SQL 2000 Service not starting after P2V / VMware tool Install or Update - SQL 2000 - An error 1053 - (the service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion) occurred while performing this service operation on the MSSQLServer service

SQL 2000 Service not starting after P2V / VMware tool Install or Update -

An error 1053 - (the service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion) occurred while performing this service operation on the MSSQLServer service.

Error 1053: The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion.

I have faced this issue a couple of times. When you get this error, usually you need to check for Service Accounts, try to turn on "Interact With Desktop" etc.

But in this case,

1) Service was working fine on a physical server. After P2V, it is not starting on VM

2) Service was working fine on a VM, and it failed after recent VMware tool upgrade/change. 

Fix

All that you need to do is to make sure that you have the below two DLLs 

msvcr71.dll 
msvcp71.dll

They should be be present under %systemroot%\system32 

If not, you can copy these DLLs from another server running same SQL version, or restore them from a backup. It is noticed that VMware tools sometimes mess up these two DLLs, which make SQL to fail. 

All the best! 

R.Hari

Moving vCenter Server Databases to a different SQL Server / SQL Instance

Assuming that you have documented below mentioned details from Old vCenter Install
1) vCenter and Update Manager Database user passwords
2) RSA_User and RSA_Admin passwords
3) SSO Master Password

Stage 1) - Backup and Restore Databases

• Stop vCenter Single Sign On,VMware vCenter Inventory Service, VMware VirtualCenter Server, VMware VirtualCenter Management Webservices, VMware vSphere Update Manager Service and VMware vSphere Web Client.
• Backup vCenter, Update Manager and RSA Databases and restore in new DB server.
• Create vCenter, Update Manager and RSA_User and RSA_DBA Users with same passwords on new DB server.
• Assign Same permissions for users

Stage 2) - Recreate Agent Jobs

• Open the below location

          vCenter Server 4.x: C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\VirtualCenter Server\sql
          vCenter Server 5.x: C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\VirtualCenter Server\sql

• Copy below mentioned files to a new folder on vCenter server/new SQL Server.

         job_schedule1_mssql.sql
         job_schedule2_mssql.sql
         job_schedule3_mssql.sql
         job_dbm_performance_data_mssql.sql
         job_cleanup_events_mssql.sql
         job_property_bulletin_mssql.sql
         job_topn_past_day_mssql.sql
         job_topn_past_month_mssql.sql
         job_topn_past_week_mssql.sql
         job_topn_past_year_mssql.sql

• Open job_schedule1_mssql.sql using notepad and copy script
• On the new SQL server, right click on vCenter Server Database > New Query > Paste the copied script and execute the copied script 

NOTE: Please double check and make sure that you have VCenter server database selected in the Database list and not Master.

• Repete the same for all the scripts.
• Once all three jobs are created, navigate to SQL Server Agent and Refresh to see new Jobs created. 
• Right-click Past Day stats rollup, click Properties.
• Ensure the owner of the job is the same database login used by VirtualCenter to connect to the database.
• Repete the same for Past Month stats rollup and Past Week stats rollup.

Stage 3) - Re-pointing SSO Service to the new SQL server

• Open SSO Install DIR. By default it is C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\SSOServer and Navigate to \utils
• Open a command prompt as administrator and run below mentioned command 

       CD C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\SSOServer\utils
       ssocli configure-riat -a configure-db --database-host <NEW_DBServer_NAME/IP> --database-port <New_DBServer_Port> -m <SSOServerMasterPassword>

• Open C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\SSOServer\webapps\lookupservice\WEB-INF\classes
• Open config file with NotePad
• Check port number in the URL and DB Server Name at the last line. 
• Save the file and exit
• SSO Service is good to start now!

Stage 4) - Re-pointing vCenter Server to new DB Server

• Start > Run and "Odbcad32.exe"
• Under System DSN, Change DB Server settings and Save it.
• Start VMware VirtualCenter Server Service!

Stage 5) - Re-pointing Update Manager Service to the new SQL server

• Start > Run and "%systemdrive%\Windows\SysWoW64\Odbcad32.exe"
• Under System DSN, Change DB Server settings and Save it.
• Start VMware vSphere Update Manager Service!

If all services are started, reboot vCenter so that all the services are restarted once fresh. 

Disable Agent jobs and Databases on old server, you can probably keep them for a couple of days and then to a cleanup. 

Thank you!

R.Hari

Assuming that you have documented below mentioned details from Old vCenter Install

1) Vcenter and Update Manager Database user passwords

2) RSA_User and RSA_Admin passwords

3) SSO Master Password

Stage1) - Move Databases

Stop vCenter Single Sign On, VMware vCenter Inventory Service, VMware VirtualCenter Server, VMware VirtualCenter Management Webservices, VMware vSphere Update Manager Service and VMware vSphere Web Client.

Backup Vcenter, Update Manager and RSA Databases and restore in new DB server.

Create Vcenter, Update Manager and RSA User and RSA DBA Users with Same passwords on new DB server.

Assign Same permissions for users

Stage2) - Recreate Agent Jobs

Open the below location

vCenter Server 4.x: C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\VirtualCenter Server\sql

vCenter Server 5.x: C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\VirtualCenter Server\sql

Copy below mentioned files to a new folder

job_schedule1_mssql.sql 

job_schedule2_mssql.sql

job_schedule3_mssql.sql

job_dbm_performance_data_mssql.sql

job_cleanup_events_mssql.sql

job_property_bulletin_mssql.sql

job_topn_past_day_mssql.sql

job_topn_past_month_mssql.sql

job_topn_past_week_mssql.sql

job_topn_past_year_mssql.sql

Open job_schedule1_mssql.sql using notepad and copy script

On the new SQL server, open Vcenter Server Database and Open New Queiry and execute the copied script 

NOTE: Please double check and make sure that you have VCenter server database selected in the Database list and not Master.

Repete the same for all the scripts.

After all three jobs are created, navigate to SQL Server Agent and Refresh to see new Jobs created. 

Right-click Past Day stats rollup, click Properties. Ensure the owner of the job is the same database login used by VirtualCenter to connect to the database.

Repete the same for Past Month stats rollup and Past Week stats rollup.

Stage3) - Repointing SSO Service to the new SQL server

Open SSO Install DIR. By default it is C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\SSOServer  and Navigate to \utils

Open a command prompt as administrator

CD C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\SSOServer\utils

ssocli configure-riat -a configure-db --database-host <NEW_DBServer_NAME/IP> --database-port <New_DBServer_Port> -m <SSOServerMasterPassword>

Executing action: 'configure-db'

Updating Database configuration

Generating HA node package

Successfully executed action: 'configure-db'

Open C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\SSOServer\webapps\lookupservice\WEB-INF\classes

Open config file with NotePad

Check port number in the URL and DB Server Name at the last line. 

Save the file and exit

Try to start SSO Service.

Stage4) - Repointing vCenter Server to new DB Server

Start > Run and  "Odbcad32.exe"

Under System DSN, Change DB Server settings and Save it.

Start VMware VirtualCenter Server

Stage5) - Repointing Update Manager Service to the new SQL server

Start > Run and  "%systemdrive%\Windows\SysWoW64\Odbcad32.exe"

Under System DSN, Change DB Server settings and Save it.

Start VMware vSphere Update Manager

If all services are started, reboot vCenter so that all the services are restared once fresh. 

Veeam backup error “Error: Failed to connect to guest agent. Errors: ‘Cannot connect to the host’s administrative share” / Access Denied when accessing Admin Shares (\\IPaddress\C$)

If your Windows Server 2008 box is in a WorkGroup and you require access to one of the admin shares, it can be a little more complicated than with Server 2003.

I had to setup a Veeam backup job for backing up a VM running Windows 2008 in WorkGroup. Initial backup job with default settings went well and I had the enabled “Application Aware Image Processing” and “Guest File System Indexing”. For this I had setup a local admin account on Windows 2008 and provided the credentials in Veeam backup job. Job failed on the test run with below error

'ServerHostName' Error: Failed to connect to guest agent. Errors: 'Cannot connect to the host's administrative share. Host: [10.0.0.11]. Account: []. Win32 error:Logon failure: unknown user name or bad password. Code: 1326 '

10.0.0.11 is the Server IP and I tried to access \\10.0.0.11\C$ and I got the windows asking for credentials. With the local admin account created and it worked from same server. When I tried remotely from Backup server, It was showing “Access Denied” error when provided user and password. It was quiet surprising because it is a local admin use and that’s the issue then.

Access Denied error eliminated possible causes like

1)      “Server” Service not running (should have thrown “The specified network name no longer available” error)

2)      File and Pinter sharing disabled on NIC properties

3)       Secpol.msc -> user rights assignment -> “Access this computer from network” and  “Deny Access to this computer from network” (error should be something like “Logon failures: the user has not been granted the requested login type at this computer” error.

Also checked few things like Start -> Run -> fsmgmt.msc and Administrative shared looks good here

Then finally the fix

Issue was with UAC and here is a KB articles http://support.microsoft.com/kb/951016 and http://support.microsoft.com/kb/942817 talks about this issue in Vista.

So it is a security feature and From the KB Article:  “How UAC remote restrictions work: To better protect those users who are members of the local Administrators group, we implement UAC restrictions on the network. This mechanism helps prevent against "loopback" attacks. This mechanism also helps prevent local malicious software from running remotely with administrative rights.”

So please be sure about the risks.

 So what I had to do was -

1)      Right Click on PowerShell Icon in the system tray

2)      Right click on “Windows PowerShell”

3)      Run as Administrator 

4)      Execute below command

New-ItemProperty HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System -name "LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy" -value "1" -propertyType dword

Thanks!

R.Hari

Reconfigure network after P2V – Message “The IP address XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX you have entered for this network adapter is already assigned to another adapter”

I am sure that the below message is pretty familiar to you if you are working on P2V migrations. Basically, when you try to configure PROD/Mail ip back to the VM after P2V, you will come across this message.  

"The IP address XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX you have entered for this network adapter is already assigned to another adapter"

Message says that the earlier NIC with this IP is still there in the VM, but not visible as it is not attached to the Hardware/OS currently. Windows shows the above message to remind you that there was a NIC earlier with the same IP.  I have seen this message after VMware hardware upgrade also..

It is always better to do clean up post a P2V, instead of just skipping this message. Below mentioned the simple, two line step, which you can run on a VM after P2V to clean up these old NIC card devices and associated drives as we no longer need them.

1) Go to Start > Run

2) Type "cmd" and Enter

3) execute below mentioned commands

set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1

start devmgmt.msc

4) Run both the commands in the same command prompt, because the first command actually forces device manager to start with the ability to see non-present devices when second command is executed.

5) Once Device Manager is open, click View > Show Hidden Devices.

6) Expand the Network Adapters and here you will see the old NICs which is displayed as grayed out. 

7) You can remove them one by one. You can also click the check box to remove old drivers, if there is an option. 

8) Now you can configure the new NIC with the IP.

Thank you!

RHari. 

A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server

Error: A network-related or instance-specific error occurred while establishing a connection to SQL Server. The server was not found or was not accessible. Verify that the instance name is correct and that SQL Server is configured to allow remote connections. (provider: SQL Network Interfaces, error: 26 - Error Locating Server/Instance Specified)

Fix-:

The error refers that the SQL Remote connection is not working.

1) Check if SQL Server and SQL services are up and running. From the server where SQL is installed, try to connect to SQL using SQL Management Studio. 

2) If that works, from a remote server, try to connect to SQL Server/SQL instance using SQL Server Management Studio. 

You might get this error - i my case, SQL is SQL 2005

Here is what you have to do......

If you are running SQL 2005

a) Check if "SQL Server Browser" server is running. Start it if it is now.

b) Open "SQL Server Surface Area Configuration" and check if both 

    > Click "Surface Area Configuration for Services and Connections"

    > Click on "Remote Connections"

    > Local and Remote Connection should be enabled

c) Check SQL Server Configuration Manager for TCP/IP and Port configurations

If you are running SQL 2008 or SQL 2012

a) Check if "SQL Server Browser" server is running. Start it if it is now.

b) Check SQL Server Configuration Manager for TCP/IP and Port configurations

R.Hari.

SQL 2012 Upgrade - "Rule 'Previous Upgrade' failed." Error

SQL upgrade to SQL 2012 had failed at the first attempt and it gives error- "Rule 'Previous Upgrade' failed. A previous upgrade that failed was detected. To retry the upgrade, remove the upgraded feature that failed, and then run the upgrade again."  -on re-attempt.

Fix-1 - correct and the best way

1) Open a command prompt and navigate to 2012 install directory
For me it is D:\SQL2012Sp1\
2) Run the command “setup.exe /Action:RunDiscovery” as per the screenshot below

3) It opens the report in a web page like the one below

4) So here it shows
Database Engine Services = Version 11.0.2100.60
Full-Text and Semantic Extractions for Search = Version 11.0.2100.60
Installed but same time they do exist in Windows 2008 also because last upgrade failed.

So we need to un-install these two before we attempt to upgrade Windows 2008 again.
You can do it via below mentioned commands or using the GUI un-install window.

5) Setup.exe /Action=Uninstall /Instanceid=MSSQL11.MSSQLSERVER /Features=SQL /Q
Make sure that you change /Incanceid and /Features based on your Discovery Report.
In the command above command “/Features  = SQL” will remove Engine, Replication, Full Text and Data Quality this is what I had to run as Database Engine and Full-Text Search are the once listed in my Discovery Report.
You can use like “/FEATURES=SQL,AS,RS,IS,Tools” if you also have SSAS, SSRS, SSIS or SQL Tools listed in the discovery report.
6) Once it is removed, run the discovery report again to make sure that the 2012 features are completely removed and run the upgrade again.

Fix-2 (If Fix 1 is't helpful)

Here is what you have to do

1) Open Regedit
2) Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
3) Check though the Keys and look for "SQL Server 2012 Database Engine Service"

4) Once found, match "DisplayVersion" and "InstanceId" with the discovery report to double check.
5) Once that's confirmed, open "ModifyPath" and copy the value to a note pad

6) Add /X in the string
Note: /X is for uninstall
7) Open a command prompt and run the command

8) Yes to confirm and uninstall the product.

I my example, have to uninstall Full-Text Search also so,

1) Refresh the regedit screen and you will not be able to see "SQL Server 2012 Database Engine Service" now
2) I have to look for "SQL Server 2012 Full text search" and i found it here

3) I have copied the Modify path and ran the uninstall command with /X switch to uninstall Full Text search also.

That's it!
Now we should be able to run 2012 upgrade again.

Good Luck!

R.Hari.

vCenter / Simple install errors when using SQL Server

Error: Database connection has failed.  You can refer to the vm-sso-javaLib.log in the system temporary folder for more information.

You may get the above error when you fill in details on "Database Information" screen and click on next

Issue is actually with the Single Sign On Database. Installer is expecting a database to be present with few table structures in it. It is stated in the instillation wizard if you go one step back!

So what you need to do is

1) do to the install location (DVD or the local copy)

2) Navigate to Single Sign On\DBScripts\SSOServer\schema\mssql (or to the right database folder if you are using databases other than SQL)

3) SKIP THIS STEP IF SQL IS INSTALLED ON THE SAME SERVER === Copy files "rsaIMSLiteMSSQLSetupTablespaces.sql" and 

"rsaIMSLiteMSSQLSetupUsers.sql" to the server running SQL Database4) Open "SQL Management Studio"

5) Double Click and open 

"rsaIMSLiteMSSQLSetupTablespaces.sql". It will get opened in SQL Management Studio.
6) Edit the file location for .mdf and .ldf file locations and execute the script.

7) Once completed, open 

"rsaIMSLiteMSSQLSetupUsers.sql" the same way8) Edit Passwords (better to keep the user names default as RSA_USER and RSA_DBA, just change the passwors) and execute this one too.

Once this two steps are completed,  the SSO installation should be able to proceed without any issues.

===========================================================

Error: The specified user does not have sufficient privileges.  Refer to Installation and Setup guide for more details on the privilege requirements.

Take a close look at the configurations and makesure that you haven't swapped DataBase User and DataBase DBA User credentials! :)