VCenter Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting VCenter
Installing VMRC for "Remote Console" option for advanced features
You need to use VMRC instead of the web console for features such as copy and paste in and out of the VM, access to upload and download files from the VM, and USB passthrough when required by the course. You may also prefer to use VMRC as it gives you an experience more like a local virtualization platform. See Installing VMRC for instructions on setting up VMRC.
Default Logins for Course VMs
CT400: username "student", "pfstudent", or "pfadmin". Password "P@$$w0rd"
Kali: username "root", password "toor"
Meta: username "msfadmin", password "msfadmin"
SEED: username "seed", password "dees"
Network Troubleshooting
Start pfSense before other VMs
If you have a pfSense VM for your course, make sure to power it on BEFORE starting any of the other VMs in your VCenter environment. Your other VMs will only look for a DHCP server (to get their network address) when they're turned on, so if pfSense isn't ready to go when they're turned on, they will never get their address and won't be able to talk to the other machines in your network. If you turned your other machines on before pfSense, make sure pfSense is started then reboot the other VMs to have them renew their network settings.
Access pfSense Web Interface
To access pfSense in your VM's browser, navigate to 192.168.1.1.
Internet Access
Some VCenter courses are designed to isolate students from the Internet, and some will allow access to the Internet through a pfSense VM.
For VCenter courses which block Internet access, you may have a pfSense VM to allow access between VMs, but not to the Internet. If you're having trouble connecting to your other VMs, start with the instructions "Start pfSense before other VMs" above.
For VCenter courses which allow access to the Internet, there is usually a pfSense router between you and the Internet. Again, start with the instructions "Start pfSense before other VMs" above.
My VM does not appear in the left navigation after logging in
See Section 5 in vCenter documentation. You likely need to expand the navigation to find your VM, unless you added the course after week 1 and need your VMs deployed. Please contact the help desk at ihelp@drexel.edu.
VM won't boot due to corruption
Follow the instructions at the boot prompt to enter single user mode. Typically the system will give you a command to run, eg "fsck /dev/sda1". Run this command then reboot your VM, and you should be good to go. On rare occasions you may need to run the command and reboot twice in order to have a bootable system. If you continue to have trouble, please contact the help desk at ihelp@drexel.edu.
Error "Bora/lib/string/str.c:38 Buffer too small" when launching VMRC
The error "Bora/lib/string/str.c:282 Buffer too small" error message means VMRC cannot process a text string because it's too long for the memory buffer.
Mks is "Mouse, Keyboard, Screen" and they handle the console display. This is a known bug. There is a link below on it, but...
It's likely the username for your computer is your personal email address or something similar and so it is longer than most userids, and that is what is tripping the bug.
Here's a workaround solution to try.
Create another user account on the Mac with a shorter username (vm or vmtest)...
see link below...
and see if that lets you run VMRC. A new user account would just be few hundred MBs.
Use Safari (go to Safari > Settings or Preferences > Privacy > uncheck "Prevent cross site scripting").
Install Cisco VPN from https://vpn.drexel.edu
Instructions to create a new user account at link below.
Standard user should work.
https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/add-a-user-or-group-mchl3e281fc9/mac
More info on this bug, but I would NOT try their solutions. I'd try the above.