VMware vCenter Lab Manager 2.4 User guide

VMware® Lab Manager User’s Guide

VMware Lab Manager 2.4

You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on our Web site at

http://www.vmware.com/support/

The VMware Web site also provides the latest product updates.

If you have comments about this documentation, submit your feedback to:

[email protected]

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6,944,699, 6,961,806, 6,961,941, 7,069,413, 7,082,598, 7,089,377, 7,111,086, 7,111,145 and 7,117,481;

patents pending.

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VMware® Lab Manager User’s Guide

Revision: 20070330

Item: VL-ENG-Q406-273

VMware, Inc. 3

Contents

Preface 9

1 IntroducingLabManager 13

LabManagerComponents 14

LabManagerBenefitsandFeatures 15

UsingLabManagerwithVirtualCenter

ManagementServer 16

2 GettingStartedwith

LabManager 17

SettingInternetExplorerOptions 18

AccessingtheLabManagerConsole 19

ReviewingtheLabManagerUserInterface 20

DefaultLandingPage 20

SpecificAreasandOperations 22

InterfaceFeatures 23

MouseoverMenus 23

BreadcrumbTitles 23

TextSearchFilter 24

ColumnSorting 24

VMwareToolsandMouseControl 24

ReviewingtheGeneralWorkflowinLabManager 24

3 WorkingwithVirtualMachines 25

AccessingVirtualMachines 26

AccessingaVirtualMachineConsolefortheFirstTime 27

InstallingtheActiveXControl 27

InstallingtheVMwareRemoteMKSPluginforFirefox 28

ReviewingtheVirtualMachineConsolePage 29

ChangingtheConsoleDisplaySize 30

ReviewingVirtualMachineOperations 31

SummaryofVirtualMachineOperations 31

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SummaryofVirtualMachineStates 33

ChangingIPorMACAddresses 33

SettingUpRemoteDesktopConnections 35

TakingSnapshotsandRevertingtheSnapshots 36

InsertingCDs 36

EjectingCDs 38

InsertingFloppyDisks 38

EjectingFloppyDisks 39

AddingVirtualHardDiskstoVirtualMachines(Templates) 39

AddingSCSIVirtualHardDisks 41

EditingVirtualMachineProperties 42

ReviewingthePropertiesList 42

4 WorkingwithMachineTemplates 45

AboutTemplates 46

AccessingtheTemplatesPage 46

ReviewingTemplateOperations 47

SummaryofTemplateOperations 47

SummaryofTemplateStatesandAttributes 49

CreatingTemplates 50

ImportingTemplates 50

ImportingaTemplatefromSMBStorage 51

ImportingaTemplatefromVMFSStorage 52

CreatingTemplatesfromScratch 53

CreatingaBlankTemplate 54

DeployingaTemplate 55

InstallingtheGuestOperatingSystem 56

InstallingVMwareTools 57

InstallingAdditionalSoftware 58

Installing

LMTools 58

PublishingaTemplate 62

SharingaTemplate 62

ShuttingDownaTemplate 63

CreatingTemplatesfromActiveVirtualMachinesinLabManager 63

CloningTemplates 63

CopyingTemplates 65

UndeployingTemplates 66

SharingTemplates 66

ExportingTemplates 66

ConsolidatingTemplates 67

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Contents

EditingTemplateProperties 68

DeletingTemplates 70

5 WorkingwithConfigurations 71

AboutConfigurations 72

AccessingConfigurations 72

ReviewingConfigurationOperations 75

SummaryofConfigurationOperations 75

SummaryofConfigurationStatesandAttributes 77

CreatingConfigurations 78

ManuallyConfiguringtheIPAddressfortheVirtualMachine 80

AddingVirtualMachinestoExistingConfigurations 80

DeployingConfigurations 82

DeployOptions 83

DeploywithDefaultsOption 84

UndeployingConfigurations 85

CapturingConfigurationstotheLibrary 85

CheckingOutConfigurationsfromtheLibrary 86

StoppingConfigurations 86

Cloning

Configurations 87

CopyingConfigurations 88

ExportingConfigurations 89

ImportingConfigurations 91

SharingConfigurations 92

CreatingandRestoringConfigurationLiveLinks 92

TakingSnapshotsandRevertingtoSnapshots 94

EditingConfigurationProperties 95

ViewingDetailsonVirtualMachinesinaConfiguration 96

AccessingaVirtualMachineConsole 98

AccessingAllVirtualMachineConsolesinaConfiguration 98

DeletingConfigurations 98

6 WorkingwithMedia 99

AccessingtheMediaLibrary 100

ReviewingMediaOperations 101

AddingMediatotheLibrary 101

SynchronizingLabManagerwithMediaStorage 102

DeletingMediafromtheLibrary 103

SharingMediaFiles 103

PrivatizingMediaFiles 103

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EditingMediaProperties 104

7 AdministeringandMonitoringLabManager 105

MonitoringLabManager 106

MonitoringtheActivityLog 106

MonitoringtheServerPool 107

MonitoringDeployedMachines 109

ManagingUsers 111

SettingUserPreferences 111

DefaultsTab 111

PasswordTab 113

ViewingUsers 113

AddingNewUsers 115

DeletingUsers 117

EditingUserProperties 117

AuthenticatingUserNamesandPasswords 119

UsingtheLDAPBindingString 119

MarkinganLDAPUserWithoutAuthentication 119

MarkinganLDAPUserWithAuthentication 119

ManagingManagedServerSystems 121

ViewingManagedServerSystems 121

AddingManagedServerSystems 122

RemovingManagedServerSystems 125

EditingManagedServerProperties 125

ReviewingAdditionalManagedServerOperations 127

ManagingStorageServers 128

ViewingStorageServers 128

MovingtheContentsofaSANServer 129

AddingMediaStoragetoLabManager 130

MediaStorageRequirements 130

SettingUpSMBMediaStorageforLabManager 131

CreatingaShareforLab

ManagertoSetPermissions 131

AttachingMediaStoragetoLabManager 131

RemovingStorageServers 133

AdditionalTasksforRemovinganNFSMediaServer 134

EditingStorageServerProperties 134

ReviewingAdditionalStorageServerOperations 136

ConfiguringNetworkSettings 137

ViewingNetworkSettings 137

ReviewingtheSettingstab 137

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Contents

ReviewingtheIPPoolTab 138

UnderstandingIPAddressManagement 139

AddingIPAddressestotheLabManagerIPPool 139

RemovingIPAddressesfromtheLabManagerIPPool 141

ConfiguringLabManagerSettings 142

AccessingLabManagerSettings 142

ReviewingtheGeneralTab 142

ServerPreferences 143

EmailPreferences 144

DefaultUserPreferences 144

DefaultDeploymentOptions 145

ReviewingtheLicenseTab 145

ReviewtheLMTools

Tab 147

ReviewingtheSupportLinkTab 149

8 TroubleshootingLabManager 151

BlankScreenAppearsWhenAccessingLabManager 152

LabManagerDoesNotDisplayVirtualMachineConsole 152

DuplicateIPAddressErrorsAppear 153

AdditionofSCSIVirtualHardDiskFails 153

MouseNavigationonVirtualMachineConsoleFails 153

RemoteAccesstoVirtualMachineFails 154

LiveLinkURLErrorAppears 154

HostServerCDDriveCannotInstallSoftware 154

ImportingaVirtualMachine

asaTemplateFails 155

ImportfromVMFSOperationFails 155

InsertingMediafromNFSServerFails 155

LabManagerServerFails,LosesConnectivity,orRebootstheSystem 157

SMBMediaStorageServerFails 157

PermanentFailureofManagedServerOccurs 158

TemporaryFailureofManagedServerOccurs

(RebootorTurnOff) 159

TemporaryFailureofManagedServerOccurs

(Networking) 160

A NetworkFencing 161

WhyShouldIFenceConfigurations? 162

HowDoesFencingWork? 162

FencingOptions 162

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ProcessorTypeIncompatibility 163

ViewingVirtualSwitchesforFences 164

ReviewingAdditionalFencingOperations 164

B ExtendingLMTools 165

HowdoesLMToolswork? 166

ExtendingtheLMToolsScript 167

ExtendingtheLMToolsScriptonaWindowsGuestOS 167

ExtendingtheLMToolsScriptonaLinuxGuestOS 167

Index 169

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ThisprefaceprovidesinformationabouttheVMwareLabManagerUser’sGuideand

linkstoVMware

®

technicalsupportandeducationalresources.

Thisprefacecontainsthefollowingtopics:

 “A b o u t ThisBook”onpage 9

 “TechnicalSupportandEducationResources”onpage 10

About This Book

TheVMwareLabManagerUser’sGuideprovidesdetailedinformationabouttheVMware

LabManagersystemanditscomponents,commands,operations,configuration,and

userinterface.

Intended Audience

Theguideisintendedforexperienceddevelopersandtestersofsoftwareapplications.

Thisdocumentassumestheuserhassomefamiliaritywiththesetopics:

 Virtualmachinetechnology

 Basicconceptsofdistributed,multitieredsystems

 Currentdevelopmentandtestingpractices

 WindowsandLinuxoperatingsystems

Preface

VMware Lab Manager User’s Guide

10 VMware, Inc.

Document Feedback

Ifyouhavecommentsaboutthisdocumentation,submityourfeedbackto:

[email protected]

Conventions

Table P‐1illustratesthetypographicconventionsusedinthismanual.

Technical Support and Education Resources

Thefollowingsectionsdescribethetechnicalsupportresourcesavailabletoyou.

Self-Service Support

UsetheVMwareTechnologyNetwork(VMTN)forself‐helptoolsandtechnical

information:

 Productinformation–http://www.vmware.com/products/

 Technologyinformation–http://www.vmware.com/vcommunity/technology

 Documentation–http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs

 VMTNKnowledgeBase–http://www.vmware.com/support/kb

 Discussionforums–http://www.vmware.com/community

 Usergroups–http://www.vmware.com/vcommunity/usergroups.html

FormoreinformationabouttheVMwareTechnologyNetwork,goto

http://www.vmtn.net.

Table P-1. Conventions in this Manual

Style Elements

Blue(onlineonly) Cross‐referencesandemailaddresses

Blueboldface(onlineonly) Links

Blackboldface Userinterfaceelementssuchasbuttonnamesandmenuitems

Monospace Commands,filenames,directories,andpaths

Monospace bold Userinput

Italic Documenttitles,glossary terms,andoccasionalemphasis

<Name> Variableandparameternames

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Preface

Online and Telephone Support

Useonlinesupporttosubmittechnicalsupportrequests,viewyourproductand

contractinformation,andregisteryourproducts.Goto

http://www.vmware.com/support.

Customerswithappropriatesupportcontractsshouldusetelephonesupportforthe

fastestresponseonpriority1issues.Goto

http://www.vmware.com/support/phone_support.html.

Support Offerings

FindouthowVMwaresupportofferingscanhelpmeetyourbusinessneeds.Goto

http://www.vmware.com/support/services.

VMware Education Services

VMwarecoursesofferextensivehands‐onlabs,casestudyexamples,andcourse

materialsdesignedtobeusedason‐the‐jobreferencetools.Formoreinformationabout

VMwareEducationServices,gotohttp://mylearn1.vmware.com/mgrreg/index.cfm.

VMware Lab Manager User’s Guide

12 VMware, Inc.

VMware, Inc. 13

1

VMwareLabManagerprovidesarobustsolutionformanagingvirtualmachinesina

testlab.LabManagerdoesnotassumeextensiveknowledgeofvirtualizationand

allowssoftwaredevelopersandQAengineerstoquicklyprovision,share,andtear

downmultimachinetestcasesorconfigurations.

Specifically,LabManagerstreamlinesthesetup,capture,storage,

andsharingof

multimachinesoftwareconfigurationsinvirtualizedenvironments.Youcanusea

self‐serviceinterfaceandlibraryfromwhichuserscanaccessvirtualmachineimages

todeployacrossmultipleservers.

Thischaptercoversthesetopics:

 “LabManagerComponents”onpage 14

 “LabManagerBenefitsandFeatures”onpage 15

 “UsingLabManagerwithVirtualCenterManagementServer”onpage 16

Introducing Lab Manager

1

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Lab Manager Components

Figure1‐1illustratesthecomponentsofLabManager.

Figure 1-1. Lab Manager Components

LabManagerServer–AserverthatprovidesWebandSOAPinterfacesfortheLab

Managersystem.LabManagerServermanagesanddeploysconfigurationsagainsta

poolofManagedServersystems.

LabManagerManagedServer–AserverrunningVMwareESXServer

andManaged

Serversoftware.TheLabManagerServerusestheManagedServertodeploy

configurationsandtheirvirtualmachines.YoucanhavemultipleManagedServer

systems.

LabManagerstorageserver–Storageforvirtualmachines(forexample,anESXServer

SAN)andstorageprimarilyformedia(CDandfloppyimages).You

canhavemultiple

storageservers.

LabManagerclientuser–ClientswhocanusetheLabManagerWebconsoleandthe

LabManagerSOAPAPI.FromaWindowsmachine,clientscanaccesstheLabManager

WebconsolewithInternetExplorer5.5orhigher.(ExperimentalFirefoxsupportis

available.)

virtual machine

storage

default media

storage

additional media

storage (NFS)

Lab Manager

Managed Server

Lab Manager

Managed Server

Lab Manager

Managed Server

Lab Manager

client user

Lab Manager

client user

Lab Manager

client user

Lab Manager Server

administrator

network

VMware, Inc. 15

Chapter 1 Introducing Lab Manager

 LabManagerWebconsole–Thebrowser‐basedconsolethatenables

managementforalltestingactivities,regardlessofphysicallocation.Youcan

accessthiscomponentusingstandardHTTPprotocols.

UsetheLabManagerWebconsoletoorganizegroupsofvirtualmachinesinto

configurationsbasedonmachinetemplates,tostoreconfigurationsand

their

stateinlibraries,andtoquicklycopyandusemultiplecopiesoflibrary

configurationssimultaneouslywithoutrequiringknowledgeofthe

networkingenvironment.Copiesoflibraryconfigurationsareavailable

withinseconds.

Whenyoucheckoutalibraryconfiguration,theconfigurationretainsthe

networkprofile(IPaddress,name,MACaddress,securityidentifiers,

and

more),whichpreservestherunningsoftwareanddataonthemachine.Virtual

machinescreatedfromtemplatesaregivennewnetworkprofilesastheyjoin

aconfiguration.ThisprofilechangesthroughtheLMToolsutilityinstalledon

thetemplateoperatingsystem.

 LabManagerSOAPAPI–ASOAPAPIWebservicethatenablesyouto

accessLabManagerprogrammatically.Thisallowseasyintegrationwith

buildmanagementsystemsandwithautomatedtestingtoolsfromMercury,

IBM,Segue,andothercompanies.

“LabManagerservers”collectivelyreferstotheLabManagerServer,ManagedServer

systems,

andstorageservers.

Lab Manager Benefits and Features

LabManagerenablesuserstolowerdevelopment,test,andintegrationcosts,aswellas

tapintoasharedpoolofserverandnetworkingresources,eliminatemanualsetup,

decreasesoftwaredevelopmenttimes,andimprovesoftwarequality.

Reviewthesespecificbenefits:

 Productivity–Savestimeforwhenprovisioningmachines.

 Processimprovement–Assistswithcommunicationbetweentestingand

developmentteams.

 Serverconsolidation–Includespoolandshareservers,storage,andothertesting

anddevelopmentresources.

 Computeraccess–Providesaccesstomorecomputersthanavailablephysical

machines.

 Self‐help–Allowsengineerstoindividuallycreate,setup,andteardown

configurationswithoutrelyingonIT.

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16 VMware, Inc.

 Outsourcinganddistributeddevelopment–Allowsgeographicallydispersed

teamstoworkonthesamemachinesandconfigurationsovertheInternet.

Reviewthesespecificfeatures:

 Templates–Createnew,fullyconfiguredvirtualmachinesinseconds.

 Configurations–Run,manage,andmonitormultipleconfigurations

simultaneously.

 Configurationlibrary–Storeconfigurationstopersistentstorageforteamuse.

 Statecapture–Capturethelivestateofallthemachinesinaconfiguration.You

cancaptureandsharebugsintheirrunningstate.

 Networkfencing–Runcopiesofconfigurationswithidenticalnetworkprofiles

simultaneouslyusingthisnetworkisolationtechnology.

 Resourcemanagement–Manageapoolofcomputingandstorageresources.

 Deltatreemanagement–Savevirtualmachinefilechangestoefficientand

high‐performancestorage.

 Applicationintegration–IntegratetestapplicationswiththeLabManagerWeb

serviceSOAPAPI.

 Monitoring–Viewandcontrolserverfarmutilizationinrealtime.

 Browseraccess–RemotelyaccessLabManagerfromanylocation.

 Automation–Automatetestmatricesend‐to‐end.

Using Lab Manager with VirtualCenter

Management Server

YoucanuseVMwareVirtualCenterManagementServer(VirtualCenterServer)to

monitorESXServersystemsmanagedbyLabManager.BeawarethatallVirtualCenter

ServeractionsthatregisterorderegisterLabManagervirtualmachines(including

thosetriggeredbyVMwareHAandVMwareVMotion™)breakLabManager.VMware

recommendsmanagingESXServersystems

withLabManagerorVirtualCenterServer,

butnotboth.

VMware, Inc. 17

2

TogetstartedwithLabManager,youcanbecomefamiliarwiththemainelements,

operations,andnavigationoftheLabManagerWebconsole.

Thischaptercoversthesetopics:

 “SettingInternetExplorerOptions”onpage 18

 “A c c e s s i n g theLabManagerConsole”onpage 19

 “ReviewingtheLabManagerUserInterface”onpage 20

 “ReviewingtheGeneralWorkflowinLabManager”onpage 24

Getting Started with

Lab Manager

2

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18 VMware, Inc.

Setting Internet Explorer Options

ReviewtherequirementsforclientusermachinesintheVMwareLabManager

InstallationGuide.WhenaccessingtheLabManagerWebconsolewithIE,makesureto

setbrowsersettingstoenableclientoperation.

To set IE options

1IfyouareusingWindows2003,opentheControlPanelfromthedesktopandclick

Addor

RemovePrograms.

IfyouareusingaWindowsplatformotherthanWindows2003,proceedtoStep 4.

2ClickAdd/RemoveWindowsComponents.

3 DeselecttheEnhancedInternetExplorerSecurityConfigurationcheckboxand

clickNext.

4FromtheToolsmenuinIE,chooseInternetOptions.

5IntheSecuritytab,clickCustomLevel.

6Enablethesebrowser

options:

 DownloadsignedActiveXcontrols

 RunActiveXcontrolsandplug‐ins

 AllowMETAREFRESH

 Activescripting

 Allowpasteoperationsviascript

7IntheAdvancedtab,enablethePlayanimationsinwebpagesoption.

VMware, Inc. 19

Chapter 2 Getting Started with Lab Manager

Accessing the Lab Manager Console

AfterinstallingLabManager,youcanaccesstheLabManagerWebconsoleand

Overviewpage.SeetheVMwareLabManagerInstallationGuideforcomplete

requirements,includingbrowsersettings,onclientusermachines.

To access the Lab Manager console

1 ObtainaLabManageraccount.

Ifyoudonothaveanaccountorneedaccountinformation,seeaLab

Manager

Administrator.

2OnaWindowsmachineconnectedtotheInternetoryourlocalintranet,launchIE

5.5orhigher.

ExperimentalsupportforFirefoxisavailable.

3ToconnecttoaLabManagerServer,gotohttps://<LabManagerserverdomain

nameorIPaddress>/.

4Enteryourusernameandpasswordtologintothe

console.

Passwordsfortheconsolerequireatleastsixcharacters.

5IntheOverviewpagethatappearsafterloggingin,usethecheckboxatthebottom

ofthepagetospecifywhetheryouwanttheconsoletoopentotheWorkspacepage

atstartup.

Forhighlightsonthispageandtheuser

interface,see“ReviewingtheLabManager

UserInterface”onpage 20.

N

OTE Thefirsttimeyouaccesstheconsole,anSSLwarningmightappear.Toavoid

thiswarninginthefuture,usefullyqualifieddomainnamesoraskyour

Administratorformoreinformation.

Toaddthecertificatetoyourtrustedcertificatelist,clickViewCertificatein

theIESSLalert,andclickInstall

Certificate.

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20 VMware, Inc.

Reviewing the Lab Manager User Interface

TheLabManagerWebconsolehasanavigationpaneontheleftandamaindisplayarea

ontheright.Figure2‐1showsasamplepageintheconsole.

Figure 2-1. Sample Page in Lab Manager

 Thenavigationpaneprovidesaccesstomajorconceptsandoperations:

 MyLabManager

 BuildandDeploy

 Monitor

 Manage(Administratoroperationsonly)

 Support(Administratoroperationsonly)

 Themaindisplayareashowsconfiguration,virtualmachine,machinetemplate,

server,andsystemadministrationinformationintableformat.Thisareaalso

displaysdataintabbedfoldersthatyoucannavigate.

Default Landing Page

ThedefaultlandingpageistheOverviewpage.

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VMware vCenter Lab Manager 2.4 User guide

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