Frequently Asked Questions: Managing VMware Environments in VMM

Article
04/29/2011

Applies To: Virtual Machine Manager 2008, Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2, Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 SP1

After I imported a VMware Virtual Center server into VMM, the host status for each of the ESX Server hosts is OK (Limited). What does that mean?

When you add a VMware Virtual Center server to VMM, all VMware ESX Server hosts that are managed by the server are added to VMM with an OK (Limited) status until you enter host credentials in the host properties.

Is adding ESX Server host credentials in VMM enough to fully manage virtual machines on ESX Server hosts?

For VMM 2008, to fully manage virtual machines deployed on ESX Server hosts, you must provide either root credentials or VMware Virtual Machine Delegate credentials, with the following requirements:

If you provide root credentials for the ESX Server host, you must enable SSH Root Login on each of the ESX hosts.
To provide VMware Virtual Machine Delegate credentials, you must configure the credentials on the VMware Virtual Center server in advance.

What actions can be performed on virtual machines while an ESX Server host has OK (Limited) status?

The following table lists the actions that can be performed on an ESX Server host that has OK (Limited) status, noting any restrictions that apply in that status. For a list of actions that are available for ESX Server hosts that have OK status in VMM, in VMM 2008 Help, see Supported Virtual Machine Actions for ESX Server Hosts.

Supported Virtual Machine Actions for ESX Server Hosts with OK (Limited) Status

Virtual Machine Action	Restrictions
Start	None
Stop	None
Pause	None
Modify properties	ISO image cannot be attached to a virtual DVD drive. VMware virtual hard disk (.vmdk file) cannot be attached to the virtual machine. VMware virtual floppy disk (.flp file) cannot be attached to the virtual floppy drive.
New checkpoint	None
Manage checkpoints	None
Remove	None
Migrate by using VMware VMotion	None
Migrate across VirtualCenter servers	None
Clone within the same VirtualCenter server	When the virtual machine is cloned by using the VMM Administrator Console, VMM gives the host a zero rating during virtual machine placement. However, you still can select the host for placement.
Clone virtual machine on the same ESX Server host	In the VMM Administrator Console, VMM gives the host a zero rating during virtual machine placement, but you can select the host manually. In the Windows PowerShell – Virtual Machine Manager command shell, you must use a task group to create a new .vmdk file before you clone the virtual machine. You cannot clone an existing .vmdk file.
Create virtual machine from a blank VMware virtual hard disk (.vmdk file)	In the VMM Administrator Console, VMM gives the host a zero rating during virtual machine placement, but you can select the host manually. In the Windows PowerShell – Virtual Machine Manager command shell, you must use a task group to create a new .vmdk file before you create a virtual machine. You cannot use an existing .vmdk file as the source.

Is an OK (Limited) host status possible on Hyper-V or Virtual Server hosts?

No, OK (Limited) host status pertains only to ESX Server hosts.

Is PRO available for ESX Server hosts?

Yes. You can enable Performance and Resource Optimization (PRO) for any host group or host cluster that VMM 2008 manages. For more information, see Enabling PRO in VMM 2008.

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