Something to watch out for with the ESX 4 console. If you hit CTRL-ALT-DEL on ESX 4 console, the server will reboot even if there are running VMs and it doesn’t matter if the server is not in Maintenance Mode. Follow these steps to disable this yourself: 1. Edit /etc/inittab. Any text editors will do- I like nano but vi works just as well. 2. Search for “CTRL-ALT-DELETE” or “ctrlaltdel” 3....

Last night I was invited for a preview meeting on a conceptual design for the new vSphere client. I am bound by the NDA that I signed so there will be no specific details here. But I can say that there are a lot of super cool things in the works for the client and vCenter server. VMware is really bring the console up to date and providing the types of reporting and searching features that admin’s have...

I’ve been wondering what would be possible with VMware Orchestrator. After some reading and attending product demos things are much clearer now.  This tool is going to make automation of common tasks much easier for the admins that are not good script writers. Orchestrator provides a GUI to create work flows that will automate a large number of tasks. The Orchestrator will also allow plugins from 3rd...

A product beloved by many has advanced with a long list of improvements. I’ve been using it since I was invited to the technology preview and I think it’s taken a huge step forward.  One of my favorite features of the new version being a Virtual Admin is it’s native support to run ESX installs withing VM Workstation. In prior releases it was possible with some manual tweaks of the vmx file....

With the debut of the Release candidate of VMware player 3.0 comes a bunch of new features. It also looks like Player 3.0 RC is become more of an entry level of VMware workstations. The biggest new feature has to be the ability to create new Virtual Machines with the free product. This puts it in the same class with other free products like Sun’s Virtual Box and Microsoft Virtual PC. You can see full details...

If you are interested in becoming a VCI (VMware Certified Instructor) on ESX 4.0 vSphere the details have been updated. You will need a wide area of knowledge to make the cut in todays environment. VMware has always been pretty selective but with so many good candidates out there they have the pleasure of being pretty selective. Vmware is looking for candidates that have experience with VMware, Windows, Linux,...

The knowledge base team over at VMware have created a short video to show you how to restart the mgmt agenst on ESX and ESXi hosts. These commands are good for ESX 3, 3.5 and 4. So if you are someone that likes to see things in a video rather than reading this is a good thing for you. Swing by VMwares site and see the video here.

Myself along with many other admins supporting Virtual Infrastructures are always looking to increase their ability to diagnose performance related issues. As new software and hardware technology is released we get more tools to help and more things to think about. To help with the issue VMware has published a few helpful documents.  I have broken down the different documents and included links to the originals...

You have probably been hearing some of the buzz around vCenter Chargeback that will be available for VMware vSphere. Its a separate server that will work with vCenter server to all for chargeback of virtual resources. This will help the business to understand the costs of deploying new VMs. The IT side will use this to report and track on resources usage in the Virtual environment. Within vCenter Chargeback...

If you have ever lost a host to a PSOD (Purple screen of Death) you know that they may as well be written in Greek.  Sure you used to think that reading a Windows BSOD was a pain, but the VMware PSOD takes this to a new level. In the past trying to break down what caused your host to crash on your own was a big task. Most folks would require a call to VMware support if the host did not come back up afterwards....