Version 1.1.0

Tools for VMware ESXi to use in ESXi

The tools included in the VMtools suite are:

• ovf-export 1.1.0 - export/backup one or more virtual machines to OVF format
• ovf-deploy 1.1.0 - deploy/restore a virtual machine from OVF template
• rsync-static 3.1.3 - a pre-build static rsync version (see usage in https://rsync.samba.org/)

• Installation
• How to backup & restore
• License

1. Get the files on a Linux OS (eg. Ubuntu):

cd /tmp
git clone https://github.com/noelmartinon/vmtools
rm -rf /tmp/vmtools/.git

2. Copy the vmtools to ESXi (ssh must be enabled in ESXi):

scp -rp /tmp/vmtools root@ESXi_IP:/vmfs/volumes/datastore1/
# OR if rsync is installed in ESXi (see howto below):
# rsync -au /tmp/vmtools root@ESXi_IP:/vmfs/volumes/datastore1/

(ovftool-4.2.0 is included in vmtools)

VMware ovftool is free.

1. Download the Linux version to install in ESXi from VMware site. For ESXi 5.5 get the "VMware OVF Tool for Linux 64-bit" v4.2.0 VMware OVF Tool for Linux 64-bit otherwise you may have errors at runtime.
2. Install the file on a Linux OS (eg. Ubuntu):

sudo ./VMware-ovftool-4.2.0-5965791-lin.x86_64.bundle

3. Copy VMware ovftool to ESXi (ssh must be enabled in ESXi):

rsync -au /usr/lib/vmware-ovftool root@ESXi_IP:/vmfs/volumes/datastore1/vmtools/

4. In ESXi, change ovftool shebang from 'bash' to 'sh':

sed -i 's/bash/sh/' /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/vmtools/vmware-ovftool/ovftool

1. Get rsync

This command lines must be execute from a linux console and NOT in ESXi!

• From vmtools site:

  cd /tmp
  wget https://github.com/noelmartinon/vmtools/master/bin/rsync-static
  mv rsync-static rsync
  chmod 775 rsync
  scp -p rsync root@ESXi_IP:/usr/bin/
  

• From source (Centos 3.9 required):

  # In CentOS 3.9 (http://vault.centos.org/3.9/isos/i386/CentOS-3.9-server-i386.iso):
  sed -i "s/centos\.org/hmc\.edu/g" /etc/yum.conf
  rpm --import http://mirror.centos.org/centos/RPM-GPG-KEY-CentOS-3
  yum groupinstall "Development Tools"
  yum install gcc zlib-devel popt-devel glibc-static popt-static -y
  wget http://rsync.samba.org/ftp/rsync/rsync-3.1.3.tar.gz
  gunzip rsync-3.1.3.tar.gz
  tar -xvf rsync-3.1.3.tar
  cd rsync-3.1.3/
  sed -i "s/<zlib.h>/<zlib.h>\n\n#ifndef Z_INSERT_ONLY\n#define Z_INSERT_ONLY Z_SYNC_FLUSH\n#endif/g" token.c
  ./configure
  make CFLAGS="-static" EXEEXT="-static"
  strip rsync-static
  scp -p rsync-static root@ESXi_IP:/usr/bin/rsync
     
  # /!\ Trying under Debian and other CentOS build OK but got 'segmentation fault' in esxi 
  # sudo apt install libpopt-dev zlibc
  # cd /tmp
  # wget http://rsync.samba.org/ftp/rsync/rsync-3.1.3.tar.gz
  # tar -xvf rsync-3.1.3.tar.gz
  # cd rsync-3.1.3/
  # sed -i "s/<zlib.h>/<zlib.h>\n\n#ifndef Z_INSERT_ONLY\n#define Z_INSERT_ONLY Z_SYNC_FLUSH\n#endif/g" token.c
  # ./configure
  # make CFLAGS="-static" EXEEXT="-static"
  # strip rsync-static
  

2. Set cron for the next boot

The following commands must be run from ESXi shell.

Insert command lines in local.sh:

~ # vi /etc/rc.local.d/local.sh 
/bin/echo '0   23    *   *   6   [ $(date +\%d) -le 07 ] && /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/vmtools/jobs/job1 > /tmp/ovf-export.$$' >> /var/spool/cron/crontabs/root
/bin/kill $(cat /var/run/crond.pid)
/usr/lib/vmware/busybox/bin/busybox crond 

The tools use VMware OVF Tool to export and deploy virtual machines.

Features:

• Schedule an export for one are more VMs
• Restore a VM from backup OVF
• Email a report
• Test functionality with the --test-mode=true parameter

Advice: Set the path to a nfs datastore to have an separate storage

The following commands must be run from ESXi shell.

If --user parameter is undefined then it is set as root.

Important The process shutdown each VM before export and restart it if it was powered off

• Simple usage:

  /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/vmtools/ovf-export --password="pwdesxi" --backup-point="/path/to/backups_dir" --backup-vms=myvm_name
  

• Schedule a backup job:

  1 - Create a job file (see example in jobs/job_export_example)

  jobs/job1:

  #!/bin/sh
  
  "/vmfs/volumes/datastore1/vmtools/ovf-export" \
  --user="root" \
  --password="pwdesxi" \
  --smtp-srv="smtp.domain.tld" \
  --smtp-port=25 \
  --smtp-usr="[email protected]" \
  --smtp-pwd="smtppwd" \
  --mail-from="[email protected]" \
  --mail-to="[email protected]" \
  --subject="ESXi / Rapport de sauvegarde" \
  --backup-point="/vmfs/volumes/datastore_ext/BACKUPS" \
  --backup-vms="server1,server2
  

  2 - Add cron task:

  Example: for every first saturday of month at 11:00 PM

  Standard output is redirected to a temp file in /tmp

  /bin/echo '0   23    *   *   6   [ $(date +\%d) -le 07 ] && /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/vmtools/jobs/job1 > /tmp/ovf-export.$$' >> /var/spool/cron/crontabs/root
  /bin/kill $(cat /var/run/crond.pid)
  /usr/lib/vmware/busybox/bin/busybox crond
  

The following commands must be run from ESXi shell.

If --user parameter is undefined then it is set as root.

If --datastore parameter is undefined then it is set as datastore1.

Important The process do not powered on VM when it ended

• Create VM from OVF file (see example in jobs/job_deploy_example):

  Here the VM name is 'myvm' and the destination datastore is 'datastore1'

  "/vmfs/volumes/datastore1/vmtools/ovf-deploy" \
  --user="root" \
  --password="pwdesxi" \
  --datastore="datastore1" \
  --smtp-srv="smtp.domain.tld" \
  --smtp-port=25 \
  --smtp-usr="[email protected]" \
  --smtp-pwd="smtppwd" \
  --mail-from="[email protected]" \
  --mail-to="[email protected]" \
  --subject="ESXi / Rapport de sauvegarde" \
  --ovf-file="/vmfs/volumes/datastore_ext/BACKUPS/myvm/myvm.ovf" \
  --vm-name="myvm"
  

• GPL-2.0
• Copyright (C) 2018 Noël MARTINON