Posted by Brian on Aug 18, 2010 in Hyper-V, Microsoft | 0 comments
This tool continues to interest me for one main reason, the ability to patch offline virtual machines. That feature is something that has come up in a couple of projects recently. I look forward to this technology evolving into a final product. The latest Beta version of VMST is out and available here.
If you’ve used version 2.1, you know that it offers free, tested guidance and automated tools that let you safely service offline virtual machines in your SCVMM library. VMST 3.0 builds on this functionality, adding powerful new features designed to streamline the process of keeping your offline virtual machines, templates and VHDs up-to-date with the latest operating system and application updates, without introducing vulnerabilities into your IT infrastructure. VMST 3.0 helps you effectively manage the workflow of updating your offline virtual machines according to their individual needs. One feature that will not be included in this beta refresh is the servicing of Hyper-V host failover clusters.
Using new features in VMST 3.0, customers can now service:
- Offline virtual machines in a SCVMM library.
- Stopped and saved state virtual machines on a host.
- Virtual machine templates.
- Offline virtual hard disks in a SCVMM library by injecting update packages.
VMST 3.0 works seamlessly with other Microsoft technologies.
VMST 3.0 is designed to work with Microsoft® System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) 2008 or SCVMM 2008 R2, and with the following technologies:
- Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) 3.0 SP1 or WSUS 3.0 SP2.
- System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) 2007 SP1, SCCM 2007 R2, or SCCM 2007 SP2.
- VMST 3.0 also provides the option to manually copy updates to service offline VHDs.
- The tool works with Windows Task Scheduler to enable scheduling the servicing job.
Brian is a Technical Architect for a VMware partner and owner of this website. He is active in the VMware community and is helps lead the Chicago VMUG group. This blog Virtualize Tips was started to document and remember things that I come across while working with tech.
Mail | Web | Twitter | LinkedIn | More Posts (169)
Posted by Brian on May 25, 2010 in VMware | 0 comments
Was approached by someone on the security team to find out what version of OpenSSH was on some hosts that had been patched recently. Now that is something that you don’t get asked every day. So if you need to find this out you can use a simple command that I listed below.
# ssh -v
Brian is a Technical Architect for a VMware partner and owner of this website. He is active in the VMware community and is helps lead the Chicago VMUG group. This blog Virtualize Tips was started to document and remember things that I come across while working with tech.
Mail | Web | Twitter | LinkedIn | More Posts (169)
Posted by Brian on Mar 27, 2010 in VMware, vSphere | 0 comments
Sorry for the crazy post title but I could not resist being a big fan of Zombie movies. Now on to the meat of the subject. The vSphere Host Update utility that comes as an option with the vSphere Client can be a very helpful tool. You can use it for host version upgrades for both ESX and ESXi. It is also a very simple patching tool for ESXi. You have use Host update utility to apply any ESXi security or update patches to your hosts.
So if you a small shot or not a scripting genius this little gem will provide a solid way to keep your hosts up on all the latest patches. The only draw back is that you cannot use it to patch ESX hosts. I will run through how to use this utility so that you can hit the ground running.
Upon opening the utility it should add in your host if you have an open connection to it with the vSphere client. If not just add it in manually via the add option form the top menu. Once added you will need to Download patches from VMware, this is really just downloading a patching list that applies to your host not pulling down the packages.
Once the patch list has been downloaded you will see a display like the one below. It will show your hosts and list how many patches are detected and the status of your host. You will now need to make sure your host that is being patched is in maintenance mode.
Next you will want to click the Patch Host button and you will be presented with the following options. You will now see all of the patches available for your host and be able to select which ones you will download and apply. By clicking on the different patches you will get a short description of what the patch is and what it fixes or updates. Now you can select which patch you want to apply, I will be applying the Update 1 patch and then come back and re-scan and apply anything that is left over. I figured this would be the smartest way and potentially not apply patches that might be in Update 1 already. I did it that way since I am not sure the level of intelligence that is built into the patching selection of this utility. After your selections are made proceed with the install.
Next the vSphere Host update utility begins to download all selected patches and will then apply them. You will see a progress window like below that will show you how things are moving along.
Once your patches have been downloaded and applied the tool will show you a confirmation like the image below. Then the ESXi host will be rebooted.
Once your host has been rebooted you can now re-scan the host to see if there are any more patches for your host.
After applying Update 1 to my test ESXi host I re-scanned and there was only 4 patches left to apply. This is much less than the 13 listed from the original scan. So by applying the latest update I was able to save time and reboots. Now depending on what reason your are patching for this approach may not be the best for your environment. Always research each patch being applied for what it fixes and any potential side affects it might have on your environment.
Brian is a Technical Architect for a VMware partner and owner of this website. He is active in the VMware community and is helps lead the Chicago VMUG group. This blog Virtualize Tips was started to document and remember things that I come across while working with tech.
Mail | Web | Twitter | LinkedIn | More Posts (169)
Posted by Brian on Mar 24, 2010 in VMware | 1 comment
So if your not one of those crazy people that remembers every build number or the number for the Bears linebacker from 1974 this should make your life a bit easier. This list will show you what level of update you are on by matching up the build number.
Product Update Build
| VC 2.5 |
GA |
64201 |
2007/12/10 |
| VC 2.5 |
U1 |
84767 |
2008/04/10 |
| VC 2.5 |
U2 |
104263 |
2008/07/25 |
| VC 2.5 |
U3 |
119598 |
2008/10/03 |
| VC 2.5 |
U4 |
147658 |
2009/02/23 |
| VC 2.5 |
U5 |
174768 |
2009/07/10 |
| ESX 3.5 |
GA |
64607 |
2008/02/20 |
| ESX 3.5 |
U1 |
82663 |
2008/04/10 |
| ESX 3.5 |
U2 |
110268 |
2008/08/13 |
| ESX 3.5 |
U3 |
123630 |
2008/11/06 |
| ESX 3.5 |
U4 |
153875 |
2009/03/30 |
| ESX 3.5 |
U5 |
207095 |
2009/12/03 |
| ESX 4.0 |
GA |
164009 |
2009/05/21 |
| ESX 4.0 |
U1 |
208167 |
2009/11/19 |
| VC 4.0 |
GA |
162902 |
2009/05/21 |
| VC 4.0 |
U1 |
208156 |
2009/11/19 |
Brian is a Technical Architect for a VMware partner and owner of this website. He is active in the VMware community and is helps lead the Chicago VMUG group. This blog Virtualize Tips was started to document and remember things that I come across while working with tech.
Mail | Web | Twitter | LinkedIn | More Posts (169)
