Tag: certification

Hi everyone, it’s Alastair again with more AutoLab news.  Today we have released version 1.0 of the AutoLab which is a huge leap.  As you may have seen on my Demitasse blog the AutoLab has a sponsor, Veeam are helping make the AutoLab better.  In AutoLab 1.0 we not only have the complete vSphere lab in a box but now also the ability to add Veeam Backup and Replication and Veeam ONE into the lab. This allows evaluation testing and training on these products without deploying onto your production vSphere.

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It’s Alastair here with the latest AutoLab automation post, this one is a little about the PowerShell automation that helps bring the pieces together. The first AutoLab automation post is here, the second here and the third here.

One of my favourite automation tools for vSphere is the PowerCLI snapin to Microsoft PowerShell. If you are a Windows guy working in Virtualization then you should get to know PowerCLI.  I consider myself a real beginner with PowerCLI, I use it when I have a task to repeat but it’s not where I work all day.  There are some awesome scripters who are more comfortable on a command prompt than with a GUI, these are the guys whose scripts I have hacked to make my script and you can start by doing the same.  If you are a skilled scripter you may despair at my scripts, feel free to email me to recommend better ways.

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Hi, it’s Alastair again, this is the third post uncovering the automation that is in the AutoLab. If you don’t know what the AutoLab is then head to my AutoLab announcement post. If you missed the first article on AutoLab automation then you can head there now, then read the second post before returning here.

A rather important part of the AutoLab are the ESXi servers.  The server basic builds are automated using a PXE server and the Weasel installer that has been part of ESXi since 4.1. Weasel doesn’t require PXE, it is perfectly happy with CDROM or USB boot, the AutoLab uses PXE to allow central management which makes scaling easier. PXE requires two services, a DHCP service and a TFTP service. In the AutoLab both are provided by the DC VM, the DHCP service is the standard Windows DHCP and the TFTP service is the Jounin TFTP server. 

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Hi, it’s Alastair again, this is the second post uncovering the automation that is in the AutoLab, if you don’t know what the AutoLab is then head to my AutoLab announcement post. If you missed the first article on AutoLab automation then you can head there now, before returning here.

This article is all about how the windows servers in the AutoLab are built, there were a lot of Yaks to Shave before you can install the VMware goodness.

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The APAC series of BrownBags will return at the start of July.  This series will focus on the What’s New of VCAP5-DCA as well as looking at a few other VMware products in real world use.  The schedule ahead is maintained on my blog and you can signup for the new series here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/885241632 Get
-> Continue reading APAC vBrownBag returning in July

This is another post from Alastair. Just a reminder that Cody is no longer alone in posting on ProfessionalVMware.com. Earlier this month the AutoLab was announced right here on ProfessionalVMware and released on LabGuides.com. We’ve had a huge number of downloads and a great response.  For those who missed it the AutoLab is a package
-> Continue reading AutoLab Automation outline

As expected when the AutoLab was released people wanted to use it, then found issues.  This is why I put version 0.5 on it! Erik Bussink has found that the Windows 2008R2 build automation for the Domain Controller and Virtual Center VMs is currently only compatible with the RTM release, it fails with the SP1
-> Continue reading vSphere AutoLab first Bug report