VMware Communities: Message List - May 2009 - WI VMUG meeting

Re: May 2009 - WI VMUG meeting

fridge — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:13:03 GMT

Some additional vCenter Heartbeat documentation available via VMware Public web site:

Release Notes http://www.vmware.com/support/heartbeat/doc/heartbeat_55_releasenotes.html

Quick Start Guide http://www.vmware.com/pdf/heartbeat_55_quick_start.pdf

Reference Guide http://www.vmware.com/pdf/heartbeat_55_reference_guide.pdf

==========================
Rod Gabriel
Wisconsin Area VMUG Leader
VMware vExpert - 2009

Re: May 2009 - WI VMUG meeting

scheunna — Wed, 20 May 2009 18:07:27 GMT

Hi Rod,

I just wanted to post a quick note thanking you for all the time you putting into planning and organizing these events. The meeting yesterday was another great event. I think I speak for quite a few fellow members when I say that our group is lucky to have a great leader like you!

Keep up the great job!

Thanks,

Nathan

Re: May 2009 - WI VMUG meeting

fridge — Wed, 20 May 2009 17:09:28 GMT

The room was set for 174 people and I counted about 30 open seats, giving us an attendance of approximately 144 people. This is 39 more than the previous high for any WI-VMUG meeting I have done. We'll see over the course of the next few meetings if this a trend towards higher attendance of if it was based more on the agenda.

==========================
Rod Gabriel
Wisconsin Area VMUG Leader
VMware vExpert - 2009

Re: May 2009 - WI VMUG meeting

fridge — Thu, 14 May 2009 18:17:26 GMT

Just received word that registration for this meeting is closed with 205 people registered which is about 80 more than any previous WI-VMUG meeting.

So get there early to get a good seat. I should have things setup on site for sign-in by 8:15.

==========================
Rod Gabriel
Wisconsin Area VMUG Leader
VMware vExpert - 2009

Re: May 2009 - WI VMUG meeting

Jasemccarty — Thu, 14 May 2009 17:24:05 GMT

I wish you guys a great VMUG meeting. I'm glad to be able to donate a copy of the book!

Jase McCarty
http://www.jasemccarty.com
Co-Author of VMware ESX Essentials in the Virtual Data Center
(ISBN:1420070274) from Auerbach
_{Please consider awarding points if this post was helpful or correct}

Re: May 2009 - WI VMUG meeting

fridge — Thu, 14 May 2009 14:43:55 GMT

Renata Budko who is presenting from HyTrust has said that she is open to answering any questions that you want to send in advance. Therefore if you have anything you would like to send me, I will be sure to forward it on to Renata so she can be prepared to address your question.

Rod

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Rod Gabriel
Wisconsin Area VMUG Leader
VMware vExpert - 2009

Re: May 2009 - WI VMUG meeting

fridge — Thu, 14 May 2009 12:42:13 GMT

vExpert Jason McCarty has donated a copy of VMware ESX Essentials in the Virtual Data Center which he co-authored with fellow vExperts David Marshall & Steve Beaver. Jase even autographed this copy of the book. You may have to bring it to VMworld to get autographs from David and Steve.......

==========================
Rod Gabriel
Wisconsin Area VMUG Leader
VMware vExpert - 2009

Re: May 2009 - WI VMUG meeting

fridge — Wed, 13 May 2009 16:45:10 GMT

Vibrant Technologies has chipped in with some items for our drawing. Vibrant buys and sells used IT equipment. They are finding that one of their main sources of used equipment is hardware that is decommissioned as a result of virtualization consolidation projects. They may not be present at the meeting but I do have some brochures and business cards that will be available if this is of interest to you.

The have sent me a 1TB FreeAgent|Desk External Drive as well as some Wilson Ultra golf balls.

==========================
Rod Gabriel
Wisconsin Area VMUG Leader
VMware vExpert - 2009

Re: May 2009 - WI VMUG meeting

fridge — Tue, 12 May 2009 15:11:13 GMT

vExpert Hal Rottenberg has donated a couple copies of his much anticipated new book Managing VMWare Infrastructure with Windows PowerShell: TFM. The book is available for purchase at ScriptingOutpost.com.

I have just received the copy of this book that I ordered and in taking a quick look it appears that it will be a VMware/PowerShell bible for VMware Admins. To quote from the back cover, this book is: "Aimed at scripters of every level, the book starts off with a PowerShell primer and continues well into the internals of virtualization on the VMware platform.

Hal is very active in the VMware and PowerShell Communities. He heads up PowerShellCommunity.org (where Steve Murawski is a Co-Director) and on his TechProsaic blog he covers "PowerShell and other stuff". Along with these, Hal is a co-host of the PowerScripting Podcast.

==========================
Rod Gabriel
Wisconsin Area VMUG Leader
VMware vExpert - 2009

Re: May 2009 - WI VMUG meeting

fridge — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:41:24 GMT

The giveaways for our drawing are rolling in. I have a several more that I am expecting to get before the meeting.

David Davis from Train Signal has donated some more of his training DVD's. For this meeting he has donated copies of:

VMware ESX Server
Windows Server 2008, Enterprise Administrator (70-647)

Visit this post to get the 20% off code that David has provided to the WI-VMUG for orders placed at the Train Signal website.

==========================
Rod Gabriel
Wisconsin Area VMUG Leader
VMware vExpert - 2009

May 2009 - WI VMUG meeting

fridge — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:19:30 GMT

We have a great lineup for the May 19th VMUG meeting. It's a jam packed agenda so I had to extend the meeting length 15 minutes longer than usual.

HyTrust is our meeting sponsor along with Vizioncore.

8:30 Registration: Refreshments provided by Vizioncore
9:00 Welcome
9:05 "Intro to Windows PowerShell and the VI Toolkit": Windows PowerShell is the new command line, scripting language, and automation framework from Microsoft. PowerShell support is growing amongst Microsoft server products and quickly becoming the common administrative denominator. Discoverability, readability, and extensibility all make PowerShell the management framework of choice. We'll take a quick tour of this new technology and see how VMware's VI Toolkit plugs right in and allows for unified management scripting. (Steve Murawski, Community Co-Director at PowerShellCommunity.Org)
9:50 Vizioncore presents "Optimize Day-To-Day Administration using Windows PowerShell and Virtualization EcoShell": Virtualization EcoShell (VESI) is a freeware desktop application for novice and expert IT administrators leveraging Windows PowerShell scripts across their multi-platform virtual environments.Find out how to optimize your day-to-day virtualization administration and effectively manage more systems in less time with this new freeware application from Vizioncore. (Scott Herold, Lead Architect - Virtualization at Quest Software)
10:35 Break
10:45 VMware presents "vCenter Server Heartbeat": Optimize availability and resiliency for vCenter in any situation. VMware vCenter Server Heartbeat delivers the maximum uptime for your virtual datacenter infrastructure, ensuring consistent operation, even when VMware vCenter Server is threatened by unplanned or planned downtime.
11:05 HyTrust presents "Control and Visibility for Virtual Infrastructure": The HyTrust Appliance delivers a single point of control for access management, audit logging, and consistent configuration for VMware ESX, ensuring operational readiness of virtual infrastructure. This enables companies to achieve a secure environment while demonstrating compliance, allowing companies to virtualize their critical production applications. (Hemma Prafullchandra, Chief Security Architect at HyTrust)
11:50 Wrap-up: Q&A, announcements, drawings
12:15 Lunch: Our meeting sponsor HyTrust provides us with lunch. This is a great opportunity for further networking with your fellow VMware users as well as today's presenters.

The meeting location is the Best Western InnTowner in Madison:

2424 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53726, Phone 608-233-8778, Fax 608-233-1325, Reservations 800-258-8321
Email: info@inntowner.com

Map & directions

Here is a link to the meeting registration page.

==========================
Rod Gabriel
Wisconsin Area VMUG Leader
VMware vExpert - 2009

Re: May 2009 - WI VMUG meeting

fridge — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:46:58 GMT

The following is from an email that Eric Chiu, President & CEO of HyTrust sent out yesterday announcing their HyTrust Appliance Community Edition:

I am excited to announce that we have released HyTrust Appliance Community Edition. This is a full-featured version of HyTrust Appliance that protects up to 3 ESX hosts and is free to the Community. As you may recall, HyTrust Appliance provides control and visibility for virtual infrastructure. The HyTrust Appliance acts as a single-point-of-control for access management, audit logging, and consistent hypervisor configuration.

The Community Edition will allow small and medium businesses getting started with virtualization the ability to architect in best practices and meet compliance for virtual infrastructure as well as larger companies the ability to "try out" the product in an easy, no touch way. We are also looking forward to feedback from the Community which will help us improve the product.

To get your free version of HyTrust Appliance, go to http://www.hytrust.com/community. I have included the press release below.

Rather than include the referenced press release; here is a link to it.

==========================
Rod Gabriel
Wisconsin Area VMUG Leader
VMware vExpert - 2009

Re: May 2009 - WI VMUG meeting

fridge — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 22:30:16 GMT

Here is a link to a trailer for Elias Khnaser's VMware Infrastructure 3: ESX 3.5 & VirtualCenter 2.5 CBT.

==========================
Rod Gabriel
Wisconsin Area VMUG Leader
VMware vExpert - 2009

Re: May 2009 - WI VMUG meeting

fridge — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 15:36:19 GMT

Here is the information for the WebEx webcast of Steve and Scott's presentations:

================================================================

Carter Shanklin invites you to attend this online meeting.

Topic: Wisconsin VMware User Group
Date: Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Time: 7:00 am, Pacific Daylight Time (GMT -07:00, San Francisco)
Meeting Number: 928 039 599
Meeting Password: (This meeting does not require a password.)

Please click the link below to see more information, or to join the meeting.

To join the online meeting

1. Go to https://vmware.webex.com/vmware/j.php?ED=117340947&UID=1109236007
2. Enter your name and email address.
3. Enter the meeting password: (This meeting does not require a password.)
4. Click "Join Now".

To join the meeting on iPhone

Go to

Don't have the iPhone WebEx application yet?
Go to http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=298844386

To join the teleconference only

Call-in toll-free number (US/Canada): 866-469-3239
Call-in toll number (US/Canada): 1-650-429-3300
Global call-in numbers: https://vmware.webex.com/vmware/globalcallin.php?serviceType=MC&ED=117340947&tollFree=1
Toll-free dialing restrictions: http://www.webex.com/pdf/tollfree_restrictions.pdf

For assistance

1. Go to https://vmware.webex.com/vmware/mc
2. On the left navigation bar, click "Support".

You can contact me at:
cshanklin@vmware.com

To add this meeting to your calendar program (for example Microsoft Outlook), click this link:
https://vmware.webex.com/vmware/j.php?ED=117340947&UID=1109236007&ICS=MI&LD=1&RD=2&ST=1&SHA2=omW07JRwJ-YRBhmr1P6rr4FzFLeIcQ1zfkAUw2zjYK8=

The playback of UCF (Universal Communications Format) rich media files requires appropriate players. To view this type of rich media files in the meeting, please check whether you have the players installed on your computer by going to https://vmware.webex.com/vmware/systemdiagnosis.php

Sign up for a free trial of WebEx
http://www.webex.com/go/mcemfreetrial

http://www.webex.com/
We've got to start meeting like this(TM)

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This WebEx service includes a feature that allows audio and any documents and other materials exchanged or viewed during the session to be recorded. By joining this session, you automatically consent to such recordings. If you do not consent to the recording, do not join the session.

==========================
Rod Gabriel
Wisconsin Area VMUG Leader
VMware vExpert - 2009

Re: May 2009 - WI VMUG meeting

fridge — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:37:33 GMT

The meeting invites will probably be getting emailed out today to those on the mailing list.

Here is a link to the online meeting invitation if you want to forward it to anyone.

Here is a link to the meeting registration page.

If you are planning on coming to the meeting please be sure to register to help me get an accurate headcount for planning purposes.

==========================
Rod Gabriel
Wisconsin Area VMUG Leader
VMware vExpert - 2009

Re: May 2009 - WI VMUG meeting

fridge — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 05:31:09 GMT

"Intro to Windows PowerShell and the VI Toolkit" by Steve Murawski

Steve is very active in the PowerShell Community. In addition to being a Community Co-Director at PowerShellCommunity.org Steve is one of the System Admins that do a weekly podcast called Mind of Root. As they describe it; Mind of Root peers into the mind of a Systems Administrator. It touches on a variety of technology topics relevant to many of us and frequently seems to cover PowerShell related topics.

"Optimize Day-To-Day Administration using Windows PowerShell and Virtualization EcoShell" by Scott Herold

Scott's name is probably familar to most of you. He has presented to the WI VMUG at least two previous times that I know of. Scott is also one of the Co-Authors of two outstanding VMware related books: "VMware ESX Server: Advanced Technical Design Guide" and "VI3: Advanced Technical Design Guide and Advanced Operations Guide". VMware ESX Server: ATG was the book that I relied on most when designing, implementing and supporting my ESX 2.x environment. Scott, Ron Oglesby and Mike Laverick are actually giving away downloads of the VI3: ATG book 2 chapters at a time. You can find them on Scott's website here: VMGuru.com.

These two presentations are very closely related and are topics that should be of interest to most of you. PowerShell, the VI Toolkit, PowerGUI and The Virtualization EcoShell Initiative (VESI) are currently very hot topics that you will only hear more about in the future. There are a lot of very smart people in the VMware community these days that are doing a lot of work around scripting with PowerShell. PowerShell along with tools such as the VI ToolKit, PowerGUI and VESI are becoming very powerful components in deployment and management of VMware environments and I expect they will become very important parts of many of your environments in the future.

For those of you who can't make it to the VMUG meeting, Steve has been working with Carter Shanklin (VI Toolkit, VMware) to webcast both Steve and Scott's presentations. I will post more details in the future.

I will also be posting a collection of links for further background and information related to PowerShell, VI Toolkit, PowerGUI and VESI.

==========================
Rod Gabriel
Wisconsin Area VMUG Leader
VMware vExpert - 2009

Re: May 2009 - WI VMUG meeting

fridge — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 03:58:56 GMT

Additional HyTrust related post from Tarry Singh:

HyTrust launches: Finally a complete virtualization security solution!

Re: May 2009 - WI VMUG meeting

fridge — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:10:10 GMT

I am getting some great items for our drawings at the meeting. In addition to the VI3: ESX 3.5 & VirtualCenter 2.5 Training DVD's from Elias Khnaser mentioned above I have received the following:

An autographed copy of Mike Laverick's book: "Administering VMware Site Recovery Manager 1.0".

In addition to being an author, an instructor, a long time contributor to the VMware Community Forums; Mike has a great website (RTFM Education) that is full of valuable content. RTFM Education is currently #8 on Eric Siebert'sTop Twenty Blog list at VMware vLaunchPad. Mike was also on of the Co-Authors along with Ron Oglesby and Scott Herold on VMware Infrastructure 3: Advanced Technical Design Guide and Advanced Operations Guide.

==========================
Rod Gabriel
Wisconsin Area VMUG Leader
VMware vExpert - 2009

Re: May 2009 - WI VMUG meeting

fridge — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 22:02:24 GMT

Elias Khnaser has donated some of his VMware Infrastructure 3: ESX 3.5 & VirtualCenter 2.5 training DVD's for me to give away. Besides his training DVD, Elias has made many contributions to the IT and Virutualization communites through his articles, books, training DVDs and his blog.

His Blog: Elias' Virtually Speaking

Books

Training DVDs

Elias told me about a project he is working on to help educate people may be having a hard time finding the money to get the technical education they need these days:

"Education conference: with the economy being the way it is and people losing jobs left and right and looking to switch industries etc... a group of us decided we will host technical training meetings for the community. The meetings will be free and they aim to help those trying to get ahead but can't afford training or those that are trying to switch jobs etc.. we are basically trying to give back to the community and help as much as we can using our skills. This will not be limited to VMware but will expand into Citrix XenApp, Microsoft technologies, SANs and networking."

I will be sure to post more about this Education Conference once I learn more details.

Elias also told me about a Compensated Industry Lead Sharing Program recently started by VSD Technologies. Here is what Elias had to say:

"My Company, VSD Technologies has also started a Lead Program http://www.vsdtechnologies.com/content.aspx?id=121 again the idea here is to help people make a little extra money, so if any of the guys in the audience know or projects or can introduce us in accounts, they can potentially earn a commission on any sales made in those accounts, this is a win win situation for both."

Rod
==========================
Rod Gabriel
Wisconsin Area VMUG Leader
VMware vExpert - 2009

Re: May 2009 - WI VMUG meeting

fridge — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:06:01 GMT

Here are some links for further information on the HyTrust Appliance:

VMware vExperts and other prominent bloggers
http://www.rationalsurvivability.com/blog/?p=691 (Chris Hoff)
http://blog.scottlowe.org/2009/04/06/hytrust-launches-security-appliance/ (Scott Lowe)
http://kensvirtualreality.wordpress.com/2009/04/06/hytrust-appliance/ (Ken Cline)
http://professionalvmware.com/2009/04/07/virtually-secure-hytrust-launches-virtual-security-appliance/ (Cody Bunch)
http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2009/04/07/hytrust-virtualization-under-control/ (Duncan Epping)
http://www.virtualization.info/2009/04/hytrust-leaves-stealth-mode-and-enters.html (Alessandro Perilli)

Traditional Media
http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/management/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=216403302&subSection=News
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Virtualization/Startup-HyTrust-Looks-to-Secure-Virtualized-Environments-174254/
http://gcn.com/articles/2009/04/08/server-virtualization-it.aspx
http://www.darkreading.com/security/management/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=216402864
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/040609-hytrust-vmware.html?hpg1=bn
http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/07/hytrust-launches-with-5-million/

Video Review
http://davidstrom.vox.com/library/post/managing-your-vmware-esx-infrastructure-with-the-hytrust-appliance.html

==========================
Rod Gabriel
Wisconsin Area VMUG Leader
VMware vExpert - 2009

Re: May 2009 - WI VMUG meeting

fridge — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:26:58 GMT

I will have plenty of links for additional information related to the presentations over the next few days.

==========================
Rod Gabriel
Wisconsin Area VMUG Leader
VMware vExpert - 2009