Appendix A – ESX Technical Support Commands
Command Purpose
esxcfg-advcfg advanced options
esxcfg-auth Configures authentication
esxcfg-boot bootstrap settings
esxcfg-dumppart Configures a diagnostic partition
esxcfg-firewall service console firewall ports
esxcfg-info Information VCP-410 questions about the state of the service console, VMkernel, various subsystems in the virtual network, and
storage resource hardware.
esxcfg-init Internal initialization routines. Used for the bootstrap process you should not use it under any circumstances.
esxcfg-module Sets driver parameters and modifies which drivers are loaded during startup.
esxcfg-mpath multipath settings for your Fibre Channel or iSCSI disks.
esxcfg-nas Manages NFS mounts
esxcfg-nics physical network adapters
esxcfg-resgrp resource group settings
esxcfg-route default VMkernel gateway route
esxcfg-swiscsi software iSCSI software adapter.
esxcfg-upgrade Upgrades from ESX Server 2.x to ESX.
esxcfg- scsidevs Prints a map of VMkernel storage devices to service console devices.
esxcfg-vmknic VMkernel TCP/IP settings for VMotion, NAS, and iSCSI.
esxcfg-vswif service console network settings.
esxcfg-vswitch virtual machine network settings.
Appendix B – Linux Commands Used with ESX
Appendix C – Using vmkfstools
o vmkfstools utility is used to VCP-410 dumps create and manipulate virtual disks, file systems, logical volumes, and physical storage devices.
Fibre Channel SAN Configuration Guide
o Zones define which HBAs can connect to which SPs.
o Zoning is similar to LUN masking, which is commonly used for permission management. Usually, LUN masking is performed at the SP or server
level.
o WWPN (World Wide Port Name) is a globally unique identifier for a port.
o Port ID (or port address) enables routing. FC switches assign the port ID when the device logs in to the fabric.
o When N-Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) is used, a single FC HBA port (N-port) can register with the fabric by using several WWPNs.
o active-active - access to the LUNs simultaneously through all the storage ports that are available, without significant performance degradation.
o active-passive - one port is actively providing access to a given LUN. The other ports act as backup
o Disk shares are relevant only within a given ESX/ESXi host.
o Virtual machine I/O might be delayed for up to sixty seconds while path failover takes place. I/O delays might be longer on active-passive
arrays.
o On virtual machines running Microsoft Windows, increase the value of the SCSI TimeoutValue parameter to 60.
o Only one VMFS volume per LUN.
o Unless you are using diskless servers, do not set up the diagnostic partition on a SAN LUN.
o ESX/ESXi does not support FC connected tape devices.
o You cannot use virtual machine logical-volume manager software to mirror virtual disks. Dynamic disks on a Microsoft Windows virtual
machine are an exception, but require special configuration.
o You should not mix FC HBAs from different vendors in a single server.
o Use a dedicated SCSI adapter for any tape drives that you are connecting to an ESX/ESXi system.
o You should not use boot from SAN in the following situations:
o If you are using Microsoft Cluster Service.
o If I/O contention might occur between the service console and VMkernel.
o Proper LUN masking is Passed VCP-410 critical in boot from SAN mode.
o Runtime Name - the name of the first path to the device. Created by the host. Is not a reliable identifier for the device, and is not persistent.
o vmhba#:C#:T#:L#, where:
o vmhba# is the name of the storage adapter
o C# is the storage channel number.
o T# is the target number.
o L# is the LUN number
o If a target has only one LUN, the LUN number is always zero (0).
Command Purpose
esxcfg-advcfg advanced options
esxcfg-auth Configures authentication
esxcfg-boot bootstrap settings
esxcfg-dumppart Configures a diagnostic partition
esxcfg-firewall service console firewall ports
esxcfg-info Information VCP-410 questions about the state of the service console, VMkernel, various subsystems in the virtual network, and
storage resource hardware.
esxcfg-init Internal initialization routines. Used for the bootstrap process you should not use it under any circumstances.
esxcfg-module Sets driver parameters and modifies which drivers are loaded during startup.
esxcfg-mpath multipath settings for your Fibre Channel or iSCSI disks.
esxcfg-nas Manages NFS mounts
esxcfg-nics physical network adapters
esxcfg-resgrp resource group settings
esxcfg-route default VMkernel gateway route
esxcfg-swiscsi software iSCSI software adapter.
esxcfg-upgrade Upgrades from ESX Server 2.x to ESX.
esxcfg- scsidevs Prints a map of VMkernel storage devices to service console devices.
esxcfg-vmknic VMkernel TCP/IP settings for VMotion, NAS, and iSCSI.
esxcfg-vswif service console network settings.
esxcfg-vswitch virtual machine network settings.
Appendix B – Linux Commands Used with ESX
Appendix C – Using vmkfstools
o vmkfstools utility is used to VCP-410 dumps create and manipulate virtual disks, file systems, logical volumes, and physical storage devices.
Fibre Channel SAN Configuration Guide
o Zones define which HBAs can connect to which SPs.
o Zoning is similar to LUN masking, which is commonly used for permission management. Usually, LUN masking is performed at the SP or server
level.
o WWPN (World Wide Port Name) is a globally unique identifier for a port.
o Port ID (or port address) enables routing. FC switches assign the port ID when the device logs in to the fabric.
o When N-Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) is used, a single FC HBA port (N-port) can register with the fabric by using several WWPNs.
o active-active - access to the LUNs simultaneously through all the storage ports that are available, without significant performance degradation.
o active-passive - one port is actively providing access to a given LUN. The other ports act as backup
o Disk shares are relevant only within a given ESX/ESXi host.
o Virtual machine I/O might be delayed for up to sixty seconds while path failover takes place. I/O delays might be longer on active-passive
arrays.
o On virtual machines running Microsoft Windows, increase the value of the SCSI TimeoutValue parameter to 60.
o Only one VMFS volume per LUN.
o Unless you are using diskless servers, do not set up the diagnostic partition on a SAN LUN.
o ESX/ESXi does not support FC connected tape devices.
o You cannot use virtual machine logical-volume manager software to mirror virtual disks. Dynamic disks on a Microsoft Windows virtual
machine are an exception, but require special configuration.
o You should not mix FC HBAs from different vendors in a single server.
o Use a dedicated SCSI adapter for any tape drives that you are connecting to an ESX/ESXi system.
o You should not use boot from SAN in the following situations:
o If you are using Microsoft Cluster Service.
o If I/O contention might occur between the service console and VMkernel.
o Proper LUN masking is Passed VCP-410 critical in boot from SAN mode.
o Runtime Name - the name of the first path to the device. Created by the host. Is not a reliable identifier for the device, and is not persistent.
o vmhba#:C#:T#:L#, where:
o vmhba# is the name of the storage adapter
o C# is the storage channel number.
o T# is the target number.
o L# is the LUN number
o If a target has only one LUN, the LUN number is always zero (0).
