Frequently Asked Questions: VMM Setup

Can I promote my VMM server to an Active Directory domain controller? No. This will cause the VMM server to malfunction. However, you can install the VMM server on a computer that is already a domain controller. Is VMM supported in an environment that has a disjointed namespace? Yes. For more information about installing VMM in a disjointed namespace, see Planning for a Disjointed Namespace. Can I make the VMM server highly available by configuring it as a clustered application on a failover cluster of physical servers? No. Instead, you can run VMM on a highly available virtual machine. For more information, see Planning for High Availability.

Frequently Asked Questions: Managing Virtual Machine Hosts in VMM What virtualization platforms does VMM 2008 support? VMM 2008 supports the following virtualization platforms:

Windows Server 2003 with Virtual Server 2005 SP1. The released version of VMM 2008 supports Windows Server 2003 32-bit; support for the 32-bit edition was not available in the pre-release version. Windows Server 2008 64-bit with the released version of Hyper-V. VMware ESX Server 3.0 or above, and VMware ESX Server 3i version 3.5, managed by VMware VirtualCenter 2.5 (VMware Infrastructure 3 environments).

Does VMM 2008 support the 32-bit edition of Windows Server 2008 running Virtual Server? The released version of VMM 2008 supports this configuration. Pre-release versions did not. Does VMM 2008 support the Xen hypervisor? No. What types of hosts does VMM 2008 support? VMM 2008 supports Windows Serverbased and non-Windows virtual machine hosts, with the following location requirements:

Hosts in an Active Directory domain that is trusted by the domain of the VMM server. Windows Serverbased hosts in a non-trusted Active Directory domain. Windows Serverbased hosts on a perimeter network. A perimeter network is an Internet Protocol (IP) network segment that contains resources, such as Web servers and virtual private network (VPN) servers, that are available to Internet users. Perimeter networks also are known as screened subnets.

Note

Unlike stand-alone hosts in VMM, host clusters must be in an Active Directory domain that has a two-way trust relationship with the domain that contains the VMM server.

VMware ESX Server hosts, which VMM 2008 manages through the VMware VirtualCenter server.

Does VMM 2008 install an agent on VMware ESX Server hosts that it is managing? No. The management of VMware ESX server hosts is agentless and is performed largely through VMware VirtualCenter Web services. Can I run Windows Server 2008 on my older 64-bit server hardware with BIOS that does not support Virtualization Technology (VT)? The released version of VMM 2008 supports Windows Server 2008 64-bit running Virtual Server as the virtualization platform. Pre-release versions supported only Windows Server 64-bit servers that are Hyper-V capable. On Hewlett-Packard hardware, you must enable two BIOS options: Virtualization Technology and Xbit. For more information, see your Hewlett-Packard documentation. Why is my host in a Needs Attention state? To find out the reason for the hosts Needs Attention state, review the detailed status on the Status tab of the host properties dialog box for items with a Warning or Error icon. For general troubleshooting, try the following steps: 1. Ensure that the host operating system, virtualization service, and Virtual Machine Manager Agent service all are running. If the host is in a host cluster, ensure that the Cluster service is running. Ensure that the VMM agent version is the same as the VMM server version. Verify network connectivity between the VMM server and the host. Ensure that the host name can be resolved by your DNS service. Check the firewall policy on the host to ensure that the HTTP and HTTPS ports are open. If all above are working properly, use the Refresh action in the VMM Administrator Console to refresh the host, and then, in Jobs view, monitor the job for any failure message.

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Can I prevent VMM from placing virtual machines on a host? Yes. If you do not want to place any additional virtual machines on a host, you can remove the host from placement. To do this, clear the This host is available for placement option on the Status tab of the host properties. This does not affect the host's status or the virtual machines that already are hosted. This feature is not available for highly available virtual machines that are deployed on clustered hosts. For VMware ESX Server hosts, you cannot change this property directly in Virtual Machine Manager. However, you can update the property indirectly by changing the host to maintenance mode on the VMware VirtualCenter server. VMM will update the This host is available for placement property in the VMM Administrator Console the next time it refreshes VirtualCenter data. Frequently Asked Questions: Virtual Networks in VMM

How are network locations created, and can I change them? For Windows-based computers in an Active Directory domain, network locations are automatically discovered as the Domain Location. For network adapters that are disconnected, are not connected to a domain, or are on a host that is not in a domain, the network location is empty. You can configure different network locations for physical network adapters on a host by configuring settings on the Hardware tab of the Host Properties dialog box or by using the Set-VMHostNetworkAdapter cmdlet with the NetworkLocation parameter in the Windows PowerShell Virtual Machine Manager command shell. During virtual machine placement, how does VMM consider the networking needs of a virtual machine? While creating or deploying a virtual machine, you can specify the network location to which to connect the virtual machine. During virtual machine placement, VMM checks the virtual machines networking requirements against the networks configured on all managed hosts. Any host that does not have a network adapter configured with the specified location receives a zero star rating. Physical to Virtual (P2V) Conversions If there is a port conflict, is it possible to change a P2V port number from the default value of TCP 443? Yes. You can change the P2V port number by performing the following steps: 1. Create the following registry key: HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager Server\Settings\P2VBITSTcpPort. On the VMM server, type DWORD, and then enter the desired port number (a number less than 32768). Restart the Virtual Machine Manager service, and then try the P2V conversion again.

2. 3.

Virtual Networks How is a private network different from an internal (host bound) network and an external network? On a private network, the virtual machine can communicate with other virtual machines but not with the host or with external networks. On an internal (or host bound) network, virtual machines can communicate with each other and the host but cannot communicate with external networks because the network is not bound to a physical network adapter. On an external network, which is bound to a physical network adapter, the host and its virtual machines can communicate with external computers. External networks can be bound to the host also by selecting the Host access option in the network configuration in the host properties (Networking tab). (In Windows PowerShell VMM, this is the -BoundToVMHost parameter of the New-VirtualNetwork and Set-VirtualNetwork cmdlets.) If this property is selected, the virtual network has access to the host. If the property is not selected, virtual machines can communicate with external computers but not with the host. Why can't I create a DHCP server for my Hyper-V virtual networks? Virtual Server provides a DHCP server for virtual networks; Hyper-V does not. If you want a DHCP server on a Hyper-V host, one option is to create a virtual machine with Windows Server configured to provide the DHCP service and then add the virtual machine to the virtual network. What is the support for virtual networks on VMware ESX Server hosts? When you use VMM to manage ESX Server hosts, you can create virtual networks (known in VirtualCenter as virtual switches) on the host and connect the virtual networks to virtual network adapters. However, you cannot create console ports in VMM. VLANs

Why can't I set a VLAN ID on my Broadcom network adapter? Some network adapters will not let you set a VLAN ID if the adapter's configuration does not have a VLAN ID. If you configure the network adapter to use any VLAN ID (other than zero), you should be able to configure any VLAN ID on your virtual network. What is access mode, and when would I use it? Access mode restricts the external port of the virtual network to a single VLAN ID. Use access mode when the physical network adapter is connected to a port on the physical network switch that also is in access mode. To give a virtual machine external access on a virtual network that is in access mode, you must configure the virtual machine to use the same VLAN ID as configured in access mode of the virtual network. If the physical network adapter is connected to a port on a physical switch that is in access mode and you do not know the VLAN ID, clear the Enable VLANs on this connection option for the adapter and do not specify a VLAN ID on any of the virtual machines that need external access. My host has only one physical network adapter. Should I specify a VLAN on the virtual network that the adapter supports? If you configure a VLAN for the single network connection to the host, you might lose the ability to manage the host because network connectivity might be lost. If you specify a VLAN for the virtual network, ensure that the VMM server can maintain network connectivity after the change is made. Virtual Machine Network Configuration How is a dynamic MAC address created in VMM 2008? If you choose to use a dynamic MAC address when you configure a new virtual interface card on a virtual machine, the virtualization software of the host assigns a MAC address from its own pool. Alternatively, you can specify a static MAC address or you can define a range for VMM to use and then have VMM generate new addresses from that range when you create a virtual machine. For more information, see How to Set the Static MAC Address Range for Virtual Network Devices. Frequently Asked Questions: Clustering and High Availability in VMM Host Clusters Can I use VMM 2008 to manage a failover cluster on computers running Windows Server 2008? Yes. When you use VMM 2008 to manage a failover cluster on computers running Windows Server 2008, you can add the entire cluster in a single step. VMM 2008 automatically detects node additions and removals to the cluster. In addition, you can manage (create, migrate, remove, and so on) highly available virtual machines (HAVMs) from the VMM Administrator Console or from the Windows PowerShell - VMM command shell. Can I use VMM 2008 to manage a server cluster on computers running Windows Server 2003? Yes. However, VMM 2008 support for a Windows Server 2003 server cluster is less extensive than its support for a failover cluster on computers running Windows Server 2008. VMM 2008 does not recognize a Windows Server 2003 server cluster, so you must add each node of the cluster individually. For hosts running Windows Server 2003, VMM treats each clustered host just like any other stand-alone host. You cannot use VMM 2008 to create highly available virtual machines (HAVMs) that can be placed on Windows Server 2003 hosts. Nonetheless, if any HAVM fails over from one host to another host in the cluster, VMM 2008 detects and correctly reports the HAVM on the new host. Can I create a virtual machine that is not highly available on a host cluster managed by VMM 2008?

No. VMM 2008 allows you to create highly available virtual machines only on a host cluster. However, if any virtual machines that are not highly available exist on the cluster nodes, VMM discovers and manages those virtual machines like any other non highly available virtual machines. What is the behavior when an HAVM is shut down using VMM 2008? The Shut down action behaves differently depending on the following conditions:

User is logged on and the console is locked: Shut down action turns off the virtual machine. User is logged off and the console prompts for credentials: Shut down action turns off the virtual machine. User is logged on and the console is unlocked: Shut down action shuts down the guest operating system. User is logged off and the console is locked (requiring Ctrl-Alt-Del to unlock it): Shut down action shuts down the guest operating system.

If I add a node to an existing host cluster, do I need to do anything in VMM? When a node is added to a host cluster outside VMM 2008, VMM discovers the new node and displays it in VMM Administrator Console under its host cluster. The node has Pending Management status until you add it to VMM as a host. Until you add the host in VMM, if any highly available virtual machine on any other node in the host cluster fails over to the new node, the virtual machine has Missing status in VMM. Use the Add host action to add the host to VMM. For more information, in VMM 2008 Help, see How to Add a Pending Host to VMM. If you add a node to an existing Hyper-V host cluster, you also will need to set the default remote connection port on the new host to port 2179, the remote connection port that Hyper-V uses. You will find the property on the Remote tab of the Host Properties dialog box. High Availability Can I make the VMM 2008 server highly available by configuring it as a clustered application on a failover cluster of physical servers? No. Instead, you can run VMM 2008 on a highly available virtual machine. Frequently Asked Questions: Creating Virtual Machines in VMM Hardware Configurations Does VMM support emulated network devices on a Hyper-V virtual machine running the Windows Server 2003 x64 operating system? No. Microsoft does not plan to release a driver for Windows Server 2003 x64. You will need to use synthetic network devices, which, to be loaded, require Integration Components in Hyper-V. Can I get a MAC address assigned to a newly created virtual machine hosted by Hyper-V? Hyper-V dynamically assigns a MAC address to the virtual network adapter when a newly created virtual machine is turned on. If you want to assign a static MAC address without having to turn on the virtual machine, you can configure a global static MAC address range for VMM 2008. When you create a virtual machine, you can use the next available address from the range.

To set the MAC address range, in Administration view of the VMM Administrator Console, expand the Networking node, and then click Global static MAC address range. For more information, see How to Set the Static MAC Address Range for Virtual Network Devices. Guest Operating System Profiles Can I link to an ISO image in the VMM library from a virtual machine deployed on a Hyper-V or VMware ESX Server host? Linking to a centrally stored ISO image in the VMM library when a virtual machine is on a Hyper-V host has not been tested at this time. VMM does not support this for virtual machines deployed on ESX Server hosts. When I create a guest operating system profile, why can I see some of my Sysprep answer files but not others? The answer file format depends on the Windows operating system that is selected in the guest operating system profile. If you select the Windows 2000 Server, Windows Server 2003, or Windows XP operating system, the selection list shows only .inf files. If you select Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008, the selection list shows only .xml files. Templates How can I use VMware templates in VMM? You can use the VMware templates in VMM 2008 as follows:

After adding a VMware Virtual Center server, you can import your existing templates on VMware ESX Server hosts into the library for use in VMM. Use the Import templates action in the Virtualization Managers node in Administration view of the VMM Administrator Console. You can use the New template action in the VMM Administrator Console to create a new template based on a VMware virtual machine.

Can I create a template that does not run Sysprep? Yes. When you create a template from an existing virtual hard disk or an existing virtual machine, you can choose the Customization not required option on the Guest OS Profile wizard page to exclude the template from Sysprep. This feature enables VMM administrators to create virtual machines with non-Windows guest operating systems and with Windows operating systems on which VMM cannot run Sysprep (such as Windows 7). The feature enables self-service users, who are restricted to creating virtual machines from templates provided by the administrator, to create a virtual machine from a virtual hard disk. Miscellaneous Why does the parameter -UserRole for Set-VM have three possible values when the only valid value is SelfServiceUser? When used with Set-VM, the -UserRole parameter is used to assign a self-service user role to a virtual machine; therefore, SelfServiceUser is the only valid parameter in that context. However, the -UserRole parameter is also used by other cmdlets that might need other values. Frequently Asked Questions: P2V and V2V Conversions in VMM 2 out of 3 rated this helpful - Rate this topic Updated: January 7, 2010 Applies To: Virtual Machine Manager 2008, Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2, Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 SP1

This topic provides answers to frequently asked questions about physical to virtual machine conversions (P2V conversion) and virtual to virtual conversions (V2V conversions) performed in VMM 2008. If you do not see the answer to your questions here, you can post questions on the System Center Virtual Machine Manager forums (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=85919). Physical-to-Virtual Machine (P2V) Conversions This section answers common questions about physical to virtual machine conversions in VMM 2008, known as P2V conversions. What is the difference between an online P2V conversion and an offline P2V conversion? An online P2V conversion creates a consistent point-in-time copy of local NTFS volumes and data of Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS)aware applications. P2V essentially plays the role of VSS backup requester. Online P2V provides a method for cloning a source machine with minimal interruption of service on the source machine. The computer continues to perform the tasks that it is expected to perform during normal operations. During an offline P2V conversion, the computer is rebooted into a different operating system, Vista WinPE, to take a consistent image of the source machine. Offline P2V is a more appropriate method for migrating a physical computer to a virtual source machine to a virtualized environment when you want to avoid any potential data loss or you need to merge any changes that occur on the source machine during the conversion with the data on the new virtual machine. Offline P2V is the default mode for converting source machines with the Windows Server 2000 operating system. It is the only method to reliably convert an Active Directory domain controller or a source machine that contains FAT volumes. Can I convert a computer that is not in an Active Directory domain? Yes, with VMM 2008, you can convert source computers in a workgroup. On the source computer, you must provide credentials of a local Administrator account. You also must verify that no firewalls or IPsec policies prevent communication between the source computer and VMM on the management channel (on WMI or the SMB protocol) or between the source computer and the destination host on the data channel (TCP port 443 by default). Can I perform a P2V conversion on an Active Directory domain controller? Yes. You can perform an offline P2V conversion on a domain controller. Performing the conversion offline helps avoid potential Active Directory USN rollback issues during the process. For more information about offline P2V conversions, see P2V: Converting Physical Computers to Virtual Machines in VMM. Can I run more than one P2V process simultaneously on the same VMM server? Yes. VMM does not limit the number of P2V processes that can be run simultaneously by using the Convert Physical Server Wizard or the New-P2V cmdlet. What protocols are used to communicate between computers during a P2V conversion? During a P2V conversion, the participating computers communicate over the following protocols:

Destination host and the source computer: HTTPs VMM server and the P2V agent on the source computer: WMI VMM server and the destination host: WS-Management (formerly known as Windows Remote Management or WinRM)

How can I tell the status of a P2V conversion? You can view the P2V status by clicking the Jobs tab at the bottom left of the Administrator Console, clicking the job at the top, and then viewing the results of the running job on the lower right. Does VMM convert VMware virtual machines? Yes. P2V can convert physical computers or virtual machines presented as physical entities. You can specify the machine name of a running VMWare virtual machine and run P2V. You can also run a virtual machine to virtual machine (V2V) conversion on a shut down VMware virtual machine. Before you convert a VMware virtual machine to Hyper-V, regardless of the method that you use, you must uninstall VMware Tools on the guest operating system of the virtual machine. (You must also remove VMware Tools before you convert a VMware virtual machine to a Virtual Server virtual machine.) For more information, see V2V: Converting a Virtual Machine to a VMM Virtual Machine. Can I uninstall updates within a virtual machine after a P2V conversion? No, you should not uninstall updates within the virtual machine after a P2V operation. Treat virtual machines like physical computers and keep them up-to-date with the latest updates. Can I perform P2V conversions on one or all of the physical nodes of an existing Microsoft cluster? You cannot perform a P2V conversion to convert a failover cluster to a guest cluster. VMM does not recognize a failover cluster as a P2V source if you specify a cluster name or node name for a P2V conversion. To create a guest cluster, you can perform a P2V conversion on each individual cluster node by using VMM and then manually configure the failover cluster of the resultant virtual machines by using cluster management tools. For more information about offline P2V conversions, seeP2V: Converting Physical Computers to Virtual Machines in VMM. Does VMM automatically install VM Additions or Hyper-V Integration Components during the P2V process? Yes. During the P2V process, is data transferred directly from the source computer to the destination host or does it go through the VMM computer? Data is transferred directly between the source computer and the destination host over HTTPs. Machine configuration and P2V parameters are exchanged between the source computer and VMM over WMI. Does VMM resize disks during P2V conversions? If a volume is in NTFS format and you select the default Dynamic setting for the disk, the P2V process only copies data from the volume. The physical size of the resulting virtual hard disk is very close to the space used on the original volume. Does VMM P2V support third-party boot loaders? Not at this time. How can I perform an offline P2V in an environment where there is no DHCP server or where NETBIOS communication is not enabled? You can choose the Static IP configuration option in the Convert Physical Server Wizard to provide a static IP address. VMM will customize the WinPE image before deploying it to the source computer. When the source computer is restarted, VMM will configure the IP stack on WinPE according to the user's preferences instead of using DHCP to acquire the IP address. If there is a port conflict, is it possible to change a P2V port from the default setting of TCP 443?

Yes. To change the P2V port, perform the following tasks: 1. Create the following registry key: HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager Server\Settings\P2VBITSTcpPort of the type DWORD. Enter the number of the port that you want to use on the VMM server. The port number must be smaller than 32768. Restart the VMM service, and then try again.

2. 3.

Virtual-to-Virtual (V2V) Conversions This section provides answers to common questions about virtual-to-virtual conversions, known as V2V conversions. Does VMM automatically install VM Additions or Hyper-V Integration Components during the V2V process? Yes. Can VMM perform a V2V conversion on a VMware virtual machine that has checkpoints (has differencing disks)? No. See the source computer requirements in the Source Virtual Machines section, earlier in this topic. Is it possible to perform a V2V conversion on a virtual machine with a Linux operating system? Yes. VMM can convert a VMware VMDK to a VHD and the VMware virtual machine configuration (VMX) to VMC for Virtual Server or XML for Hyper-V. However, if the operating system is not in the list of supported operating systems, VMM will not have information to perform the fix-up stage, including the installation of the drivers compatible with the hardware presented by the virtualization platform on the destination host. Can VMM perform a V2V conversion on a VMware virtual machine that has its data on an RDM (raw device mapping) disk? No. See the source computer requirements in the Source Virtual Machines section, earlier in this topic. Virtual to Physical (V2P) Conversions This section provides answers to common questions about virtual-to-physical conversions, known as V2P conversions. Can VMM 2008 perform virtual to physical conversions? No. virtual to physical conversions (V2P) are not supported in VMM 2008. Frequently Asked Questions: VMM Library File Management Why do I need to add the files that I use to create virtual machines to the library? The library provides a central, secure, definitive store for the resources used to create virtual machines in your organization. Using the library helps promote re-use of approved images and configurations. How do I configure my library? To configure the library, you create the library shares on the servers that you want to use and then add the servers, specifying which shares you want VMM to index during library refreshes. You can do this by using the Add Library Servers Wizard, which is available in any view of the VMM Administrator Console. To add additional library shares later, you can use the Add library shares action, available in Library view. You can add only existing shares; VMM does not create the shares.

To enhance performance and reduce network traffic during virtual machine creation, its important to store the files that you use to create virtual machines near the hosts you will use to stage virtual machine creation. You can use the library groupproperty of library servers to help associate library servers with the host groups they will serve. For more information, see Planning for the VMM Library. VMM also supports highly available library servers, created by adding a Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 failover cluster. This option is discussed in detail a little later in this topic. What types of files are indexed in the VMM library? During library refreshes, the following types of files are added to available resources in Library view: virtual hard disks (unless attached to a stored virtual machine), virtual floppy disks, ISO images, answer files, and PowerShell scripts. A library refresh also indexes, but does not display, all files associated with stored virtual machines, including the virtual machine configuration file, attached virtual hard disks, saved state files, imported snapshots, checkpoints, and the files associated with virtual machine templates. In the navigation pane of Library view, stored virtual machines and templates are displayed in the VMs and Templates node for the library server that stores the files that are associated with them. You can view snapshots and checkpoints for a virtual machine on the Checkpoints tab in the virtual machine properties. For a complete listing of indexed file types, see File Types That Are Indexed During a Library Refresh. How often does VMM refresh the files on library shares? By default, VMM refreshes all library shares once every hour. If you need an immediate refresh, you can manually refresh an individual library share or all library shares on a library server by selecting the share or server in the Library view of the VMM Administrator Console and then clicking Refresh share. To change the library refresh interval, display Administration view of the VMM Administrator Console, click General, and then click Library Settings in the results pane. In the Actions pane, under Settings, click Modify. In the Library Settings dialog box, set the number of hours between refreshes. One hour is the minimum interval. Can I transfer files from one library server to another? You can move the files by copying them to a library share on another library server. During the next library refresh, VMM will refresh the metadata in the VMM database. What happens when I remove a library server? When you remove a library server or library share from VMM, the files are not deleted from the file system. The only change is that the metadata is removed from the VMM database. Likewise, VMM removes all library objectssuch as templates, hardware profiles, software profiles, and stored virtual machinesthat are associated with files on a removed library share from the VMM database. When I store a virtual machine in the library, why don't I see the configuration files in the library resources? The virtual machine configuration file is used only to import the virtual machine into VMM. After the virtual machine has been imported, there are no actions that a VMM administrator or self-service user can take on a configuration file. For this reason, the configuration file is not displayed. What happened to my virtual hard disk file? I see it in Windows Explorer but not in the library. If the virtual hard disk is attached to a virtual machine, the virtual hard disk file does not show up in the library as a resource. If you view the properties of the virtual machine that the VHD is attached to, you will see the reference to the VHD.

I created a folder on my library share. Why doesnt the folder show up in the library after a library refresh? The folder will show up in the library only if it contains a file type that is managed by the VMM library. VMM also does not add hidden folders to the library. For more information, see File Types That Are Indexed During a Library Refresh. Templates and Profiles What is a virtual machine template, and why don't templates show up in file lists? By creating a virtual machine template, you can generalize a virtual machine to create a reference image that can be used repeatedly. Templates are metadata only and exist in the VMM database, not in the file system. Where can I find my templates, guest operating system profiles, and hardware profiles in the library? In Library view, virtual machines and templates appear in the VMs and Templates node under any library server that stores physical files that the virtual machines or templates reference. For example, a single template might appear on multiple library servers if it used an ISO image on one library server and a VHD on another. All guest operation system profiles and hardware profiles appear in the Profiles nodethe bottom node in the navigation pane. The following illustration shows where to find templates, profiles, and virtual machines in the navigation pane of Library view.

Running Windows PowerShell Scripts Why should I add my Windows PowerShell scripts to the library? In VMM, you can view and run your Windows PowerShell scripts from the library by using the View PowerShell script and Run PowerShell script actions in Library view. These features are available only if you store your PowerShell scripts in the library. However, you do not have to store scripts in the library to run them from the command line. Running a script from the library requires the same permissions that a user needs to run that same script from outside the VMM Administrator Console. Why do I get a script signing error when I try to run scripts from the library? If the scripts in your library are not signed and your computer has a policy to run only signed scripts, you will not be able to run scripts from the library. For details about script signing, in PowerShell Help,

see About_signing(http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=119744). If you are unable to sign scripts, you can change the policy on your computer by using the Set-ExecutionPolicy cmdlet in Windows PowerShell. Support for Highly Available Library Servers Does VMM support highly available library servers? Yes. VMM supports highly available library servers that are configured as a failover cluster in Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2. VMM does not support clusters created in Windows Server 2003. Nor does VMM support using a failover cluster that contains the VMM server as a highly available library server. How do I add highly available library servers to VMM? In the Add Library Server Wizard, enter the highly available file server name as the library server name. The highly available file server name, also known as the Client Access Point, usually is different from the cluster name. The wizard discovers all of the nodes of the cluster and then adds the highly available file server to Library view. The nodes will not be displayed in Library view but will be displayed in Administration view, under Managed Computers. How do I add library shares to a highly available library server? To add a library share to a highly available library server, use the same method that you use to add a library share to a standalone library server. The only difference is that VMM does not index the files on the shared storage immediately when you add a library share to a highly available library server. If you do not want to wait until the next periodic library refresh to view the files in the VMM library, you can manually refresh the library share in VMM. The default library refresh interval is 1 hour. For procedures, see How to Add Library Shares (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=162801) and How to Perform Manual Library Refreshes (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=179829). What happens if the nodes in the cluster change after I add a highly available library server to VMM? VMM does not refresh cluster node membership after a highly available library server is added. If a node is added to the cluster after you add a highly available library server to VMM, you must manually add the node to the library server by using either the Add Library Server Wizard or the Add-LibraryServer cmdlet. The new node will not be displayed in Library view until a library share is added to that node. To find out the nodes in a highly available library server, view the library server properties or use the Discover-Cluster cmdlet in Windows PowerShell. How can I remove a highly available library server from VMM? You remove a highly available library server in the same way that you remove a stand-alone library server. However, removing the highly available file server removes only the cluster name, not the nodes. The nodes are not removed because they might be supporting a different highly available file server. To remove the nodes as library servers, in Administration view, click Managed Computers, select the nodes, and then, in the Actions pane, click Remove. I just created a new highly available file server in Windows Server 2008. Why can't the Add Library Server Wizard find this highly available file server? When you create a new highly available file server in Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2, it will take a few minutes for the new DNS name to propagate in Active Directory Domain Services. Try again in a few minutes. Frequently Asked Questions: Managing VMware Environments in VMM After I imported a VMware Virtual Center server into VMM, the host status for each of the ESX Server hosts is OK (Limited). What does that mean?

When you add a VMware Virtual Center server to VMM, all VMware ESX Server hosts that are managed by the server are added to VMM with an OK (Limited) status until you enter host credentials in the host properties. Is adding ESX Server host credentials in VMM enough to fully manage virtual machines on ESX Server hosts? For VMM 2008, to fully manage virtual machines deployed on ESX Server hosts, you must provide either root credentials or VMware Virtual Machine Delegate credentials, with the following requirements:

If you provide root credentials for the ESX Server host, you must enable SSH Root Login on each of the ESX hosts. To provide VMware Virtual Machine Delegate credentials, you must configure the credentials on the VMware Virtual Center server in advance.

What actions can be performed on virtual machines while an ESX Server host has OK (Limited) status? The following table lists the actions that can be performed on an ESX Server host that has OK (Limited) status, noting any restrictions that apply in that status. For a list of actions that are available for ESX Server hosts that have OK status in VMM, in VMM 2008 Help, see Supported Virtual Machine Actions for ESX Server Hosts. Supported Virtual Machine Actions for ESX Server Hosts with OK (Limited) Status Virtual Machine Action Restrictions

Start

None

Stop

None

Pause

None

Modify properties

ISO image cannot be attached to a virtual DVD drive. VMware virtual hard disk (.vmdk file) cannot be attached to the virtual machine. VMware virtual floppy disk (.flp file) cannot be attached to the virtual floppy drive.

New checkpoint

None

Manage checkpoints

None

Remove

None

Migrate by using VMware VMotion

None

Migrate across VirtualCenter servers

None

Clone within the same VirtualCenter server

When the virtual machine is cloned by using the VMM Administrator Console, VMM gives the host a zero rating during virtual machine placement. However, you still can select the host for placement.

Clone virtual machine on the same ESX Server host

In the VMM Administrator Console, VMM gives the host a zero rating during virtual machine placement, but you can select the host manually. In the Windows PowerShell Virtual Machine Manager command shell, you must use a task group to create a new .vmdk file before you clone the virtual machine. You cannot clone an existing .vmdk file.

Create virtual machine from a blank VMware virtual hard disk (.vmdk file)

In the VMM Administrator Console, VMM gives the host a zero rating during virtual machine placement, but you can select the host manually. In the Windows PowerShell Virtual Machine Manager command shell, you must use a task group to create a new .vmdk file before you create a virtual machine. You cannot use an existing .vmdk file as the source.

Is an OK (Limited) host status possible on Hyper-V or Virtual Server hosts?

No, OK (Limited) host status pertains only to ESX Server hosts. Is PRO available for ESX Server hosts? Yes. You can enable Performance and Resource Optimization (PRO) for any host group or host cluster that VMM 2008 manages. For more information, see Enabling PRO in VMM 2008. Frequently Asked Questions: Performance and Resource Optimization (PRO) in VMM How do I configure PRO? First, you need to configure Operations Manager 2007 to interoperate with VMM. That includes importing the System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 Management Pack, installing a VMM Administrator Console on the Operations Manager root management server, installing an Operations Console for Operations Manager on the VMM server, and several other steps. To simplify this, the Configure Operations Manager option on the VMM Setup media automates most of this process. After completing the Operations Manager configuration, you will need to configure VMM for PRO. For an overview of the entire PRO configuration, see Enabling PRO in VMM. What benefits do I get if I configure PRO now? If you start using PRO now, you can take advantage of the basic set of PRO-enabled management packs that have been developed for the VMM 2008 product release. The PRO tips generated by these monitors can recommend virtual machine configuration changes and implement automatic migration based on performance data gathered from virtual machines and hosts.

You say that PRO is extensible. What can I expect in the future? A PRO-enabled management pack can be developed for any software application or hardware device that interacts with your virtualized environment. As partners develop new PRO-enabled management packs, the management packs will be announced. To find out about the latest PRO-enabled management packs that are available for download, see the System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 product site (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=117146). If I auto implement PRO tips, how do I know what changes PRO is making? You can view summary information and knowledge for each active PRO tip by displaying the PRO Tips window. To open the window, click PRO on the toolbar. The PRO tip details explain what virtual machines and hosts are involved and the actions that are recommended. In the PRO tip details, the knowledge provides troubleshooting for the condition that initiated the PRO tip. Many PRO tips include a View Script link that displays the Windows PowerShell script that will implement the PRO tip. For more information about using the PRO Tips window, see How to Monitor and Implement PRO Tips. To get more information, you can monitor the jobs that a PRO tip initiates in Jobs view. The details for any job a PRO tip initiates include a PRO tab that provides detailed status of each job that the PRO tip performs. For more information, seeMonitoring Jobs in VMM. Is there any way to control whether PRO tips are implemented? You can choose whether to enable PRO for each individual host group or host cluster. Within the host group or host cluster, you can choose the severity level of PRO tips (Critical Only or Critical and Warning) that you want to receive and the severity level that you want to implement. If you prefer not to automatically implement PRO tips, you can use the PRO Tips window to review detailed data about the proposed actions and then manually implement the PRO tip. You can also choose to exclude a virtual machine from the PRO tips that perform host-level actions, such as migrating the virtual machine. The virtual machine will continue to receive recommendations based on virtual machine monitors. Why cant I implement some of my PRO tips? The Implement option is not available for all PRO tips. For example, VMM can automatically quick-migrate a virtual machine within its current host group or host cluster to resolve performance issues on one of the hosts. However, to resolve other issues, you might need to manually update a virtual machine's configuration. In the latter case, the knowledge for the PRO tip explains what to do. Can I use PRO to manage my VMware Infrastructure 3 environment? PRO works equally for all of the platforms that VMM manages. After PRO is enabled for a host group or host cluster, VMM provides PRO tips regardless of the type of virtualization software that is running on the hosts in that group or cluster. Why did my PRO tips disappear after I updated from the pre-release version of VMM 2008 to the released product? When you updated to the released version of VMM 2008, you replaced the pre-release version of the VMM 2008 Management Pack with the released version. As a result, your active PRO tips were initially listed but disappeared during the first PRO refresh. If you retained data when you updated VMM 2008, after you re-associate the agents on your existing hosts with the VMM server, you will resume receiving PRO tips for the hosts and virtual machines for which PRO is enabled. You will receive a new PRO tip for any of the earlier health issues that persist after the update. Frequently Asked Questions: Data Refreshes How often does VMM 2008 perform data refreshes? In VMM 2008, the following refreshers are used to update data in the VMM database. Only the library refresher is configurable.

Host Refresher Frequency: Every 30 minutes. Data updates:

Updates host properties, including disk, SAN, and host network configuration information (network adapters or virtual switches). Does not check data related to virtual machines on the host or performance counters on hosts.

Manual refreshes:

VMM Administrator Console: Select the host, and click Refresh. Windows PowerShell VMM: Refresh-VMHost.

VM Heavy Refresher Frequency:

Every 30 minutes on each host. Each time a virtual machine is selected in the VMM Administrator Console. Each time a Refresh-VM cmdlet runs.

Data updates:

Updates all virtual machine properties, resource pools, cluster information, and snapshots for the virtual machine. Does not update data from performance counters for the virtual machine.

Manual refreshes:

VMM Administrator Console: Select the virtual machine, and click Refresh. Windows PowerShell VMM: Refresh-VM.

VM Light Refresher Frequency: Every 2 minutes on each host. Data updates:

Checks the host status to determine whether the VMM agent is running and the status of the virtualization software on the host. Synchronizes the statuses of virtual machines deployed on the host. Places virtual machines with missing objects in a Missing state.

Imports new virtual machines created outside VMM. When the refresher detects a new virtual machine, it imports the virtual machine into VMM and runs the VM Heavy Refresher to add virtual machine properties, resource pools, cluster information, and snapshots to the VMM database.

Manual refreshes: Not applicable. See VMM Heavy Refresher, earlier in this topic. Cluster Refresher Frequency: Every 30 minutes. Data updates:

Refreshes all cluster properties. Imports newly added nodes to the VMM host cluster; removes nodes that have been destroyed outside VMM from the host cluster.

Manual refreshes:

VMM Administrator Console: Select the cluster, and click Refresh. Windows PowerShell VMM: Refresh-VMHostCluster.

Library Refresher Frequency: Every hour, by default. A different refresh interval can be configured (in one-hour increments), or library refreshes can be canceled. For more information, see How to Configure Library Refreshes. Data updates:

Indexes the file-based resources on all library shares. For a list of file types that are indexed, see File Types That Are Indexed During a Library Refresh. Updates the configurations of virtual machine templates, guest operating system profiles, and hardware profiles.

Manual refreshes:

VMM Administrator Console: Select a library server or library share, and click Refresh. Windows PowerShell VMM: Refresh-LibraryServer or Refresh-LibraryShare.

Perf Refresher Frequency:

Every 9 minutes on each host. After each action that changes the state of a virtual machine (for example, Start, Stop, or Store).

Data updates: Collects performance counter information for the host and for all virtual machines that are deployed on the host. Manual refreshes: Not available. VirtualCenter Refresher

Frequency: Every 30 minutes. Data updates: Refreshes VMware VirtualCenter properties, VMware ESX Server hosts, and resource pools that the VirtualCenter server manages. Manual refreshes:

VMM Administrator Console: In Administration view, expand Virtualization Managers, select the VirtualCenter server, and then click Refresh. Windows PowerShell VMM: Refresh-VirtualizationManager.

User Role Refresher Frequency: Every 30 minutes. Data updates: Updates the properties of user roles. Manual refreshes: Not available. PRO Tip Refresher Frequency: Every 30 seconds. Data updates:

Discovers alerts that Operations Manager 2007 generates for hosts and virtual machines participating in Performance and Resource Optimization (PRO). Reconciles current PRO tips data in the VMM database with the latest data from Operations Manager.

Manual refreshes: Not applicable.