Change ESXi 5 iSCSI iqn with esxcli

After my previous post about getting the iqn of an ESXi using esxcli Andy Banta (@andybanta) commented on Twitter that you can also change the iqn of the host with esxcli.

As he said it would be tremendously useful if you need to physically replace the server and don’t want to modify all your storage infrastructure, it’s easier to just modify the iqn of the new server and set it to the old name.

The task is as easier as the one described in last post. Using esxcli command with the iscsi namespace you can change the name and the alias of the adapter.

As a precaution first retrieve the current iqn to check that it’s the correct server.

To change the name you have to provide the adapter and the new name.

Hope you find this useful, any comments and suggestions are welcome as always.

Juanma.

How to get iSCSI iqn using esxcli in ESXi 5

Back in 2010 I wrote a post about how to get the iSCSI iqn of an ESXi 4.x server using vSphere CLI from the vMA or any other system with the vCLI installed on it.

The method described in that article is still valid for ESXi 5.0 since the old vicfg and esxcfg commands are still available, however with 5.0 version you can get a similar result using the new esxcli namespaces, following is how to do it.

First task is to get a list of the iSCSI HBAs in order to know the name of the software iSCSI initiator.

Next we get the info of the adapter.

Look at the Name field to get the iqn and we are done.

Juanma.

More HP sauce on ESXi 5.0

On my first post about HP ESXi 5.0 customized image I discussed about the new esxcli namespaces added by HP. But those tools aren’t the only ones included.

If you list the software bundles and filter the output to display only the included by HP will notice an hponcfg package.

~ # esxcli software vib list |grep Hewlett
char-hpcru            5.0.0.8-1OEM.500.0.0.434156         Hewlett-Packard     PartnerSupported  2011-05-24 
char-hpilo            500.9.0.0.8-1OEM.500.0.0.434156     Hewlett-Packard     PartnerSupported  2011-05-24 
hp-smx-provider       500.02.10.13.44-434156              Hewlett-Packard     VMwareAccepted    2011-05-24 
hpbootcfg             01-00.10                            Hewlett-Packard     PartnerSupported  2011-05-24 
hponcfg               03-02.04                            Hewlett-Packard     PartnerSupported  2011-05-24 
~ #

Hponcfg, also included on ProLiant Support Pack for Linux, is a tool that enable a System Administrator to manage the iLO of a ProLiant server from the operative system.

~ # esxcli software vib get -n hponcfg
Hewlett-Packard_bootbank_hponcfg_03-02.04
   Name: hponcfg
   Version: 03-02.04
   Type: bootbank
   Vendor: Hewlett-Packard
   Acceptance Level: PartnerSupported
   Summary: HP ProLiant Lights-Out Configuration Utility for ESXi
   Description: HP ProLiant Lights-Out Configuration Utility for ESXi
   Release Date: 2011-08-09
   Depends:
   Conflicts:
   Replaces:
   Provides:
   Maintenance Mode Required: False
   Hardware Platforms Required: HP, Hewlett-Packard Company, Hewlett-Packard, hp
   Live Install Allowed: False
   Live Remove Allowed: False
   Stateless Ready: True
   Overlay: False
   Tags:
   Payloads: hponcfg
~ #

The tool is located at /opt/hp/tools.

/opt/hp/tools # ls
hpbootcfg         hpbootcfg_esxcli  hponcfg
/opt/hp/tools #

Launch the utility without arguments and you will get the usage and it will also display current firmware version of the iLO.

/opt/hp/tools # ./hponcfg
HP Lights-Out Online Configuration utility
Version 3.2-4 (c) Hewlett-Packard Company, 2011
Firmware Revision = 1.26 Device type = iLO 3 Driver name = hpilo
USAGE:
  hponcfg  -?
  hponcfg  -h
  hponcfg  -m minFw
  hponcfg  -r [-m minFw ]
  hponcfg  [-a] -w filename [-m minFw]
  hponcfg  -g [-m minFw]
  hponcfg  -f filename [-l filename] [-s namevaluepair] [-v] [-m minFw]
  hponcfg  -i [-l filename] [-s namevaluepair] [-v] [-m minFw]
  -h,  --help           Display this message
  -?                    Display this message
  -r,  --reset          Reset the Management Processor to factory defaults
  -f,  --file           Get/Set Management Processor configuration from "filename"
  -i,  --input          Get/Set Management Processor configuration from the XML input
                        received through the standard input stream.
  -w,  --writeconfig    Write the Management Processor configuration to "filename"
  -a,  --all            Capture complete Management Processor configuration to the file.
                        This should be used along with '-w' option
  -l,  --log            Log replies to "filename"
  -v,  --xmlverbose     Display all the responses from Management Processor
  -s,  --substitute     Substitute variables present in input config file
                        with values specified in "namevaluepairs"
  -g,  --get_hostinfo   Get the Host information
  -m,  --minfwlevel     Minimum firmware level
/opt/hp/tools #

As a non intrusive example you can use -g switch to get the server info.

/opt/hp/tools # ./hponcfg  -g
HP Lights-Out Online Configuration utility
Version 3.2-4 (c) Hewlett-Packard Company, 2011
Firmware Revision = 1.26 Device type = iLO 3 Driver name = hpilo
Host Information:
                        Server Name: esxi01.hp.local
                        Server Number:
/opt/hp/tools #

I’ll let you to investigate the rest of the options carefully.

Juanma.

New esxcli namespaces included on the HP ESXi image

If your VMware infrastructure runs on top of HP servers, rack or blade, you should be familiar with the HP customized ESXi images. Hewlett Packard has been releasing theses images since ESXi 4.0 and with the release of vSphere 5 a new image has also been released.

This images comes bundled with utilities and drivers not included in the standard VMware image that allows ESXi to run flawlessly on HP hardware.

You can retrieve the packages specifically provided by using the esxcli command.

~ # esxcli software vib list |grep Hewlett-Packard
char-hpcru            5.0.0.8-1OEM.500.0.0.434156         Hewlett-Packard     PartnerSupported  2011-04-16 
char-hpilo            500.9.0.0.8-1OEM.500.0.0.434156     Hewlett-Packard     PartnerSupported  2011-04-16 
hp-esx-license        1.0-03                              Hewlett-Packard     PartnerSupported  2011-04-16 
hp-smx-provider       500.02.10.13.44-434156              Hewlett-Packard     VMwareAccepted    2011-04-16 
hpbootcfg             01-00.10                            Hewlett-Packard     PartnerSupported  2011-04-16 
hponcfg               03-02.04                            Hewlett-Packard     PartnerSupported  2011-04-16 
~ #

To get detailed information of any of those packages use the following command.

~ # esxcli software vib get -n hp-smx-provider
Hewlett-Packard_bootbank_hp-smx-provider_500.02.10.13.44-434156
   Name: hp-smx-provider
   Version: 500.02.10.13.44-434156
   Type: bootbank
   Vendor: Hewlett-Packard
   Acceptance Level: VMwareAccepted
   Summary: HP Insight Management WBEM Providers for ESXi
   Description: HP Insight Management WBEM Providers for ESXi
   Release Date: 2011-07-15
   Depends:
   Conflicts:
   Replaces:
   Provides: cim.DMTF.DSP1004 = 1.0.0, cim.SNIA.FC-HBA = 1.3.0
   Maintenance Mode Required: False
   Hardware Platforms Required: HP, hp, Hewlett-Packard, Hewlett-Packard Company
   Live Install Allowed: True
   Live Remove Allowed: False
   Stateless Ready: True
   Overlay: False
   Tags:
   Payloads: hp-smx-provider
~ #

Aside from the drivers and monitorization agents, the HP image also adds two additional namespaces to esxcli.

• hp
• hpbootcfg

The first one, hp, manage the HP NMI driver.

~ # esxcli hp
Usage: esxcli hp {cmd} [cmd options]
Available Namespaces:
  hpnmi                 The default set of operations for the hpnmi command
~ # esxcli hp hpnmi
Usage: esxcli hp hpnmi {cmd} [cmd options]
Available Commands:
  load                  Verifies HP server and Loads hpnmi module on supported servers
~ #

The hpbootcfg namespace is used to configure the device boot order of the server. This can be permanent or a one time boot change.

~ # esxcli hpbootcfg
Usage: esxcli hpbootcfg {cmd} [cmd options]
Available Commands:
 execute execute hpbootcfg command with options parameter
 help show hpbootcfg help
 show show current hpbootcfg settings
~ #
~ # esxcli hpbootcfg show
00 00: Normal Device first, normal boot process

~ #
~ # esxcli hpbootcfg execute --help
Usage: esxcli hpbootcfg execute [cmd options]
Description:
 execute execute hpbootcfg command with options parameter
Cmd options:
 -b|--bypass bypass F1/F2
 -C|--cdrom CD ROM first
 -D|--defaults Set Defaults everywhere
 -d|--dialout one time remote dial out
 -F|--floppy Floppy first
 -H|--harddrive Harddrive first
 -n|--network one time remote network
 -P|--pxe one time boot to PXE
 -Q|--qcu one time boot to quick configuration utility
 -R|--rbsu one time boot to RBSU
 -r|--remote one time remote
 -S|--scu one time boot to system configuration utility
 -T|--tape Tape first
~ #

Juanma.

Change ESXi 5.0 hostname with esxcli

Yes another post about esxcli, what can I say I’m studying very hard for my VCP5 and from time to time this kind of unknown information, at least for me, arise and I believe it can be useful for some of you.

Again we are going to make use of the system namespace.

~ # esxcli system hostname
Usage: esxcli system hostname {cmd} [cmd options]
Available Commands:
  get                   Get the host, domain or fully qualified name of the ESX host.
  set                   This command allows the user to set the hostname, domain name or fully qualified domain name of the ESX host.
~ #

First task of course is to get current hostname.

~ # esxcli system hostname get
   Domain Name: vjlab.local
   Fully Qualified Domain Name: esxi5.vjlab.local
   Host Name: esxi5
~ #

Next change the hostname, but you should check before what options are at your disposal by getting the command help.

~ # esxcli system hostname set --help
Usage: esxcli system hostname set [cmd options]
Description:
  set                   This command allows the user to set the hostname, domain name or fully qualified domain name of the ESX host.
Cmd options:
  -d|--domain=<str>     The domain name to set for the ESX host. This option is mutually exclusive with the --fqdn option.
  -f|--fqdn=<str>       Set the fully qualified domain name of the ESX host.
  -H|--host=<str>       The host name to set for the ESX host. This name should not contain the DNS domain name of the host and can only contain letters, numbers and '-'. NOTE this is not
                        the fully qualified name, that can be set with the --fqdn option. This option is mutually exclusive with the --fqdn option.
~ #

Interesting, you can change the short hostname, the domain or the fully qualified domain name. Take into account that –fqdn option is mutually exclusive with the others.

We are going to try all of them.

Domain:

~ # esxcli system hostname set --domain=jreypo.local
~ #
~ # esxcli system hostname get
   Domain Name: jreypo.local
   Fully Qualified Domain Name: esxi5.jreypo.local
   Host Name: esxi5
~ #

Short hostname:

~ # esxcli system hostname set --host=esxi5-2
~ #
~ # esxcli system hostname get
   Domain Name: jreypo.local
   Fully Qualified Domain Name: esxi5-2.jreypo.local
   Host Name: esxi5-2
~ #

Fully qualified domain name:

~ # esxcli system hostname set --fqdn=esxi5.vjlab.local
~ #
~ # esxcli system hostname get
   Domain Name: vjlab.local
   Fully Qualified Domain Name: esxi5.vjlab.local
   Host Name: esxi5
~ #

Juanma.

Getting network card driver version in ESXi 5.0

This a quick follow-up post to the How to check the driver version of a network interface in ESX(i) one. That post covered ESX(i) 4.x so I decided to write a small update for ESXi 5.0.

First I have to say that the two methods described in my first post still work in ESXi 5.0 Shell.

~ # vmware -l
VMware ESXi 5.0.0 GA
~ #
~ # vmkload_mod -s e1000 | grep Version
Version: Version 8.0.3.1-NAPI, Build: 456551, Interface: 9.2 Built on: Jul 29 2011
~ #
~ # ethtool -i vmnic0
driver: e1000
version: 8.0.3.1-NAPI
firmware-version: N/A
bus-info: 0000:02:00.0
~ #

Thanks to the new changes made by VMware in ESXi 5.0 we can now use esxcli to get the same result.

~ # esxcli system module get -m e1000
   Module: e1000
   Module File: /usr/lib/vmware/vmkmod/e1000
   License: GPL
   Version: Version 8.0.3.1-NAPI, Build: 456551, Interface: 9.2 Built on: Jul 29 2011
   Signed Status: VMware Signed
   Signature Issuer: VMware, Inc.
   Signature Digest: 1049 0611 a944 efc3 b683 341d 34b1 bebc 552d cb81 a874 ef4c 0562 8f25 2775 8c8d
   Signature FingerPrint: cb44 247a 1614 cea1 2079 362d ec86 9d0e
   Provided Namespaces:
   Required Namespaces: com.vmware.driverAPI@9.2.0.0, com.vmware.vmkapi@v2_0_0_0
~ #
~ # esxcli system module get -m e1000 | grep Version
   Version: Version 8.0.3.1-NAPI, Build: 456551, Interface: 9.2 Built on: Jul 29 2011
~ #

There is a big advantage on using esxcli over the other methods. In ESX(i) 4.x and ESXi 5.0 with the old procedure you had to be logged into the host but with esxcli it can be performed remotely using vSphere CLI.

vi-admin@vma:~[esxi5.vjlab.local]> esxcli system module get -m e1000
   Module: e1000
   Module File: /usr/lib/vmware/vmkmod/e1000
   License: GPL
   Version: Version 8.0.3.1-NAPI, Build: 456551, Interface: 9.2 Built on: Jul 29 2011
   Signed Status: VMware Signed
   Signature Issuer: VMware, Inc.
   Signature Digest: 1049 0611 a944 efc3 b683 341d 34b1 bebc 552d cb81 a874 ef4c 0562 8f25 2775 8c8d
   Signature FingerPrint: cb44 247a 1614 cea1 2079 362d ec86 9d0e
   Provided Namespaces:
   Required Namespaces: com.vmware.driverAPI@9.2.0.0, com.vmware.vmkapi@v2_0_0_0
vi-admin@vma:~[esxi5.vjlab.local]>
vi-admin@vma:~[esxi5.vjlab.local]> esxcli system module get -m e1000 | grep Version
   Version: Version 8.0.3.1-NAPI, Build: 456551, Interface: 9.2 Built on: Jul 29 2011
vi-admin@vma:~[esxi5.vjlab.local]>

But there is more, thanks to Get-EsxCli cmdleet the same operation can be done using PowerCLI, here it is how.

First we need to setup the Esxcli instance.

And now we issue the command using the name of the module as the argument, please pay attention to the syntax.

As you should have imagined this procedure can be used to get info about any VMkernel module in the host, not just the network interface one,.

Juanma.

Change ESXi 5.0 Shell keyboard layout with esxcli

If you have to login into the ESXi 5.0 Shell and the keyboard layout is not the one you are used to this post will show how to quickly change it.

As always in vSphere 5 we are going to use esxcli command to get the job done.

Get current keyboard layout:

As you can see we are using system settings keyboard layout namespaces and the command get. The other available commands are list and set.

List available layouts:

Change keyboard layout:

The syntax for the command can be retrieved by appending –help to the command.

Now change the layout to “US Default”.

Keep in mind that this will change the layout permanently, as it can be seen in the command help the layout can also be changed only for the current boot and it will be reset to its original value during next reboot of the host.

With the —no-persist option the host will report its original layout.

Juanma.

Monitor ESX 4.x to ESXi 5.0 migration process

During the migration of an ESX 4.x to ESXi 5.0 the whole process can be monitored directly from the console of the server.

Once the process has started press Alt-F1 to access the Console. Login with root and blank password.

From here you can go to the /var/log folder and using the tail command monitor the ESXi log files.

Also by pressing Alt-F12 you will see the vmkernel log, this log will show the upgrade process in real time. Once the log reaches the point in the screenshot the upgrade will be complete.

At this point and before restarting the host if you go back again to the ESXi console you can review the ESXi install log file, called esxi_install.log which in fact is a symlink to the file weasel.log.

In this log file you can observe the whole migration process, I strongly recommend to lose a few minutes on this since you will learn a lot of under the hood info about the ESXi installation process.

Finally and only as a curiosity after the reboot if you login into the ESXi Shell a message indicating that the system has been migrated to ESXi 5.0 will be displayed before the prompt.

Juanma.

List packages installed in ESXi 4.1 and 5.0

Today a co-worker has asked me how to list the packages installed in an ESXi 4.1 Update 1 server, in the ESX COS we had the RedHat rpm command but in ESXi there is no rpm and of course there is no COS.

His intention was to look for the version of the qla2xxx driver and my first thought was to use vmkload_mod, the problem is that with this command you can get the version of a driver already loaded by the VMkernel and we wanted to look for the version of a driver installed but no loaded.

I tried esxupdate with no luck.

~ # esxupdate query
----Bulletin ID----- -----Installed----- --------------Summary---------------
ESXi410-201101223-UG 2011-01-13T05:09:39 3w-9xxx: scsi driver for VMware ESXi
ESXi410-201101224-UG 2011-01-13T05:09:39 vxge: net driver for VMware ESXi    
~ #

Then I suddenly thought that the ESXi Tech Support Mode is based on Busybox. If you have ever use a Busybox environment, like a QNAP NAS, you will probably remember that the way to install new software over the network is with ipkg command and to list the software packages already installed the syntax is ipkg list_installed.

~ # ipkg list_installed
emulex-cim-provider - 410.2.0.32.1-207424 -
lsi-provider - 410.04.V0.24-140815 -
qlogic-fchba-provider - 400.1.1.8-140815 -
vmware-esx-drivers-ata-libata - 400.2.00.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-ata-pata-amd - 400.0.2.4.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-ata-pata-atiixp - 400.0.4.3.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-ata-pata-cmd64x - 400.0.2.1.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-ata-pata-hpt3x2n - 400.0.3.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-ata-pata-pdc2027x - 400.0.74ac5.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-ata-pata-serverworks - 400.0.3.7.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-ata-pata-sil680 - 400.0.3.2.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-ata-pata-via - 400.0.1.14.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-block-cciss - 400.3.6.14.10.1-2vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-char-hpcru - 400.1.1.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-char-pseudo-char-dev - 400.0.0.1.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-char-random - 400.1.0.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-char-tpm-tis - 400.0.0.1.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-ehci-ehci-hcd - 400.1.0.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-hid-hid - 400.2.6.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-ioat-ioat - 400.2.15.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-ipmi-ipmi-devintf - 400.39.2.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-ipmi-ipmi-msghandler - 400.39.2.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-ipmi-ipmi-si-drv - 400.39.2.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-net-bnx2 - 400.2.0.7d-3vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-net-bnx2x - 400.1.54.1.v41.1-2vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-net-cdc-ether - 400.1.0.0.1-2vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-net-cnic - 400.1.9.7d.rc2.3.1-2vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-net-e1000 - 400.8.0.3.2-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-net-e1000e - 400.1.1.2.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-net-enic - 400.1.4.0.261-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-net-forcedeth - 400.0.61.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-net-igb - 400.1.3.19.12.2-2vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-net-ixgbe - 400.2.0.38.2.5.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-net-nx-nic - 400.4.0.550.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-net-s2io - 400.2.1.4.13427.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-net-sky2 - 400.1.20-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-net-tg3 - 400.3.86.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-net-usbnet - 400.1.0.0.1-2vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-ohci-usb-ohci - 400.1.0.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-sata-ahci - 400.2.0.0.1-5vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-sata-ata-piix - 400.2.00ac6.1-3vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-sata-sata-nv - 400.2.0.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-sata-sata-promise - 400.1.04.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-sata-sata-sil - 400.2.0.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-sata-sata-svw - 400.2.0.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-aacraid - 400.4.1.1.5.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-adp94xx - 400.1.0.8.12.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-aic79xx - 400.3.2.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-bnx2i - 400.1.8.11t5.rc2.8.1-4vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-fnic - 400.1.1.0.113.2-4vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-hpsa - 400.3.6.14.45-4vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-ips - 400.7.12.06.1-3vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-iscsi-linux - 400.1.0.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-lpfc820 - 400.8.2.1.30.1-58vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-megaraid-mbox - 400.2.20.5.1.4-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-megaraid-sas - 400.4.0.14.1-18vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-megaraid2 - 400.2.00.4.1-4vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-mpt2sas - 400.04.255.03.00.1-6vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-mptsas - 400.4.21.00.01.1-6vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-mptspi - 400.4.21.00.01.1-6vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-qla2xxx - 400.831.k1.28.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-qla4xxx - 400.5.01.03.1-10vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-sample-iscsi - 400.1.0.0-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-uhci-usb-uhci - 400.3.0.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-usb-storage-usb-storage - 400.1.0.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-usbcore-usb - 400.1.0.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-vmklinux-vmklinux - 4.1.0-1.4.348481 -
Successfully terminated.
~ #

There you are :-) There is one gotcha to get the version, it starts just after the 400.

Next task of course was to do the same in ESXi 5.0.

~ # ipkg list_installed
-sh: ipkg: not found
~ #

Ouch! Ipkg has been removed from ESXi 5.0. The key to get the same list is esxcli.

~ # esxcli software vib list
Name                  Version                             Vendor  Acceptance Level  Install Date
--------------------  ----------------------------------  ------  ----------------  ------------
ata-pata-amd          0.3.10-3vmw.500.0.0.469512          VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
ata-pata-atiixp       0.4.6-3vmw.500.0.0.469512           VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
ata-pata-cmd64x       0.2.5-3vmw.500.0.0.469512           VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
ata-pata-hpt3x2n      0.3.4-3vmw.500.0.0.469512           VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
ata-pata-pdc2027x     1.0-3vmw.500.0.0.469512             VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
ata-pata-serverworks  0.4.3-3vmw.500.0.0.469512           VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
ata-pata-sil680       0.4.8-3vmw.500.0.0.469512           VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
ata-pata-via          0.3.3-2vmw.500.0.0.469512           VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
block-cciss           3.6.14-10vmw.500.0.0.469512         VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
ehci-ehci-hcd         1.0-3vmw.500.0.0.469512             VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
esx-base              5.0.0-0.0.469512                    VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
esx-tboot             5.0.0-0.0.469512                    VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
ima-qla4xxx           2.01.07-1vmw.500.0.0.469512         VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
ipmi-ipmi-devintf     39.1-4vmw.500.0.0.469512            VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
ipmi-ipmi-msghandler  39.1-4vmw.500.0.0.469512            VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
ipmi-ipmi-si-drv      39.1-4vmw.500.0.0.469512            VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
misc-cnic-register    1.1-1vmw.500.0.0.469512             VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
misc-drivers          5.0.0-0.0.469512                    VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
net-be2net            4.0.88.0-1vmw.500.0.0.469512        VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
net-bnx2              2.0.15g.v50.11-5vmw.500.0.0.469512  VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
net-bnx2x             1.61.15.v50.1-1vmw.500.0.0.469512   VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
net-cnic              1.10.2j.v50.7-2vmw.500.0.0.469512   VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
net-e1000             8.0.3.1-2vmw.500.0.0.469512         VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
net-e1000e            1.1.2-3vmw.500.0.0.469512           VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
net-enic              1.4.2.15a-1vmw.500.0.0.469512       VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
net-forcedeth         0.61-2vmw.500.0.0.469512            VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
net-igb               2.1.11.1-3vmw.500.0.0.469512        VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
net-ixgbe             2.0.84.8.2-10vmw.500.0.0.469512     VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
net-nx-nic            4.0.557-3vmw.500.0.0.469512         VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
net-r8168             8.013.00-3vmw.500.0.0.469512        VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
net-r8169             6.011.00-2vmw.500.0.0.469512        VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
net-s2io              2.1.4.13427-3vmw.500.0.0.469512     VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
net-sky2              1.20-2vmw.500.0.0.469512            VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
net-tg3               3.110h.v50.4-4vmw.500.0.0.469512    VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
ohci-usb-ohci         1.0-3vmw.500.0.0.469512             VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
sata-ahci             3.0-6vmw.500.0.0.469512             VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
sata-ata-piix         2.12-4vmw.500.0.0.469512            VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
sata-sata-nv          3.5-3vmw.500.0.0.469512             VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
sata-sata-promise     2.12-3vmw.500.0.0.469512            VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
sata-sata-sil         2.3-3vmw.500.0.0.469512             VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
sata-sata-svw         2.3-3vmw.500.0.0.469512             VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
scsi-aacraid          1.1.5.1-9vmw.500.0.0.469512         VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
scsi-adp94xx          1.0.8.12-6vmw.500.0.0.469512        VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
scsi-aic79xx          3.1-5vmw.500.0.0.469512             VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
scsi-bnx2i            1.9.1d.v50.1-3vmw.500.0.0.469512    VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
scsi-fnic             1.5.0.3-1vmw.500.0.0.469512         VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
scsi-hpsa             5.0.0-17vmw.500.0.0.469512          VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
scsi-ips              7.12.05-4vmw.500.0.0.469512         VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
scsi-lpfc820          8.2.2.1-18vmw.500.0.0.469512        VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
scsi-megaraid-mbox    2.20.5.1-6vmw.500.0.0.469512        VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
scsi-megaraid-sas     4.32-1vmw.500.0.0.469512            VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
scsi-megaraid2        2.00.4-9vmw.500.0.0.469512          VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
scsi-mpt2sas          06.00.00.00-5vmw.500.0.0.469512     VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
scsi-mptsas           4.23.01.00-5vmw.500.0.0.469512      VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
scsi-mptspi           4.23.01.00-5vmw.500.0.0.469512      VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
scsi-qla2xxx          901.k1.1-14vmw.500.0.0.469512       VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
scsi-qla4xxx          5.01.03.2-3vmw.500.0.0.469512       VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
uhci-usb-uhci         1.0-3vmw.500.0.0.469512             VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
tools-light           5.0.0-0.0.469512                    VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
~ #

A final thought for all of you starting with vSphere 5, esxcli is the key in ESXi 5.0 shell.

Juanma.

DNS configuration with esxcli

With release of ESXi 5.0 the esxcli command has been also vastly improved. One of this new capabilities is the possibility to manage the DNS configuration of the server.

The basic syntax for dns is:

~# esxcli network ip dns

This gives you two namespaces to work with:

• search
• server

With the first one you can manage the suffixes for DNS search and the second is for the DNS server to be used by the ESXi.

• Server operations

List the servers configured:

Add a new server:

Remove a configured server:

• Domain search operations

List configured domain suffixes:

Add a new domain:

Remove a configured domain:

Juanma.