We are full on into spring.  The flowers are blooming, and I am cutting grass twice a week.  Welcome to the April 2019 edition of vToolBelt.   vSphere 6.7 Update 2 is the big news this month.  It is out and hot. We will also cover VMware Project Skyline.

For those of you still running vSphere 6.0, don’t look over your shoulder – End of General Support is less than a year away.  Time to start planning the upgrade!

Let’s get to it!

Product Watch

The following products are nearing the End of General Support.  You can find the full list on the VMware Lifecycle Product Matrix.

 Notes from the Field

Continue reading “vToolbelt – April 2019”

vToolbelt March 2019

Welcome to the middle of March and Saint Patrick’s Day!  February flew by so fast I missed it. Conference season is starting to spin up.  In this edition of vToolbelt, we have important information for those upgrading to Horizon 7.8 or NSX 6.4.4.    There are also a few links to tools that can make your life easier.  Pop open your favorite Irish Beverage and do some reading!

Upcoming Events

Cincinnati VMUG
Join the Cincinnati VMUG team on the University of Cincinnati campus for an overview of VMware AppDefense and Carbon Black.

March 28, 2019 / 11am-1:30
Register

Central Ohio VMUG UserCON

At this free, one-day conference, you will:

• Connect with hundreds of VMware users in your area
• Attend educational sessions on the latest industry trends and topics
• Get an inside look at exciting VMware and partner products and services
• Experience product demonstrations first hand
• Mingle with industry experts

April 2, 2019 / 8:00 AM
Register

Continue reading “vToolBelt – March 2019”

Welcome to Janaury!  It is pretty chilly here in Ohio; but fortunately my hands are warm enough to type and bring you some VMware news!  Light a fire, pull up a chair and read on for some virtualization news!

Upcoming Events

VMware 2019 Technology Outlook webcast
Join VMware vSphere Experts and fellow VMware TAM customers in a roundtable discussion around upgrading to vSphere 6.7 at Join VMware VP & CTO, Chris Wolf as he explores VMware’s Strategic Priorites for 2019 and beyond.  This will include cloud and security trends and how customers can stay at the forefront of these technological advancements
January 31 @ 2pm EST – Register

VMware on VMware Webinar
In this webinar, VMware IT will review VMware’s internal deployment of Workspace ONE and how it enables employee self-service, single sign-on to multiple applications (internal as well as SAAS), and simplifies management of mobile devices.
February 12 – 12pm EST – Register 

The 5 Core principles of Cyber Hygiene webinar
How VMware applies the five core principles of cyber hygiene will highlight how a multinational technology company enables and secures a highly diverse workforce. From micro-segmentation, to cloud and encryption, learn from actual practitioners on what has worked for VMware.
January 23 -12pm – Register

Continue reading “vToolbelt – January 2019”

Upcoming Events

Central Ohio VMware Users Group (12/18) – Join COVMUG for the final meeting of the year!

Meeting Agenda:

• 8:30 AM: Peer Networking with Morning Refreshments
• 9:00 AM: Pure Data Freedom – Kyle Keller and Matt Montes, Pure Storage
• 9:45 AM: Break
• 10:00 AM: The Trials and Tribulations of Using Virtual Volumes (VVOLs) – Brian Parks
• 10:30 AM: PowerShell Workshop (be prepared to code!) – Kurt Bohman
• 11:30 AM: Wrap-Up & Giveaways

Bring your own device!

For the PowerShell Workshop part of the meeting, the plan is for everyone to actually code. So please bring your laptop with Windows PowerShell or PowerShell Core installed. It would also be ideal if you had the free Microsoft Visual Studio Code installed.

Get more information and register here!

Continue reading “vToolBelt – December 2018”

Hello!  Time has flown and it’s time for another vToolBelt!      I am adding a new feature called Product Watch.  This will call out any VMware Products that are headed into End of General Support within the next 6 months.  The other big topic is the release of vSphere 6.7 Update 1.  Read on for details!

Product Watch

The following products are nearing the End of General Support.  You can find the full list on the VMware Lifecycle Product Matrix.

Continue reading “vToolBelt – October 2018”

Upcoming Events

VMware Evolve Columbus (10/16) – Join VMware at the Hyatt Regency in Columbus and catch up on the latest from VMworld – and learn from customers and experts on how to assess your current environment and refine your strategy.  There are tracks for IT Pros as well as IT Leaders.  You can learn more and register here.

VMworld 2018

• VMworld Europe is in Barcelona from November 5-8, 2018

A few thoughts on Support

As you may know vSphere 5.5 ran into End of General Support (EOGS) on September 19th.  I’ve had a few questions asking if this means the product will stop working.   vSphere licenses are perpetual – there are no date checks or support contract validations that would make vSphere stop working.  After General Support, a product moves into a Technical Guidance phase.  You can read more on what that means.

Support Watch

The following is a list of a few key products that you should consider upgrading to stay in a supported version.  You can review the entire list in the VMware Product Lifecycle Matrix.

There are 2 proactive notifications you can sign up for that can help you stay up-to-date

• Security Announcements – VMware publishes security advisories on their website.  You can also sign up to receive these via e-mail.
• Product Updates – Did you know you can sign up to be notified when critical patches are released for VMware products?  This can be very important to avoid landmines in your environment.  Learn how to enable VMware Product Updates and sign up today!

Continue reading “vToolbelt – September 2018”

After a short summer hiatus, vToolbelt is back with VMware updates you will want to see!

Important News

L1 Terminal Fault (Speculative Execution) Vulnerability –  At 10am PDT Tuesday, August 14th – Intel disclosed a vulnerability in their processors calledL1 Terminal Fault (or L1TF).  By continuing this speculative execution in these cases, the affected Intel microprocessors expose a new side-channel for attack, allowing a malicious VM to infer data in the hypervisor and other VM’s running on a core.

As part of the August 14th disclosure by Intel, three vulnerabilities have been named:

• CVE-2018-3646 (L1 Terminal Fault – VMM) – The most severe issue – affects all hypervisors running on x86 CPUs – including vSphere, Workstation, and Fusion
• CVE-2018-3620 (L1 Terminal Fault – OS)
• CVE-2018-3615 (L1 Terminal Fault – SGX, SMM)

VMware has been working closely with industry partners such as Intel and others to assess the issue and determine the most effective update paths.  VMware has published several Knowledge Base articles on this topic:

Continue reading “vToolbelt – August 2018”

Upcoming Events

Toledo VMUG (6/27/18) – There will be an HCI discussion and presentation about Expedient’s datacenter. Get more information and register here.

Cincinnati VMUG UserCON (11/2/18) – Save the date and plan to be at the Sharonville Convention Center on November 2nd for the VMUG UserCon in Cincinnati.  Visit the VMUG.COM site to view the agenda and register.

VMworld 2018

• VMworld US returns to Las Vegas on August 26-30th 2018.  Early Bird pricing is in effect until June 15!
• VMworld Europe will be back in Barcelona from November 5-8 2018

Continue reading “vToolbelt – May 2018”

Upcoming Events

AppDefense 101 Webcast (multiple dates) – Join us to learn how VMware AppDefense makes threat detection and response an intrinsic component of your virtualized applications and data. VMware Security SME Geoff Shukin will cover the unique approach AppDefense takes to protecting your applications – a focus on understanding and enforcing “known good” behavior, rather than chasing after bad behavior – as well as show off the product’s capabilities in a live demo of AppDefense protecting against NotPetya. Get more information and register here.

VM Lifecycle Management (April 19th)– This is an event just for TAM customers.  Learn more about best practices around managing the lifecycle of your VMs (upgrading tools, virtual hardware and more).    You can register here.

Funding Higher Education Workforce Initiatives (April 25) – This webinar assembles a few thought leaders for an hour discussion on funding opportunties that can take your campus workforce to the next level.  Learn more and register here.

Toledo VMUG (June 27) – That’s right!  The Toledo VMUG is starting to take off.  Head over to VMUG.COM to check out the agenda and register.   If you are going – let me know!  If enough of you are going, I might even show up!

Continue reading “vToolbelt – April 2018”

And here we are at the end of February already!  Time and tech continue to

keep moving.  If the weather outside is too cold for you to get outside – there is plenty of VMware news in this newsletter to keep you busy – treadmill or not!

Upcoming Events

Toledo Q1 VMUG (March 7th, 2018) – This is for those of you in the Northwest part of Ohio. The Toledo VMUG is meeting again!  This event is Wednesday, March 7th from 11:30am-1:30pm.  Lunch will be provided. VMware Staff Engineer Tom Zukowski will be presenting on NSX.  Get more information and register here.

Central Ohio VMUG UserCON (April 3, 2018) – Save the date, and plan to be at the Convention Center in Columbus on April 4 for one of the largest VMUG events in the mid-west!  View the Agenda and register.

Cincinnati VMUG UserCON (September 11, 2018) – Save the Date!  I’ll post more details here when available…

Continue reading “vToolbelt – February 2018”