VMware on AWS – Gabbs' Random Thoughts

Virtual Updates 2021-02-08

Win a seat on SpaceX Dragon All Civilian flight!
Want to go to space, but missed out on being an astronaut? Me too.
SpaceX has partnered with others to support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The mission is funded by Jared Isaacman, the founder and CEO of Shift4.
How to get a ticket in this lottery? Full details at Inspiration4.
Where I learned about it.

VMware announces Conference Dates for 2021
Not just VMworld, but also
CloudLIVE: May 12-13, 2021
VMware Carbon Black Connect: June 3, 2021
SpringOne: September 1-2, 2021
VMworld: October 5-7, 2021
VMworld China: November 2021
VMworld Japan: November 2021
For details on each of the above….check out the VMware News post.

Virtual Updates 2020-05-25

VMware VCP & VCAP – Around the World
Love this annually released infographic.
VMware Blog post is here.
VCDXs Around the world? VMware Blog post from 2018 is here.

DEMO VCF with vSphere 7 & Kubernetes
This is pretty cool.
On the StorageHub part of the VMware website, you now have a click-through demo of deploying this (on VCF workload domain).
Kinda a Hands on Lab light version…
I like this, as it can show someone how simple it is to use VCF to manage a full SDDC stack, or even one that uses NFS or FC.
Good demo tool for all. 10-15 minutes for your first review.

Virtual Updates 2019-10-28

VMworld 2019 – Barcelona
Can’t wait to hear all the news from this next week!
With all the vRealize Suite 8 components released this past week…
I expect we can hear more about vSphere’s next release…

VMware Snapshot problems – Again!
I first came across this from a post on The Register.
Windows 2019 on vSphere 6.5 & 6.7 has quiesce issues….
This reminds me of the CBT bug from vSphere 6.0.
This VMware KB does not inspire me with confidence (recommends turning off App Quiesce OR to convert from GPT disks to MBR disks)…
I hope I’m just reading old news….

Sudo Flaw! – patch your distributions!
Found an article calling this out on thehackernews.com.
It summarizes how to use sudo without proper authorization or passwords.
It shows how to exploit it.
It states that all sudo versions prior to 1.8.28 are affected
(1.8.28 was released 10/14/2019)

Virtual Updates 2019-06-24

VMware Tools Vulnerability
So vulnerabilities are everywhere, but this one should be easy to resolve.
The recommendation is to get up to VMware Tools 10.3.10
With VMware Tools updates available separately from ESXi versions, this should be pretty easy to resolve.
If you use the option in the VM to auto-update tools, a reboot of the VM should bet that done for you.
Cool that this script gives you some PowerCLI scripts to help you parse your list of VMs and update VMware Tools with a no reboot option.
Linux VMs are NOT affected (and should be using Open-VM-Tools anyway).

VTUG (Virtualization Technology User Group) – The Last Event
I have been a member of this group for many years now, and it is sad to see this group having its last event.
I am biased, of course, as I have been involved for years….
Those of us in New England are lucky…between VTUG, VMUG, and other Virtualization User Groups in the area, we have had the opportunity to have at least 12-24 events a year where we can network with peers, and continue our learning while contributing to the community.
If you have the time, the final VTUG Summer Slam is July 18, 2019.
It would be great to see this event have the sendoff it deserves…..

AWS:reInforce in Boston, MA this week
Really interested in heading out to this.
Hopefully, I don’t get distracted away from the event….

Virtual Update 2019-02-18

VMware repeals 2 year recertification requirement
Finally….something I have fought VMware Education against since I heard they were going to implement this.
In short, you take an exam and get certified.
You MUST take another exam within 2 years, or you lose your certification.
Regardless of why they thought this was required, it is now no longer true.
Now, you certs are valid without requiring retesting after the 2 year mark.
Granted, if you are certified as a VCP5, when VCP7 is available, VCP5 doesn’t really hold much value
Read the announcement here.

VMware vSphere 6.0 – End of General Support
It is coming…March 12, 2000.
Feels like we JUST got folks off of 5.5 (which is good, because they are mostly 6.5 or greater now).
If you think that’s OK, End of General Support for:
vSphere 6.5 – November 15, 2021.
vSphere 6.7 – November 15, 2021. (yes, same as vSphere 6.5)
Two-and-one-half years goes by quick…..so don’t blink!
VMware KB 66977.

VMware Workspace ONE – from some of the best
If you are in the EUC (End User Computing) space, you must have heard the names of Johan van Amersfoot & Brian Madden at some point.
This is a great video that covers what the Workspace ONE solution does, and how it enables the EUC vision from VMware.
This is 1-hour 10-minutes. watch all of it…..
Absolutely worth watching if you are VDI or EUC, EMM, MDM, or have a security focus.

Virtual Update 2019-02-04

VMware VCP 2019 Exams Are Released
Karl Childs, our favorite Senior Manager in VMware Education , has release this note last week regarding the availability of the new VCP-2019 exams.
Short post, but it links to each of the VCP 2019 certs available, and their details.

VMware CEIP (Customer Experience Improvement Program)
This was mentioned a few months ago, and it deserves a rehash.
In the past, WEI had kept a neutral stance on this setting (enabled or disabled).
Now, WEI has a recommended stance on enabling this settings.
Why?
They way VMware Support uses CEIP.
How to change the setting via PoweCLI? of course William Lam has the answer in a recent post.

VMware Dynamic Health Check (vSphere 6.7+)
This week’s aggregation seems to have too many links to William Lam’s VirtuallyGhetto, but he is a great source of information….
Select your vCenter object on the left pane, go to Monitor, Health.
That’s it. Read about it here.
You must have CEIP enabled (see above) for this to work.

Virtual Updates 2019-01-07

VTUG Winter Warmer 2019
I am sure people are looking forward to this event!
Thursday, January 24 2019
Gillette Stadium, 1 Patriot Place, Foxboro, MA
Register Here!B

VMware Certifications VCP-2019
VMware had announced last year that they were attempting to have VCP exams (as well as VCAP exams) released on a more predictive schedule.
Karl Childs announced that the new exams are starting to be released.
His post, and release dates are linked here.