Tech TopX - Shadow Clones

We've just started a new Video Series here at Nutanix - Tech TopX!

In our first one we cover Shadow Clones.  This technology allows each CVM to cache a local copy of your golden image, giving your linked clones lightning fast SSD access to its disks.  Check out this video for an overview!



If you just want to reference the PowerPoint, here's the link

Nutanix, Hyper-V, and Logical Switches

In this post we will cover Hyper-V logical Switch Configuration and adding hosts to the Logical Switch.

Installing the Nexus 1000v on Hyper-V (Now with Nutanix!)

Recently there has been a ton of interest in the Hyper-V N1k running on Nutanix.  This post goes through what is needed to get this working.  For a general Hyper-V quickstart guide check out this Cisco doc.  I wrote it during my time as  TAC engineer there, and it covers most of what you need to know (some things changed in 2012R2 but the general post is there).

In a nutshell, the Nexus 1000v is a virtual switch that replaces the default switch in Hyper-V or ESXi.  It utilizes a NXOS base (the same code that makes the Nexus product line work) and gives switching teams a familiar view in to the virtualized environment.  You also get the benefits of logical switches (namely unified configuration across your hosts).

Adding SSH to Powershell

I've recently been doing a bunch of work on Windows and with Powershell, and the biggest thing I miss from MacOS so far is the unified terminal and the *nix commands I use on a daily basis.  Powershell has come a long way, but is still missing what I consider basics for management (SSH is the one that comes to mind).  So how can you adopt powershell while keeping the linux commands you know?

It's super easy, just install cygwin and add the cygwin bin directory to your path.  This post will show you how.

Hyper-V Networking Cheatsheet

I wrote up 1 page document that goes over how to configure VLAN tagging in Hyper-V - check it out!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7jBUgXAvE-jWktUYXZtRl9sY2s/edit?usp=sharing

Increasing the size of a IDE disk in VMware Fusion

Part 3 - VMware fusion.

I've covered ESXi and VirtualBox, now I'll cover increasing disk size in VMware fusion:

1. Power down the VM and increase the HDD size from settings
2. Mount the LiveCD and choose "CD" as the boot device
3. Increase the partition and choose the IDE HDD as the boot device

Increasing the size of a IDE disk in ESXi

In my last post we covered increasing IDE VMDKs in VirtualBox, as an addendum to that here's how you'd do the same in ESXi:

1. Increase the VMDK file with the command vmkfstools -X [new-size] -d eagerzeroedthick [path to vmdk file]
2. Load the liveCD and grow the partition

Increasing the size IDE VMDK Disk in VirtualBox

This week we'll be covering a slightly different topic - increasing a Virtual Box VM's disk size.

This might seem out of left field, but it's something that has come up many times recently and I've spent a bunch of time collecting the needed info so I wanted to share.  Anyway, let's get started!

Increasing the disk size

Let's start with where we are now.  Using the command "df -h" we can see current disk usage:

So we have a 24gb drive (/dev/sda2).  I want to increase this to 50 GB, what do I need to do?

1. Find the location of the virtual disk
2. Increase the disk size using the command VBoxManage modifyhd
3. Boot to a live CD and increase the partition size

Step 1: Find the location of the virtual disk

MacOS

Right-Click and choose "Show in finder"

Default path is /Users/[user name]/VirtualBox VMs/[VM's name]/

Windows: 

Right Click and choose "Show in Explorer"

Default is C:\Users\[User Name]\VirtualBox VMs\[VM Name]

Step 2: Increase the size of the disk from the CLI

Power down the VM before doing this step.

VirtualBox will only allow you to increase the size of a .vdi disk, not a .vmdk so this if you have VMDK you will need to clone it to a .vdi first.

NOTE: You need to update your PATH in Windows to use the "vboxmanage" command - run this from a cmd prompt to do this: PATH=%PATH%;c:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox

• Open a command prompt (or terminal window)
• 'cd' into the VM's directory

• Clone the disk to a .vdi with the command:

vboxmanage clonehd [old_VMDK_filename].vmdk "[new_filename].vdi --format vdi

• Increase the size of the .vdi with the command

vboxmanage modifyhd [new disk].vdi --resize [size in MB]

• Remove the old disk from the VM and add the new one

To Remove:

To Add:

Choose "Add Existing Disk"

Choose the .vdi disk you just created:

This is what it'll look like in the end:

Step 3: Boot to a Live CD and increase the size of the partition

You can download the gparted liveCD here:

http://gparted.org

You can use any distro you'd like, however these instructions will assume you're using this ISO.

Mount the CD (same steps as above, but choose the "Empty" CD drive rather then the HDD drive)

Once you have the CD mounted, power up the VM.  It will boot into the live CD:

Double-Click the "Gparted" icon on the desktop to launch the utility.

Once in the utility, click /dev/sda2 (or whatever partition you are expanding) and then choose "Resize"

Drag the partition bar all the way to the right and then hit "Resize/Move"

Click "Apply"

Once the operation is complete remove the live CD and reboot the VM.  Once the VM powers up it will now have the new disk size!

Now you can delete the old vmdk file (as it's just taking up space).

Nexus 1000v and Nutanix (ESXi)

So you may have seen the recent ACI migration post.  There was a couple of very interesting points in there - namely that ACI uses a modified Nexus 1000v called the AVS and Nutanix is an upcoming partner!  Many  people use the Nexus 1000v on Nutanix today already, but there are not many guides on what the configuration should look like.  This post will go over the Nexus 1000v configuration needed to get the Nutanix cluster working optimally.

Basic flow of Data

In my last post we covered the Nutanix Overview, but didn't go deep into how the NDFS is built.  In this post we will cover the basic dataflow, including how the CVMs connect to the network.  Many of these diagrams are inspired by the Nutanix Bible which is a great resource for all things Nutanix.

Nutanix Overview

So you've heard of Nutanix - you've seen the overview but you're not quite ready for the Nutanix Bible.  Maybe you've inherited a cluster from the previous admin or you are about to setup your first cluster with your SE.  The goal of this post will be to break down the system - to give a beginners guide of sorts that helps get you on your way.  This won't be a step by step install guide (which you can find here), but a digest of the system presented in a way that will help you frame the other information on the web.  Any work italicized will have an entry at the bottom (in the important terms section) and on the Nutanix Glossary page.  With that said, let's get started!

Hello World!

So as you may have noticed, this blog has been pretty quiet.  I set it up a few weeks ago, but wasn't sure how to start or what to blog about.  In the end, it seems like a welcome post is the place to start.

First off, a little about me.  I graduated RPI in 2011 with a degree in Computer and Systems Engineering.  During my time there I worked as a TA for the Cisco Networking Academy and I jumpstarted their VMware academy as well, becoming their first VCP instructor.  After graduation I joined Cisco as a TAC engineer on the Server Visualization team.  This is the team that provides support for the UCS (B and C series), Nexus 1000v, and various hypervisors.  During my time there I developed and delivered many chalk talks and bootcamps (including a Cisco Live lab).  Recently I made the jump to a new company - Nutanix.