatives. This paper addresses five critical decisions organizations  must make when building a backup and recovery plan to:

  • Maintain protection, visibility, and control of applications  and data.
  • Maximize utilization of established infrastructure,  processes, staff, and budget.
  • Use virtualization to improve backup and recovery processes.
  • Create an efficient, scalable, future-prepared backup and recovery environment.

Each issue is presented first in general terms that apply across IT environments, and then add comments for specific platforms, applications, or industries based on our individual experience as VMware® vExperts and Microsoft® MVPs.

You can download the whitepaper here: Symantec Virtual Machine Backup and Recovery: Five Critical Decisions

Make also sure you checkout the Google Hangout event on Fri, May 10, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM.

Join a panel of virtualization experts including Microsoft MVPs Mahmoud Magdy & Thomas Mauer and VMware vExpert Mikko Nykyri as they discuss the white paper they co-authored and offer their thoughts on the most important things to consider for a virtualized server environment.

 

System Center Universe DACH/Europe (SCU DACH) announced

Posted on by
Reply

SCU2013

Have you ever heard of the famous System Center Universe (SCU) hosted by Catapult Systems? If not then it’s about time to visit http://www.systemcenteruniverse.com and check out the excellent content.

After talking to Catapult Systems we decided to bring this great event to Europe. We are now in the planning phase, talking to partners, speakers, sponsors etc. that are interested to partner with us and help making this event coming true. Visit the event web site where we will start publishing more information shortly!

http://www.systemcenteruniverse.ch

How to install System Center 2012 SP1 Update Rollup 2 for VMM

Posted on by
3

System Center Logo

Microsoft last week released the Update Rollup 2 for System Center 2012 SP1 – Virtual Machine Manager which includes a lot of fixes and improvements. If you want to update you can do this by using the Windows Update scenario or install it manually.

You have to uninstall the Update Rollup 1 for SCVMM (you can find more on the reason on Carmen Summers blog post). Windows Update will not show you the Update Rollup to before you have uninstalled UR1.

If you have downloaded the Update Rollup 2 via the Windows Update Catalog and have installed it manually, it’s recommended that you uninstall UR2 first, after that uninstall UR1 and finally install UR2 on a System Center 2012 SP1 installation without any Update Rollups installed.

SCVMM Agent Update

After you have installed the Update Rollup 2 for Virtual Machine Manager, make sure you also update the Agents on the Hyper-V hosts.

VMM Agent Versions:

Update Rollup 1: 3.1.6011.0
Update Rollup 2: 3.1.6020.0

SCVMM Agent Version

Btw. Remember to do this not only for the VMM management server, don’t forget the hosts where the VMM console is installed, like System Center App Controller.

System Center 2012 SP1 Virtual Machine Manager Update Rollup 2 available

Posted on by
Reply

System Center Logo

Some days ago Microsoft announced the availability of System Center 2012 SP1 – Update Rollup 2, which included fixes for the whole System Center suite expect Virtual Machine Manager. Yesterday Carmen Summers wrote in her blog post that System Center 2012 SP1 Update Rollup 2 for Virtual Machine Manager is now available as well.

And KB2826405 and KB2826392 fixes around 20 issues with Virtual Machine Manager:

Virtual Machine Manager Server (KB2826405) and Administration Console (KB2826392)

 

Issue 1
The SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 operating system is missing from the Linux OS list.

Issue 2
A virtual machine cannot start after migration from Windows 7 to Windows 8 when the DiscardSavedState method is used.

Issue 3
A connection to the VMware virtual machine remote console session cannot be established.

Issue 4
Externally published VMNDs are filtered incorrectly.

Issue 5
When you remove a virtual switch extension property or edit a virtual switch extension manager connection string, a user-interface generated script also removes the HostGroups that are associated with VSEM.

Issue 6
UPPSet is not set on a physical network adapter when you add the network adapter to a team and when the network adapter is the first in the list of network adapters.

Issue 7
The default gateway is missing on a host virtual network adapter after you add a second physical network adapter to the logical switch.

Issue 8
Static IP pool that has the first address in a subnet fails for external network type.

Issue 9
VMM crashes during host refresher when VMM is unable to create a CimSession with the remote host.

Issue 10
Standard (legacy) virtual switch creation on Windows 8 hosts with management virtual network adapter does not preserve the IP properties of the physical network adapter.

Issue 11
The administration user interface crashes with a NullReferenceException error when you click Remediate on a host instead of a virtual network adapter.

Issue 12
The Virtual Machine Manager user interface displays a network adapter in a “Not Connected” state.

Issue 13
The Virtual Machine Manager stops responding with high CPU usage for five to ten minutes when you configure a VMND that has 2,000 network segments.

Issue 14
The host virtual network adapter property for a management adapter does not show port classification.

Issue 15
Live Migration fails at 26 percent when the network adapter is attached to an
isolated virtual machine network.

Issue 16
The Virtual Machine Manager Service crashes when a virtual machine that does not have a port profile is migrated to a cluster by using a logical switch that has a default port profile set.

Issue 17
Running Dynamic Optimizer on a cluster with incompatible host CPUs causes a Virtual Machine Manager Service crash.

Issue 18
The Host refresher crashes for any host that has the RemoteFX role enabled.

Issue 19
The minimum memory for dynamic memory greater than 32GB is a security risk.

Issue 20
The status of the network adapter is displayed as Not Connected in Virtual Machine Manager.

Thanks to Michel Luescher (Consultant Microsoft Switzerland) for the info.