Retired Certification Exams

Here you can check for the Cisco retired exams.


http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/exams/retired.html

Cisco IP Phone 8811_8841_8851_8861 Administration

Basic Reset

Performing a basic reset of a Cisco IP Phone provides a way to recover if the phone experiences an error and provides a way to reset or restore various configuration and security settings.

The following table describes the ways to perform a basic reset. You can reset a phone with any of these operations after the phone has started up. Choose the operation that is appropriate for your situation.

Table 1 Basic Reset Methods

Operation	Action	Explanation
Restart phone	Press Services, Applications, or Directoriesand then press **#**.	Resets any user and network setup changes that you have made, but that the phone has not written to its Flash memory, to previously saved settings, then restarts the phone.
Reset settings	To reset settings, press Applications and choose Administrator Settings > Reset Settings > Network.	Resets user and network setup settings to their default values, and restarts the phone.
	To reset the CTL file, press Applications and choose Administrator Settings > Reset Settings > Security.	Resets the CTL file.

Perform Factory Reset from Phone Keypad

Use these steps to reset the phone to factory default settings using the phone keypad.

Procedure

---

Step 1	Unplug the phone: If using PoE, unplug the LAN cable. If using the power cube, unplug the power cube.
Step 2	Wait 5 seconds.
Step 3	Press and hold # and plug the phone back in.
Step 4	When the light on the Mute button turns off, press 123456789*0# in sequence. After you press these buttons, the phone goes through the factory reset process. Caution    Do not power down the phone until it completes the factory reset process, and the main screen appears.

mRemoteNG Serial Connection

mRemoteNG Serial Connection

Its is impossible to simply create a serial connection on mRemoteNG ( a least at 1.67 version) so there is a tip to do that.

1 Using Putty Session

- Download putty.exe and copy it so somewhere ( example to "C:\1")
- Open putty.exe, create Serial Connection, and save it.Dont forget to choose baud rate ( example "COM_9600")
- Open mRemoteNG go to external tools (Tools-External Tools), create new external tool ( example "PTTY_9600")
- At the filename write path+filename ( example "C:\1\putty.exe")
- At the argumets write putty.exe -load "CONNECTION_NAME) ( example "putty.exe -load "COM_9600")
- Choose "Try to integrate" Option
- Create new connection and in the protocol filed choose "Ext. App" then External tool "PTTY_9600" ( external tool name)

2 - Using TeraTerm
- install teratem ( i use v 4.70)
- Create external tool, name it ( example TTRM_9600)
- At the filename write path+filename ( example "C:\Program Files\teraterm\ttermpro.exe")
-  At the argumets write "ttermpro.exe /BAUD=9600 /C=1"
   (/BAUD is baud rate and /C is COM port number)
- Choose "Try to integrate" Option
- Create new connection and in the protocol filed choose "Ext. App" then External tool "TTRM_9600" ( external tool name)

Enjoy!

mRemoteNG FileZilla SFTP

How to integrate FileZilla SFTP support in mRemoteNG.
First open up mRemoteNG then press “tools” and then “External Tools”


Right click and select “New External Tool”


In the External Tools Properties tab, enter the following:
Filename: C:\Program Files (x86)\FileZilla FTP Client\filezilla.exe
Arguments: sftp://%Username%:%Password%@%Hostname%:%port%


After that you should be all set, just right click the connection you want to connect via STFP and FileZilla should automatically open.

Windows 8.1/Windows Server 2012R2 virtual machines fail with a blue screen and report the error: CRITICAL_STRUCTURE_CORRUPTION (2060019)

Applied workaround and confirmed working!


http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2060019

Windows 8.1/Windows Server 2012R2 virtual machines fail with a blue screen and report the error: CRITICAL_STRUCTURE_CORRUPTION (2060019)

Symptoms

• Windows 8.1/Windows Server 2012R2 virtual machines fail with a blue screen.
• You see the error:
  
  CRITICAL_STRUCTURE_CORRUPTION
  
  STOP: 0x00000109
  
  
• In the Windows Event Viewer, you may see an entry similar to:
  
  Log Name: System
  Source: Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Power
  Event ID: 41
  Level: Critical

Resolution

This issue is resolved in vSphere 5.0 Update 3:

• ESXi 5.0 Update 3.  For more information, see VMware ESXi 5.0 Update 3 Release Notes.  Download the latest version available at VMware Downloads.
• vCenter Server 5.0 Update 3. For more information, see VMware vCenter Server 5.0 Update 3 Release Notes. Download the latest version available at VMware Downloads.

To work around this issue, manually create a CPUID mask for the affected virtual machines:

To manually create a CPUID mask for the affected virtual machines:

1. Power down the virtual machine.
2. Right-click the virtual machine and click Edit Settings.
3. Click the Options tab.
4. Select CPUID Mask under Advanced.
5. Click Advanced.
   • For Intel:
     
     
     1. Under the Register column, locate the edx register under Level 80000001.
     2. Paste this into the value field:
        
        ----:0---:----:----:----:----:----:----
        
        For example, cpuid.80000001.edx = ----:0---:----:----:----:----:----:----
     
     
   • For AMD:
     
     
     1. Select the AMD Override tab.
     2. Change cpuid.80000001.edx.amd = -----------H-------------------- to
        cpuid.80000001.edx.amd = ----0---------------------------
6. Click OK to close the virtual machine properties.

VMware ESXi Release and Build Number History

http://www.virten.net/vmware/esxi-release-build-number-history/#esxi5.0

VMware ESXi Release and Build Number History

The following listings are a comprehensive collection of the flagship hypervisor product by VMware. All bold versions are downloadable releases. All patches have been named by their release names. Please note that the ESXi hypervisor was first available with version 3.5.
[Last Update: April 9, 2015] –

• vSphere ESXi 6.0
• vSphere ESXi 5.5
• vSphere ESXi 5.1
• vSphere ESXi 5.0
• vSphere ESXi 4.1
• vSphere ESXi 4.0
• ESXi 3.5
• VMware ESX History Diagram
• Download PDF Version

vSphere ESXi 6.0

Name	Version	Release	Build
ESXi600-201504001		2015-04-09	2615704
VMware ESXi 6.0	ESXi 6.0 GA	2015-03-12	2494585

vSphere ESXi 5.5

Name	Version	Release	Build
ESXi550-201504001		2015-04-07	2638301
ESXi550-201502001	ESXi 5.5 Express Patch 6	2015-02-05	2456374
ESXi550-201501001	ESXi 5.5 Patch 4	2015-01-27	2403361
ESXi550-201412001	ESXi 5.5 Express Patch 5	2014-12-02	2302651
ESXi550-201410001	ESXi 5.5 Patch 3	2014-10-15	2143827
VMware ESXi 5.5 Update 2	ESXi 5.5 Update 2	2014-09-09	2068190
ESXi550-201407001	ESXi 5.5 Patch 2	2014-07-01	1892794
ESXi550-201406001	ESXi 5.5 Express Patch 4	2014-06-10	1881737
ESXi550-201404020	ESXi 5.5 Express Patch 3	2014-04-19	1746974
ESXi550-201404001	ESXi 5.5 Update 1a	2014-04-19	1746018
VMware ESXi 5.5.1 Driver Rollup		2014-03-11	1636597
VMware ESXi 5.5 Update 1	ESXi 5.5 Update 1	2014-03-11	1623387
ESXi550-201312001	ESXi 5.5 Patch 1	2013-12-22	1474528
vSAN Beta Refresh		2013-11-25	1439689
VMware ESXi 5.5	ESXi 5.5 GA	2013-09-22	1331820

vSphere ESXi 5.1

Name	Version	Release	Build
ESXi510-201503001	5.1.0 Patch 7	2015-03-26	2583090
VMware ESXi 5.1 Update 3	5.1.0 U3	2014-12-04	2323236
ESXi510-201410001	5.1.0 Patch 6	2014-10-31	2191751
ESXi510-201407001	5.1.0 Patch 5	2014-07-31	2000251
ESXi510-201406001	5.1.0 Express Patch 5	2014-06-17	1900470
ESXi510-201404001	5.1.0 Patch 4	2014-04-29	1743533
ESXi510-201402001	5.1.0 Express Patch 4	2014-02-27	1612806
VMware ESXi 5.1 Update 2	5.1.0 U2	2014-01-16	1483097
ESXi510-201310001	5.1.0 Patch 3	2013-10-17	1312873
ESXi510-201307001	5.1.0 Patch 2	2013-07-25	1157734
ESXi510-201305001	5.1.0 Express Patch 3	2013-05-22	1117900
VMware ESXi 5.1 Update 1	5.1.0 U1	2013-04-25	1065491
ESXi510-201303001	5.1.0 Express Patch 2	2013-03-07	1021289
ESXi510-201212001	5.1.0 Patch 1	2012-12-20	914609
ESXi510-201210001	5.1.0a	2012-10-24	838463
KB2034796	5.1.0	Hot-Patch	837262
VMware ESXi 5.1	5.1.0 GA	2012-09-11	799733

vSphere ESXi 5.0

Name	Version	Release	Build
ESXi500-201502001		2015-02-26	2509828
ESXi500-201412001	5.0.0 Patch 10	2014-12-04	2312428
ESXi500-201408001	5.0.0 Patch 9	2014-08-28	2000308
ESXi500-201407001	5.0.0 Express Patch 6	2014-07-01	1918656
ESXi500-201405001	5.0.0 Patch 8	2014-05-29	1851670
ESXi500-201401001	5.0.0 Patch 7	2014-01-23	1489271
VMware ESXi 5.0 Update 3	5.0.0 U3	2013-10-17	1311175
ESXi500-201308001	5.0.0 Patch 6	2013-08-29	1254542
ESXi500-201305001	5.0.0 Express Patch 5	2013-05-15	1117897
ESXi500-201303001	5.0.0 Patch 5	2013-03-28	1024429
VMware ESXi 5.0 Update 2	5.0.0 U2	2012-12-20	914586
ESXi500-201209001	5.0.0 Patch 4	2012-09-27	821926
ESXi500-201207001	5.0.0 Patch 3	2012-07-12	768111
ESXi500-201206001	5.0.0 Express Patch 4	2012-06-14	721882
ESXi500-201205001	5.0.0 Express Patch 3	2012-05-03	702118
ESXi500-201204001	5.0.0 Express Patch 2	2012-04-12	653509
VMware ESXi 5.0 Update 1	5.0.0 U1	2012-03-15	623860
ESXi500-201112001	5.0.0 Patch 2	2011-12-15	515841
ESXi500-201111001	5.0.0 Express Patch 1	2011-11-03	504890
ESXi500-201109001	5.0.0 Patch 1	2011-09-13	474610
VMware ESXi 5.0	5.0.0	2011-08-24	469512

vSphere ESXi 4.1

Name	Version	Release	Build
ESXi410-201404001	4.1.0 Patch 11	2014-04-10	1682698
ESXi410-201312001	4.1.0 Patch 10	2013-12-05	1363503
ESXi410-201307001	4.1.0 Patch 9	2013-07-31	1198252
ESXi410-201304001	4.1.0 Patch 8	2013-04-30	1050704
ESXi410-201301001	4.1.0 Patch 7	2013-01-31	988178
ESXi410-201211001	4.1.0 Patch 6	2012-11-15	874690
VMware ESXi 4.1 Update 3	4.1.0 U3	2012-08-30	800380
ESXi410-201206001	4.1.0 Express Patch 3	2012-06-14	721871
ESXi410-201205001	4.1.0 Express Patch 2	2012-05-03	702113
ESXi410-201204001	4.1.0 Patch 5	2012-04-26	659051
ESXi410-201201001	4.1.0 Patch 4	2012-01-30	582267
VMware ESXi 4.1 Update 2	4.1.0 U2	2011-10-27	502767
ESXi410-201107001	4.1.0 Patch 3	2011-07-28	433742
ESXi410-201104001	4.1.0 Patch 2	2011-04-28	381591
VMware ESXi 4.1 Update 1	4.1.0 U1	2011-02-10	348481
ESXi410-201011001	4.1.0 Express Patch 1	2010-11-29	320137
ESXi410-201010001	4.1.0 Patch 1	2010-11-15	320092
VMware ESXi 4.1	4.1.0	2010-07-13	260247

vSphere ESXi 4.0

Name	Version	Release	Build
ESXi400-201404001	4.0.0 Patch 20	2014-04-10	1682696
ESXi400-201310001	4.0.0 Patch 19	2013-10-24	1335992
ESXi400-201305001	4.0.0 Patch 18	2013-05-30	1070634
ESXi400-201302001	4.0.0 Patch 17	2013-02-07	989856
ESXi400-201209001	4.0.0 Patch 16	2012-09-14	787047
ESXi400-201206001	4.0.0 Patch 15	2012-06-12	721907
ESXi400-201205001	4.0.0 Patch 14	2012-05-03	702116
ESXi400-201203001	4.0.0 Patch 13	2012-03-30	660575
VMware ESXi 4.0 Update 4	4.0.0 U4	2011-11-17	504850
ESXi400-201110001	4.0.0 Patch 12	2011-10-13	480973
VMware ESXi 4.0 Update 3	4.0.0 U3	2011-05-05	398348
ESXi400-201104001	4.0.0 Patch 11	2011-04-28	392990
ESXi400-201103001	4.0.0 Patch 10	2011-03-07	360236
ESXi400-201101001	4.0.0 Patch 9	2011-01-04	332073
ESXi400-201009001	4.0.0 Patch 8	2010-09-30	294855
VMware ESXi 4 Update 2	4.0.0 U2	2010-06-10	261974
ESXi400-201005001	4.0.0 Patch 7	2010-05-27	256968
ESXi400-201003001	4.0.0 Patch 6	2010-04-01	244038
ESXi400-201002001	4.0.0 Patch 5	2010-03-03	236512
ESXi400-200912001	4.0.0 Patch 4	2010-01-05	219382
VMware ESXi 4 Update 1	4.0.0 U1	2009-11-19	208167
ESXi400-200909001	4.0.0 Patch 3	2009-09-24	193498
ESXi400-200907001	4.0.0 Patch 2	2009-08-06	181792
ESXi400-200906001	4.0.0 Patch 1	2009-07-09	175625
VMware ESXi 4	4.0.0	2009-05-21	164009

ESXi 3.5

Name	Version	Release	Build
ESXe350-201302401-O-SG	3.5 Patch 27	2013-2-21	988599
ESXe350-201206401-O-SG	3.5 Patch 26	2012-06-14	725354
ESXe350-201205401-O-SG	3.5 Patch 25	2012-05-03	702112
ESXe350-201203401-O-SG	3.5 Patch 24	2012-03-09	604481
VMware ESXi 3.5 June 2011 Rollup	3.5 June 2011 Rollup	2011-06-30	391406
ESXe350-201105401-O-SG	3.5 Patch 23	2011-06-02	391406
ESXe350-201012401-O-BG	3.5 Patch 22	2010-12-07	317866
ESXe350-201008401-O-SG	3.5 Patch 21	2010-09-01	283373
ESXe350-201006401-O-SG	3.5 Patch 20	2010-06-24	259926
ESXe350-201003401-O-BG	3.5 Patch 19	2010-03-29	238493
ESXe350-201002401-O-SG	3.5 Patch 18	2010-02-16	226117
ESXe350-200912401-O-BG	3.5 Patch 17	2009-12-29	213532
VMware ESXi 3.5 Update 5	3.5 U5	2009-12-03	207095
ESXe350-200910401-I-SG	3.5 Patch 16	2009-10-16	199239
ESXe350-200908401-I-BG	3.5 Patch 15	2009-08-31	184236
ESXe350-200907401-I-BG	3.5 Patch 14	2009-07-30	176894
ESXe350-200906401-I-BG	3.5 Patch 13	2009-06-30	169697
ESXe350-200905401-I-BG	3.5 Patch 12	2009-05-28	163429
ESXe350-200904401-I-SG	3.5 Patch 11	2009-04-29	158874
VMware ESXi 3.5 Update 4	3.5 U4	2009-03-30	153875
ESXe350-200903411-I-BG	3.5 Patch 10	2009-03-20	153480
ESXe350-200901401-I-SG	3.5 Patch 9	2009-01-30	143129
ESXe350-200811401-I-SG	3.5 Patch 8	2008-12-02	130755
VMware ESXi 3.5 Update 3	3.5 U3	2008-11-06	123629
ESXe350-200809401-I-SG	3.5 Patch 7	2008-10-03	120505
ESXe350-200808501-I-SG	3.5 Patch 6	2008-09-18	113338
VMware ESXi 3.5 Update 2 (reissued)	3.5 U2	2008-08-13	110271
ESXe350-200807812-I-BG	3.5 Patch 5	2008-08-12	110180
VMware ESXi 3.5 Update 2 (timebombed)	3.5 U2	2008-07-25	103909
ESXe350-200805501-I-SG	3.5 Patch 4	2008-06-03	94430
ESXe350-200804401-O-BG	3.5 Patch 3	2008-04-30	85332
VMware ESXi 3.5 Update 1	3.5 U1	2008-04-10	82664
ESXe350-200802401-I-BG	3.5 Patch 2	2008-03-10	76563
ESXe350-200712401-O-BG	3.5 Patch 1	2008-01-17
VMware ESXi 3.5 Initial Release	3.5	2008-01-10	70348
VMware ESXi 3.5 First Public Release	3.5	2007-12-31	67921

VMware ESX History Diagram

Please note that this is not an official list by VMware. All informations are based on VMware documentation. Some informations or versions are not consistent.

Manually Download VMware Tools ISO Image

This post is to share the information about How to manually download the VMware tools for various Operation system based on VMware vSphere versions. VMware tools varies for each and every operating system. When we try to install or Upgrade VMware tools using vSphere client, It will automatically mount the associated VMware tools ISO into virtual CD ROM drive of your virtual machine based on the Guest Operating system of the virtual machine. If in case you face any problem with mounting VMware tools ISO image to the virtual machine using vSphere client, you can manually download the VMware tools from the VMware website and install it manually.

You can even download the complete list of VMware tools available for various operating systems and place it in your organization repository to be used by administrators. It will make your job easy. VMware tools helps to optimize the performance of your virtual machine using ESX/ESXi  hypervisor resource management mechanisms.

Download VMware Tools From VMware Webiste

Using the above link you can Select the version of vSphere to download the VMware tools. I have Selected ESXi 5.1 U1 

After selecting the ESX/ESXi version, It will allow us to select the Operating system to download the respective VMware tools version

I have selected Windows in the above section and intern it will ask you to select either 32 bit or 64 bit of VMware tools version for the windows operating system.

Choose either X64 or X86 based on your operating system of the Virtual Machine. It will allow  you to download VMware tools .exe file and also VMware tools ISO image.

Thats it. You are done with the manual download of VMware tools for your guest operating system. I hope this post is informative for you. Thanks for Reading !!!

High Disk Space is being consumed by C:\Program Files\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager\data\outbox\Importpackage

. Delete all files from %installlocation%\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager\data\outbox\ImportPackage folder. (without stopping any services)
2. Delete everything older than today's date in %installlocation%\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager\Inetpub\content (also without stopping any services)
3. In the Symantec Admin Console go to Admin > Servers > localhost. Right-click localhost and truncate the transaction logs.


Symantec has released new version of Symantec Endpoint Protection. English versions of Symantec Endpoint Protection 12.1.5337.5000 (RU5) is now available.
It has new content storage optimization feature:
As part of the upgrade to SEPM 12.1 RU5, the SEPM converts all of the content from full definitions to delta definitions. This process is resource intensive and may take an extended period of time. After this process is completed, the SEPM will use significantly less disk space.
In a typical enterprise setup where 30 content revisions stored, the SEPM upgrade process must reduce 55GB of full content to under 2GB of delta content. This process requires significant resources to complete and is impacted by the performance of any available CPUs, CPU cores (physical/logical/hyperthreading), memory, and disks (I/O). On a server that performs multiple roles, stores larger numbers of content, or is otherwise resource constrained, this process may take a longer duration to complete.
Refer this article to find more info: The LiveUpdate content optimization and content storage space optimization steps take a long time to complete when upgrading to Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager 12.1 RU5
http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH224055

vCenter Server Appliance: Troubleshooting full database partition

 http://www.vcloudnine.de/vcenter-server-appliance-troubleshooting-full-database-partition/

A customer of mine had within 6 months twice a full database partition on a VMware vCenter Server Appliance. After the first outage, the customer increased the size of the partition which is mounted to /storage/db. Some months later, some days ago, the vCSA became unresponsive again. Again because of a filled up database partition. The customer increased the size of the database partition again  (~ 200 GB!!) and today I had time to take a look at this nasty vCSA.

The situation

Within 2 days, the storage usage of the databse increased from 75% to 77%. First, I checked the size of the database:

vcsa:/opt/vmware/vpostgres/current/bin # /opt/vmware/vpostgres/current/bin/psql -h localhost -U vc VCDB psql.bin (9.0.17) Type "help" for help. VCDB=> SELECT pg_database.datname, pg_size_pretty(pg_database_size(pg_database.datname)) AS size FROM pg_database; datname | size -----------+--------- template1 | 5353 kB template0 | 5345 kB postgres | 5449 kB VCDB | 2007 MB (4 rows) VCDB=>

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

vcsa:/opt/vmware/vpostgres/current/bin # /opt/vmware/vpostgres/current/bin/psql -h localhost -U vc VCDB psql.bin (9.0.17) Type "help" for help.   VCDB=> SELECT pg_database.datname, pg_size_pretty(pg_database_size(pg_database.datname)) AS size FROM pg_database;   datname  |  size -----------+--------- template1 | 5353 kB template0 | 5345 kB postgres  | 5449 kB VCDB      | 2007 MB (4 rows)   VCDB=>

 As you can see, the database had only 2 GB. The pg_log directory was more interesting:

vcsa:/storage/db/vpostgres # du -shc /storage/db/vpostgres/* 4.0K /storage/db/vpostgres/PG_VERSION 2.0G /storage/db/vpostgres/base 704K /storage/db/vpostgres/global 47M /storage/db/vpostgres/pg_clog 4.0K /storage/db/vpostgres/pg_hba.conf 4.0K /storage/db/vpostgres/pg_ident.conf <strong>141G /storage/db/vpostgres/pg_log</strong> 252K /storage/db/vpostgres/pg_multixact 12K /storage/db/vpostgres/pg_notify 324K /storage/db/vpostgres/pg_stat_tmp 20K /storage/db/vpostgres/pg_subtrans 4.0K /storage/db/vpostgres/pg_tblspc 4.0K /storage/db/vpostgres/pg_twophase 81M /storage/db/vpostgres/pg_xlog 20K /storage/db/vpostgres/postgresql.conf 4.0K /storage/db/vpostgres/postmaster.opts 4.0K /storage/db/vpostgres/postmaster.pid 0 /storage/db/vpostgres/serverlog 143G total

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

vcsa:/storage/db/vpostgres # du -shc /storage/db/vpostgres/* 4.0K    /storage/db/vpostgres/PG_VERSION 2.0G    /storage/db/vpostgres/base 704K    /storage/db/vpostgres/global 47M     /storage/db/vpostgres/pg_clog 4.0K    /storage/db/vpostgres/pg_hba.conf 4.0K    /storage/db/vpostgres/pg_ident.conf <strong>141G    /storage/db/vpostgres/pg_log</strong> 252K    /storage/db/vpostgres/pg_multixact 12K     /storage/db/vpostgres/pg_notify 324K    /storage/db/vpostgres/pg_stat_tmp 20K     /storage/db/vpostgres/pg_subtrans 4.0K    /storage/db/vpostgres/pg_tblspc 4.0K    /storage/db/vpostgres/pg_twophase 81M     /storage/db/vpostgres/pg_xlog 20K     /storage/db/vpostgres/postgresql.conf 4.0K    /storage/db/vpostgres/postmaster.opts 4.0K    /storage/db/vpostgres/postmaster.pid 0       /storage/db/vpostgres/serverlog 143G    total

 The directory was full with log files. The log files containted only one message:

vcsa:/storage/db/vpostgres/pg_log # more postgresql-2015-03-04_090525.log 123462 tm:2015-03-04 09:05:25.488 UTC db:VCDB pid:1527 WARNING: there is already a transaction in progress

1 2	vcsa:/storage/db/vpostgres/pg_log # more postgresql-2015-03-04_090525.log 123462 tm:2015-03-04 09:05:25.488 UTC db:VCDB pid:1527 WARNING:  there is already a transaction in progress

The solution

This led me to VMware KB2092127 (After upgrading to vCenter Server Appliance 5.5 Update 2, pg_log file reports this error: WARNING: there is already a transaction in progress). And yes, this appliance was upgraded to U2 with high probability. The solution is described in KB2092127, and is really easy to implement. Please note that this is only a workaround. There’s currently no solution, as mentioned in the article.

How to connect/interact with VCVA DB (DB2 and vPostgres)

If you need to connect/interact with the VC appliance database, for example to remove the locks of DB2 or performing an script, you can do the following after being logged in as root via SSH on the appliance:

- On VCVA 5.0 GA with DB2:

1. Turn into the db2inst user:

vcenter:/ # su db2inst1

2. Start the db2 client:

db2inst1@vcenter:/> db2

You'll see a prompt like this:

db2 =>

3. connect to the VCDB database:

db2 => connect to VCDB

(the command is like this, very literal)

4. Change to VC schema:

db2 => set schema vc

5. Perform any command you need. For example, to remove the VPX_SESSIONLOCK lines, you can do like this:

db2 => delete from VPX_SESSIONLOCK
DB20000I  The SQL command completed successfully.

You can type "quit" anytime you want to exit from the db2 client, and "exit" when you want to go back to root userspace.

- On VCVA with vPostgres:

1. Connect to the database using psql:

vcenter:/ # /opt/vmware/vpostgres/1.0/bin/psql -U vc -d VCDB

You'll see a prompt like this:

psql (9.0.4)
Type "help" for help.

VCDB=>

2. Perform any command you need (selects, inserts, etc). For example, to list all tables:

VCDB=> \dt

There are a lot of new tables in 5.1, (mainly the vpx_hist_stat* ones).

To quit, just type "\q"

Changing the default VMware vCenter Server Appliance database password (2056968)

Changing the default VMware vCenter Server Appliance database password

 

 

Details

You can change the default password for the VMware vCenter Server Appliance database when you want or if the password is compromised.

Solution

To change the default:

1. Change the embedded database password:
   
   
   1. Connect to the vCenter Server Appliance using SSH.
   2. Open the embedded_db.cfg file for editing with this command:
      
      vi /etc/vmware-vpx/embedded_db.cfg
      
      
   3. In the file, locate EMB_DB_PASSWORD and change the password between the single quotation marks.
      
2. Change the password for the vc and postgres database users:
   
   
   1. Connect to the vPostgres database for SQL execution by running this command:
      
      /opt/vmware/vpostgres/current/bin/psql -d VCDB U postgres
      
      
   2. Run these SQL statements to change the passwords for the vc and postgres users:
      
      alter user postgres with password 'new-password';
      alter user vc with password 'new-password';
      
   3. Exit the database with this command:
      
      \q
      
      
   4. Open the .pgpass file for editing by running this command:
      
      vi /root/.pgpass
      
   5. Modify the .pgpass file with the new password as follows:
      
      localhost:5432:VCDB:postgres:new-password
      localhost:5432:postgres:postgres:new-password
      localhost:5432:VCDB:vc:new-password
3. Change the postgres database password:
   
   
   1. To change the password for the vPostgres database by running this command:
      
      passwd postgres
      
      
   2. Type the new password.
   3. Retype the new password.
      
4. To update the encrypted password in the vpxd.cfg file, run this command:
   
   /usr/sbin/vpxd -p
   
   
5. Enter the password when prompted.
6. Run this command to restart the vpxd service:
   
   /etc/init.d/vmware-vpxd restart

vCenter Appliance – Call “EventHistoryCollector.SetLatestPageSize” for object “SessionID” on vCenter Server failed.

When using the vSphere Client to connect to the VMware vCenter Server Appliance was appearing every now and again.

Call “EventHistoryCollector.SetLatestPageSize” for object “SessionID” on vCenter Server “ServerName” failed. (unfortunately didnt take a screenshot, so here’s one I found and modified).


This issue is pretty common, and is to do with the amount of events in the database not being purged, and is covered by VMware in this KB article for windows environments.
However not so commonly covered for the vCenter Appliance which uses a progress database.

After a bit of digging around, I found the following crude solution on the VMware communities board.

So open up a console to your VCSA, login in. Run the following commands

/opt/vmware/vpostgres/1.0/bin/psql -d VCDB vc 
TRUNCATE TABLE vpx_event CASCADE;

then to exit “/q”

Here are the steps:

1. First of all - stop VPXD
•  service vmware-vxpd stop
2. connect to DB:

   /opt/vmware/vpostgres/1.0/bin/psql -d VCDB vc 

   You will be prompted for the "vc" password which is not the same as the 

   root password.

   Password is in "/etc/vmware-vpx/embedded_db.cfg" file

   

3. issue this commands:
   
   • TRUNCATE TABLE vpx_event CASCADE;
   • TRUNCATE TABLE vpx_event_arg CASCADE;
   • TRUNCATE TABLE vpx_task CASCADE;
4. quit DB command line
• issue the command "/q "
5. start the VPXD
•  service vmware-vxpd start or restart vCSA appliance
6. Check the size of VCBD.  Now the size is only 165MB
• VCDB=> SELECT pg_database.datname, pg_size_pretty(pg_database_size(pg_database.datname)) AS size FROM pg_database;
•   datname  |  size
1. -----------+---------
    template1 | 5289 kB
    template0 | 5281 kB
    postgres  | 5385 kB
    VCDB      | 165 MB
   (4 rows)
   
   
    

References:
https://communities.vmware.com/thread/80738

http://www.educationalcentre.co.uk/vmware-5-1-vcenter-appliance-call-eventhistorycollector-setlatestpagesize-for-object-sessionid-on-vcenter-server-failed/#more-418

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2054085

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2056968

VMware vCenter Server Appliance Error: VPXD must be stopped to perform this operation.

http://www.virtualizationteam.com/management-automation/vmware-vcenter-server-appliance-error-vpxd-must-be-stopped-to-perform-this-operation.html


Error: VPXD must be stopped to perform this operation.
This error has came up while trying to change authentication to active directory authentication and kinda seen the same error when trying to change the database to an external database. For some reason the Server service stop button is shadowed as well which mean I could not stop it by the GUI interface. Although my lab setup is not ideal and it might just due to the way I set it up, though I will still document how I resolved this where the same mechanism can be used to stop and restart any other service used by the vCenter Server Appliance. Below are the steps I have followed:
1- SSH to your VMware vCenter Server Appliance using the root account.
2- Execute the following command to see the status of all the service running in the vCenter Appliance:   chkconfig
The output of all services will look something like below:
localhost:~ # chkconfig
after.local               off
apache2                  off
arpd                         off
atftpd                       off
auditd                       on
autoyast                    off
chargen                      off
chargen-udp              off
cron                       on
daytime                    off
daytime-udp              off
dbus                     on
dcerpcd                  on
dhcp6r                   off
dhcp6s                   off
dhcpd                    off
discard                  off
discard-udp              off
earlysyslog              on
echo                     off
echo-udp                 off
eventlogd                on
fbset                     on
gpm                      off
haldaemon                on
haveged                  on
irq_balancer             on
kbd                      on
ldap                     on
lsassd                   off
lwiod                    on
mdadmd                   off
multipathd               off
netlogond                on
netstat                  off
network                  on
network-remotefs         on
nfs                      on
ntp                      off
pcscd                  off
powerd               off
random               on
raw                      off
rpasswdd            off
rpcbind                on
rpmconfigcheck           off
sendmail                       on
servers                           off
services                         off
setserial                        off
skeleton.compat          off
splash                            on
splash_early                on
sshd                               235
stunnel                         off
syslog                           on
syslog-collector         off
systat                          off
time                            off
time-udp                   off
uuidd                         off
vami-lighttp             235
vami-sfcb                 235
vaos                          235
vmware-inventoryservice  on
vmware-logbrowser        off
vmware-netdumper         off
vmware-rbd-watchdog      off
vmware-tools             on
vmware-vpostgres         on
vmware-vpxd              on
vsphere-client           on
xinetd                   off
ypbind                   off
3- Stop the required service in my case was vmware-vpxd using the following command: chkconfig service-name off (ex: chkconfig vmware-vpxd off)
4- carry out your changes
5- Start the service again using the following command: chkconfig service-name on (ex: chkconfig vmware-vpxd on)