It seems that the latest beta update of Workstation 6.5 is now available for download!

Also, this release no longer forces the debug-code and it will expire at the end of October (so the final bits are for sure almost ready).

Posted by Gabriel Maciel

This problem applies to all ESX 3.5 U2 hosts but should not affect you running VMs. Suggested Workarounds:

For the Virtual Machines:

• Set DRS to manual


• Do not VMotion


• Do not power off or suspend your VMs


• If you have important VMs you need to turn on again: a. Create a quarantine host b. Set time on this host back c. Cold migrate the VM to the quarantine host d. Verify that your VM does not synchronize its time with that ESX host: Power the VM on, log into it and set the time manually


• You could also think about temporarily disconnecting the VM to power on from the Virtual Switch - this way you are certain that the VM will not be able to communicate with a DC while it’s out of time-synch

Note: Please take into account that if you change the time on the affected ESX host and VMware tools is configure to synchronize the guest with it, you may adversely affect your running services.

For the ESX Host:

• Log in as root on the target host


• Issue the following commands:
  
  a. service ntpd stop
  
  b. date -s 08/01/2008

Note: This can also be done using the VI Client (Configuration, Software, Time Configuration, Properties).

Further reading and sources for this article:

• VMware Knowledge Base


• VMware Communities


• ICT_Freak


• Leo's Ramblings

Posted by Gabriel Maciel

"VMware, Inc. (NYSE:VMW), the global leader in virtualization solutions from the desktop to the datacenter, today announced new educational services and certification programs designed to help IT professionals build world-class virtual environments. The programs are designed for varied positions, including systems administrators, design architects, operators and managers who are interested in enhancing their knowledge and skills of VMware Infrastructure for datacenter and desktop environments. New education offerings include the VMware Certified Design Expert (VCDX) and Live Online and Flex Online courses.

The VMware Education Program accelerates instruction and research in the rapidly expanding area of virtualized infrastructure by providing IT professionals with the knowledge necessary to deploy the virtualization technologies most widely used in commercial production environments. Educational courses for VMware products are available in over 60 countries, at over 300 training locations and in over 35 languages, through VMware and VMware Authorized Training Centers (VATC).

New to the education offerings are Live Online and Flex Online courses, available for the "VMware Infrastructure 3: Install and Configure" course, one of three courses that serve as a requirement to become a VMware Certified Professional. In the increasingly costly travel climate, Live Online and Flex Online provides students with a variety of options to help them decide how, when and where to attend their courses."

You can read the full article here.

Posted by Gabriel Maciel

From Virtualization.Info:

VMware finally made the move that everybody predicted and was awaited for a long time: releasing its hypervisor for free.

During the Q2 2008 earnings call the company announced that before the end of July it will release the Update 2 for VMware Infrastructure 3.5 and that will give away the lightweight edition of the product, ESX 3i, for free.

The new 3i edition was introduced at the end of the last year.

It doesn’t change the characteristics of the hypervisor but fundamentally chances a part of its architecture, dropping the Console Operating System (COS) and reducing the overall system footprint to 32Mb.

The change allowed several OEMs to preload this edition of the hypervisor into their servers, through internal USB keys, Solid-State Drives (SSD) or hidden partition in the primary hard drives.

virtualization.info has learned some additional details about the move:

• VI 3.5 and ESX 3i will continue to share a the large majority of the code base (so there will be an ESX 3i Update 2). There will be no delays on the release of both products.


• ESX 3i will continue to have the same features that has today, without additional limitations


• ESX 3i will continue to have the same APIs, allowing anybody to develop free or commercial alternatives to VirtualCenter (despite some features like VMotion cannot be replicated because of the VMware SDK limitations).


• VMware will not require the purchase of any software & support subscription to access the product. Customer will be able to get the code without any restriction.


• The customers that purchased the current version of ESX 3i directly from the VMware online store will be eligible for a rebate.


• The ESX version that includes the Console Operating System (COS) will not be faded out (at least in the short timeframe). Most VMware customers are currently using that version and the company will support them for a long time.


• VMware Server will not be faded out (as many could suppose). The company still sees the product as a valuable proposition for a different kind of audience.

You can read the full post here.

Posted by Gabriel Maciel

This is an interesting post Leo Raikhman wrote about the ESX / VC installation best practices:

I get asked this all the time: what is best practice installation procedure?

I don’t know that there is such a thing - every environment is slightly different but here’s my general outline for ESX 3.5 + VirtualCenter 2.5 attached to Fibre SANs.

Installing VirtualCenter 2.5:

• Install SQL 2005 + SQL Native Client
• Patch SQL 2005 to SP2 + associated updates
• Enable SQL clustering if relevant.
• Create SQL DB with SQL-authenticated user as db_owner for the msdb and newly created databases (for VMware VirtualCenter and VMware Update Manager)
• Create an ODBC connection with above information on targeted VC server
• Install VirtualCenter
• Add VirtualCenter server IP to Exchange Relay Access rulesets
• Configure VirtualCenter SMTP settings, alarm definitions and Message of the Day
• Copy/install sysprep/deployment tools files
• Create required customizations
• Create a datacenter object
• Create a cluster object
• Configure HA + advanced HA with VM HA monitoring
• Configure DRS + separation rules
• Install Update Manager - sync ESX host updates with VMware downstream servers
• Configure VirtualCenter certificates as per this article from the excellent VM/ETC

Read the full post here.

Posted by Gabriel Maciel

Here you have the best links and articles for the past week:

1. ESX Server Security Technical Implementation Guide via US Department of Defense
2. Why Virtualization Amplifies The Disconnect Between Security and IT Operations, And What You Can Do About It via Virtualization Security
3. Upgrading your Active Directory to Windows Server 2008 via Sander Berkouwer's Blog
4. Well, that's interesting news - now what? via Virtual Geek
5. Optimize My IT via VMware

And the winners for this week are:

1. Top 5 things to know about Hyper-V via Windows Virtualization Team Blog
2. Deploying Windows Server 2008 with slipstreamed Hyper-V RTM (Part 2) via John Howard's Blog
3. If A Virtualization Misconfiguration Or Security Vulnerability Exists Within An “ESX Appliance,” Does It Really Exist? via Virtualization Security
4. Virtualising (Domain Controller) Servers via Mark Empson's Blog
5. Virtualization's Impact on IT Operations - Part Two via Virtual Strategy Magazine

Via NTPRO.NL:

Chris Skinner, a Technical Trainer over at VMware created a document for clustering VirtualCenter 2.5 with MSCS. Feel free to distribute to clients and colleagues. A special thanks to Seva and Charu for challenging Chris to do this based on their VC2.0 document. This paper documents the steps to successfully implement a high availability solution for VirtualCenter 2.5 using Microsoft’s cluster services. There are some basic requirements to start the process. Microsoft requires Active Directory for cluster services. Additionally, Windows 2003 Enterprise server or higher will be necessary. This document was compiled from several sources. It demonstrates creating a VC cluster on the same ESX host (cluster-in-a-box) with a SAN-based quorum disk. The hyperlinks at the end of the document has more detailed information for other types of configurations, such as, cluster-across-boxes and physical-to-virtual.

Posted by Gabriel Maciel