Administration Guide for Cisco Webex Meetings Server Release 3.0

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Book Title

Administration Guide for Cisco Webex Meetings Server Release 3.0

Chapter Title

Using VMware vSphere with Your System

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Updated:
May 25, 2021

Chapter: Using VMware vSphere with Your System

Using VMware vSphere with Your System

Using VMware vSphere

The virtual machines for your system are deployed with VMware vSphere. Cisco Webex Meetings Server must be installed on VMware virtual machines, subject to the following constraints:

  • Use VMware vSphere 5.5, 6.0, or 6.5.

    Earlier releases of vSphere are not supported.

  • Use VMware ESXi 5.5 or 6.0.

    Use of earlier ESXi releases results in confusing error messages about unsupported hardware that do not explicitly list the problem.

  • Verify that the DNS server configured with the ESXi host can resolve the hostnames of the virtual machines that are deployed on that ESXi host.

  • You must use VMware vCenter to manage the ESXi hosts on which the Cisco Webex Meetings Server system is deployed.

  • When powering down a virtual machine, always select Power > Shut Down Guest for each virtual machine. (Do not use the Power Off option.)


Important

VMWare Tools for CWMS is automatically installed during system deployment and should not be upgraded manually.

Note

For details on supported VMware configurations, see the Cisco Webex Meetings Server Planning Guide and System Requirements.

Configuring the ESXi Host to Use an NTP Server

Configure the ESXi host to use Network Time Protocol (NTP) for device clock synchronization and verify that the NTP servers are reachable. In a multi-data center environment, synchronization of the data center clocks is critical to maintaining the data sharing between data centers. For detailed instructions, see the VMware ESXi documentation.

Procedure

Step 1

Using the vSphere client, select the ESXi host in the inventory panel.

Step 2

Select Configuration > Time Configuration in the Software section.

Step 3

Select Properties.

Step 4

Select NTP Client Enabled.

Step 5

Select Options to configure the NTP server settings.

We recommend that you select Start and stop with host to reduce the possibility of the ESXi host time becoming incorrect.

Creating a Backup by Using VMware vCenter

Before you begin a system-altering procedure, we recommend that you create a backup of each virtual machine in your system. You can use vSphere Data Protection to create and manage your backups. For more information, see the documentation for your version of vSphere Data Protection.

You can also use a storage server to create backups. See Adding an NFS or SSH Storage Server.

For performance reasons, we recommend that you don't store your backups on any of the physical drives that contain your virtual machines.

Procedure

Step 1

Turn on Maintenance Mode. See Turning Maintenance Mode On or Off.

If the data center is part of a Multidata Center (MDC) system, in-progress meetings fail over to an active data center. The failover can cause a brief interruption in active meetings. See About Maintenance Mode for information. Turning on Maintenance Mode for all active data centers shuts down all conference functionality. No one can sign in to the Webex site, schedule meetings, join meetings, or play meeting recordings.

Step 2

Follow the instructions in your VMware vSphere documentation to create a backup of the system and each of your virtual machines.

Note 

We recommend that you delete backups after a system-altering procedure is complete, you have tested the system, and you are satisfied with the results. Restoring a data center from old backups or snapshots might cause unexpected behavior.

Taking a Snapshot by using VMware vCenter

You can use a virtual machine snapshot to quickly recover a virtual machine (VM) after a system-altering procedure. Snapshots are pictures of your system at a specific point in time; they are not the same as backups. If the original virtual machine disk file is lost, you cannot recover the virtual machine with the snapshot. Therefore, we recommend that in addition to taking snapshots, you also back up your system. You can use snapshots for updates, but we recommend that you delete all snapshots and back up the original system before performing an upgrade.

The system stores snapshots on the physical drives that contain your virtual machines. Delete old snapshots to prevent a known VM performance issue that causes degraded audio and video. For more information about this known issue with VMware snapshots, go to the VMware web site and read the white paper, Best Practices for Running VMware vSphere on Network Attached Storage. You can also search the VMware KnowledgeBase for snapshot impact performance for additional information.

We recommend that you keep snapshots no longer than 24 hours. If you want to keep them longer, we recommend that you create a backup instead.

Procedure

Step 1

Sign in to Webex Site Administration.

In a Multidata Center system, the DNS determines which data center Dashboard appears. Use this Dashboard to manage all the data centers in this system.

Step 2

Turn on Maintenance Mode. See Turning Maintenance Mode On or Off.

If the data center is part of a Multidata Center (MDC) system, in-progress meetings fail over to an active data center. The failover can cause a brief interruption in active meetings. See About Maintenance Mode for information. Turning on Maintenance Mode for all active data centers shuts down all conference functionality. No one can sign in to the Webex site, schedule meetings, join meetings, or play meeting recordings.

Step 3

On VMware vCenter, select Power > Shut Down Guest for each of the virtual machines.

Step 4

Select Snapshot > Take Snapshot for each virtual machine.

Step 5

Enter a name for the snapshot and select OK.

Label the snapshot for each virtual machine with the same prefix, for example, August 20, so you know that these snapshots were done at the same time.

Step 6

In the VMware vCenter, power the VMs back on.
Step 7

Turn off Maintenance Mode.

When you turn off Maintenance Mode, the system determines whether a restart or a reboot is required, and displays the appropriate message. A restart takes approximated 3 to 5 minutes and a reboot takes approximately 30 minutes. If the data center is part of a Multidata Center (MDC) system, you are redirected to the global admin URL. The DNS resolution policy determines which data center you see. If Key Regeneration is enabled, taking one data center out of Maintenance Mode automatically takes all data centers in the system out of Maintenance Mode.

See Turning Maintenance Mode On or Off.

Meeting service on the data center is restored.

What to do next

  • Test your system to confirm that it is successful.

  • If you must revert to the snapshots, ensure that the snapshot for each virtual machine was taken at the same time. Powering on a system with mismatched snapshots might result in database corruption.

Removing a Snapshot

Removal of snapshots while the system is active causes performance issues. We recommend that you schedule a maintenance windows and take the system offline before removing snapshots.

Procedure

Step 1

Sign in to Webex Site Administration.

In a Multidata Center system, the DNS determines which data center Dashboard appears. Use this Dashboard to manage all the data centers in this system.

Step 2

Turn on Maintenance Mode. See Turning Maintenance Mode On or Off.

Step 3

In the VMware vCenter, select VM > Power > Shut Down Guest on each of the virtual machines in the data center.

For complete details about using vSphere, see the VMware ESXi and vCenter Server documentation.

Step 4

To remove the snapshots for all the VMs, right-click VM > Snapshot > Snapshot Manager.

Step 5

Select the snapshot and select Delete.

Step 6

Select Yes to confirm this action.

Step 7

In the VMware vCenter, power the VMs back on.
Step 8

Turn off Maintenance Mode.

When you turn off Maintenance Mode, the system determines whether a restart or a reboot is required, and displays the appropriate message. A restart takes approximated 3 to 5 minutes and a reboot takes approximately 30 minutes. If the data center is part of a Multidata Center (MDC) system, you are redirected to the global admin URL. The DNS resolution policy determines which data center you see. If Key Regeneration is enabled, taking one data center out of Maintenance Mode automatically takes all data centers in the system out of Maintenance Mode.

See Turning Maintenance Mode On or Off.

Meeting service on the data center is restored.

Attaching an Existing VMDK File to a New Virtual Machine

How to attach a Virtual Machine Disk (VMDK) from an existing Administration virtual machine to a new Administration virtual machine by using VMware vCenter when you expand or upgrade your system. (The system data stored on Hard disk 4 of the Admin virtual machine is reused.)


Caution

Make a copy of the Hard disk 4 base VMDK file and copy that file to the virtual machine folder of the Admin virtual machine in the upgraded or expanded system. If you simply attach Hard disk 4, the data is still stored in the virtual machine folder of the old Admin virtual machine. If you accidentally delete the existing Admin virtual machine in the vCenter inventory, the current system loses access to Hard disk 4.

Be sure to copy the original base VMDK file for Hard disk 4, and not a snapshot of this VMDK file.

If you are using Direct-attached storage (DAS), migrate the VMDK to a logical unit number (LUN) where the new Admin virtual machine can access it.


Note

We refer to the Admin virtual machine before the system-altering procedure as the current Admin virtual machine. The Admin virtual machine following expansion or upgrade, is named the upgrade Admin virtual machine.

Procedure

Step 1

Navigate the inventory in VMware vCenter and find the current Admin virtual machine for your system.

Step 2

Right-click the virtual machine name and select Edit Settings....

The Virtual Machine Properties window is displayed.

Step 3

Select the Hardware tab, then select Hard disk 4.

Step 4

For future reference, copy and paste into another document, the Disk File location.

This specifies the location of the VMDK in VMware vCenter.

The string is similar to [EMC-LUN10-RAID5] webex-sysA-admin/webex-sysA-admin_3.vmdk. If you have previously upgraded your system, the filename does not follow the naming convention of the existing virtual machine.

Step 5

Write down the storage location for Hard disk 4 and the virtual machine folder name.

The folder name string is similar to [EMC-LUN8-RAID5] webex-sysB-admin.

Step 6

Close the Edit Settings... window without making any changes.

Step 7

Change the vCenter view into the Datastore and Datastore Cluster view. Select View > Inventory > Datastores and Datastore Clusters.

Step 8

Select the storage location where the current Admin virtual machine is located (from Step 5) and select Browse this datastore.

Step 9

Select the storage location where your upgraded (for the expanded or upgraded system) Admin virtual machine is located and select Browse this datastore.

Step 10

Arrange the two datastore browser windows (for the current and expanded or upgraded Admin virtual machine) side-by-side so that you can see both Admin virtual machine folders.

Step 11

Open both virtual machine folders and copy the VMDK from the current Admin virtual machine folder to the updated Admin virtual machine folder.

  1. In the current Admin virtual machine folder, locate the VMDK that is associated with Hard disk 4. Refer to the file location you wrote down in Step 4 to confirm accuracy.

  2. Right-click on the file and select Copy.

  3. Right-click inside the upgraded Admin virtual machine folder and select Paste. When the paste operation is completed, close both datastore windows.

  4. Return the vCenter view to a list of hosts and clusters by selecting View > Inventory > Hosts and Clusters.

Step 12

Navigate the inventory in VMware vCenter and find the expanded or upgraded Admin virtual machine for your system.

Step 13

Right-click the expanded or updated virtual machine name and select Edit Settings....

The Virtual Machine Properties window is displayed.

Step 14

Select the Hardware tab, then select Hard disk 4.

Step 15

Select Remove.

This action does not remove the virtual disk immediately. Instead, the existing virtual disk is scheduled for removal.

Step 16

Select Add.

The Add Hardware wizard is displayed.

Step 17

Select Hard Disk, then Next.

Step 18

Select Use an existing virtual disk, then Next.

Step 19

Select Browse, and navigate to the datastore where the expanded or upgraded Admin virtual machine is located. Navigate to the new Admin virtual machine folder. Double-click this folder, then select the virtual disk you copied over in Step 11. Select OK.

Step 20

In the Virtual Device Node drop-down list select SCSI (0:3), then select Next.

Step 21

Review your changes and if they are correct, select Finish. Otherwise, select Back and fix any errors.

Once the wizard is complete, a new disk marked for addition in the Hardware tab is shown.

Step 22

Commit both the Add and Remove operations by selecting OK.

Step 23

View this virtual machine reconfiguration task in the VMware vCenter Recent Tasks pane to ensure that there are no errors.

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