ESXi + KVM-over-IP

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I have a server running ESXi and a KVM-over-IP switch. I know traditionally SSH/RDP/VNC are used to access the virtual machines running on the ESXi server. However, I was wondering if it is possible to use the KVM-over-IP switch to access the different virtual machines running on the ESXi server? I have very minimal KVM-over-IP experience so I don't even know where to begin looking.

If it makes a difference, the KVM-over-IP switch is a Dominion KX II.

Best Answer

No, you can't access VMs directly from the ESXi console. You can get the web address of its web client, which is how you'll need to manage your virtual machines, if you don't already have a vSphere client installed on your computer.

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ESXi Serial licensing dongle

Yes you are wrong, ESX (regular, NOT 'i' version, both in 3.5 and 4) supports locally attached serial devices - even on the free version. Here's how you do it;

Connect the dongle to the ESX server's serial port
Start VIClient and log into the ESX host
Right mouse-click on the NON-RUNNING VM in question
Select 'Edit Settings'
Click 'Add...'
Select 'Serial Port' and 'Next >'
Choose 'Use Physical serial port on the host' and 'Next >'
Choose correct 'Port' (usually /dev/ttyS0', leave 'Connect at power on' and 'Yield CPU on poll' both checked, select 'Next >' then select 'Finish' and 'OK'
Once the 'Reconfigure Virtual Machine' task is complete simply restart the VM and test.

The only downside to this is that you won't be able to VMotion the VM from host to host while serially connected.

How to Backup Virtual Machines on a Standalone ESXi Host

My preferred solution for this is to simply export them to an ovf or ova file using either the vSphere client or the command line ovftool.

In the vSphere Client, make sure the VM is off, then highlight it and go to File->Export->Export OVF Template. Then just follow the prompts.

Restoring is a piece of cake, just do the reverse (the menu option is "Deploy OVF template", I think).

To create a thin backup using ovftool

ovftool -dm=thin  vi://<user>@<esxi-host>/<vm-name> <local-file>.ovf

You may also wish to check out some of the options at http://www.virtuallyghetto.com/, I know these are very popular and I think there are some good choices for backups, although I haven't looked at any of them too recently.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

ESXi Serial licensing dongle

How to Backup Virtual Machines on a Standalone ESXi Host

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