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Jeroen W. Pluimers on .NET, C#, Delphi, databases, and personal interests

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MacOS IPMIView and Supermicro X9SRi-F web interface cannot mount ISOs; on Windows, the web started Java iKVM console can

Posted by jpluimers on 2021/05/07

Screenshots so I do not forget.

Works from Windows Java iKVM Viewer v1.69.21 started via the web interface:

C:\Users\jeroenp>java -version
java version "1.8.0_211"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_211-b12)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.211-b12, mixed mode)

Fails from web interface:

It does not matter if the share is iso$ or iso: both fail in the same way.

Note this was after working around this very confusion error message from the web interface:

The image path is invalid or contain /:*?"<>|

The error message is just telling that the path should start with a back-slash:

[WayBack] Supermicro IPMI and Windows Share – Server Fault

With HTML5 iKVM this seems to work fine, but that requires more recent motherboards:

[WayBack] How to map a network share to boot from ISO, moving Supermicro Java iKVM to browser-only HTML5 iKVM | TinkerTry IT @ Home

Fails on MacOs with Java iKVM Viewer v1.69 r14.

# java -version
java version "1.8.0_74"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_74-b02)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.74-b02, mixed mode)

Gets you the rainbow circle of death and an “application not responding”

The success and failure are the same no matter the firmware; the same results were obtained both before and after upgrading the IPMI firmware:

–jeroen

PS: from Twitter

 

Posted in Hardware, IPMI, Mainboards, Power User, SuperMicro, X9SRi-F | Leave a Comment »

Need to research alternative IPMI tooling

Posted by jpluimers on 2021/05/07

Since IPMIView cannot mount ISOs and some tasks are not that convenient in GUI tools, I want to look more deeply in console based IPMI tooling.

Though my machine to remotely manage stuff is a MacOS based machine, most of my sites have Raspberry Pi devices, so some compatibility there would be nice. imputil seems to work there given IPMI firmware is recent:

Here are some names for future research:

  • impmiutil
    • [WayBack] ipmiutil – IPMI Management Utilities

      IPMI Management Utilities Project provides a series of common utilities for IPMI server management locally or via LAN. The utilities provide source and scriptable command binaries for automating server management functions.

      IPMIUTIL performs a series of common IPMI server management functions to allow administrators to perform management functions without a learning curve. It can gather FRU inventory data, SEL firmware log, sensors, watchdog, power control, health, monitoring, and has an SOL console. It can write sensor thresholds, FRU asset tags, and supports a full IPMI configuration save/restore. Ease-of-use examples with IPMIUTIL:

      • Native builds on many OSs: Linux, Windows, BSD, Solaris, MacOSX, HPUX
      • The only IPMI project natively supporting Windows drivers
      • IPMIUTIL supports any IPMI-compliant vendor firmware
      • IPMIUTIL detects and handles OEM-specific IPMI firmware variants
      • IPMIUTIL interprets various vendor OEM-specific sensor values automatically.
      • Any IPMI values not yet recognized at least return the values, rather than just ‘na’ or Unknown.
      • Shared library for custom applications, sample source included
      • IPMIUTIL BSD license is compatible with open-source or commercial use
      • Linux driverless support is ideal for boot media or embedded
      • Configuring the IPMI LAN requires just a single command
      • The decoding of IPMI SEL events includes a severity.
      • A soft-reboot can be easily performed instead of a hard reboot by using ipmiutil_asy, even if the platform does not support ACPI.
      • IPMI SEL management is automated via checksel.
      • Watchdog management is automated via ipmiutil_wdt.
    • [WayBack] homebrew-core/ipmiutil.rb at master · Homebrew/homebrew-core · GitHub
    • [WayBack] ipmiutil — Homebrew Formulae
    • [WayBack] Install ipmiutil on Mac with Brew | BrewInstall
  • ipmitool
  • freeipmi
    • [WayBack] FreeIPMI – Home

      FreeIPMI provides in-band and out-of-band IPMI software based on the IPMI v1.5/2.0 specification. The IPMI specification defines a set of interfaces for platform management and is implemented by a number vendors for system management. The features of IPMI that most users will be interested in are sensor monitoring, system event monitoring, power control, and serial-over-LAN (SOL). The FreeIPMI tools and libraries listed below should provide users with the ability to access and utilize these and many other features. A number of useful features for large HPC or cluster environments have also been implemented into FreeIPMI. See the README or FAQ for more info.

       

    • [WayBack] homebrew-core/freeipmi.rb at master · Homebrew/homebrew-core · GitHub
    • [WayBack] freeipmi — Homebrew Formulae

Things I am interested in:

  • discovering IPMI capable devices in a network
  • reading sensors
  • setting power state
  • mounting/unmounting ISO images

–jeroen

Posted in Hardware, IPMI, Mainboards, Power User, SuperMicro | 3 Comments »

VMware ESXi: working around “[Errno 28] No space left on device” when updating (especially when booting from USB-stick)

Posted by jpluimers on 2021/05/06

A while ago, I had this error while upgrading an ESXi 6.7 system:

# esxcli system maintenanceMode get
Enabled
# esxcli software profile update -p ESXi-6.7.0-20210304001-standard -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-
index.xml
 [InstallationError]
 [Errno 28] No space left on device
       vibs = VMware_locker_tools-light_11.2.5.17337674-17700514
 Please refer to the log file for more details.

This seems to be kind of a known issue, especially on systems that boot from USB sticks (see [Archive.is] “ESXi” “[Errno 28] No space left on device” – Google Search). Despites these sticks having gotten larger over time, VMware uses very little storage on them, so runs out of storage spice while processing installs from the depot.

This is kind of disappointing, and with the ever growing updates, the only workaround is to download an offline bundle, then install it.

Below I will explain how to get the offline bundle, as it involves a few more steps all aimed at this simple installation of the offline bundle file:

# esxcli system maintenanceMode get
Enabled
# esxcli software profile update -p ESXi-6.7.0-20210304001-standard -d /vmfs/volumes/EVO860_500GB/OfflineBundles/ESXi670-202103001.zip 
Update Result
   Message: The update completed successfully, but the system needs to be rebooted for the changes to be effective.
   Reboot Required: true
   VIBs Installed: VMW_bootbank_ixgben_1.7.1.16-2vmw.670.3.104.16075168, VMW_bootbank_lpfc_11.4.33.26-14vmw.670.3.104.16075168, VMW_bootbank_net-e1000_8.0.3.1-5vmw.670.3.112.16701467, VMW_bootbank_net-vmxnet3_1.1.3.0-3vmw.670.3.104.16075168, VMW_bootbank_nfnic_4.0.0.44-0vmw.670.3.104.16075168, VMW_bootbank_ntg3_4.1.5.0-0vmw.670.3.116.16713306, VMW_bootbank_nvme_1.2.2.28-4vmw.670.3.132.17167734, VMW_bootbank_qfle3f_1.0.25.0.2-15vmw.670.3.104.16075168, VMW_bootbank_sfvmk_1.0.0.1003-7vmw.670.3.104.16075168, VMW_bootbank_vmkusb_0.1-1vmw.670.3.143.17700523, VMW_bootbank_vmw-ahci_2.0.7-2vmw.670.3.143.17700523, VMware_bootbank_cpu-microcode_6.7.0-3.139.17700514, VMware_bootbank_elx-esx-libelxima.so_11.4.1184.2-3.89.15160138, VMware_bootbank_esx-base_6.7.0-3.143.17700523, VMware_bootbank_esx-ui_1.33.7-15803439, VMware_bootbank_esx-update_6.7.0-3.143.17700523, VMware_bootbank_native-misc-drivers_6.7.0-3.89.15160138, VMware_bootbank_vmware-esx-esxcli-nvme-plugin_1.2.0.36-2vmw.670.3.116.16713306, VMware_bootbank_vsan_6.7.0-3.143.17661912, VMware_bootbank_vsanhealth_6.7.0-3.143.17665851, VMware_locker_tools-light_11.2.5.17337674-17700514
   VIBs Removed: VMW_bootbank_ixgben_1.7.1.16-1vmw.670.3.73.14320388, VMW_bootbank_lpfc_11.4.33.25-14vmw.670.3.73.14320388, VMW_bootbank_net-e1000_8.0.3.1-5vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_net-vmxnet3_1.1.3.0-3vmw.670.2.48.13006603, VMW_bootbank_nfnic_4.0.0.29-0vmw.670.3.73.14320388, VMW_bootbank_ntg3_4.1.3.2-1vmw.670.1.28.10302608, VMW_bootbank_nvme_1.2.2.28-1vmw.670.3.73.14320388, VMW_bootbank_qfle3f_1.0.25.0.2-14vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_sfvmk_1.0.0.1003-6vmw.670.3.73.14320388, VMW_bootbank_vmkusb_0.1-1vmw.670.2.48.13006603, VMW_bootbank_vmw-ahci_1.2.8-1vmw.670.3.73.14320388, VMware_bootbank_cpu-microcode_6.7.0-2.69.14141615, VMware_bootbank_elx-esx-libelxima.so_11.4.1184.1-2.48.13006603, VMware_bootbank_esx-base_6.7.0-3.73.14320388, VMware_bootbank_esx-ui_1.33.4-14093553, VMware_bootbank_esx-update_6.7.0-3.73.14320388, VMware_bootbank_native-misc-drivers_6.7.0-2.48.13006603, VMware_bootbank_vmware-esx-esxcli-nvme-plugin_1.2.0.36-2.48.13006603, VMware_bootbank_vsan_6.7.0-3.73.14263135, VMware_bootbank_vsanhealth_6.7.0-3.73.14263064, VMware_locker_tools-light_10.3.10.12406962-14141615
   VIBs Skipped: VMW_bootbank_ata-libata-92_3.00.9.2-16vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_ata-pata-amd_0.3.10-3vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_ata-pata-atiixp_0.4.6-4vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_ata-pata-cmd64x_0.2.5-3vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_ata-pata-hpt3x2n_0.3.4-3vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_ata-pata-pdc2027x_1.0-3vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_ata-pata-serverworks_0.4.3-3vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_ata-pata-sil680_0.4.8-3vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_ata-pata-via_0.3.3-2vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_block-cciss_3.6.14-10vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_bnxtnet_20.6.101.7-24vmw.670.3.73.14320388, VMW_bootbank_bnxtroce_20.6.101.0-20vmw.670.1.28.10302608, VMW_bootbank_brcmfcoe_11.4.1078.25-14vmw.670.3.73.14320388, VMW_bootbank_char-random_1.0-3vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_ehci-ehci-hcd_1.0-4vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_elxiscsi_11.4.1174.0-2vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_elxnet_11.4.1097.0-5vmw.670.3.73.14320388, VMW_bootbank_hid-hid_1.0-3vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_i40en_1.8.1.9-2vmw.670.3.73.14320388, VMW_bootbank_iavmd_1.2.0.1011-2vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_igbn_0.1.1.0-5vmw.670.3.73.14320388, VMW_bootbank_ima-qla4xxx_2.02.18-1vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_ipmi-ipmi-devintf_39.1-5vmw.670.1.28.10302608, VMW_bootbank_ipmi-ipmi-msghandler_39.1-5vmw.670.1.28.10302608, VMW_bootbank_ipmi-ipmi-si-drv_39.1-5vmw.670.1.28.10302608, VMW_bootbank_iser_1.0.0.0-1vmw.670.1.28.10302608, VMW_bootbank_lpnic_11.4.59.0-1vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_lsi-mr3_7.708.07.00-3vmw.670.3.73.14320388, VMW_bootbank_lsi-msgpt2_20.00.06.00-2vmw.670.3.73.14320388, VMW_bootbank_lsi-msgpt35_09.00.00.00-5vmw.670.3.73.14320388, VMW_bootbank_lsi-msgpt3_17.00.02.00-1vmw.670.3.73.14320388, VMW_bootbank_misc-cnic-register_1.78.75.v60.7-1vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_misc-drivers_6.7.0-2.48.13006603, VMW_bootbank_mtip32xx-native_3.9.8-1vmw.670.1.28.10302608, VMW_bootbank_ne1000_0.8.4-2vmw.670.2.48.13006603, VMW_bootbank_nenic_1.0.29.0-1vmw.670.3.73.14320388, VMW_bootbank_net-bnx2_2.2.4f.v60.10-2vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_net-bnx2x_1.78.80.v60.12-2vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_net-cdc-ether_1.0-3vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_net-cnic_1.78.76.v60.13-2vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_net-e1000e_3.2.2.1-2vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_net-enic_2.1.2.38-2vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_net-fcoe_1.0.29.9.3-7vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_net-forcedeth_0.61-2vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_net-igb_5.0.5.1.1-5vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_net-ixgbe_3.7.13.7.14iov-20vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_net-libfcoe-92_1.0.24.9.4-8vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_net-mlx4-core_1.9.7.0-1vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_net-mlx4-en_1.9.7.0-1vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_net-nx-nic_5.0.621-5vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_net-tg3_3.131d.v60.4-2vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_net-usbnet_1.0-3vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_nhpsa_2.0.22-3vmw.670.1.28.10302608, VMW_bootbank_nmlx4-core_3.17.13.1-1vmw.670.2.48.13006603, VMW_bootbank_nmlx4-en_3.17.13.1-1vmw.670.2.48.13006603, VMW_bootbank_nmlx4-rdma_3.17.13.1-1vmw.670.2.48.13006603, VMW_bootbank_nmlx5-core_4.17.13.1-1vmw.670.3.73.14320388, VMW_bootbank_nmlx5-rdma_4.17.13.1-1vmw.670.2.48.13006603, VMW_bootbank_nvmxnet3-ens_2.0.0.21-1vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_nvmxnet3_2.0.0.29-1vmw.670.1.28.10302608, VMW_bootbank_ohci-usb-ohci_1.0-3vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_pvscsi_0.1-2vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_qcnic_1.0.2.0.4-1vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_qedentv_2.0.6.4-10vmw.670.1.28.10302608, VMW_bootbank_qfle3_1.0.50.11-9vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_qfle3i_1.0.2.3.9-3vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_qflge_1.1.0.11-1vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_sata-ahci_3.0-26vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_sata-ata-piix_2.12-10vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_sata-sata-nv_3.5-4vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_sata-sata-promise_2.12-3vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_sata-sata-sil24_1.1-1vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_sata-sata-sil_2.3-4vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_sata-sata-svw_2.3-3vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_scsi-aacraid_1.1.5.1-9vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_scsi-adp94xx_1.0.8.12-6vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_scsi-aic79xx_3.1-6vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_scsi-bnx2fc_1.78.78.v60.8-1vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_scsi-bnx2i_2.78.76.v60.8-1vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_scsi-fnic_1.5.0.45-3vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_scsi-hpsa_6.0.0.84-3vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_scsi-ips_7.12.05-4vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_scsi-iscsi-linux-92_1.0.0.2-3vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_scsi-libfc-92_1.0.40.9.3-5vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_scsi-megaraid-mbox_2.20.5.1-6vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_scsi-megaraid-sas_6.603.55.00-2vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_scsi-megaraid2_2.00.4-9vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_scsi-mpt2sas_19.00.00.00-2vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_scsi-mptsas_4.23.01.00-10vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_scsi-mptspi_4.23.01.00-10vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_scsi-qla4xxx_5.01.03.2-7vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_shim-iscsi-linux-9-2-1-0_6.7.0-0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_shim-iscsi-linux-9-2-2-0_6.7.0-0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_shim-libata-9-2-1-0_6.7.0-0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_shim-libata-9-2-2-0_6.7.0-0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_shim-libfc-9-2-1-0_6.7.0-0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_shim-libfc-9-2-2-0_6.7.0-0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_shim-libfcoe-9-2-1-0_6.7.0-0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_shim-libfcoe-9-2-2-0_6.7.0-0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_shim-vmklinux-9-2-1-0_6.7.0-0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_shim-vmklinux-9-2-2-0_6.7.0-0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_shim-vmklinux-9-2-3-0_6.7.0-0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_smartpqi_1.0.1.553-28vmw.670.3.73.14320388, VMW_bootbank_uhci-usb-uhci_1.0-3vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_usb-storage-usb-storage_1.0-3vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_usbcore-usb_1.0-3vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_vmkata_0.1-1vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_vmkfcoe_1.0.0.1-1vmw.670.1.28.10302608, VMW_bootbank_vmkplexer-vmkplexer_6.7.0-0.0.8169922, VMW_bootbank_xhci-xhci_1.0-3vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMware_bootbank_esx-dvfilter-generic-fastpath_6.7.0-0.0.8169922, VMware_bootbank_esx-xserver_6.7.0-3.73.14320388, VMware_bootbank_lsu-hp-hpsa-plugin_2.0.0-16vmw.670.1.28.10302608, VMware_bootbank_lsu-intel-vmd-plugin_1.0.0-2vmw.670.1.28.10302608, VMware_bootbank_lsu-lsi-drivers-plugin_1.0.0-1vmw.670.2.48.13006603, VMware_bootbank_lsu-lsi-lsi-mr3-plugin_1.0.0-13vmw.670.1.28.10302608, VMware_bootbank_lsu-lsi-lsi-msgpt3-plugin_1.0.0-9vmw.670.2.48.13006603, VMware_bootbank_lsu-lsi-megaraid-sas-plugin_1.0.0-9vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMware_bootbank_lsu-lsi-mpt2sas-plugin_2.0.0-7vmw.670.0.0.8169922, VMware_bootbank_lsu-smartpqi-plugin_1.0.0-3vmw.670.1.28.10302608, VMware_bootbank_qlnativefc_3.1.8.0-5vmw.670.3.73.14320388, VMware_bootbank_rste_2.0.2.0088-7vmw.670.0.0.8169922
# reboot

Note that I always perform a  esxcli system maintenanceMode get in order to verify the system is indeed in maintenance mode.

Steps to get the offline bundle

0. determining the profile

Actually there is a pre-step: checking which update profile is needed. I use the VMware Patch Tracker from VFrontDe, as you can subscribe through RSS (by ESXi version) Twitter (all versions) for that.

For ESXi 7, I use moved from the [Wayback] regular ESXi 6.7 patch RSS feed to the Feedly ESXi 6.7 patch RSS feed (which integrates in my daily news reading) of [Wayback] VMware ESXi 6.7 Patch History:

Keep track of VMware ESXi patches, subscribe by [Archive.is] RSS and [Archive.is] Twitter! – Brought to you by @VFrontDe

For the current (as of writing) update, it shows two out of four profiles:

  1. Imageprofile ESXi-6.7.0-20210304001-standard (Build 17700523) … (For more information see [Wayback] Release Notes.)
  2. Imageprofile ESXi-6.7.0-20210301001s-standard (Build 17700514) … (For more information see [Wayback] Release Notes.)

There can be two more “...-no-tools” profiles as described by [Wayback] VMware ESXi Image Profiles | virten.net

Example – ESXi 5.5 Patch 2 contains 4 Image Profiles:
  1. ESXi-5.5.0-20140704001-standard – Contains all patches
  2. ESXi-5.5.0-20140704001-no-tools – Contains all patches but no VMware Tools
  3. ESXi-5.5.0-20140701001s-standard – Contains security patches only
  4. ESXi-5.5.0-20140701001s-no-tools – Contains security patches only and no VMware Tools

…

vSphere ESXi 6.7 Image Profiles
Image Profile ESX Build Release Date
ESXi-6.7.0-20210304001-standard 17700523 2021-03-18
ESXi-6.7.0-20210304001-no-tools 17700523 2021-03-18
ESXi-6.7.0-20210301001s-standard 17700514 2021-03-18
ESXi-6.7.0-20210301001s-no-tools 17700514 2021-03-18

Given that I my environment as complete as possible (the original ESXi install contains everything, so I do want to include the “VMware Tools“, and update the full software, nut just security issues), I opt for “###...-standard” and not for “###s...-standard“.

1. determine the download

The page [Wayback] VMware ESXi 6.7 Patch History (and similar pages for other ESXi versions) contains a tiny link in the upper left hand side named “[MyVMware Patch Download]” (I saved it in the Wayback machine) which brings you a patch search page on the VMware patch site.

The big drawback is that you need to be signed on into yout VMware account to actually see this page. The VMware account validation is implemented in a “corporate” way, so often does not work (especially when you need it, which for me often is on weekends, a period in the week that corporates seem to ar less monitor their systems than during USA work-day hours). I might sound cynical, but this set me back quite some time even trying to get an ESXi 7 license.

Here are some screenshots:

VMware HomeP/roduct Patches

VMware Home/Product Patches

The site is so corporate, that when your screen is not wide enough, the selection box is drawn outside your screen area:

VMware being very corporate: drawing selection box outside the screen area.

VMware being very corporate: drawing selection box outside the screen area.

Anyway the one ending in “and Installable” is the one we want, cutting off the other part (you are a corporate or you aren’t, right?):

"ESXi (Embedded and ..." is cut off as the layout has been designed to cut off either way.

“ESXi (Embedded and …” is cut off as the layout has been designed to cut off either way.

So for ESXi 6.7.0, when writing this, the offline bundles were these:

ESXi 6.7.0 offline bundles

ESXi 6.7.0 offline bundles (unlike the YYYYMM### release name and YYYYMM### bulletin numbers, the dates are in MM/DD/YYYY format)

Release Name Release Date Build Number Bulletin Number

ESXi670-202103001

Product:ESXi (Embedded and Installable) 6.7.0

Download Size:476.7 MB

03/18/2021

17700523

 ESXi670-202103102-SG

ESXi670-202103103-SG

ESXi670-202103001

ESXi670-202103101-SG

ESXi670-202103401-BG

ESXi670-202103403-BG

ESXi670-202103402-BG

Download

So, for imageprofile ESXi-6.7.0-20210304001-standard (Build 17700523), the release name is ESXi670-202103001 (as it matches Build Number [Wayback] 17700523).

From the above, we now have these links and numbers:

The two common parts above are:

  1. ESXi670-202103001 (both as identifier and as filename ESXi670-202103001.zip)
  2. https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.7/rn/esxi670-202103001.html which contains a table like this that has both a (deprecated!) md5sum and sha1sum value:
    Download Filename: ESXi670-202103001.zip
    Build: 17700523
    Download Size: 476.7 MB
    md5sum: 26f177706bce4a0432d9e8af016a5bad
    sha1checksum: 0263a25351d003d34321a062b391d9fe5c312bd2
    Host Reboot Required: Yes
    Virtual Machine Migration or Shutdown Required: Yes

 

Back to the download button, where you can validate the filename of the off-line bundle:

The Download button points to a complex URL with these parts:

  • scheme:[//authority]path = https://download2.vmware.com/patch/software/VUM/OFFLINE/release-767-20210316-739878/ESXi670-202103001.zip
  • [?query] is of the form ?HashKey=<32-hexadecimal-digits>&params=<URI-escaped-JSON-string>&AuthKey=<10-decimal-digits>_<32-hexadecimal-digits>
  • Sample values included in params:
    • "custnumber":"ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP==" 16-digit == padded base64 encoded customer identification
    • "sourcefilesize":"476.7+MB"
    • "dlgcode":"ESXi670-202103001"
    • "languagecode":"en"
    • "source":"PATCH"
    • "downloadtype":"manual"
    • "downloaduuid":"12345678-490a-abcd-efgh12345678" (version 4 variant 1 uuid)
    • "productname":"ESXi+(Embedded+and+Installable)"
    • "productversion":"6.7.0"

2. downloading the offline bundle file and verifying it

The steps taken until now:

  1. Find the most recent imageprofile name at [Wayback] VMware ESXi 6.7 Patch History (in my case ESXi-6.7.0-20210304001-standard)
  2. Find the “Release notes” link right under the table below it (in my case https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.7/rn/esxi670-202103001.html#esxi-6-7-0-20210301001s-standard-resolved)
  3. Browse to the top of that page for the table with the offline bundle identifier and filename

Now

  1. search for the filename (like [Wayback/Archive.is] “ESXi670-202103001.zip” – Google Search) to download, or get the download URL from the VMware patch site (note this URL expires usually within 20 minutes).
  2. download the file using that URL:
    # wget "download-URL" -O /vmfs/volumes/EVO860_500GB/OfflineBundles/ESXi670-202103001.zip
Connecting to download.example.org (192.0.2.0:443)
ESXi670-202103001.zi 100% |****************************************************************************************************************|  454M  0:00:00 ETA

    Yes, that strange IP address is for documentation purposes as you can see in [Wayback] RFC 5737 – IPv4 Address Blocks Reserved for Documentation and Reserved IP addresses – Wikipedia.

  3. verify the download with the above sha1sum (which is included in the ESXi BusyBox shell)
    # sha1sum /vmfs/volumes/EVO860_500GB/OfflineBundles/ESXi670-202103001.zip 
0263a25351d003d34321a062b391d9fe5c312bd2  /vmfs/volumes/EVO860_500GB/OfflineBundles/ESXi670-202103001.zip
  4. shutdown all the VM’s, put the machine in maintenance mode, upgrade, verify result, reboot, put the machine out of maintenance mode, start any VM’s that should be up

[Archive.is] [OSError] [Errno 28] No space left on device even … – VMware Technology Network VMTN very importantly mentions to do a dry-run before actually upgrading:

esxcli software profile update --dry-run -p ESXi-6.7.0-20201103001-standard -d /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/update/ESXi670-202011001.zip

If the dry run is successful, do the update with

esxcli software profile update -p ESXi-6.7.0-20201103001-standard -d /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/update/ESXi670-202011001.zip

—jeroen

Posted in ESXi6, ESXi6.5, ESXi6.7, ESXi7, Power User, Virtualization, VMware, VMware ESXi | Leave a Comment »

Chocolatey: I favor ‘choco upgrade’ over ‘choco install’

Posted by jpluimers on 2021/05/06

A while ago I found out that choco upgrade will install a package when it is not installed, and that choco upgrade all will upgrade all installed packages.

So I looked up the documentation of both choco install and choco upgrade (and choco update which will be deprecated) where I bolded parts of the upgrade command:

Given that upgrade can do both an upgrade and an install, I have switched all my install scripts to use upgrade in steaf of install.

Not all of the above commands accept the same set of [Wayback] Chocolatey Software Docs | Commands: Default Options and Switches

-?, --help, -h
     Prints out the help menu.

 -d, --debug
     Debug - Show debug messaging.

 -v, --verbose
     Verbose - Show verbose messaging. Very verbose messaging, avoid using 
       under normal circumstances.

     --trace
     Trace - Show trace messaging. Very, very verbose trace messaging. Avoid 
       except when needing super low-level .NET Framework debugging. Available 
       in 0.10.4+.

     --nocolor, --no-color
     No Color - Do not show colorization in logging output. This overrides 
       the feature 'logWithoutColor', set to 'False'. Available in 0.10.9+.

     --acceptlicense, --accept-license
     AcceptLicense - Accept license dialogs automatically. Reserved for 
       future use.

 -y, --yes, --confirm
     Confirm all prompts - Chooses affirmative answer instead of prompting. 
       Implies --accept-license

 -f, --force
     Force - force the behavior. Do not use force during normal operation - 
       it subverts some of the smart behavior for commands.

     --noop, --whatif, --what-if
     NoOp / WhatIf - Don't actually do anything.

 -r, --limitoutput, --limit-output
     LimitOutput - Limit the output to essential information

     --timeout, --execution-timeout=VALUE
     CommandExecutionTimeout (in seconds) - The time to allow a command to 
       finish before timing out. Overrides the default execution timeout in the 
       configuration of 2700 seconds. '0' for infinite starting in 0.10.4.

 -c, --cache, --cachelocation, --cache-location=VALUE
     CacheLocation - Location for download cache, defaults to %TEMP% or value 
       in chocolatey.config file.

     --allowunofficial, --allow-unofficial, --allowunofficialbuild, --allow-unofficial-build
     AllowUnofficialBuild - When not using the official build you must set 
       this flag for choco to continue.

     --failstderr, --failonstderr, --fail-on-stderr, --fail-on-standard-error, --fail-on-error-output
     FailOnStandardError - Fail on standard error output (stderr), typically 
       received when running external commands during install providers. This 
       overrides the feature failOnStandardError.

     --use-system-powershell
     UseSystemPowerShell - Execute PowerShell using an external process 
       instead of the built-in PowerShell host. Should only be used when 
       internal host is failing. Available in 0.9.10+.

     --no-progress
     Do Not Show Progress - Do not show download progress percentages. 
       Available in 0.10.4+.

     --proxy=VALUE
     Proxy Location - Explicit proxy location. Overrides the default proxy 
       location of ''. Available for config settings in 0.9.9.9+, this CLI 
       option available in 0.10.4+.

     --proxy-user=VALUE
     Proxy User Name - Explicit proxy user (optional). Requires explicit 
       proxy (`--proxy` or config setting). Overrides the default proxy user of 
       ''. Available for config settings in 0.9.9.9+, this CLI option available 
       in 0.10.4+.

     --proxy-password=VALUE
     Proxy Password - Explicit proxy password (optional) to be used with 
       username. Requires explicit proxy (`--proxy` or config setting) and 
       user name.  Overrides the default proxy password (encrypted in settings 
       if set). Available for config settings in 0.9.9.9+, this CLI option 
       available in 0.10.4+.

     --proxy-bypass-list=VALUE
     ProxyBypassList - Comma separated list of regex locations to bypass on 
       proxy. Requires explicit proxy (`--proxy` or config setting). Overrides 
       the default proxy bypass list of ''. Available in 0.10.4+.

     --proxy-bypass-on-local
     Proxy Bypass On Local - Bypass proxy for local connections. Requires 
       explicit proxy (`--proxy` or config setting). Overrides the default 
       proxy bypass on local setting of 'True'. Available in 0.10.4+.

     --log-file=VALUE
     Log File to output to in addition to regular loggers. Available in 0.1-
       0.8+.

–jeroen

Posted in Batch-Files, Chocolatey, Development, Power User, Scripting, Software Development, Windows | Leave a Comment »

Delphi: types you cannot deprecate

Posted by jpluimers on 2021/05/06

Deprecating all types in a unit besides deprecating the unit itself will cause a hint and warning storm. Especially in projects having a lot of hints and warnings (taking over maintenance of a legacy project comes to mind) this can be very helpful to spot these locations inside many files where some obscure unmaintained unit like GIFImage.pas is still used.

[WayBack] TGIFImage for Delphi | MelanderBlog got donated to (then CodeGear, now Embarcadero) for inclusion in Delphi 2007. It was, as GifImg unit, but only documented since the [WayBack] Delphi 2009 GIFImg Namespace). For more information: delphi 2007 gifimg unit – Google Search

Delphi allows you to deprecate a lot of types, but you cannot deprecate these forms:

  • array [...] of TSomeType
  • ^TSomeType
  • class of TSomeType
  • procedure(...) ...
  • function(...): TSomeType ...
  • reference to procedure(...) ...
  • reference to function(...): TSomeType ...

Putting a deprecated 'use SomeUnit.TSomeOtherType' will fail with:

  • either a compiler error  pair
    • “E2029 ';' expected but identifier 'deprecated' found“.
    • “E2029 '=' expected but string constant found“
  • a compiler error
    • E1030 Invalid compiler directive: 'DEPRECATED'

You can enumerate these kinds of types:

  • enumerations
  • records
  • classes, but only a full class declaration, so
    • not the class forward declaration like TMyClass = class
    • not a shortened class declaration like TMyException = class(Exception), this has to be the full TMyException = class(Exception) end deprecated 'reason';
  • methods only after the last separating ; of the method (so the virtual form is like procedure Name(...); virtual; deprecated 'use another method';)
  • named constants
  • global variables

The last few are not technically types, but included for completeness.

–jeroen

Posted in Conference Topics, Conferences, Delphi, Development, Event, Software Development | Leave a Comment »

ESXi: where are my log files actually stored? Actually, most of them are in `/scratch/log` which points to a hidden `.locker` directory in a datastore.

Posted by jpluimers on 2021/05/05

A summary of the full gist at [Wayback/Archive.is] ESXi-where-are-my-log-files-stored.txt:

# ls -al / /var/ /var/log/ /var/run/ /scratch/ /scratch/log/ | grep "/\|log\|-\>"
/:
...
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            57 Apr  4 18:16 scratch -> /vmfs/volumes/5ce2d440-72311161-75c5-0025907d9d5c/.locker
...
/scratch/:
drwxr-xr-x    1 root     root        106496 Apr 10 08:40 log
/scratch/log/:
-rw-------    1 root     root           411 Apr  4 18:20 Xorg.log
...
-rw-------    1 root     root         78835 Apr  4 10:30 syslog.0.gz
-rw-------    1 root     root         61136 Mar 18 15:05 syslog.1.gz
-rw-------    1 root     root         60589 Feb 24 00:30 syslog.2.gz
-rw-------    1 root     root         60373 Feb  1 08:01 syslog.3.gz
-rw-------    1 root     root         60203 Jan  9 15:50 syslog.4.gz
-rw-------    1 root     root         59889 Dec 17 23:20 syslog.5.gz
-rw-------    1 root     root         60398 Nov 25 06:50 syslog.6.gz
-rw-------    1 root     root         60563 Nov  2 14:25 syslog.7.gz
-rw-------    1 root     root        531794 Apr 10 09:35 syslog.log
...
-rw-------    1 root     root        157255 Apr  4 18:17 vvold.log
/var/:
...
drwxr-xr-x    1 root     root           512 Apr  5 19:19 log
...
/var/log/:
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root           416 Apr  4 18:16 .vmsyslogd.err
...
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root         38069 Apr  4 18:20 configRP.log
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root             0 Apr  4 18:16 cryptoloader.log
...
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root            87 Apr  5 21:57 esxcli.log
...
-rw-------    1 root     root          3350 Apr  4 18:16 init.log
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root           966 Apr  4 18:16 iofilter-init.log
...
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root         21769 Apr  4 18:16 jumpstart-esxcli-stdout.log
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root         18857 Apr  4 18:16 jumpstart-native-stdout.log
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root         10837 Apr  4 18:16 jumpstart-stdout.log
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root             0 Apr  4 18:16 kickstart.log
...
-rw-------    1 root     root         10916 Apr  4 18:16 sysboot.log
...
-rw-------    1 root     root            64 Apr 10 09:13 tallylog
...
/var/run/:
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            12 Apr  4 18:16 log -> /scratch/log
  • Almost all log files (most from /var/log and all from /var/run/log) are actually persistently stored in /scratch/log and survive reboots. Just a few are non-persistent.
  • /var/log/syslog is being archived as .gz files (compressed by gzip).
  • syslog is special: the location can be configured, and even be external: [Wayback] Configuring syslog on ESXi (2003322)

    VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0 and higher hosts run a Syslog service (vmsyslogd) that provides a standard mechanism for logging messages from the VMkernel and other system components. By default in ESXi, these logs are placed on a local scratch volume or a ramdisk. To preserve the logs further, ESXi can be configured to place these logs to an alternate storage location on disk and to send the logs across the network to a Syslog server.

  • A summary of some of the above log files is at [Wayback] ESXi Log File Locations

–jeroen

Posted in *nix, *nix-tools, ash/dash, ash/dash development, BusyBox, Development, ESXi6, ESXi6.5, ESXi6.7, ESXi7, gzip, Power User, Scripting, Software Development, Virtualization, VMware, VMware ESXi | Leave a Comment »

Running ArchiveTeam Warrior version 3.2 on ESXi

Posted by jpluimers on 2021/05/05

A while ago I wrote about Helping the WayBack ArchiveTeam team: running their Warrior virtual appliance on ESXi.

Since it was scheduled before my cancer treatment started and got posted when still recovering from it, I missed that version 3.2 of the [Wayback] ArchiveTeam Warrior appliance appeared in the [Wayback] Releases · ArchiveTeam/Ubuntu-Warrior at [Wayback] Release v3.2 · ArchiveTeam/Ubuntu-Warrior. You can download it form these places:

These two sites have not yet been updated, so they contain the older versions:

The source code now has been moved three times:

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in *nix, *nix-tools, ArchiveTeamWarrior, Cloud, Containers, diff, Docker, ESXi5, ESXi5.1, ESXi5.5, ESXi6, ESXi6.5, ESXi6.7, ESXi7, Infrastructure, Internet, InternetArchive, Kubernetes (k8n), KVM Kernel-based Virtual Machine, patch, Power User, VirtualBox, Virtualization, VMware, VMware ESXi, VMware Workstation, WayBack machine | Leave a Comment »

Delphi 10.2 Tokyo introduced a “with” warning: for most “with” statements, W1048 is raised ([RSP-17326] with statements generate W1048 unsafe typecast warning – Embarcadero Technologies)

Posted by jpluimers on 2021/05/05

A cool feature introduced in Delphi 10.2 Tokyo: often [RSP-17326] with statements generate W1048 unsafe typecast warning – Embarcadero Technologies.

Only 2 upvotes, so I assume the “anti with camp” people are finally winning (:

Notes:

Quoted from the bug-report (as they cannot be archived in the wayback machine)

  1. RAD Studio
  2. RSP-17326

with statements generate W1048 unsafe typecast warning

Details

  • Type:Bug Bug
  • Status:Reported Reported
  • Priority:Major Major
  • Resolution:Unresolved
  • Affects Version/s:10.2 Tokyo
  • Fix Version/s:None
  • Component/s:Delphi Compiler
  • Labels: None
  • Build No: 25.0.25948.9960
  • Platform: All
  • Language Version: English
  • Edition: Enterprise
  • InternalID: RS-82298
  • InternalStatus: Validation

Description

All with statements generate this warning. I am on board with the theory that all with statements are inherently somewhat unsafe, but with 1.5 million lines of legacy code (and over 500 new warnings), I would significantly prefer to have a separate warning for with statements.
As it happens I would like to go through and do this work, especially if we can have refactoring to restore non-with code – see RSP-13978. BUT, Godzilla is generating new extra warnings (including unsafe typecasts) in this legacy code and I would prefer to be able to attack these first and attend to with statements later.

Activity

Comments

Jira-Quality Sync Service added a comment – 

Jason Sprenger requested more info in order to validate the issue and commented: Not any code involving “with” statements produces an unsafe typecast warning.

For instance,

program RS82298;

{$APPTYPE CONSOLE}

uses
  System.SysUtils;

procedure Use(var X);
begin<
end;

type
  TMyClass = class
    FValue: Integer;
    property Value: Integer read FValue write FValue;
  end;

procedure RunRS82298;
var
  MyClass: TMyClass;
begin
  MyClass := TMyClass.Create;
  with MyClass do
    begin
      Value := 42;
    end;
  with MyClass do
    WriteLn('MyClass.Value=', MyClass.Value);

  Use(MyClass);
end;

begin
  try
    RunRS82298
  except
    on E: Exception do
      begin
        WriteLn('FAIL - Unexpected Exception');
        WriteLn('  ClassName=', E.ClassName);
        WriteLn('    Message=', E.Message);
      end;
  end;
end.

What sort of source involving “with” statements is generating these warnings for you?

With this information our development team can consider addressing your particular circumstance.

Stuart Seath [X] (Inactive) added a comment – 

Try this (obviously a simple made-up example), and you do need to enable W1048 first in the project options:

program Project18;

{$APPTYPE CONSOLE}

{$R *.res}

uses
  System.SysUtils;

type
  TAnother = class
  private
    FAmbiguous : Boolean;
  public
    property Ambiguous : Boolean read FAmbiguous write FAmbiguous;
  end;

  TFirst = class
  private
    FAnother : TAnother;
  public
    procedure Doit;
  end;

var
  First : TFirst;

{ TFirst }

procedure TFirst.Doit;
begin
  FAnother := TAnother.Create;
  with FAnother do // WARNING
  begin
    Ambiguous := true;
  end;
end;

var
  XAnother : TAnother;

begin
  try
    XAnother := TAnother.Create;
    with XAnother do // NO WARNING HERE
    begin
      Ambiguous := true;
    end;

  except
    on E: Exception do
  Writeln(E.ClassName, ': ', E.Message);
end;
end.

–jeroen

Posted in Delphi, Delphi 10.2 Tokyo (Godzilla), Development, Software Development | 1 Comment »

Preference variable $ConfirmPreference allows getting more or less PowerShell confirmation prompts

Posted by jpluimers on 2021/05/04

On my list to experiment with are [Wayback] about_Preference_Variables – PowerShell | Microsoft Docs, especially

$ConfirmPreference

Determines whether PowerShell automatically prompts you for confirmation before running a cmdlet or function.

The $ConfirmPreference variable’s valid values are High, Medium, or Low. Cmdlets and functions are assigned a risk of High, Medium, or Low. When the value of the $ConfirmPreference variable is less than or equal to the risk assigned to a cmdlet or function, PowerShell automatically prompts you for confirmation before running the cmdlet or function.

If the value of the $ConfirmPreference variable is None, PowerShell never automatically prompts you before running a cmdlet or function.

To change the confirming behavior for all cmdlets and functions in the session, change $ConfirmPreference variable’s value.

To override the $ConfirmPreference for a single command, use a cmdlet’s or function’s Confirm parameter. To request confirmation, use -Confirm. To suppress confirmation, use -Confirm:$false.

Valid values of $ConfirmPreference:

  • None: PowerShell doesn’t prompt automatically. To request confirmation of a particular command, use the Confirm parameter of the cmdlet or function.
  • Low: PowerShell prompts for confirmation before running cmdlets or functions with a low, medium, or high risk.
  • Medium: PowerShell prompts for confirmation before running cmdlets or functions with a medium, or high risk.
  • High: PowerShell prompts for confirmation before running cmdlets or functions with a high risk.

–jeroen

Posted in .NET, CommandLine, Development, PowerShell, PowerShell, Scripting, Software Development | Leave a Comment »

From Yahoo closing Answers tonight to blocking ads on YouTube

Posted by jpluimers on 2021/05/04

The discussion on Yahoo closing Answers tonight quickly went from alternative text based question/answer sites to long YouTube videos having hardly any content but ads, to blocking these ads: [Wayback] Yahoo sluit Answers-dienst na vijftien jaar en verwijdert inhoud – IT Pro – Nieuws – Tweakers

So here are some links where I can learn a bit of browser plugin and Android development technology as well:

(What I dislike most about ads is that they start at unnatural positions in the stream and cover topics I’m totally not interested in).

–jeroen

Posted in Android, Android Devices, Development, Mobile Development, Power User, SocialMedia, Software Development, Web Development, YouTube | Leave a Comment »

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