Monthly Archives: October 2016

System logs are stored on non-persistent storage

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As customer start to deploy ESXi on smaller SD Cards or Boot from SAN, they encounter the following error after installing a new host:

“System logs are stored on non-persistent storage”

This error just indicates that you need to save your scratch logs to another location, (shared storage or local disk). The process is super easy. To change the location, use on of the following methods:

Verifying the Location of System Logs in vSphere Client

To verify the location:

  1. In vSphere Client, select the host in the inventory panel.
  2. Click the Configuration tab, then click Advanced Settings under Software.
  3. Ensure that Syslog.global.logDir points to a persistent location.The directory should be specified as [datastorename] path_to_file where the path is relative to the datastore. For example, [datastore1] /systemlogs.
  4. If the Syslog.global.logDir field is empty or explicitly points to a scratch partition, make sure that the field ScratchConfig.CurrentScratchLocation shows a location on persistent storage.

Verifying the Location of System Logs in vSphere Web Client

To verify the location:

  1. Browse to the host in the vSphere Web Client navigator.
  2. Click the Manage tab, then click Settings.
  3. Under System, click Advanced System Settings.
  4. Ensure that Syslog.global.logDir points to a persistent location.
  5. If the field Syslog.global.logDir is empty or points to a scratch partition, make sure that the field ScratchConfig.CurrentScratchLocation shows a location on persistent storage.

No image profile is found on the host or image profile is empty. An image profile is required to install or remove VIBs. To install an image profile, use the esxcli image profile install command

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While upgrade an ESXi 6 host for a customer last night, I ran into the following error when trying to patch via Update Manager:
“No image profile is found on the host or image profile is empty. An image profile is required to install or remove VIBs. To install an image profile, use the esxcli image profile install command.”

I tried various things such as rebooting the host, and manually patching via esxcli. (See my previous post on patching via CLI) but nothing seemed to work.

The server was a Dell R620, and after some searching, I found that it had a corrupt profile image. This can be fixed by replacing the corrupt image file and replacing with a known good one from another host. (The hosts dont have to be the same server version, but I would try to keep to same CPU families (Intel vs AMD). Here is how to do it.

  1. On the working ESXi host, copy the following image file: imgdb.tgz
    cp /bootbank/imgdb.tgz /vmfs/volumes/<An Accessible LUN>

  2.  On the corrupt host, copy the file imgdb.tgz from the working host to /tmp:
    cp /vmfs/volumes/<An Accessible LUN>/imgdb.tgz /tmp

  3. Change Directories to /tmp
    cd /tmp

  4. Extract file you just copied
    tar -xzf imgdb.tgz

  5. Copy the working profile files to the profile directory
    cp /tmp/var/db/esximg/profiles/* /var/db/esximg/profiles/

  6. Copy the working VIBs to the VIB repository
    cp /tmp/var/db/esximg/vibs/* /var/db/esximg/vibs/

  7. Remove the corrupt imgdb.tgz from the bootbank
    rm /bootbank/imgdb.tgz

  8. Move the working copy of imgdb.tgz into the bootbank
    cp /tmp/imgdb.tgz /bootbank/

  9. Make Config Backup
    /sbin/auto-backup.sh

  10. Reboot the host
    reboot
  11. Update host using Update Manager again

Uninstall Annoying Windows 10 Stock Apps via Powershell

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These apps come with Windows 10, and some you can Right-Click and Uninstall, while others you cannot. That that you are able to Right-Click and uninstall, seem to come back with every Windows Updates you install (because Right-Click Uninstall doesn’t uninstall them completely).
So the easiest way to do this is with our favorite enemy friend, Powershell!

  1. First thing is to open Powershell as Administrator

All stock apps are in the AppxPackage command set. So running something like Get-AppxPackage would show you currently installed stock apps.

2. Here is the list of package commands that can be used to remove all or specific components

Remove all stock apps from all user accounts
Get-AppxPackage -allusers | Remove-AppxPackage

Remove all modern apps from system account
Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -online | Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online

 

Skype: Get-AppxPackage *skype* | Remove-AppxPackage
Sway: Get-AppxPackage *sway* | Remove-AppxPackage
Phone: Get-AppxPackage *commsphone* | Remove-AppxPackage
Phone Companion: Get-AppxPackage *windowsphone* | Remove-AppxPackage
Phone and Phone Compantion Apps: Get-AppxPackage *phone* | Remove-AppxPackage
Calendar, Mail: Get-AppxPackage *communicationsapps* | Remove-AppxPackage
People: Get-AppxPackage *people* | Remove-AppxPackage
Groove Music: Get-AppxPackage *zunemusic* | Remove-AppxPackage
Movies and TV: Get-AppxPackage *zunevideo* | Remove-AppxPackage
Groove Music/Movies/TV: Get-AppxPackage *zune* | Remove-AppxPackage
Money: Get-AppxPackage *bingfinance* | Remove-AppxPackage
News: Get-AppxPackage *bingnews* | Remove-AppxPackage
Sports: Get-AppxPackage *bingsports* | Remove-AppxPackage
Weather: Get-AppxPackage *bingweather* | Remove-AppxPackage
Money, News, Sports, Weather: Get-AppxPackage *bing* | Remove-AppxPackage
OneNote: Get-AppxPackage *onenote* | Remove-AppxPackage
Alarms and Clock: Get-AppxPackage *alarms* | Remove-AppxPackage
Calculator: Get-AppxPackage *calculator* | Remove-AppxPackage
Camera: Get-AppxPackage *camera* | Remove-AppxPackage
Voice Recorder: Get-AppxPackage *soundrecorder | Remove-AppxPackage
Maps: Get-AppxPackage *maps* | Remove-AppxPackage
3D Builder: Get-AppxPackage *3dbuilder* | Remove-AppxPackage
Xbox: Get-AppxPackage *xbox* | Remove-AppxPackage
Solitaire: Get-AppxPackage *solitaire* | Remove-AppxPackage
Get Office: Get-AppxPackage *officehub* | Remove-AppxPackage
Get Skype: Get-AppxPackage *SkypeApp* | Remove-AppxPackage
Get Started: Get-AppxPackage *Getstarted* | Remove-AppxPackage
Windows Store: Get-AppxPackage *windowsstore* | Remove-AppxPackage