NSX-T 2.4 – Unprecedented Enhancements

February 28, 2019 Manny Sidhu 0

NSX-T 2.4 was released about 16 hours ago when VMware’s NSBU put this blog post out. Some pretty cool enhancements to NSX-T in this release have been introduced with some of the key ones being around application-centric SDN, Ansible orchestration, API consumption, data visualization and security, Day 2 and beyond operations (upgrades, troubleshooting and migration). IMO, this brings T just about at-par with V, probably surpasses it. The version isn’t GA by the looks of it, since there isn’t a download available just yet: I took about an hour and a bit to run through what’s available to learn up about this major release and here it is for your easy reading: Increased manageability: A converged appliance cluster that slices […]

ESXi PSOD #Homelab #vExpert #ESXi

February 18, 2019 Bilal Ahmed 0

So I booted up my HP Z600, this houses my main management VMs and ESXi runs off a usb stick. So nothing fancy. On boot up I got this lovely screen of joy: I don’t like PSODs they make me sad. Looking at the error and the fact that it was happening at boot up made me think of some USB drive issue. Let’s think about it for a minute, when ESXi is loaded off a USB/SD card it will then run in memory, and if you make a change it will save it to the drive or it will save automatically every hour (KB ). One thing you have to remember is to make sure you configure the advance […]

Some Basic #PowerCLI using foreach to modify #NTP and do #ESXi host backups #vExpert

February 6, 2019 Bilal Ahmed 0

You will have seen my earlier post about learning PowerShell, and now I am using what I think is one of the best things about PowerShell……The foreach loop. I have seen it used many times, and never fully understood it, I kind of got what it did, but now I am getting it into my head and I have been using it to try and various things. So I have been doing more bits in PowerCLI to help improve my scripting skills and just to see if I can make my life easier. Modifying NTP settings on multiple ESXi hosts There is a known bug in PowerCLI 10 where Remove-VMHostNtpServer looks like it has worked, but does not actually do […]

Why you should attend your local VMUG User Conference

January 25, 2019 Manny Sidhu 0

The local VMUG User Conference is fast approaching (March 21, save the date!), preparation’s in full swing and the VMUG leaders are working hard to make the event a success. While I can’t tell you the agenda just yet because it’s being finalized, what’s public information is the fact people of the likes of Brian Madden, Chris Wolf and Cody de Arkland will be there to present keynotes and a session or two. That’s reason enough to be there! The event’s free too in case you didn’t know. So head on over to the registration page here for the Melbourne chapter of the conference. Now why else should you attend the conference? Learn something outside your daily job. Maybe you’ve […]

Learn Windows PowerShell in a Month of Lunches, Third Edition #BookReview #Powershell #PowerCLI #Scripting #vExpert

January 15, 2019 Bilal Ahmed 0

So if you follow my posts, one thing you will know about me is that I like learning new things and picking up skills. Through my whole time of working with vSphere, I have used PowerCLI in one way or another. I can muddle my way around a bit, but it has always niggled at me that I don’t know it as well as I could. When people were talking about scripting or sharing their scripts, I could barely follow along, and that to me is very annoying. I always at least want to have a solid base understanding. So I finally got around to buying this book and using it. Whenever you ask around about learning PowerShell, EVERYBODY and I […]

Moving from vSphere 5.5 to vSphere 6.5 Part 2 #Upgrade #Migration #Fresh #vExpert #vSphere #VCSA

January 15, 2019 Bilal Ahmed 0

So now we have got all the back story out of the way with Part 1, we can get into the meat of it all. The Middle I used various scripts, from various places and used the web client to get everything how I needed it to be. These scripts are provided AS IS, use them at your own risk, they worked for me. I have credited everyone I borrowed the source scripts from, and even provided the location of the source scripts too. A lot of people put effort into making the scripts, so I thought it would only be fair people knew where they came from. I made edits and adjusted as I needed to get the job […]

Moving from vSphere 5.5 to vSphere 6.5 Part 1 #Upgrade #Migration #Fresh #vExpert #vSphere #VCSA

January 15, 2019 Bilal Ahmed 0

So I have been meaning to write a post on this for a while, so I thought I better get started! So let me tell you a story! The Beginning  Now as we all know vSphere 5.5 went EOL a little while ago. So in preparation, I was investigating the various options that were available for the business, to keep them supported. When I first joined the business years ago. it was all a vSphere 5.1 environment that didn’t get patched often and hosts had very very long uptimes. the reason I was brought on board was to get a handle on this and bring it all into line. One of the first jobs was to actually re-ip the whole environment […]

IT burnout and the urge/need to keep up

January 13, 2019 Manny Sidhu 2

Manny: After I passed my VMConAWS Management test a few days ago and posted about it on LinkedIn/Twitter, a couple of people said to me – You’re killing it mate! Another said – Way to go! Am I really killing it or killing myself? Is it really the way to go or the way to an early grave? Last year was tough for me and the family on multiple fronts. One of the bigger reasons why it was tough was that my father in law passed away. He was only 64. Died instantly after an accidental fall from an old timber ladder that splintered. As he lost his footing on the way down from the roof of his house, he […]