Editting HOSTS file in Win 7

Basically, you "run as Administrator" NOTEPAD, open HOSTS, edit and save.

Reference:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923947

How to offline a volume in Windows Server

I wanted to offline a volume so I could remove HD from virtual servers. Found this command:

mountvol E: /p

Worked well.

Reference:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc772671.aspx

VM will not power on

One of my VMs would not power up. The error it was giving was:

"Cannot open the disk '/vmfs/volumes/......vmdk' or one of the snapshot disks it depends on. Reason: Argument list too long."

I went into "Edit Settings" for the VM and found that hard disk 2 was referencing was not valid, an empty file. I removed the hard disk, and re-added the hard disk, but pointing to the correct VMDK file.

After that the VM started up just fine.

Reference:
http://vkarthickeyan.wordpress.com/2011/12/29/virtual-machine-not-powered-on/

VMware: IP address already assigned to another adapter

To resolve this issue, make the ghosted network adapter visible in the Device Manager and uninstall the ghosted network adapter from the registry:

1. Select Start > Run, type cmd.exe, and press Enter.


2. At the command prompt, run this command: "set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1"


3. Enter Start DEVMGMT.MSC and press Enter to start Device Manager.


4. Select View > Show Hidden Devices.


5. Expand the Network Adapters tree (select the plus sign next to the Network adapters entry).


6. Right-click the dimmed network adapter, and then click Uninstall.


7. Close Device Manager.

Reference:
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1179

Troubleshooting Vmware ESXi migration issues

While trying to install ESXi 4.0 U4 to my hosts, I started experiencing these errors:

• "A general system error occurred: Migration failed while copying data, Broken Pipe"


• "A general system error occurred: Failed to start migration pre-copy. Error 0xbad010d. The ESX hosts failed to connect over theVMotion network. "

attempting the put a host in maintenance mode. The VMs would not failover to another host.

Anyway, the fix was #2 under resolution in the link below. Basically, set Migrate.Enabled setting on all hosts to 0, then back to 1. After done on all hosts, the vMotion started working again.

Weird.

Reference:
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1036083

ESXi 4.0 Tech Support Mode

To use Tech Support Mode:

1. Log in to your ESXi host at the console.


2. Press Alt+F1 to switch to the console window.


3. Enter unsupported to start the Tech Support Mode login process. Note that no text will appear on the console window.


4. Enter the password for the root user. Tech Support Mode is now active.


5. Complete tasks in Tech Support Mode.


6. Enter the command clear to clear the screen of any residual data from step 5. This may be required by your local security policies.


7. Enter the command exit to exit Tech Support Mode.


8. Press Alt+F2 to return the server to DCUI mode.

Reference:
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1003677

Deleting a Windows Service

Had a service that I could not get rid of and found that you can use SC.EXE (resource kit tool) to remove the service from the Services control panel. The EXE was removed from the file system, but it was still being referenced.

Run this below to delete the service, where service name is not the service display name, see service name in properties of the specific service.

sc.exe delete

Reference:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/251192