VMware vCenter Lab Manager 2.5 User guide

User’s Guide

Lab Manager 2.5.1

VMware, Inc.

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2 VMware, Inc.

VMware Lab Manager User’s Guide

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]

6,496,847, 6,704,925, 6,711,672, 6,725,289, 6,735,601, 6,785,886, 6,789,156, 6,795,966, 6,880,022,

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

7,149,843, 7,155,558, 7,222,221, 7,260,815, 7,260,820, 7,269,683, 7,275,136, 7,277,998, 7,277,999,

7,278,030, 7,281,102, and 7,290,253; patents pending.

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mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.

VMware Lab Manager User’s Guide

Revision: 20071129

Item: VLM-ENG-Q407-359

VMware, Inc. 3

Contents

AboutThisBook 9

1 IntroducingLab Manager 13

Lab ManagerComponents 14

Lab ManagerBenefitsandFeatures 15

UsingLab ManagerwithVirtualCenterManagementServer 16

EnablingHighAvailabilityforLab ManagerServer 17

2 GettingStartedwithLab Manager 19

SettingInternetExplorerOptions 20

AccessingtheLab ManagerConsole 20

ReviewingtheLab ManagerUserInterface 21

DefaultLandingPage 21

SpecificAreasandOperations 23

InterfaceFeatures 24

MouseoverMenus 24

BreadcrumbTitles 24

TextSearchFilter 24

ColumnSorting 25

VMwareToolsandMouseControl 25

ReviewingtheGeneralWorkflowinLab Manager 25

3 WorkingwithVirtualMachines 27

AccessingVirtualMachines 28

AccessingaVirtualMachineConsolefortheFirstTime 29

InstallingtheActiveXControl 29

InstallingtheVMwareRemoteMKSPluginforFirefox 29

ReviewingtheVirtualMachineConsolePage 30

ChangingtheConsoleDisplaySize 31

ReviewingVirtualMachineOperations 31

SummaryofVirtualMachineOperations 32

SummaryofVirtualMachineStates 34

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ChangingIPorMACAddresses 34

SettingUpRemoteDesktopConnections 36

TakingSnapshotsandRevertingtheSnapshots 37

InsertingCDs 37

EjectingCDs 38

SwappingCDs 38

InsertingFloppyDisks 39

EjectingFloppyDisks 39

SwappingFloppyDisks 40

AddingVirtualHardDiskstoVirtualMachines(Templates) 40

AddingSCSIVirtualHardDisks 41

EditingVirtualMachineProperties 42

ReviewingthePropertiesList 43

ConsolidatingVirtualMachines 45

4 WorkingwithMachineTemplates 47

AboutTemplates 47

AccessingtheTemplatesPage 48

ReviewingTemplateOperations 50

SummaryofTemplateOperations 50

SummaryofTemplateStatesandAttributes 52

CreatingTemplates 52

UpdatingTemplates 53

ImportingTemplates 53

ImportingaTemplatefromSMBStorage 54

ImportingaTemplatefromVMFSStorage 57

CreatingTemplatesfromScratch 59

CreatingaBlankTemplate 59

DeployingaTemplate 61

InstallingtheGuestOperatingSystem 61

InstallingVMwareTools 63

InstallingAdditional

Software 64

InstallingLMTools 64

ShuttingDownaTemplate 69

UndeployingaTemplate 69

PublishingaTemplate 70

SharingaTemplate 70

CreatingTemplatesfromActiveVirtualMachinesinLab Manager 70

CloningTemplates 71

CopyingTemplates 73

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Contents

ChangingSharedTemplatestoPrivateTemplates 74

ExportingTemplates 75

ConsolidatingTemplates 76

EditingTemplateProperties 76

DeletingTemplates 80

DeletingPublishedTemplatesAfterManagedServerFailure 80

5 WorkingwithConfigurations 81

AboutConfigurations 82

AccessingConfigurations 82

ReviewingConfigurationOperations 84

SummaryofConfigurationOperations 85

SummaryofConfigurationStatesandAttributes 87

CreatingConfigurations 87

IPAddressAssignmentforVirtualMachines 89

AddingVirtualMachinestoExistingConfigurations 89

DeployingConfigurations 90

DeployOptions 91

DeploywithDefaultsOption 92

UndeployingConfigurations 93

CapturingConfigurationstotheLibrary 93

CheckingOutConfigurationsfromtheLibrary 94

StoppingConfigurations 95

CloningConfigurations 96

CopyingConfigurations 97

Exporting

Configurations 98

ImportingConfigurations 99

SharingConfigurations 100

CreatingandRestoringConfigurationLiveLinks 101

TakingSnapshotsandRevertingtoSnapshots 102

EditingConfigurationProperties 102

ViewingDetailsonVirtualMachinesinaConfiguration 103

AccessingaVirtualMachineConsole 104

AccessingAllVirtualMachineConsolesinaConfiguration 105

DeletingConfigurations 105

6 WorkingwithMedia 107

AccessingtheMediaLibrary 108

ReviewingMediaOperations 108

AddingMediatotheLibrary 108

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SynchronizingLab ManagerwithMediaStorage 109

DeletingMediafromtheLibrary 110

SharingMediaFiles 110

ChangingSharedMediaFilestoPrivateFiles 110

EditingMediaProperties 111

7 AdministeringandMonitoringLab Manager 113

MonitoringLab Manager 114

MonitoringtheActivityLog 114

MonitoringtheServerPool 115

MonitoringDeployedMachines 116

ManagingUsers 118

SettingUserPreferences 118

DefaultsTab 118

PasswordTab 120

ViewingUsers 121

AddingNewUsers 122

DeletingUsers 124

EditingUserProperties 124

ManagingManagedServerSystems 125

ViewingManagedServerSystems 126

AddingManagedServerSystems 127

RemovingManagedServerSystems 129

ViewingtheDeployedMachinesonaManagedServer 129

EditingManagedServer

Properties 130

ReviewingAdditionalManagedServerOperations 132

ManagingStorageServers 133

ViewingStorageServers 134

PerformingaRescan 136

ViewingVirtualMachineStorageUsage 136

AssessingVirtualMachineDiskSpace 138

AddingNFSVirtualMachineStorage 140

AddingMediaStoragetoLab Manager 141

MediaStorageRequirements 141

SettingUpSMBMediaStorageforLab Manager 142

CreatingaSharedFolderforLab Manager 142

AttachingMediaStoragetoLab Manager 142

Removing

StorageServers 144

AdditionalTasksforRemovinganNFSMediaServer 144

EditingStorageServerProperties 145

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Contents

ReviewingAdditionalStorageServerOperations 145

ConfiguringNetworkSettings 146

ViewingNetworkSettings 146

ReviewingtheSettingstab 146

ReviewingtheIPPoolTab 147

UnderstandingIPAddressManagement 148

AddingIPAddressestotheLab ManagerIPPool 148

RemovingIPAddressesfromtheLab ManagerIPPool 149

ConfiguringLab ManagerSettings 149

AccessingLab ManagerSettings 149

ReviewingtheGeneralTab 150

ServerPreferences 150

LDAPPreferences 152

EmailPreferences 152

DefaultUser

Preferences 153

DefaultDeploymentOptions 153

ActiveDirectoryandLab Manager 154

LDAPPreferences:LDAPBindingandGroupStrings 156

UsingOUsandGroups 158

ReviewingtheLicenseTab 158

ReviewingtheLMToolsTab 159

ReviewingtheSupportLinkTab 161

ReviewingtheResourceCleanupTab 162

8 TroubleshootingLab Manager 165

BlankScreenAppearsWhenAccessingLab Manager 166

Lab ManagerDoesNotDisplayVirtualMachineConsole 166

DuplicateIPAddressErrorsAppear 167

AdditionofSCSIVirtualHardDiskFails 167

MouseNavigationonVirtualMachineConsoleFails 167

RemoteAccesstoVirtualMachineFails 168

LiveLinkURLErrorAppears 168

HostServerCDDriveCannotInstallSoftware 168

ImportingaVirtualMachineasa

TemplateFails 169

ImportingaVirtualMachinefromVMFSStorageFails 169

InsertingMediafromNFSServerFails 170

VirtualHardDiskSpaceIsLow 171

Lab ManagerServerFails,LosesConnectivity,orRebootstheSystem 172

SMBMediaStorageServerFails 172

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PermanentFailureofManagedServerOccurs 173

TemporaryFailureofManagedServerOccurs

(RebootorTurnOff) 174

TemporaryFailureofManagedServerOccurs

(Networking) 175

A ClientandBrowserSupport 177

B GuestOperatingSystemSupport 181

C NetworkFencing 185

WhyShouldIFenceConfigurations? 186

HowDoesFencingWork? 186

FencingOptions 188

ProcessorTypeIncompatibility 191

ViewingVirtualSwitchesforFences 191

ReviewingAdditionalFencingOperations 192

D ExtendingLMTools 193

HowdoesLMToolswork? 194

ExtendingtheLMToolsScript 195

ExtendingtheLMToolsScriptonaWindowsGuestOS 195

ExtendingtheLMToolsScriptonaLinuxGuestOS 195

Index 197

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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

Document Feedback

VMwarewelcomesyoursuggestionsforimprovingourdocumentation.Ifyouhave

comments,sendyourfeedbackto:

[email protected]

About This Book

VMware Lab Manager User’s Guide

10 VMware, Inc.

Conventions

Table 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/communities/content/

 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 1. Conventions Used in This Manual

Style Elements

Blue(onlineonly) Links,cross‐references,andemailaddresses

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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About This Book

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.

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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.Lab Manager

offers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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14 VMware, Inc.

Lab Manager Components

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

Serversystems,andstorageservers.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.TheLab ManagerServersystem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systemusestheManagedServersystem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orNFSserver)andstorageformedia(CD,DVD,andfloppyimages).Youcan

havemultiplestorageservers.

EveryLab ManagerinstallationprovidesdefaultmediastorageontheLab Manager

Serversystem.

virtual machine

storage

(SAN)

media and

virtual machine

storage

(NFS)

default media

storage

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

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Chapter 1 Introducing Lab Manager

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

Lab ManagerSOAPAPI.YoucanaccesstheLab ManagerWebconsolewithInternet

ExplorerorFirefox.

 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Lab ManagerTools(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 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,and

decreasesoftwaredevelopmenttimes.

Reviewthesespecificbenefits:

 Productivity–Savestime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.

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

configurationswithoutrelyingonIT.

 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.However,allVirtualCenter

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

thosetriggeredbyVMwareHAandVMwareVMotion™)cancauseerrorsin

Lab Manager.

VMwarerecommendsmanagingESXServersystemswithLab Manager

or

VirtualCenterServer,butnotboth.AvoidinstallingLab Manageronthesamesystem

asVirtualCenterServertoavoidperformancecomplications.Formoreinformationon

VirtualCenterServer,seetheVMwareInfrastructure3documentation.

VMware, Inc. 17

Chapter 1 Introducing Lab Manager

Enabling High Availability for Lab Manager Server

TotakeadvantageofVMwareHA,VMwareDRS,orVMwareVMotion,installthe

Lab ManagerServercomponentonavirtualmachineratherthanaphysicalsystem.

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VMware, Inc. 19

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 20

 “A c c e s s i n g theLab ManagerConsole”onpage 20

 “ReviewingtheLab ManagerUserInterface”onpage 21

 “ReviewingtheGeneralWorkflowinLab Manager”onpage 25

Getting Started with

Lab Manager

2

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20 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

enabletheproperbrowsersettings.

To set IE options for machines accessing the Web console

1Open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.

Accessing the Lab Manager Console

AccesstheLab ManagerWebconsoleandOverviewpageusingIEorFirefox.

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a

browserwindow.

VMware vCenter Lab Manager 2.5 User guide

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