VM Super Genius

Can’t Power on a Hosted VM? VMware’s Got You Covered…

Josh — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:43:08 +0000

Cruising through the KB RSS feed (http://feeds.vmware.com/p/subscribe if you haven’t already) and came across a few KB articles that help you out if your VM won’t start. This only covers the hosted products (Workstation, Server, etc.) but each one links to some good troubleshooting articles that even apply to ESX/vSphere.

Cannot power on a hosted virtual machine after a migration
Cannot power on a hosted virtual machine after it fails
Cannot power on a hosted virtual machine after changing something
and finally
Cannot power on a hosted virtual machine when nothing changed

What VMware Ports Need to Be Open?

Josh — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:23:25 +0000

You may have seen some maps before about what ports need to be opened for a fully functioning VMware virtual infrastructure. A co-worker of mine, Aaron Sweemer has posted the work of one of our non-blogging counterparts, Dudley Smith. Dudley has created not only a diagram (PDF here), but a dynamic mapping list to help cull out the chaff you might not need for your specific deployment:

Connections & Ports in ESX & ESXi

You can filter by vCenter, ESX only, and many other options.

Print the PDF and use it for your office/cube’s wallpaper. I know I sure will.

Unofficial VMworld 2009 Party List Updated

Josh — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:49:48 +0000

I have updated the completely unofficial list of parties going on at VMworld 2009 on VMware’s VMworld community site:

Unofficial VMworld 2009 Party List

Let me know if you know of anything else.

Free Storage for Your vSphere Lab!

Josh — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:03:49 +0000

A common hurdle I have to overcome in my day-to-day job is trying to get those who haven’t tried the advanced features of vSphere to try them, due almost exclusively to lack of access to the shared storage (Fiber Channel, iSCSI or NAS) that enables them. Understandable, since enterprise level shared storage can start in the 5 figures. Even partners have a hard time justifying the cost of something like that, thus the creation of this list. For almost everyone, it is a lot easier to get a hold of x86 servers than it is to get an array in-house.

Linkbait title aside, the purpose of this list is to get as many options out to VMware customers and partners to allow for set up of evals, proofs of concept and demo labs while minimizing cost of entry.

This list was culled from casual discussions, both internal and on Twitter. I am trying to keep the criteria as objective as possible. Let me know if there is anything criteria or appliance-wise that you think needs adding.

You can find the consistently updated list at Free Storage for Your Lab.

Pardon Our Dust

Josh — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:58:06 +0000

As I figure out the format and content of this blog, the format and theme may change until I settle down. Which may be never.

Comments appreciated.

Come See Me at VMworld

Josh — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 18:18:38 +0000

I know I already have a HUGE following, so you may have to stand in line if you want to touch my clothing.

I will be on the lab staff for LAB02, which is being run by Michael White (creator of the highly informative SRM FAQ). From the catalog:

VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager – Advanced Operations
You already have SRM installed! What do you need to know now? This lab will cover off troubleshooting, advanced networking for testing, DNS management, log reading and more. Attendees will walk away with knowledge about troubleshooting and using some of the advanced features of SRM.
Technical Level: Advanced (even though it is more Intermediate)

It focuses primarily on troubleshooting an SRM install using logs and other cues, as well as some of the less-documented features (like Bulk IP upload).

We have multiple sessions scheduled, so find them all at the VMworld Schedule Builder.