Using VMware ThinApp Packages with Citrix XenApp

I have yet to try out VMware ThinApp, but I do really like the concepts on it and  the features. I gotta set some time to do some testing real soon.

However I found this nice article on using VMware ThinApp packages with Citrix XenApp. Its good reading.

What I was first thinking about VMware ThinApp is that I could reinstall my Laptop PC with a clean OS and ThinApp all my applications such as Office, Adobe Reader etc. This way - my laptop would always start alot faster and I would only use resources on the applications whenever I launch the ThinApp’ed package. And no ThinApp agent has to be installed on your machine ever.

I just gotta start pack some applications with ThinApp.

VMware ESX and ESXi Comparison

VMware has just released an updated VMware ESX and ESXi Comparison:

Capability	VMware ESX	VMware ESXi
Service Console	Service Console is a standard Linux environment through which a user has privileged access to the VMware ESX kernel. This Linux-based privileged access allows you to highly customizing your environment by installing agents and drivers and executing scripts and other Linux-environment code.	VMware ESXi is designed to make the server a computing appliance. Accordingly, VMware ESXi behaves more like firmware than traditional software. To provide hardware-like security and reliability, VMware ESXi does not support a privileged access environment like the Service Console of VMware ESX. To enable interaction with agents, VMware has provisioned CIM Providers through which monitoring and management tasks – traditionally done through Service Console agents – can be performed. VMware has provisioned RCLI to allow the execution of scripts.
Remote CLI	VMware ESX Service Console has a host CLI command through which VMware ESX can be configured. ESX 3.5 Update 2 supports RCLI.	VMware ESX Service Console CLI has been ported to a Remote CLI (RCLI) for VMware ESXi. RCLI is a virtual appliance that interacts with VMware ESXi hosts to enable host configuration through scripts or specific commands.   Note: RCLI is limited to read-only access for the free version of VMware ESXi. To enable full functionality of RCLI on a VMware ESXi host, the host must be licensed with VI Foundation, VI Standard, or VI Enterprise.   The following Service Console CLI commands have not been implemented in RCLI: ESXcfg-info ESXcfg-resgrp ESXcfg-swiscsi
Scriptable Installation	VMware ESX supports scriptable installations through utilities like KickStart.	VMware ESXi Installable does not support scriptable installations in the manner ESX does, at this time. VMware ESXi does provide support for post installation configuration script using RCLI-based configuration scripts.
Serial Cable Connectivity	VMware ESX supports interaction through direct-attached serial cable to the VMware ESX host.	VMware ESXi does not support interaction through direct-attached serial cable to the VMware ESXi host at this time.
SNMP	VMware ESX supports SNMP.	VMware ESXi supports SNMP when licensed to a VI Foundation, VI Standard, or VI Enterprise edition. The free version of VMware ESXi does not support SNMP.
Active Directory Integration	VMware ESX supports Active Directory integration through third-party agents installed on the Service Console.	VMware ESXi with a Virtual Infrastructure license and in conjunction with VirtualCenter allows users to be authenticated via Active Directory. In this configuration, users can log in directly to an ESXi host and authenticate using a local username and password.   The free version of VMware ESXi does not support Active Directory integration at this time.
HW Instrumentation	Service Console agents provide a range of HW instrumentation on VMware ESX.	VMware ESXi provides HW instrumentation through CIM Providers. Standards-based CIM Providers are distributed with all versions of VMware ESXi. VMware partners may inject their own proprietary CIM Providers in customized versions of VMware ESXi. To obtain a customized version of VMware ESXi, you typically have to purchase a server with embedded VMware ESXi through a server vendor.   At this time, HP also offers its customized VMware ESXi Installable on www.vmware.com. Dell and IBM will soon offer their customized version of VMware ESXi on www.vmware.com.   Remote console applications like Dell DRAC, HP iLO, and IBM RSA are supported with ESXi.   Note: COS agents have a longer lineage than CIM Providers and are therefore more mature. VMware is actively working with its 250+ partners to close the CIM Provider–Service Console agent gap.
Software Patches and Updates	VMware ESX software patches and upgrades behave like traditional Linux based patches and upgrades. The installation of a software patch or upgrade may require multiple system boots as the patch or upgrade may have dependencies on previous patches or upgrades.	VMware ESXi patches and updates behave like firmware patches and updates. Any given patch or update is all-inclusive of previous patches and updates. That is, installing patch version “n” includes all updates included in patch versions n-1, n-2, and so forth.
VI Web Access	VMware ESX supports managing your virtual machines through VI Web Access. You can use the VI Web Access to connect directly to the ESX host or to the VMware Infrastructure Client.	VMware ESXi does not support web access at this time.
Licensing	VMware ESX hosts can be licensed as part of a VMware Infrastructure 3 Foundation, Standard, or Enterprise suite.	VMware ESXi hosts can be individually licensed (for free) or licensed as part of a VMware Infrastructure 3 Foundation, Standard, or Enterprise suite.   Individually licensed ESXi hosts offer a subset of management capabilities (see SNMP and Remote CLI).

 

	ESXi (ESX not available without VI)	VI Foundation (with ESX or ESXi)	VI Standard (with ESX or ESXi)	VI Enterprise (with ESX or ESXi)
Core hypervisor functionality	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Virtual SMP	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
VMFS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
VirtualCenter Agent		Yes	Yes	Yes
Update Manager		Yes	Yes	Yes
Consolidated Backup		Yes	Yes	Yes
High Availability			Yes	Yes
VMotion				Yes
Storage VMotion				Yes
DRS				Yes
DPM				Yes

VMware and VSS - Application Backup and Recovey whitepaper from Veeam Software

Veeam Software has just released an interesting whitepaper about application backup and recovery using different disaster recovery solutions. One of the new features in VMware Consolidated Backup 1.5 (from the VI 3.5 Update 2) is support for Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS).

Using VSS along with an image‐level backup of virtual machines (VM) running supported applications allows you to create a transactionally consistent backup image. With such a backup image, you can successfully recover both the VM, and any supported application installed on the VM.

This is very interesting and along time awaited feature. One important thing to notice is that to enable the VSS feature - VMware Tools also needs to be updated and in VMware Tools on each VM you have to enable the VSS support:

1. In the VMware Tools installer, select Modify > Drivers > VSS.
2. Complete the installation process.
3. Restart the virtual machine to make sure VSS components are installed and running.

To read the full whitepaper from Veeam Software click here

Veeam Software has also posted a video testimonial that supports this paper. It’s available at their corporate blog

Remember any time you implement new features to test the implementation thoroughly in a LAB environment if possible.

Letter from VMware CEO Paul Maritz

Last night, we became aware of a code issue with the recently released update to ESX 3.5 and ESXi 3.5 (Update 2). 

When the time clock in a server running ESX 3.5 or ESXi 3.5 Update 2 hits 12:00AM on August 12th, 2008, the released code causes the product license to expire.  The problem has also occurred with a recent patch to ESX 3.5 or ESXi 3.5 Update 2.  When an ESX or ESXi 3.5 server thinks its license has expired, the following can happen:

• Virtual machines that are powered off cannot be turned on
• Virtual machines that have been suspended fail to leave suspend mode; and,
• Virtual machines cannot be migrated using VMotion.

The issue was caused by a piece of code that was mistakenly left enabled for the final release of Update 2.  This piece of code was left over from the pre-release versions of Update 2 and was designed to ensure that customers are running on the supported generally available version of Update 2.

In remedying the situation, we’ve already released an express patch for those customers that have installed/upgraded to ESX or ESXi 3.5 Update 2.  Within the next 24 hours, we also expect to issue a full replacement for Update 2, which should be used by customers who want to perform fresh installs of ESX or ESXi. 

I am sure you’re wondering how this could happen.  We failed in two areas:

• Not disabling the code in the final release of Update 2; and
• Not catching it in our quality assurance process. 

We are doing everything in our power to make sure this doesn’t happen again.  VMware prides itself on the quality and reliability of our products, and this incident has prompted a thorough self-examination of how we create and deliver products to our customers.  We have kicked off a comprehensive, in-depth review of our QA and release processes, and will quickly make the needed changes.

I want to apologize for the disruption and difficulty this issue may have caused to our customers and our partners.  Your confidence in VMware is extremely important to us, and we are committed to restoring that confidence fully and quickly.

Thank You,

Paul Maritz
President and CEO
VMware

Patch for the Update2 bug available

VMware released the patch for the Update2 bug:

Error description:

This product has expired. Be sure that your host machine’s date and time are set correctly.
There is a more recent version available at the VMware web site: http://www.vmware.com/info?id=4.

And - Module License Power on failed

Manual Migration Procedure for Moving a Virtual Machine on ESX host

For migrating a virtual machine without VirtualCenter, use the following procedure. This could be useful for installations without VirtualCenter.

1. Power down the virtual machine you are moving.
2. Log in to the source ESX host as root.
3. You must have root login over SSH enabled on the destination. For this procedure, see http://kb.vmware.com/kb/8375637.
4. For each ESX host, be sure you enable outbound SSH communication on the firewall, under Configuration > Security Profile > Properties… and check the box for SSH Client. Using scp -r, copy the virtual machine from the source ESX Server host to the destination ESX Server host.
5. scp -r /vmfs/volumes/<datastore name>/<VM name>/ root@<destination hostname or IP>:/vmfs/volumes/<datastore name>/
6. Open the VI Client and log into the destination ESX Server host.
7. Double-click the datastore icon and browse to the location of the virtual machine.
8. Right-click the .vmx file and choose Add to Inventory.
9. It is now safe to power on the virtual machine.
10. Open VI Client and log into the source ESX host.
11. Right-click the original virtual machine and either delete it, or remove it from the inventory if you want to keep a backup copy.

Problems with starting VMs in ESX 3.5 Update2

A bug has been discovered in the new Update 2 for ESX 3.5. The error is:

This product has expired. Be sure that your host machine’s date and time are set correctly.

What does this mean? - It means that every running VM will continue to run. However ESX wont be able to poweron new VMs. If for example a host dies and HA needs to kick in - it would not start the VMs up again.

VMware is working on a patch as we speak and will release it within 36 hours. Alot has already created SR Requests as VMware.

So what should exsisting VMware customers do. Well - try avoid restart any VMs and let the system run as normal.

If you have a VM that needs to be powered on - you have to set the date on the host back… However - be carefull with this - if you have configured time synchronization within VMware Tools.

VMware has released a kb article on this - but unfortunately alot is trying to access it and causes timeouts…

I will post more on this when I get new info.

Update:

Resolution

An issue with ESX/ESXi 3.5 Update 2 causes the product license to expire on August 12, 2008. VMware engineering has isolated the root cause of this issue and will reissue the various upgrade media including the ESX 3.5 Update 2 ISO, ESXi 3.5 Update 2 ISO, ESX 3.5 Update 2 upgrade tar and zip files by noon, PST on August 13. These will be available from the page: http://www.vmware.com/download/vi. Until then, VMware advises against upgrading to ESX/ESXi 3.5 Update 2.

The Update patch bundles will be released separately later in the week.

This KB article will be updated as soon as more information is available, check back frequently for updates and additions.

Update2:

VMware has started to email customers that have downloaded the Update 2 package. The following is FAQ around this update:

FAQ:

1.     What would this express patch do?

More information will be provided in subsequent communication updates.

2.     Will VMware still reissue the upgrade media and patch bundles in the timeframe that has been communicated?

Yes. We still plan to reissue upgrade media by 6pm, August 13 PST (instead of noon, August 13 PST) and all update patch bundles later in the week. We will provide an ETA for the update patch bundles subsequently. NOTE: the “patch bundles” referred to here are for the patches listed above under “Affected Products” and the other bundles released at GA. They are not the same as the express patch which is targeted for 6pm, August 12, 2008 PST as stated above.

3.     Why does VMware plan to reissue the upgrade media before the patch bundles? That is a wrong priority call!

This is not a matter of priority. Since we can get done building and testing the upgrade media before the patch bundles, we want to make that available to customers first instead of reissuing all the binaries later in the week.

4.     Can VMware issue a patch that opens the licensing backdoor in the next hour as a critical measure?

There is no licensing backdoor in our code.

5.     Does this issue affect VC 2.5 Update 2?

No.

VMware ESX Hypervisor is Hands-Down Product of Choice for Windows Administrators

The Windows IT Pro editorial team looks at dozens if not hundreds of products every year, and picking one winner out of all those in a particular category is always a challenge. That predicament is further amplified when considering a product for our most prestigious Product of the Year award. VMware ESX Server 3.5—a subset of the VMware Infrastructure 3 bundle—made our decision easy this year. Virtualization has shaken the IT industry to its roots over the past few years, and no product influenced that sea change more than the ESX Server family. In addition to the energy and cost savings that ESX Server 3.5 has generated, it has also helped radically redefine how IT pros manage their infrastructures.

Link to WindowsITPro

Link to VMware

Also if you scrolldown on the WindowsITPro link above another VMware products have been selected as runner up in the Virtualization category:

Thinstall’s name changed to VMware ThinApp in the midst of our judging, but everything that makes this a great application virtualization product has remained the same. If you’re looking for an easy, no-fuss way to virtualize applications, you need look no further than ThinApp.

Whitepaper: A Practical Guide to Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery with VMware Infrastructure

VMware has released a new whitepaper: A Practical Guide to Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery with VMware Infrastructure

This VMware® VMbook focuses on business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) and is intended to guide the reader through the step-by-step process to set-up a multisite VMware Infrastructure that is capable of supporting BCDR services for designated virtual machines at time of test or during an actual event that necessitated the declaration of a disaster, resulting in the activation of services in a designated BCDR site.

VMware Check license web feature

 Does your VMware server-based license file cause troubles for you? - Then you can use this cool web feature to validate your license files:

http://www.vmware.com/checklicense/

Just copy and insert the content of your license file and press validate. This will check and correct any errors found and supply you with new content for your license file.