Category Archives: VMware Vsphere 4

Enable Copy and Paste Through the VMware Console

Posted on April 22, 2014 | 3 comments

I was setting up a new host the other day and I received a call from one of my admins letting me know that they could not copy/paste within the console; but they can copy/paste in RDP.
nocopypast

This is a simple fix found in KB1026437.  You can make the change on an individual VM, but I think it is best to change it on the host (which applies to all VMs).  I really wish the default would have this enabled.

Open a Putty session…if you don’t have putty then get it here.
putty

1. Log into the ESXi host that you want to change.
2. Type vi /etc/vmware/config
3. Arrow down to the last line and type i which stands for “insert”.
4. Add the lines:
         vmx.fullpath = “/bin/vmx”
         isolation.tools.copy.disable=”FALSE”
         isolation.tools.paste.disable=”FALSE”
5. Press the ESC key and then type :wq which stands for “write and quit”.
addlines

The next time each VM is power cycled it will enable the copy/paste functionality.  Keep in mind that if you ever upgrade this host to a new ESXi version that this setting will go back to the default of disabled and you will have to add this line again.

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Posted in Configuration Changes, VMware Vcenter Server, VMware Vsphere 4, VMware Vsphere 5

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Host Disconnected from Vcenter

Posted on May 11, 2012 | Leave a comment

Had a very strange issue last night with one of my ESXi 4.1 Update 2 hosts.  In Vcenter, suddenly one of my hosts showed disconnected.  I could ping the host and remote into all virtual machines on the disconnected host, but for some reason Vcenter couldn’t see it.  Here were the troubleshooting steps I took yesterday.

1.  I used putty to SSH into the disconnected host.  I then restarted the service using the command “services.sh restart “.
2.  I still could not connect the host in Vcenter.  I then tried removing the host and re-adding to Vcenter.  It threw an error and would not add.
3.  I remoted into my Vcenter VM and tried pinging the disconnected host.  The Vcenter server was unable to ping either by name or IP.  What was strange is that I could ping another server at that location.  If I remoted into any other machine, it could ping the disconnected host…it was only the Vcenter server that couldn’t see it.  This was not dns or IP.  I restarted the Vcenter server to no avail.
4.  Luckily this disconnected host was on site and I was able to connect a monitor and keyboard to it.  Normally I would remote in using the ILO port, but that is not configured right now (another story altogether).  I restarted the management agents from here.  I was now able to ping from the host and from the Vcenter server.  YAY!

I don’t know why restarting the management agents from the console was any different that when I SSHed into the machine, but it was.

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Posted in VMware Vcenter Server, VMware Vsphere 4