Storage

Tool: UBERAlign by Nick Weaver

Tool: UBERAlign by Nick Weaver

We all know that one of the biggest performance killers in our virtual environments is the wonderful alignment of partitions so that they may work in harmony and produce many I/Os with our SANs.  There are a few good tools out there for us to use but we are often caught in the middle of having to purchase the product or only have access to a vendor specific application for doing this.

The wait is over!  Let the alignment begin!

Presenting UBERAlign, a tool for VMware Virtual Machine alignment and Space Reclamation

Some of the features:

    • Allows for fast alignment checking of virtual machines with detailed logging.
    • Can perform alignment to any offset you want. Even the crazy ones that you shouldn’t choose.
    • Works with both Windows 2000/XP/2003/2008 (NTFS) and Linux Distros (EXT2/EXT3/EXT4).
    • Is able to work on NTFS boot drives perfectly. It does this by rewriting NTFS Metadata (the right way).
    • Auto detects Windows 2008 and Windows 7 native installs (alignment not needed). Will not touch a System Reserved Partition (important for Windows 2008).
    • Preserves all Windows drive mapping (AFAIK only one to do so). This means no having to remap drive letters and complete support for non “C:\”  system drives with some Windows builds (some Citrix stuff).
    • Completely Storage Array agnostic. That’s right: if it connects to vSphere and host storage UBERAlign will work with it.

That list is only a small portion of the feature list.  The best part of all of this is that this tools is completely free.  Thanks to Nick over at Nickapedia (http://nickapedia.com) for taking the time to develop such a great tool and bring it into the community for that awesome price of FREE!

Head over to Nickapedia to read more and download the tool.  The link is: http://nickapedia.com/2011/11/03/straighten-up-with-a-new-uber-tool-presenting-uberalign/

Script: Track-Datastores.ps1

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#Global Functions
#This function generates a nice HTML output that uses CSS for style formatting.
function Generate-Report {
    Write-Output "<html><head><title></title><style type=""text/css"">.Error {color:#FF0000;font-weight: bold;}.Title {background: #0077D4;color: #FFFFFF;text-align:center;font-weight: bold;}.Normal-left {text-align:left;}.Normal {text-align:center;}</style></head><body><table><tr class=""Title""><td colspan=""3"">VMware Datastore Change Report</td></tr><tr class="Title"><td>Datastore</td><td>Difference(MB)</td><td>% Free</td></tr>"
 
                Foreach ($line in $myColDiff){
                    Write-Output "<td class=""Normal-left"">$($line.name)</td><td class=""Normal"">$($line.Diff)</td><td class=""Normal"">$($line.PercentFree)</td></tr> "
                }
        Write-Output "</table></body></html>"
    }
   
# Variables #
#############

$VIServer = "VISERVER"
$username = "changeme"
$password = "supersecret"
$digits = 2
$Folder = 'C:\Reports'
$currentFile = 'Datastores_Current.xml'
$previousFile = 'Datastores_Previous.xml'

# Script #
##########

# First, if a Current file exists, rename this Current file to Previous

If (Test-Path "$Folder\$currentFile")
{
    Remove-Item -Path "$Folder\$previousFile" -Force
    Rename-Item -Path "$Folder\$currentFile" -NewName $previousFile
}

# Next, let's measure and save current datastore sizes

# Connect to Virtual Center
$VC = Connect-VIServer $VIServer -user $username -password $password

# Get all datastores and put them in alphabetical order
$datastores = Get-Datastore | Sort-Object Name

# Create an array to hold the output
$myColCurrent = @()

# Loop through datastores
ForEach ($store in $datastores)
{
    # Create a custom object and define its properties
    $myObj = "" | Select-Object Name, CapacityGB, UsedGB, PercFree
    # Set the values of each property
    $myObj.Name = $store.name
    $myObj.CapacityGB = [math]::Round($store.capacityMB/1024,$digits)
    $myObj.UsedGB = [math]::Round(($store.CapacityMB - $store.FreeSpaceMB)/1024,$digits)
    $myObj.PercFree = [math]::Round(100*$store.FreeSpaceMB/$store.CapacityMB,$digits)
    # Add the object to the output array
    $myColCurrent += $myObj
}

# Export the output to an xml file; the new Current file
$myColCurrent | Export-Clixml -Path "$Folder\$currentFile"

# Disconnect from Virtual Center
Disconnect-VIServer -Confirm:$False

# Finally, let's compare the Current information to that in the Previous file

# Check if a Previous file exists
If (Test-Path "$Folder\$previousFile")
{
    # Import the Previous file
    $myColPrevious = Import-Clixml "$Folder\$previousFile"
    # Create an array to hold the differences
    $myColDiff = @()
    # Loop through the current datastores
    ForEach ($myObjCurrent in $myColCurrent)
    {
        # The actual compare command
        $diff = Compare-Object ($myColPrevious | Where { $_.Name -eq $myObjCurrent.Name }) $myObjCurrent -Property PercFree
        # In case of any differences, try to get specifics
        If ($diff)
        {
            # Again, a custom object and properties for outputting results
            $myObjDiff = "" | Select-Object Name, PercentFree, Diff
            # Again, setting the values of each property
            $myObjDiff.Name = $myObjCurrent.Name
            $myObjDiff.PercentFree = $myObjCurrent.PercFree
            # The most important property is the calculated difference between the current and previous values of PercFree. You can substitute it for UsedGB if you like.
            $myObjDiff.Diff = ($diff | Where { $_.SideIndicator -eq '=>' }).PercFree - ($diff | Where { $_.SideIndicator -eq '<=' }).PercFree
            # And agin, adding it to the output array
            $myColDiff += $myObjDiff
        }
        # Clearing the variable used inside the loop to prevent incorrect output in case of problems setting the variable!
        Clear-Variable diff -ErrorAction "SilentlyContinue"
    }
    # If nothing changed, we don't want an empty file.
    If ($myColDiff.Length -eq 0)
    {
        $myColDiff = "No changes since last check."
    }
    # And we conclude by outputting the results to a text file, which can be emailed or printed.
    Generate-Report > "$Folder\Track-Datastore.html"
}

IF ($myColDiff -ne "No changes since last check."){
    $SmtpClient = New-Object system.net.mail.smtpClient
    $SmtpClient.host = "my.smtp.host"   #Change to a SMTP server in your environment
    $MailMessage = New-Object system.net.mail.mailmessage
    $MailMessage.from = "System.Automation@example.com"   #Change to email address you want emails to be coming from
    $MailMessage.To.add("yomomma@example.com")  #Change to email address you would like to receive emails.
    $MailMessage.IsBodyHtml = 1
    $MailMessage.Subject = "VMware Datastore Change Report"
    $MailMessage.Body = Generate-Report
    $SmtpClient.Send($MailMessage)}

Script: Report-Snapshots.ps1

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@"
===============================================================================
Title:             Report-Snaphots.ps1
Description:     List snapshots on all VMWARE ESX/ESXi servers as well as VM's
managed by Virtual Center.
Requirements:     Windows Powershell and the VI Toolkit
Usage:            .\Report-Snaphots.ps1
===============================================================================
"@

#Global Functions
#This function generates a nice HTML output that uses CSS for style formatting.
function Generate-Report {
Write-Output "<html><head><title></title><style type=""text/css"">.Error {color:#FF0000;font-weight: bold;}.Title {background: #0077D4;color: #FFFFFF;text-align:center;font-weight: bold;}.Normal {}</style></head><body><table><tr class=""Title""><td colspan=""6"">VMware Snaphot Report</td></tr><tr><td>VM Name  </td><td>Snapshot Name  </td><td>Date Created  </td><td>Size(MB)  </td><td>Description  </td><td>Host  </td></tr>"

Foreach ($snapshot in $report){
Write-Output "<td>$($snapshot.vm)</td><td>$($snapshot.name)</td><td>$($snapshot.created)</td><td>$($snapshot.sizemb)</td><td>$($snapshot.description)</td><td>$($snapshot.host)</td></tr> "
}
Write-Output "</table></body></html>"
}

#Login details for standalone ESXi servers
$username = 'changeme'
$password = 'supersecret' #Change to the root password you set for you ESXi server

#Folder to store report
$Folder = "C:\Reports"

#List of servers including Virtual Center Server.  The account this script will run as will need at least Read-Only access to Cirtual Center
$ServerList = "vc1.example.net"#, "vc2.example.net", "vc3.example.net"    #Chance to DNS Names/IP addresses of your ESXi servers or Virtual Center Server

#Initialise Array
$Report = @()

#Get snapshots from all servers
foreach ($server in $serverlist){

# Check is server is a Virtual Center Server and connect with current user
if ($server -eq "VCServer"){Connect-VIServer $server}

# Use specific login details for the rest of servers in $serverlist
else {Connect-VIServer $server -user $username -password $password}

get-vm | get-snapshot | %{
$Snap = {} | Select VM,Name,Created,SizeMB,Description,Host
$Snap.VM = $_.vm.name
$Snap.Name = $_.name
$Snap.Created = $_.created
$Snap.SizeMB = $_.sizemb
$Snap.Description = $_.description
$Snap.Host = $_.vm.host.name
$Report += $Snap
}
}

# Disconnect from Virtual Center
Disconnect-VIServer -Confirm:$False

# Generate the report and email it as a HTML body of an email
Generate-Report > "$Folder\Report-Snapshots.html"
IF ($Report -ne ""){
$SmtpClient = New-Object system.net.mail.smtpClient
$SmtpClient.host = "my.smtp.host"   #Change to a SMTP server in your environment
$MailMessage = New-Object system.net.mail.mailmessage
$MailMessage.from = "System.Automation@example.com"   #Change to email address you want emails to be coming from
$MailMessage.To.add("yomomma@example.com")    #Change to email address you would like to receive emails.
$MailMessage.IsBodyHtml = 1
$MailMessage.Subject = "VMware Snapshots Report"
$MailMessage.Body = Generate-Report
$SmtpClient.Send($MailMessage)}

Download here:  http://vsential.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Report-Snapshots.ps1_.txt

Script: Report-Datastores.ps1

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@"
===============================================================================
Title:             Report-Datastores.ps1
Description:     Report Datastore usage for all Datastores managed by vCenter
Requirements:     Windows Powershell and the VI Toolkit
Usage:            .\Report-Datastores.ps1
===============================================================================
"@

#Global Functions
#This function generates a nice HTML output that uses CSS for style formatting.
function Generate-Report {
Write-Output "<html><head><title></title><style type=""text/css"">.Error {color:#FF0000;font-weight: bold;}.Title {background: #0077D4;color: #FFFFFF;text-align:center;font-weight: bold;}.Normal-left {text-align:left;}.Normal {text-align:right;}</style></head><body><table><tr class=""Title""><td colspan=""4"">VMware Datastore Report</td></tr><tr><td>Datastore  </td><td>Capacity(GB)  </td><td>Used(GB)  </td><td>% Free  </td></tr>"

Foreach ($store in $report){
Write-Output "<td class=""Normal-left"">$($store.name)</td><td class=""Normal"">$($store.CapacityGB)</td><td class=""Normal"">$($store.UsedGB)</td><td class=""Normal"">$($store.PercFree)</td></tr> "
}
Write-Output "</table></body></html>"
}

#Login details
$username = 'changeme'
$password = 'supersecret'

#Current, Previous, Difference File information
$digits = 2
$Folder = 'C:\Reports'

#List of servers including Virtual Center Server.  The account this script will run as will need at least Read-Only access to Cirtual Center
$VIServer = "vc1.example.net"    #Chance to DNS Names/IP addresses of your ESXi servers or Virtual Center Server

#Initialise Array
$Report = @()

# Connect to Virtual Center
$VC = Connect-VIServer $VIServer -user $username -password $password

# Get all datastores and put them in alphabetical order
#$datastores = Get-Datastore | Sort-Object Name

#Get all datastores and put them in alphabetical order
foreach ($server in $serverlist){

# Check is server is a Virtual Center Server and connect with current user
if ($server -eq "VCServer"){Connect-VIServer $VIServer}

# Use specific login details for the rest of servers in $serverlist
else {Connect-VIServer $VIServer -user $username -password $password}

Get-Datastore | Sort-Object Name | %{
$Store = {} | Select Name, CapacityGB, UsedGB, PercFree
$Store.Name = $_.name
$Store.CapacityGB = [math]::Round($_.capacityMB/1024,$digits)
$Store.UsedGB = [math]::Round(($_.CapacityMB - $_.FreeSpaceMB)/1024,$digits)
$Store.PercFree = [math]::Round(100*$_.FreeSpaceMB/$_.CapacityMB,$digits)
$Report += $Store
}
# Disconnect from Virtual Center
Disconnect-VIServer -Confirm:$False
}

# Disconnect from Virtual Center
Disconnect-VIServer -Confirm:$False

# Generate the report and email it as a HTML body of an email
Generate-Report > "$Folder\Report-Datastore.html"
IF ($Report -ne ""){
$SmtpClient = New-Object system.net.mail.smtpClient
$SmtpClient.host = "my.smtp.host"   #Change to a SMTP server in your environment
$MailMessage = New-Object system.net.mail.mailmessage
$MailMessage.from = "System.Automation@example.com"   #Change to email address you want emails to be coming from
$MailMessage.To.add("yomomma@example.com")    #Change to email address you would like to receive emails.
$MailMessage.IsBodyHtml = 1
$MailMessage.Subject = "VMware Datastore Report"
$MailMessage.Body = Generate-Report
$SmtpClient.Send($MailMessage)}

Download here:  http://vsential.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Report-Datastores.ps1_.txt

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