Archives des Community Edition EN

Published: 16 September 2026

Written by Julien D.

No comments

State of the Lab: my Nutanix homelab before the rebuild

In September 2024, I published an article about building a homelab on Nutanix CE in which I wrote that the first question to answer was the one about usage: throwaway virtual machines to build up skills, or services for yourself and your family? I answered “tests”, and I built my whole infrastructure around that answer.

Two years later, the answer has changed and the infrastructure has not moved an inch. Before starting the work, here is what my Nutanix homelab looked like on 1 July 2026.

My Nutanix homelab as of 1 July 2026

On that date, everything running at home sat on three machines. The network first, installed four years ago when the house was built and entirely Ubiquiti: a Dream Machine Pro, a USW Pro 24 PoE switch and a few Flex units spread across the rooms, all connected to a Freebox Delta on 10 Gb/s fibre.

Home network topology: Freebox Delta, Dream Machine Pro and USW Pro 24 PoE, with the Nutanix CE cluster and Mainsail behind the garage switch, Home Assistant on the USW 24 and AdGuard in a Freebox VM

The cluster next, an Intel S2600WTTR chassis installed in the garage because it is not allowed inside the house, on sliding rails screwed straight into the joists for lack of a proper rack, a single node running Nutanix CE 2.1, with two or three test virtual machines on it. I described its hardware configuration back then, and I invite you to read my article on the subject.

The Intel S2600WTTR chassis running my Nutanix CE cluster, mounted on rails under the timber structure of the garage

I recovered this 2016 server from a previous job. It had suffered a hardware failure and the administration did not want to pay for the repair, given its age and the infrastructure replacement already under way towards brand new Nutanix clusters. So I took it out and brought it back to life at my own expense.

Every other hardware decision follows from that starting point. Only one power supply connected out of two, on purpose, because nothing critical runs on it and a failure means at worst a cluster down for a weekend, then partial disk redundancy which I already accepted back then as a compromise. On sizing, however, I never hit the slightest limit: 384 GB of RAM, four 800 GB SAS SSDs and six 10k drives for two or three test virtual machines, headroom that served no purpose.

And that is all, or nearly. Two services live outside the cluster: Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi, which already collects the consumption of the Meross plug connected to the server and the output of my photovoltaic installation, and AdGuard on a virtual machine hosted by the Freebox. DNS resolution for the entire house therefore relied on my ISP’s box: one slightly long reboot, one change of subscription, and nothing resolves any more.

What the network audit showed

Before touching the cluster, I went through the UniFi configuration in detail, on a version older than UniFi OS 5.1.33. The result is less flattering than the hardware.

The native network is 192.168.2.0/24 and carries VLAN ID 1 in the controller, a gap between naming and reality that stings as soon as you read your own configuration again six months later. Then four SSIDs, all on 2.4 GHz and all on WPA2, one of them hidden for the video surveillance, which has never protected anyone and mostly makes life harder for the devices that have to associate with it. The Tapo cameras, precisely, sit on Wi-Fi on that same native network: the devices I have the fewest guarantees about share the segment with everything else.

Network list in the UniFi controller: the LAN on 192.168.2.0/24 carries VLAN ID 1, and three of the four other VLANs have never handed out a single DHCP lease

The inventory turned up the rest. Four VLANs declared next to the native one, ALARM on 192.168.90.0/29, VIDEO on 192.168.100.0/24, NTNX on 192.168.84.0/24 and IOT on 192.168.99.0/24, three of which have never handed out a single DHCP lease. Meanwhile twenty-five devices share the LAN, cameras included, while the VIDEO VLAN meant for them has been sitting there empty since day one.

That is what happens when you draw a segmentation on installation day and never read it again afterwards.

So there is no segmentation, only declared VLANs. And the reason is the same as for the cluster: my time went elsewhere.

What a Nutanix homelab costs when you only power it on demand

In 2024, I plugged a Meross smart plug into the cluster and fed it into Home Assistant to know exactly what this machine was costing me. Around 5,850 Wh per day with the cluster powered on, which projects to 2,138.9 kWh over a full year and close to 535 euros at the regulated tariff, assuming the server is on every single day of the year.

Daily consumption of the cluster measured in Home Assistant from 18 August to 17 September 2024: a low plateau with the server off, then days close to 5,850 Wh from 10 September onwards

The number I was not expecting is the other one: with the server switched off, it still draws between 300 and 400 Wh per day, only to keep the IPMI and the power supplies alive. Over a year that is 110 to 146 kWh and around thirty euros for a machine that does nothing. The details of the measurement are in the article I wrote on the subject.

The rule imposed itself: the cluster only powers on for tests and for writing articles. And that is exactly what blocks everything else, since an infrastructure you boot on the evening you need it cannot host any service that has to answer around the clock, which rules out pretty much everything a house expects from a server.

I left things as they were for two years because I had other projects on my plate.

What did not exist

On 1 July 2026, I had no internal DNS, no reverse proxy, no monitoring, no secrets management, and no backup system at all.

Each of those gaps is painless as long as the virtual machines are disposable. You reach a VM by its IP address because you only have three of them, you monitor nothing because an outage bothers nobody, and you do not back up what you plan to destroy at the end of the test.

Over time my needs changed, and today I want to run local applications that the whole family will use. The five gaps then show up all at once, because none of them is visible until something has to survive a reboot.

The only addition in two years: Mainsail

Between my 2024 article and today, one single thing has moved. In December 2025, I installed Klipper and Mainsail to drive my 3D printer, on a Raspberry Pi sitting next to it.

I did not even consider another option. AHV does not do USB passthrough, the Nutanix KB is clear on that, and the cluster spends most of its time powered off anyway. There is one avenue I am keeping for the rebuild, VirtualHere, which exposes a USB device over the network and presents it to a virtual machine without any hardware passthrough. I have not tested it yet.

The electricity bill ended up dictating the architecture, and for two years it produced the same decision every time a new need came up.

So there is the inventory. A test cluster switched off almost all the time, two Raspberry Pi boards hosting applications and an ISP box acting as a DNS server. It works, and it cannot carry anything more.

That is where the work starts. I need a base that stays on and stays frugal, a DNS and a reverse proxy that belong to me, verified backups, monitoring, somewhere to keep secrets… and a Nutanix cluster that goes back to what it is good at: breaking things. That is what I will be writing about in the articles to come.

Published: 31 August 2026

Written by Julien D.

No comments

Categories: Community Edition EN, Nutanix EN

Nutanix Community Edition reinstallation issue

Reinstalling a Nutanix Community Edition node on hardware that already hosted an AHV. The Phoenix installer boots, detects the hardware, then halts on a Python traceback:

FATAL An exception was raised: Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/root/phoenix/./phoenix", line 155, in <module>
    main()
  ...
  File "/root/phoenix/sysUtil.py", line 2086, in mount_ahv_lvm_volumes
    shell_cmd(['mount', '-t ext4', dev, target + mntpnt])
Exception: Failed command: [mount -t ext4 /dev/mapper/ahv-varlog /mnt/stage/var/log]
with error: [mount: /mnt/stage/var/log: special device /dev/mapper/ahv-varlog does not exist.]

The message seems perfectly accurate, and that is what makes it misleading: the device does not exist. The real question is why Phoenix is looking for it.

Understanding Why the Nutanix Installer Crashes

The call stack tells the whole story, provided you read it from bottom to top:

get_params → determine_actions → get_hyp_state
get_hyp_state → customize_kvm.get_state → __mount_kvm_partition → mount_ahv_lvm_volumes

Phoenix does not crash during the installation. It crashes beforehand, during the detection phase, when it tries to determine which actions to offer. It found an existing hypervisor on the disk, so it switched to its customize path (the one that updates an AHV in place rather than installing a fresh one), and this path requires mounting the volumes of the existing installation.

The preceding log lines confirm this reasoning:

INFO Calling dmsetup remove /dev/mapper/ahvstorage-varlogaudit
INFO Calling dmsetup remove /dev/mapper/ahvstorage-varlog
INFO LVM volume group ahv detected
INFO Found block device entry /dev/mapper/ahv-root, calling vgchange -an ahv

Two distinct volume groups appear: ahv and ahvstorage. An lvs command from the rescue shell confirms the layout:

LV	VG	Size
home	ahv	200 MB
root	ahv	6.84 GB
tmp	ahv	1.95 GB
var	ahv	2.93 GB
varlog	ahvstorage	39.06 GB
varlogaudit	ahvstorage	1000 MB

There is the discrepancy. On the disk, varlog lives in the ahvstorage VG. The Phoenix ISO, however, is looking for /dev/mapper/ahv-varlog, meaning varlog inside the ahv VG. It is applying an LVM schema that does not match what is present on the machine.

The most likely explanation is a generational gap: the AHV layout evolved toward a separate storage VG, and the media used for the reinstallation expects the older layout. As a result, Phoenix recognizes the existing installation well enough to want to reuse it, but not well enough to know how to mount it.

The Solution: Wiping the System Disk Clean

Since the blockage stems entirely from the detection of a pre-existing installation, the solution is to ensure there is nothing left to detect.

Phoenix leaves a root shell accessible after the failure. We start by mapping the layout before destroying it:

lsblk
pvs
vgs
lvs

In my case, there were two PVs on a single disk: /dev/sda3 for ahv, and /dev/sda5 for ahvstorage.

Next, we deactivate and remove the VGs:

vgchange -an ahvstorage
vgremove -f ahvstorage

ahvstorage disappears without resistance. ahv, however, is stubborn:

Logical volume ahv/root contains a filesystem in use.
Can't deactivate volume group "ahv" with 2 open logical volume(s)

The Second Problem: Volumes Left Mounted

This message is the real turning point of the procedure, and the lvs output provides the key:

root  ahv  -wi-ao----
var   ahv  -wi-ao----

The o attribute means open. These two logical volumes are mounted. They are the “2 open logical volume(s)” from the error message, and this is what subsequently causes the whole chain to fail:

pvremove -ff -y /dev/sda3
  Can't open /dev/sda3 exclusively. Mounted filesystem?
  Cannot use /dev/sda3: device has a signature

wipefs -a /dev/sda
  wipefs: error: /dev/sda: probing initialization failed: Device or resource busy

The cause is simple: Phoenix had mounted root and var under /mnt/stage before crashing on varlog, and it unmounted nothing upon exiting. The failure left the disk in an intermediate state.

Therefore, unmounting must be done before anything else:

findmnt -R /mnt/stage
umount -R /mnt/stage

If a process is still holding the partition:

fuser -vm /mnt/stage
fuser -km /mnt/stage

Verify that the LVs are properly closed; the attribute should be -wi-a-----, without the o:

lvs

And only then, proceed with the complete wipe:

vgchange -an ahv
vgremove -f ahv
pvremove -ff -y /dev/sda3
wipefs -a /dev/sda
sgdisk --zap-all /dev/sda
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=1M count=100 conv=fsync

The sgdisk --zap-all is not decorative. A GPT table has a backup copy at the end of the disk, which the dd on the first 100 megabytes leaves perfectly intact. This is why volume groups often “come back” after a wipe you thought was complete.

If the CVM data disks also hold remnants, apply the same treatment to them: run wipefs -a then sgdisk --zap-all on each.

Reboot, restart the installer, and Phoenix will no longer detect anything: it will offer a fresh installation.

My Takeaways from this Reinstallation

An accurate error message can point to the wrong problem:

“ahv-varlog does not exist” is literally true and completely beside the point. The problem is not the missing volume; it is that the installer is applying a schema that doesn’t match the disk. Without reading the call stack, you set out looking for a missing volume instead of realizing you are in the wrong branch of the program.

An installer failure leaves state behind:

Phoenix crashed after mounting two volumes, and these mounts survived its termination. All the subsequent sequence failures (pvremove, wipefs) stemmed directly from this. Before fighting against a “Device or resource busy” error, you must find out what is holding the device.

An explicitly destructible cluster changes the nature of the problem:

This procedure is brutal: it wipes everything. It is only acceptable because this node belongs to an environment designated as disposable, on which no irreplaceable data depends. Deciding in advance which cluster is disposable does not change the failure itself, but it completely changes the amount of time spent solving it.

Published: 3 April 2025

Written by Julien D.

No comments

Categories: Community Edition EN, Nutanix AHV EN, Nutanix EN

This is a problem many people encounter when first deploying a virtual machine on Microsoft Windows: storage detection.

I’ll show you how to deploy a Windows virtual machine on Nutanix AHV.

Prerequisites

To begin, download the VirtIO ISO image from the Nutanix Support website (registration required): https://portal.nutanix.com/page/downloads?product=ahv

Remember to select “VirtIO” from the drop-down menu at the top of the page, then download the “Nutanix VirtIO for Windows (iso)” version:

Downloading Nutanix VirtIO for Windows from the Nutanix portal

Once the ISO image is downloaded, you need to transfer it to the cluster.

Now let’s move on to deploying the virtual machine.

Creating the virtual machine under Prism Element

On the virtual machine management page, click “Create VM” in the top right corner:

In the window that appears, there are a number of fields to fill in:

In order:

Virtual machine name
Time zone
Amount of vCPUs
Amount of RAM

Next, you need to add one or more disks:

Adding a disk to the VM in Prism Element

For each type of disk you want to add, you will need to select the appropriate options:

In the case of our VM, we’ll add:

1 40GB disk for the operating system
1 CD-ROM with the Windows ISO
1 CD-ROM with the VirtIO ISO

Adding a CD-ROM with the Nutanix-VirtIO-1.2.3.iso image

You should have 3 disks at this point:

Adding a network adapter is the last step before finalizing the creation of the virtual machine:

If you’re unsure how to add new networks to your cluster, I recommend reading my article on the subject: Nutanix AHV – Add subnet to your cluster

The machine is now created, and you can proceed with its deployment.

Creating the Virtual Machine in Prism Central

To create the VM in Prism Central, go to the “Infrastructure > Compute > VMs” menu:

Then click on “Create VM” to access the VM creation menu:

The fields to be filled in remain generally similar to those you can find under Prism Element, although organized slightly differently:

And spread over several tabs:

Since the process is generally identical, I won’t go into detail about all the steps. One notable difference: the ability to assign one or more categories to our VM upon creation:

Assigning categories to the VM in Prism Central

The last tab allows you to check all the information that we have just configured:

VM summary before creation in Prism Central

Deploying the Virtual Machine

To deploy the virtual machine, boot it and launch the console. The first step is to choose the language:

Then click on “Install now”:

Then select the version you want to install:

Accept the license agreement:

Now click on “Custom…”:

Choosing the Windows custom installation

Damn! The hard drive you configured when creating the virtual machine is not showing up… Click “Load a driver” to fix this problem:

No disk detected and the Load driver button

Click on “Browse”:

Now navigate to the directory corresponding to the version of Windows you are deploying, in my case Windows Server 2022:

VirtIO driver folder for Windows Server 2022

Select all drivers from the list and click “Next”:

Once the driver installation is complete, the disk finally appears:

Disk detected after installing the VirtIO drivers

The installation is launched, all you have to do is wait:

Your virtual machine is deployed!

Published: 30 September 2024

Written by Julien D.

4 Comments

Categories: Community Edition EN, Nutanix EN

Since not everyone is lucky enough to have clusters on which to do their tests in the company, creating your homelab to be able to test and manipulate or even host services can be a serious alternative. But it is never an easy thing and it can often be expensive…

What use?

Having your own homelab under Nutanix CE is one thing, having the use of it is another. The first question you must ask yourself is: a homelab under what to do?

Is the purpose of your cluster to carry out tests with ephemeral virtual machines to improve your skills and discover new technologies? Or to host services for you, your family and other people? Will you need to back it up? Or to have redundancy? Do you have a lot or on the contrary little space to host it?

These are all questions to ask yourself in advance. It is obvious that depending on the answers to all these questions, the architecture and sizing of your homelab will not be the same. Another element to take into account: the electricity consumption which can represent a significant operating cost.

For my part, the main interest of having my homelab under Nutanix is to be able to test new things and to improve my skills on a technology that I particularly like.

Sizing your homelab

Depending on the answers you have given to the various questions concerning the intended use of your homelab, you should start to have an idea of what architecture and sizing you need.

In order to give a little more substance to the sizing part, it is important to take a look at the prerequisites necessary for installing a 1-node cluster under Nutanix CE 2.1:

a processor with at least 4 cores and embedded virtualization technology
32Gb of RAM (64Gb recommended)
a 1Gb network card
1 disk of at least 32Gb for the hypervisor
2 disks for the data

If you plan to set up a cluster with several nodes, be aware that each node in the same cluster will have to be similar in terms of configuration.

Obviously, the more virtual machines you want to host or features you want to activate on Nutanix, the more resources you will need, thus increasing costs.

Setting up your homelab

Option 1: recovery

An often forgotten option for setting up your homelab is the recovery of old hardware to create a new infrastructure under Nutanix CE. Indeed, it often happens that companies get rid of their old equipment by simply throwing it away or reselling it at a low price.

This is often an ideal opportunity to recover an old server capable of running Nutanix CE 2.1, even if it means transforming several servers into a single, somewhat muscular one.

For my part, this is the option I chose for my Nutanix CE 2.1 cluster because I was lucky enough to be in this situation during one of my previous professional experiences.

Option 2: used servers

If the company has decided to resell its old equipment to brokers, you can find these servers on sales sites specializing in reconditioning.

There are plenty of them on the Internet, with quite disparate stocks and prices, I am thinking in particular of:

These sites allow you to build some pretty edgy configurations for a homelab at often reasonable prices. For example, a SuperMicro chassis can be negotiated for less than 600 euros:

Refurbished SuperMicro CSE-116 X10SRW-F server

On the configuration side, we will find:

an Intel Xeon E5-2697A 16-core processor @ 2.60GHz
128Gb of RAM
4 512Gb SDD
onboard RJ45 network ports
a dual power supply

SuperMicro server configuration at 484 euros excluding tax

The only constraint will be to add a SATA disk of about 64Gb to install the hypervisor (count about 40 euros) if you do not want to use a 512Gb disk unnecessarily. Note that you can even upgrade the configuration in the future by adding disks or RAM.

The 2 big drawbacks of this type of server are:

the noise (good luck negotiating to have it in the house)
the format because it is a bit restrictive to install

Option 3: NUC type PCs

With their small format and often the silence that characterizes them, NUCs are ideal candidates for setting up a homelab at home. If we can find NUCs with processors capable of running correct infrastructures, it is at the level of RAM and storage that the shoe pinches.

Exploded view of the Minisforum UM790 Pro mini PC

Indeed, RAM is most of the time limited to 32Gb without the possibility of expansion, which can quickly prove insufficient depending on the use to which you dedicate your cluster. On the storage side, most of the time NUCs only offer an additional port allowing you to connect a disk in addition to the basic embedded one where Nutanix requires 3. A workaround can be to deploy the hypervisor on a fast USB key connected via USB3.

The other disadvantage is the cost of this type of machine which is often at the same level as a used server but with much lower hardware configurations and power consumption.

Minisforum UM790 Pro Amazon listing at 749 euros

Option 4: Assembled PC

The last viable option in my eyes is assembling a more traditional PC from A to Z. This will allow you to select each component of your server and thus be able to have a truly personalized cluster.

From the Grand Tour case to the mini ITX case, you will also have the choice of format, which can be practical if you only have a small space to install your equipment (example: the cupboard in the entrance where the Internet box is located).

In terms of cost, depending on the configuration chosen, it should not be much higher than that of a refurbished server or a NUC with moderate power consumption.

Conclusion

I hope that you will see more clearly in the path that will lead you to the start of your homelab. Be aware that apart from having substantial financial means, there is no miracle solution to setting up a lab and it is often a question of opportunities that will present themselves to you. Take the time to think carefully and explore all possible avenues before you start.

Published: 30 September 2024

Written by Julien D.

No comments

Categories: Community Edition EN, Nutanix EN, State of the Lab EN, Tech and Lab

This is a question I am regularly asked: “with which cluster do you perform your tests for your articles?”. So here is what my Nutanix homelab looks like…

My network infrastructure

Before talking about my Nutanix cluster, I will present my home infrastructure that I installed 4 years ago when the house was built.

I based my network infrastructure on Ubiquiti brand equipment. The hardware is very good, silent, robust, easy to use… but for the configuration it is really very particular and we are very far from what we are used to practicing on a daily basis in a data center.

So I set up:

a Ubiquiti Dream Machine Pro for the entire network / filtering part with

2 SFP+ 10Gb ports
8 1Gb ports

Ubiquiti Dream Machine Pro and its ports

a Ubiquiti USW Pro 24 PoE switch which has

2 10Gb SFP+ ports
24 1Gb PoE ports

Ubiquiti Flex switches in various parts of the home

My internet access is currently a Free connection which relies on the Freebox Delta and which offers me a theoretical speed of 10Gb/s:

On the program:

a 10Gb fiber arrival
4 RJ45 ports in 1Gb (B, C, D, E)
1 SFP+ 10Gb port (F)

A well-stocked box to allow latency-free Internet access.

The network topology therefore looks like this:

Home network topology from the Freebox to the switches

As you can see, no professional type infrastructure at home so if you only have consumer type equipment, don’t hesitate to get started, it will do the trick.

My Nutanix cluster

My Nutanix cluster is nothing exceptional, it is quite old hardware since it is based on an Intel S2600WTTR chassis that was launched by the manufacturer in 2016!

Link to the technical sheet: https://www.intel.fr/content/www/fr/fr/products/sku/88281/intel-server-board-s2600wttr/specifications.html

I recovered it in a previous professional experience, the cluster had a hardware failure that the administration did not want to deal with given the age of the hardware and the fact that the existing infrastructure was being replaced by brand new Nutanix clusters.

Kitten lying on the Intel homelab server

I carried out the repair at my own expense so that the server would be operational again. In terms of the physical installation, the cluster is not allowed to stay in the house (due to noise), so it is in the garage, installed in an unconventional way:

Homelab server mounted under a shelf in the garage

The hardware configuration of my cluster is as follows:

2 Intel Xeon E5-2640 v4 @ 2.4Ghz processors

384 Gb of RAM
1 120Gb SDD for the OS
4 800Gb SAS SDDs
6 1.6Tb SAS HDDs
2 10Gb RJ45 network ports

This hardware configuration allows me to have disk redundancy. This is not the ideal scenario but it is already much better than no redundancy at all. The amount of CPU / RAM allows me to run a large number of virtual machines without any performance degradation:

Prism Element dashboard of the THE_LAB cluster

If I had to make a hardware change to my cluster, I think I would opt for a 10Gb fiber network card in order to have a 10Gb connection from one end of the chain to the other Internet > Router > Firewall > Switch > Cluster.

The cluster is now installed with a Nutanix CE 2.1 in the latest versions available:

Software versions installed on the Nutanix CE 2.1 cluster

This allows me to test the latest features, to perform configuration tests and it also serves as a support for writing all the blog articles, each subject covered being obviously tested on the Lab before publication.

Although the Lab is essential for writing my articles, I do not leave it on permanently because it consumes a significant amount of electricity as I already mentioned in one of my previous articles.

That’s my infrastructure, hoping that it makes you want to get started and set up your own Nutanix CE cluster.

Published: 10 September 2024

Written by Julien D.

1 Comment

Categories: Community Edition EN, Nutanix AHV EN, Nutanix EN

After a successful installation of Nutanix AHV, all passwords configured on the cluster are the default passwords “nutanix/4u” and it is imperative to change them for maximum security.

Recommendations regarding passwords complexity

You must choose strong passwords to secure your infrastructure and that they are unique!

The minimum complexity required by Nutanix is:

8 characters
1 lowercase letter minimum
1 uppercase letter maximum
1 number minimum
1 special character

Some cluster passwords will also require you to respect certain constraints related to the password history.

Generally speaking, I would recommend that you use a password generator often integrated into your password management software to create your passwords and apply a length of at least 16 characters while respecting the complexity rules indicated above.

Prism Element admin password

This step is essential and you cannot bypass it. If this is your first time logging in, the login is “admin” and the password is “nutanix/4u”. You will be ask to configure a new password respecting the complexity criteria.

CVM “Nutanix” password

Critical alert: CVM using the default password

If you leave the default password, you will have critical alert messages on your Prism Element interface.

To fix this, connect to the IP of one of the CVMs in your cluster in SSH with the nutanix identifier and the default password nutanix/4u. Then, a simple “passwd” will allow you to configure a new password:

nutanix@NTNX-99110c89-A-CVM:~$ passwd
Changing password for user nutanix.
Current password:
New password:
Retype new password:
passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully.
nutanix@NTNX-99110c89-A-CVM:~$

Enter the current password, then the new password twice in a row and that’s it!

Hosts passwords

Critical alert: AHV host using the default password

Just, after an installation the passwords of the Nutanix hosts are always the default ones and this will generate critical alerts on the cluster.

To change the “root” password of the hosts, connect to one of the CVMs and type the associated command:

nutanix@NTNX-99110c89-A-CVM:192.168.2.200:~$ echo -e "CHANGING ALL AHV HOST ROOT PASSWORDS.\nPlease input new password: "; read -rs password1; echo "Confirm new password: "; read -rs password2; if [ "$password1" == "$password2" ]; then for host in $(hostips); do echo Host $host; echo $password1 | ssh root@$host "passwd --stdin root"; done; else echo "The passwords do not match"; fi

The system will then ask you to enter the new password twice:

CHANGING ALL AHV HOST ROOT PASSWORDS.
Please input new password:
Confirm new password:
Host 192.168.2.199
Nutanix AHV
Changing password for user root.

To change the “admin” password of the hosts, connect to one of the CVMs and type the associated command:

nutanix@NTNX-99110c89-A-CVM:192.168.2.200:~$ echo -e "CHANGING ALL AHV HOST ADMIN PASSWORDS.\nPlease input new password: "; read -rs password1; echo "Confirm new password: "; read -rs password2; if [ "$password1" == "$password2" ]; then for host in $(hostips); do echo Host $host; echo $password1 | ssh root@$host "passwd --stdin admin"; done; else echo "The passwords do not match"; fi

The system will then ask you to enter the new password twice:

CHANGING ALL AHV HOST ADMIN PASSWORDS.
Please input new password:
Confirm new password:
Host 192.168.2.199
Nutanix AHV
Changing password for user admin.
passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully.

To change the “nutanix” password of the hosts, connect to one of the CVMs and type the associated command:

nutanix@NTNX-99110c89-A-CVM:192.168.2.200:~$ echo -e "CHANGING ALL AHV HOST NUTANIX PASSWORDS.\nPlease input new password: "; read -rs password1; echo "Confirm new password: "; read -rs password2; if [ "$password1" == "$password2" ]; then for host in $(hostips); do echo Host $host; echo $password1 | ssh root@$host "passwd --stdin nutanix"; done; else echo "The passwords do not match"; fi

The system will then ask you to enter the new password twice:

CHANGING ALL AHV HOST NUTANIX PASSWORDS.
Please input new password:
Confirm new password:
Host 192.168.2.199
Nutanix AHV
Changing password for user nutanix.
passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully.

Official resources

Passwords modifications : https://portal.nutanix.com/page/documents/kbs/details?targetId=kA00e000000LKXcCAO

Published: 8 September 2024

Written by Julien D.

8 Comments

Categories: Community Edition EN, Nutanix AHV EN, Nutanix EN

After reinstalling my cluster with the latest version of Nutanix Community Edition, I ran into a problem deploying Prism Central.

Indeed, no compatible version is offered as standard for installation:

Incompatible Prism Central versions and the Upload Installation Binary link

Problematic you might say! Indeed, and to solve it we will have to recover the binaries to continue the installation manually…

Downloading Prism Central binaries

To recover the Prism Central binaries, you must go to this page: https://portal.nutanix.com/page/downloads?product=prism and identify yourself with your MyNutanix account.

Then, look for the package “Prism Central 1-click deploy from Prism Element

( Version: pc.2024.1.0.2 )”:

Prism Central 1-click deploy pc.2024.1.0.2 package on the Nutanix portal

Click “Download” and “Metadata” to retrieve the installation package and associated metadata.

Deploying Prism Central

Before starting the deployment of Prism Central, the “Data Service IP” of your cluster must be configured!

Once the download is complete, on the Prism Element home page, click “Register or create new” on the Prism Central widget:

Prism Central widget with Register or create new in Prism Element

Then click on “Deploy” on the window that appears:

Prism Central window with the Deploy button

Click on “Upload Installation Binary”:

Select the metadata and binary files you just downloaded and click “Upload”:

Selecting the Prism Central binary and metadata files

Please wait while the transfer is taking place:

Once the transfer is complete, select the package and click “Next”:

Selecting the uploaded Prism Central package

Then select the size of Prism Central you want to deploy and click “Next”:

For more information on the X-Small version, do not hesitate to consult my dedicated article: https://juliendumur.fr/nutanix-aos-6-8-ests-et-prism-central-x-small/

Enter the network configuration then click on “Next”:

The last window is new in the latest versions, I advise you to leave the default settings and click on “Deploy”:

Last step of the Prism Central deployment

A little patience during the deployment:

Once the deployment is complete, go to your Prism Central address and authenticate yourself with the usual default pair of identifiers:

The very first time you log in, you will be asked to set a new password:

Password change at first Prism Central login

Then log in with the new password you just configured. Then validate the conditions of use:

Keep Pulse enabled:

If, like me, you then notice that your cluster is still not registered on Prism Central, return to Prism Element and restart the procedure, this time selecting “Connect”:

Prism Central window with the Deploy and Connect options

Fill in the connection details for your Prism Central and validate to start the recording:

Congratulations, your Prism Central in PC.2024 version is now operational on your Nutanix cluster under AOS 6.8

Prism Central widget showing Connected in Prism Element

Published: 22 January 2024

Written by Julien D.

No comments

Categories: Community Edition EN, Network, Nutanix AHV EN, Nutanix EN

Adding a subnet to a Nutanix AHV cluster

To be able to deploy a virtual machine on your Nutanix cluster and have it reachable on your network, you will need to start by configuring the network(s) on your cluster.

Creating a network using Prism Element

Under Prism Element, in the “Settings > Network Configuration” menu is the list of all existing networks on the cluster, click on “Create Subnet”:

Then enter your network information, namely the name and vlan ID:

Create Subnet form with name, virtual switch and VLAN ID

If you do not have a DHCP server, you can let Nutanix manage the addressing of the network created using the “Enable IP address management” option:

You will then need to complete all the options that would normally have been delivered by a traditional DHCP server:

Subnet DHCP settings and IP address pools

Click “Save” once the settings are correct. Repeat for each VLAN you need on your infrastructure.

Creating a network using Prism Central

In Prism Central, network management is carried out in “Network & Security > Subnets”:

Subnets list in Prism Central Network and Security

To add a new network, click “Create Subnet”:

It is then a form similar to that of Prism Element that must be completed by activating, or not, the “IP Address Management” option if you wish to leave the management of your addressing to Nutanix.

Official Nutanix documentation

Link to official documentation: https://portal.nutanix.com/page/documents/solutions/details?targetId=BP-2071-AHV-Networking:bp-ahv-network-management.html

Published: 8 January 2024

Written by Julien D.

1 Comment

Categories: Community Edition EN, Nutanix AHV EN, Nutanix EN

Uploading an image to a Nutanix AHV cluster

To be able to deploy virtual machines on your cluster, you will need images that are available to launch your installations and here is the procedure to follow.

Before you start

An image uploaded via Prism Element can be imported to Prism Central. The reverse is not possible.

An image uploaded or imported via Prism Central is visible but not editable on Prism Element.

An image uploaded via Prism Element can only be used by the cluster to which it was uploaded.

An image downloaded via Prism Central can be used by all clusters managed by this Prism Central

Nutanix provides compatibility with images in the following formats:

RAW
VHD
VHDX
VMDK
VDI
OVA
ISO
QCOW2

Download via Prism Element

To upload an image via Prism Element, connect to the web interface using your credentials, then navigate to the “Settings > Image Configuration” menu:

Image Configuration menu in Prism Element settings

Click Upload Image:

Upload Image button in Image Configuration

Complete the “Name”, “Image Type”, “Storage Container” fields, select the image you wish to transfer then click on “Save”:

Image list in Prism Element Image Configuration

Wait during the transfer and then while your image is processed by the cluster. Its status must be “ACTIVE” for it to be operational:

VirtIO 1.2.3 image being processed, still inactive

Download via Prism Central

The process for transferring an image through Prism Central is essentially identical to that of Prism Element.

Connect to the web interface then navigate to “Compute & Storage > Images” and click on “Add Image”:

Add Image button in the Prism Central Images menu

Click on “Add File”, select the image you want to transfer, fill in the description then click on “Next”:

On the next screen, select the image placement mode based on your environment. In most cases, the default method “Place image directly on clusters” will do the trick, click “Next”:

Image placement method and cluster selection

Wait while the cluster transfers and processes the image.

Import images from Prism Element to Prism Central

On the image management page on Prism Central, click “Import Images”:

Import Images button in the Prism Central Images menu

Then select the transfer method that suits you:

Import Images window: all images or images on a cluster

“All images” will repatriate all the images from all the clusters managed by Prism Central

“Images on a cluster” will allow you to select the cluster(s) and source image(s) on a case-by-case basis.

Official Nutanix documentation

Link to official documentation: https://portal.nutanix.com/page/documents/details?targetId=Web-Console-Guide-Prism-v6_7:wc-image-configure-acropolis-wc-t.html

Published: 2 December 2023

Written by Julien D.

No comments

Categories: Community Edition EN, Nutanix EN

The MikadoBox, the pocket Nutanix cluster

For a client file, our boss asked us during the “Thursday meeting” to find a solution to migrate the client’s infrastructure physically, from point A to point B because it has undersized internet access. not allowing a site-to-site migration. Ideas flowed, some quite good, others really crazy, we had a little time to think but it had to be easily transportable, see that it could travel by plane in the hold… Here is the genesis of the MikadoBox.

Sofa R&D (or almost)

The following Saturday, stuck in queues at Spirou Park, I received an SMS from Louis Xavier (LX for short), my CTO, probably slumped on his sofa. Having must have sensed my distress despite the distance from the amusement park, he informed me that he had found the perfect format for a system transportable in a backpack: a Lenovo M80q.

And it was there, while I was breaking down under the effect of waiting and the kids screaming with excitement around me, that I told him that we could totally take 3 and put together a complete cluster in a suitcase:

Text messages about building a 3-node Lenovo cluster

Pandora’s box was ajar, and we both rushed to open it wide to see what might come out…

Theoretical design

Now that we had this idea for a portable cluster, we had to make a shopping list to get an idea of the total weight (it had to remain transportable).

DISCLAIMER: this type of cluster is not intended to accommodate PROD. This is why we have allowed ourselves not to respect certain Nutanix prerequisites.

In terms of hardware, here is an essential prerequisite for setting up a Nutanix cluster as we imagined:

3 to 4 nodes
1 switch (8 or 16 ports max, 10G uplink)
1 rack-mountable socket rail

As a bonus, we also wanted a 4G router so that we could start the MikadoBox from almost anywhere and have it functional and accessible remotely.

Based on this list, and the fact that we absolutely wanted something visually attractive, we had to find a system allowing us to rack up all the equipment and do a minimum of “cable management” so that it was as clean as possible.

Looking for a rackable case

On the Thomann website, I remembered seeing solutions for racking up sound equipment when I was looking for a bay for the home that wouldn’t take the place of a 42U bay. The width is the same as a computer bay but it is possible to find ones of only a few U.

On paper, it’s not bad:

possibility of racking 3U or more (available in several sizes)
accessible front and rear
handles for transport
limited space

But to travel by plane, there is no protection for splashes of water, shocks on the front/rear faces of the cluster, the material is clearly visible to those who will handle it… This is not optimal.

The second idea was a “Flyhtcase” type suitcase.

The wheels for transport are great! On the other hand, in terms of size, many models do not fit in a car trunk, and there is generally no mounting rail…

LX then had a brilliant idea: a Gator suitcase.

This suitcase met all our criteria:

reasonable size
solidity
transportable
internal mounting rails
removable front/rear panel

We had our data center on wheels, all we had to do was fill it.

Racks and options

The new challenge that awaited us was to find solutions to fit all the material that we had retained in the MikadoBox.

The switch, a priori of a U height, would be, whatever the model, either full or half width with the appropriate fixings, so no problem. The 4G router would not have any mounting provided. It would be necessary to provide a shelf or a system that allows it to be positioned so that it is both accessible and fixed in the box.

For the 3 or 4 Lenovo nodes, we had to find a fixing system. While searching the internet, I came across Reddit posts that showed “homelabs” with racked Lenovo Tinys. Since I have a 3D printer, I searched around a bit and ended up finding some STL files that might have been suitable for us.

The disadvantage of 3D printing a rack intended for travel is its lack of resistance. I was very worried that it wouldn’t hold. So I continued searching and ended up finding an Austrian rack system designed for the Lenovo M80q:

racknex rack mount kit for 2 Lenovo ThinkCentre Tiny

Drawer-mounted (optional), rack-mountable, and the icing on the cake: there is a customizable version that would allow us to bring the connections back to the front! These racks are impeccable since they include optional rails to transform the fixed rack into a drawer.

racknex rack with front-facing connections

In terms of the arrangement in the box and taking into account the quantity of material that we wish to integrate, here is what we have imagined:

MikadoBox layout: 4G router, switch and Lenovo nodes

The front is free once the case is opened, as is the rear which allows a flow of air through when the cluster is in operation. Once closed, the case fully protects the cluster without having to disassemble anything, you just need to put away the power cable.

Now that everything is settled from a theoretical point of view and in terms of space, all that remains is to move on to practice…

A small but strong cluster

Configuration level, the nodes are customizable within reason given their extremely small size and restricted hardware slots.

However, the cluster configuration is nothing to be ashamed of:

48 Cores
256Gb RAM (CVM 20Gb each)
a raw storage space of 18Tb or 9Tb useful with an RF2 cluster!

Prism Element of the MikadoBox cluster on Nutanix CE

So no, you won’t run an entire large infrastructure, but it can still do the job for certain use cases…

The assembly of the MikadoBox was carried out by LX, his sofa being very far from my cottage, and everything fits perfectly in the box for a weight of around 20kg!

Use cases selected

In terms of use cases, here are some examples of use of the MikadoBox:

POC (Nutanix / HYCU / Supervision), perfect for doing demos like at .NEXT Nutanix Paris 2023 for example
Crisis BCP
Infrastructure migration from point A to point B when network usage is not possible
Homelab

You will have understood, and taking into account the tests carried out, we are far from a gadget but much closer to a real cluster such as one could find in a data center.

If you would like to learn more, be sure to keep an eye on mikadolabs.com in the coming days! An article on the installation, configuration and benchmarks of the platform is currently being written.

Page 1 of 2

Nutanix Technology Champion - Nutanix Solution Architect

State of the Lab: my Nutanix homelab before the rebuild

My Nutanix homelab as of 1 July 2026

What the network audit showed

What a Nutanix homelab costs when you only power it on demand

What did not exist

The only addition in two years: Mainsail

Nutanix Community Edition: Reinstallation Issue

Understanding Why the Nutanix Installer Crashes

The Solution: Wiping the System Disk Clean

The Second Problem: Volumes Left Mounted

My Takeaways from this Reinstallation

Nutanix AHV: Deploy a Windows VM using VirtIO

Prerequisites

Creating the virtual machine under Prism Element

Creating the Virtual Machine in Prism Central

Deploying the Virtual Machine

Nutanix CE 2.1: create your homelab in 2024

What use?

Sizing your homelab

Setting up your homelab

Option 1: recovery

Option 2: used servers

Option 3: NUC type PCs

Option 4: Assembled PC

Conclusion

Presentation of my Nutanix Homelab

My network infrastructure

My Nutanix cluster

Nutanix AHV : post-install operations – Part 1

Recommendations regarding passwords complexity

Prism Element admin password

CVM “Nutanix” password

Hosts passwords

Official resources

Nutanix CE 2.1 : Deploy Prism Central PC.2024

Downloading Prism Central binaries

Deploying Prism Central

Nutanix AHV – Add subnet to your cluster

Creating a network using Prism Element

Creating a network using Prism Central

Official Nutanix documentation

Nutanix AHV : Upload image to your cluster

Before you start

Download via Prism Element

Download via Prism Central

Import images from Prism Element to Prism Central

Official Nutanix documentation

The “MikadoBox”: the pocket Nutanix cluster

Sofa R&D (or almost)

Theoretical design

Looking for a rackable case

Racks and options

A small but strong cluster

Use cases selected