Stage Manager 1.0 Release Notes

• Service Lifecycle Visualization
  
  
  • Provides a simple user interface.
  • Organizes multimachine configurations by the IT service they support.
  • Breaks services down into stages of the service lifecycle.
  • Moves service configurations across the lifecycle (to and from production).
  • Associates resource pools from VirtualCenter with services and stages.
  • Adds and removes stages and associates resources dynamically.
  • Creates services quickly from global service templates.
  • Adjusts stage resources to emulate business conditions (for example, high load, constrained resources, and failed load balancers).
• Resource Management
  
  
  • Integrates with VirtualCenter to allow for the full benefits of VMware Infrastructure 3.
  • Selects storage formats dynamically for performance or cost savings. Stage Manager supports standard and linked clones.
  • Sets expiration dates for unused configurations to be removed from storage or hidden from users.
  • Automates the issuing and tracking of IP addresses from a central repository.
• Multimachine Configurations
  
  
  • Creates service configurations in seconds using virtual machine templates. There is no limit on virtual machine count and no manual adjustments required.
  • Imports existing virtual machines in VirtualCenter to different service stages.
  • Displays all virtual machine consoles side-by-side in a configuration.
  • Acts on virtual machines in a configuration as a unit. You can suspend, multi-snapshot, revert to, shut down, turn on, turn off, reset, deploy, undeploy, clone, archive, and access properties of virtual machines.
  • Shares a library of virtual machine templates across all services while keeping services isolated from each other.
  • Transfers configurations between services.
  • Sets up virtual machines in a configuration to boot in a controlled sequence.
• Service Archive
  
  
  • Quickly archives service configurations for regulatory and IT process compliance.
  • Quickly restores or replicates archived configurations to respond to requests for information or regulation.
  • Exports and imports configurations for third-tier archival storage.
• Deployment
  
  
  • Provides browser-initiated deployment.
  • Automates load balancing of virtual machines deployed on ESX Server hosts.
  • Provides "fenced" networking for side-by-side execution of cloned configurations.
  • Sets lease times to automatically undeploy expired configurations.
  • Leverages VMware DRS for optimum virtual machine placement across resource clusters.
• Templates for Virtual Machines
  
  
  • Offers cloning and modification of existing templates to create new templates.
  • Imports pre-existing virtual machines from disk or VirtualCenter for use as templates.
  • Leverages VMware Converter to bring physical systems into the service lifecycle.
  • Quickly creates virtual machines from templates with a utility that customizes the IP address, machine name, security identifier (SID), and more.
  • Automatically assigns MAC and IP addresses.
• Media Library
  
  
  • Tags media with descriptive attributes.
  • Makes media files available to virtual machines.
  • Serves as a central repository for application and operating system installation media.
• Monitoring Stage Manager
  
  
  • Provides a comprehensive event and job log viewer.
  • Displays CPU and memory resource consumption.
  • Displays resources consumed on a per-service and per-stage basis.
• Administration and Security
  
  
  • Grants user permissions on a per-service and per-stage basis.
  • Provides out-of-the-box support for LDAP.
  • Allows for administrative role assignment to multiple users.
  • Allows for self-managed user preferences.
• Installation
  
  
  • Provides standard Windows setup.exe installer for all components.
  • Attaches to VirtualCenter for deployment and computing resources.
  • Prepares ESX Server hosts for use by Stage Manager.
  • Automates the expansion of the resource pool by preparing additional hosts.

Requirements

Known Issues

Review the known issues for this release.

• Sample Template Does Not Work After Upgrading from Beta 1
  When you upgrade to the Beta 2 (Build 1471), you cannot publish the sample template in Stage Manager under these conditions:
  
  
  • A user unpublishes the sample template at the time of the upgrade.
  • A user unpublishes the sample template after the upgrade.
  • A user clones the sample template after the upgrade.
  
  These conditions generate a message that the template does not have the required version of VMware Tools. Even if you deploy the template, you cannot install VMware Tools and use the guest customization feature of Stage Manager.
  
  To address this message
  1. In the left pane, click Settings.
  2. In the Guest Customization tab, clear the Block Publishing of Templates Without VMware Tools Version 7299 or Higher check box.
  3. Publish the template and click OK on the warning message.
  4. Navigate back to the Guest Customization tab and select the Block Publishing of Templates Without VMware Tools Version 7299 or Higher check box.
  
  
  
• Permission Settings of ASPNET and IIS_WPG User Groups Block the Stage Manager Installation or Upgrade
  If the ASPNET or IIS_WPG user groups do not have permissions to modify the Temporary ASP.NET Files folder, this message appears:
  
  The user groups ASPNET or IIS_WPG do not have permissions to modify the 'Temporary ASP.NET Files' folder. See the install log, 'VMWPreReqCheck.log' located on the root drive of this server for more information.
  
  To address this permissions error
  1. Run this command:
     
     C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\aspnet_regiis.exe -iru
  2. Try to install or upgrade Stage Manager again.
  
  
  
• Antivirus Software Can Block SMTP Email Alerts from Stage Manager
  Antivirus software can generate errors similar to this one:
  
  The SMTP settings are not properly configured. Failed to send email: The message could not be sent to the SMTP server. The transport error code was 0x800ccc15. The server response was not available.
  
  To address the errors, use one of these options:
  • Disable the antivirus software from blocking outgoing email.
  • Install a mail server on the same system as the one that Stage Manager Server runs on. Ensure Stage Manager sends email through the local SMTP server.
  
  
  
• Incorrect Context View in the Virtual Machine Datastore Usage Page Appears When Using Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration
  If you enable Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration, and Stage Manager exists resides in the Internet zone, the Context view is incorrect in the Virtual Machine Datastore Usage page.
  
  To fix the Context view
  1. Open Internet Explorer.
  2. In the Tools menu, choose Internet Options.
  3. In the Security tab, click either the Local intranet or Trusted sites icons.
  4. Click the Sites button to add the domain name or IP address with which you access Stage Manager.
  
  
  
• Host Configuration in VirtualCenter Requires Prior Host Unpreparation in Stage Manager
  Any change of host configuration in VirtualCenter must be preceded by host unpreparation in Stage Manager. This includes, but is not limited to, maintenance mode, lockdown mode, distributed power management standby mode, and any change of compute resource association (for example, the movement of a host from one cluster to another).
  
  See the VMware Stage Manager User's Guide for instructions on unpreparing a host.



• Promoting and Demoting Configurations Between Stages Requires Compatible Hosts
  

  When promoting and demoting configurations between stages, the source and destination compute resources must be comprised entirely of compatible hosts.
  
  Compatibility includes CPU, datastore, and network compatibility.




• Multiple Stage Manager Server Systems Cannot Access the Same VirtualCenter Datacenter
  You cannot have two Stage Manager Server systems access the same VirtualCenter datacenter.



• Inaccurate Error Message Appears For Virtual Machines Imported from VirtualCenter
  When you deploy a configuration containing at least one virtual machine imported from VirtualCenter, an inaccurate error message might appear stating the NIC of the virtual machine was manipulated.



• Import and Export Operations Take Excessive Time and Frequently Time Out
  If import and export operations take extended periods of time and frequently time out, you need to tune the process_seconds_long value in /etc/stagemanager/agentconf.xml for every server and restart the Stage Manager agent.
  
  To restart the agent, enter these commands as root from the ESX Server shell:
  
  service lm-agent stop
  service lm-agent start
  
  The default value is 7200 (two hours). If an import or export operation takes longer than two hours, increase this timeout value.

Resolved Issues

These issues are resolved:

• Changing Authentication Credentials for Communication with VirtualCenter Requires Restart of VSLA Monitor Service
  Changing the authentication credentials for communication with VirtualCenter required you to restart the VSLA Monitor service on the Stage Manager Server system.



• Deletion of Folder in VirtualCenter Generated by Stage Manager Breaks Stage Manager
  Deleting the folder in VirtualCenter that the Stage Manager installation generated broke the Stage Manager environment.



• Inaccurate Error Message Appears During Partial Deployment of Configurations
  Partial deployment of configurations could generate inaccurate reports of inconsistent state until the entire configuration was undeployed and redeployed.