My other VNX saviour

Arrived 1 day later, this one is a Dell H200E, the earlier one I'd a HP one but still works fine on my R710.

Reformating my Hitachi Drives from 520b to 512b

 root@pve:~#  sg_readcap /dev/sg2

Read Capacity results:

   Last LBA=1125768575 (0x4319dd7f), Number of logical blocks=1125768576

   Logical block length=520 bytes

Hence:

   Device size: 585399659520 bytes, 558280.6 MiB, 585.40 GB

root@pve:~# sg_format --format --size=512 /dev/sg2

    HITACHI   HUC10606 CLAR600  C260   peripheral_type: disk [0x0]

      << supports protection information>>

      Unit serial number: PPG98NYB

      LU name: 5000cca01210dfa0

Mode Sense (block descriptor) data, prior to changes:

  Number of blocks=1125768576 [0x4319dd80]

  Block size=520 [0x208]

A FORMAT UNIT will commence in 15 seconds

    ALL data on /dev/sg2 will be DESTROYED

        Press control-C to abort

A FORMAT UNIT will commence in 10 seconds

    ALL data on /dev/sg2 will be DESTROYED

        Press control-C to abort

A FORMAT UNIT will commence in 5 seconds

    ALL data on /dev/sg2 will be DESTROYED

        Press control-C to abort

Format unit has started

Format in progress, 1.99% done

Format in progress, 3.99% done

^C

root@pve:~#  sg_readcap /dev/sg2

READ CAPACITY (10) failed: Device not ready

sg_readcap failed: Device not ready

root@pve:~#  sg_readcap /dev/sg2

READ CAPACITY (10) failed: Device not ready

sg_readcap failed: Device not ready

root@pve:~#  sg_readcap /dev/sg2

READ CAPACITY (10) failed: Device not ready

sg_readcap failed: Device not ready

I had to abort it just now because it was late and the VNX was too noisy, Hope I don't end up with a brick drive:

http://www.ndwiki.org/wiki/User:Tingo/sg3_utils

Install sg-utils on Promox (Debian)

Good summary of sg3_utils:

http://www.ndwiki.org/wiki/User:Tingo/sg3_utils 

root@pve:~# apt-get update

Get:1 http://security.debian.org buster/updates InRelease [65.4 kB]

Get:2 http://security.debian.org buster/updates/main amd64 Packages [243 kB]

Get:3 http://security.debian.org buster/updates/main Translation-en [133 kB]

Get:4 http://ftp.debian.org/debian buster InRelease [121 kB]

Get:5 http://ftp.debian.org/debian buster-updates InRelease [51.9 kB]

Get:6 http://ftp.debian.org/debian buster/main amd64 Packages [7,906 kB]

Get:7 http://ftp.debian.org/debian buster/main Translation-en [5,968 kB]

Get:8 http://ftp.debian.org/debian buster/contrib amd64 Packages [50.5 kB]

Get:9 http://ftp.debian.org/debian buster/contrib Translation-en [44.5 kB]

Get:10 http://ftp.debian.org/debian buster-updates/main amd64 Packages [7,856 B]

Get:11 http://ftp.debian.org/debian buster-updates/main Translation-en [5,672 B]

Err:12 https://enterprise.proxmox.com/debian/pve buster InRelease

  401  Unauthorized [IP: 51.79.159.216 443]

Reading package lists... Done

E: Failed to fetch https://enterprise.proxmox.com/debian/pve/dists/buster/InRelease  401  Unauthorized [IP: 51.79.159.216 443]

E: The repository 'https://enterprise.proxmox.com/debian/pve buster InRelease' is not signed.

N: Updating from such a repository can't be done securely, and is therefore disabled by default.

N: See apt-secure(8) manpage for repository creation and user configuration details.

root@pve:~# sg_scan -i

/dev/sg0: scsi0 channel=0 id=0 lun=0 [em]

    TSSTcorp  DVD+-RW TS-L633C  D250 [rmb=1 cmdq=0 pqual=0 pdev=0x5]

/dev/sg1: scsi2 channel=2 id=0 lun=0

    DELL  PERC H700  2.10 [rmb=0 cmdq=1 pqual=0 pdev=0x0]

/dev/sg2: scsi3 channel=0 id=0 lun=0

    HITACHI   HUC10606 CLAR600  C260 [rmb=0 cmdq=1 pqual=0 pdev=0x0]

/dev/sg3: scsi3 channel=0 id=1 lun=0

    HITACHI   HUC10606 CLAR600  C260 [rmb=0 cmdq=1 pqual=0 pdev=0x0]

/dev/sg4: scsi3 channel=0 id=2 lun=0

    HITACHI   HUC10606 CLAR600  C260 [rmb=0 cmdq=1 pqual=0 pdev=0x0]

/dev/sg5: scsi3 channel=0 id=3 lun=0

    HITACHI   HUC10606 CLAR600  C260 [rmb=0 cmdq=1 pqual=0 pdev=0x0]

/dev/sg6: scsi3 channel=0 id=4 lun=0

    HITACHI   HUC10606 CLAR600  C330 [rmb=0 cmdq=1 pqual=0 pdev=0x0]

/dev/sg7: scsi3 channel=0 id=5 lun=0

    EMC       ESES Enclosure    0001 [rmb=0 cmdq=1 pqual=0 pdev=0xd]

root@pve:~# apt-get install sg3-utils

Reading package lists... Done

Building dependency tree

Reading state information... Done

The following additional packages will be installed:

  libsgutils2-2

The following NEW packages will be installed:

  libsgutils2-2 sg3-utils

0 upgraded, 2 newly installed, 0 to remove and 44 not upgraded.

Need to get 949 kB of archives.

After this operation, 2,951 kB of additional disk space will be used.

Do you want to continue? [Y/n] Y

Get:1 http://ftp.debian.org/debian buster/main amd64 libsgutils2-2 amd64 1.44-1 [112 kB]

Get:2 http://ftp.debian.org/debian buster/main amd64 sg3-utils amd64 1.44-1 [837 kB]

Fetched 949 kB in 2s (536 kB/s)

Selecting previously unselected package libsgutils2-2.

(Reading database ... 44066 files and directories currently installed.)

Preparing to unpack .../libsgutils2-2_1.44-1_amd64.deb ...

Unpacking libsgutils2-2 (1.44-1) ...

Selecting previously unselected package sg3-utils.

Preparing to unpack .../sg3-utils_1.44-1_amd64.deb ...

Unpacking sg3-utils (1.44-1) ...

Setting up libsgutils2-2 (1.44-1) ...

Setting up sg3-utils (1.44-1) ...

Processing triggers for man-db (2.8.5-2) ...

Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.28-10) ...

How to reset EXSi password

 I am using this as a guide:

https://www.altaro.com/vmware/reset-esxi-root-password/

https://www.vmwareblog.org/forgot-esxi-root-password-no-problems-4-ways-reset/

Mine should be /dev/sdb5

After untar:

 

BTW, need to this for both sdb5 and sdb6 (easier to just copy across coz I tried to do 2x and ended up with some MD5 error).

My VNX saviour?

This just arrived !!!

Perc 5/E

 On one of the R710 I have, I found out that I have a  Perc 5/E card.

But it uses SFF-8470 connector. The VNX uses SFF-8088.

More details:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_Attached_SCSI

So here is what I bought:

Backend cabling for VNX

 Here's how:

https://www.dell.com/community/VNX/Backend-cabling-for-the-VNX5400-block/td-p/7149511

VNX as a JBOD

 To run the VNX disks as JBOD, I will need to get a HBA or raid card that runs in IT mode.

I've ordered 2 cards:

H200E

LSI-92800-e

The H200E is actually a DELL branded of the LSI card.

Useful links on the VNX

 https://www.reddit.com/r/homelab/comments/662zrj/how_to_use_an_emc_dae_from_an_ax45i_as_das/

https://www.storagefreak.net/2014/05/emc-vnx-different-types-of-disk-shelves

Need to reformat the Hitachi drives

 Here's a good link on this:

https://forum.level1techs.com/t/how-to-reformat-520-byte-drives-to-512-bytes-usually/133021

https://mikeyurick.com/reformat-emc-hard-drives-to-use-in-other-systems-520-to-512-block-size-conversion-solved/

https://wp.colliertech.org/cj/?p=1802

But the problem is that the drives are connected via my Perc H800 controller but it is not passing the drive to the OS (Debian by Promox).

Wanna buy cheap DC drives:

https://www.servethehome.com/buyers-guide-datacenter-ssd-inexpensively/

How to use the EMC VNX to direct attach ?

 Hmmm.. still scratching my head.. some tips here:

https://serverfault.com/questions/895706/connecting-emc-vnx-6g-dae-to-server-using-sas

https://www.jpaul.me/2012/11/anatomy-of-an-emc-vnx-array/comment-page-2/

Seems like mine is VNX 5200 DAE

EMC SAE VNX

New toy 🙂

Reseting Administrator password on Windows 2008

 Here is how I did it:

1. Create a boot disk using Hiren’s BootCD PE

https://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/

2. Boot using this USB disk and open a command prompt and execute the following steps:

• At the command prompt, run the following commands:

  c:
  cd windows\system32
  ren Utilman.exe Utilman.exe.old
  copy cmd.exe Utilman.exe

• Reboot the server allowing Windows to load as normal
• At the logon screen, press Windows Key + U.
• As the command prompt, enter the following command:

  net user administrator Password12
  This will set the password for the Administrator user to be Password12 (case sensitive).

3. Once you have verified you can log on to the server you will have repeat the steps above and boot using the Windows Server 2008 DVD/ISO and run the command prompt again.

Delete the newly created Utilman.exe from C:\Windows\System32

Rename Utilman.exe.old back to Utilman.exe

You should be back up and running as if nothing ever happened.

Arcsight BIOS on the new motherboard

 When I boot up my R710 after swapping the motherboard, I found out that it is not the Dell BIOS!

After flashing with the latest BIOS update, no version exists.. and I can't apply other updates. 

To resolve, this, I have force the BIOS update again. 

Here is what I did :

1. Use Rufus to create a PC-DOS USB  boot disk

2. Ensure BIOS boot mode is BIOS (not EFI)

3. Boot from the USB

4. Run the BIOS update (R710-060600C.exe) with /FORCETYPE option... now it is back to normal!

Motherboard switch out on R710

Stripped!

New motherboard going in..

Yes! Yes! Yes! it finally arrived

Replacement motherboard for Dell r710.. after getting shipped to the wrong address, it finally arrived 🙂

Setting up my new R720 and updating the BIOS

Correct way to change port.. this should work - ignore previous one

 

1. edit "/etc/vmware/rhttpproxy/config.xml" (<httpsPort>443</httpsPort> to <httpsPort>4444</httpsPort>)

2. run command "/etc/init.d/rhttpproxy restart"

3. create new file "/etc/vmware/firewall/changes.xml"

4. copy this text to file:

<ConfigRoot>
    <service>
        <id>changedport</id>
        <rule id='0000'>
            <direction>inbound</direction>
            <protocol>tcp</protocol>
            <porttype>dst</porttype>
            <port>4444</port>
        </rule>
        <enabled>true</enabled>
        <required>false</required>
    </service>
</ConfigRoot>

5. run command "/sbin/esxcli network firewall refresh"

6. copy above file into /vmfs/volumes/xxxxxxx-80925220-52bf-b8ac6f41950b/changes.xml

7. add below code to "/etc/rc.local.d/local.sh" for work after reboot:

/sbin/cp /vmfs/volumes/xxxxxxx-80925220-52bf-b8ac6f41950b/changes.xml/ etc/vmware/firewall/

/sbin/esxcli network firewall refresh

exit 0

done.

Change Exsi port

 https://stackoverflow.com/questions/53400427/how-can-i-change-default-port-80-and-443-in-esxi-host-6-7

1. enable ssh on esxi host
2. connect via ssh or press alt + f1 on esxi host
3. edit this file by command vi /etc/vmware/rhttpproxy/config.xml
4. find text https by command :/https
<!-- HTTPS port to be used by the reverse proxy -->
<httpsPort>443</httpsPort>
5. change port to eg. 9443 
(press insert before editing and after finished press esc save it by :wq)
6. reboot needed by command reboot
7. after reboot connect to ssh and create new file changedport.xml by command 
vi /etc/vmware/firewall/changedport.xml
8. copy this text to console.
<ConfigRoot>
  <service>
    <id>changedport</id>
    <rule id='0000'>
      <direction>inbound</direction>
      <protocol>tcp</protocol>
      <porttype>dst</porttype>
      <port>9443</port>
    </rule>
    <enabled>true</enabled>
    <required>false</required>
  </service>
</ConfigRoot>
9. save it by :wq
10. refresh firewall rules by command esxcli network firewall refresh

Power meter to measure electricity usage

With all these servers running, I decided to monitor my usage using a power meter.

Server Rack!! (2 days ago)

I got a server rack for $100.. but moving it costs $280! 

Some misc parts:

Original item on sale:

SCP/SSH between ESXi hosts

do this first:

esxcli network firewall set -e false

ssh root@192.168.1.201

FIPS mode initialized

The authenticity of host '192.168.1.201 (192.168.1.201)' can't be established.

RSA key fingerprint is SHA256:Kv8k7Ctzj/SPC62Vq+GJwPQ4vlh/FSrXDijIA3+Pbj0.

Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? yes

Warning: Permanently added '192.168.1.201' (RSA) to the list of known hosts.