Eddie's Blog

ESXi Inbox and Async Driver

Definition

An inbox driver is one that is delivered and installed with ESXi software.
An async driver is the third-party vendor driver certified by VMware. It does not come bundled with ESXi software and is usually downloaded from VMware.

Why we care

When inbox and async drivers are present, they are both displayed as installed. However, only one is loaded
The inbox driver is not removed when an async driver is installed, which results in multiple drivers for the same device being installed
Multiple drivers can be installed but one is loaded and used.

Determine which drivers are installed

esxcli software vib list | less
esxcli software vib list | egrep <driver_string>
- If the system has an inbox and async driver installed, the above egrep command displays more than one output

Determine which driver is actively being used

esxcfg-info | less
- Look at the Version under the module
The name and the version of the storage driver corresponds with the second drive in the output of the esxupdate query command
For network drivers
- ethtool -i vmnicX
Identify the vmnic # of the associated NIC
- esxcfg-nics -l
- esxcli network nic get -n vmnicX

Windows Server 2016 Licensing Change

Here are the short summary of the changes in Windows Server 2016 licensing comparing with Windows Server 2012.

Windows Server 2016 licensing is based on CPU core, not CPU socket. One license pack covers 2 CPU cores.
Windows Server 2016 licensing has a minimum of 8 cores (4 packs) per processor, and a minimum of 16 cores (8 packs) per system. If a server has a single CPU with 4 cores, it still requires buying 16 cores (8 packs) license to run Windows Server 2016.
Windows Server 2016 Standard and Datacenter edition are functional differences. For example, the following are only available in the Datacenter edition
- Storage Space Direct (S2D)
- Storage Replica
- Shielded Virtual Machines / Host Guardian Service
- Network Controller
Windows Server 2016 Software Assurance licensing allows portable to Azure

Citrix NetScaler Inject Client IP to HTTP Header

In the previous post, I mentioned that injecting the client source IP to the HTTP header as an alternative to pass the client IP to the web server without enabling “Use Source IP”. Here are the steps to do that.

Configuration, System, Settings, Change HTTP parameters
Check the Enable checkbox under Client IP Insertion
Enter the header name

ns client ip insertion

Citrix NetScaler Source IP Mode - "Use Source IP"

By default, NetScaler load balancing traffic flow is
Source IP (client) --> Virtual Server IP — NetScaler — SNIP —> Web Server

The web server sees the NetScaler’s SNIP as the source IP of the traffic. To let the web server sees the client IP address, enable “Use Source IP” under System, Settings, Configure Modes, check Use Source IP.

However, some issues should be noted when enabling “Use Source IP”

TCP multiplexing will be disabled
- TCP multiplexing allows the NetScaler appliance to have one connection to the webserver for all clients traffic
- Eliminate the web server to manage the open & close connection
The default gateway on the web servers should be set to the NetScaler’s SNIP
- When the web servers see the client source IP, they will look at their default routing table for the return traffic, instead of returning the traffic to the NetScaler
- When the web servers try to connect to a TCP connection with the client, the connection will be dropped by the client
Alternative to enable Use Source IP
- In general, I would recommend not to use USIP
- Use inject HTTP header option to allow the NetScaler to inject the source IP header into the HTTP request (more information will be provided in the future post.)

What is SHA1

SHA1 (Secure Hashing Algorithm 1) is a hashing algorithm to generate the digital signature (hash) of a document. The signature verifies who created the document (the signer) and that the document wasn’t altered. SHA1 is not an encryption algorithm. Examples of encryption algorithm are AES, DES, RC4, etc.

SHA1 is phasing out by the web browsers (Microsoft, Mozilla, Google) starting on January 1, 2016. The SSL certificate signed by SHA1 should be replaced with a new one signed by SHA2.

To check the SSL certificate on a web server, use

NetApp "HA GROUP ERROR: DISK/SHELF COUNT MISMATCH ERROR" Troubleshoot

We received an alert “HA GROUP ERROR: DISK/SHELF COUNT MISMATCH ERROR” from the NetApp filer (Model V3240, OS Version 8.1.2 [7-Mode]), one from each node in the NteApp cluster . The alert does not include much information which node has the problem or what goes wrong. It turns out that a disk in one of the nodes start failing. Here are some steps to help to identify the failing disk.

Option 1: Search CF-Monitor.txt (inside body.7z file attached in the alert) for “Mismatched disk”, and run disk show <disk_device_id>
Option 2: run disk show -v and look for “FAILED” disk
Option 3: run sysconfig -d and look for “Not available” under Disk Vital Product Information column
Option 4: run aggr status -r (or vol status -r) and look for “Maintenance disks”

Apple OS X Window Management Application

Windows 7 or later has the built-in shortcut to arrange / snap windows - Windows key + Arrow key. OS X does not have this kind of shortcut. A few third party applications are available to fill the gap (see the list below). I tested ShiftIt. It does not have the complete features like other paid apps, but it’s completely free and offers the similar keyboard shortcuts like Windows 7.

ShiftIt’s default keyboard combination is Control + Option + Command + Arrow key.

Other windows management applications