VMware KB: Optimizing Passive Discovery in vADM bit.ly/XOcdne
Jan
28
2013
Social: VMware KB: Optimizing Passive Discovery in vADM ht…
January 28th, 2013 Posted in Twitter
Jan
28
2013
Social: The Changing Role Of the VMware Admin
January 28th, 2013 Posted in Twitter
The Changing Role Of the VMware Admin bit.ly/VNQJrY
Developing…..
VMware has released two MAJOR product updates to their management, capacity, monitoring and dependency mapping products/suite. I will be posting more about these releases over the next few days, there is a ton of new features and enhancements. Look for a full write-up to come in a few days.
VMware vCenter Operations 5.6 & VMware Virtual Infrastructure Navigator 2.0 Release Notes:
Recently, Apple released a software update for video drivers for 2012 Macbook’s via software update. It is recommended not to apply this update if you are a Fusion user as there have been reported problems with the update affecting 3D accelerated applications such as VM’s. VMware is working with Apple to identify the root cause of the problem and at this time the 2.0 graphics update is no longer available from the software update servers.
If you have installed the update and are experiencing issues running your VM’s please disable 3D acceleration support. Shut down the respected VM and open the Options of the corresponding VM and process to Settings > Display and turn 3D acceleration off.
Stay tuned for more information about this issue, I will post back once an official fix is released to correct this problem. I am expecting another video update from Apple that should resolve this problem.
On Thursday, November 8, VMware released a maintenance update for Fusion 5. I have been running this version on my Retina Macbook Pro for the last few days and I can report that my Windows 8 install runs much cleaner and smoother than with the previous 5.0.1 release. You can obtain the upgrade by launching the Virtual Machine Library and clicking “Check for Updates” option under the VMware Fusion main menu window. Upon rebooting your virtual machine, VMware tools will initiate an automatic upgrade and reboot your VM.
Release: Fusion 5.0.2
Build Release: 900491
VMware Fusion 5.0.2 is a minor upgrade recommended for all users of VMware Fusion. This release includes the following improvements and resolved issues.
- USB 3.0 stability improvements.
- Graphics improvements when running the Microsoft Office 2013 preview.
- Fixed an issue that caused the library and the Fusion start menu contents to get out of sync.
- Fixed an issue that caused Mac OS X (Mountain Lion) guests to see stale directory information when using HGFS.
- Fixed a multi-monitor behavior on Mac OS X (Mountain Lion) when Use All Displays in Full Screen is selected.
- Fixed an issue that caused the full screen short-cut key to intermittently fail when Caps Lock was on.
- Easy Install improvements for Microsoft Windows 8.
- Fixed key repeat behavior (typematic) on certain versions of Mac OS X (Mountain Lion).
- Fixed an intermittent problem that caused Fusion to quit when the network editor was opened.
- Fixed cancelling of the import of OVF virtual machines.
- Addressed graphics issues with Autodesk Inventor, Altium Designer, and Solidworks.
- Fixed an issue installing on Macs with a user or group named “0″.
- Fixed error compiling HGFS on Linux 3.6 kernels.
- Changed the selection color in the library icon view.
- Renamed the Pause key menu item to aid with accessibility and automation.
- Fixed an issue importing a Parallels virtual machine that has no network devices.
- Resolved an issue that caused the PC Migration Assistant to not complete when migrating a Windows PC.
IDC has just announced that VMware’s Socialcast platform is the leader in the Social Enterprise! The Worldwide Enterprise Social Marketspace is growing and maturing as the demand for cross collaboration continues to grow rapidly. You can read the entire IDC Press release along with the report, which covers the Worldwide Enterprise Social Software 2012 Vendor Analysis, from the following link: http://apps.vmware.com/IDC2012VendorAnalysisRegistration.html
There are many reasons that companies are driving towards Social Software solutions along with some key criteria’s that need to be met, such as:
- Solution capabilities that extend activity streams, blogs, wikis, note, internal intranet sites and forums to offer a broader and more inclusive system to include external groups and more importantly, secure communities.
- A highly optimized and secure mobile user experience with an enhanced in-app experience no matter what the platform
- More than just basic reporting – A true analytical report that offers behavioral and predictive analysis on data generated by users across many different areas.
- Highly scalable and extensible platform that encourages the customer, user, and companies to develop complementary solutions that are customized for many different company sizes and industries.
The key to VMware’s Socialcast strengths are the de-facto standard that all other competitors are evaluated.
- Integration/extensibility
-
Strong Customer case studies
- Faster go-to-market
- Increased Productivity
- Improved employee retention and hiring
- Competitive differentiation
- Greater business agility
- Focus on customer success and adoption
- Providing a single solution linking systems and services in highly secure but open platform
- Designed for the next generation communication platforms and users that were brought up on using highly social tools and services
Socialcast by VMware is a Leader in this analysis. The company will focus on three main areas for future growth: solution extensibility to allow integrations with other systems and business services; offering exemplary case studies, building further security and compliance measures into solutions; and focusing on end-user adoption and user experience training, supported by an automated and dedicated resource customer success team. The ability to link business systems and services together in a secure but open application framework has given the company a leadership position. IDC believes that if Socialcast by VMware is able to leverage the close relationship of VMware and EMC, particularly since EMC’s acquisition of Syncplicity, the workflow, content, and social experiences enabled for knowledge workers will displace standalone enterprise social software players.
There are some awesome case studies of companies that have already implemented and are currently using Socialcast in day-to-day operations. You can read all about them on VMware’s Socialcast site, which highlights quite a few companies that experienced different types of challenges in their environments.
You can read more about these studies here: http://www.socialcast.com/customers/3m-connecting-ideas-sparking-creativity
Congratulations to the entire Socialcast team at VMware on continuing to innovate and bring a strong communication platform to the market that all others are compared to.
IDC Press Release:
Sep
11
2012
VMware: Massive GA Release Day – vSphere 5.1/VIN 1.2/vCOPs 5.0.3
September 11th, 2012 Posted in Breaking News, New Release, Product Update, Virtualization, VMware - General
VMware has just made vSphere 5.1 GA and available for download and start their upgrade process. This is a HUGE release for many reasons. This code has been in development and testing for almost 2 years, with the addition of major new features (vMotion w/ Local Storage) and many other new features which I am sure you have all seen blogged about across other sites. Below are my top three new features in vSphere 5.1:
1. vMotion w/ Local Storage
2. vRam Licensing is GONE.
3. vCenter Server Linux Appliance is now full featured
Release notes for all of vSphere 5.1 New Product Launch and Information can be found here: https://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/vsphere-esxi-vcenter-server-pubs.html
Top KB Articles worth Reading:
(1). Installing/Upgrading (Including SSO) KB Articles:
Upgrading to vCenter Server 5.1 best practices (2021193)
Installing vCenter Server 5.1 best practices (2021202)
Installing or Upgrading to ESXi 5.1 best practices (2032756)
Methods of Upgrading to vCenter Server 5.1 (2021188)
Methods of installing vCenter Server 5.1 (2032885)
Methods of installing ESXi 5.1 (2032782)
Methods of upgrading to ESXi 5.1 (2032757)
Overview of upgrading from vCenter Server 5.0 to vCenter Server 5.1 (2032283)
(2). vCenter Single Sign On KB articles:
Comparing behaviour of vCenter Single Sign On with earlier versions of vCenter Server (2032135)
vCenter Single Sign On FAQ (2034918)
Installing vCenter Single Sign On in a multisite deployment (2034074)
Setting up Apache load balancing software with vCenter Single Sign On (2034157)
Configuring vCenter Single Sign On for high availability (2033588)
(3). Troubleshooting Single Sign On (SSO) KB articles:
Troubleshooting Single Sign on (SSO) issues in vCenter Server 5.1(2033137)
Troubleshooting the configuration of vCenter Single Sign On within the vCenter Server 5.1 Appliance (2033152)
Troubleshooting VMware Single Sign-On configuration and installation issues in a Windows server (2033880)
Troubleshooting failed log in attempts to the vSphere Web Client in vSphere 5.1 (2034506)
Troubleshooting SSL certificate updates and Single Sign On (2033240)
Troubleshooting vCenter Single Sign On when it does not start (2034517)
(4). vSphere 5.1 Logs related KBs articles:
Collecting diagnostic information for VMware ESXi using the Web Client (2032892)
Location of vCenter Single Sign On (SSO) logs (2033430)
Using the Log Browser to view, search, and export Logs for troubleshooting (2032888)
VIN 1.2 and vCOPs 5.0.3
In addition to vSphere 5.1 we also have VIN 1.2 and vCOPs 5.0.3 which both provide support for vSphere 5.1. VIN 1.2 is the larger release of the two adding major performance and mapping enhancements to the core product which will enhance its discovery rates. More details on both can be found below:
Release Notes VIN 1.2: https://www.vmware.com/support/adm/doc/vcenter-infrastructure-navigator-12-release-notes.html
Documentation Landing Page: https://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/vcenter-infrastructure-navigator-pubs.html
Release Notes vCOPs 5.0.3: http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/vcops-pubs.html
vCenter Operations Manager 5.0.2 Brings Performance & System Enhancements
VMware released a new maintenance update for Operations manager product on this past Thursday. This a fairly substantial release even though it is only a small revision enhancement, out of the norm for VMware. This release contains some major performance improvements in the analytics engine along with many UI enhancements.
I especially like the new Text Widget in the Custom UI or in the standalone version available in the dashboard configuration page. Its one of the simpler ways to configure dashboard widgets, simply by adding the widget and configuring a URL or using an web configuration file to direct plain text data to the widget. Below is a screenshot of a quick and simple way to pull in web page data. This is great for managing data centers that are stretched across multiple continents or geographic areas and you need to monitor the weather or events. The options are literally endless for this widget.
Below is a list of many other additions and fixes the 5.0.2 update brings. To update your instance, I recommend rebooting your vApp first to start with a clean booted system. Download the *.pak upgrade file from the VMware Download site to update the vApp version and if you are running the standalone/binary version you can download the .bin update file. During the update process, leave everything default and select the update option to run the update package.
VMware vCenter Operations Manager Enterprise 5.0.2 includes several new features and changes to existing features.
- Skip resources for health rollup
You can now configure vCenter Operations Manager Enterprise to skip the health rollup of a particular resource to the parent resource by setting the skipHealthRollupRKList property in the analytics.properties file. You list the resource kinds that you do not want to be dependent on their children’s health in the skipHealthRollupRKListproperty, for example skipHealthRollupRKList = HostSystem. - Filter alerts in the Mashup Charts widget
Three new icons on the Mashup Charts widget toolbar let you control whether the widget shows only active, only inactive, or all alerts. Inactive alerts appear grey in the display. In addition, the pop-up window that appears when you point to an alert now contains more information about the alert. - Configure hint text for KPI alerts
You can now configure hint text for KPI alerts. The text appears in the HINT field in the Reason pane on the Alert Detail page. See Configuring hint text for KPI alerts in vCenter Operations Manager Enterprise (KB 2021308). - Prioritize threshold checking over DT calculation
You can now pause the dynamic threshold calculation when the data queue size exceeds a certain value by setting the dtBlockIfDataQueueSizeOver property in the vcenter-ops/user/conf/analytics/advanced.properties file, for example, dtBlockIfDataQueueSizeOver=200. This feature lets you prioritize threshold checking over the dynamic threshold calculation. To disable this feature, set thedtBlockIfDataQueueSizeOver property to 0. - Configure multi-level alert rules
You can now configure complex alert rules that evaluate multiple conditions on related resources. See Configuring multi-level alert rules for vCenter Operations Manager Enterprise (KB 2021314). - Weight metric groups
Previously, each metric had equal weight when vCenter Operations Manager Enterprise calculated health. For example, two CPU metrics had the same effect on health as two memory metrics. Now, vCenter Operations Manager Enterprise can calculate the weight of individual metrics based on the number of metrics in the group so that every top-level group has equal weight in the health calculation. When this feature is enabled, the total anomalies metric shows the weighted total anomalies that are related to the total number of metrics. To enable or disable this feature, set theuseMetricGroupWeightingForHealth property in the vcenter-ops/user/conf/analytics/analytics.properties file to true or false and restart the Analytics service. - View all children of the selected resource in the Alert widget
Previously, the Alert widget showed only the immediate children of the selected resource. Now, the Alert widget shows all of the children of the selected resource. - New Text widget
You can use the new Text widget to display text in the user interface. The text appears in the Text widget on the dashboard. For information about configuring the Text widget, see Configuring the Text widget in vCenter Operations Manager Enterprise (KB 2030076).
VMware Thinapp 4.7.2 Update – Minor Release
In addition to the above release, we also have a Thinapp update that adds some more depth to the integration of Thinapp and Horizon App Manager. Although it is a small revision, the feature enhancements that this release brings to Horizon users is tremendous.
This new release of VMware ThinApp includes:
- A mechanism for updating ThinApp packages in Horizon Application Manager
- A new relink –h command to enable prior ThinApp packages for Horizon
- RemoveSandboxOnStart, a new Package.ini parameter
The update mechanism allows you to place new versions of ThinApp packages on the Horizon ThinApp Repository, and Horizon reads a new VersionID parameter built into the package to differentiate the updated package from the prior package. Application entitlements and desktop shortcuts are preserved!
The Manage with Horizon window in Setup Capture has been enhanced to include a check box to mark the new application as an update, and you point to the old package so that ThinApp can copy the AppID and increment the VersionID:
Streaming – ThinApp agent is now able to stream the virtualized application blocks to stateless View desktops without deploying the entire package. For more information, see Knowledge Base article 2030247
Update Support – With this feature ThinApp can now enable Horizon Connector to recognize multiple versions of an application package and then communicate that change to the Agent through the Horizon Service. For more information, see Knowledge Base article 2030248
Release: vC OPs 5.0.1 – Maintenance Release
I am a little late with posting these three release updates from VMware, but they are still worth the post. First up we have the first maintenance release for vC OPs since it was release last year. This release comes with a quite a few enhancements for a first .1 update but is primarily a performance and stability enhancement release.
Upgrade Process: Low – Just obtain the .pak upgrade file from VMware Download site and login to the administration page and select upgrade. Browse to the .pak file and upload. The upgrade process takes about 20 minutes depending on the size of you deployment and how large your database is.
Full release notes of new features and enhancements can be found here: http://www.vmware.com/support/vcops/doc/vcops-501-release-notes.html
Release: vIN 1.1 for vSphere Web Client
Next up is a fairly major release for vIN, aka Virtual Infrastructure Navigator. vIN currently resides inside the vSphere Web Client and provides virtual machine dependency mapping. This is a totally cool product that was built off the previous success of the vADM product, however this is specifically designed for the virtual environment. This new version adds enhanced discovery abilities including the ability to see one hop out from a virtual machine to physical machine. although you won’t get much data from that physical machine, we can now see that a VM entity is communicating externally with another physical server (virtualize that thing already!). vIN is one of my favorite products to come out of the development of the Web Client and vC OPs (part of the Enterprise Suite) that adds tremendous value to ANY sized virtual environment, especially for planning SRM deployments and disaster recovery planning processes.
Upgrade Process: Medium- Download the vIN 1.1 OVF from the VMware download site and deploy to replace the 1.0 appliance. There is not an upgrade option from 1.0 to 1.1 as the data discovered just gets rediscovered after deployment. Un-register and turn off discovery in the vSphere Web Client prior to upgrading to 1.1 first! Once the 1.0 appliance is un-registered, you can shut it off and deploy 1.1 and proceed through the same deployment process.
Full release notes of new features and enhancements can be found here: http://www.vmware.com/support/adm/doc/vcenter-infrastructure-navigator-11-release-notes.html
Release: vADM 6.2.2 & Workstation 8.0.3
Finally we have a maintenance release for vADM, bringing that version up to 6.2.2 along with Workstation up to 8.0.3. On the vADM front, we are looking primarily bug fixes and enhancements for added stability plus added support for vSphere 5 VI-SDK active discovery scanning which was heavily requested. Workstation 8.0.3 contains a few security fixes including the SCSI device unchecked memory write which was talked about across a few news outlets, strongly recommend upgraded to .3.
Upgrade Process: Low – Workstation 8.0.3
High – vADM 6.2.2
Full release notes for Workstation 8.0.3 can be found here: http://www.vmware.com/support/ws80/doc/releasenotes_workstation_803.html
Full release notes for vADM 6.2.2 can be found here: http://www.vmware.com/support/adm/doc/vcenter-application-discovery-manager-622-release-notes.html
**Upgrade Process Levels: Low – relatively easy to upgrade, possibly require change management, back up your data first and read upgrade documents!; Medium – Involved, and may require change management controls prior to deploying, read documents and backup prior to upgrading; High – Highly technical, most likely involve change controls, backups are a MUST, read documentation thoroughly, contact support prior to upgrading is recommended for any known compatibility issues, may involve consultation services to upgrade.
A few days ago (April 23rd) VMware released a maintenance release for their big security product, vShield 5 which is bumped to revision .1. Below are some of the highlighted changes and updates and direct link to the VMware Security and Compliance Blog!
Jonathan
Automation
- Simplified automation using new REST API calls for vShield Data Security workflows, including triggers for completion of scans.
- Enable download of vShield VIBs (host modules) from vShield Manager, a key step in support for Autodeploy (Stateless ESXi).
High Availability and Policy Management
- Automatic restart of vShield App or virtual machines if a heartbeat is not detected.
- Improved vShield App policy management with the option to fail open or fail closed.
- Option to selectively exclude virtual machines from vShield App protection.
Actionable Data
- Improved audit logs for vShield Manager provide detailed information about administrative user actions on vShield security operations.
- Simplified troubleshooting with single file download of vShield system configuration and events.
- Enhanced reporting for vShield Data Security allows users to view data as pie charts and bar graphs – and export this data to various file formats.
http://blogs.vmware.com/security/2012/04/vmware-releases-vshield-501.html
