Virtual Updates 2023-10-09

MGM Resorts – Initial Analysis
I’m sure you’ve heard about this by now.
Here is an initial analysis posted on cyber ark.

vSphere 8.0 Update 2
So yes, another maintenance release.
BUT, some cool things were added.
My first favorite, is using “deploy from template” workflow…using an answer file, and joining an AD Domain, you can now specify an OU (Organization Unit) for the computer object.
This is configured in “VM Customization Specifications”
ou=Microsoft,ou=Servers,ou=prod,dc=vmware,dc=wei
VMware Blog post about what’s new in 8.0 Update 2 is here.
VMware Release Notes are here.

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Virtual Updates 2023-09-25

vSphere 8.0 Update 2 released
Released last week.
Already done a few upgrades, and a couple new deploys.
Looks solid, as a core vSphere release…
Still, it’s my lab, so I have a bit of leeway there….
New VMX-21 (Virtual Hardware).
Be interested to try out the new “Reduced Downtime vCenter Upgrade“…
vCenter Release Notes are here.
ESXi Release Notes are here.
vSphere with Tanzu Release Notes are here.

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Virtual Updates 2023-09-11

VMware Ransomware Recovery Field Guide
This is a post about how using some of the VMware Cloud DR, VMware on AWS, and Carbon Black Cloud can work together to provide you failover capabilities and recovery capabilities in the event you ever need to use them.
Just note, that being able to have weeks, months, & years worth or rollback points is something you will need to define.
VMware Tech Zone post is here.

VMware Cloud DR with Cloud File System
Now, with the ability to run VMs in the Cloud File System.
There are tradeoffs for doing this (between performance, and cost)
VMware Blog post is here.

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Virtual Updates 2023-08-28

VMware Explore 2023 – US wrap-up
Thought this year felt like years of old…
The Expo was quite weak though, and the box lunches were terrible (again)…
But the sessions, the networking with people, and learning/validating what we do in our datacenters (or how WEI helps others in their datacenters) was invaluable, and a major reason I attend these conferences.
VMware Private AI (partnering with NVIDIA for on-prem or Public Cloud providers)
NSX+
vSAN Max
New Tanzu features/offerings
Keynotes are watchable via the links below.
VMware Blog – VMware Explore 2023 US recap
VMware Blog – Day 1 recap
VMware Blog – Day 2 recap
VMware Blog – Day 3 recap
VMware Blog – Day 4 recap
VMware News regarding NVIDIA Generative AI.
…and for those of us who overplan…
VMware Explore 2024 will be in Aug 26-29 at the Venetian again.

Where are the world’s VCDXs?
This blog by Michael Voigt (a VCDX himself) presents this data in a variety of ways.
My big takeaway? It shows how few VCDXs are at resellers/partners (vs VMware & other OEM type companies).

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Virtual Updates 2023-08-07

Heading to VMware Explore?
Lots of things to check out….
My Session on “vSphere Cluster Design – Why It’s More Important Than Ever”
VMTN3068LV
If you are working towards your VCDX (or thinking about it), join the VCDX Workshop on Monday.
If you are already a VCDX, make sure to attend the VCDX Town Hall on Monday.

AMD CPU Vulnerability needs patching now!
If your run AMD, just do a sanity check, and apply patches if needed.
Saw this post on Security Weekly.

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Virtual Updates 2023-06-28

VMware Tools CVE – Time to update
People always ask…is it important to update VMware Tools?
Yes!
For Windows VMs, you have to orchestrate the update (there are many different ways to do this).
For any linux distros using open-vm-tool (the recommended way), use your appropriate package manager to update it.
VMware CVE post is here.

VMware vCenter 7 & 8 – updated releases
vCenter Server software just got a point upgrade for both vSphere 7 & vSphere 8.
VMware vCenter 7.0 Update 3M release notes are here.
VMware vCenter 8.0 Update 1a release notes are here.

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