Workspace ONE – Gabbs' Random Thoughts

Virtual Updates 2020-11-16

vCenter STS Certificate Expires!!!
Please….take a minute to check on this, as it could cause issues….like the vCenter Server SSO components not working due to certificate expiration.
This VM Community post covers the topic.
Check your certificates, and renew then before they expire.
VMware KB article on how to fix on vSphere 6.5 & 6.7, if running on Windows.
VMware KB article on how to fix on vSphere 6.5, 6.7, & 7.0, if using VCSA.

VMware Modern Networks
Short notice, as this event is today!
My apologies….got this note this weekend before the post…..
Get signed up for this, and take 45 minutes to (hopefully) hear all about
Declarative, Event-Driven, self-service networks.

VMware Tools is now a Separate Product
What?
Yes, you must download VMware Tools separately now.
Still validating that it shows up in vSphere 7.x LCM (or what used to be called Update Manager) without additional steps, and it still appears to.
Just add this to your list of things to complain about when speaking with VMware going forward……
VMware Blog post is here.

Virtual Updates 2019-11-11

Conferences…..
VMworld 2019 Europe has wrapped up this past week.
So has MS Ignite 2019.
Lots of good announcements, some of the ones I found most exciting are below…..
AWS re:Invent 2019 is coming up in a few weeks!
A Veeam online event is next week….

VMworld -Security, Project Pacific & Project Tanzu
Was able to find some pretty good summaries of these from VMworld.
(sorry that they are embedded in Twitter, but these are all short & sweet)
Tanzu Mission Control in 82 seconds
Project Pacific in 97 seconds
NSX Intelligence in 72 seconds
NSX + AppDefense + Carbon Black in 102 seconds
Workspace ONE + Carbon Black in 132 seconds
…and of course, William Lam has already posted his VMworld 2019 EU direct playback & download URLs for all VMworld sessions

vCenter / Skyline – Upgrade Checker & Validation
Skyline had a VMware Blog post on this.
VMworld Europe sessions highlighted this within vCenter.
Software Interoperability checks to be performed in vCenter /Skyline.
Upgrades processes (when you have multiple products) & sequence provided.
To me, this means less time spent int he VMware Interoperability Matrix, and less risk in performing updates / upgrades.
Can’t wait to see that feature become reality.
Even still…..we’ll have to upgrade the old way to get to a point where these checks and validations are done for us….THEN the NEXT upgrade will be easier.

vROPs – Expiring Certificates
Saw this in my inbox this week. First I’ve heard about it….
Replace expired internal certificate in vROPs 6.3 & later
Sounds like anyone who’s deployed vROPs should check this out….
Apparently, the certificates expire on 11/19/19?
Simple check and fix in the linked VMware KB article.
This could be for things deployed as late as 8.0 (possibly)?

Virtual Updates 2019-09-02

VMworld 2019 US
This was a great event….the most energy of many recent VMworld.
So many announcements (below) drove this.
Project Pacific, Tanzu, Kubernetes (everywhere), & security were huge.
I am so happy to have attended my 13th VMworld, and shared that experience with the WEI team, our customers, and my peers from around the world….
You’ll be hearing the: Build, Run, Manage, Connect, Protect
mantra over and over this year…..
Day 1 Recap (VMware Blog Post)
Day 2 Recap (VMware Blog Post)
Day 3 Recap (VMware Blog Post)
Day 4 Recap (VMware Blog Post)
Chris Wolf’s (VP & CTO) take on VMworld.

Tech Field Day was presenting at VMworld, and they too have uploaded a lot of their presentations.
Intro to Pacific, how Pacific was created, Pacific Architecture, Bitfusion & ML/AI, Bitfusion demo, Bitfusion & vSphere.

An amazing job, in that all the presentations are up and available for viewing. Kudos to the VMworld staff for that.
More importantly, William Lam has made it easy to find them all.
Or you can use VMware’s VMworld On-Demand Video Library to find them.

For those of us in New England, I’ll see you at the Boston VMUG 9/25.
There are 11 events scheduled right now, maybe in your town.

VMware Project Pacific
This is all about ESXi getting an architecture update for native Kubernetes support (and being able to manage via vCenter).
Kubernetes adds Harbor Registry to vSphere.
Kubernetes at an 8% speed increase over bare metal.
Looks like full SDDC support too (vSphere, vSAN, NSX) for K8s namespaces.
VMware Blog post here (which also has great links about it).
Frank Denneman chimes in here.
Cormac Hogan chimes in here.

VMware Tanzu
Above and beyond Project Pacific, Tanzu is another major announcement this year from VMworld.
Tanzu Mission Control is for managing ALL your Kubernetes (whatever cloud they happen to be running on).
VMware Blog post here.
Another VMware Blog post here.
A 1.5 minute YouTube video of Ray’s take on Tanzu and what it does.

Virtual Updates 2019-08-05

VCDX Workshop at VMworld
Are you prepping for the VCDX certification?…and heading to VMworld?
Plan on being there for Sunday August 25 from 1:15pm – 6:00pm.
Its right near the Moscone, where VMworld takes place.
all you have to do is register via this link….

VTUG Summer Slam 2019
VTUG (Virtualization Technology User Group) has been around for a long time. This was the last event of the 13,000+ user community.
Paul Braren, of TinkerTry.com, put up a great post about the event.
Great take on the event, and a long list of links to theCUBE interviews.
(if you’d prefer theCUBE site’s link, here you go)

Virtual Updates 2019-07-22

VMworld 2019 US
For those of you who have registered, I hope you have had time to get your session builder going.
Lots of sessions fill up fast, so getting registered for the sessions you want is a big priority.
…and so are parties.
Who wants to go to such an event, and not enjoy themselves at night after a long day of filling your brain with new ideas & thoughts…..
A couple of long time collectors of this information keep track of all the events going on at VMworld.
Andreas Lesslhumer from Running-Syststem.com keeps a list of VMworld parties.
Manfred Hofer keeps a list going to complement Andreas Lessluhumer.
Another thing, apparently, that is news around that, is the new
VMworld 2019 backpack.
Not sure if people are reading into it the same way I am, but look at the badge on the strap on the back! …..could that be an acquisition?….no sure thing, but you can infer what you’d like…..

VTUG – the final episode…
VTUG started out as the NE-VMUG back in the days when the VMUG’s were run by users in the community.
It is a sad day when VTUG officially ended….. (2019-07-18)
@TheCUBE interviewed @dawnharney & @csharney during the last event.
Give them an 8 minute view, and see what the community is all about.

Virtual Updates 2019-06-10

Cisco Live!
Is this week in San Diego CA. Looking forward to hearing what my team learned out there….

HPE Discover
Is next week in Las Vegas NV. I know the WEI team has some insights into some of the announcements….can’t wait to talk with folks about what is currently under NDA…..

VMware Visio Stencils – Updated
At the end of May, updates were made to the Visio Stencils used in the VVD.
Funny…18 years without any stencils, and now…updates every 2 weeks?

VTUG (Virtualization Technologies 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…..

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.