VMware virtual disk operation with vmkfstools

Extend virtual disk
vmkfstools -X 30G /vmfs/volumes/datastore_name/vm_name/vm_name.vmdk
here 30G is not extra space, which is the total space finally.
to see the detail please check http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1007266 

use esxcli kill stunk vm in ESXi 4.1

Find world ID
# esxcli vms vm list
Soft kill vm
#esxcli vms vm kill -w 81238123 -t soft     <---here 81238123 is world ID

vmware esx update command

0.1. Suppose ssh is ready; patch is download from http://www.vmware.com/patch/download/

0.2 Upload patch file to esx server with scp or using viclient browse datastore and upload

1. Enter maintain mode
ESX:
vimsh -n -e /hostsvc/maintenance_mode_enter
ESXi:
vim-cmd /hostsvc/maintenance_mode_enter

2. Execute update
esxcli software vib intall -d /path/to/patch/esxi_update_patch.zip

3. Exit maintenance mode
ESX:
vimsh -n -e /hostsvc/maintenance_mode_exit
ESXi:
vim-cmd /hostsvc/maintenance_mode_exit

4. System reboot

Improve VMware Console Mouse Experience with Windows Server 2008

ref.: http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1011709
ref.: http://vm-pro.com/improve-vmware-console-mouse-experience-with-windows-server-2008/

vmware-vmrc example

Directly connect to ESX

vmware-vmrc -h 192.168.1.123 -m "[datastore1] rayvm/rayvm.vmx"

or

vmware-vmrc -h 192.168.1.123 -u "administrator" -p "yourpassword" -m "[datastore1] rayvm/rayvm.vmx"

Directly connect to VMware Server

vmware-vmrc.exe -h 192.168.1.246:8333 -m "[datastore1] rayvm/rayvm.vmx"

VM migrate with vSphere client

ref:http://blog.infinity.idv.tw/

vmware remote console on firefox 3.6.x problem

The problem is the vmrc plugin is not available on firefox 3.6.x, it return timeout error. So my solution is just run the vmrc directly, you can follow the steps:

copy the plugin from /usr/lib/vmware/webAccess/tomcat/apache-tomcat-6.0.16/webapps/ui/plugin/ to client site.
on client, just unzip it, (for me, unzip vmware-vmrc-linux-x64.xpi)

after extract, you can see vmware-vmrc in plugin folder, run it directly and give the hostname (e.g: 192.168.0.2:8333), username and password.


Linux:
vmware-vmrc -h [<hostname>] [-u <username> -p <password>] [-M <moid> | <datastore path>]

Windows:
vmware-vmrc.exe -h <hostname> [-u <username> -p <password>] -M <moid> | <datastore path>

You can find the object id (moid) from vmInventory.xml
For example: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\VMware\VMware Remote Console Plug-in\vmware-vmrc.exe" -h localhost:8333 -M 16

Fine tune your VM - Extend vm disk size in Linux

Step1: Login with admin, shutdown your PC

Step2: Eg: Extend your vm to 40GB
vmware-vdiskmanager -x 40GB winxp.vmdk
Then your disk space would be expanded, but the free space is not assigned to your system.

Step3: List your registered vm, check the ID
vmware-vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms

Step4: Poweron your vm
vmware-vim-cmd vmsvc/power.on 96

Step5: If you the vm is windows, then go to computer manager to assign the free space to C: or D: as you like.
To expand system driver (such as C: which holding winxp) then you may need to do it with thrid party partition tools. Here you can get more information: http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1004071

Virtualization - VMLite XP Mode

ref.: http://www.vmlite.com/index.php/products/vmlite-xp-mode

• Provides similar functions as Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode from Microsoft
• No requirement for hardware-assisted virtualization, namely, it runs without VT-x or AMD-v
• Provides seamless integration with host desktop to run applications from Windows XP virtual machine
• Host files can be accessed from within the XP Mode virtual machine easily
• Control-C/V can be used to copy files and other contexts between host and vm, between different vms.
• Support 3rd party virtual machine images: VMDK, VHD, VDI, HDD
• Runs on any PC with Windows XP and above as host operating systems
• Highly performed, XP Mode boots in 20 seconds
• Supports XP, Vista, Windows 7, 2003 server, 2008 server as guest, for example, you can run Windows 7 on XP to have similar integration features
• Supports Virtual Application Mode - if you start a vm application from host Start menu, this program is launched within a special context, called "Virtual Application Mode", where My Documents, My Desktop, and other special shell folders will be redirected to the host. For example, if you launch XP Mode Word from host Start menu, you will see green borders, and when you save a new document to My Documents, it will be actually saved to your host My Documents folder.

Virtual(portable) desktop for XP - using MojoPAC

Installation:
Step 1: go to the site http://www.mojopac.com/ and download mojopac
Step 2: When install the mojopac, you can select the locatation(C:, D: or removable USB) to install the virtual XP

When you finish the installation, you can find the mojo.exe, execute it to launch your virtual XP.
If you installed to other location, you can copy whole mojo directory to usb drive or other pc, so that you not need to install again.