Eric Sloof

Alan Renouf has just released version 3 of his Virtualization EcoShell PowerPack and it contains some great new features. In its short existence Alan’s PowerPack has already been downloaded over 2500 times. During the Dutch VMUG last Friday, I’ve presented a session which will give you a good insight into working with the Virtualization EcoShell and Alan’s PowerPack. Just to show you how easy it is to upgrade to the newest version, I’ve created a little Jing movie.

Continue reading "How to upgrade Alan Renouf’s Virtualization..." »

I’ve discovered a real cool German start-up and did a little interview with the director Andreas Wilke about their new automation appliance.
 
The ptecs automation appliance is not a product. It’s a collection of our best practices how we automate the daily needed tasks inside a VMware environment in the form of a VMware appliance. We are using the perl vSphere SDK Toolkit and developed two integrated modules:

• ptecs VMware AutoInstall: Fully automated pxe installation of esx hosts with network and software configuration. 
• ptecs VMware Toolkit: LifeCycle Management, Snapshot Management, Datastore Management and automated Management for Virtual Machines.
• Seamless integration of both modules inside the VMware vSphere Client as Plug-in.

We are able to automate all tasks the VMware SDK API delivers. Our main target is to reduce the daily workload of VMware administrators with automation of these tasks inside a VMware environment. In future we want to migrate the perl tasks to Orchestrator. At this time we want to implement a ESXi automated installation, a Health Check and a chargeback module.

Andreas has also posted some real cool videos at YouTube which gives you an insight at the paap virtual appliance. More information can be found on the ptecs website: http://www.ptecs.de next year.

   

I’m running a VMware vSphere 4 Install Configure and Manage training course this week and just have deployed the new VMware vCenter CapacityIQ 1.0.1 OVF template onto one of the student's vCenter/ESX Servers.  The installation process is straight forward. Don’t try to log on with the root account, use the ciqadmin account instead.

http://www.vmware.com/products/vcenter-capacityiq/

Last Monday I did an Ace 2.6 Proof Of Concept at one of my clients. I didn’t pay much attention to the Pocket ACE feature but after digging in a bit deeper, I’ve discovered it’s really cool. One of the most exciting new features in ACE is the handy “Pocket ACE” feature, which gives you the ability to use your ACE virtual machines directly on portable media such as removable hard drives and USB thumb drives.

Using Pocket ACE is fast and simple, thanks to the helpful Pocket ACE Package wizard. Simply select the virtual machine template you want to use, enter a password to protect the virtual machine against unauthorized access, and click OK to deploy your new Pocket ACE package.You can learn more about using Pocket ACE with an online video tutorial.

Right after my Virtualization EcoShell presentation at the Dutch VMUG event last Friday, Scott Herold has interviewed me for a change :-) Normally it’s the other way around. The interview was recorded by NGN’s Community Master, Melle Gloerich.

Melle: I did some more interviews that day (Bouke Groenescheij, Gabrie van Zanten, Ruben Spruijt, Joep Piscaer and another one with Eric separately). I'll put a new one online every week.

http://www.ngn.nl/ngn/n61320-beta/interview-vmware-powershell-experts/?waxtrapp=gmqygiBsHyoOtvOXEgIjI