Category Archives: Projects

CLI, ESXI, Homelab, Projects

HPE SMART ARRAY CLI COMMANDS ON ESXI

In order to configure/manage your raid controller if options on startup are not accessible.

Shameless copy from here.

 

Show configuration
ESXi 5.5 -> /opt/hp/hpssacli/bin/hpssacli ctrl all show config
ESXi 6.5 -> /opt/smartstorageadmin/ssacli/bin/ssacli ctrl all show config

Controller status
ESXi 5.5 -> /opt/hp/hpssacli/bin/hpssacli ctrl all show status
ESXi 6.5 -> /opt/smartstorageadmin/ssacli/bin/ssacli ctrl all show status

Show detailed controller information for all controllers
ESXi 5.5 -> /opt/hp/hpssacli/bin/hpssacli ctrl all show detail
ESXi 6.5 -> /opt/smartstorageadmin/ssacli/bin/ssacli ctrl all show detail

Show detailed controller information for controller in slot 0
ESXi 5.5 -> /opt/hp/hpssacli/bin/hpssacli ctrl slot=0 show detail
ESXi 6.5 -> /opt/smartstorageadmin/ssacli/bin/ssacli ctrl slot=0 show detail

Rescan for New Devices
ESXi 5.5 -> /opt/hp/hpssacli/bin/hpssacli rescan
ESXi 6.5 -> /opt/smartstorageadmin/ssacli/bin/ssacli rescan

Physical disk status
ESXi 5.5 -> /opt/hp/hpssacli/bin/hpssacli ctrl slot=0 pd all show status
ESXi 6.5 -> /opt/smartstorageadmin/ssacli/bin/ssacli ctrl slot=0 pd all show status

Show detailed physical disk information
ESXi 5.5 -> /opt/hp/hpssacli/bin/hpssacli ctrl slot=0 pd all show detail
ESXi 6.5 -> /opt/smartstorageadmin/ssacli/bin/ssacli ctrl slot=0 pd all show detail

Logical disk status
ESXi 5.5 -> /opt/hp/hpssacli/bin/hpssacli ctrl slot=0 ld all show status
ESXi 6.5 -> /opt/smartstorageadmin/ssacli/bin/ssacli ctrl slot=0 ld all show status

View Detailed Logical Drive Status
ESXi 5.5 -> /opt/hp/hpssacli/bin/hpssacli ctrl slot=0 ld 2 show
ESXi 6.5 -> /opt/smartstorageadmin/ssacli/bin/ssacli ctrl slot=0 ld 2 show

Create New RAID 0 Logical Drive
ESXi 5.5 -> /opt/hp/hpssacli/bin/hpssacli ctrl slot=0 create type=ld drives=1I:1:2 raid=0
ESXi 6.5 -> /opt/smartstorageadmin/ssacli/bin/ssacli ctrl slot=0 create type=ld drives=1I:1:2 raid=0

Create New RAID 1 Logical Drive
ESXi 5.5 -> /opt/hp/hpssacli/bin/hpssacli ctrl slot=0 create type=ld drives=1I:1:1,1I:1:2 raid=1
ESXi 6.5 -> /opt/smartstorageadmin/ssacli/bin/ssacli ctrl slot=0 create type=ld drives=1I:1:1,1I:1:2 raid=1

Create New RAID 5 Logical Drive
ESXi 5.5 -> /opt/hp/hpssacli/bin/hpssacli ctrl slot=0 create type=ld drives=1I:1:1,1I:1:2,2I:1:6,2I:1:7,2I:1:8 raid=5
ESXi 6.5 -> /opt/smartstorageadmin/ssacli/bin/ssacli ctrl slot=0 create type=ld drives=1I:1:1,1I:1:2,2I:1:6,2I:1:7,2I:1:8 raid=5

Delete Logical Drive
ESXi 5.5 -> /opt/hp/hpssacli/bin/hpssacli ctrl slot=0 ld 2 delete
ESXi 6.5 -> /opt/smartstorageadmin/ssacli/bin/ssacli ctrl slot=0 ld 2 delete

Add New Physical Drive to Logical Volume
ESXi 5.5 -> /opt/hp/hpssacli/bin/hpssacli ctrl slot=0 ld 2 add drives=2I:1:6,2I:1:7
ESXi 6.5 -> /opt/smartstorageadmin/ssacli/bin/ssacli ctrl slot=0 ld 2 add drives=2I:1:6,2I:1:7

Add Spare Disks
ESXi 5.5 -> /opt/hp/hpssacli/bin/hpssacli ctrl slot=0 array all add spares=2I:1:6,2I:1:7
ESXi 6.5 -> /opt/smartstorageadmin/ssacli/bin/ssacli ctrl slot=0 array all add spares=2I:1:6,2I:1:7

Enable Drive Write Cache
ESXi 5.5 -> /opt/hp/hpssacli/bin/hpssacli ctrl slot=0 modify dwc=enable
ESXi 6.5 -> /opt/smartstorageadmin/ssacli/bin/ssacli ctrl slot=0 modify dwc=enable

Disable Drive Write Cache
ESXi 5.5 -> /opt/hp/hpssacli/bin/hpssacli ctrl slot=0 modify dwc=disable
ESXi 6.5 -> /opt/smartstorageadmin/ssacli/bin/ssacli ctrl slot=0 modify dwc=disable

Erase Physical Drive
ESXi 5.5 -> /opt/hp/hpssacli/bin/hpssacli ctrl slot=0 pd 2I:1:6 modify erase
ESXi 6.5 -> /opt/smartstorageadmin/ssacli/bin/ssacli ctrl slot=0 pd 2I:1:6 modify erase

Turn on Blink Physical Disk LED
ESXi 5.5 -> /opt/hp/hpssacli/bin/hpssacli ctrl slot=0 ld 2 modify led=on
ESXi 6.5 -> /opt/smartstorageadmin/ssacli/bin/ssacli ctrl slot=0 ld 2 modify led=on

Turn off Blink Physical Disk LED
ESXi 5.5 -> /opt/hp/hpssacli/bin/hpssacli ctrl slot=0 ld 2 modify led=off
ESXi 6.5 -> /opt/smartstorageadmin/ssacli/bin/ssacli ctrl slot=0 ld 2 modify led=off

Modify smart array cache read and write ratio (cacheratio=readratio/writeratio)
ESXi 5.5 -> /opt/hp/hpssacli/bin/hpssacli ctrl slot=0 modify cacheratio=100/0
ESXi 6.5 -> /opt/smartstorageadmin/ssacli/bin/ssacli ctrl slot=0 modify cacheratio=100/0

Enable smart array write cache when no battery is present (No-Battery Write Cache option)
ESXi 5.5 -> /opt/hp/hpssacli/bin/hpssacli ctrl slot=0 modify nbwc=enable
ESXi 6.5 -> /opt/smartstorageadmin/ssacli/bin/ssacli ctrl slot=0 modify nbwc=enable

Disable smart array cache for certain Logical Volume
ESXi 5.5 -> /opt/hp/hpssacli/bin/hpssacli ctrl slot=0 logicaldrive 1 modify arrayaccelerator=disable
ESXi 6.5 -> /opt/smartstorageadmin/ssacli/bin/ssacli ctrl slot=0 logicaldrive 1 modify arrayaccelerator=disable

Enable smart array cache for certain Logical Volume
ESXi 5.5 -> /opt/hp/hpssacli/bin/hpssacli ctrl slot=0 logicaldrive 1 modify arrayaccelerator=enable
ESXi 6.5 -> /opt/smartstorageadmin/ssacli/bin/ssacli ctrl slot=0 logicaldrive 1 modify arrayaccelerator=enable

Enable SSD Smart Path
ESXi 5.5 -> /opt/hp/hpssacli/bin/hpssacli ctrl slot=0 array a modify ssdsmartpath=enable
ESXi 6.5 -> /opt/smartstorageadmin/ssacli/bin/ssacli ctrl slot=0 array a modify ssdsmartpath=enable

Disable SSD Smart Path
ESXi 5.5 -> /opt/hp/hpssacli/bin/hpssacli ctrl slot=0 array a modify ssdsmartpath=disable
ESXi 6.5 -> /opt/smartstorageadmin/ssacli/bin/ssacli ctrl slot=0 array a modify ssdsmartpath=disable

Microsoft, Office 365, Windows

SWITCH OFFICE 2016 TO MONTHLY TARGETED CHANNEL

The Office 365 ProPlus update model supports 4 production channels;

  • Monthly Channel (Targeted),
  • Monthly Channel,
  • Semi-annual Channel (Targeted),
  • Semi-annual Channel.

Each channel receives features updates, security and non-security updates on different release intervals.

Consider a scenario where Office 365 ProPlus is installed on a machine from the Semi-Annual Channel.  Now let’s say, a new feature is introduced on the Monthly Channel which you would like to get.  Since you are on the Semi-Annual Channel you will have to wait for a few months before this feature is made available to the Semi-Annual Channel.  But what if you do not want to wait that long?  The answer is, switch to the Monthly Channel.

Switch Channels

Below are the steps to switch channels:

  1. Identify the channel which you would like to switch to. Features and updates by channel are documented here.
  2. Launch Command Prompt as an administrator.
  3. Navigate to “C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ClickToRun\”
  4. Run the following command to change the desired channel, let’s say Monthly Channel Targeted “OfficeC2RClient.exe /changesetting Channel=Insiders” (When running in powershell the command will be “.\OfficeC2RClient.exe /changesetting Channel=Insiders”

or if you want to switch to the Montly channel:

“OfficeC2RClient.exe /changesetting Channel=Monthly”

Note – You can use this command to switch to any channel using the corresponding Channel keyword listed below:

Channel Keyword in CMD or ODT
  Monthly Channel (Targeted)   Channel=”Insiders” or Channel=”FirstReleaseCurrent“
  Monthly Channel   Channel=”Monthly” or Channel=”Current“
  Semi-annual Channel (Targeted)   Channel=”Targeted” or Channel=”FirstReleaseDeferred“
  Semi-annual Channel   Channel=”Broad” or Channel=”Deferred“

To start the switch Channel process, run “OfficeC2RClient.exe /update user” from the cmd prompt path “C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ClickToRun>” This should be followed by a series of windows which will take you through the process of downloading and installing updates for the new channel that you have switch to.

Note:
All credits go to Eric Bierens, this is just a shameless copy-past for personal usage.

CLI, Projects

Speed up Synology SHR Raid repair.

Rebuilding SHR arrays can take a long long time.
But we can solve this by the might SSH / CLI.

SSH into your DiskStation. To view the status of your rebuild:

$ cat /proc/mdstat
Personalities : [linear] [raid0] [raid1] [raid10] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] 
md2 : active raid5 sdd5[6] sda5[5] sde5[7] sdc5[2] sdb5[1]
      7795118592 blocks super 1.2 level 5, 64k chunk, algorithm 2 [5/4] [UUU_U]
      [=>...................]  recovery =  5.2% (103271424/1948779648) finish=672.9min speed=45708K/sec

Initially, the rebuild speed is 45708 Kb/sec (~45 Mb/sec), with an estimated completion time of 670 minutes, or 11 hours so so.

We can go faster!

RAID rebuilds are speed limited. The default minimum and maximum speeds are, in Kb/sec:

$ cat /proc/sys/dev/raid/speed_limit_max # maximum speed
200000
$ cat /proc/sys/dev/raid/speed_limit_min
1000

Let’s increase that minimum speed a touch:

$ sudo su
# echo 50000 > /proc/sys/dev/raid/speed_limit_min

And see if we’re going any faster:

# cat /proc/mdstat 
Personalities : [linear] [raid0] [raid1] [raid10] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] 
md2 : active raid5 sdd5[6] sda5[5] sde5[7] sdc5[2] sdb5[1]
      7795118592 blocks super 1.2 level 5, 64k chunk, algorithm 2 [5/4] [UUU_U]
      [=>...................]  recovery =  7.3% (142689152/1948779648) finish=543.4min speed=55388K/sec

Yeah, it’s a little faster – up to 55 Mb/sec with an estimated completion two hours sooner.

# echo 100000 > /proc/sys/dev/raid/speed_limit_min
# cat /proc/mdstat 
Personalities : [linear] [raid0] [raid1] [raid10] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] 
md2 : active raid5 sdd5[6] sda5[5] sde5[7] sdc5[2] sdb5[1]
      7795118592 blocks super 1.2 level 5, 64k chunk, algorithm 2 [5/4] [UUU_U]
      [=>...................]  recovery =  8.4% (163878932/1948779648) finish=356.4min speed=83448K/sec

I played around, and with a speed_limit_min value of 100000, we hit a bottleneck and max out at about 85 Mb/sec, but thats pretty much twice as fast as we were going. Not bad. (Note to self: return to default value when the rebuild is finish.

CLI, Linux, Projects

Colourfull CLI

The Bashrc file controls the options in your terminal.
In order to open that file enter the following command:

  • sudo nano ~/.bashrc

Look for the line and uncomment it:

#force_color_prompt=yes

to be:

  • force_color_prompt=yes

save then execute source ~/.bashrc

When you reconnect to your terminal, you should see some fancy colours.

2008R2, Homelab, Projects, Windows

Diskcleanup on 2008 R2

Have you ever found yourself missing the “disk cleanup”  tool to clean a server or of its much needed C:\ space. Wait no longer..

First stop could be, to install the Windows Desktop Experience feature, but this requires a reboot and will install also other application, you might not want..

So how about, if you could just copy 2 files and run the application.

 

Operating System Architecture File Location
Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit C:\Windows\winsxs\amd64_microsoft-windows-cleanmgr_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7600.16385_none_c9392808773cd7da\cleanmgr.exe
Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit C:\Windows\winsxs\amd64_microsoft-windows-cleanmgr.resources_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7600.16385_en-us_b9cb6194b257cc63\cleanmgr.exe.mui
Windows Server 2008 64-bit C:\Windows\winsxs\amd64_microsoft-windows-cleanmgr.resources_31bf3856ad364e35_6.0.6001.18000_en-us_b9f50b71510436f2\cleanmgr.exe.mui
Windows Server 2008 64-bit C:\Windows\winsxs\amd64_microsoft-windows-cleanmgr_31bf3856ad364e35_6.0.6001.18000_none_c962d1e515e94269\cleanmgr.exe.mui
Windows Server 2008 32-bit C:\Windows\winsxs\x86_microsoft-windows-cleanmgr.resources_31bf3856ad364e35_6.0.6001.18000_en-us_5dd66fed98a6c5bc\cleanmgr.exe.mui
Windows Server 2008 32-bit C:\Windows\winsxs\x86_microsoft-windows-cleanmgr_31bf3856ad364e35_6.0.6001.18000_none_6d4436615d8bd133\cleanmgr.exe

Once you’ve located the files move them to the following locations:

  1. Cleanmgr.exe should go in %systemroot%\System32.
  2. Cleanmgr.exe.mui should go in %systemroot%\System32\en-US.

You can now launch the Disk cleanup tool by running Cleanmgr.exe from the command prompt.

 

Sources:
Windows KB page