VMware View – Gabbs' Random Thoughts

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 2019-05-27

VMware CPU Scheduling – 6.7 update 2 has choices…
With the release of vSphere 6.7 update 2, there are now choices with the way CPU scheduling occurs.
The reason for these choices is due to vulnerabilities that have been discovered and patched for CPU hardware (think L1TF and MDS).
There is now:
Default Scheduler (no inherent security awareness, but performs well)
Side-Channel Aware Scheduler v1 (SCAv1) (most secure, but slowest)
Side-Channel Aware Scheduler v2 (SCAv2)
This blog post by Bob Plankers on VMware’s site goes into the details….

VeeamOn
The infamous Veeam Backup & Replication v10 was announced (again).
Lots of great features announced, but I want to see it become generally available before getting excited.

Virtual Update 2019-01-21

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

Operationalizing VMware vSAN – free book
Hopefully this is still available for you all when you read this (it was available for download still the morning I posted).
This 90 pager covers considerations for staff, process, and tools to own the vSAN solution.
Also linked on that page is NSX day 2 operations.
Get them while you can!

GitHub allows free Private Repos
As well as announcing GitHub Enterprise, which combines a few existing products.
I think the move to allow free Private Repos is move I would not have expected after Microsoft purchased GitHub, but it is appreciated (I can imagine many people don’t want their projects public by default).

Virtual Update 2018-11-12

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!

vSphere Platinum
I already have Enterprise Plus licensing, so why would I need this?
The inclusion of AppDefense.
AppDefense focuses on whitelisting applications “normal” behavior, and helps keep a good focus on the internal security practices.

Plus, there are some cost savings….
You can get a 50% discount on the upgrade to Platinum
You can get up to 65% discount on vROPs upgrades
You can get $10,000 VMware on AWS credits.
Let me know if you need to review the details of this in detail.

…and to coincide with this, the vCloud Suite (which includes vRealize Suite and vSphere Enterprise Plus) now has a Platinum offering as well!

Virtual Update 2018-09-17

VMware Tools Recall & Resolution
VMware Tools 10.3.0 recalled, as it can PSOD your ESXi hosts.
Someone didn’t test this out …. At all….
This has to do with VMXNET3 drivers, which should be used for all your VMware VMs Updated on 9/12/18 is VMware Tools 10.3.2

VMware Boston VMUG UserCon
This is October 17 in Boston from 8-5Lots of great sessions.
Let your friends know.
Hands-on training, NSX introduction.
See full agenda here