Get a moved Server running VMWare ESXi 5.0 up and running

[PaulTech]

Hi, I have a customer who just moved to the area bringing a Server and Workstation that the local tech company set up for them at least 2 years ago. The Xeon Server is running VMWare ESXi 5.0 and the workstation is a Win 7 Pro. I have set up VM with VMWare but this is a new ballpark for me. The goal is to get it booted and running and then I can do more homework. Any help is always appreciated. Here's the setup and to clarify I'm totally new to this so my statements are based on some Youtube tutorials:

> The Server boots and the message suggests the VMWARE ESXi is set to a static IP of 192.168.1.250. I reached the tech today and now know the root pwd but have not logged in yet.
> The Win 7 Pro client in the ncpa.cpl has VMnet8 192.168.198.1 and VMnet1 192.168.249.1 and three mapped drives looking for \\server2 but not connecting. (changed VMnet's to .2 to avoid conflict with the Comcast AIO, see next comment)
> The ISP (Comcast) AIO router only allows it to be assigned .1 on the local network.

I understand the Mgmt Network address can be different from the Virtual Machines network? Here's what I'm thinking but I appreciate any confirmations or suggestions. The server is headless but of course I can always connect a monitor and keyboard and press the F2. (Again, to clarify, this is based on the tutorial and not real world experience yet.) The plan is:

1. Configure the local network to 192.168.1.xx and then run Vsphere Client connecting to 192.168.1.250.
a. Next, check the Configuration tab except I'm not sure what parameters are held there?
b. Then go to the Virtual Machines tab and I'm anticipating just one VM which I can start. Will I see a VMware Window open? I'm sort of surprised the VM does not run automatically on Server boot as I understood it was an option?
2. Once it is starts I'm guessing I'll need to then close the Vsphere Client and change the router to either the VMnet1 or VMnet8 network and I understand one is from a previous configuration that is no longer used.
3. If I can get the VM running and the correct Network address then I'm anticipating the mapped drives will connect which are named Data, Installs and Users?

I did see a VMplayer icon on the desktop. There is also a piece of software with an icon that looks like an British Emblem.

Thank you for any comments!

 

[ZenTree]

The config shouldn't have changed so you shouldn't need to edit anything as long as the network settings are the same. Login with vsphere like you said and boot up the machine. There is a console tab in vsphere where you can see the Virtual machine desktop etc and interact with it.

There is an option to boot up on the host machine booting up, the previous Tech may just have not enabled it.

 

[PaulTech]

I found a nice tutorial on the Configuration tab of ESXi

The original tech is not sure he can locate the root pwd. What are the options? From what I understand the ESX can be reset but will that erase any VM's? Can I pull the drive and grab files directly? What are my options? Thanks. (BTW, I was able to get the Vsphere talking to the ESXi to attempt the login. The tech is out of town until Monday so I'm just preparing in case he cannot locate the login information.)

 

[PaulTech]

The config shouldn't have changed so you shouldn't need to edit anything as long as the network settings are the same. Login with vsphere like you said and boot up the machine. There is a console tab in vsphere where you can see the Virtual machine desktop etc and interact with it.

There is an option to boot up on the host machine booting up, the previous Tech may just have not enabled it.

What are the options if the Root Password for the ESXI has been forgotten by the previous tech?

 

[Markverhyden]

What are the options if the Root Password for the ESXI has been forgotten by the previous tech?

From what I have found you have to reload ESXi. I've had to do it twice having forgotten my super secure password which I was too stupid to document somewhere else. Of course data/app protection is the name of the came so prepare accordingly. Can't remember what happened with mine. You can always boot from Clonezilla to image the entire host then try reloading to see what happens.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Odd IPs for that Win7 guest.....but not knowing where it came from.....

Any workstation on the 192.168.1.xxx network, just fire up browser and go to the IP of the ESX host, log in, there will be link to download/install VSphere client. From there...launch, log in, and you can do everything. Fire up server first, and then workstation guest. Since server will need to take longer to boot up, that's probably why the Win7 guest gives errors about not able to find \\server.

Is this server a DC or app server for the rest of their LAN?

 

[PaulTech]

Update: the original tech remembered the PWD. I did find a possible work around but it was not required. The ESXi was setup to run a VM of the legacy Software that the customer still uses. The software company has been out of business for 10 years and the customer has a heavy reliance on it. What I'm guessing is that a VM was likely run from the original workstation and thus the VMnet's in the NCPA before it was offloaded to the Server running ESXi for performance, RAID and security.

I would be interested in knowing other real world applications for using ESXi? For example, if a client wants to keep their SBS in-house would it be a good tool to move a SBS to new hardware.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Absolutely...we've done that to help budget server replacements.
Take a current running server....and to a "P2V" to migrate it to VMware or Microsoft Hyper-V....to get it running on much faster and newer hardware.
Caveat....here's where you learn one of the many reasons to stay away from OEM Server licenses...as OEM server installs will flip out during bootup on a new hypervisor. And you can run into some fun (or not so fun) activation issues....as of course OEM server licenses, like their desktop counterparts, are meant to live and die with the hardware they were originally sold on. (think about this for disaster recovery also...so here's yet another reason to stay away from OEM server software).

But yeah it's a great way to extend the live of a dying server....move that OS to healthy new hardware. And then do a server OS upgrade down the road.

 

[ZenTree]

I would be interested in knowing other real world applications for using ESXi? For example, if a client wants to keep their SBS in-house would it be a good tool to move a SBS to new hardware.

We did this recently and it's amazing how much of a difference it has made and surprisingly easy to do. We also use it for small linux servers on site that really don't warrant their own machines.