VMware VLM3-ENG-CP - Lab Manager - PC User manual

VMware® Lab Manager User’s Guide
VMware Lab Manager 2.5

You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on our Web site at
http://www.vmware.com/support/
The VMware Web site also provides the latest product updates.
If you have comments about this documentation, submit your feedback to:
[email protected]
© 2007 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. Protected by one or more of U.S. Patent Nos. 6,397,242,
6,496,847, 6,704,925, 6,711,672, 6,725,289, 6,735,601, 6,785,886, 6,789,156, 6,795,966, 6,880,022,
6,944,699, 6,961,806, 6,961,941, 7,069,413, 7,082,598, 7,089,377, 7,111,086, 7,111,145, 7,117,481,
7,149,843, 7,155,558, and 7,222,221; patents pending.
VMware, the VMware “boxes” logo and design, Virtual SMP and VMotion are registered trademarks or
trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names
mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.
VMware, Inc.
3401 Hillview Ave.
Palo Alto, CA 94304
www.vmware.com
2VMware, Inc.
VMware® Lab Manager User’s Guide
VMware® Lab Manager User’s Guide
Revision: 20070709
Item: VLM-ENG-Q207-359

VMware, Inc. 3
Contents
Preface 9
1IntroducingLabManager 13
LabManagerComponents 14
LabManagerBenefitsandFeatures 15
UsingLabManagerwithVirtualCenterManagementServer 16
EnablingHighAvailabilityforLabManagerServer 17
2GettingStartedwithLabManager 19
SettingInternetExplorerOptions 20
AccessingtheLabManagerConsole 21
ReviewingtheLabManagerUserInterface 22
DefaultLandingPage 22
SpecificAreasandOperations 23
InterfaceFeatures 25
MouseoverMenus 25
BreadcrumbTitles 25
TextSearchFilter 25
ColumnSorting 25
VMwareToolsandMouseControl 25
ReviewingtheGeneralWorkflowinLabManager 26
3WorkingwithVirtualMachines 27
AccessingVirtualMachines 28
AccessingaVirtualMachineConsolefortheFirstTime 29
InstallingtheActiveXControl 29
InstallingtheVMwareRemoteMKSPluginforFirefox 29
ReviewingtheVirtualMachineConsolePage 30
ChangingtheConsoleDisplaySize 31
ReviewingVirtualMachineOperations 31
SummaryofVirtualMachineOperations 31
SummaryofVirtualMachineStates 33

VMware® Lab Manager User’s Guide
4VMware, Inc.
ChangingIPorMACAddresses 34
SettingUpRemoteDesktopConnections 35
TakingSnapshotsandRevertingtheSnapshots 36
InsertingCDs 36
EjectingCDs 37
InsertingFloppyDisks 37
EjectingFloppyDisks 38
AddingVirtualHardDiskstoVirtualMachines(Templates) 38
AddingSCSIVirtualHardDisks 39
EditingVirtualMachineProperties 40
ReviewingthePropertiesList 41
4WorkingwithMachineTemplates 45
AboutTemplates 46
AccessingtheTemplatesPage 46
ReviewingTemplateOperations 47
SummaryofTemplateOperations 47
SummaryofTemplateStatesandAttributes 49
CreatingTemplates 50
UpdatingTemplates 50
ImportingTemplates 51
ImportingaTemplatefromSMBStorage 51
ImportingaTemplatefromVMFSStorage 54
CreatingTemplatesfromScratch 56
CreatingaBlankTemplate 56
DeployingaTemplate 58
InstallingtheGuestOperatingSystem 58
InstallingVMwareTools 60
InstallingAdditionalSoftware 60
InstallingLMTools 61
ShuttingDownaTemplate 65
UndeployingaTemplate 65
PublishingaTemplate 66
SharingaTemplate 66
CreatingTemplatesfromActiveVirtualMachinesinLabManager 66
CloningTemplates 67
CopyingTemplates 69
ChangingSharedTemplatestoPrivateTemplates 70
ExportingTemplates 70
ConsolidatingTemplates 71

VMware, Inc. 5
Contents
EditingTemplateProperties 71
DeletingTemplates 74
DeletingPublishedTemplatesAfterManagedServerFailure 75
5WorkingwithConfigurations 77
AboutConfigurations 78
AccessingConfigurations 78
ReviewingConfigurationOperations 80
SummaryofConfigurationOperations 81
SummaryofConfigurationStatesandAttributes 83
CreatingConfigurations 83
IPAddressAssignmentforVirtualMachines 85
AddingVirtualMachinestoExistingConfigurations 85
DeployingConfigurations 86
DeployOptions 87
DeploywithDefaultsOption 88
UndeployingConfigurations 89
CapturingConfigurationstotheLibrary 89
CheckingOutConfigurationsfromtheLibrary 90
StoppingConfigurations 91
CloningConfigurations 91
CopyingConfigurations 92
ExportingConfigurations 93
ImportingConfigurations 94
SharingConfigurations 95
CreatingandRestoringConfigurationLiveLinks 95
TakingSnapshotsandRevertingtoSnapshots 96
EditingConfigurationProperties 97
ViewingDetailsonVirtualMachinesinaConfiguration 98
AccessingaVirtualMachineConsole 99
AccessingAllVirtualMachineConsolesinaConfiguration 99
DeletingConfigurations 100
6WorkingwithMedia 101
AccessingtheMediaLibrary 102
ReviewingMediaOperations 102
AddingMediatotheLibrary 102
SynchronizingLabManagerwithMediaStorage 103
DeletingMediafromtheLibrary 104
SharingMediaFiles 104

VMware® Lab Manager User’s Guide
6VMware, Inc.
ChangingSharedMediaFilestoPrivateFiles 104
EditingMediaProperties 104
7AdministeringandMonitoringLabManager 107
MonitoringLabManager 108
MonitoringtheActivityLog 108
MonitoringtheServerPool 108
MonitoringDeployedMachines 110
ManagingUsers 111
SettingUserPreferences 111
DefaultsTab 111
PasswordTab 113
ViewingUsers 114
AddingNewUsers 115
DeletingUsers 117
EditingUserProperties 117
ManagingManagedServerSystems 118
ViewingManagedServerSystems 118
AddingManagedServerSystems 120
RemovingManagedServerSystems 121
ViewingtheDeployedMachinesonaManagedServer 122
EditingManagedServerProperties 123
ReviewingAdditionalManagedServerOperations 125
ManagingStorageServers 126
ViewingStorageServers 126
ViewingVirtualMachineStorageUsage 128
AssessingVirtualMachineDiskSpace 130
AddingNFSVirtualMachineStorage 132
AddingMediaStoragetoLabManager 133
MediaStorageRequirements 133
SettingUpSMBMediaStorageforLabManager 133
CreatingaSharedFolderforLabManager 133
AttachingMediaStoragetoLabManager 134
RemovingStorageServers 135
AdditionalTasksforRemovinganNFSMediaServer 135
EditingStorageServerProperties 136
ReviewingAdditionalStorageServerOperations 136
ConfiguringNetworkSettings 137
ViewingNetworkSettings 137

VMware, Inc. 7
Contents
ReviewingtheSettingstab 137
ReviewingtheIPPoolTab 138
UnderstandingIPAddressManagement 139
AddingIPAddressestotheLabManagerIPPool 139
RemovingIPAddressesfromtheLabManagerIPPool 140
ConfiguringLabManagerSettings 140
AccessingLabManagerSettings 140
ReviewingtheGeneralTab 140
ServerPreferences 141
LDAPPreferences 142
EmailPreferences 142
DefaultUserPreferences 143
DefaultDeploymentOptions 143
LDAPandLabManager 144
LDAPPreferences:LDAPBindingandGroupStrings 146
ReviewingtheLicenseTab 146
ReviewingtheLMToolsTab 147
ReviewingtheSupportLinkTab 149
ReviewingtheResourceCleanupTab 149
8TroubleshootingLabManager 151
BlankScreenAppearsWhenAccessingLabManager 152
LabManagerDoesNotDisplayVirtualMachineConsole 152
DuplicateIPAddressErrorsAppear 153
AdditionofSCSIVirtualHardDiskFails 153
MouseNavigationonVirtualMachineConsoleFails 153
RemoteAccesstoVirtualMachineFails 154
LiveLinkURLErrorAppears 154
HostServerCDDriveCannotInstallSoftware 154
ImportingaVirtualMachineasaTemplateFails 155
ImportingaVirtualMachinefromVMFSStorageFails 155
InsertingMediafromNFSServerFails 156
VirtualHardDiskSpaceIsLow 157
LabManagerServerFails,LosesConnectivity,orRebootstheSystem 158
SMBMediaStorageServerFails 158
PermanentFailureofManagedServerOccurs 159
TemporaryFailureofManagedServerOccurs
(RebootorTurnOff) 160
TemporaryFailureofManagedServerOccurs
(Networking) 161

VMware® Lab Manager User’s Guide
8VMware, Inc.
AClientandBrowserSupport 163
BGuestOperatingSystemSupport 167
CNetworkFencing 171
WhyShouldIFenceConfigurations? 172
HowDoesFencingWork? 172
FencingOptions 174
ProcessorTypeIncompatibility 176
ViewingVirtualSwitchesforFences 176
ReviewingAdditionalFencingOperations 177
DExtendingLMTools 179
HowdoesLMToolswork? 180
ExtendingtheLMToolsScript 181
ExtendingtheLMToolsScriptonaWindowsGuestOS 181
ExtendingtheLMToolsScriptonaLinuxGuestOS 181
Index 183

VMware, Inc. 9
ThisprefaceprovidesinformationabouttheVMwareLabManagerUser’sGuideand
linkstoVMware®technicalsupportandeducationalresources.
Thisprefacecontainsthefollowingtopics:
“A b o u t ThisBook”onpage 9
“TechnicalSupportandEducationResources”onpage 10
About This Book
TheVMwareLabManagerUser’sGuideprovidesdetailedinformationabouttheVMware
LabManagersystemanditscomponents,commands,operations,configuration,and
userinterface.
Intended Audience
Theguideisintendedforexperienceddevelopersandtestersofsoftwareapplications.
Thisdocumentassumestheuserhassomefamiliaritywiththesetopics:
Virtualmachinetechnology
Basicconceptsofdistributed,multitieredsystems
Currentdevelopmentandtestingpractices
WindowsandLinuxoperatingsystems
Preface

VMware® Lab Manager User’s Guide
10 VMware, Inc.
Document Feedback
Ifyouhavecommentsaboutthisdocumentation,submityourfeedbackto:
[email protected]
Conventions
Table P‐1illustratesthetypographicconventionsusedinthismanual.
Technical Support and Education Resources
Thefollowingsectionsdescribethetechnicalsupportresourcesavailabletoyou.
Self-Service Support
UsetheVMwareTechnologyNetwork(VMTN)forself‐helptoolsandtechnical
information:
Productinformation–http://www.vmware.com/products/
Technologyinformation–http://www.vmware.com/vcommunity/technology
Documentation–http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs
VMTNKnowledgeBase–http://www.vmware.com/support/kb
Discussionforums–http://www.vmware.com/community
Usergroups–http://www.vmware.com/vcommunity/usergroups.html
FormoreinformationabouttheVMwareTechnologyNetwork,goto:
http://www.vmtn.net
Table P-1. Conventions in this Manual
Style Elements
Blue(onlineonly) Cross‐referencesandemailaddresses
Blueboldface(onlineonly) Links
Blackboldface Userinterfaceelementssuchasbuttonnamesandmenuitems
Monospace Commands,filenames,directories,andpaths
Monospace bold Userinput
Italic Documenttitles,glossaryterms,andoccasionalemphasis
<Name>Variableandparameternames

VMware, Inc. 11
Preface
Online and Telephone Support
Useonlinesupporttosubmittechnicalsupportrequests,viewyourproductand
contractinformation,andregisteryourproducts.Goto:
http://www.vmware.com/support
Customerswithappropriatesupportcontractsshouldusetelephonesupportforthe
fastestresponseonpriority1issues.Goto:
http://www.vmware.com/support/phone_support.html
Support Offerings
FindouthowVMwaresupportofferingscanhelpmeetyourbusinessneeds.Goto:
http://www.vmware.com/support/services
VMware Education Services
VMwarecoursesofferextensivehands‐onlabs,casestudyexamples,andcourse
materialsdesignedtobeusedason‐the‐jobreferencetools.Formoreinformationabout
VMwareEducationServices,goto:
http://mylearn1.vmware.com/mgrreg/index.cfm

VMware® Lab Manager User’s Guide
12 VMware, Inc.

VMware, Inc. 13
1
VMwareLabManagerprovidesarobustsolutionformanagingvirtualmachinesina
testlab.LabManagerdoesnotassumeextensiveknowledgeofvirtualizationand
allowssoftwaredevelopersandQAengineerstoquicklyprovision,share,andtear
downmultimachinetestcasesorconfigurations.
Specifically,LabManagerstreamlinesthesetup,capture,storage,andsharingof
multimachinesoftwareconfigurationsinvirtualizedenvironments.LabManager
offersaself‐serviceinterfaceandlibraryfromwhichuserscanaccessvirtualmachine
imagestodeployacrossmultipleservers.
Thischaptercoversthesetopics:
“LabManagerComponents”onpage 14
“LabManagerBenefitsandFeatures”onpage 15
“UsingLabManagerwithVirtualCenterManagementServer”onpage 16
Introducing Lab Manager 1

VMware® Lab Manager User’s Guide
14 VMware, Inc.
Lab Manager Components
“LabManagerservers”collectivelyreferstotheLabManagerServersystem,Managed
Serversystems,andstorageservers.Figure1‐1illustratesthecomponentsofLab
Manager.
Figure 1-1. Lab Manager Components
LabManagerServer–AserverthatprovidesWebandSOAPinterfacesfortheLab
Managersystem.TheLabManagerServersystemmanagesanddeploysconfigurations
againstapoolofManagedServersystems.
LabManagerManagedServer–AserverrunningVMwareESXServerandManaged
Serversoftware.TheLabManagerServersystemusestheManagedServersystemto
deployconfigurationsandtheirvirtualmachines.YoucanhavemultipleManaged
Serversystems.
LabManagerstorageserver–Storageforvirtualmachines(forexample,anESXServer
SANorNFSserver)andstorageformedia(CDandfloppyimages).Youcanhave
multiplestorageservers.
EveryLabManagerinstallationprovidesdefaultmediastorageontheLabManager
Serversystem.
virtual machine
storage
(SAN)
media and
virtual machine
storage
(NFS)
default media
storage
Lab Manager
Managed Server
Lab Manager
Managed Server
Lab Manager
Managed Server
Lab Manager
client user
Lab Manager
client user
Lab Manager
client user
Lab Manager Server
administrator
network

VMware, Inc. 15
Chapter 1 Introducing Lab Manager
LabManagerclientuser–ClientswhocanusetheLabManagerWebconsoleandthe
LabManagerSOAPAPI.YoucanaccesstheLabManagerWebconsolewithInternet
ExplorerorFirefox.
LabManagerWebconsole–Thebrowser‐basedconsolethatenables
managementforalltestingactivities,regardlessofphysicallocation.Youcan
accessthiscomponentusingstandardHTTPprotocols.
UsetheLabManagerWebconsoletoorganizegroupsofvirtualmachinesinto
configurationsbasedonmachinetemplates,tostoreconfigurationsandtheir
stateinlibraries,andtoquicklycopyandusemultiplecopiesoflibrary
configurationssimultaneouslywithoutrequiringknowledgeofthe
networkingenvironment.Copiesoflibraryconfigurationsareavailable
withinseconds.
Whenyoucheckoutalibraryconfiguration,theconfigurationretainsthe
networkprofile(IPaddress,name,MACaddress,securityidentifiers,and
more),whichpreservestherunningsoftwareanddataonthemachine.Virtual
machinescreatedfromtemplatesaregivennewnetworkprofilesastheyjoin
aconfiguration.ThisprofilechangesthroughtheLabManagerTools(LM
Tools)utilityinstalledonthetemplateoperatingsystem.
LabManagerSOAPAPI–ASOAPAPIWebservicethatenablesyouto
accessLabManagerprogrammatically.Thisallowseasyintegrationwith
buildmanagementsystemsandwithautomatedtestingtoolsfromMercury,
IBM,Segue,andothercompanies.
Lab Manager Benefits and Features
LabManagerenablesuserstolowerdevelopment,test,andintegrationcosts,aswellas
tapintoasharedpoolofserverandnetworkingresources,eliminatemanualsetup,and
decreasesoftwaredevelopmenttimes.
Reviewthesespecificbenefits:
Productivity–Savestimewhenprovisioningmachines.
Processimprovement–Assistswithcommunicationbetweentestingand
developmentteams.
Serverconsolidation–Includespoolandshareservers,storage,andothertesting
anddevelopmentresources.
Computeraccess–Providesaccesstomorecomputersthanavailablephysical
machines.

VMware® Lab Manager User’s Guide
16 VMware, Inc.
Self‐help–Allowsengineerstoindividuallycreate,setup,andteardown
configurationswithoutrelyingonIT.
Outsourcinganddistributeddevelopment–Allowsgeographicallydispersed
teamstoworkonthesamemachinesandconfigurationsovertheInternet.
Reviewthesespecificfeatures:
Templates–Createnew,fullyconfiguredvirtualmachinesinseconds.
Configurations–Run,manage,andmonitormultipleconfigurations
simultaneously.
Configurationlibrary–Storeconfigurationstopersistentstorageforteamuse.
Statecapture–Capturethelivestateofallthemachinesinaconfiguration.You
cancaptureandsharebugsintheirrunningstate.
Networkfencing–Runcopiesofconfigurationswithidenticalnetworkprofiles
simultaneouslyusingthisnetworkisolationtechnology.
Resourcemanagement–Manageapoolofcomputingandstorageresources.
Deltatreemanagement–Savevirtualmachinefilechangestoefficientand
high‐performancestorage.
Applicationintegration–IntegratetestapplicationswiththeLabManagerWeb
serviceSOAPAPI.
Monitoring–Viewandcontrolserverfarmutilizationinrealtime.
Browseraccess–RemotelyaccessLabManagerfromanylocation.
Automation–Automatetestmatricesend‐to‐end.
Using Lab Manager with VirtualCenter Management
Server
YoucanuseVMwareVirtualCenterManagementServer(VirtualCenterServer)to
monitorESXServersystemsmanagedbyLabManager.However,allVirtualCenter
ServeractionsthatregisterorunregisterLabManagervirtualmachines(including
thosetriggeredbyVMwareHAandVMwareVMotion™)cancauseerrorsinLab
Manager.
VMwarerecommendsmanagingESXServersystemswithLabManageror
VirtualCenterServer,butnotboth.AvoidinstallingLabManageronthesamesystem
asVirtualCenterServertoavoidperformancecomplications.Formoreinformationon
VirtualCenterServer,seetheVMwareInfrastructure3documentation.

VMware, Inc. 17
Chapter 1 Introducing Lab Manager
Enabling High Availability for Lab Manager Server
TotakeadvantageofVMwareHA,VMwareDRS,orVMwareVMotion,installtheLab
ManagerServercomponentonavirtualmachineratherthanaphysicalsystem.

VMware® Lab Manager User’s Guide
18 VMware, Inc.

VMware, Inc. 19
2
TogetstartedwithLabManager,youcanbecomefamiliarwiththemainelements,
operations,andnavigationoftheLabManagerWebconsole.
Thischaptercoversthesetopics:
“SettingInternetExplorerOptions”onpage 20
“A c c e s s i n g theLabManagerConsole”onpage 21
“ReviewingtheLabManagerUserInterface”onpage 22
“ReviewingtheGeneralWorkflowinLabManager”onpage 26
Getting Started with Lab
Manager 2

VMware® Lab Manager User’s Guide
20 VMware, Inc.
Setting Internet Explorer Options
ReviewtherequirementsforclientusermachinesintheVMwareLabManager
InstallationGuide.WhenaccessingtheLabManagerWebconsolewithIE,makesureto
enabletheproperbrowsersettings.
To set IE options for machines accessing the Web console
1OpentheControlPanelfromthedesktopandclickAddorRemovePrograms.
IfyouareusingaWindowsplatformotherthanWindows2003,proceedtoStep 4.
2ClickAdd/RemoveWindowsComponents.
3 DeselecttheEnhancedInternetExplorerSecurityConfigurationcheckboxand
clickNext.
4FromtheToolsmenuinIE,chooseInternetOptions.
5IntheSecuritytab,clickCustomLevel.
6Enablethesebrowseroptions:
DownloadsignedActiveXcontrols
RunActiveXcontrolsandplug‐ins
AllowMETAREFRESH
Activescripting
Allowpasteoperationsviascript
7IntheAdvancedtab,enablethePlayanimationsinwebpagesoption.