Tito's Blog

Using the default Ubuntu Terminal Server Client to access a single application via RDP. This is perfect for using the vSphere Client or VIC on Linux. It does not require a “published application” or full Terminal Server, but instead it is a simple way to take advantage of the administrative RDP connection from the standard Remote Desktop access available on any Windows operating system.

the default Terminal Server Client which is now under Applications > Internet in Ubuntu.

The General Tab should be very familiar to anyone connecting remotely to Windows servers

I choose to use a specified screen size for each session, but experiment with the settings on the Display tab to achieve what works best for you

The Local Resources Tab is key. For convenience be sure to allow access to your local Ubuntu drive(s).

The Programs tab is where the session to a single Application is configured. By default the vSphere client is installed at:
“c:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\VpxClient.exe”. This varies depending on 32bit versus 64 bit OS, but once you have the correct path enter it here.

Save the RDP configuration with the Save As button for repeated use.

Here’s a sreen shot of the vSphere Client open on 32 bit Ubuntu 9.04.

- Perform advanced multi-pathing configuration
– Configure multi-pathing policy
— Configure round-robin behavior using command-line tools

After logging into the host via SSH, and getting to root, this can be done with the “esxcfg-mpath” command. Let’s take a look at this command:

[root@vmhost root]# esxcfg-mpath
esxcfg-mpath <options> [--lun=<LUN>] [--path=<path>]
-l|–list                     List all LUNs and their paths.
-p|–policy <type>            Set the policy for a specific LUN.  Requires
a –lun flag.  Type must be one of mru, rr, fixed or custom.
-H|–custom-hba-policy        Set the custom HBA policy value.  Must be one of
mru, preferred, any, minq.
-T|–custom-target-policy     Set the custom target policy value. Must be one of
mru, preferred, any
-C|–custom-max-commands      Set the custom policy value for max commands
-B|–custom-max-blocks        Set the custom policy value for max blocks
-s|–state <on|off>           Set the state for a specific LUN Path.  Requires
both –lun and –path flags.
-f|–preferred                Set the given path to be preferred for the
given LUN.  Requires both –path and –lun flags.
-q|–query                    Query the information on a specific LUN.
Requires a –lun flag.
-P|–path=vmhbaX:X:X          Used to specify a path for setting the
path state or preferred path.  Uses the
VMkernel internal path name.
-L|–lun=vmhbaX:X:X           Indicate which LUN to operate on.  This can be
either the internal VMkernel vmhba name for
this LUN (vmhbaX:X:X) or the vml name as
found in /vmfs/devices/disks.
-v|–verbose                  Show all information about the LUNs and
paths, otherwise a minimal set of data
is displayed to conserve space.
-b|–bulk                     Bulk path listing suitable for parsing.
-a|–hbas                     List HBAs on the system with a unique ID
if one is available.
-h|–help                     Show this message.
-r|–restore                  Restore path setting to configured values
on system start. (INTERNAL USE ONLY)

Quite the command, isn’t it? And that is but half the output. The particular switches we are interested in are –p or –policy to which we’ll feed the “rr” or round robin switch. We’ll follow that up with the –L or –lun to specify which lun we’re operating on. Here’s an example:

[root@vmhost root]# esxcfg-vmhbadevs
vmhba0:0:0     /dev/sda
[root@vmhost root]# esxcfg-mpath –policy=rr –lun=vmhba0:0:0
Setting vmhba0:0:0 policy to rr

Configure an NFS Datastore using command line tools.

[root@vmhost root]# esxcfg-nas
esxcfg-nas <options> [<label>]
-a|–add                Add a new NASc filesystem to /vmfs volumes.
Requires –host and –share options.
Use –readonly option only for readonly access.
-o|–host <host>        Set the host name or ip address for a NAS mount.
-s|–share <share>      Set the name of the NAS share on the remote system.
-y|–readonly           Add the new NAS filesystem with readonly access.
-d|–delete             Unmount and delete a filesystem.
-l|–list               List the currently mounted NAS file systems.
-r|–restore            Restore all NAS mounts from the configuration file.
(FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY).
-h|–help               Show this message.

More specifically:

[root@vmhost root]# esxcfg-nas –add –host 192.168.15.252 –share /storage/iso ISO
Connecting to NAS volume: ISO
ISO created and connected.

Result:

[root@vhost root]# esxcfg-nas –list
ISO is /storage/iso from 192.168.15.252 mounted