VMware vCenter Server Heartbeat 6.3

Click on the above Links to download.

Features

Manage multiple vCenter Server Heartbeat deployments in groups from a single UI.
- Distributed vCenter and SQL servers can now be grouped as a pair of servers providing the single business application
- Group vCenter servers providing management of vSphere infrastructure by Organizational Unit
- Create groups of vCenter servers by physical location
- The new tree-structure UI and dashboard view shows rolled up status of the health of the applications and servers within a group. If vCenter Server Heartbeat protection in a group flags the application as unhealthy, then Administrators can quickly drill down to the appropriate server, application, or component to identify the problem.
- Detailed on-screen logging of switchover / failover status and progress.
- Improved Management screen layout. All related functions and configuration are now more logically grouped together.
- Simpler visualization and roll-up status of application and performance monitoring rules and events through collapsible display options for memory, disk, processor, etc.
- Simpler visualization of alerts, now classified and grouped by alert type.
- User customizations now can be disabled for diagnostic and support purposes.
License for vCenter Server Heartbeat added during Setup — License serial numbers for vCenter Server Heartbeat can be added during Setup and if left blank automatically installs in the 60-day evaluation mode.
Support for vCenter Server 4.0 Update 2 — VMware vCenter Server Heartbeat now supports vCenter Server 4.0 Update 2
Support for vCenter Server 4.1 — VMware vCenter Server Heartbeat now supports vCenter Server 4.1
Native x 64 Support — This release of VMware vCenter Server Heartbeat now provides native x64 support
Support for Windows Server 2008 R2 — VMware vCenter Server Heartbeat now supports running on Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system
Support for View Composer — This release of VMware vCenter Server Heartbeat now provides support for View Composer v1.1 and v2.0
Support for installs on German, Simplified Chinese, and Japanese Windows OS — German, Simplified Chinese, and Japanese language localization for deployments of vCenter Server 4.0 and 4.1
Auto-switchover event causes the newly passive server to shut down — See vCenter Server Heartbeat Switchover and Failover Processes in the vCenter Server Heartbeat Reference Guide for more information about this feature.
Auto-failover is disabled in a WAN environment — Deploying vCenter Server Heartbeat in a WAN will now disable automatic failover to prevent failover when WAN links are lost.

Note:

Learning about vCenter Server Heartbeat

VMware provides you with manuals that show you how to work with vCenter Server Heartbeat. Additionally, you can view a video that introduces you to the product and demonstrates a sample installation. To download and play the video:

Click Video Download and save the .zip file to a folder on your computer.
Extract the files into a directory on your system and navigate to the vCSHB_QuickStart_VideoInstall subdirectory.
Double-click the vCSHB_QuickStart_VideoInstall.html file to start the video.

Prior Releases of vCenter Server Heartbeat

Features and known issues from prior releases of vCenter Server Heartbeat are described in the release notes for each release. To view release notes for a prior release of vCenter Server Heartbeat, click the appropriate link:

vCenter Server Heartbeat releases

Before You Begin

Before installing this release, review the vCenter Server Heartbeat Quick Start Guide for important information about environmental requirements and the selection of options during the installation process.

vCenter Server Heartbeat and vCenter Server Compatibility

The vCenter Server Heartbeat Reference Guide provides details on the compatibility of current and previous versions of vCenter Server.

This release of vCenter Server Heartbeat operates on the following platforms:

Windows Server 2003 x86 Standard SP2
Windows Server 2003 x86 Enterprise SP1 and SP2
Windows Server 2003 x64 Enterprise SP2
Windows Server 2008 x86 SP1 and SP2
Windows Server 2008 x64 SP1 and SP2
Windows Server 2008 R2

This release of vCenter Server Heartbeat supports the following versions of SQL Server

SQL Server 2005 SP1–SP3
SQL Server 2008 including SP1

This release of vCenter Server Heartbeat only supports vCenter Converter Enterprise. This version of vCenter Server Heartbeat does not support vCenter Converter 3.0.3 (Starter edition) or vCenter Converter Standalone 4.0.

Installation Notes for This Release

See the vCenter Server Heartbeat Guides before installing this software. You must verify that your server environment meets the minimum requirements for the network option (LAN or WAN) selected. These guides also address minimum hardware/software requirements and scaling recommendations associated with this release. To view a guide, click one of the following links:

vCenter Server Heartbeat Quick Start Guide (PDF)
vCenter Server Heartbeat Reference Guide (PDF)

Read the vCenter Server Heartbeat Reference Guide for step-by-step guidance on installing and configuring vCenter Server Heartbeat.

Upgrading to vCenter Server Heartbeat 6.3

This release of vCenter Server Heartbeat 6.3supports upgrades only from previously supported versions. The vCenter Server Heartbeat 6.3 Installer prompts you to perform an upgrade only when a previously supported version of vCenter Server Heartbeat is found. See the Reference Guide for installation requirements and VMware Knowledge Base article 1014435 (vCSHB-Ref-1815) for the upgrade procedures. When downgrading to a previous version of vCenter Server Heartbeat, do not use Setup to uninstall plug-ins. For information about performing plug-in installs/uninstalls please VMware Knowledge Base article 1014435 (vCSHB-Ref-1815).

Note: If upgrading from an Evaluation Version of vCenter Server Heartbeat to a Production Version, refer to VMware Knowledge Base article 1010792 (vCSHB-Ref-1767) for the upgrade procedure.

Upgrading vCenter Server 2.5 and its updates to vCenter Server 4.0 when protected by vCenter Server Heartbeat.

This release of vCenter Server Heartbeat supports upgrading to the latest version of vCenter Server. Perform the Upgrade to vCenter Server Heartbeat 5.5 Update 2 before upgrading vCenter Server. See VMware Knowledge Base article 1010479 (vCSHB-Ref-1764) if protecting vCenter Server only or VMware Knowledge Base article 1010483 (vCSHB-Ref-1765) if protecting vCenter Server with a local SQL database for instructions on how to upgrade vCenter Server 2.5 and its updates to a later version.

Known Issues

This section contains known issues for this release in the following subject areas:

vCenter Server Heartbeat Setup

Setup — The recommended minimum display resolution for Setup and vCenter Server Heartbeat Console is 1024 X 768.
Prior to starting Setup or launching the vCenter Server Heartbeat Console, set the display to a minimum of 1024 X 768.
Setup — Installing vCenter Server Heartbeat using the local Administrator account rather than the Domain Administrator account.
If you intend to install vCenter Server Heartbeat using a local Administrator account rather than a Domain Administrator account, please see VMware Knowledge Base article 1022867 (vCSHB-Ref-1916).
Setup — vCenter Server Heartbeat does not support the ` (grave accent) character
vCenter Server Heartbeat does not support usernames and passwords that use the ` (grave accent) character. Change the vCenter Server password before configuring vCenter Server Heartbeat rules.
Setup — If 10GB Mellanox network cards are present, TCP Offload Engine (TOE) must be disabled on all network cards before installation
If 10GB Mellanox network cards are present, TCP Offload Engine (TOE) must be disabled on all network cards before installing vCenter Server Heartbeat. See VMware Knowledge Base article 1024066 (vCSHB-Ref-1919) for more information about this environment.
Install Clone — Prior to starting Setup on the Secondary server, the WebClient service must be set to Manual or Automatic
If VMware License Server is installed, before starting vCenter Server Heartbeat Setup you must set the WebClient service to Manual or Automatic. Failing to do so will result in an error preventing Setup from progressing.
Install Clone — During installation, the backup fails with the error "no drives included in the backup" if command-line tools are missing
During installation, when the backup is taken, it fails with the error "No drives included in the backup" unless both the Windows Backup Features and Command-line Tools are installed.
Workaround: Install both the Windows Backup Features and Command-line Tools and then attempt the backup again.
Install Clone — During installation on Windows Server 2008 SP2, the restore process may fail with the error "System writer is not found in the backup"
During installation, when the restore process runs, it may fail with the error "System writer is not found in the backup". This is caused by a problem with permissions on the %windir%\winsxs\filemaps folder contents.
Workaround: See Microsoft Knowledge Base article http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/windowsbackup/thread/b5236028-4bfe-400c-90e2-b6d40b08e776 to reset the permissions.
Install Clone — Installing vCenter Server Heartbeat in a P2V using the install clone technique with differing disk subsystems may cause the Operating System to fail.
During installation, with the Primary and Secondary servers having different disk subsystems, the operating system may fail when the restore process runs. This is caused when the restore process overwrites the registry settings for the disk subsystem type on the Secondary server with the values of the Primary server.
Workaround: Prior to performing the restore process, see VMware Knowledge Base article 1014436 (vCSHB-Ref-1819) to prevent this issue.
Upgrade of vCenter Server 2-5 to 4.0 — After switchover, managed ESX hosts enter a 'Not responding' state on vCenter Server 4.0 upgraded from vCenter Server 2.5 when vCenter Server Heartbeat is installed
During the upgrade procedure from vCenter Server 2.5 and its updates to vCenter Server 4.0, the vSphere Client Managed IP Address field was not cleared.
Workaround: Launch the vSphere Client and navigate to Administration > vCenter Server Settings > Runtime settings and clear the vCenter Server Managed IP field in the Managed IP Address pane and click OK. See VMware Knowledge Base article 1010483 (vCSHB-Ref-1765).

vCenter Server Heartbeat Administration

After a switchover, vCenter Service status displays an Alert with a red status
After a switchover, vCenter Service reports red for com.vmware.vcIntegrity and displays the alert message "Health data retrieved is invalid".
Workaround: Manually update vci-integrity.xml file with the correct IP address or Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN).
When deployed in a WAN configuration, after a switchover or failover, the Update Manager Server starts with a wrong IP address
This issue appears in WAN deployments, when the network identification of VMware Update Manager Server is configured using the vCenter Server Heartbeat Primary server's Principal (Public) IP address, rather than Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN). After a switchover or failover, the Principal (Public) IP address is changed to the Secondary server's while Update Manager Server remains configured with the Primary server's Principal (Public) IP address.
Workaround: Change the network address and then re-register Update Manager Server according to VMware Knowledge Base article 1013222.
DB Files Allocated Space check fails because of a missing performance object
The VMware SQL Server Plug-in does not evaluate performance counters on 32-bit versions of SQL Server installed on 64-bit Windows Operating Systems.
Workaround: To prevent alerts from being raised, disable the rule.
vCenter Server Heartbeat does not start on Secondary server with the following error message: "VMware vCenter Server Heartbeat failed to initialize: Failed to set packet filter loadstate".
This error may be accompanied by an IP conflict and can occur after a P2V Install Clone on Windows 2008 R2 if the packet driver fails to install because of a permissions error during driver installation.
Workaround: Manually install the packet filter on the Secondary server. See VMware Knowledge Base article 1009567 (vCSHB-Ref-353) for instructions on how to manually install the packet filter.
VCWanUtility may cause the CPU to spike to 50%-100% when executing vCenter health checks.
This is a know issue with .Net SOAP stack.
Workaround: To reduce the impact, using the vCenter Server Heartbeat Console, click Applications > Rules. Select the rule and click Edit to increase the default polling interval. Click OK.
VCWanUtility may fail to update ESX 3.5 hosts when these are managed by vCenter Server 4.0 and 4.1.
ESX hosts version 3.5 managed by a vCenter Server 4.0 or 4.1 may fail to successfully reconnect following a failover or switchover.
Workaround: Re-register the ESX 3.5 hosts against the vCenter Server.
VMware License Server service cannot be added to protected set if any of its dependencies are disabled on the passive server.
When running vCenter Server Heartbeat v4.x with License Server installed on Windows 2008, VMware recommends that the Computer Browser service be changed from Disabled to Manual.
vSphere Client left running on the passive server may cause a sweep sync during a switchover.
When the license server and vSphere Client are installed under C:\program files (x86)\vmware\ or C:\program files\vmware\ then the vSphere Client should not be left running on the passive server when performing a switchover.

vCenter Server Heartbeat Plug-ins

State of vSphere Client plug-in not replicated from active server to passive server
The enabled / disabled state of plug-ins in the vSphere Client are not replicated from the active server to the passive server.
Incorrect network configuration might cause vSphere Client Plug-in installation errors
Installing vCenter Plug-ins through the vSphere Client requires the vSphere Client to connect and download the plug-ins through the Principal (Public) IP address. The Principal (Public) network adapter must be first in the bind order. If vSphere Client is configured with any other IP address, then the installation will fail.

vCenter Server Heartbeat Uninstall/Modify

Cannot uninstall Client Tools using the desktop shortcut on Windows 7 if UAC is set to default.
Workaround: Right-click the Uninstall shortcut and select Run As Administrator.

Resolved Issues

This release includes fixes in the following subject areas:

vCenter Server Heartbeat Setup

vCenter Server Heartbeat installation stops when an Oracle service is detected.

vCenter Server Heartbeat Administration

UAC on Windows Vista blocks the user from adding server pairs.
The Message "Incompatible product: unable to connect to server" when vCenter Server Heartbeat is shutting down.
Uninstalling the 5.5.3086 Service Pack removes the R2\logs folder.
The Server Configuration wizard reports "License Key valid" when it has in fact expired 60 days after the installation date.
After a reboot of the active server, .Net components registering in WMI may cause a delay in the startup of vCenter Server.

vCenter Server Heartbeat Plug-ins

Configuring a plug-in user that has spaces in its name requires double quotes to work
Setup copies the vCenter Server, SQL Server and System Plug-ins to a location accessible from vCenter Server Heartbeat Console for use during the upgrade procedures.

vCenter Server Heartbeat Rules

Some vCenter Server Heartbeat server performance counters are missing when installed on Windows 2008 servers.

Sunday, September 11, 2011