Q: I have filled out the download request form but have not gotten an email for the download code.
A: Some times an invalid email address might have been entered please try to go back and re-fill out the form. Also, if this does not work you can email sales@vizioncore.com your contact information and requested product. Then they will send you out a direct link to the install of the application you’re requesting.

Q: Where should I install esxRanger?
A: “Out of the Box” if your destination is Windows® then esxRanger should be run on the Windows machine with all the storage. If sending to a Linux destination then you can run esxRanger on any central Windows machine in your network.

Q: After the installation of esxRanger I can not get past the add server window, esxRanger just hangs.
A: Make sure your using the ROOT user for the ESX Server. If the ROOT user is not allowed to SSH please contact support@vizioncore.com for information on how to use a non–root user. If you are using the Root user then, make sure the host name or IP address you are using to configure the server is ping-able from your machine running esxRanger.
If the SSH port has been changed, you can tell esxRanger to use a different port for SSH by modifying this file \program files\vizioncore\esx ranger cli\esxRangerCLI.exe.config. Change 22 in this line <add key="SSHPort" value="22"/> to reflect your new port.

Q: I have configured my ESX Servers in esxRanger, but I can not see any VMs.
A: There are a few things that might cause this issue.
1. Please disable any local firewall software or antivirus then try again.
2. If that does not help then make sure your ESX Server is taking requests on port 902. To test 902 on the ESX Server open a command prompt on Windows, then type in “telnet <esxServer> 902”.The telnet session should reply something like this “220 VMware Authentication Daemon Version 1.10: SSL required”.
3. This also can be caused by Linux permissions make sure you are using the Root user if not then you will have to give permission to the VMX files to the non –root user or add the non-root user to the root group.
4. If the server port 902 has been changed to a different port you can tell esxRanger to use this new port by modifying this file \program files\vizioncore\esx ranger cli\esxRangerCLI.exe.config. Change 902 in this line <add key="VMComPort" value="902"/> to reflect your new port.
5. This problem can also be caused by lack of disk space on the console OS. To check this SSH to the ESX Server and type this command df –lh make sure none of the systems show 99% or 100% used. Also, take note that if the df –lh hangs this can also could cause a problem. To fix a df –lh commands that hangs, you might have to remove an invalid mount point.
6. There also could be an issue with httpd on the ESX Server you should also try and restart this service. SSH to the ESX Server and type this command  /etc/rc.d/init.d/httpd.vmware restart You can also verify that VMware® can get the state on each VM. SSH to the ESX Server and use this command vmware-cmd -l | awk '{cfg = $_} {command = "vmware-cmd \"" $cfg "\" getstate"} {print cfg} {system(command)}' if any VMs come back stuck, open the remote console to that VM and answer the pending question. If any come back with any error it is suggested that you remove that VM while keeping the disk files and setup a new VM pointing to the existing disk files.

Q: When doing a backup I got an error not enough free space but I have more then 6GB free.
A. When performing a backup we will check for free space that matches the size of the disk you are backing up. i.e. if you have a VM with a 50 GB disk file and you only have 20GB free in the VMFS the backup will fail. This option does have an override by using –nospacecheck, warning USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. If the disk file has around 40GB of data in it the compressed file might come out to be 20GB and fill your VMFS because you only had 20GB free to start with. This override should not be used for scheduling backups, only for backups you are going to monitor. If you are sending to a Linux destination then this space is only required on the destination file system.

           As of May 15 esxRanger Basic, esxRanger SE and vRanger Pro™ do not need free space on the esx host to created the backup (TGZ). esxRanger now create the TGZ directly to the windows destination you have chosen during your backup.

Q. When I run an esxRanger backup I get the following error: Not enough disk space free on VMFS volumes to continue. 6 GB is required.
A. This is a message that indicates you do not have at least 6 GB free in the VMFS where the disk files exist. This is required for esxRanger do any kind of “HOT BACKUP” of a VM; because we work with REDO logs during the backup process we can not take a chance of filling up your VMFS.

Q: When should I run esxRanger backups?
A: We recommend you run esxRanger on the weekends maybe even rotating weekends for sets of ESX Servers. Because most clients have nightly backups of their data and the OS it self doesn’t change very much form week to week. So, if you had a week or two old SNAP shot of an exchange server most likely the only thing that might have changed would have been the data from day to day. You would then restore your exchange server, once the restore is complete you can then replace the exchange data with current data from tape.

Q. I ran a Backup and it took an extremely long time what is wrong?
A. This problem can occur when there is a duplex problem, make sure your ESX Server console network card is connected at full duplex. You should have the switch hard coded to Full duplex and the console network card hard coded at Full duplex to match.

Q: What compression ratio should I use with esxRanger?
A: The default level that esxRanger uses is 6, this is the best level to start with without noticeably impacting the ESX Server. For the fastest backups use a compression ratio of 1, this will not increases too much size to the backups.