Newsletter: May 16, 2020

Hello all,

I hope everyone is good today?  Safe, and healthy too I hope!  I  had a good week, with lots of frustration in the lab, but I also got some things done so that is good.

I was able to do a couple of articles this week - one on some software I have been working on and really like - Cleondris HCC - and I talk about in this article, and I also did an article on backing up vSphere 7 using the new built in tools. I did that one as I had read in the vSphere 7 release notes that image backup was no longer supported. That has changed to depreciated and not supported in the future.  But the new built in backup tools are not so bad and so my article can help if you want to check them out. I also installed Runecast in my lab (again) and updated my article on doing the install.  This is great software.

Did you notice that you can get free access to the VMware Learning Zone right now?  Find out more in this article. I like the Zone and have used it to learn before.

But lots to share so lets dive in!

Have a great week,

Michael

Selling my Home Lab!
If you are more or less local to me - so that means Calgary or Edmonton, I have an amazing Lab deal for you to think about.  I have 2x Dell R710 (each with 40 GB of RAM and fully populated with disk and 1x 10 GB network adapter), 4x Supermicro Mini - Towers (each with 128 GB of RAM, and 2x 10 GB network adapters and a couple of 1 GB network adapters). I will include 1x 10 GB network switch, and some spare parts that will include network cards and SSD. I may also include a display.  And the price for all is is 750 CAD. Reach out if you are interested.  I need to find a nice new home for this nice lab.

Top 20 articles for vSphere - April 2020
This article has in it the top 20 support articles that support people used most in the month of April.  This means what the articles cover is topical and current. Some good stuff in the list.  Like being able to copy and paste into a VMRC console.

Changing the default size of the ESX-OSData volume in ESXi 7.0
William has an article about the size of the ESX-OSData volume in the recent update.  I upgraded part of my lab with the vSphere 7 beta and all of it with the GA of vSphere 7.  I did not notice any change in storage footprint.  But I am not short of space and I think you need to be to experience this affect.

vSphere HA internals: restart placement changes in vSphere 7
Duncan talks in this article about some interesting vSphere 7 HA changes that I think are pretty cool!

Guest Customization support for Instant Clone in vSphere 7
William talks about this new functionality in this article.  Very handy stuff.

vSphere HA internals: VMCP super aggressive option in vSphere 7
Another article from Duncan talks about some new things in vSphere 7 that are pretty interesting, and I see how they could cause some issue if you misuse them. Good that Duncan explains it well. The comments are interesting too.

vSphere 7 vMotion with attached remote device
A nice improvement in vSphere 7 that I had not heard about until Frank explains it in this article.

Deploying vSphere with Kubernetes via VCF 4.0
This article is about installing vSphere and K8’s using the tools of VCF.  Quite interesting. I like the sound of the VCF and would like to work with it one day.

vCenter 7.0 - Image based backup is still supported, but won’t be in future versions
You can learn more about this from Dean in this article.

vSphere 7 - How to get started with the vSphere Lifecycle Manger
This is the VUM replacement and in this video you can learn more about it. I can say in my lab it works better than VUM did but not sure why.

Running vSphere 6.7 or 6.5 and configured HA APD/PDL responses? Read this …
Duncan talks about a known issue in this article, and how to deal with it. Good info!

vSphere Authentication, Microsoft Active Directory LDAP, and Event ID 2889
Bob has an informative article on this subject. Very educational and useful - thanks Bob! Many people connect vCenter to AD - and so do I - and all of us should read this article.

How to passthrough USB keyboard / mouse HID and CCID devices to VM in ESXi?
William has an article to help you with this. The comments are interesting too.  I am impressed to see this is not that hard.

Deploying Tanzu Kubernetes Grid (TKG) on vSphere
David has the full scoop on this and I think it is pretty cool that one of his first comments is “Can it really be this easy?”.

What to look at and do (or not) when recovering from a cluster failure (Part 2)
This is part 2 of an article I shared a while back.  Is very interesting stuff and good info. Thanks John!

Changing the boot order of a virtual machine using vmx options
I saw this KB article that shows you how to change boot order via the VMX file and I thought it was very good info to be aware of just in case one day.

Automation Examples for vRealize Network Insight
This article talks about some very interesting functionality.  vRNI captures a lot of information and that is quite useful in a variety of ways like troubleshooting and application identification.  But that info is also available via API so that makes it really powerful.

What’s New for Alerts in vRealize Operations 8.1
This article talks about this subject in some detail.  I like what they have done as alert fatigue is real and it sucks.

vROps Dashboard - Display port group with VLAN ID and map to virtual machines
This article talks about an interesting dashboard.  I see it being useful for some customers.

Monitoring the VMware Event Broker Appliance with vRealize Operations Manager
This article will help you do exactly that - use vROps to monitor your VEBA appliance.

New VEBA release, new website, and new mascot!
William talks about this new release in this article. Some nice changes - like now it has a DCUI.

Upgrade to NSX-T 3.0
You can learn more about the NSX-T upgrade process in this article.  Lots of steps!

vRealize Log Insight Index Partitions and Variable Retention Deep Dive
This article talks about some very cool stuff.  Great features added to Log Insight. I can see how they would be very useful at customers.

vRealize Log Insight Content Pack for PFSense Firewall Logs
This article talks about his PFSense content pack and that is one of the things I really like in Log Insight.  How easy it is to do content packs and how helpful they are!

VMware Cloud on AWS - 2-Host Cluster Capability now in Preview!
This article talks about this new functionality in VMC and I think it will be pretty handy.

Chrome to start blocking ‘resource-heavy’ Ads
This article talks about a nice change coming in Chrome.  Blocking resource heavy ads, which is often doing something like mining cryptocurrency, or just poorly done.

Cool tool update: RVTool 4.0.4 release
Duncan talks about this update and it is a nice one.  I really like this tool and it is always on my desktop.

Operationalizing Zero Trust
This article is quite interesting and can help you think more about zero trust and how useful it is. Security has always been important, but it is more important now, and I think we need to do it better now too.  And the Zero Trust model is helpful!

Veeam Backup & Replication - VMware Snapshot-less Recovery Points
Michael has an interesting article that will help you do better backups.  I need to mention that every release of VMware in the last few years has improved how VMware snapshots work, and lessens the impact on VMs. So it is not as bad as Michael suggests but what he is showing is very powerful and useful.

Veeam ONE Remote Code Execution Vulnerabilities
In this article you can learn more about the issues but also get the patches to fix things!

How to configure AV exclusions to prevent interaction with Veeam Backup & Replication
This KB article will help you with what you should exclude from AV to make sure no issues with VBR.

Veeam takes big step forward with Google in our first Collaboration
Danny talks about what is happening between Veeam and Google and this is very good news for Veeam customers!

How synthetic full backup works and why you might need it
I have tried explaining this several times to customers but this article does a pretty good job of it! I think synthetic full is pretty cool.

How We’re Getting Hybrid Cloud Wrong — And Why it’s time to course-correct
Danny has an interesting article on this, and he raises some very good points.  I have seen some of the behavior he implies about myself.

Digital Transformation is about Talent, Not Technology
This article is quite right.  If you want digital transformation, buying technology won’t do it.  But having the people who can do it makes all the difference.

Microsoft Outlook for iPhone and iPad adds new ‘ignore conversation’ feature
A new feature called Ignore Conversation sounds pretty good to me! You can learn a little more about this stuff in this article.

10 Flying Tips Gained from 2 Million Miles Experience
Michael has some good suggestions in this article.  I agree with all of them! However, I often travel with more than Michael so I check my luggage. I do that since with my last three employers they sent me places before I made it home so the trips were longer.

Take a Virtual Ride on STAR WARS: Rise of the Resistance
Check out this article if you are interested.  It also has a Disney video on this ride.  Which convinced me I have to visit Disney one day and do the real ride!

Be careful when scheduling events using Siri
This article is a good story and interesting how you can screw things up!

How to Mirror Your Apple TV to your Mac for Screenshots or Presentations
This article was sort of odd to find.  If you want to screenshot things on your Apple TV you can do it!

How to set up Medical ID and customize SOS on iPhone and Apple Watch
I know a number of nurses, and a couple of doctors that all know how to get at Medical Info on your iPhone.  That is quite handy! If you don’t, or if you have not set it up, use this article to do that.

Thanks for reading or skimming this far,

Michael

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