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Using the VMware Lifecycle Manager 8.1 API to deploy vROps, vRLI, vRA and vRNI

June 10, 2020 Kim Bottu 0

Introduction Creating the API calls I needed in my lab took me quite some time. I probably could have saved a lot of time by first looking at the JSON files VRSLCM can export out of the box. But of course, I didn’t. vRSLCM is able to export a JSON file for any environment you have setup using vRSLCM. In this blog post I want to show you how I did what I did and where you can find the bits and pieces I needed to create my API calls. The easy way If you want to see a JSON file of a real world deployed environment in vRSLCM, why not export it from the UI? That is right, the […]

Host troubleshooting, migrations and all that.. and Runecast

June 6, 2020 Kim Bottu 0

I have done my fair share of vSphere installations, migrations and upgrades and some of the main causes for delays, is that often people just assume that all hosts in a cluster or across clusters are running the same version of ESXi. Or that all existing hosts in a cluster or across clusters, which you plan on upgrading, are running on hardware that supports the required version of ESXi.Yeah, assumptions… downward spiral, right there. Runecast benefits I have often wished for a tool which would allow me to easily verify if the physical environment is up to being upgraded. But I was just gobsmacked when I had a look on how Runecast Analyzer handles this. Just have a look at […]

How the vExpert program improves my life

June 1, 2020 Kim Bottu 1

When I embarked on the journey to become a vExpert, I did so because of a wish to find like minded people, people who like working with the same technology and like to share stories about how they have accomplished awesome things using VMware technology. I really wanted to connect to people who have the same professional goals in life, and who could inspire me professionally. Professionally… At my previous employer, certification was not encouraged, and even though I knew I wanted to get certified, no one was cheering me on. Getting to the next step in my career seemed daunting to me. I discovered very fast that the vExpert community is more than just a word. A lot of […]

My experience with the VMware Cloud on AWS – Master Services Competency Specialist Exam 2019

May 21, 2020 Manny Sidhu 0

The other day I happened to jump onto Jeffrey Kusters’ blog and saw his post about him passing this test last year. The post got me thinking. I was lucky to get some hands on experience with HCX late last year albeit not to the cloud from legacy on-prem to VCF on-prem. I also have had experience with SRM and more recently with NSX over the years during my time in the trenches. It looked like I checked off the main boxes for having the skills to get through the test. Jeffrey’s compiled links and notes came in handy, so did Manish Jha’s blog posts located here. Jeffrey’s mind map was very useful too to make it all sort of […]

HCX PowerCLI and Reverse Migrations #HCX #PowerCLI @saintdle @Virtual_Simon

April 27, 2020 Bilal Ahmed 0

So when you are going to migrating a lot of VMs you really need to script it out, as doing it in the GUI is going to slow you down massively! Now I have posted scripts where going forward to the cloud works well, but I found going in reverse can make the scripts a bit more complex. This is because the source and destination sites change, but you still do everything from the HCX Connector appliance. Special shout out to Dean Lewis @saintdle and Simon Conyard @Virtual_Simon. I have enough PowerCLI skills to be dangerous but I was falling over and needed their assistance to help me figure out what was going on. So this script will let you […]

Create an alert in vRLI for missing vSAN 7 File Shares

April 7, 2020 Kim Bottu 0

vSAN File services, they are finally here. However in my nested lab, after rebooting the vSAN cluster, often the file services do start but the shares remain unavailable. A good state of the File Services look like this: When all goes well, your File Services Shares should have been created at about the same time. In my test example, I have setup 2 different File Shares. So far so good. However, when I shutdown my vSAN cluster, going through the motions of putting my nested hosts into Maintenance Mode and shutting down the hosts, and then boot the hosts up again and get them out of maintenance mode, the File Services do come back up, but somehow the File Shares […]

HCX Migrations using L2 Ext Legacy Complexities #L2VPN #HCX #VCF

March 16, 2020 Bilal Ahmed 5

Lay of the land I have been working with a customer and came across something interesting. Most people when configuring 2 vCenters don’t share VLANs between the 2, with management networks being the exception. But here we had a VLAN in 2 vCenters which needed to be migrated to our new VCF site. This new site would utilise NSX-v to terminate the default gateway. I think this is best shown in a diagram: For some unknown reason, a decision was made to separate out the Windows and Linux workloads into 2 vCenters but use the same VLAN. Sometimes you can come back and visit a decision you made previously with fresh eyes and new info and realise it wasn’t the […]

Using the API to add a new certificate to a vRLI cluster

March 13, 2020 Kim Bottu 0

When you have to replace certificates on multiple vRLI clusters, using the API might be a better way to change them on all your cluster nodes. Prerequisites You will need to prepare a certificate with a subject alternative name (SAN) for each of the cluster members and the Internal Load Balancer (ILB).You can use this article as a guide. How to Take note that I do not know if this is officially supported, but in my tests it works. Use a REST API client and connect to the ILB IP and request a session token. Make sure to add the credentials to the body of your request. When you post the command, a session token will be generated. You need […]