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.

Docker Limiting download rates
One of the WEI team members tipped me off to this.
This went into effect on November 2, 2020.
I guess everyone is entitled to make money.
Still, with all the Kubernetes & Container adoption, organizations will have to make a choice between subscribing, and creating a role that manages private repositories. Not a fun choice.
Wouldn’t you know it…. AWS is already planning a service around this….

VMware Skyline – how to implement
The team at WEI has been recommending this for a few years now.
Not sure what it is or how to implement?
Call WEI, or….follow the instruction on …
Give this short piece a read in ~5 minutes.
You are paying for VMware support, so use the tool that comes with it!!!

VMware Workspace ONE – onboarding new employee
Ever wonder what its really like to consume Workspace ONE as a user?
I know quite a few of the folks over at ITQ Consultancy, and one of their newest hires wrote a post explaining his experience getting onboarded.
This is the experience I believe people are looking for today to get the tools they need for their roles.

Linux Published Apps in Horizon 8
Something I completely overlooked when reading the documentation the first time for Horizon 8.
Now, if you just need that 1 Linx app, you can publish it easily for your users.
VMware Blog post is here.

vSphere with Tanzu – Network Overview
Frank Denneman did a great writeup of the networking requirements to get vSphere with Tanzu up and running, using HA Proxy & vDS (not NSX-T).
Give it a read BEFORE you start planning your vSphere with Tanzu deploy

VMware Tanzu – Day 2 Ops for the VI Admin
Dean Lewis put together a great post for Day 2 Ops for the VI Admin.
Not too deep, and links to this presentation being given at different events.
While the post may take 10-15 minutes to read, all the topics referenced might take hours to consume.

VMConAWS for DR? Yes Please….
That Datrium acquisition is paying off.
Low cost DR options. Most of the cost is in the storage required to deliver DR for those workloads you wish to protect.
Should you run a small VMConAWS to run infrastructure components?
Up to you, but most DR initiatives have infrastructure services running at DR to shorten the RTO of DR plans.
VMware Blog post is here.

ESXi 7.0 Update 1a released
On 11/4, shown as released but not downloadable.
No issue….deploy and patch, and you’ll be at 7.0 U1A
A handful of fixes over the 7.0 U1 release.
Release Notes are here.

Upgrading VMware Certifications
There were quite a few questions on the upgrade paths for anyone certified with VCP, VCAP, or VCDX this past week.
I pinged Karl Childs, Senior Manager over at VMware Education, as I know he covered this recently, and asked to repost.
His post in February 2020 reviews the official upgrade paths to recertify.

VMware VCP-DCV 2020 study guide
Found this, & read most of it, and can safely say, it covers a lot of topics appropriately.
Is this a brain dump? no.
You still need to study, but it allows you to have someone else adding some guidance to your study plans….

VMware VCAP-DCV Deploy Exam Simulator
Going to take your VCAP for datacenter deploy?
Never hurts to get practice.
This online exam simulator gives you a chance to see and practice the Deploy exam format.
Thank you, Graham Barker, for this!!!

New VCDX 2020
2020 has not been kind to in person meetings.
…or VCDX defenses for that matter.
Sarah Daniels, part of VMware Education team, put together a small post congratulating all those that have achieved or updated their VCDX certs.
VMware Blog post is here, congratulating all of those.

Photon OS – a new package repository
Do you use Photon OS?
Yes, you do if you run any current Virtual Appliances from VMware, but those Virtual Appliances from VMware are already tuned to address the issue.
I’m discussing those who have used Photon OS for their own custom applications.
A simple update mentioned in the post will take care of this for you.
Will take effect on November 25, 2020.
VMware Blog post is here.

PowerShell 7.1 released
Otherwise known as PowerShell Core (available on Windows, Linux, macOS) instead of PowerShell (remember….PowerShell Core is the path going forward).
Windows 10 users, can go to the App Store, or follow instructions here.
macOS users can run
# brew update
# brew upgrade powershell –cask
Microsoft Blog post is here.

Continuing Education – a list of resources that come with references
A Cloud Guru
CodeClouds
HashiCorp Learn
KubeAcademy
Nutanix University
PluralSight
vBrownBag
VMware Customer Connect Learning (old VMware Learning Zone)
VMware Hands On Labs