Cincinnati VMUG UserCON 2018

byArron King 09.03.2018 VMUG

The Cincinnati VMUG UserCON for 2018 is almost here!  Plan to be at the Sharonville Convention Center on September 11th to get the latest in the VMware virtualization universe!

If you were unable to go to VMworld this year, you can catch a review of all the latest updates here.  You will also be able to talk to all of your favorite vendors and hear some really outstanding breakout speakers!   Block your calendars and register today!

Agenda

  • General Session – This will be a review of the VMworld announcements – provided by Amy Lewis.
  • Breakout Sessions – There will be a good variety of topics provided by a list of excellent speakers.  Just a few highlights:
    • SocialLab –  Getting Started with NSX
    • Kyle Ruddy – 2 sessions – PowerCLI and VMC on AWS
    • Ariel Sanchez – Using Ansible with vSphere
    • Jase McCarty – 2 sessions – vSAN customer story and Career Panel Discussion

This is just a few of the sessions available – for the full Agenda – visit VMUG.COM.

 

vToolbelt – August 2018

byArron King 08.21.2018 vToolBelt

After a short summer hiatus, vToolbelt is back with VMware updates you will want to see!

Important News

L1 Terminal Fault (Speculative Execution) Vulnerability –  At 10am PDT Tuesday, August 14th – Intel disclosed a vulnerability in their processors calledL1 Terminal Fault (or L1TF).  By continuing this speculative execution in these cases, the affected Intel microprocessors expose a new side-channel for attack, allowing a malicious VM to infer data in the hypervisor and other VM’s running on a core.

As part of the August 14th disclosure by Intel, three vulnerabilities have been named:

  • CVE-2018-3646 (L1 Terminal Fault – VMM) – The most severe issue – affects all hypervisors running on x86 CPUs – including vSphere, Workstation, and Fusion
  • CVE-2018-3620 (L1 Terminal Fault – OS)
  • CVE-2018-3615 (L1 Terminal Fault – SGX, SMM)

VMware has been working closely with industry partners such as Intel and others to assess the issue and determine the most effective update paths.  VMware has published several Knowledge Base articles on this topic:

 

Continue reading “vToolbelt – August 2018”

vCenter Server Appliance 6.7 Update function may not list available patches

byArron King 08.16.2018 VCSA vSphere

As you probably are aware, Intel disclosed a CPU Speculative-Execution vulnerability (called L1 Terminal Fault) on August 14, 2018.  Like many others who work with VMware vSphere environments, I read up on the remediation steps (KB 55683) so I could patch my small lab environment.  For my vCenter, I was excited to use the VAMI Update functionality for the first time!

I logged into the Virtual Appliance Management Interface (or VAMI) by pointing my web browser at the IP of my vCenter Server Appliance using port 5480 (for example: https://myvcenter.lab.net:5480) and navigated to the Update tab.  I hit the Check Updates button with the option to check the CD ROM and URL; but to my confusion no updates appeared in the list.

I double-checked KB 2143838 which is the list of vCenter Server build numbers to ensure a new release was available.  Sure enough – vCenter Server 6.7.0d was released on 8-14-2018.

 

Continue reading “vCenter Server Appliance 6.7 Update function may not list available patches”

vToolbelt – May 2018

byArron King 05.23.2018 vToolBelt

Upcoming Events


Toledo VMUG (6/27/18) – There will be an HCI discussion and presentation about Expedient’s datacenter. Get more information and register here.

Cincinnati VMUG UserCON (11/2/18) – Save the date and plan to be at the Sharonville Convention Center on November 2nd for the VMUG UserCon in Cincinnati.  Visit the VMUG.COM site to view the agenda and register.

VMworld 2018

  • VMworld US returns to Las Vegas on August 26-30th 2018.  Early Bird pricing is in effect until June 15!
  • VMworld Europe will be back in Barcelona from November 5-8 2018

Continue reading “vToolbelt – May 2018”

vToolbelt – April 2018

byArron King 04.18.2018 vToolBelt

Upcoming Events


AppDefense 101 Webcast (multiple dates) – Join us to learn how VMware AppDefense makes threat detection and response an intrinsic component of your virtualized applications and data. VMware Security SME Geoff Shukin will cover the unique approach AppDefense takes to protecting your applications – a focus on understanding and enforcing “known good” behavior, rather than chasing after bad behavior – as well as show off the product’s capabilities in a live demo of AppDefense protecting against NotPetya. Get more information and register here.

VM Lifecycle Management (April 19th)– This is an event just for TAM customers.  Learn more about best practices around managing the lifecycle of your VMs (upgrading tools, virtual hardware and more).    You can register here.

Funding Higher Education Workforce Initiatives (April 25) – This webinar assembles a few thought leaders for an hour discussion on funding opportunties that can take your campus workforce to the next level.  Learn more and register here.

Toledo VMUG (June 27) – That’s right!  The Toledo VMUG is starting to take off.  Head over to VMUG.COM to check out the agenda and register.   If you are going – let me know!  If enough of you are going, I might even show up!

Continue reading “vToolbelt – April 2018”

Back up the vCenter Server Appliance

byArron King 03.25.2018 VCSA vSphere

Update: If you are running vCenter Server 7 and need to configure VCSA Backups – checkout my Backing Up vCenter Server 7 video on Youtube!

Now that you have migrated to the vCenter Server Appliance (or VCSA), you should start exploring some of the features included in the 6.5 version of the VCSA. Today, we will be looking at one of those features that you should definitely be using – Backup!

The VCSA Backup function allows you to create a backup of the vCenter Configuration, Inventory, and Historical data. If the appliance becomes inoperable you can use this backup during a reinstall of the appliance to get back to the current state.

Backing up the vCenter Server Appliance

Login to the vSphere Appliance Management Interface (or VAMI) by pointing your web browser to the VCSA IP Address or FQDN at port 5480.

VCSA VAMI Login

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enter the username and password for your appliance and click Login. Once the VAMI loads, you will find the Backup function in the Summary section.

Continue reading “Back up the vCenter Server Appliance”

vToolbelt – February 2018

byArron King 02.26.2018 vToolBelt

And here we are at the end of February already!  Time and tech continue to

keep moving.  If the weather outside is too cold for you to get outside – there is plenty of VMware news in this newsletter to keep you busy – treadmill or not!

Upcoming Events


Toledo Q1 VMUG (March 7th, 2018) – This is for those of you in the Northwest part of Ohio. The Toledo VMUG is meeting again!  This event is Wednesday, March 7th from 11:30am-1:30pm.  Lunch will be provided. VMware Staff Engineer Tom Zukowski will be presenting on NSX.  Get more information and register here.

Central Ohio VMUG UserCON (April 3, 2018) – Save the date, and plan to be at the Convention Center in Columbus on April 4 for one of the largest VMUG events in the mid-west!  View the Agenda and register.

Cincinnati VMUG UserCON (September 11, 2018) – Save the Date!  I’ll post more details here when available…

Continue reading “vToolbelt – February 2018”

vToolbelt – January 2018

byArron King 01.23.2018 vToolBelt

And just like that, we are heading into the home stretch of January!  When I began

writing this newsletter when we had 4-5 inches of white stuff on the ground.  I can happily report that now that I’ve published the article – the snow is gone.  However, I am writing this in Ohio, so by the time you are reading this we probably have another inch or so…

Upcoming Events

Toledo Q1 VMUG (3/7) – This is for those of you in the Northwest part of Ohio. The Toledo VMUG is meeting again!  This event is Wednesday, March 7th from 11:30am-1:30pm.  Lunch will be provided. VMware Staff Engineer Tom Zukowski will be presenting on NSX.  Get more information and register here.

OARnet / VMware Education Day (3/27) – OARnet and VMware invite you to a free educational event at the Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center in Columbus, Ohio on March 27th.  There will be education tracks along a number of topics (Cloud, Automation, Security and more!)  Sign up today!  View the agenda and register.

Central Ohio VMUG UserCON (4/3) – Save the date, and plan to be at the Convention Center in Columbus on April 4 for one of the largest VMUG events in the mid-west!   The agenda hasn’t been released yet; but watch the VMUG UserCon page for news!  I will post an update once I hear the registration page is up.

Continue reading “vToolbelt – January 2018”

Save the Date – 2018 Central Ohio VMUG UserCON

byArron King 01.15.2018 VMUG

The 2018 Central Ohio VMUG UserCON will be held Tuesday, April 3rd at the VMware VMUG UserCONColumbus Convention Center.  Mark your calendars now and plan to be there!

If you haven’t attended a VMUG UserCON before here are a few reasons why this is a can’t miss event:

  • Breakout Sessions – There will be multiple breakout sessions with different topics that help you focus your time on learning that will help you take value back to your organization.
  • Speakers – Come to hear VMware employees, industry thought leaders and tech bloggers share their insight and expertise on the latest topics and technologies.
  • Connect with other VMware Admins – Guess who else will be at the UseCON – other sysadmins and engineers in your area.  This is a great opportunity to mingle as well as share ideas and experiences.
  • Technology Showcase – Come and talk to VMware parnters to learn more about the products and services they offer that can help take your systems to the next level.

The agenda hasn’t been publisdhed yet.  Watch the VMUG.COM side to watch for the agenda and register for the event!

vToolbelt – December 2017

byArron King 12.16.2017 vToolBelt

Somehow, November managed to slip right past me!  I’ll blame it on all of the Turkey I ate…    This newsletter has a number of articles you might find useful in your own environments.    There should be a little something here for everyone – from VDI to vSAN, and NSX, and vSphere.

 

Now excuse me – I have to go finish start my Christmas shopping!

Notes from the Field

Desktop
Do you have a Microsoft Licensing agreement that comes with Azure credits?  If so, you may be able to use them to host Desktops or Applications for your users.  That’s right, with Horizon Cloud, you can use Azure credits to run Windows Desktops and Applications in the Azure Cloud.

Continue reading “vToolbelt – December 2017”