Newsletter: May 19, 2018

Hello all,

I have just finished the week at VeeamOn and what a week it was.  It was great to catch up with old friends, and meet new ones.  And lots of cool customers to chat with was also very good indeed. I loved introducing people to VAO and give them ideas on how to use it to truly save the IT infrastructure when things go bad. It was a great event, small enough to run into people you know, and find who you are looking for, but big enough to have lots of learning type sessions available.

This will be my last newsletter for a while, middle of next week I will be starting PTO for a bit.  Definitely looking forward to it, and in fact I think I need it.  We are heading back to Africa and that is one of my favorite destinations.  I am going to try something different - while I am there, I may write an article or two of interesting things.  We will see how that goes.

As always, I really appreciate you reading or skimming through my newsletter.  And I particularly enjoy the comments and questions I get - thank you very much!

Michael

Important - Attention PGP Users: New Vulnerabilities Require You to take Action now
I first heard about this issue in this article.  EFF has done an analysis you can see here. Do not use PGP to sign or encrypt your email, and don’t use it to decrypt anything at this time.

Upgrading your vCenter Server Appliance from 6.5 to 6.7
In this article you can learn a little about the upgrade process and some on why it is as it is. I still have Horizon View and Veeam to be 6.7 certified before I can do my upgrade.  So sad.  Really want to upgrade for the new HTML5 goodness.

Performance Checklist Now Available for vSAN Benchmarking
Cormac has an article that talks of new benchmarking of vSAN and some good suggestions if you are going to do a vSAN PoC.

Understanding vSAN Encryption - KMS Accessibility
Jase has an interesting article abut vSAN and KMS that is very good to know! Circular dependencies are important to avoid in all things.

vYetti - Fun animated vSphere Login UI customization
If you want a grouchy looking Yeti looking at you while you log into the vSphere Web Client William has you covered in this article.

A hidden vSphere 5.1 Gem - forwarding Virtual Machine Logs (vmware.log) to syslog part 1
This somewhat old article has been updated since functionality in vSphere has changed. This has been updated several times lately so if you are interested in this functionality you should re-visit the article.  Good news though for anyone interested!

vSphere HTML5 Web Client update
You can find the change log of this new version and it talks of some good stuff - I like how the search is improved, and there is quick power operations now. I am looking forward to doing more in the HTML5 client when I have 6.7 in my lab.

Log Intelligence: Explore Page
Steve has an interesting article about some cool functionality in VMware Cloud on AWS.  It is called Log Intelligence and it is sort of like Log Insight on steroids. This is another reason why I like VMC because you can have things added to it, maybe for extra money and maybe not, that really adds value.  Very cool.

Stretched Clusters for VMware Cloud on AWS - Overview
Emad has an excellent article on some new functionality in VMC that is most excellent.  I think that this is a great solution for people.  Not sure, but depending on cost it may not be required for all customers.

VMware Hybrid Cloud Extension (HCX) Network ports
A very nice diagram of HCX ports is in this article.  And some info on the HCX as well. Port info is very important often and in particular with HCX, there is some interesting ramifications around ports so this diagram is handy!

My Experiences Updating VCSA 6.5a to 6.5 U2
This article is about the upgrade, and while I would suggest not using the VCSA backup to protect yourself but rather an image based backup with your fav backup tool, the article is still interesting and useful.

ESXi Compatibility Checker
A new VMware Labs fling that is pretty handy.  It will automate your hosts for HCL compatibility.  Very cool.  Great ideas for a fling. Mind you now I need to get Python working.

Cool browser plugin for Dark Theme vSphere H5 Client
William has a great mod for the vSphere Web Client.  I do like dark themes.

Overview of NSX-T and Concourse
In this article you can learn about NSX-T and Concourse and it is quite interesting.

Drop-Down Lists in vRealize Automation, from Static to Dynamic to External
Chip has an interesting article about some powerful functionality in vRA and SovLabs.  Cool stuff.

What’s New with Veeam Backup for Office 365
Matt has an interesting article about the updates to Veeam Backup for Office 365. Some really nice improvements on the way!

Quiet install of SQL server + SP1 + All tools (SQL Server Series)
In this article you can learn about doing a silent install of SQL.

ONTAP 9.4 - Improvements and Additions
You can learn more about 9.4 in this article. Sounds like some interesting new features for NetApp shops.  Lots of stuff around cloud.

Invoke-ScriptAnalyzer
I saw that Ben Meadowcroft said his style guide - for PowerShell is Invoke-ScriptAnalyzer and I did not know what that was.  So I asked about it.  Kyle said it was magic and then suggested I watch this to learn more.  Good grief, and Wow!  Someone else suggested this for style.

7-Zip: From Uninitialized Memory to Remote Code Execution
In this article it breaks down some vulnerabilities in 7-Zip but also how you can add 7-Zip in Windows 10 to the Defender for extra security and make it much harder to exploit 7-Zip.  I did not know that was possible but it sounds very good. I like some of the changes that 7-Zip is doing as I use it myself and like how it is improving!

Building ADFS with PowerShell
Using PowerShell to prepare ADFS to support authentication against AD is sort of cool.  Find out more and how in this article.

Hands Down the Ultimate VDI Platform - 2018 Review
Andre has an article around VDI that is interesting, and he is the VDI guy.  I recently had a nice demo of Datrium and it was very cool.  It was also HTML5 and a plug-in to vSphere Web Client.  Very nice

Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation makes Privacy Global
We have all heard about the GDPR that is on its way, and I am sure we are all getting email prompts to accept existing relationships again in our mail, but I thought this article was pretty well done and good info and presented a little better in terms of how it applies.

Why do we keep using Facebook?
This is quite an interesting article, and particularly if you are a Facebook user - which I am not, but I still thought it quite an article.

Pilot ‘sucked halfway out’ of plane after windscreen broke at 32.000 feet - how often does this happen?
I was quite surprised at this article - I had no idea that there was this number of windshield issues. I am happy to say that I am not aware of this happening on my flights.  Thanks goodness.

American elections are too easy to hack.  We must take action now
Bruce Schneier has an article on this subject that is quite interesting.  I have heard similar things elsewhere and I think that this is a real issue, and this article has a very good write up that all of us should be aware of.

I asked Apple for all my data. Here’s what was sent back
In this article you can learn a bit more about Apples belief in our privacy. There is a lot of reasons I like Apple.  And this shows off one of them.

Thanks for reading or skimming this far,

Michael

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