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readme.md	update	2023-04-23 22:34:31 +02:00

readme.md

Esxi

guide-by-example

Purpose

Type 1 hypervisor hosting virtual machines, running straight on metal, managed through web GUI.

ESXi is made by vmware. It is a commercial product part of vSphere, but offers free version when one registers on their site.
The free version has limit of max 2 physical cpus, max 8 vCPU per VM, and no access to API which prevents ease of making backups of the VMs. But for backups there is solution of using ghettovcb script.

ESXi is also considered bit picky when it comes to hardware. Having natively supported network card and disk controller is not given.

Basic settings

Password complexity

Host > Manage > System > Advanced settings > Password quality control
retry=10 min=1,1,1,1,1

New user

Add new user
Host > Manage > Security & users > Users > Add user
Set name and password.
Set permissions for the new user
Host > Actions > Permissions
Set the same user as before, pick role

Interface

Right top corner > user name
- Auto-refresh=60
- Settings, turn off everything - statistics, recent only, welcome message, visual effects

NTP time sync

Host > Manage > System > Time & date > Edit NTP Settings
- Use Network Time Protocol (enable NTP client)
- Start and stop with host
- pool.ntp.org
- Host > Manage > Services > search for ntpd > Start

Hostname and domain

ssh in
esxcli system hostname set --host esxi-2023
if domain on network
esxcli system hostname set --domain example.local

Network

Should just work, but if there is more complex setup, like if a VM serves as a firewall...
Be sure you ssh in and try to ping google.com to see if network and DNS work.

To check and set the default gateway

esxcfg-route
esxcfg-route 10.65.26.25

To change DNS server

esxcli network ip dns server list
esxcli network ip dns server add --server=8.8.8.8
esxcli network ip dns server remove --server=1.1.1.1
esxcli network ip dns server list

To disable ipv6

esxcli network ip set --ipv6-enabled=false

Logs

Documentation

Host > Monitor > Logs

The one worth knowing about

shell.log - History of shell commands when SSH in
syslog.log - General info of what's happening on the system.
vmkernel.log - Activities of esxi and VMs

Will update with some actual use, when I use logs.

Logs from systems in VMs are in >Virtual Machines > Name-of-VM > Monitor > Logs

Backups using ghettoVCB

The script makes snapshot of a VM, copies the "old" vmdk and other files to a backup location, then deletes the snapshot.
This approach, where backup in time is full backup takes up a lot of space. Some form of deduplication might be a solution.

VMs that have any existing snapshot wont get backed up.

Files that are backed up:

vmdk - virtual disk file, every virtual disk has a separate file. In webgui datastore browser only one vmdk file is seen per disk, but on filesystem theres blabla.vmdk and blablka-flat.vmdk. The flat one is where the data actually are, the other one is a descriptor file.
nvram - bios settings of a VM
vmx - virtual machine settings, can be edited

Backup storage locations

Local disk datastore
NFS share
For nfs share on trueNAS scale
- Maproot User -> root
- Maproot Group -> nogroup

Note the exact path from webgui of your datastore for backups.
Looks like this /vmfs/volumes/6187f7e1-c584077c-d7f6-3c4937073090

Install

Download the repo files on a pc from which you would upload them on to esxi
create a directory on a datastore where the script and configs will reside
/vmfs/volumes/6187f7e1-c584077c-d7f6-3c4937073090/ghetto_script
upload the files, should be 6, can skip build directory and readme.md
ssh in to esxi
cd in to the datastore ghetto directory
make all the shell files executable
chmod +x ./*.sh

Config and preparation

Gotta know basics how to edit files with ancient vi

cd in to the datastore ghetto directory cp ./ghettoVCB.conf ./ghetto_1.conf
Only edit this file, for starter setting where to copy backups
vi ./ghetto_1.conf
VM_BACKUP_VOLUME=/vmfs/volumes/6187f7e1-c584077c-d7f6-3c4937073090/Backups
Create a file that will contain list of VMs to backup
touch ./vms_to_backup_list
vi ./vms_to_backup_list
```
OPNsense
Arch-Docker-Host
```

Create a shell script that starts ghetto script using this config for listed VMs
touch ./ghetto_run.sh
vi ./ghetto_run.sh

#!/bin/sh

GHETTO_DIR=/vmfs/volumes/6187f7e1-c584077c-d7f6-3c4937073090/ghetto_script

$GHETTO_DIR/ghettoVCB.sh \
    -g $GHETTO_DIR/ghetto_1.conf \
    -f $GHETTO_DIR/vms_to_backup_list \
    &> /dev/null

Make the script executable
chmod +x ./ghetto_run.sh

for my use case where TrueNAS VM cant be snapshoted while running because of a passthrough pcie HBA card there needs to be another config
Make new config copy
cp ./ghetto_1.conf ./ghetto_2.conf
Edit the config, setting it to shut down VMs before backup.
vi ./ghetto_2.conf
POWER_VM_DOWN_BEFORE_BACKUP=1

edit the run script, add another execution for specific VM using ghetto_2.conf
vi ./ghetto_run.sh

#!/bin/sh

GHETTO_DIR=/vmfs/volumes/6187f7e1-c584077c-d7f6-3c4937073090/ghetto_script

$GHETTO_DIR/ghettoVCB.sh \
    -g $GHETTO_DIR/ghetto_1.conf \
    -f $GHETTO_DIR/vms_to_backup_list \
    &> /dev/null

$GHETTO_DIR/ghettoVCB.sh \
    -g $GHETTO_DIR/ghetto_2.conf \
    -m TrueNAS_scale \
    &> /dev/null

To one time manually execute:

./ghetto_run.sh

Scheduled runs

See "Cronjob FAQ" in documentation

To execute it periodicly cron is used. But theres an issue of cronjob being lost on esxi restart, which require few extra steps to solve.

Make backup of roots crontab
cp /var/spool/cron/crontabs/root /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/ghetto_script/root_cron.backup
Edit roots crontab to execute the run script at 4:00
add the following line at the end in cron format
vi /var/spool/cron/crontabs/root
```
0    4    *   *   *   /vmfs/volumes/6187f7e1-c584077c-d7f6-3c4937073090/ghetto_script/ghetto_run.sh
```
To save read only file in vi use :wq!
restart cron service
kill $(cat /var/run/crond.pid)
crond

To make the cronjob permanent

Make backup of local.sh file
cp /etc/rc.local.d/local.sh /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/ghetto_script/local.sh.backup
Edit etc/rc.local.d/local.sh file, adding the following lines at the end, but before the exit 0 line. Replace the part in quotes in the echo line with your cronjob line.
vi /etc/rc.local.d/local.sh
```
/bin/kill $(cat /var/run/crond.pid) > /dev/null 2>&1
/bin/echo "0    4    *   *   *   /vmfs/volumes/6187f7e1-c584077c-d7f6-3c4937073090/ghetto_script/ghetto_run.sh" >> /var/spool/cron/crontabs/root
/bin/crond
```
ESXi host must have disabled secure boot for local.sh to execute.
Run esxi config backup for change to be saved
/sbin/auto-backup.sh
Restart host, check if the cronjob is still there and if cron is running, and check if the date is correct
vi /var/spool/cron/crontabs/root
ps | grep crond | grep -v grep
date

Logs about backups are in /tmp

Restore from backup