Virtual Infrastructure Web Access Product Support Engineering VMware Confidential

VI4 - Mod Slide 2 Module 2 Lessons Lesson 1 – vCenter Server High Availability Lesson 2 – vCenter Server Distributed Resource Scheduler Lesson 3 – Fault Tolerance Virtual Machines Lesson 4 – Enhanced vMotion Compatibility Lesson 5 – DPM - IPMI Lesson 6 – vApp Lesson 7 – Host Profiles Lesson 8 – Reliability, Availability, Serviceability ( RAS ) Lesson 9 – Web Access Lesson 10 – vCenter Server Update Manager Lesson 11 – Guided Consolidation Lesson 12 – Health Status

VI4 - Mod Slide 3 Module 2-9 Lessons Lesson 1 – Overview of Web Access Lesson 2 – Web Access Requirements Lesson 3 – Installation of Plug-ins Lesson 4 – Troubleshooting Web Access

VI4 - Mod Slide 4 What Is Virtual Infrastructure Web Access? VI Web Access is a browser-based application designed to manage virtual machines on ESX and vCenter Server deployments. System administrators who need to access virtual machines without a VI Client People who use virtual machines as remote desktops Virtual Infrastructure administrators who need to interact with virtual machines remotely The VI Web Access interface provides an overview of all of the virtual machines on an ESX system and vCenter Server.

VI4 - Mod Slide 5 What Is Virtual Infrastructure Web Access? Using VI Web Access to manage virtual machines, you can: Use a browser to view hosts and the virtual machine details Perform power operations on virtual machines Edit a virtual machine’s configuration and hardware Generate Remote Console URLs that users can use to access their virtual machines Interact with the guest operating systems running on the virtual machines Access ESX hosts and vCenter Server from Linux systems VI Web Access focuses on virtual machine management and does not offer the full range of administrative tasks available through the VI Client.

VI4 - Mod Slide 6 Key Features of VI Web Access Key features of VI Web Access. Access ESX hosts and vCenter Server from both Linux and Windows systems Access virtual machines on ESX hosts and vCenter Server without installing the Virtual Infrastructure client Configure existing virtual machine settings Add/Remove virtual machine to/from the Inventory Perform power operations (start, stop, reset, suspend, and resume) on virtual machines Monitor the operation of datacenters, ESX hosts, and virtual machines

VI4 - Mod Slide 7 Key Features of VI Web Access Key features of VI Web Access. Interact with the guest operating systems running within virtual machines using VMware Remote console Generate URL, command line and desktop shortcuts for virtual machines Create snapshots of virtual machines Administrators can provide end users with access to virtual machines. Users and Administrators can use VI Web Access to access ESX hosts and vCenter Server from both Linux and Windows systems. Client devices allow users to use disk and CD/DVD drives from your own computers to install software or copy data.

VI4 - Mod Slide 8 System and Browser Requirements Hardware Requirements To use VI Web Access, your system must meet the following hardware requirements: Standard x86-based computer 266MHz processor minimum (500MHz or faster recommended) 128MB RAM minimum (256MB or more recommended) 20MB (for Windows hosts) or 10MB (for Linux hosts) free disk space to install the VMware Virtual Infrastructure plug-in

VI4 - Mod Slide 9 System and Browser Requirements Software Requirements VI Web Access is compatible with the following operating systems

VI4 - Mod Slide 10 System and Browser Requirements Browser Requirements To access VMware Virtual Infrastructure Web Access, you should have one of the following browsers installed: Internet Explorer 6.0, 7.0, or later for Microsoft Windows Mozilla Firefox 2.0, 3.0, or later for Microsoft Windows Mozilla Firefox 2.0, 3.0, or later for Linux NOTE Other browsers are not actively excluded, but VMware has certified VI Web Access with only the browsers listed above.

VI4 - Mod Slide 11 Installation and Configuration Installing Virtual Infrastructure Web Access VI Web Access is installed when ESX is installed. On vCenter Server, you can install VI Web Access from the vCenter Server Windows setup package. Running and Configuring Virtual Infrastructure Web Access Service To connect to an ESX host or vCenter Server with VI Web Access, the VI Web Access service must be running on the host or server. VI Web Access connections are available by default with ESX and vCenter Server. Administrators must have a valid user name and password to use VI Web Access to access ESX hosts and vCenter Server. The password defaults are as follows: ESX – The default user is root. The root password is configured when you install ESX. vCenter Server – The default user is Administrator. The Administrator password is configured during the installation of vCenter Server. Administrators can add users and groups to allow users access to VI Web Access.

VI4 - Mod Slide 12 Run the vSphere Web Access Service on ESX Before you use vSphere Web Access to connect to an ESX host, you can check whether the Web Access service is running. Prerequisites You must have administrator privileges to check the status and run the vSphere Web Access service. Procedure 1 Log in to the ESX host using root privileges. 2 Type the command to check whether the Web Access service is running. service vmware-webAccess status A message appears that says whether the service is running. 3 (Optional) If vSphere Web Access is not running, type the command to start Web Access. service vmware-webAccess start

VI4 - Mod Slide 13 Run the vSphere Web Access Service on vCenter Server Before you use vSphere Web Access to connect to vCenter Server, you can check whether the service is running. Prerequisites You must log in to your vCenter Server using administrator privileges. Procedure 1 In the vCenter Server Desktop, right-click My Computer and select Manage. The Computer Management window appears. 2 Expand Services and Applications and select Services. 3 Locate VMware vCenter Management Webservices on the list and check whether the service is running. 4 If the service is not running, right-click VMware vCenter Management Webservices and select Start.

VI4 - Mod Slide 14 Install Web Access Plug-In on in Microsoft IE To run VI Web Access, install the VMware Virtual Infrastructure plug-in. To install VMware Virtual Infrastructure ActiveX Control in Microsoft Internet Explorer 1 In the Internet Explorer window, type the VI Web Access URL: 2 Log in to VI Web Access using the user name and password for the host to which you are connecting

VI4 - Mod Slide 15 Install Web Access Plug-In on in Microsoft IE

VI4 - Mod Slide 16 Install Web Access Plug-In on in Microsoft IE 3 Select a virtual machine from the Virtual Machines list. 4 Click the Console tab. 5 If prompted, click Install. You will have to restart your browser after installation.

VI4 - Mod Slide 17 Install Web Access Plug-In on for Mozilla Firefox To install the VMware Virtual Infrastructure plug-in in Mozilla Firefox for Linux and Windows 1 In the Firefox window, type the VI Web Access URL: 2 Log in to VI Web Access using the user name and password for the host to which you are connecting. 3 Select a virtual machine from the Virtual Machines list. 4 Click the Console tab and click Install Plugin. 5 Select Edit Options and click Allow. 6 Click Close and click Install Plugin. 7 Click Install Now. 8 After the installation is complete, choose View > Reload to reload the page.

VI4 - Mod Slide 18 Connect to Virtual Infrastructure Web Access To connect to ESX host or vCenter Server using Web Access, check that the webAccess service is started. You must also have a compatible Web browser as well as access rights to the ESX or vCenter Server. To log in to VI Web Access 1 Start your Web browser. 2 Enter the URL of your ESX or your vCenter Server installation: /ui The login page contains fields for your user name and password. 3 Enter your user name and password and click Log In. The VI Web Access home page appears.

VI4 - Mod Slide 19 Overview of the VI Web Access Default View The VI Web Access default view contains a high-level view of the ESX or vCenter Server that you are logged in to, including a list of all registered virtual machines and their status.

VI4 - Mod Slide 20 Overview of the VI Web Access Default View The VI Web Access page is divided into four main sections: Inventory panel — Appearing on the left, this area displays a list of virtual machines (ESX) or the virtual machine hierarchical inventory (vCenter Server).  Click the host (ESX) to view summary information about ESX in the workspace.  Click a virtual machine to view summary information about the virtual machine in the workspace.

VI4 - Mod Slide 21 Overview of the VI Web Access Default View Workspace — Appearing on the right, this is the main part of the window.  When the host (ESX) is selected in the Inventory panel, the workspace includes the Summary, Virtual Machines, Tasks and Events tabs..  When a virtual machine is selected in the Inventory panel, the workspace includes the Summary, Console, Tasks and Events tabs.

VI4 - Mod Slide 22 Overview of the VI Web Access Default View Menu bar — The menus above the Inventory panel provide access to common application and virtual machine operations, including power operations and snapshot and console commands. Toolbar — Appearing along the top of the page, these buttons allow you to act on the selected virtual machine, offering one-click access to power operations. Recent Tasks — Appearing along the bottom of the page, this area displays tasks recently executed by ESX, including host-level configuration changes. You can sort tasks by clicking the column headers. By default, tasks appear in reverse chronological order (most recent tasks first). You can double-click a task to get more detailed information.

VI4 - Mod Slide 23 Using the ESX Host Workspace When an ESX host is selected in the Inventory panel, the workspace displays information about the ESX installation, divided into tabs: Summary — The General section displays the host system’s manufacturer, name, model, processor type and utilization, and memory capacity and utilization. The Datastores section shows the name, capacity, free space, and location of each datastore. The Networks section shows the name, virtual network (VMnet), and network type of each virtual network. From this tab, you can manage your virtual machine inventory, add, rename, or remove datastores, and configure global memory, snapshot, and virtual machine startup and shutdown settings. Virtual Machines — Displays high-level information about the all the virtual machines in the inventory, including processor and memory utilization when the virtual machine is powered on. From this tab, you can perform power operations on a selected virtual machine, add or delete it from the Inventory. Tasks — Displays tasks that are performed by users in the ESX host. Events — Displays events that occurred in the ESX host.

VI4 - Mod Slide 24 Using the Datacenter Workspace When you are connected to vCenter Server and a Datacenter is selected in the Inventory panel, the workspace displays information about the datacenter, divided into tabs: Summary — Displays information that applies to the datacenter selected in the inventory tab, including the number of hosts, clusters, virtual machines, networks, and datastores contained in the datacenter. Alarms — Displays alarms that are created for the selected datacenter and the status of the alarm. Tasks — Displays tasks that are performed by users in the selected datacenter. Events — Displays events that occurred in the selected datacenter.

VI4 - Mod Slide 25 Using the Virtual Machine Workspace When a virtual machine is selected in the Inventory panel, the workspace displays information about the virtual machine, divided into tabs: Summary — Displays performance and status information. You can view a summary of the virtual machine’s state, including information about virtual devices and configuration options. From this tab, you can modify the selected virtual machine’s hardware and perform other virtual machine management tasks. Console — Allows you to interact directly with the guest operating system. Tasks — Displays tasks that users perform in the virtual machine. Events — Displays events that occurred in the virtual machine.

VI4 - Mod Slide 26 Using VI Web Access Menu Options VI Web Access menus include the following: Application — Options relevant to the VI Web Access application interface. Virtual Machine — Virtual machine commands. Most virtual machine operations are enabled only when a virtual machine is selected in the Inventory panel. Application Menu The Application menu includes general VI Web Access options for getting version information, browsing the Virtual Appliance Marketplace, viewing online help, and logging out. About — Displays the VI Web Access version number, ESX or vCenter Server version number, and VMware copyright information. Virtual Appliance Marketplace - Opens the Virtual Appliance Marketplace Web page. Help — Displays online help contents. Log Out — Logs you out of View Access.

VI4 - Mod Slide 27 Using VI Web Access Menu Options Virtual Machine Menu The Virtual Machine menu includes options for managing the power state of a virtual machine and for viewing the console. Create Virtual Machine - Starts the New Virtual Machine wizard. Available only when VI Web Access is connected to ESX host. Add Virtual Machine to Inventory - Adds a virtual machine to the host inventory. Remove Virtual Machine - Removes a virtual machine from the inventory, and optionally deletes the virtual machine files. This option is enabled if the virtual machine is powered off. Power On/Resume - Powers on a powered off virtual machine or resumes a suspended virtual machine. Power Off - Powers off the virtual machine immediately. This is the same as pulling the plug on a physical computer. Suspend - Suspends a powered on virtual machine. Reset - Resets the virtual machine immediately. This is the same as pressing the reset button on a physical computer.

VI4 - Mod Slide 28 Using VI Web Access Menu Options Shutdown Guest — Shuts down the guest operating system. VMware Tools executes the script associated with this power state change, if any. Restart Guest — Restarts the guest operating system and the virtual machine. VMware Tools executes the script associated with this power state change, if any. Take Snapshot — Takes a snapshot of the virtual machine. Revert to Snapshot — Reverts to an existing snapshot. Remove Snapshot — Removes an existing snapshot. Manage Snapshots — Opens the snapshot manager to display information about an existing snapshot. Enter Full Screen Mode – Starts VMware Remote Console in full screen mode. Open in a New Window – Opens a new VMware Remote Console instance.

VI4 - Mod Slide 29 Using VI Web Access Menu Options Toolbar The toolbar at the top of the View Access page contains buttons you can click to power your virtual machines on and off. The following table describes the toolbar actions.

VI4 - Mod Slide 30 VMware Remote Console The Console tab is available when you select a virtual machine from the inventory panel. To interact with the guest operating system running in a virtual machine, use the Console tab to connect remotely to the virtual machine’s mouse, keyboard, and screen (MKS). When a virtual machine is powered off, suspended, or not available, or if the MKS plug-in is not installed, the Console tab displays a message and possible actions for the virtual machine.

VI4 - Mod Slide 31 Install the VMware Remote Console Add-On VMware Remote Console allows you to interact directly with the guest operating system. You must install VMware Remote Console as a Web browser add-on the first time you use it with a Web browser that does not already have the add-on installed. To install the browser add-on for VMware Remote Console 1 Click the Console tab. If the add-on is not installed, the text shown in the previous slide appears 2 Click Install plug-in.  In Internet Explorer, this is usually the only step required.  In Firefox, a message appears at the top of the browser indicating that Firefox prevented the site from asking you to install the software on your computer.

VI4 - Mod Slide 32 Install the VMware Remote Console Add-On 3 Click Edit Options next to the Firefox message. The Allowed Sites — Add-ons Installation page appears. 4 Click Allow to allow the add-on to be installed from the host system, and click Close. You are returned to the Console tab as shown in Figure Click Install plug-in. The Software Installation page appears. 6 Click Install Now. The add-on is installed. Firefox requires you to restart your browser.

VI4 - Mod Slide 33 Generating and Sharing Virtual Machine Shortcuts You can generate a shortcut to enable virtual machine users to interact directly with the guest operating system from a Web browser or VMware Remote Console. Generating a Web Shortcut Administrators can generate a Web shortcut to customize the View Access user interface for users. You can generate a Web shortcut that displays only the Console tab, enables or disables access to the workspace, or enables or disables access to the virtual machine inventory. The Web shortcut is like any Web browser URL, so you can do any of the following: Added to a list of favorite Web pages Shared with one or more users in an message

VI4 - Mod Slide 34 Generating and Sharing Virtual Machine Shortcuts To create a virtual machine Web shortcut Select the virtual machine from which to generate a Web shortcut in the Inventory panel. In the Status section of the Summary tab, click Generate Virtual Machine Shortcut.

VI4 - Mod Slide 35 Generating and Sharing Virtual Machine Shortcuts 3 In the Web Shortcut section, a sample URL is displayed. 4 (Optional) Expand Customize Web Shortcut to choose the user interface features:  Select Limit workspace view to the console to provide access to virtual machine's Console tab while hiding other details like event logs.  Select Limit view to a single virtual machine to disable inventory navigation.  Select Obfuscate this URL to generate a URL that is difficult to read or modify. 5 Copy the Web shortcut for future use. 6 Click OK to return to the Summary tab.

VI4 - Mod Slide 36 Generating a VMware Remote Console Desktop Shortcut VMware Remote Console allows you to interact directly with the guest operating system outside of a Web browser. Once you have installed the VMware Remote Console add- on, you can create a desktop shortcut that starts VMware Remote Console and connects to the virtual machine.

VI4 - Mod Slide 37 Generating a VMware Remote Console Desktop Shortcut To create a VMware Remote Console desktop shortcut 1 Select the virtual machine from which to generate a desktop shortcut in the Inventory panel. 2 In the Status section of the Summary tab, click Generate Virtual Machine Shortcut. 3 In the Desktop Shortcut section, click Install Desktop Shortcut to. 4 Confirm that you want to create the shortcut when prompted. The shortcut is created on the desktop. 5 Click OK to return to the Summary tab.

VI4 - Mod Slide 38 Using VMware Tools Installing VMware Tools in the Guest Operating System VMware Tools is a suite of utilities that improves the performance of guest operating systems and enhances virtual machine management. For best results, VMware strongly recommends that you install VMware Tools in all of your guest operating systems. After your guest operating system is installed on a virtual machine, use the following procedure to install or upgrade VMware Tools. To install VMware Tools 1 In the status section of a virtual machine’s summary, choose Install VMware Tools. 2 Use the console to complete the installation. This step connects the virtual machine’s CD drive to an installation file on the ESX host machine or the vCenter Server. If autorun is enabled in your guest operating system (the default setting for Windows operating systems), a dialog box appears after a few seconds. It asks if you want to install VMware Tools. Click Install to start the Installation wizard. 3 Click the Console tab. 4 Restart the guest operating system when prompted.

VI4 - Mod Slide 39 Running VMware Tools For best performance, make sure VMware Tools is installed and running in your virtual machine. Once VMware Tools is installed in a Windows virtual machine, the VMware Tools services start when you start the guest operating system. The VMware Tools icon appears in the guest’s notification area unless you disable the icon.  On Windows guests, if the VMware Tools icon includes a yellow caution icon, it means that an update is available. To perform the update, double-click the icon, and on the Options tab that appears, click the Upgrade button.  If the VMware Tools icon appears with a red circle and slash over it, this means that the VMware Tools service is not running. Start the VMware Tools Service.  If the VMware Tools icon does not appear in the notification area of the Windows guest’s taskbar, use the VMware Tools control panel in the guest to display it.

VI4 - Mod Slide 40 webAccess Troubleshooting Troubleshoot Error 503 Error “503 Service unavailable” is thrown when the Web Access service on the host has failed to start properly. To troubleshoot Error 503 Log in to your ESX host or vCenter Server using shell environment (for Linux) or remote console (for Windows). Open the list of processes (Linux) or running tasks (Windows). Restart the Web Access service. You will now be able to connect to your ESX host or vCenter Server using VI Web Access.

VI4 - Mod Slide 41 webAccess Troubleshooting Troubleshoot Your VI Web Access Console Power On If your VI Web Access console experiences an out.of.memory failure when started, increase the service console memory by 100 Mb.

VI4 - Mod Slide 42 webAccess Troubleshooting To troubleshoot VI Web Access service on an ESX host Log directly into your ESX service console. Enter service vmware-webAccess status to check the status of the host’s VI Web Access service. If VI Web Access service is stopped, enter service vmware- webAccess start. If the Console does not load properly, you might need to troubleshoot the plug-in installation. To check the plug-in version in Mozilla Firefox Go to about:plugins in the browser. VMware WebCenter Remote MKS Plug-in should show version If any other version number appears, reinstall the plug-in.

VI4 - Mod Slide 43 webAccess Troubleshooting To check the plug-in version in Microsoft Internet Explorer Go to Tools > Internet Options. Click Settings. Click View Objects. The Version column for QuickMksAxCtl should show If any other version number appears, right click QuickMksAxCtl and select Remove. Re-install the plug-in.

VI4 - Mod Slide 44 webAccess Troubleshooting To troubleshoot the plug-in installation in Mozilla Firefox 1 Quit Firefox (choose File > Quit). 2 Restart Firefox. 3 Type the VI Web Access URL: 4 Select a virtual machine from the Virtual Machines list. 5 Click the Console tab. 6 When you are prompted to install the plug-in, click OK. 7 After the installation is complete, choose View > Reload to reload the page.

VI4 - Mod Slide 45 webAccess Troubleshooting To troubleshoot the plug-in installation in Microsoft Internet Explorer 1 Quit Internet Explorer (choose File > Close). 2 Launch Internet Explorer again. 3 In the Internet Explorer window, type the VI Web Access URL: 4 Select a virtual machine from the Virtual Machines list. 5 Click the Console tab. 6 When you are prompted to install the plug-in, click OK. 7 After the installation is complete, choose View > Refresh to reload the page.

VI4 - Mod Slide 46 webAccess Troubleshooting Troubleshoot Virtual Machine Power Operations If you are unable to power on a virtual machine, consider the following reasons: You are missing the required libraries. You have a non-GTK Mozilla browser. You have a wrong version of Mozilla Firefox.

VI4 - Mod Slide 47 Troubleshooting Install a proper version of Mozilla Firefox Use this procedure if your Web Access is not working with your Mozilla Firefox browser. You can do this in one of the following cases: Your Mozilla browser does not support GTK. Your Mozilla Firefox browser installation was included in your Linux distribution. Some distributions package Firefox incorrectly and the resulting package does not work with VI Web Access. To install a proper version of Mozilla Firefox Go to the Mozilla official website and download the latest version of Firefox.

VI4 - Mod Slide 48 Lesson 2-9 Summary Understand Web Access Navigate around the Web Access interface Learn how to troubleshoot Web Access

VI4 - Mod Slide 49 Lesson 2-9 – OPTIONAL Lab 1 OPTIONAL  Lab 1 involves using the Web Access interface  Installing the Web Access Plug-ins