Tag: VCAP

AutoLab automation uncovered, PowerShell

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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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#vBrownBag Follow-Up – VCAP-DCA 1.2 & 1.3

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This week Hersey Cartwright (@herseyc) finished up the VCAP5-DCA series (I think), by rounding out Objective 1.2 and 1.3. VCAP-DCA Objective 1.2 & 1.3 Slides Video Show Notes So, @chriswahl has put together an AMAZING study guide… get it here. More #vBrownBag Goodness iTunes: http://t.co/07DGNQsTFeedburner: http://t.co/2Fic71ZW

#vBrownBag – July 18, 19 – Follow-Up

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Last week the US vBrownBags had Josh Atwell pulling double duty on hosting and presenting the vBrownBag covering the VCAP-DCA Blueprint Objective 8.1. He also had the pleasure of announcing the VMware Communities Tech Talks powered by the vBrownBags at VMworld US (more on this in a bit). The APAC vBrownBags also knocked it out
-> Continue reading #vBrownBag – July 18, 19 – Follow-Up

AutoLab automation uncovered, ESXi builds

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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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#vBrownBag – VCAP5-DCA Objective 1.2 & 1.3 (@herseyc)

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UPDATE! EHERMAGERD I Broke the #vBrownBags. This show has been rescheduled for next week. Sorry for the inconvenience. Wednesday, we will have Hersey Cartwright back to round out the VCAP5-DCA objective 1 material. Details Date/Time: Wednesday 7/11 @ 7P CST Register: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/613559281 The #vBrownBags are also on iTunes/RSS: iTunes: http://t.co/07DGNQsT Feedburner: http://t.co/2Fic71ZW

#vBrownBag – VCAP-DCA Objective 1 w/ Hersey Cartwright

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Tonight, #vBrownBag regular Hersey Cartwright (blog | twitter) will be presenting on the VCAP5-DCA Objective 1. Hersey is a long time presenter, and his sessions are always informative. Heck, don’t take my word for it, you can find all his old sessions here. Critical Details Topic: VCAP-DCA Objective 1Date/Time: 6/20/2012 @ 7PM CSTRegister: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/613559281 About
-> Continue reading #vBrownBag – VCAP-DCA Objective 1 w/ Hersey Cartwright

AutoLab automation uncovered, Windows builds

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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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APAC vBrownBag returning in July

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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

AutoLab Automation outline

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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

[US] #vBrownBag Follow-Up – VCAP-DCA Objective 9 (w/ @herseyc)

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Video Slides Links http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-50/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.vmware.vsphere.upgrade.doc_50%2FGUID-9040F0B2-31B5-406C-9000-B02E8DA785D4.html http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-50/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.vmware.vsphere.install.doc_50%2FGUID-980D9E38-633E-4557-9144-AC422FA239C5.html http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2011/09/05/cheat-sheet-auto-deploy/ http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-50/topic/com.vmware.ICbase/PDF/vsphere-esxi-vcenter-server-501-auto-deploy-guide.pdf http://www.gabesvirtualworld.com/my-first-auto-deploy-design-for-real-production-environment/ http://jeremywaldrop.wordpress.com/2010/11/11/cisco-ucs-service-profile-coolness/ http://communities.vmware.com/thread/328034 http://download3.vmware.com/software/vmw-tools/autodeploygui/VMwareAutoDeployGUIPracticalGuide5.pdf http://blogs.vmware.com/esxi/2011/09/sample-scripts-for-automating-auto-deploy.html

[APAC] #vBrownBag Follow-Up – VCAP-DCD VM Design

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Video Slides Links Windows 7 Optimization guide.  Think about applying these to your servershttp://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/VMware-View-OptimizationGuideWindows7-EN.pdf vSphere HA Application monitoringhttp://www.yellow-bricks.com/2011/08/11/vsphere-5-0-ha-application-monitoring-intro/ Remove non-present devices after P2V using scripthttp://www.boche.net/blog/index.php/2011/06/11/scripted-removal-of-non-present-hardware-after-a-p2v/ Kendrick Colemans’s VM Advanced ISO. Free Tools For Advanced Taskshttp://kendrickcoleman.com/index.php?/Tech-Blog/vm-advanced-iso-free-tools-for-advanced-tasks.html

vSphere AutoLab first Bug report

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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