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Handy tidbits & workarounds for the VCS to VCSA Migration Fling

09.23.2015 by William Lam //

The VCS (Windows VC) to VCSA Migration Fling has been out for a little over 6 months and the response from customers thus far has simply been phenomenal. We have also received some great feedback (200+ comments) from customers who have tried out the Fling in either a Dev/Test environment and some even in their production environment for those that are a bit more on the adventurous side. I have also had the pleasure in talking to some of these customers who have been successful in migrating off of their Windows vCenter Server (both large and small) and onto the vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) and sharing additional feedback they may have about the Fling and how we can further improve.

Given the popularity of this topic, I thought it would be useful to aggregate some of the learning's, tidbits and workarounds that have been discovered in the past 6months to help any new or even existing users who might be interested in trying out the Fling. We really do appreciate all the feedback that everyone has given in the various forms and in fact, several of the workarounds were ones provided by our customers. As you know, the Fling today is not currently officially supported, however the feedback has really helped our PM/Engineering team. In fact, you can even get a sneak peak at an early Tech Preview we did at VMworld here to give you an idea on how some of your feedback has influenced a feature that may or may not be out in the near future 😉

Tidbit 1 Microsoft Windows 2012 is currently not supported.
Additional Info There is a known winexe bug which is affects migrating from this specific OS platform.
Workaround Engineering has a fix for this and is currently in the process of testing the fix along with legal review. There is not an ETA due to the review but we hope to release an update to Fling that includes this fix very soon. Stay tuned!This has been resolved with v0.9.1 of the Migration Appliance and for more details please take a look here.
Tidbit 2 Use of non-default (custom) ports on Microsoft SQL Server Database is not supported
Additional Info The Fling currently assumes the SQL Server Database is running on port 1433
Workaround Engineering has a fix for this and is currently in the process of testing the fix along with legal review. There is not an ETA due to the review but we hope to release an update to Fling that includes this fix very soon. Stay tuned!
Tidbit 3 Use of an Embedded Microsoft SQL Server or Microsoft SQL Express Database on the vCenter Server is not supported
Additional Info Since the source Windows vCenter Server must be powered off during the database migration; running the database on the same source vCenter Server is not possible.
Workaround One option is to re-ip the source Windows vCenter Server and ensuring the vCenter Server service is completely disable which would allow the Migration Appliance to communicate with the database. This is not ideal as you are modifying the source Windows vCenter Server but has worked in our testing. Second option that several other customers have recommended instead is to export the vCenter Server Database to a single instance of a Microsoft SQL Server or Microsoft SQL Express and that has worked really well.
Tidbit 4 Clustered database such as Microsoft Clustering Services (MSCS) is not supported
Additional Info There have been issues from some customers when trying to connect to an instance of the vCenter Server Database behind an MSCS Cluster.
Workaround Exporting the vCenter Server Database to a single instance of a Microsoft SQL Server or Microsoft SQL Express and then using the Fling has worked for several customers.
Tidbit 5 Issues connecting to a non-default named instance (e.g. SERVERNAME\VCENTER) of the vCenter Server Database.
Additional Info Some customers have had issues with the connection string to a non-default named instance of the vCenter Server Database during the database migration portion of the Fling.
Workaround A solution that was identified by a customer used the following: http://stackoverflow.com/a/11921896/2668394
Tidbit 6 Upgrade to VCSA 6.0 after migrating from Windows vCenter Server 5.5 to VCSA 5.5 fails
Additional Info You see the following error "Extra sequences: vpx_host_cnx_seq;" in /var/log/vmware/upgrade/vcdb_req.err during the upgrade to VCSA 6.0. These sequences are only found and valid in a Microsoft SQL Server Database and are not relevant in an vPostgres Database and just simply need to be dropped as they are not used at all.
Workaround Login to the VCSA 6.0 appliance as root and run the following command: /opt/vmware/vpostgres/current/bin/psql -U postgres -d VCDB -c "drop sequence if exists vpx_host_cnx_seq cascade"

If you are running into issues while through the the migration, one thing you can do is login to the Migration Appliance and go to another virtual console (ALT+F2) and view the Migration logs  under /var/log/migrate.log SSH is currently not installed by default. If you wish to pull out the logs for additional support, you can install which will require internet access and you can do so by running the following commands:

sudo apt-get -y update
sudo apt-get -y install openssh-server
sudo /etc/init.d/ssh start

The credentials to the Migration Appliance is vmware/vmware

Lastly, if there are other tidbits or workarounds that you would like to share, feel free to leave a comment and I will get it added to the list.

Categories // VCSA, vSphere 6.0 Tags // Fling, migrate2vcsa, migration, vcenter server appliance, VCSA, vcva, vSphere 5.5

Which Platform Services Controller (PSC) is my vCenter Server pointing to?

09.21.2015 by William Lam // 15 Comments

In vSphere 6.0 Update 1, one of the new features that is available for both the vCenter Server for Windows and vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) is the ability to "repoint" the vCenter Server to a new or existing Platform Services Controller (PSC). The process is pretty straight forward and is nicely outlined in the following KB articles: KB 2113917 and KB 2131191.

One obvious question that might come up before you decide to repoint is what is the current PSC that my vCenter Server is currently pointing to? This was actually a question that I had just received this morning from one of my readers. Though I had some of the details documented in these two articles here and here on locating all deployed PSC's and vCenter Server's, I figured it was probably worth pulling this topic out into its own blog post for ease of searching.

Note: The solution below is applicable to both vSphere 6.0 and vSphere 6.0 Update 1, but the ability to repoint is only available in Update 1.

There are two methods in which you can quickly identify the PSC that your vCenter Server is currently pointing to.

Option 1: Using the vSphere Web/C# Client

Under the vCenter Server's Advanced Setting, there is a property called "config.vpxd.sso.admin.uri" which specifies the PSC it is currently configured with. This is the most simplistic approach if you want to do it using the vSphere UI. Also note this is available through the vSphere API, so you can also query this from the command-line

which-psc-is-my-vcenter-server-connected-to-2
Option 2: Using vmafd-cli command-line

The second option is to use the handy vmafd-cli utility which is avialable on the vCenter Server itself. You will need to run the following command depending on your vCenter Server platform (Windows or VCSA):

VCSA:

/usr/lib/vmware-vmafd/bin/vmafd-cli get-ls-location --server-name localhost

Windows VC:

C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\vmafdd\vmafd-cli get-ls-location --server-name localhost

Here is a screenshot of running the command on the VCSA:

which-psc-is-my-vcenter-server-connected-to-0

Categories // VCSA, vSphere 6.0 Tags // platform service controller, psc, vCenter Server, vcenter server appliance, VCSA, vcva, vmafd-cli, vSphere 6.0, vSphere 6.0 Update 1

How to upgrade from VCSA 5.x & 6.x to VCSA 6.0 Update 1?

09.11.2015 by William Lam // 100 Comments

I have seen quite a few questions come in on how to properly upgrade from an existing vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) 5.x and/or 6.x environment to the latest vSphere 6.0 Update 1 which was just released today. Before I jump straight into the process, I think its worth covering on how updates (patches) and upgrades have traditionally been handled for the VCSA. In an update or patch scenario, you are staying within a major release of vSphere (e.g. vSphere 5.0) and moving to something like vSphere 5.0 p01 and in this case, an in-place update or patch is performed. In an upgrade scenario, where you are moving from one major release (e.g. vSphere 5.0) to another major release (e.g. vSphere 6.0), a "migration based" approach is taken. This means that you would need to deploy the new VCSA that you wish to upgrade to and then migrate the data from your old VCSA appliance to the new one which is part of the upgrade workflow. This "migration based" approach was also true for any "U" (Update) releases (e.g. vSphere 5.5 to vSphere 5.5 Update 1). 

For major releases, this makes perfect sense and provides customers a nice way to easily rollback if something goes wrong. You simply power off the new VCSA and then power on your original VCSA and you are back in business. For update releases, we have heard from our customers that this process was not ideal and though there is always a risk when updating software (which is why I always recommend customers test thoroughly in a Dev/Test environment before moving to production), the amount of changes in the code is significantly less when compared to a major upgrade. One of the new features that we have introduced in vSphere 6.0 Update 1 is an in-place upgrade for "U" (Update) releases which I have already blogged about here among other new features.

This means that if you are coming from a VCSA 6.x environment and you wish to upgrade to vSphere 6.0 Update 1, you simply just mount the vSphere 6.0 Update 1 Patch ISO to your VCSA 6.x environment and perform the update from the command-line via the appliancesh interface. This is quite nice as it reduces the need to copy data between your old and new appliance and helps reduce the overall downtime. In fact, you can upgrade to vSphere 6.0 Update 1 in about 10min or so using this new method. If you are coming from a VCSA 5.x (5.0, 5.1 or 5.5) environment, this would be consider a major to major upgrade and you would need to follow the "migration based" approach to upgrade to vSphere 6.0 Update 1. One other thing to note after you have upgraded to vSphere 6.0 Update 1, we have now re-introduced URL based patching via the VAMI interface. This means in the future, you no longer need to update or patch from an ISO but can do so directly from VMware's online repository.

Below are the instructions on upgrading from VCSA 6.x to VCSA 6.0 Update 1:

Note (09/14/15):

  • If you have an External PSC with your VCSA 6.x and wish to upgrade, the process shown below is the same for both the PSC and the VCSA. You will want to first upgrade your PSC first as that provides authentication to your vCenter Server. Once the PSC has been upgraded and accessible on the network again, you will then want to move to your VCSA. If you are interested in the proper sequence and ordering of VMware Products to update, you can also check out this handy VMware KB 2109760 which provides all the details
  • Thanks to fellow reader Idan for reporting this but it looks like after an upgrade of the VCSA, the default VMware URL for the VAMI is not working. You will need to update it to point to the following URL https://vapp-updates.vmware.com/vai-catalog/valm/vmw/647ee3fc-e6c6-4b06-9dc2-f295d12d135c/6.0.0.10000.latest/ instead of the default one as shown in the screenshot below. This is only applicable for upgrade scenarios. If you deploy a new VCSA 6.0 Update 1, it will automatically be using the correct URL

incorrect-vami-repo-url
Step 0 - Ensure you have a proper backup and take a snapshot of your VCSA 6.x appliance before beginning.

Step 1 - Download the VCSA 6.0 Update 1 Full Patch (VMware-vCenter-Server-Appliance-6.0.0.10000-3018521-patch-FP.iso) by visiting the VMware Patch Download site.

upgrade-from-vcsa-6.0-to-vcsa-6.0-update-1-0
Step 2 - Mount the VCSA 6.0 Update 1 Patch ISO to your VCSA 6.x appliance using either the vSphere Web/C# Client

Step 3 - Login to your VCSA 6.x appliance via SSH to the appliancesh interface. If you have disabled that, simply type "appliancesh" and login with the root credentials.

Step 4 - Run the following command to stage and install the patches from the VCSA 6.0 Update 1 Patch ISO:

software-packages install --iso --acceptEulas

upgrade-from-vcsa-6.0-to-vcsa-6.0-update-1-1
Note: If you run into any errors while either staging or installing the patches, you should drop into the bash shell and take a look at /var/log/vmware/applmgmt/software-packages.log file for additional information. One common issue that I have seen in the past is if your /storage/log partition is full and you may need to perform a clean up before continuing.

Step 5 - Once the upgrade has completed, you just need to reboot your VCSA by running the following command:

shutdown reboot -r "Updated to vSphere 6.0u1"

upgrade-from-vcsa-6.0-to-vcsa-6.0-update-1-2
Step 6 - A quick way to confirm that you have successfully upgraded your VCSA to vSphere 6.0 Update 1, simply open a browser to the following URL: https://[VCSA-IP]:5480 and it should take you to the new HTML5 VAMI interface.

upgrade-from-vcsa-6.0-to-vcsa-6.0-update-1-3
If you would like additional information, take a look at this VMware KB 2119924.

Categories // VCSA Tags // appliancesh, upgrade, vami, VCSA, vcva, vSphere 6.0 Update 1

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William is Distinguished Platform Engineering Architect in the VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) Division at Broadcom. His primary focus is helping customers and partners build, run and operate a modern Private Cloud using the VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) platform.

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