Lab offline · Awaiting Parts... · 9.1.1 · 78 posts
The Small
Human Cloud
Blog articles, news and useful information on VMware Cloud Foundation, automation and PowerShell — all from the home lab, where everything gets broken and rebuilt first.
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- In IT since
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Deploying VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF) 9.1 in a Lab
Guest post · James Tiffany
When it comes to installing your VVF environment you have two options available. The first, and most common, is to use the VCF Installer. Don't let the name faze you, the same installer that deploys VCF will also deploy VVF for you. The great thing about doing it this way is the level of automation you get, this process will deploy vCenter, VCFMS, VCF Operations and the License server...
Installing and Activating VMware Intelligent Assist in VCF Operations
So last week during VMware Explore in Las Vegas, a new feature was announced, VMware Intelligent Assist!
Latest News from the Web
Attackers are getting from a Palo Alto VPN flaw into vCenter and switching off ESXi protections
- Patch vCenter, and make sure a compromised VPN can't walk straight to it. CVE-2026-59310 (VMSA-2026-0006) is still the priority: 9.1.0.0300 or any later 9.1.x patch, 9.0.2.0100, or 8.0 U3k / U2f. Unit 42's GlobalProtect write-up shows attackers going from the VPN to vCenter and turning off execInstalledOnly on ESXi, so restrict vCenter and ESXi management to jump hosts and alert on changes to that setting.
- Close out the older exploited advisories while you're there. VMSA-2025-0004 (ESXi VMCI, exploited per Broadcom) is fixed from ESXi 8.0 U3d, 8.0 U2d and 7.0 U3s, so any host left behind on 8.0 or 7.0 needs attention. Also check VCF Operations is on 9.0.2.0 or later (VMSA-2026-0001) and VMware Tools on 13.0.5 or 12.5.4 (VMSA-2025-0015).
- Set vCenter to UTC before the 9.1.1 upgrade, and turn on Supervisor backups. KB 455439 confirms the "Unable to run vCenter NTP server check" precheck failure is caused by a non-UTC time zone, and switching to UTC in the VAMI is the workaround. If you run Supervisors, tick "Supervisors Control Plane" in the vCenter file-based backup schedule: it's the only way back if KB 457944 bites, and that KB still has no fixed build.
- Security No new VMSA
- Releases & KBs Two KBs worth reading
- Terraform & Packer All quiet
- Next deadline 8 days
Code Projects
VMware Explore 2024 Hackathon Winning team
Project and code from the Las Vegas hackathon at VMware Explore 2024.
Simplify VCF Deployment & Operations with Terraform
Session code with examples for deploying VCF and common post-bring-up tasks.
Automating VCF Day 1 Operations
Session code covering Day 1 actions via the API and PowerVCF.
Presentations
Every slide deck and demo from the events I've been lucky enough to present at.