VMWare tests in 9.80

[oakyuz]

Hi

I test new versions of HM on a Windows 2003 (x86) system. My production HM runs on Windows 2008 R2.

I tried VM tests by selecting VMware ESXi in my test server, but the answer was "No answer" for all tests.

I checked whether MOB is open or not through browser and successfully login Managed Object Browser interface. Therefore, I decided to check the connectivity to ESX host with your vmmon1 tool. This tool also could not connect. I suspected the operating system and tried vmmon1 tool on a couple of other Windows 2003 and 2008 R2 systems. The result was vmmon1 (and probable VM tests) runs only on Windows 2008 systems. Something missing about Windows 2003 systems support or am I doing something missing?

Regards,
oakyuz

[KS-Soft]

HostMonitor does not use any special libraries for these tests, should work on Windows 2000+
Can HostMonitor perform URL test to VMWare host?
Can it perform URL test to any HTTPS server?

Regards
Alex Kozlov
www.ks-soft.net

[oakyuz]

Hi Alex

> Can HostMonitor perform URL test to VMWare host?
No. Neither https://vmware_host nor https://vmware_host/mob with password protected page option could get answer. The result is no answer. All advanced options in URL tests are selected.

> Can it perform URL test to any HTTPS server?
Yes, several URL tests to HTTPS servers are working.

What about vmmon1 tool? Have you faced with this situation in Windows 2003? Is there anybody who uses Windows 2003 and used this tool?

Regards
oakyuz

[KS-Soft]

[oakyuz]

Alex

Actually there is no problem about accessing MOB interface through browsers. In my test server (Windows 2003 SP2), the following browsers (with versions) can successfully connect to MOB service:

Firefox : 26
IE : 8
Chrome : 32

On the other side, the problem is; when I add any VM tests to my test server (Windows 2003 SP2), all the tests return "No answer". I understand that the vmmon1 tool has the same code as VM tests in Host Monitor, therefore I did not suprise why the result is the same.

Because vmmon1 tool is a standalone tool, I can run it in my several servers. The result is that this tool and VM tests get "No answer" in Windows 2003 servers while work successfully in Windows 2008 systems. I did your workaround and tried the VM tests by a Windows 2008 RMA, they all worked.

Actually my production server is a Windows 2008 R2 system and I do not think I will have problem with VM tests after installing 9.80+ on my production system. Why I told you this situation is because my test server is Windows 2003 SP2 and could not test VM tests on this OS. If your test Windows 2003 system and other users who run HM on a Windows 2003 system do not encounter such a problem, it is ok because my production system is Windows 2008 R2 and I will test these VM tests by a Windows 2008 RMA.

Thanks for your support.

Regards,
oakyuz

[oakyuz]

Update about vmmon1:

vmmon1 tool also works in Windows 2012.

Regards,
oakyuz

[KS-Soft]

Yes, its should work on Windows Vista+
We though it will work on any Windows XP+ system as well (if IE 8+ installed) but looks like there are different versions of winhttp.dll so it may not work on some old systems.

Also we are trying to contact VMWare team regarding MOB
unreliability but did not reach their developers yet...

Regards
Alex

[mrw]

Hi,

Just thought I would add that I have the same problem.
I'm using v9.82 and trying the test "VM host status" using an RMA and I only get "No answer".

I can browse(from the RMA server) to the ESXI server using https://<esx-ip>/mob/ and I get a reply after a password prompt. I have the correct user/pass and get a small webpage from the server.
I assume this means that the MOB services is running?

I have tried the test both with no port and also with port 4435 as specified somewhere. Could this be another port? In that case how do I find that out?

Regards,
//Andreas..

[KS-Soft]

Windows 2003?
IE 8?

Regards
Alex

[mrw]

Win2008R2 and IE10

//Andreas..

[KS-Soft]

[mrw]

ESXi version: 5.5

I tried using port 443 but no difference. Still "No answer".

I will check my own connections with VMware since we are a partner with them, but I wouldn´t bet on getting an answer that helps from them..

[rmoron]

mayby my mistake

but show here

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&externalId=2049143&sliceId=1&docTypeID=DT_KB_1_1&dialogID=47844467&stateId=1%200%2047848621

connect from ie dont work
connecting from chrome or firefox works fine.

[KS-Soft]

We tested the following Microsoft hotfix

[rmoron]

http://www.ivobeerens.nl/2013/11/15/unable-to-connect-from-the-vsphere-client-or-powercli-on-windows-xp-or-windows-2003-to-a-vcenter-server-5-5/


http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2049143



For ESXi 5.5

Connect to the host via SSH. For more information, see Using ESXi Shell in ESXi 5.0 and 5.1 (2004746).
Navigate to the directory:

/etc/vmware/rhttpproxy/

Backup the config.xml file. Do not skip this step.
Open config.xml file using vi editor. For more information, see Editing files on an ESX host using vi or nano (1020302).
Add the <cipherList>ALL</cipherList> parameter between the <ssl>...</ssl> section of the configuration file. Use the model below as an example:

<config>
...
<vmacore>
...
<ssl>
<doVersionCheck> false </doVersionCheck>
<useCompression>true</useCompression>
<libraryPath>/lib/</libraryPath>
<handshakeTimeoutMs>120000</handshakeTimeoutMs>
<cipherList>ALL</cipherList>
</ssl>
...
</vmacore>
...
</config>

Save and close the config.xml file
Reset the rhttpproxy service for the change to take effect by running the command:

/etc/init.d/rhttpproxy restart


Best regards