3.4 Accessing and Working with the Forge Management VM in the Appliance Host

Occasionally you might need to access the Forge Management VM and perform maintenance tasks as described here or when you are advised to do so by PlateSpin Support.

Use the vSphere Client software to access the Forge Management VM, including its OS interface and VM settings.

3.4.1 Downloading the vSphere Client Program

Download the client software from the appliance host and install it on a Windows workstation external to PlateSpin Forge.

To download the vSphere Client:

  1. Download the client software:

  2. Launch the downloaded installation program and follow the instructions to install the software.

3.4.2 Launching the vSphere Client and Accessing the Forge Management VM

To launch the vSphere Client:

  1. Clicking Start > Programs > VMWare > VMware vSphere | Virtual InfrastrucureClient.

    The vSphere Client login window is displayed.

  2. Specify your administrator-level credentials and log in, ignoring any certificate warnings.

    The vSphere Client program opens.

  3. In the inventory panel at the left, locate and select the PlateSpin Forge VM item. At the top of the right panel, click the Console tab.

    The Client’s console area displays the Forge Management VM’s Windows interface.

Use the console to work with the Management VM the same way as you would work with Windows on a physical machine.

To unlock the Management VM, click inside the console and press Ctrl+Alt+Insert.

To release the cursor for working outside the vSphere Client program, press Ctrl+Alt.

3.4.3 Starting and Shutting Down the Forge Management VM

Occasionally you might need to shut down and then restart the Forge Management VM, such as when you relocate the appliance.

To shut down and then restart the VM:

  1. Use the vSphere Client to access the Forge Management VM host. See Downloading the vSphere Client Program.

  2. Use the standard Windows procedure to shut down the VM (Start > Shut Down).

To restart the Management VM:

  1. In the inventory panel at the left, right-click the PlateSpin Forge Management VM item and select Power on.

3.4.4 Managing Forge Snapshots on the Appliance Host

Occasionally you might need to take a point-in-time snapshot of your management VM, such as when you upgrade Forge software or when carry out troubleshooting tasks. You might also need to remove snapshots (recovery points) to free storage space.

To manage snapshots of the Forge Management VM:

  1. Use the vSphere Client to access the appliance host. See Downloading the vSphere Client Program.

  2. In the inventory panel at the left, right-click the PlateSpin Forge Management VM item and select Snapshot > Take Snapshot.

  3. Type a name and a description for the snapshot, then click OK.

To revert the management VM to a previous state:

  1. In the inventory panel at the left, right-click the PlateSpin Forge Management VM item and select Snapshot > Snapshot Manager.

  2. In the tree representation of the VM states, select a snapshot, then click Go to.

To remove snapshots that represent recovery points:

  1. In the inventory panel at the left, right-click the PlateSpin Forge Management VM item and select Snapshot > Snapshot Manager.

  2. In the tree representation of the VM states, select a snapshot, then click Remove.

3.4.5 Manually Importing VMs into the Appliance Host’s Datastore

To manually import a VM into the appliance host’s datastore:

  1. At the production site, create a VM (ESX 3.5 and later) from your production workload (for example, by using PlateSpin Migrate) and copy the VM files from the ESX host’s datastore to portable media, such as a portable hard drive or a USB flash drive. Use the Datastore Browser of the client software to browse and locate the files.

  2. At the disaster recovery site, attach the media to a workstation that has network access to Forge and has the vSphere Client program installed. See Downloading the vSphere Client Program.

  3. Use the vSphere Client’s Datastore Browser to access the Forge datastore (Storage1) and upload the VM files from the temporary media. Use the uploaded VM to register it with the appliance host (right-click > Add to Inventory).

  4. Refresh the PlateSpin Forge inventory (in the PlateSpin Forge Web Client, click Settings > Containers, then click adjacent to the appliance host).

HINT:You might want to consider this option when you want your failover workload to be created differentially (see Initial Replication Method (Full and Incremental)).

3.4.6 Guidelines for Applying Security Updates to the PlateSpin Forge Management VM

To apply security patches to the Forge Management VM:

  1. During a maintenance window, access the Forge Management VM by using the VMware vSphere Client program. See Downloading the vSphere Client Program.

  2. From within the Forge Management VM’s Windows interface, check for security updates from Microsoft.

  3. Use the PlateSpin Forge Web Client to put PlateSpin Forge into maintenance mode by pausing all replication schedules and ensuring that any incomplete replications are complete.

  4. Take a snapshot of the Forge Management VM. See Managing Forge Snapshots on the Appliance Host.

  5. Download and install the required security patches. When the installation finishes, reboot the Forge Management VM.

  6. Use the PlateSpin Forge Web Client to resume replications paused in Step 3 and verify that replications are working properly.

  7. Remove the snapshot of the Forge Management VM that you took in Step 4. See Managing Forge Snapshots on the Appliance Host.