Reboot host in HA cluster

[texasjohn]

I have changed the service console memory to 800mb and have to restart

each of my four hosts.I understand that I need to put each of my host

in maintenance mode before each restart. Do I have to manually migrate

my VMs off or does that happen automatically once I go into maintenance

mode?

[aCrazyPenguin]

Hi there

For ESX lower than 3.5 - as long as you have DRS set to fully automated in the cluster, as soon as you tell the host to enter maintenance mode, it will handle all the migrations for you. If there are any manual or partial DRS settings - it will present a range of options for you to choose from.

For ESX 3.5 and above, maintenance mode will automatically migrate all VM's off your host.

Hope this helps.

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a CraZy PeNguIn

[dnetz]

Also good to know is that the host will not successfully enter maintenance mode until all VM's have been migrated off, so if there are any problems with the migrations or there are specific VM's where DRS is disabled (I do this for vCenter to always keep it on my first host), the maintenance task won't complete. If so, simply check what VM's are left on the host and what events they and the host have logged as to why they couldn't be migrated.

[Duncan Epping]

Always place a host in maintenance mode first when it is part of an HA cluster. It forces the HA system to re-elect a primary if the host which is undergoing maintenance was a primary host. for more info on HA check my blog

Duncan

VMware Communities User Moderator | VCP | VCDX

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