Summary
PXE Manager for vCenter enables ESXi host state (firmware) management and provisioning. Specifically, it allows:
- Automated provisioning of new ESXi hosts stateless and stateful (no ESX)
- ESXi host state (firmware) backup, restore, and archiving with retention
- ESXi builds repository management (stateless and statefull)
- ESXi Patch management
- Multi vCenter support
- Multi network support with agents (Linux CentOS virtual appliance will be available later)
- Wake on Lan
- Hosts memtest
- vCenter plugin
- Deploy directly to VMware Cloud Director
- Deploy to Cisco UCS blades
See the following document for further details:
System Requirements
Supported Operating Systems
Server
- Windows 2003 R2 any service pack
- Windows 2008 any service pack
- Windows 2008 R2 any service pack (suggested)
Agent
- Windows 2003 R2 only any service pack
- Windows 2008 any service pack
- Windows 2008 R2 any service pack
- Linux Redhat 5.3 5.4 5.5 (*)
- Linux CentOS 5.3 5.4 5.5 (*)
- Open Suse 11.x (*)
- Novell Suse enterprise 11 (*)
(*) Novell mono 2.6.7 is required
Plugin
- See vSphere client OS support.
Requirements
Server and Agent - Windows
- Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1
- Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 Update KB 959209
- Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Redistributable Package (x64)
Agent - Linux
- Mono 2.6.7
Plugin
- See vSphere client OS requirement.
Instructions
VMware PXE Server
Download and install the package, when the installation over a configuration program will be launched (vpxecmd.exe), follow the instruction. You need an administrative login to vCenter.
VMware PXE Plugin
With PXE Manager installed and running, open vSphere client, click on plugin and install the PXE Plugin. For help please watch the video provided.
Video
How to install PXE Manager
Install a stateless ESXi
Change Log
IMPORTANT: Before upgrading, please remove your old version.
4.1 GA Update 1 Build 3107
New Features
- VMware ESX to ESXi converter
- SDK as SOAP protocol
Updates
vGPXE server
- Added Agent build field
- Improved logs messages
- Added standardISO.xml file with all official VMware ESXi ISO and OEM (it's located on server directory)
- New install and uninstall (setup)
- New SDK and new WSDL file (SOAP)
vSphere Plugin
- Implemented automatic client upgrade (to future release)
- Added Agent Build field
- Add upgrade to host grid menu
- Fixed redeploy host (client hung)
- Changed MB to KB (host state archive grid)
- Added sync from deployed menu option on Host Grid
- Changed sync icon
- Improved Sync feature
- Fixed hosts status report (on grid)
- Speedup plugin load
- Fixed import/export from/to CSV
- Fixed multi vCenter grids bugs
- Fixed import ESX5 RC stateless build
- VMware ESX to ESXi converter
- Manual ESXi installation
- Minor bug fix
vPXE (agent)
- Send build version to server
- Fix ESXi 4.0 statefull installation (DD port instead of PB)
- New socket module (PB and DD) to manage simultaneous hosts boot
- Added support for custom pxelinux (menu.32) boot menu
- New install and uninstall setup
- New configurator for standalone vPXE server
- New Linux version (as tgz file to be deployed on a Linux machine with Mono 2.67 or greater)
Engineers
 | Max DaneriWorks in the Cloud Services group. |
Add Comment
I’m using Serva PXE server installing ESXi; it works awesome.
http://vercot.com/~serva/an/NonWindowsPXE3.html#hypervisor
Hello i got an error after generating a build update ESXI5, “MISSING ESXI BUILD FILES”
I started with VMware-ESXi-5.0.0-469512-depot.zip (work well).
I use this http://infrastructureadventures.com/2012/02/25/updating-a-custom-image-profile-using-vsphere-image-builder-powercli/
Thanks for help
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My HP blades never download the pxe menu config file:
http://blogs.usask.ca/test123/archive/pxe-Screenshot%20at%202012-04-18%2014%3A17%3A55.html
Any idea why? I dont know where to look for this log file for TFTP details,.,,
btw,
Is this system planning on using DHCP option 66 qand 67 via standard DHCP servers as that is what we use here and may find the two arguing about who is providing DHCP info to the blade.
Hi,
i’m triing to import stateless build.
after validation i have error present in subject.
any idea? any bugs?
i’m using ESXi500-201111001.zip and update-from-esxi5.0-5.0_update01.zip
tnx
dani
Same Problem! Any idea? tnx
Hi,
Any news about a new version coming out?
Hi,
First of all thanks a lot for your quality job. We are currently implementing pxe manager to migrate our HP BL469C G6 infrastructure to esxi 5.0 (stateless).
We cannot boot on gpxelinux.0 with our new G6 and G7 blade, although G4 generation boots. These HP blades embbed a Broadcom 57711 NIC and as I read from this guy it seems to need some recompiling:
http://www.zytor.com/pipermail/syslinux/2010-October/015449.html
Could you guide us a little on how to do it and whether the pxe manager will support it?
Many thanks
here is the nic ID, can’t see support within etherboot
bnx2-57711E 14e4,1650 Broadcom NetXtreme II BCM57711E
how could we workaround?
I could get a dhcp address by replacing gpxelinux.V5 with gpxe-1.0.0-undionly.kpxe from rom-o-matic
gpxe>
set use-cached 0
dhcp net0
I’m not sure where to chain next but it seems to be a workaround. I don’t know how to compile this config yet
PXE-T01: File not found or No Access
PXE-E3BL TFTP Error – File Not found
and the log said :
IP:192.168.150.16 Mask:255.255.255.0 GW:192.168.150.2 BootFile:pxelinux.v4
But I didnt see pxelinux.v4 under C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware PXE\Repository
Thanks
I ‘ve used 2 agent on different, that’s why.!!
Reinstall on the vcenter only solved the issue, and both gpwelinux.v4 and pxelinux.v4 are there.
Many thanks for your jobs.
How can I change the default value of the 01-@MAC config file. I want to change this value LOCALBOOT 0×80 in hddboot menu label but it’s re-write with default value each time i change the boot mode sequence in PXE Manager . Thank’s.
Android books:
Books in PDF format
Hi Max,
What is default root password for statefull deployment and what is the way to change this.
on agent setting you can change the default password
Will this project will be supported by VMware? or anyone has installed this in production?
what is the default root password for statefull esx deployment and what is the way to reset it.
Has anyone used this with vCenter 5? I get an error connecting to Adam LDAP connection.
Sounds like it should be working so does this error mean anything to anyone?
Try to login to vCenter
Connecting to Adam LDAP://:389/dc=virtualcenter,dc=v
mware,dc=int
System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException (0x8007200A): The specified director
y service attribute or value does not exist.
at System.DirectoryServices.DirectoryEntry.Bind(Boolean throwIfFail)
at System.DirectoryServices.DirectoryEntry.Bind()
at System.DirectoryServices.DirectoryEntry.get_AdsObject()
at System.DirectoryServices.DirectorySearcher.FindAll(Boolean findMoreThanOne
)
at vpxecmd.RegisterExtension.loadAdam(PXEvCenterConnectSpec adamHost, Boolean
lanmanagerUser)
Failed to connect to vCenter
Hi Ronny,
do you solve this issue ?
I have exactly the same…
Thanks.
Issue is related to the Domain\Username used to query the Vcenter in AD, i have tryed with a more powerfull user (regarding AD rights) and it’s working…
Hi All,
I have successfully run stateless installs and also uploaded the HP Image for a stateful build. I would like to use the HP image for stateless instances but the Add build wizards are different. The stateless tool successfully extracts the files from the ISO but then errors with a comment “The file not contains metadata.zip”.
My question is – is there a way to transfer a stateful build to be a stateless build? Alternatively is there a way to generate the metadata.zip file from the HP image?
Thanks…
I installed PXE manager on another server on the same subnet as my vCenter host. I couldn’t get it to connect to vCenter until I looked at the vCenter machine and noticed it was only listening on port 39 for localhost.
Do most people install PXE Manager on their vCenter server?
Otherwise, is there a way to tell ADAM on the vCenter server to listen on more than just localhost? What is the best practice?
sorry, I meant port 389. My keyboard is acting up.
The delete option is greyed out on all my host entries whether they are connected, disconnected, new host etc. etc. How do I enable this option. I have a few I need to redefine e.g NAME and can’t see anyway other than a delete and redefine to accomplish this.
to delete you need to remove from vcenter or shotdown the host, next version will permit to reconfigure an host in maintenance mode.
Max,
We currently use trunk mode on our management nics. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to tag a vlan in the config of a stateful host deployment using PXE Manager. Any help would be much appreciated!
Jeff
Next build will include this feature
I have the PXE boot menu, after selecting stateless host boot, it starts loading the files until it gets to the oem.tgz and responds with files not found. In the repository is shows that oem.tgz is in the repository. b.z k.z,s.z and c.z all load fine.
Made a mistake, it is the c.z that is failing.
OK< forget the whole thing, I found the problem. I was using a VM to test and it didn't have enough memory allocated.
Hey, was reading the comments up side down! Ignore 1st comment. Still need to understand the relationship and directin of Auto Deploy and PXE manager
thanks
are 2 different products, pxe manager will continue to exist to support ESXi 4 , (ESXi 5 works well too) Autodeploy support only ESXi 5 and future version
Hi, great feature. Can you confirm that it is still being developed, as the last comment is from April 2011!
What is the strategy with this and Auto deploy?
regards
Peter Scott
The installation of PXE server completed successfully. However, PXE does not appear in the plugin list. Manual installation of the plugin also completes successfully, but there is no PXE icon in the “Solutions and applications” tab.
What can be wrong?
wait some time and the plugin will be on list
Hi all,
I’m creating a host update repository for ESXi500-201109001 and the process hang after Extracting vmware.xml.
Does anyone have this symptom ? Is there any log file see what’s going wrong ?
there is a problem with this building and ESXi 5.
Hello
Have you plan to interface the management card from
- AMM Ibm blade
- OA HP blade
Or have you define an API for interface the different manangement Card ? Is-it possible to write some “personnal” library to extend the list of supported hardware ?
I’m curious if this is still be worked on? I and VERY interested getting this working. Has this been discontinued or rolled into some other product? I’m using Cisco’s UCS but don’t have the ability to use FCoE on my blades. Using a PXE boot method is the only way I can make a truly stateless config for my ESX hosts. I looked at the Auto Deploy but it only works with fully qualified host profiles (no prompting) which won’t work for my environment. Any other solution I looked at for PXE booting ESXi and using host profiles were either not robust enough or relied on systems with too many moving parts that required manually editing numerous config files by hand.
I’m just trying to get a response to know if this is a dead project or not because it doesn’t look anyone has made any changes in close to a month.
Stephen
So I setup the latest version (4.1 GA Update 1 Build 3107) and everything seemed to go smooth. I setup a stateless build per your instruction video, created my service profile with a boot profile to PXE boot. I go to boot the blade it says:
PXE-E51: No DHCP or proxyDHCP offers were received.
But when I tail the vpxe.log file I see:
INFO vpxe.Globals – DHCPOFFER to Host:ESXtest Mac:0025B500001F IP:10.100.85.17 Mask:255.255.255.0 GW:10.100.85.1 BootFile:pxelinux.v4.
So clearly it requests, it sees, it offers, but for some reason the blade doesn’t like it. I’m running B200 M2 blades with M81KR NIC Cards.
Forgot to add, I’m running 1.4(3q)
Hello Max!
I really appreciated your job, thanks a lot. It’s like a moder gadget for virtualization guys, but I have some questions.
1. There are two vCenters in linked mode and two PXE agents in different networks where are placed ESXi servers, but I can’t choose the certain vCenter for registration while deploying a new ESXi server. If I reconnect the new server to other vCenter, PXE Manager changes its status to disconnect and doesn’t control it, so I can’t handle it.
2. When I try to add a new custom ESXi 5 build that was built by means of Power CLI Image Builder comes out an error “Missing ESXi Build Files” after finishing list of VIB files and progress bar. The original depot is loaded OK and my custom ISO image is also loaded OK, after adding the correct MD5 into standardISO.xml file.
How can I fix this issues? Thanks in advanced.
Is there a version that I can install on a x86 system with a vCenter 4.0 ? I can’t upgrade to the 4.1 one due to my x86 system.
no only 64bit system , but should works with a vcenter 4.0
Hi Max,
I have installed the PXE Manager to one server and the Agent to another. The Agent on the 2nd sever cannot connect to the Manager server (it doesn’t register in the Agents section on the configuration tab of the client). I have restarted services on both, run the vpxecmd on the Agent server again to check the settings and ensure that it connects OK. Here is what I’m repeatedly seeing in the Agent server’s vpxe.log:
[2011-08-24 11:24:43] 4 WARN vpxe.Globals - Retry again to 30 sec[2011-08-24 11:25:13] 4 ERROR vpxe.Globals - System.Web.Services
[2011-08-24 11:25:13] 4 ERROR vpxe.Globals - The server committed a protocol violation. Section=ResponseStatusLine
[2011-08-24 11:25:13] 4 ERROR vpxe.Globals - at System.Web.Services.Protocols.WebClientProtocol.GetWebResponse(WebRequest request)
at System.Web.Services.Protocols.HttpWebClientProtocol.GetWebResponse(WebRequest request)
at System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapHttpClientProtocol.Invoke(String methodName, Object[] parameters)
at vimPXE.vimpxe.agentAdd(pxeAgent lAgent)
at vpxe.pxeAgentService.Connect()
Any idea what I should try next? Any pointers so I can troubleshoot would be appreciated.
BTW, will you be in Vegas next week?
Forbes.
Check the firewall setting on agent
I’m afraid not. I disable the firewall on the agent server and management server, restarted services and I’m still only seeing the management server registered in the vCenter Agents’ list. Any other suggestions?
Thanks
please check the xml configuration file , there is a problem on agent setup
I figured it out. After installing the agent, the configuration tool starts (vpxecmd). The URL for the manager server must be https not http. Otherwise you get this in the xml file. This needs to be set to True.
Thanks Max.
Hey Max:
Thank you for putting this out there. I know the vSphere 5.0 has AutoDeploy, but I wanted to test this out as an option. As I’m running through the configurator, at the end I get an error where the tool crashes with a “stopped working” error:
Description:
Stopped working
Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: CLR20r3
Problem Signature 01: vpxecmd.exe
Problem Signature 02: 4.1.3106.40298
Problem Signature 03: 4df29955
Problem Signature 04: mscorlib
Problem Signature 05: 2.0.0.0
Problem Signature 06: 4d8c2144
Problem Signature 07: 20f3
Problem Signature 08: 109
Problem Signature 09: N3CTRYE2KN3C34SGL4ZQYRBFTE4M13NB
OS Version: 6.0.6002.2.2.0.274.10
Locale ID: 1033
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Note that I’m trying this against vCenter 5.0, which I don’t know if your tool is currently supporting.
hi
it works on vSphere 5 , I’m developing on vSphere 5, I need your logs to understand what is happened
Hello! Today I have tried to install PXE Manager to Windows Server 2003 R2 Standart Edtion x 64 (with SP2). When I tried to enable “VMware vCenter PXE Manager Extention” I received following message:
” The plug-in failed to load on server(s) $servername$ due to the following error: User have to be in Administrators group or PXE-Admin group”.
My account is a member of Administrators group at vCenter. But it doesn’t work. BTW “PXE-Admins group is mentioned in mess. What is that group? Where I can find this group?
Thanks for any help or advice.
there are some problems with windows 2003 , I’m trying to fix or the next release
is your server a domain controller?
Hi! Max thanks for your answer:) No, my server is not a domain controller. It is a member of domain but it’s not dc))
As I understand I can create several PXE agents within my environment. Are there any requirements except described above?
Also I would like to know more about “how it works” (where it stores config files; where physically PXE Manager stores date for boot / installing; where PXE loader and config files locate…etc). How and where can I get more detailed information? If PXE Manager will be a part of vSphere 5, will this information be available as a part of manuals (guides, documentation)?
As I understand I can create several PXE agents within my environment. YES
Are there any requirements except described above? doesn’t works on windows 2003
Also I would like to know more about “how it works” (where it stores config files; where physically PXE Manager stores date for boot / installing; where PXE loader and config files locate…etc).
——————–
PORTs and FILEs
——————–
• PXE Manager Port Requirement
PXE Plugin -> PXE Server
8733 TCP (HTTPS)
8732 TCP (HTTP)
PXE Agent -> PXE Server
8733 TCP (HTTPS)
PXE Server ->VMware vCenter
443 TCP (HTTPS)
PXE Server -> VMware ESXi Server
443 TCP (HTTPS)
VMware ESXi Server -> PXE Agent
3333 TCP (PB)
3334 TCP (DD)
8732 TCP (HTTP)
67 UDP (PXE Receive)
69 UDP (TFTP)
PXE Agent -> VMware ESXi Server
68 UDP (PXE Send)
ICMP
• PXE Manager Files
• EXE
Configurator: %ProgramFiles%\VMware\Infrastructure\VMware PXE\vmtftpd.exe
PXE Manager Server: %ProgramFiles%\VMware\Infrastructure\VMware PXE\vgpxews.exe
PXE Agent: %ProgramFiles%\VMware\Infrastructure\VMware PXE\vpxe.exe
TFTP Server: %ProgramFiles%\VMware\Infrastructure\VMware PXE\vmtftpd.exe
Configuration
%ProgramData%\VMware\VMware PXE\vmpxe.xml
Logs
PXE Manager: %ProgramData%\VMware\VMware PXE\vgpxe.log
PXE Manager ASP.NET Server: %ProgramData%\VMware\VMware PXE\vgpxews.log
PXE Agent: %ProgramData%\VMware\VMware PXE\vpxe.log
TFTP Server: %ProgramData%\VMware\VMware PXE\vm_tftp.log
vSphere Plugin:%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\VMware\VMware PXE\log
If PXE Manager will be a part of vSphere 5, will this information be available as a part of manuals (guides, documentation)? not at moment
Hello, in my windows 2008 R2 installation, service VMWare TFTP server cannot start, the service was shut down unexpectedly.
Agents services are on-line but are disabled and it´s impossible enable.
please check the binding IP address, I think you wrong to digit it
I was banging my head on the initial setup for a while until i tried connecting to ‘localhost’ for ldap, heads up if anyone else has the issue
I think you have some resolving name issue, but I need more info
I was trying to utilize the fqdn of the server and was getting an ‘invalid username/password’ error. I tried many combinations of users local and domain as well as set a host file entry for the fqdn to the non loopback ip address. I verified adam was listening on 0.0.0.0 for port 389, but it wasn’t until i utilized the ‘localhost’ aka 127.0.0.1 that my credentials were accepted
Have you some firewall ?
Hi Max,
It would be very nice if we could start a redeployment task when the host is in maintenance mode.
If I want to redeploy a host now, I need to reboot it & then quickly configure the redeploy task before the server reaches the “F12 Network boot” in the POST routine. This is a bit tedious & it would as such be a lot cooler, if I could simply reconfigure the host when it is set in maintenance mode. After all I suppose that whenever you have installed the PXE plugin on your client you are supposed to know what you’re doing & as such I don’t really see a security risk there (if that would be the reason of not having enabled it before…)
What do you think?
Kind Regards, Peter Van Geem.
Now to redeploy you have to shutdown your host, later you can send a Wake on lan to wake up.
Are you asking to permit to redeploy also if the host is in maintenance mode ?
sorry for the late reply was on holiday…
Yes, that is exactly what I would like to do: being able (permit) to launch a redeploy command while the host is connected but in maintenance mode… now that woule be very handy for upgrade scenarios as we have almost 200 esxi hosts & then I could easily upgrade 1 by 1 by simply entering maintenance mode & firing up the redeploy task. could you please… ?
I’ll do, I received a lot of email regarding this improvement :)
Hi, We have 4.1 U1 installation of vsphere with enterprise plus licenses and when trying to configure the esxi host in pxe manager the host profiles seems to not work correctly.
I’ve created host profile from esx and esxi machine but when I select the host profile when creating a new statefull host I don’t get any field to compile (I was expecting at least all the fields related to ip address for our vmkernel interface but no field appear so I cannot put ip addresses to customize the profile).
Hi
There is a bug with host profile and DVS , have you defined a vmkernel port on a DVS?
We have dvs almost for everything… included vmkernel interfaces.
This is the second bug with host profiles I think… another is that our vmkernel with 9000 mtu are not configured back with mtu 9000 using host profiles…
Next update will solve this issue
I created some videos on vPXE install and config. Six of them in fact.
Maybe they will help.
Chris
Your right maybe they would help. Perhaps you’d be willing to share they’re location ???
Hover over his name and see the link to his site. once there look for “Free Videos”
Hi Max,
I’m doing a POC for UCS and wanted to test PXE Manager with it, however, I can see UCS manager, the UCS chassis but no blades are visible.
I there a more recent build PXE Manager available?
I’m working with cisco to solve this issue with some UCS model
If I could access to your UCS will be much easy for me to solve your issue
Sent you a twiiter with my email address. If you are still interested in troubleshooting this.
I didn’t received any message on tweeter, my account is m_daneri
Hey Max!
Great fling. It’s going to be so useful to roll-out ESXi 5.0.
I am in the same boat as Philippe: I can see my UCS manager and chassis but no blades. The service profile has been applied and I have several blades waiting for PXE boot. We are using B200 M2 blades.
Is there a resolution to this issue?
sorry I’ve only the emulator, I need a real UCS to check what isn’t working, if someone can give me an access I can solve in 10 minutes :)
Did this ever get resolved? I’m also trying to get this to work with my UCS environment. I can give you access to my systems.
Hi Max, I did send you a private message. I only have the UCS for a few more days from philtrem2000
Ii installed the PXE fling on our test environment with use of local accounts and it worked OK. Sometimes when no connection is build up i need to reconnect a ESX hosts to the test vCenter and then connection to the PXE server is restored. Weird but ok.
After connecting it to our production vCenters (linked mode) the PXE screen in the client stays blank and i can wait for ages but nothing happens. In the PXE server logfiles i dont see a session being created for a user which it did in the test env.
The “vmpxe.xml” has a entry LogVerbosity which is set to INFO. What value displays full debug output? i tried DEBUG without luck.
Gr, Ernst
Hi Ernst,
there is a problem with client and linked vcenter, I’ll release very early a new build that will fix this issue.
If you need just now I can send you a version able to works with this enviroment
Hi Max, Yes please send it to my gmail and ill report my findings.
Hi Max, we’re starting to test with the PXE Manager and we have a configuration with 3 linked vcenter. It seems that the 2 vcenter linked to the one configured in pxemanager get in a disconnected state (Local) and don’t recover. It’s possible to get the updated build?
I need your email to send you the link , send me on my tweeter account m_Daneri
Hi Max!
I have the same problem with linked mode vCenters.
Can you send me the fixed version?
Thanks!
send me your email
How can I sand you my e-mail address? I didn’t use twitter yet. How can I send you privat message on twitter?
How can I send you my e-mail address? I didn’t use twitter yet. How can I send you privat message on twitter? my twitter id: kovacsbenedek
Maybe any other way?
send to mdaneri at vmware com
I took a stab at the ESX to ESXi Converter feature.
http://www.vladan.fr/pxe-manager-howto-converting-esx-hosts-to-esxi/
Thanks Andy :)
in this version are missing license management , iscsi and FC multipath conversion
next update will include all this features, and more
Looking forward to it, really awesome tool. I’ll gladly report on the new features when they come out.
Andy “ESX hosts are not detected by PXE Manager in the Stateful Hosts tab so you must manually add a host. ” is not correct there is a menu command to do this operation.
Next version I’ll add also a button to perform this function
Hey Max
For the life of me I’m not seeing the menu command. Where should I be looking?
vSphere menu Administrator/Convert Legacy ESX Host
Another place where you can find it is under Host and Clusters, select an ESX host and click on Host State Archive
Awesome! haha, I was only looking in the Solutions and Appliances PXE Manager plugin :)
Will update article.
In the Messages section, there are two entries, both times I’ve attempted this (using different NICs on the physical host)
6/22/2011 12:59:32 PM –
6/22/2011 12:59:32 PM – Host [host name] mode stateless on-line log
This is a Dell Poweredge 6600. I’m going to attempt to update all firmware, and try again. I’d use the typical install route, but this server doesn’t have an optical drive, and won’t boot off USB.
Thank you very much.
these 2 entries aren’t relevant, I need to see vpxe.log file , I can presume that your server never send a request to pxe manager, but I need to see your log C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware PXE\log\vpxe.log
Max, thank you so much. I hope that changing the build to the latest one isn’t what caused the issue. I noticed a few errors in there, but instead of making assumptions, I’ll leave it to the expert :)
http://pastebin.com/20MzJMsp
FYI I changed our domain FQDN to “host”
One last thing… this machine doesn’t have a DVD drive, nor will boot from USB. Can I use this method, or a similar one, to install ESX statefully ?
you are installing a stateless not a statefull
esx1 is started or am I wrong?
Yes, I understand in this process it is installing a stateless. I’m asking if I can use a similar process to install a stateful installation of ESX, since the server doesn’t have an optical drive, nor will boot from USB.
ESX1 is started, yes. It’s one of our 2 production ESXi servers.
Thanks, Max!
yes you can
Hello,
we have installed the pxe-manager on vSphere 4.0.
We can’t see the plugin in the manager.
Run the pxe manager on vSphere 4.0 ?
no sorry , you need to update your client to 4.1, or otherwise I’ve to create a build for this version, but I need some time
Thank you, we will update to 4.1.
Hello
We have update to 4.1. vShere-Client and vCenter Server.
Then we have installed the pxe manager.
But we have no plugin into the plugin manager.
Can you help us ?
please send me the logs by email,my email is easy first name letter + surname at vmware.com
Where find i the logs ?
Hey, i have the plugin in plugin manager.In the logs I can see a connection failure.
The problem : the user was the problem.
the user has to have tehe administrator role or PXE-admin role
Hi, I’ve got the same problem
in the log I have :
[2011-07-02 18:35:27] 5 ERROR vpxe.Globals – Certificate error: RemoteCertificateNameMismatch, RemoteCertificateChainErrors
vcenter : 4.1 345043
client : 4.1 345043
os : 2008 r2 sp1
When I try to enble the plugin :
VMware vCenter PXE Manager Extension
VMware, Inc.
4.1.3106
Disabled
VMware vCenter PXE Manager
Extension
The plug-in failed to load on server(s) vcenter due to the following error:User have to be in Administrators group or PXE-Admin group
I have the same error and i don’t find the solution.
Can you help me
create a PXE-Admin group on vcenter and add your user to this group.
Next build will include some improvement
just a question are you using a Domain Controller ?
Since I couldn’t get the PXE to work, I did a base install from the 4.1.0, build 348481, VMware ISO. After reboot, no CNAs were present, so I searched VMware’s site and found the Dell Recovery CD ESXi. I manually installed that and the CNAs are present. I tried to add it to the stateful builds, it finds the ISO, extracts the files, then at the Add Build step, it says “Unknown ESXi Version please set Version and Build” and Version and Build are blank. I entered Dell.4.1 for Version and build as 348481 and clicked Next, but nothing happened. I changed them to 1 & 1, still nothing, no matter what, the “Next” button does not work.
I know I’ve got a lot of posts here, so if you want to take it offline and e-mail me directly, that may be better.
I tested this with the Dell Customized VM-Visor ISO. Version & Build are detected, but the next still does not do anything.
inside pxe manager directory there is a xml file called standardISO.xml, the contents are the public ESXi ISO with the properly MD5,
check the file and the MD5 of your ISO, if your ISO is missing add it and post your change to this XML file:)
5f722bd45c367fa32740412426ca2ec9
VMware ESXi 4.1 Installable Dell Edition
260247
false
4
1
This is VMware ESXi 4.1 Installable Edition (Installable CD – RTM Build 260247)
This image does not include Dell OpenManage Server Administrator.
This image is Customized by Dell. See additional information for the customization details.
P.S. I see just now that there is a problem inside the XML file “8a6f2a7c5be0a8e5490390111943a8b7″ shouldn’t be in middle “VMware ESXi 4.0 Update 03 Installable Edition” and “VMware ESXi 4.1 Installable Dell Edition”
opss I copied part of xml file but here I cannot
Next build will include these ESXi build
Max, any chance you will support custom ESXi 5 builds that are created with the vSphere5 build manager? Now that would be cool, since we plan to use the build manager to include Powerpath & the related hardware OEM CIM providers, VAAI plugins etc…
Kind Regards, Peter
Yes it works already
I got everything set up in my production environment, but pxe boot fails when it tries to TFTP the files over. I get the following:
PXE-T05: Unknown Transfer Id
PXE-E36: Error received from TFTP server
PXE-M0FL Exit QLogic PXE ROM
I’m using a Dell R810 with fiber QLogic CNAs, QLE8142, not the gigE LOMs. I tested with the EDA and it PXE boots fine. The agent is in GPXE mode, both agent & server run on a single Server 2008 R2 Ent. SP1 VM. I have a stateful build and vmware tools in the repo, and created a stateful host. The host says offline and assigned IP for status.
Any ideas?
Which version are you using?
there was a bug on DHCP option 67, but update 1 fixed it ,sorry but I need more details.
can you post the vpxe.log part inherent this issue?
another question the ip/mask is correct?
Current: 4.1.3107
I had the agent re-initialize and tried again. This time I got a different error:
PXE-T01: File not found or No Access
PXE-E3BL TFTP Error – File Not found
When I checked the log, I can see where it gets a dhcp address and is given the boot file, and above that is an error (I changed the name & MAC to protect the innocent :P):
[2011-06-21 13:28:26] checkWebservice INFO vpxe.Globals – PXE Mode
[2011-06-21 13:28:26] CreateVMtoolsLink WARN vpxe.Globals – VMTools no present
[2011-06-21 13:28:26] checkWebservice INFO vpxe.Globals – Agent status changed to OnLine
[2011-06-21 13:28:31] 4 INFO vpxe.Globals – vmtools version:4.1.0-1.4.348481 Guid:fd211b14-9a9c-4ed1-b9ee-8ab97b3a6838 missing – Downloading
[2011-06-21 13:28:31] 4 INFO vpxe.Globals – CreateDirectory: C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware PXE\Repository\vmtools\fd211b14-9a9c-4ed1-b9ee-8ab97b3a6838
[2011-06-21 13:28:32] 4 INFO vpxe.Globals – vmtools Part 1/15 version:4.1.0-1.4.348481 Guid:fd211b14-9a9c-4ed1-b9ee-8ab97b3a6838 Downloaded
[2011-06-21 13:28:33] 4 INFO vpxe.Globals – vmtools Part 2/15 version:4.1.0-1.4.348481 Guid:fd211b14-9a9c-4ed1-b9ee-8ab97b3a6838 Downloaded
[2011-06-21 13:28:34] 4 INFO vpxe.Globals – vmtools Part 3/15 version:4.1.0-1.4.348481 Guid:fd211b14-9a9c-4ed1-b9ee-8ab97b3a6838 Downloaded
[2011-06-21 13:28:35] 4 INFO vpxe.Globals – vmtools Part 4/15 version:4.1.0-1.4.348481 Guid:fd211b14-9a9c-4ed1-b9ee-8ab97b3a6838 Downloaded
[2011-06-21 13:28:36] 4 INFO vpxe.Globals – vmtools Part 5/15 version:4.1.0-1.4.348481 Guid:fd211b14-9a9c-4ed1-b9ee-8ab97b3a6838 Downloaded
[2011-06-21 13:28:36] 4 INFO vpxe.Globals – vmtools Part 6/15 version:4.1.0-1.4.348481 Guid:fd211b14-9a9c-4ed1-b9ee-8ab97b3a6838 Downloaded
[2011-06-21 13:28:37] 4 INFO vpxe.Globals – vmtools Part 7/15 version:4.1.0-1.4.348481 Guid:fd211b14-9a9c-4ed1-b9ee-8ab97b3a6838 Downloaded
[2011-06-21 13:28:38] 4 INFO vpxe.Globals – vmtools Part 8/15 version:4.1.0-1.4.348481 Guid:fd211b14-9a9c-4ed1-b9ee-8ab97b3a6838 Downloaded
[2011-06-21 13:28:39] 4 INFO vpxe.Globals – vmtools Part 9/15 version:4.1.0-1.4.348481 Guid:fd211b14-9a9c-4ed1-b9ee-8ab97b3a6838 Downloaded
[2011-06-21 13:28:40] 4 INFO vpxe.Globals – vmtools Part 10/15 version:4.1.0-1.4.348481 Guid:fd211b14-9a9c-4ed1-b9ee-8ab97b3a6838 Downloaded
[2011-06-21 13:28:41] 4 INFO vpxe.Globals – vmtools Part 11/15 version:4.1.0-1.4.348481 Guid:fd211b14-9a9c-4ed1-b9ee-8ab97b3a6838 Downloaded
[2011-06-21 13:28:42] 4 INFO vpxe.Globals – vmtools Part 12/15 version:4.1.0-1.4.348481 Guid:fd211b14-9a9c-4ed1-b9ee-8ab97b3a6838 Downloaded
[2011-06-21 13:28:42] HTTP Request ERROR vpxe.Globals – Exception
System.IO.IOException: The process cannot access the file ‘C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware PXE\Repository\download\health.xml’ because it is being used by another process.
at System.IO.__Error.WinIOError(Int32 errorCode, String maybeFullPath)
at System.IO.FileStream.Init(String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, Int32 rights, Boolean useRights, FileShare share, Int32 bufferSize, FileOptions options, SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES secAttrs, String msgPath, Boolean bFromProxy)
at System.IO.FileStream..ctor(String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, FileShare share, Int32 bufferSize, FileOptions options, String msgPath, Boolean bFromProxy)
at System.IO.FileStream..ctor(String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, FileShare share)
at System.IO.File.Open(String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, FileShare share)
at csHTTP.csHTTPServer.OnResponse(HTTPRequestStruct& rq, HTTPResponseStruct& rp)
at csHTTP.CsHTTPRequest.Process()
[2011-06-21 13:28:43] 4 INFO vpxe.Globals – vmtools Part 13/15 version:4.1.0-1.4.348481 Guid:fd211b14-9a9c-4ed1-b9ee-8ab97b3a6838 Downloaded
[2011-06-21 13:28:43] 4 INFO vpxe.Globals – vmtools Part 14/15 version:4.1.0-1.4.348481 Guid:fd211b14-9a9c-4ed1-b9ee-8ab97b3a6838 Downloaded
[2011-06-21 13:28:44] 4 INFO vpxe.Globals – vmtools Part 15/15 version:4.1.0-1.4.348481 Guid:fd211b14-9a9c-4ed1-b9ee-8ab97b3a6838 Downloaded
[2011-06-21 13:28:44] 4 INFO vpxe.Globals – vmtools version:4.1.0-1.4.348481 Guid:fd211b14-9a9c-4ed1-b9ee-8ab97b3a6838 Downloaded
[2011-06-21 13:28:47] ICMP_server1 INFO vpxe.Globals – Host:server1 ICMP Thread started
[2011-06-21 13:29:13] ICMP_server1 INFO vpxe.Globals – Host:server1 ping replay changed to TimedOut
[2011-06-21 14:05:57] 21 INFO vpxe.Globals – DHCPOFFER to Host:server1 Mac:111111111111 IP:172.27.29.137 Mask:255.255.255.0 GW:172.27.29.1 BootFile:pxelinux.v4
[2011-06-21 14:06:00] 21 INFO vpxe.Globals – Host:server1 Status change to :Assigned IP
[2011-06-21 14:06:00] 21 INFO vpxe.Globals – DHCPACK to Host:server1 Mac:111111111111 IP:172.27.29.137 Mask:255.255.255.0 GW:172.27.29.1 BootFile:pxelinux.v4
[2011-06-21 14:09:25] 21 INFO vpxe.Globals – DHCPOFFER to Host:server1 Mac:111111111111 IP:172.27.29.137 Mask:255.255.255.0 GW:172.27.29.1 BootFile:pxelinux.v4
[2011-06-21 14:09:27] 21 INFO vpxe.Globals – DHCPACK to Host:server1 Mac:111111111111 IP:172.27.29.137 Mask:255.255.255.0 GW:172.27.29.1 BootFile:pxelinux.v4
The scratch folder is empty: C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware PXE\scratch
Scratch is used only from stateless ESXi
System.IO.Error come from HTTP thread, don’t worry about it, health.xml is used from vCenter Service Status to visualize the PXE Manager Status (Home/Administration/vCenter Service Status)
can you check the folder C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware PXE\Repository
inside should be present pxelinux.v4
you are using PXE not GPXE
Tomorrow we can try a webex session to understand the reason
I need to know your configuration, are you using 2 agents? on different hosts?
can you post the agent configuration or send me by email,it’s easy first letter of name + surname at vmware.com
Some video clips about vPXE Manager:
http://www.getyournerdon.com/2011/05/simplifying-esxi-deployments-with-vmware-vpxe-manager-plug-in-for-vcenter/
Great job Thanks :)
have you tried to do a migration from a legacy ESX to ESXi ?
This is on windows 2008 r2 standard with latest updates and service pack 1.
When attempting to remove it generates the following error:
(see error:)
The msi install log only shows:
Error 1001. Error 1001. An exception occurred while uninstalling. This exception will be ignored and the uninstall will continue. However, the application might not be fully uninstalled after the uninstall is complete. –> The specified service does not exist as an installed service
=== Logging stopped: 6/20/2011 14:04:48 ===
which version are you trying to uninstall?
If you aren’t able to solve your problem you can use Windows Installer CleanUp Utility (MSICUU2.exe)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Installer_CleanUp_Utility
Microsoft retired this utility but you can find it with google very easily, and there aren’t any problems to use with PXE Manager
Hi Max.
Thank you for your amazing tool, it’s invaluable for big data centers with hundreds hosts.
Please, could you suggest me how could I use PXE Manager with existing NFS Server instead of Microsoft NFS one?
At moment it’s not possible to use any other NFS,
Microsoft NFS is needed only for Stateless host, and is used as VMware tools repository.
I tested this in my certification environment and everything installed fine, was able to get the plug-in setup in vCenter. I tried to set it up on a different VLAN and used PXE IP helpers to forward it over, but didn’t work (obviously, as stated in a comment above). Now I have it on a win2k8r2 VM on the same VLAN as my hosts, it sets up fine, talks to vCenter, everything appears to work, but when I go to Plug-in Manager, I don’t see it.
Also, here’s another dilemma, I have 4 VLANs that have hosts on them, spanning 2 vCenters not in linked mode. Can I have two PXE Managers talk to the same vCenter for the two different VLANs?
Thanks!
Luke
You have to deploy an agent on the other vlan
I did that. Can I have multiple agents registered in vCenter?
Nevermind, I got agent and server mixed up. Thanks!
yes you can , you have to install the vpxe-x64-4.1.xxxx.exe package
this is the agent install, and has to be installed on a different machine
Note: if you prefer the linux version, it’s inside the zip as tgz file , remember that you need Mono 2.67 or greater
Do you know when VMware will support scripted ESXi installs onto USB/SD card media? PXE Manager looks great but I need to install it onto USB :(
It works if you remove all your disks, otherwise ESXi weiaser chooses always a no-USB disk
Next version of ESXi should support this feature
My servers (HP BL465c G6 and G7) do not have any disks – just USB. But it still doesn’t work
Try to set boot manual and check if the installation works
I will give it a try, thanks!
Max, where do you want me to set boot manual? In the kickstart screen, the only options I see are:
* Default
* Local
* Remote
* Device Drivers
* Local,Remote
* Remote,Local
* Remote,Device Drivers
* Device Driver,Remote
* Local,Device Drivers
* Device Drivers,Local
* Device Drivers,Local,Remote
* Device Drivers,Remote,Local
* Local,Device Drivers,Remote
* Local,Remote,Device Drivers
* Remote,Local,Device Drivers
* Remote,Device Drivers,Local
Thanks!
Not inside boot settings, on main hosts right click with mouse and choose the boot : test memory, disable, manual and standard
Is it supported/possible/workable to install v(G)PXE and vCenter on the same Windows?
Thanx!
yes and it’s also my suggestion.
remember that a PXE Manager can manage more than one vCenter configured in linked mode
How to provision a stateless ESXi in less than 10 minutes
http://blog.tsugliani.fr/featured/screencast-provision-a-stateless-vmware-esxi-in-less-than-10-minutes/
A new installation guide
http://www.virtual-blog.com/2011/06/howto-install-pxe-manager-for-vcenter/
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!VERY IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Before to upgrade remove your old version
Max
I’m trying to get this to work in an existing Microsoft DHCP environment.
I’ve set option 66 to the IP address of the server but I can’t find what option 67 should be.
I’ve tried pxelinux.o, gpxelinux.o which i found in differnt docs.
I also tried not setting it with no luck.
The PXE Manager server is Windows 2008 R2. I had some trouble with it not accepting annonymous connections but was able to fix that.
Everything else is working as designed, I’m just stuck on this step.
Hi,
You cannot use an external dhcp server, everything you need is integrated inside pxe manager, and automatically configured
OK. That at least explains why I couldn’t get it to work. That would be a nice feature to add some day for all of us forced into using Microsoft DHCP on our networks.
I’ll just have to sneak in a new management vlan for this purpose.
PXE Manager is not properly a dhcp, because it’s not RFC compliant , it implement only the minimum feature needed to deploy a know ESXi, dhcp answer only to know MAC address, and is impossible to detect on network
New article on PXE Manager
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/datacenter/pxe-manager-for-vcenter-paves-the-way-for-easy-deployment-options/4211
It’s always nice to get good reviews and publicity.
Hello Max,
In first place, congratulation for your excellent job.
We are evaluating this solution for deployment of ESXi 4.x/5.x, and we would like to know if this plugin is also valid for vCenter 4.x, can you answer this question please?
Best regards,
Victor.
This version is designed for vcenter 4.1, to be honest I never tryed to use with vcenter 4.0, should works
Yes this version is able to works with next version of vCenter :)
Hello Max,
I would like ask you about support for specific HW customized images.
During our testing we detect some problems with the images prepared by IBM and Fujitsu. (It’s not a ESXi cdrom installation), with HP image, the wizard continues but at the end the version and build numbers are not properly defined and we don’t have post-script capabilities.
The image provided by Dell is the only image working properly at the moment , could you give us some hint regarding this topic, please?
Best regards,
Victor.
wait until end of week
Hi,
is a hostprofiles intentionally no longer attached to a host to which it was successfully applied during deployment?
I must re-attach the profile each time after a host is deployed. It would be great, if it kept attached.
Sincerely
Marco
thanks for suggestion
vpxecmd.exe is not in the download as of today … looks like you want to run vgpxe-x64.exe instead?
Thanks for the fling Max, looking forward to the new release whenever it comes around.
yes it is, it’s only on vgpxe-x64, instead from Version 4.1 update 1 build 3072 will be also inside vpxe-x64.exe
I completed the install on a new windows 2008 R2 system, fully patched with .net 3.5 and the C++, went through the config without any errors but when running the vSphere client, the plug-in never seems to show to enable.
Can you supply the following
1. Location of log files on the PXE Manager server
2. Even though the config says it connected to the vCenter, what would I look for on the vCenter side in the way of logs
3. I noticed on the video that when the vSphere client was fired off, the (IP address / name) was localhost, is it ok to install the PXE Manager on the vCenter server?
Thanks.
Found the logs – duh and my issues
Hi,
do you have any bits that it possible to try on vsphere5 RC? I have tried the current version on v5 but get connection errors to ADAM.
Thanks
Daniel
Please check your credential, pxe manager works with rc version
Hello,
I just installed the pxe plugin and I’m having an issue where under the configuration tab, my vcenter keeps going into the offline state. I checked the vmware pxe service and for some reason it keeps stopping.
Any help given would be great.
Thanks,
Alvin
Hi
Offline is vpxe service or is offline vcenter?
Hi Max, when can you upload the updated agent file? We really need the agent to be able to deploy to different subnets…
Or even better, when will the agent appliance be available?
Tnx in advance !!
Peter
Please wait until next week, I’ll release the new version with the agent for Linux , API support (sdk) , support for custom pxe boot (firmware updates) and a lot of bugs fix :))
cool :-) I’m really looking forward to this!
Hi Max, any news on the new release? Looking forward to start using the agent…
Grtz, Peter
End of week
My server keep getting “no database entry found in database on device” right after picking up the IP information from the PXE agent.
Please post some log
I’ve found the issue. There was another PXE server in the same VLAN and it was interring the PXE agent. I turned off the PXE server and installation went well.
Hello!
I tried the product and I like it! But unfortunately I have a problem with it:
I’d like to make stateful hosts. We use HP BL460C G7 Blades. For this machine we have to use HP Customized OEM ESXi installer, because the onboard LAN driver isn’t present in the original installer.
The problem is, when I use this installer (VMware ESXi 4.1 Update 1 Installable HP Customized ISO Image, 4.1_U1_Apr_2011_ESXi_HD-USB-SDImgeInstlr_Z7550_00096.iso) in the “Add Host” creation wizard “Kickstart” and “Post” options are grey. How can I set this options with this installer? Why are this options in disabled state?
Thanks for your answer!
Best Regards!
Benedek Kovacs
Now I solved this issue, please wait next week for the new build
I don’t want to expedite you, but I’d like to ask when will you upload the new build version with the bug fixes?
Best Regards!
Benedek Kovacs
The new version 4.1 update 1 is ready, it’s only waiting for the legal approvals, it will include bug fixes, and new features like a SDK.
Instead the next update ( PXE Manager version 4.1 update 2) will include an Legacy VMware ESX to VMware ESXi migration wizard to automate the migration from ESX to ESXi.
Can’t wait for the 4.1 update 2 version. Any idea when it could be available?
Now :)
Having issue importing this build VMware-VMvisor-Installer-4.1.0.update1-348481.x86_64 into stateful repository.
All stages pass except when uploading the files to the repository.
Getting error on “uploading 30/32″ stage of imagedd.bz2 file.
“Error:Error to upload files ”
Anyone else having same error?
Hi Eugene,
Can I have some details regarding your hardware configuration ?
vCenter is a VM on ESXi 4.1 Intel X5570 CPUs B200 M1, OS Windows 2008 R2 Standard x64
No problem importing VMware-VMvisor-Installer-4.1.0-260247.x86_64. Noticed that this release imagedd.bz2 is only 26 chunks. Is it the size of the file in 4.1U1 that causes this upload error?
Got the same error. Please help
I’ll check this image
I tried to use this iso but I didn’t get any problem
Gote the same error, is there a solution?
please post the logs, because I never meet this issue
Getting the same issue. Failing at imagedd.bz2 import @ 33/37.
fyi I was having the same issue and resolved it by changing the upload block size from 8192KB to 4096KB.
You can find the block size setting under the configuration tab, global server settings upload area. I also changed the timeout from 50000ms to 100000ms
Thanks Robert,
you have to change the block size when you have some memory problem (few memory available)
hello max,
after installation of the pxe manager i got during the configuration the following error:
Connecting to DB
Die Datei oder Assembly “System.Data.SQLite, Version=1.0.66.0, Culture=neutral,
PublicKeyToken=db937bc2d44ff139″ oder eine Abhängigkeit davon wurde nicht gefund
en. Das System kann die angegebene Datei nicht finden.
the services run ok, but i got no client for installation. the mob shows also noting in the extension manager.
please could you help?
thx
jeff
here are the logs:
[2011-05-11 23:45:46] 4 ERROR vgpxe.Globals – bei System.Data.SQLite.SQLite3.Prepare(SQLiteConnection cnn, String strSql, SQLiteStatement previous, UInt32 timeoutMS, String& strRemain)
bei System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteCommand.BuildNextCommand()
bei System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteDataReader.NextResult()
bei System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteDataReader..ctor(SQLiteCommand cmd, CommandBehavior behave)
bei System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteCommand.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior behavior)
bei System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteCommand.ExecuteDbDataReader(CommandBehavior behavior)
bei System.Data.Common.DbCommand.System.Data.IDbCommand.ExecuteReader()
bei vgpxe.SQLClass.LoadSettings()
[2011-05-11 23:45:46] 4 ERROR vgpxe.Globals – System.Data.SQLite
[2011-05-11 23:45:46] 4 ERROR vgpxe.Globals – SQLite error
no such table: pxe_SETTINGS
[2011-05-11 23:45:46] 4 ERROR vgpxe.Globals – bei vgpxe.SQLClass.LoadSettings()
bei vgpxe.Settings.LoadSettingsFromDB()
bei vgpxe.Global.StartApplication()
[2011-05-11 23:45:46] 4 INFO vgpxe.Globals – Sleep 60 sec
[2011-05-11 23:44:21] 4 INFO vgpxews.Settings – *******************************************************
[2011-05-11 23:44:21] 4 INFO vgpxews.Settings – **** vCenter GPXE Server Manager
[2011-05-11 23:44:21] 4 INFO vgpxews.Settings – **** Version 4.1 Build 2975 Revision 0
[2011-05-11 23:44:21] 4 INFO vgpxews.Settings – *******************************************************
[2011-05-11 23:44:21] 4 INFO vgpxews.Settings – vgpxews
[2011-05-11 23:44:21] 4 INFO vgpxews.Settings – Listening on address: 192.168.65.60
[2011-05-11 23:44:21] 4 INFO vgpxews.Settings – port : 8733
[2011-05-11 23:44:21] 4 INFO vgpxews.Settings – Root directory : C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\VMware PXE
[2011-05-11 23:44:21] 4 INFO vgpxews.Settings – Listening on port: 8733 (auto-detect SSL3/TLS1)
[2011-05-11 23:44:21] 4 INFO vgpxews.Settings – URL: https://192.168.65.60:8733/vgpxe/vgpxe.asmx
[2011-05-11 23:45:48] 7 INFO vgpxews.Settings – Server Exit
[2011-05-11 23:44:22] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – *******************************************************
[2011-05-11 23:44:22] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – **** VMware vCenter PXE Agent
[2011-05-11 23:44:22] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – **** Version 4.1 Build 2975 Revision 0
[2011-05-11 23:44:22] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – *******************************************************
[2011-05-11 23:44:22] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – Initializing…
[2011-05-11 23:44:22] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – Configuration file C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware PXE\vmpxe.xml
[2011-05-11 23:44:22] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – PXEManager configuration localAgentMode set to False
[2011-05-11 23:44:22] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – Create C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware PXE\Repository\bin\lance-boot.tgz
[2011-05-11 23:44:22] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – Create C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware PXE\Repository\bin\memtest86+.bin
[2011-05-11 23:44:22] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – Create C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware PXE\Repository\bin\reboot.c32
[2011-05-11 23:44:22] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – Create C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware PXE\Repository\bin\pbconnect
[2011-05-11 23:44:22] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – Agent GUID: 50f08450-0be1-4247-b5c8-23f6ce51f408
[2011-05-11 23:44:22] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – Agent Name: vCenter
[2011-05-11 23:44:22] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – Agent IP address: 192.168.65.60 Mask: 255.255.255.0 Gateway: 192.168.65.1
[2011-05-11 23:44:22] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – PXEManager URL: https://192.168.65.60:8733/vgpxe/vgpxe.asmx
[2011-05-11 23:44:22] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – PXEManager WebService TimeOut: 100 Seconds
[2011-05-11 23:44:40] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – Checking PXEManager Certificate
[2011-05-11 23:44:40] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – Subject: CN=vCenter
[2011-05-11 23:44:40] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – Issuer : CN=vCenter
[2011-05-11 23:44:40] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – Serial : 6BC6883CFD4E1143877C68F6FA21F255
[2011-05-11 23:44:40] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – Expires:31.12.2039 18:59:59
[2011-05-11 23:44:40] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – Effective Date: 11.05.2011 23:02:32
[2011-05-11 23:44:40] 5 ERROR vpxe.Globals – CertificateErrors: RemoteCertificateNameMismatch
[2011-05-11 23:44:40] 5 ERROR vpxe.Globals – Chain Status Information: Eine Zertifikatkette wurde zwar verarbeitet, endete jedoch mit einem Stammzertifikat, das beim Vertrauensanbieter nicht als vertrauenswürdig gilt.
[2011-05-11 23:44:40] 5 ERROR vpxe.Globals – Certificate error: RemoteCertificateNameMismatch, RemoteCertificateChainErrors
[2011-05-11 23:44:40] 5 ERROR vpxe.Globals – Request URL: https://192.168.65.60:8733/vgpxe/vgpxe.asmx
[2011-05-11 23:45:47] 4 WARN vpxe.Globals – Agent not connected – Cannot change status to OffLine
hello,
i found the reason:
i tried to install the pxe-manager to a different volume (D). when i use the original everything works fine.
jeff
To be honest I never tried to use a different installation path, I’ll check ,thanks to reporting :)
With the new build available next week, this bug will be solved
Max, sorry if I missed your update but this new build – will it be available this week? If so I will hold off until I see the new one, otherwise I may start with the old.
Sorry I’m late this the last build (Version 4.1 GA update 1 build 3072), my idea was to add the ESX to ESXi migration wizard directly on this version, but I need more time to implement it
hello,
i got the following error: (transation below)
Die Datei oder Assembly “System.Data.SQLite, Version=1.0.66.0, Culture=neutral,
PublicKeyToken=db937bc2d44ff139″ oder eine Abhängigkeit davon wurde nicht gefund
en. Das System kann die angegebene Datei nicht finden.
It means, that the file or dependency could not be found. i think it is a sqlite problem.
i have installed a german windows 2008 r2.
thanks
jeff
I just had same error. Problem was when uninstalling PXE manager it did not remove Web Service package. Uninstall the web service package and then reinstall PXE manager again. I found this one fixed the issue.
Try to remove the package and reinstall it
Just as reference :
PXE Manager Port Requirement
PXE Plugin -> PXE Server
8733 TCP (HTTPS)
8732 TCP (HTTP)
PXE Agent -> PXE Server
8733 TCP (HTTPS)
PXE Server ->VMware vCenter
443 TCP (HTTPS)
PXE Server -> VMware ESXi Server
443 TCP (HTTPS)
VMware ESXi Server -> PXE Agent
3333 TCP (PB)
3334 TCP (DD)
8732 TCP (HTTP)
67 UDP (PXE Receive)
69 UDP (TFTP)
PXE Agent -> VMware ESXi Server
68 UDP (PXE Send)
ICMP
A new article from InfoWord on PXE Manager :)
http://www.infoworld.com/d/virtualization/vmware-has-new-fling-pxe-manager-vcenter-351
Do we need DHCP in order to use PXE manager. Our environement does not have DHCP. What can we do in that case.
Everything you need is inside the setup.
Just testing this at a partner site. Are there any caveats about the UCS deployment? Right now under “Blades” we can only see our B200M1 blades but not the new B200M2 blades.
Have you associated a service profile?
Yes, all our B200M1s and B200M2s have associated service profiles. I would have expected that this tab should really list UCS service profiles rather than physical blades anyway as that is where the MAC addresses are bound to.
now are you able to use them?
Hi Max, I have a similar problem: I deployed 8 Service-Profiles from a template to my UCS blades but only 3 blades show up in the PXE Manager blade configuration screen. Somehow it does not see the other 5 blades. All Service Profiles have been successfully applied and are up and running, waiting to pxe-boot. Any idea?
Hi Sascha,
could you send me the logs and the configuration of your UCS , so I can try on my simulator
Sure, but where can I reach you? Please ping me at samerg@cisco.com. Thanks!
Hi Max,
PXE is installed on vCenter 4.1 Update 1 and keep getting the following error:
[2011-04-29 23:06:24] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – *******************************************************
[2011-04-29 23:06:24] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – **** VMware vCenter PXE Agent
[2011-04-29 23:06:24] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – **** Version 4.1 Build 2975 Revision 0
[2011-04-29 23:06:24] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – *******************************************************
[2011-04-29 23:06:24] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – Initializing…
[2011-04-29 23:06:24] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – Configuration file C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware PXE\vmpxe.xml
[2011-04-29 23:06:24] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – PXEManager configuration localAgentMode set to False
[2011-04-29 23:06:24] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – Create C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware PXE\Repository\bin\lance-boot.tgz
[2011-04-29 23:06:24] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – Create C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware PXE\Repository\bin\memtest86+.bin
[2011-04-29 23:06:24] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – Create C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware PXE\Repository\bin\reboot.c32
[2011-04-29 23:06:24] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – Create C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware PXE\Repository\bin\pbconnect
[2011-04-29 23:06:24] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – Agent GUID: 24d29288-d83b-48fe-9c2a-61f666c29b66
[2011-04-29 23:06:24] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – Agent Name: VCENTER
[2011-04-29 23:06:24] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – Agent IP address: 10.10.1.111 Mask: 255.255.255.0 Gateway: 0.0.0.0
[2011-04-29 23:06:24] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – PXEManager URL: https://10.10.1.111:8733/vgpxe/vgpxe.asmx
[2011-04-29 23:06:24] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – PXEManager WebService TimeOut: 100 Seconds
[2011-04-29 23:06:26] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – Checking PXEManager Certificate
[2011-04-29 23:06:26] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – Subject: CN=VCENTER
[2011-04-29 23:06:26] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – Issuer : CN=VCENTER
[2011-04-29 23:06:26] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – Serial : 3B5CB1FCDC82C149AA330D26C3237687
[2011-04-29 23:06:26] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – Expires:12/31/2039 6:59:59 PM
[2011-04-29 23:06:26] 5 INFO vpxe.Globals – Effective Date: 4/27/2011 12:53:26 AM
[2011-04-29 23:06:26] 5 ERROR vpxe.Globals – CertificateErrors: RemoteCertificateNameMismatch
[2011-04-29 23:06:26] 5 ERROR vpxe.Globals – Chain Status Information: A certificate chain processed, but terminated in a root certificate which is not trusted by the trust provider.
[2011-04-29 23:06:26] 5 ERROR vpxe.Globals – Certificate error: RemoteCertificateNameMismatch, RemoteCertificateChainErrors
[2011-04-29 23:06:26] 5 ERROR vpxe.Globals – Request URL: https://10.10.1.111:8733/vgpxe/vgpxe.asmx
[2011-04-29 23:08:06] 5 ERROR vpxe.Globals – System.Web.Services
[2011-04-29 23:08:06] 5 ERROR vpxe.Globals – The operation has timed out
[2011-04-29 23:08:06] 5 ERROR vpxe.Globals – at System.Web.Services.Protocols.WebClientProtocol.GetWebResponse(WebRequest request)
at System.Web.Services.Protocols.HttpWebClientProtocol.GetWebResponse(WebRequest request)
at System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapHttpClientProtocol.Invoke(String methodName, Object[] parameters)
at VimPXE.vimpxe.agentAdd(pxeAgent lAgent)
at vpxe.pxeAgentService.Connect()
[2011-04-29 23:08:06] 5 WARN vpxe.Globals – Retry again to 30 sec
[2011-04-29 23:10:16] 5 ERROR vpxe.Globals – System.Web.Services
[2011-04-29 23:10:16] 5 ERROR vpxe.Globals – The operation has timed out
[2011-04-29 23:10:16] 5 ERROR vpxe.Globals – at System.Web.Services.Protocols.WebClientProtocol.GetWebResponse(WebRequest request)
at System.Web.Services.Protocols.HttpWebClientProtocol.GetWebResponse(WebRequest request)
at System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapHttpClientProtocol.Invoke(String methodName, Object[] parameters)
at VimPXE.vimpxe.agentAdd(pxeAgent lAgent)
at vpxe.pxeAgentService.Connect()
[2011-04-29 23:10:16] 5 WARN vpxe.Globals – Retry again to 30 sec
[2011-04-29 23:12:26] 5 ERROR vpxe.Globals – System.Web.Services
[2011-04-29 23:12:26] 5 ERROR vpxe.Globals – The operation has timed out
[2011-04-29 23:12:26] 5 ERROR vpxe.Globals – at System.Web.Services.Protocols.WebClientProtocol.GetWebResponse(WebRequest request)
at System.Web.Services.Protocols.HttpWebClientProtocol.GetWebResponse(WebRequest request)
at System.Web.Services.Protocols.SoapHttpClientProtocol.Invoke(String methodName, Object[] parameters)
at VimPXE.vimpxe.agentAdd(pxeAgent lAgent)
at vpxe.pxeAgentService.Connect()
[2011-04-29 23:12:26] 5 WARN vpxe.Globals – Retry again to 30 sec
Any insight what this can be?
Thanks,
Eugene
I tried to fix this problem with http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1024036 but vpxe.log still tries old host name. I create entry in hosts file and things are working now.
Second, I have the issue adding ESX 4.1 Update 1. Error saying it is not ESX CD rom installation:
ESX-4.1.0-update01-348481.iso
What might be wrong?
Tried VMware-VMvisor-Installer-4.1.0-260247.x86_64.iso but get this error:
Extracting README.txt
Extracting a.z
Extracting boot.cat
Extracting cim.vgz
Extracting cimstg.tgz
Extracting ienviron.vgz
Extracting imagedd.bz2
Extracting imagedd.md5
Extracting install.vgz
Extracting isolinux.bin
Extracting isolinux.cfg
Extracting mboot.c32
Extracting menu.c32
Extracting open_source_licenses.txt
Extracting sys.vgz
Extracting tboot.gz
Extracting vmkboot.gz
Extracting vmkernel.gz
Error The file not contains metadata.zip
which repository are you using ? iso has to be upload in statefull repository, metadata.zip is used for all stateless builds
it’s ESX ISO image not ESXi , PXE manager manage only ESXi
PS. have you follow my procedure or kb procedure?
it’s ESX ISO image not ESXi , PXE manager manage only ESXi
PS. have you follow my procedure or kb procedure?
Max, thanks for helping with this. I could not make it work until I scratches vcenter database and create new one. KB article address a few items but does not seem to help solving the problem when vcenter host had been renamed. I have second VM with the same symptoms and it has same issue. This time getting issue with the client plug in disabling itself after 2-3 minutes with the error:
Server Connection Invalid:https://192.168.100.7:8733/vgpxe/vgpxe.asmx, the
VMware PXE pClient plug-in will be disabled.
You can enable it again from the Plug-in Manager,once the server is
available.
If I hit this web page in firefox it keeps loading with no result. Logs also do not provide any clue:
[2011-05-05 03:13:55] 4 INFO vgpxe.Globals – Agent Tor-Lab-vCenter Guid:2db564ca-d9e8-4557-aa3b-8e46c854053b OnLine
[2011-05-05 03:14:28] checkWebServiceStatus INFO vgpxe.Globals – Service status changed
[2011-05-05 03:14:28] checkWebServiceStatus INFO vgpxe.Globals – vCenter pxe Manager state :green
[2011-05-05 03:14:28] checkWebServiceStatus INFO vgpxe.Globals – PXE Manager Server state :green
[2011-05-05 03:14:28] checkWebServiceStatus INFO vgpxe.Globals – VMware pxe Agent – Tor-Lab-vCenter state :yellow
[2011-05-05 03:15:32] VCenterPropMonitor ERROR vgpxe.Globals – WaitForUpdates No: 1 The operation has timed out
[2011-05-05 03:17:12] VCenterPropMonitor ERROR vgpxe.Globals – WaitForUpdates No: 1 The operation has timed out
[2011-05-05 03:18:52] VCenterPropMonitor ERROR vgpxe.Globals – WaitForUpdates No: 1 The operation has timed out
[2011-05-05 03:20:32] VCenterPropMonitor ERROR vgpxe.Globals – WaitForUpdates No: 1 The operation has timed out
[2011-05-05 03:22:12] VCenterPropMonitor ERROR vgpxe.Globals – WaitForUpdates No: 1 The operation has timed out
I suspect, reinstalling new vcenter database will help but I am looking for a solution to fix it as is before it is scratched. Any pointers?
hi, if you need we could organise a webex session to try to solve your problem
Hi Max. I work with Eugene and we’ve been successful in getting the functionality setup in labs but this one vcenter-vm is causing a challenge. If we could setup a WebEx it would be greatly appreciated. The other thing I noticed was a log entry stating the following:
[2011-05-06 10:58:14.120 02392 info 'Libs' opID=E156D360-00000023] [ADS] Failed to lookup account PXE-Admin (err: 1332, [16, 256])
[2011-05-06 10:58:14.133 02392 error 'App' opID=E156D360-00000023] Group not found: ‘PXE-Admin’
I imagine lacking the role type may be an issue as well. ;)
Let me know if you can assist.
Thanks!
Sean.
Sure there is no problem
P.s the user has to be an administrator or be in the pxe-admin group ( you have to create)
Hi Max, Thanks for offering webex session. I think we need one.
I took another shot at this today. Wiped out the whole vcenter setup including SQL, etc. Installed brand new vCenter 4.1U1 then PXE manager and keep getting same this error:
[2011-05-10 00:09:01] checkWebServiceStatus INFO vgpxe.Globals – Service status changed
[2011-05-10 00:09:01] checkWebServiceStatus INFO vgpxe.Globals – vCenter pxe Manager state :green
[2011-05-10 00:09:01] checkWebServiceStatus INFO vgpxe.Globals – PXE Manager Server state :green
[2011-05-10 00:09:01] checkWebServiceStatus INFO vgpxe.Globals – VMware pxe Agent – Tor-Lab-vCenter state :yellow
[2011-05-10 00:10:07] VCenterPropMonitor ERROR vgpxe.Globals – WaitForUpdates No: 1 The operation has timed out
Any issues if hostname has dashes?
Please send me your email to eminchen at cisco.com. Thanks
Finally found what was the problem. All because IE has been configured with proxy it broke the plug that could not connect to PXE web service. Once removed proxy everything works.
Yes, to use pxe manager plugin you have to add the pxe manager ip address from exclusion list. This is a Microsoft behaviour
Seems to be working for the most part but my hosts are never added to my cluster in vcenter, I get the following messages in the PXE manger logs.
4/28/2011 5:18:39 PM –
4/28/2011 5:18:39 PM – Host vesxi202.shams.local mode stateless on-line log
4/28/2011 5:23:45 PM – Online – Waiting 10 seconds…
4/28/2011 5:23:55 PM – Install mode stateless, no previous configuration bundle
4/28/2011 5:24:05 PM – Starting configuration
4/28/2011 5:24:09 PM – Connecting URL https://192.168.10.202/sdk
4/28/2011 5:24:11 PM – Connected
4/28/2011 5:24:15 PM – Changing password
4/28/2011 5:24:17 PM – Password changed
4/28/2011 5:24:24 PM – sslThumbprints:
4/28/2011 5:24:26 PM – Backup “First Installation” firmware succeeded
4/28/2011 5:24:26 PM – No Syslog settings
4/28/2011 5:24:26 PM – Time set to 4/28/2011 5:24:26 PM
4/28/2011 5:24:26 PM – No NTP settings
4/28/2011 5:24:27 PM – Entered in maintenance mode
4/28/2011 5:24:28 PM – Set vmk0 to static address:192.168.10.202/255.255.255.0
4/28/2011 5:26:11 PM – NFS volume 192.168.10.125:/var/vpxe/scratch start to mount on /vmfs/volume/scratch_vcenter64NFS volume 192.168.10.125:/var/vpxe/scratch start to mount on /vmfs/volume/scratch_vcenter64
NFS volume vcenter64:/var/vpxe/scratch mounted on /vmfs/volume/scratch
NFS volume 192.168.10.125:/var/vpxe/scratch start to mount on /vmfs/volume/scratch_vcenter64NFS volume 192.168.10.125:/var/vpxe/scratch start to mount on /vmfs/volume/scratch_vcenter64
NFS volume vcenter64:/var/vpxe/scratch mounted on /vmfs/volume/scratch
Failed to set scratch
4/28/2011 5:26:11 PM – Exit(210)
4/28/2011 5:26:12 PM – Disconnected
Have you completed the NFS configuration during the setup?
I think that you have some problem with the nfs export , which OS are you using ?
Ran through the NFS install during install with no errors, running windows 2003 R2 64 bit as the OS, however I did install the PXE Manager on the vcenter server and not on it’s own server. Could this be my problem? PXE plugin and vsphere client is running on Windows 7.
no isn’t a client problem , you should connect to esxi and see what is happened , my suspect is that NFS not accept any connection. check on ESXi and if you continue to have this problem please tell me, I will try to make a webex session to understand and solve the problem
A great video from NiTRo
http://www.screencast.com/users/hypervisor/folders/Default/media/3bc5a4b5-00eb-4a54-8ef5-efaaba1b4827
Thanks for support :)
Great article VMware Fling–PXE Manager for vCenter–How To Setup And Get Installing
http://virtualbill.wordpress.com/2011/04/26/vmware-flingpxe-manager-for-vcenterhow-to-setup-and-get-installing/
Thanks Bill
Looks very interesting. But what’s the difference to “VMware Auto Deploy” (http://labs.vmware.com/flings/vmware-auto-deploy)?
Thanks,
Hannes
pxe manager manage all lifecycle of your ESXi not only the deployment, this is the first difference.
What you can do “more” with pxe manager:
1) stateless ESXi aren’t supported from VMware but a lot of time are very usefull for testing
2) manage more network segment
3) DHCP works in stealth mode (“no problem” with audit)
4) backup and restore of ESXi firmware (scheduled backup)
5) patching and updating of ESXi (you don’t need a pxe manager for any vCenter )
6) run a memory test on hosts
7) very easy to configure and use
8) you can add a host to VMware Cloud Director instead of a vCenter folder
9) automatic deployment on Cisco UCS (very very cool feature, I’m preparing a video on this)
A) vSphere plugin
with pxe manager you can save a state of host and restore it when you need ,
Hi Max,
really like your tool, but have a couple of questions:
-What ports need to be opened on Firewalled network segments (that we want to service via the agent) for agent to PXEManager communication + in what directions?
-Will you update the tool when vSphere5 comes out, as I believe your tool has more flexibility then the autodeploy feature, so we would like to standardize on it, but for that we need to know if this product has a real future.. (we have 150+ ESXi servers)
Again: Kudos for the excellent work here!
Regards, Peter
I’ve a problem to post on this thread, I don’t know the reason.
Yes next PXE Manager version is ready, and will be release when the new ESX version will be available
P.S. I’ll post all PXE Manager ports in another post
PXE enable in production network, this topic had been argue for years and most enterprise environment will not pass the audit by enable this. The max you can do is either in a isolated zone for staging purpose. How practical is this? We may need to see some respond of the network and security folks, and also the IT auditor comment.
Hi Craig,
i know this problem, and this is the reason that PXE manager dhcp server isn’t RFC compliant, you aren’t able to detect on network :)
Inside the next PXE Manager version also the TFTP component will be not RFC compliant
I am unclear on what is meant by “ESXi patch management” on page 4 of the slide deck? Can you provide a few paragraphs describing what it means in more detail?
For example, would this replace the vSphere host update utility that was included on ESXi 4.0 but later removed in 4.1? Does it require a vCenter? Does it integrate with a VIMA for authentication purposes?
yes it replace vSphere host update and VMware Update Manager, sorry you need one or more vCenter
I’m creating a Video that will show how to use this feature.
where can we find your video ? Thank’s
I’m seeing the “Plugin.Load()Server extension missing” error in my vSphere client after installing the plugin, like MikeA saw. It seems registration worked properly, but I’m seeing “The authentication mechanism is unknown” and “Waiting for a vCenter conection” in vgpxe.log. Any ideas? Thanks.
try to verify your values inside ADAM
See my answer to MikeA
For this all to work you will need a Enterprise Plus License? (host profiles)
Is this statement correct?
host profiles doeseverything easier, but you can deploy and manage your esxi without host profiles.
Great job, I saw the first preview at VMworld 2009, and I’am a fan.
Regards,
Stefan.
VMware
Thanks
Tried installing and I get “the plug-in failed to load on server due to the following error: PLugin.Load()Server extension missing. Failing load!”
Am I missing some requirement or .NET piece? The install seems to run without any errors…
Looks like a nice tool…IF I can get it working….any help would be appreciated…thanks!
I’m receiving the same error. Plug-in version 4.1.2975
this mean that the plugin isn’t registered correctly , please try to run again vpxecmd.exe and verify that the configuration will be done without any error.
Check also if services “VMware PXE” and “VMware Web Service Host” are running
last but not least check the logs on directory \programdata\vmware pxe\log
Max
Thanks for the input. The install runs without any errors and the services are started. I will have to dig into the logs to see if there are any obvious issues. Thanks again
I did check the log and saw one error. vgpxe.Globals – URI and this entry is showing an HTTPS url to this vcenter instance that is NOT correct. An old instance (when it was 32 bit) was called vcenter-lab and when I migrated to 64 bit for 4.1 I changed the name to simply vcenterlab. Aside from this tool, this server is resolving correctly when I do an nslookup so it isn’t DNS and I also checked DNS to make sure there wasn’t some old entry still hanging around as a PTR. I suspect somewhere in a config file on the vcenterlab server itself is this old entry…thoughts? Can this vgpxe.globals be modified? Is this in .NET somewhere?
I have a similiar issue with this, I tried addressing it by adding a host entry for the old name but it still says it’s unable to contact the sdk on the system (perhaps a cert mismatch since the cert name doesnt match the old hostname that vgpxe has?).
I tried uninstalling it and it is now stuck in my plugins list. Tried following all the “how to remove plugins” links and It hasn’t worked.
to remove the extension the simplest method is to open with a browser http:///mob/?moid=ExtensionManager click on UnregisterExtension, here you have to digit com.vmware.pxe and click Invoke
but is better if you fix your ldap configuration
I received more than one segnalation regarding this issue, the problem come from the migration tool that not migrate all should be migrated
This is my solution to this bug
(it’s a my internal ticket)
…. during my test phase I needed to change my vcenter hostname, I changed and I check the xml file as reported on kb 1010725, but I use ldap to check how many vcenter are linked and use the attribute vmw-vc-URL of
CN=VIMAPI,CN=1D92748D-60A4-4066-AC61-C594799155DF,OU=Instances,DC=virtualcenter,DC=vmware,DC=int ,
on kb 1010725 I think that we have to add how to change these attributes also, because the made a reference to the old hostname
Attributes to change :
vmw-vc-URL of DN:CN=VIMWEBSVC,CN=1D92748D-60A4-4066-AC61-C594799155DF,OU=Instances,DC=virtualcenter,DC=vmware,DC=int
vmw-vc-URL of DN:CN=VIMAPI,CN=1D92748D-60A4-4066-AC61-C594799155DF,OU=Instances,DC=virtualcenter,DC=vmware,DC=int
to see how to change the ADAM configuration please follow this KB
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1024036 instead of KB 1010725
brilliant work! This is going to save me soo much time and make deploying and upgrading our hosts a lot more procedural based. Thanks so much for this – keep it going :)
Can you post the error NiTRo? check the system requirements for the agent and see if you have them in place.
it’s a 7zip error : “the system cannot find the file specified”
when will the problem be fixed?
I got an error while installing the agent. Any trick ? Awesome work by the way, thanks a lot Max !
there is a issue with agent package , I’ll release soon a new one and the new agent version for Linux.
in any case in a normal deployment you don’t need to install a sepate agent.
Max
Thanks Max