Posts

VMware HyperArmor: Why It's Worth a Look for Protecting ESX

Last week at VMware Explore in Frankfurt, Broadcom announced VMware HyperArmor, a new layer of protection for the ESX hypervisor. Here's what it is and why it's worth a look.

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!

VCF Automation Deployment Fails Bootstrapping the VCF Services Runtime (VSP)

Quick one from the lab this week. I redeployed the lab after some physical changes and choose to deploy without VCF Automation this time, and deploy after the bring up. The deployment failed while bootstrapping the VCF services runtime cluster...

Enabling Application Discovery via VCF Operations for Networks Flows

With the release of VCF 9.1 I have been looking into various features and capabilities. One of which is Flow Based Application Discovery in VCF Operations and...

vSphere Configuration Profiles in VCF 9

Since vSphere 8u3 there has been a successor Host Profiles called vSphere Configuration Profiles.

Listing Transparent Page Sharing Setting for each ESX Host

I recently adjusted some Transparent Page Sharing setting in the HomeLab to maximise the RAM availability which led me to consider how to do this in PowerShell...

Breaking down the Conceptual Design, RCARs and AMPRS VCDX style

I recently went looking for a very useful article I read a number of years ago to help with my VCAP design certifications and overall understanding around...

vCenter Server Services not Starting all Services after Physical Disk Issue

During some recent lab work I unexpectedly lost one of the NVME drives in my host which took out the VCF instance I was working in. After resolving the disk...

VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF) 9.0 Upgrade to 9.0.1

Guest post · James Tiffany

So if you have been following the previous blogs, or just jumped here we are now going to cover the upgrade of a VVF 9.0 environment to 9.0.1. What we cover...

VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF) Day 2 Operations

Guest post · James Tiffany

Adding VCF Operations for Logs 9.0

VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF) 9.0 Greenfield Deployment

Guest post · James Tiffany

Welcome back, In the previous article I covered setting up the nested hosts to prepare for the green field deployment of VMware vSphere Foundation 9.0. This...

VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF) Introduction

Guest post · James Tiffany

Its been a while since I have had time to complete the many blogs that I have started but then not completed. I have been snowed under with customers and...

VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF) Basic Lab Configuration

Guest post · James Tiffany

Lab Configuration

VCF Operations for Logs Upgrade Fails Not Enough Disk Space /tmp

Guest post · James Tiffany

This is just a quick blog to cover an issue I encountered in the lab when I was running through some upgrades from 9.0 to 9.0.1 for a VVF (VMware vSphere...

Certificate Auto Renewal VMware Cloud Foundation 9

Certificate management is a critical aspect of maintaining IT infrastructure. Traditionally, it can be a time-consuming process involving multiple requests...

Preparing Aria Suite Lifecycle Manager for VCF 9

With the new announcement of VCF 9, I like many others, was ready and eager to upgrade my lab. As part of this there is a requirement to apply a patch to Aria...

Unable to Select Newer VCF Component Versions After Download Token Changes and Upgrading VCF 4.x to 5.x

Recently, there was a change to how SDDC Manager is configured to download bundles. This was previously done via the Depot Settings section in the SDDC Manager...

VCF Administrator VCP Exam Study Group

Earlier this year I participated in a Community lead VCF Administrator VCP Exam study group alongside fellow vExperts James T, Franky B & Gareth E.

vSAN HCL DB Out of Date - How to Update via SDDC Manager

During some recent upgrade work in my home lab I came faced with the following error when running the Upgrade PreCheck.

Rotating Aria Suite Local Account Passwords Using API's & PowerShell

Password management is a critical aspect of maintaining a secure and efficient IT infrastructure. The Aria Suite is no exception and password rotation is...

Importing Aria Products into Aria Suite Lifecycle Manager

I recently began exploring the process for bringing standalone Aria products, such as Aria Operations or Aria Operations for Logs, into Aria Suite Lifecycle...

New Year, New Certifications

Guest post · James Tiffany

December is normally a quieter time at work with customers change freezes kicking in and I like to use this time to get in the training I don't find time to do...

Visualising Aria Operations for Logs Data in Aria Operations

Guest post · James Tiffany

Its been a weird couple of years since I joined VMware. I have taken a step back from hands on, but with working with customers from such a diverse background...

Upgrading VMTools with PowerCLI

I recently got asked if it is possible to upgrade the VMTools on a VM at the VM level and target a group of them, but not at a host or cluster level. The...

VCF - Exploring Your Operational Toolbox - VMUG UK UserCon 2023

This last week I had the opportunity to present a session at the VMUG UK UserCon with friend and colleague, James T. The session built on a previous session we...

Exporting Aria Operations Content via the API and PowerShell

I recently spent some time creating custom dashboards in Aria Operations and realised very quickly that I would not want to lose them! So I looked at exporting...

Upgrading VMware Cloud Foundation 4.5 to 4.5.1

For anyone looking to begin an upgrade or process that they have never done before, it can be daunting. Being able to see the process before attempting it can...

Changing the vSAN Storage Policy for a VM using PowerCLI

I recently had a query regarding changing the storage policy on a significant number of virtual machines using PowerCLI.

Authentication failed for User VCFUI during VCF upgrade

During a recent VCF upgrade from version 4.5 to 4.5.1, I was faced with the following error:

Upgrading vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager to Aria Suite Lifecycle

In April 2023, VMware vRealize Suite became VMware Aria. As part of this all the products moved to the new name and had new capabilities included. This...

VCF - I've Deployed it, What's Next? - London VMUG 2023

I was recently lucky enough to have the opportunity to present a session at the London VMUG LonVMUG with friend and colleague, James T. The session was based...

vSAN Storage Policy Summary using PowerCLI

I recently came across a need to review the Storage Policies in use within a vCenter environment and how many objects or virtual machines where using each...

Deploying vSphere Templates with Packer &amp Azure DevOps

Ever since starting out on my learning journey with Packer and writing my 'Getting Started' blog series, I have not stopped learning and developing my...

NSX-T Edge Node 3.2 Upgrade Issue - Hugepage Support

I recently did the first NSX upgrade in my Homelab! My Lab is running older hardware, HPE DL380 Gen8's to be exact and this lead to an upgrade issue when...

Configuring vSphere 7 Auto Deploy

Whilst continuing to prepare for my VMware Certified Advanced Professional Deploy Exam, I have been configuring vSphere Auto Deploy. As with my blog post on...

Client SMTP Email Submission & Graph API - Azure

I recently began playing with Azure DevOps Pipelines as a way to automate various aspects of my lab. As part of this I wanted to send email notifications that...

Different Tools; Same Result - vSphere Tags

Following the last blog post on create vSphere Port Groups, let's take a look at creating Tags and Tag Categories.

vCenter Server Profiles

Whilst beginning preparations to take the VMware Certificated Advanced Professional Deploy exam, I have started to look into the features and topics that I'm...

Auto Connecting Devices to a VMware Workstation VM

As part of my latest homelab setup, I run my vCenter Server VM and Domain Controller VM on VMware Workstation Pro 16 and not on an ESXi host. This is mainly so...

Failed to Deploy OVF Package - vSphere Content Libraries

I recently came across an issue with creating subscribed VMware Content Libraries, and deploying templates from a Content Library.

Different Tools; Same Result - vSphere Distributed Port Groups

As technology moves forward, more and more ways to achieve your goal become available. Many people still rely on the good old trusty GUI to achieve their goal...

NSX-T Manager Certificate Replacement

I decided it was time to add VMware NSX-T to my HomeLab. I had been putting it off for a while but I couldn't avoid it any longer!

Sessions I'll Be Attending at VMworld 2021

VMworld 2021 is right around the corner! This year we are again unable to attend in person due to COVID-19, however this still gives everyone the chance to...

Enabling VM Rightsizing in vRealize Operations Manager (vROPS)

One of the many great features of vRealize Operations Manager (vROPS) is the ability to identify and address over or under sized virtual machines.

Getting Started With Packer to Create vSphere Templates - Part 5 - Bringing it Together!

Here we are, Part 5! If you have stuck with me through this series, thank you for taking the time. If not, you can catchup with Parts 1-4 by searching my blog!

Getting Started With Packer to Create vSphere Templates - Part 4 - Blocks

Welcome to Part 4 of the Packer Series! In this part we will look at putting together all the block and files we need to deploy a template!

Getting Started With Packer to Create vSphere Templates - Part 3 - Variables

Welcome back to part 3 of my Creating vSphere Templates using Packer series, if you missed part 1 or 2, you can find them here and here. In part 3 we will...

Getting Started With Packer to Create vSphere Templates - Part 2 - Answer Files and Scripts

Welcome to part 2 of my Getting Started with Packer series, if you missed part 1, you can find it here. In part 2, we will take a look through an important...

Getting Started With Packer to Create vSphere Templates - Part 1

Virtual Machines Templates, why? Templates are a great way to achieve consistent, repeatable and fast virtual machine (VM) deployments, be it an on-premise...

Upgrading Site Recovery Manager (SRM) 8.3.1 to 8.4

I recently started looking at prerequisites to a vSphere 7 upgrade, by reviewing any associated upgrades that might be needed. VMware Site Recovery Manager was...

Upgrade vRealize Operations Manager (vROPS) 7.5 to 8.4

Recently I tested a vRealize Operation Manager (vROps) upgrade from version 7.5 to 8.4 ahead of a vCenter 7.0.2 upgrade and thought I would share the process.

Updating PowerCLI and Cleaning Up Old Versions

Following the recent PowerCLI 12.3 release, I'm sure many will be rushing to make use of some of the great new additions which you can find information on here.

Enabling Native KMS in vSphere 7.0 Update 2

Some time back I wrote about setting up and enabling a HyTrust Key Management setup for vSphere to make use of VM and vSAN encryption. Following the release of...

Get, Set and Remove Perennial Reservations Using PowerShell Functions

Having recently had to do some work with RDM perennial reservations I looked into ways to make this less of a manual headache. There are plenty of examples out...

Administering ESXi Hosts With ESXCLI using PowerCLI

There are times as a vSphere admin, you are going to want to run ESXCLI commands against multiple ESXi Hosts from a central location. This could be for...

Deploying vCenter 7.0 via the CLI

Recently I decided it was time to add a second vCenter 7.0 Appliance to my main lab environment after the lab containing my SRM and vSphere Replication...

Using Tags To Automate The Assigning Of vCenter Object Permissions

Tags are a really useful component in VMware. They can be used for all manor of things, whether it's for storage policies, backups, identifying a group of...

Change ESXi Host Access Groups With PowerCLI

IT security, accountability and auditability are critical today. Securing vCenter Server using auditable identities, for instance via an Active Directory...

SRM 8.3 Certificate Management

Following on from my last post on vSphere 7.0 certificate Management, I wanted to continue with another certificate related post. This one being Site Recovery...

vSphere 7.0 Certificate Management

vCenter 7.0 brings many new features, one of which is a much smoother certificate management experience. There are now 4 main 'modes' for certificate...

DFS NameSpace Issues - Migrating From FSR To DFSR Following AD Upgrade

I recently assisted a friend who had an issue with DFS Namespaces following an Active Directory Upgrade from 2008R2 to 2012R2. They were faced with not being...

VM and vSAN Encryption

In this day an age, securing data is a must. In this post I'd like to show you two options for protecting your data; vSAN Encryption & VM Encryption.

Deploying and Connecting A Key Management Server to vCenter

Is it secure?

Configuring ESXi for iSCSI Storage Using PowerCLI

Configuring host VMKernel adapters for iSCSI can be a time consuming process. PowerCLI can take away a lot if not all of the effort.

Centos Based Certificate Authority For The VMware Lab

A useful thing for a home lab or VMware lab, is a certificate authority. There are Windows based CA's as well as Linux based and many others. I wanted to take...

Configuring Encrypted vMotion With PowerCLI

Encrypted vMotion is a feature available in vSphere 6.5 onwards. It is something that is always used to secure vMotions of encrypted virtual machines, its a...

Exporting and Importing Active Directory OU Structures

Recently I needed to build out some test Active Directory Forests that resemble production in order to complete some testing. One of the forests contained a...

Creating Virtual Distributed Port Groups Using PowerCLI

I recently needed to create a new Distributed Port Group and set a specific load balancing policy on an existing Distributed Switch. Nothing to exciting, but a...

VMWorld 2020 Registration is open!

This year, as much as we have lost the ability to travel and connect with people in person at this event, it has presented an opportunity for individuals to...

vCenter Tag Administration Permissions

The use of VMware tags recently became a requirement for some of my colleagues in an environment that was inherited. They were faced with being unable to...

vSphere 7 / VCF4.0 HOLs now available

Want to get hands on with vSphere 7 and VMware Cloud Foundation 4.0 (VCF4) but don't have a either access to it or a HomeLab to install it?

Adding an Identity Source (LDAP) - Username Format Error

I recently needed to validate some permissions using LDAP as an identity source. I hadn't actually had a need to add an identity source to my Lab until now, so...

Deploying Custom Virtual Standard Switches for Management

I have been rebuilding my lab hosts a lot lately! Once because I fiddled too much with my vSAN cluster and killed it... Another more interesting occasion being...

Home Lab - Equipment and Software: Part 1

Thanks for coming back! If you missed the first post in my Home Lab series you can find it here.

Downgrading VM Hardware Version

Having to downgrade a VM's hardware version or compatibility level is something that comes up now and again. There are many reasons you may need to do this...

Home Lab - The Beginning

Home Labs are a fantastic way to do all manor of things from the comfort of your home. Ranging from home automation, file storage, home media streaming...

Installing PowerCLI using Install-Module

I was asked recently 'Do we have PowerCLI downloaded?'. Yes, we may, but it could be anywhere and it is likely an outdated version.