I don’t know about you; but my summer is flying by.  I blinked and missed June.  So this month, we’ll combine June & July.    I know you are as busy as I am, so  let’s get to it…

Upcoming Events

Central Ohio VMUG (July 11) – Note:  This event was moved up to avoid a date conflict with the Indy UserCON.  vRealize Operations presentation followed by optional movie.  Register Here.

Indianapolis VMUG UserCON (July 18) – For those able to travel, this UserCON in Indianapolis is pretty huge…   Visit the VMUG.COM site to view the agenda and register.

VMworld 2017

Registration for VMworld 2017 in the US is open now.       You can view pricing on the VMworld.com Registration Packages Page.

I have a feeling the Schedule Builder will be out soon.   Be sure to schedule your sessions as soon as possible to avoid getting shut out!

VMworld Customer Boot camps are back this year by popular demand.  These are optional add-ons you can choose during registration.  This year, there are 3 – Oracle on vSphere, SQL Server on vSphere, and vSphere Top Gun Performance.  Get more details at VMworld.com.

Notes from the Field

Introducing Docs.VMware.com!  This will be a one stop shop for all product documentation.  Check it out and give us feedback!  The goal is to make it easier to use and find the information you need.

New features to the VMware portal (my.VMware.com).  The portal is in the process of being updated.  At this time the license management functions have been upgraded.  Check it out!

Cool & New

• VMware Tools Client – interact with your VMs without network connectivity.  You can execute scripts and transfer files over vSphere using VMware Tools.
• SMART Drive data now available via vSAN Mgmt API in 6.  One of the new enhancements in vSAN 6.6 is the ability to access SMART Drive data (via venter or ESXi).
• Horizon View Helpdesk Tool – Empower your helpdesk with this feature – available in View 7.2.  Helpdesk staff can quickly find client and VM information and take action to help the end user.
• PowerCLI script to check Host overcommit ratios – Get data directly from the ESXi host to help troubleshoot performance issues.

Updates to know about

• If you are using VMware VDP to backup your VMs – be sure to check out the latest patch for your version to avoid security vulnerabilities.   The link has information on how to patch as well as the vulnerability that was discovered.
• Running vSAN on vSphere 6.0 ?  Check out ESXi 6.0 Patch 05.  This build has a number of fixes for vSAN issues.
• Log Insight 4.5 is out.  It now has better integration with vRealize Operations. One of the items to know is that future versions of Log Insight will require Identity manager for LDAP/Active Directory integration.  Log Insight actually comes with a free edition of Identity Manager – so you don’t need to purchase anything additional.

Many of you use Veeam to backup your VMs.  Rightly so, it is a good product.  Do you backup your Veeam Server?

In light of recent events, many of you are taking a long look at security.  One consideration you may be making is to disable SMB v1 in your environments.  If you have the vCenter Server appliance, you may need to enable it to use SMB2.  You might also review VMGuru’s tips on Infrastructure Hardening.

VMware is also making strides on being more secure by default. Starting with ESXi 6.0 Patch 5, many unexposed features in VM settings (like Unity settings from Fusion) are now disabled by default.  Likewise, there is an update for the “Hardening Guide” for vSphere 6.5.  It has been renamed to the Security Configuration Guide.

For those of you habitual link collectors (any anyone who wants to know what port X in product Y is for) – check out this great spreadsheet of VMware Ports and Protocols compilation.

vSphere 6.5 Migration articles:

• One person’s journey from vCenter 6.0 to vCSA 6.5.
• vSphere 6.5 Upgrade Considerations

Do you know….

• What Erasure Coding in vSAN is used for, or how it can enhance your data protection capabilities?
• That vCenter is not required for High Availability (HA), and that HA can be used to protect vCenter?
• What is new in vRealize Automation 7.3?

I hope your summer projects move along nicely and you get a chance to take a break now and then!  Until next month…