[SOLVED] System Really Slow

Issues related to hardware problems
joey3002
Posts: 11
Joined: 2012/01/31 19:12:50

Re: System Really Slow

Post by joey3002 » 2012/02/01 16:45:21

Here is a screenshot of top

[img]http://i.imgur.com/0Xlcm.png[/img]
[Moderator edit: Convert [i]img[/i] tags to lower case.]

http://i.imgur.com/0Xlcm.png

milosb
Posts: 661
Joined: 2009/01/18 00:39:15
Location: 44 49′14″N 20 27′44″E

Re: System Really Slow

Post by milosb » 2012/02/01 19:38:14

[quote]
joey3002 wrote:
A coworker wrote me:
...
There should be processes running on the guest and I don't see them.
[/quote]
Should there really be a process running on the host? I doubt that.
Don't know what it's supposed to look like on the product you're using, but, no such thing exists on VMs running withing VMware Workstation.

Instead, there is a service called [b]vmware-tools[/b] whose most probable purpose is loading driver modules for the virtual devices into the kernel. You can check if the modules are loaded by running:
[code]
[root@host ~]# lsmod|grep -E '^vm'
[/code]
If you get an output similar to the following:
[code]
vmblock 53956 3
vmci 75912 1 vsock
vmmemctl 50344 0
vmhgfs 104544 0
[/code]
then you have VMware tools installed, otherwise, you most likely don't - or the VMware-tools service failed to start.

To check the latter, run:
[code]
[root@host ~]# service vmware-tools status
[/code]
where the service name may as well not be as it states above, but then a similarly named script should exist in /etc/init.d.


Regards,

joey3002
Posts: 11
Joined: 2012/01/31 19:12:50

Re: System Really Slow

Post by joey3002 » 2012/02/01 20:06:44

when i do
[code] lsmod|grep -E '^vm'[/code]

nothing is found.. however,

[code]
service vmware-tools status

vmtoolsd is running

[/code]

so it seems to be running..

joey3002
Posts: 11
Joined: 2012/01/31 19:12:50

Re: System Really Slow

Post by joey3002 » 2012/02/02 14:04:22

Today when I logged in, I saw this:

[img]http://i.imgur.com/ZeKjw.png[/img]

milosb
Posts: 661
Joined: 2009/01/18 00:39:15
Location: 44 49′14″N 20 27′44″E

Re: System Really Slow

Post by milosb » 2012/02/02 20:28:47

[quote]
joey3002 wrote:
Today when I logged in, I saw this:
[/quote]
Well, this doesn't mean anything to me... however, not having the above modules loaded, most likely means that even though the vmware-tools service seems to be running - it didn't actually do it's job - [b]load the modules.[/b]

The reason for this is most likely the issue [b]Pschaff[/b] pointed out in his post: "Is there any particular reason you're running CentOS-Plus kernel?" Besides, your kernel seems fairly recent (although I don't use CentOS Plus kernels) - and here's my suspicion on what might have happened:
[i]
The system was running fine until the reboot, but, sometime before the reboot - a new kernel was installed and this naturally required reinstalling VMWare tools on your VM. That is, although the [b]vmware-tools[/b] service starts, it fails to load the modules - and now, you have to reinstall the vmware-tools, or try rebooting your VM with the kernel previously running.[/i]


Regards,

joey3002
Posts: 11
Joined: 2012/01/31 19:12:50

Re: System Really Slow

Post by joey3002 » 2012/02/07 15:24:50

ok, hoping this will be the end of this issue. I am planning on doing the vmware tool install to make sure all is right. I think you guys are correct, before I took over, the system was updated but the tools were not reinstalled.

So... this is the guide I am following to reinstall vmware tools:
http://www.thoughtpolice.co.uk/vmware/howto/centos-5-vmware-tools-install.html

unless anyone can give me more tips.. I would REALLY appreciate it..

thanks

milosb
Posts: 661
Joined: 2009/01/18 00:39:15
Location: 44 49′14″N 20 27′44″E

Re: System Really Slow

Post by milosb » 2012/02/07 22:06:39

[quote]
joey3002 wrote:
So... this is the guide I am following to reinstall vmware tools:
http://www.thoughtpolice.co.uk/vmware/howto/centos-5-vmware-tools-install.html

unless anyone can give me more tips.. I would REALLY appreciate it..[/quote]
I can't think of any more tips one could give you at this point. Besides, reinstalling VMWare tools should be a routine task per se, so I don't think you'll need any kind of guide to do that.

Anyway, please report back when the tools are reinstalled.

joey3002
Posts: 11
Joined: 2012/01/31 19:12:50

Re: System Really Slow

Post by joey3002 » 2012/02/08 13:01:35

I did the upgrade, I can now see the correct info for: lsmod|grep -E '^vm'

However, its still slow. any other things I could look at or run for you guys to assist?

thanks

pschaff
Retired Moderator
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Contact:

Re: System Really Slow

Post by pschaff » 2012/02/08 14:46:12

I still can't see where you said what the host OS is. Is the host short on memory? Heavily loaded? Any swapping going on?

joey3002
Posts: 11
Joined: 2012/01/31 19:12:50

Re: System Really Slow

Post by joey3002 » 2012/02/13 13:43:36

Issue resolved.
I did 1 more reboot last week and that seemed to do the trick. But the MAIN issue was the vmware tools not being re-installed after the last admin upgraded the kernel.

Thanks for all your help.. I could not have fixed this without you.

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