vMotion Installation

Guardium can be deployed in various virtualized environments, including a VMware virtual environment. In a vSphere deployment, this virtual environment includes the vMotion feature, which allows live migration of a virtual machine.

vMotion is of two types, host and storage. Host vMotion is the live migration of the OS, and network transactions, from one hypervisor to another. Storage vMotion is the live migration of a running virtual machine's file system from one storage system to another. Both types of vMotion are supported by Guardium. For more information, see https://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere/vmotion.html.

Best Practices

  • Configure your environment to support vMotion by using VMware documentation found here: https://www.vmware.com/. Contact VMware Support for configuration assistance.
  • Guardium is a high performance, and high transaction system. Data is transferred between hypervisors in a host vMotion, and between storage systems in a storage vMotion. So, vMotion must be used when the Guardium appliance is shut down or at a low level of activity.
  • The vMotion process is transparent to the virtual guest and does not affect the guest system. However, as part of a robust disaster recovery plan, verify that your backup and restore procedures are up to date.
  • Guardium 11.4 and later includes open-vm-tools. If open-vm-tools is already installed, it is not necessary to install VMWare tools on the Guardium appliance.

VMWare Tools Installation

Install VMWare tools on the Guardium appliance by using these methods.

Method 1:

1. Open the VM client/console and select the VM instance that contains the InfoSphere Guardium appliance. Right-click the instance, select Guest > Install/upgrade VMware tools from the menu. Your instance is enabled to access the VMware tools via a mount point.

2. To install VM tools, run the CLI command setup vmware_tools install from the VM client or console. For more information, see setup vmware_tools install.

Method 2:

1. Open the VMware VI Client, and log on to either a VirtualCenter Server, or the ESX Server host on which you want to upgrade the VMware Tools.

2. If you are logged in to a VirtualCenter Server, click inventory in the navigation bar, expand the inventory as needed, and select the virtual machine on which you want to upgrade VMware Tools.

3. On the Summary tab, click Edit Settings and select CD/DVD Drive 1.

4. The virtual CD-ROM/DVD device reads the VMware Tools program from the datastore ISO File. To enable this device, click Browse and select the VMware Tools ISO file on a datastore. If you have not already done so, copy the VMware Tools ISO file to a datastore accessible from the ESX Server host on which the virtual machine is installed.

Note: The file name for the VMware Tools package must not be modified when the ISO image is created.

5. To create the ISO, run the appropriate command. This command can differ based on the OS running on your system.

Example of a LINUX command:
mkisofs -r -J -L -l -allow-lowercase -allow-multidot -N -v -d -o vmware_tools3.iso vmware_tools/

Check the Mkisofs documentation for more information.

6. Under Device status check the Connected checkbox. Click OK.

7. From the VM Console screen, log in using CLI.

8. Run the CLI command setup vmware_tools install and press the Enter key on your keyboard. For more information, see setup vmware_tools install

9. When the installation is complete, you are brought back to the CLI prompt. Disconnect the CD/DVD drive from the ISO on the datastore.

open-vm-tools updates

For Guardium 11.4 and 11.5, open-vm-tools is updated to the latest release with critical security fixes.