6.5.2 Settings required for resetting hosts

If you will be resetting hosts, you must specify the settings described below.

Organization of this subsection

(1) Specifying the settings needed for establishing SSH connection with VMware ESXi
(2) Specifying the authentication method-specific settings needed for establishing an SSH connection to VMware ESXi
(3) Specifying the settings needed for vCenter management

(1) Specifying the settings needed for establishing SSH connection with VMware ESXi

You must specify the settings needed for establishing SSH connection with VMware ESXi. To specify the settings:

Example of specifying the settings for VMware ESXi (VMware ESXi 4.1):

Start the console window of VMware ESXi, and then log in.
Choose Troubleshooting Options, and then press the Enter key.
From the Troubleshooting Mode Options menu, choose Enable Remote Tech Support (SSH), and then press the Enter key.
Log out from VMware ESXi.

Example of specifying the settings for VMware ESXi (VMware ESXi 5.0 or later):

Start the console window of VMware ESXi, and then log in.
Choose Troubleshooting Options, and then press the Enter key.
From the Troubleshooting Mode Options menu, select Enable ESXi Shell, and then press the Enter key.

The status changes from ESXi Shell is Disabled to ESXi Shell is Enabled.
From the Troubleshooting Mode Options menu, select Enable SSH, and then press the Enter key.

The status changes from SSH is Disabled to SSH is Enabled.
Log out from VMware ESXi.

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(2) Specifying the authentication method-specific settings needed for establishing an SSH connection to VMware ESXi

When establishing an SSH connection to VMware ESXi, you can select password authentication or public key authentication (VMware ESXi 6.7 or later). This subsection describes the settings that differ depending on the authentication method.

Password authentication:: In the hot-standby switchover configuration, set the same root user password in VMware ESXi on the local host and in VMware ESXi on the remote host.

Public key authentication:

Specify the settings so that multiple virtual machines in the hot-standby switchover configuration can establish SSH connections by public key authentication. When you specify these settings, note the following:

In the config file for the SSH command, create a HOST entry for each VMware ESXi instance in the hot-standby switchover configuration. Then, specify the VMware ESXi IP address and the full path of the private key for each entry.
Create a key without using a passphrase.

The following shows example settings in the config file for the SSH command (for two hosts in a 1-to-1 hot-standby switchover configuration):

Host 1) VMware ESXi IP address: 192.168.0.XX, path of the private key: /root/.ssh/id_rsa

Host 2) VMware ESXi IP address: 192.168.0.YY, path of the private key: /root/.ssh/id_rsa

# cat /root/.ssh/config

HOST 192.168.0.XX
   IdentityFile /root/.ssh/id_rsa

HOST 192.168.0.YY
   IdentityFile /root/.ssh/id_rsa

After you have completed the settings needed for establishing an SSH connection to VMware ESXi and the authentication method-specific settings, confirm that in the hot-standby switchover configuration, all virtual machines can connect by SSH to all VMware ESXi instances. If this is unable to be confirmed, review the settings.

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(3) Specifying the settings needed for vCenter management

If you use vCenter management, we recommend that you disable the suspend operation by using vCenter's role settings.

Important: If you use HA Monitor in VMware ESXi's virtualization environment, do not suspend virtual machines while HA Monitor is running. For details, see Release Notes.

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