Eric Sloof

Introducing VMware View 4, the industry’s first purpose built solution for delivering desktops as a managed service.

Download VMware View 4

http://downloads.vmware.com/d/info/desktop_downloads/vmware_view/4_0

After Google announced the availability of the Chrome OS / Chromium OS source code, one of GDGT's engineers (Jon Ursenbach), immediately got to work on compiling the code, trying to see if he could get an instance of Chromium OS running in a virtual machine.

He was finally able to do it! You can download a copy of the virtual machine to use in VMware (300MB compressed / 700MB uncompressed): http://gdgt.com/google/chrome-os/download/

Continue reading "Download Chrome OS VMware image " »

VMware vSphere PowerCLI 4.0 Update 1 has been tested against the beta release of vSphere 4.1. To find the related issues, see Known Issues, Compatibility with VMware vSphere 4.1 Beta.

What's New in This Release?
This release of vSphere PowerCLI 4.0 Update 1 introduces the following new capabilities:

•Managing the failover and load-balancing policies of VirtualSwitch and VirtualPortGroup objects with Get-NicTeamingPolicy and Set-NicTeamingPolicy.
•Copying files in and out of guest operating systems with Copy-VMGuestFile.
•Restarting virtual machines with Restart-VM.
•Managing the power state of hosts using Start-VMHost, Restart-VMHost, Suspend-VMHost, and Stop-VMHost.
•Managing guest networks with Get-VMGuestNetworkInterface, Set-VMGuestNetworkInterface, Get-VMGuestRoute, New-VMGuestRoute, Remove-VMGuestRoute, and Set-VMGuestRoute.
•Retrieving and removing USB devices with Get-UsbDevice and Remove-UsbDevice.
•Managing NIC customization settings with Get-OSCustomizationNicMapping, New-OSCustomizationNicMapping, and Set-OSCustomizationNicMapping.
•Handling virtual machine questions with Get-VMQuestion and Set-VMQuestion.
•Working with host storages and iSCSI HBA devices with Get-VMHostHba, Set-VMHostHba, Get-iScsiHbaTarget, New-iScsiHbaTarget, Remove-iScsiHbaTarget, Set-iScsiHbaTarget, and Set-VMHostStorage.
•Moving templates with Move-Template and Move-Inventory.
•Managing the access control system with Get-VIPrivilege, Get-VIRole, New-VIRole, Remove-VIRole, Set-VIRole, Get-VIPermission, New-VIPermission, Remove-VIPermission, and Set-VIPermission.
•Managing DRS recommendations with Get-DrsRecommendation and Apply-DrsRecommendation.
•Upgrading hosts with Install-VMHostPatch.
•Managing virtual appliances with Get-VApp, Export-VApp, Import-VApp, New-VApp, Remove-VApp, Set-VApp, Start-VApp, and Stop-VApp.
•Managing PCI and SCSI passthrough devices with Add-PassthroughDevice, Get-PassthroughDevice, and Remove-PassthroughDevice.
•Running BAT (Windows) and BASH (Linux) scripts with Invoke-VMScript.
•Granting and revoking shell access with New-VMHostAccount and Set-VMHostAccount.
•Uploading firmware packages with Set-VMHostFirmware.
•Creating virtual machines with thin provisioned disks with New-VM.
•Cloning powered-on virtual machines with New-VM.
•Resizing virtual disks and guest partitions with Set-HardDisk.
•Extending, cloning, inflating, and reallocating virtual hard disks with Copy-HardDisk, New-HardDisk, and Set-HardDisk.
•Managing the host time zones with Get-VMHostAvailableTimeZone and Set-VMHost.
•Working with default Datastore Provider and Inventory Provider drives.
•Working with files and directories in datastores by using the Datastore Provider.
For more information on changes made in vSphere PowerCLI 4.0 Update 1, including deprecations and security enhancements, see the vSphere PowerCLI Change Log.

http://downloads.vmware.com/d/details/sdkwin40u1/ZHcqYmQlcHRiZGVqdA

The following information provides highlights of some of the enhancements available in this release of VMware ESX:

VMware View 4.0 support – This release adds support for VMware View 4.0, a solution built specifically for delivering desktops as a managed service from the protocol to the platform.

Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2 support –This release adds support for 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7 as well as 64-bit Windows 2008 R2 as guest OS platforms. In addition, the vSphere Client is now supported and can be installed on a Windows 7 platform. For a complete list of supported guest operating systems with this release, see the VMware Compatibility Guide.

Enhanced Clustering Support for Microsoft Windows – Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS) for Windows 2000 and 2003 and Windows Server 2008 Failover Clustering is now supported on an VMware High Availability (HA) and Dynamic Resource Scheduler (DRS) cluster in a limited configuration. HA and DRS functionality can be effectively disabled for individual MSCS virtual machines as opposed to disabling HA and DRS on the entire ESX/ESXi host. Refer to the Setup for Failover Clustering and Microsoft Cluster Service guide for additional configuration guidelines.

Enhanced VMware Paravirtualized SCSI Support – Support for boot disk devices attached to a Paravirtualized SCSI ( PVSCSI) adapter has been added for Windows 2003 and 2008 guest operating systems. Floppy disk images are also available containing the driver for use during the Windows installation by selecting F6 to install additional drivers during setup. Floppy images can be found in the /vmimages/floppies/ folder.

Improved vNetwork Distributed Switch Performance – Several performance and usability issues have been resolved resulting in the following:

•Improved performance when making configuration changes to a vNetwork Distributed Switch (vDS) instance when the ESX/ESXi host is under a heavy load
•Improved performance when adding or removing an ESX/ESXi host to or from a vDS instance

Increase in vCPU per Core Limit – The limit on vCPUs per core has been increased from 20 to 25. This change raises the supported limit only. It does not include any additional performance optimizations. Raising the limit allows users more flexibility to configure systems based on specific workloads and to get the most advantage from increasingly faster processors. The achievable number of vCPUs per core depends on the workload and specifics of the hardware. For more information see the Performance Best Practices for VMware vSphere 4.0 guide.

Enablement of Intel Xeon Processor 3400 Series – Support for the Xeon processor 3400 series has been added. For a complete list of supported third party hardware and devices, see the VMware Compatibility Guide.

Resolved Issues – In addition, this release delivers a number of bug fixes that have been documented in the Resolved Issues section.

http://downloads.vmware.com/d/info/datacenter_downloads/vmware_vsphere_4/4

VMware HealthAnalyzer automates the collection of VMware Infrastructure or VMware vSphere inventory, configuration and utilization data, analyzes data and recommends grades, and generates a report card that presents data categorized by VMware Health Check best practices. HealthAnalyzer can be used by VMware consultants and VMware Solution Providers to improve efficiency and accelerate the delivery of a services engagement such as the VMware Health Check. Consultants can use HealthAnalyzer as a Health Check workbench to capture and review data and findings, provide actionable recommendations, and generate a Health Check Report for their customers. The tool is available to VMware Solution Providers partners at no charge through VMware Partner Central.

The past few days the experts from inPeople and inVirtualize have been working on their Nehalem Whitebox. This great setup with an Intel Core i7 975 Extreme 1366 processor has the pleasure to ultra-fast take use of the enclosed 16Gbyte of memory. Of course they've added some other speedy goodies like Solid State Disk and some extra NIC ports. Here are the specs for those who want to start playing as well.

Shuttle SX58H7

• Processor Intel® Core i7 975 Extreme 1366
• Memory DDR3 1333MHz 4x4GB
• Storage 2x Transcend 32GB TS32GSSD25S-M SATA
• SSD Bracket Scythe Twin Mounter (2x 2,5" in one 3,5")
• Network Intel® PRO/1000 PT Quad Port Server
• Graphic Point VGA 8400GS 512MB PCIe
• External DVD ;-)

They will start adding some shared storage (QNAPs with a lot more SSD) to build several solutions on top of it. More details will follow...

               

Carter Shanklin just released the alpha version of project Onyx trough Twitter and YouTube. Onyx generates PowerShell code to help you solve your toughest automation challenges. See the full demonstration with a complete explanation of how to use Onyx at YouTube. Once you have downloaded Project Onyx (http://blogs.vmware.com/files/onyx_1.5.3607.25516.zip) this video shows you how to use it. I already did some tests and it looks awesome.

 

Onyx is a standalone application that serves as a proxy between the vSphere Client and the vCenter Server. It monitors the network communication between them and translates it into an executable PowerShell code. Later, this code can be modified and saved into a reusable function or script.

1. To connect to a server, click the "Connect" icon.

2. Enter the IP of the vCenter Server on which you want to work and click Connect.

3. Connect with any of the following clients:

    For vSphere Client, in the "IP Address" field enter the following address:
    http:// [IP of the machine where Onyx is running] : [listening port]
      
    For vSphere PowerCLI, run the following command:
    Connect-VIServer [IP of the machine where Onyx is running] -Protocol http
    -Port [listening port] -User [username] -Pass [password]

4. To start the generation of PowerCLI.NET scripts, click the "Start" icon.

5. To save the generated script, click the "Save output to file" icon.

Note: To run the generated script, use VMware vSphere PowerCLI.
Free download at: http://www.vmware.com/go/powercli

This video provides a detailed overview of deploying VMware Site Recovery Manager with the Shared Recovery Site feature.

VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager (SRM) 4.0 is a disaster recovery product which uses array replication technologies to failover from one site to another. Shared Recovery Site (also called N-to-1) is a new feature of SRM 4.0. This feature allows the management of multiple SRM environments by a single vCenter 4.0 instance on the recovery side. Each environment is identified by a custom plug-in named extension.

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1014640

During the delivery of my VMware training courses I really enjoy interacting with the students using the whiteboard. It should contain just enough information to demonstrate understanding and students are encouraged to participate in the discussion. Here are some examples from this week’s vSphere Fast-Track training.

          

The past weekend I’ve delivered a special edition of the VMware vSphere What’s New training for the VMware gurus working at inPeople. The What’s New training is a hands-on training course which explores new features in VMware vCenter Server 4 and ESX/ESXi 4, as well as how to upgrade to VMware vSphere 4. inPeople is a specialized IT company focused on Virtualization. They have a team of dedicated IT experts and consultants that combine experience and passion for this niche in IT and are devoted to becoming a leading company in this field. Some of the employees working at inPeople are well known VMware gurus.

Anthony Drewes- Storage & Virtualisatie Consultant
Hayscen de Lannoy - RES Powerfuse administrator
Willem ter Harmsel - Owner at inPeople
Frank van Egmond – Consultant
Steven Jans - VMware Technical Specialist
Kenneth Van Ditmarsch - VMware Consultant
René Elout - Chief Technology @ inPeople
Frank Denneman - Senior Consultant at VMware 
Alex Pelster - Director at inVirtualize
Mark van Hout - Storage & Virtualization Consultant
Amit Gangapersadsing - Consultant
Nyaz Mahawat Khan - Consultant

Recently inPeople started their project organization inVirtualize, dedicated to bring several virtualization solutions inTime and inBudget to their customers. inPeople and inVirtualize also succesfully attended the Virtualisation Executive Summit 2009 in Hotel Huis ter Duin. Around 50 IT Managers from companies like DSM, Rabobank International, SANDD, Universiteit Leiden, CenterParcs and Stork were present to hear the 'expert story' behind inPeople & inVirtualize.