VMware Explore Registration is open
Are you planning on going too?
VMware Blog post … Guide to Las Vegas is here.
VMware Explore Registration link is here.
VCF 9.0.1 Patch 1
Three weeks after release…
Express Release Notes are here.
VCF Upgrade from 9.0.2 to 9.1.0
If you’ve deployed VCF 9.0.x….you are probably planning your 9.1 upgrade.
You would think that you start in your current VCF Operations 9.0.x interface.
Well, immediately you have to step outside that interface to the /admin page, and perform the Operations upgrade via a PAK file (the way its always been done).
Then you can move on to the other components…..
Great set of notes on this can be found….
AngrySysops.com blog post is here.
Yes, its a long post….
(aren’t you glad you have 30 continuous IPs free in the VM network now?)
vCenter ELM vs vCenter Linking in VCF 9.x
vCenter ELM (Enhanced Linked Mode) is deprecated in 9.x.
You should undo any ELM before moving to 9.x.
How do you get that capability back?…vCenter Linking.
But there are differences….
VMware Blog post is here, and covers those nuances.
VCF 9.1 in a box – GitHub repo
built by William Lam.
Great place to get an idea of what you need to do a HomeLab setup…
Yes, you’ll have some editing to do….
But a great way to get started!
Shutting Down the VCF Services Runtime Cluster
new to VCF 9.1….you’ll see your vcf-management-services VM Folder.
How do you gracefully shut down these VMs?
Broadcom Article ID: 440874 takes you through the steps required.
Haven’t HAD to do this yet, but ran through it, just to see.
vSphere 8.0 Update 3J released
…don’t forget…. End of Support is October 2027 (16 months away)
There is a lot in the Release Notes….one thing that stands out….
…it calls out dealing with expired Microsoft Secure Boot VMs
“…Secure Boot capability for Windows guests, expires in October 2026…”
Broadcom Article ID: 423893 Secure Boot Cert Expired & Update Failures in VMs
Release Notes for vCenter 8.0 u3j
Release Notes for ESX 8.0 u3j
Secure Boot for Windows Servers (and VMs)
“Secure Boot won’t ‘turn off’ in 2026. Most systems will keep booting, but devices that don’t transition from the 2011 trust anchors to the 2023 certificate set can lose the ability to receive future boot-level security updates…”
Jon Towles post on this is here, on how to use Intone to fix.
Mikael Nystrom post is here, with some PowerShell snippets you can use.
Ran out of IPs in your VCF Management Network?
I always get flak when oversizing a Management Network.
“…it is a waste of IPs…”
Well, I always recommend oversizing it (usually a dedicated /24).
Here’s a scenario when VCF 9.0 Management Network was undersized, and now with VCF 9.1, you need quite a few more IPs to get things rolled out….
Angry Sysops Blog Post is here.
vMotion – first thoughts from 2010
Nostalgia….remembering the first time you saw vMotion.
Today…it’s taken for granted.
When we saw it for the first time, it was like magic.
Duncan Eppings repost is here.
My Dream Desktop
Derek Seaman posted a great desktop setup back in 2023….
He took it another step further….
Want an ergonomic, techie, and great sounding desktop setup?
He covers all the bases (just remember, audiophiles will still want a subwoofer).
Derek Seaman’s 2026 setup link is here.
Boot Disk Utility
Forgot you password to your VM?
Want to do a defrag (yea, you’re old)?
check out Hiren’s BootCD PE
Thank’s Mike Foley!
Proxmox Datacenter Manager 1.1 available
For Proxmox, Datacenter Manager is analogous to vCenter.
In the same breath….Proxmox VE 9.2 is also available
(VE is what you install on the hardware itself…think ESX).
Looks like it is maturing….
Proxmox Press Release is here.
Free Learning – GitHub Repo
AWS Workshops
KodeKloud
Nutanix University
Nutanix Next 2027– March 30 – April 1, Las Vegas, NV
PluralSight
vBrownBag
VMware Hands On Labs
VMware Explore 2026 – August 31 – September 3, Las Vegas, NV
VMware Explore 2025 Sessions (William Lam’s easier to search list version)