My Virtual Ramblings
What It Means to Be a VMware vExpert [rubrik.com]
Being a technical professional often results in no one knowing about the work being done–if things go according to plan. Our focus is on being invisible. We set up complicated servers, hook them all together, and offer up resources for virtual machines and data repositories. And in the end, an application is given a home, where visibility of the world is often abstracted from view.
Released: vCenter and ESXi 6.0 Update 3 – What’s in It for Service Providers — via VIRTUALIZATION IS LIFE!
Last month I wrote a blog post on upgrading vCenter 5.5 to 6.0 Update 2 and during the course of writing that blog post I conducted a survey on which version of vSphere most people where seeing out in the wild…overwhelmingly vSphere 6.0 was the most popular version with 5.5 second and 6.5 lagging in adoption for the moment.
vRealize Automation 7.2 Detailed Implementation Video Guide — via VMware Cloud Mgmnt Blog
Welcome to the vRealize Automation 7.2 Detailed Implementation VIDEO Guide. This is a collection of all the videos making up the full vRealize Automation 7.2 Detailed Implementation Guide.
I recently took and passed the VCP6-DCV Delta Exam (2V0-621D), so I thought I’d share my test and study experience. I also hold a VCP5-DCV but this test was different. The VCP5 test had a lot more situational knowledge questions where I felt the VCP6 exam was more book knowledge questions.
A good portion of the questions on the exam are around permissions. Things like how they are applied, what permissions allow what as well as how permissions flow by level (global, local). There are also questions regarding limits and reservations on VMs. An image was shown with VMs given a set memory allocation but some had a high share value and others a normal value. You are asked which VM is given priority.
My study suggestion would be to make sure you’re comfortable with permissions, new features in 6 and limits in 6, as well as shares. As always, the VCP is best taken after you’ve worked in an environment previously. If you are unable to play in an environment at work, build up a quick lab at home. There are dozens of articles out there that show you how to create a small lab with very minimal hardware. Finally, make sure to go over the blueprint that VMware has for the exam. Make sure you are comfortable with everything in it and if you’re not, then you know what you need to study. Blueprint can be found here.
VMware also provides a practice test for you to take. You can take it up to 100 times. I found that several of the questions on the practice test were very close to questions on the actual test. The wording may have been different but the format and complexity of the question were very similar. The practice test can be found here.
Best of luck on your exam!
Honored to be selected for my 3rd year in the vExpert program.
First we would like to say thank you to everyone who applied for the 2017 vExpert program. I’m pleased to announce the list 2017 vExperts. Each of these vExperts have demonstrated significant contributions to the community and a willingness to share their expertise with others. Contributing is not always blogging or Twitter as there are many public speakers, book authors, CloudCred task writing, script writers, VMUG leaders, VMTN community moderators and internal champions among this group.
Building a vSphere 6.5 Home Lab
So you decided to build your own home lab. Now what? Building a VMware home lab is one of the best ways to learn about VMware – check out this guide.
New vCenter Server Appliance Deployment Walkthroughs – via VMware vSphere Blog
vSphere 6.5 takes the VCSA deployment experience to the next level. The VCSA 6.5 installer no longer requires a plugin, making it browser agnostic. If that wasn’t enough, the VCSA installer now supports use on macOS, Linux, and Window. The VMware Feature Walkthrough site has two new VCSA 6.5 deployment walkthroughs. These two step-by-step guides cover the VCSA 6.5 embedded and external deployments.
New vCenter Server Appliance File-Based Backup / Restore Walkthroughs
The vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) 6.5 is full of new and exclusive features. One of which is the native file-based backup and restore. I’m happy to announce two new guided walkthroughs on the VMware Feature Walkthrough site.
Get step-by-step guidance for installing, configuring & managing VMware products & solutions
The VMware Feature Walkthrough site provides step-by-step guidance for installing, configuring & managing VMware products & solutions.
Vmware released a new security advisory today advising that ESXi versions 6.0 and 5.5 are vulnerable to Cross-Site Scripting (XSS). The details of the advisory can be found below as well as the current solution.
Advisory ID: VMSA-2016-0023
Severity: Important
Synopsis: VMware ESXi updates address a cross-site
scripting issue
Issue date: 2016-12-20
Updated on: 2016-12-20 (Initial Advisory)
CVE number: CVE-2016-7463
- Summary
VMware ESXi updates address a cross-site scripting issue.
- Relevant Releases
VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi)
- Problem Description
- Host Client stored cross-site scripting issue
The ESXi Host Client contains a vulnerability that may allow for
stored cross-site scripting (XSS). The issue can be introduced by
an attacker that has permission to manage virtual machines through
ESXi Host Client or by tricking the vSphere administrator to import
a specially crafted VM. The issue may be triggered on the system
from where ESXi Host Client is used to manage the specially crafted
VM.
VMware advises not to import VMs from untrusted sources.
VMware would like to thank Caleb Watt (@calebwatt15) for reporting
this issue to us.
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) has
assigned the identifier CVE-2016-7463 to this issue.
Column 4 of the following table lists the action required to
remediate the vulnerability in each release, if a solution is
available.
VMware Product Running Replace with/
Product Version on Severity Apply Patch* Workaround
======= ======= ======= ======== ============= ==========
ESXi 6.5 ESXi
N/A not affected N/A
ESXi 6.0 ESXi
Important ESXi600-201611102-SG None
ESXi 5.5 ESXi
Important ESXi550-201612102-SG None
*The fling version which resolves this issue is 1.13.0.
- Solution
Please review the patch/release notes for your product and
version and verify the checksum of your downloaded file.
ESXi 6.0
————-
Downloads:
https://www.vmware.com/patchmgr/findPatch.portal
Documentation:
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2145815
ESXi 5.5
————
Downloads:
https://www.vmware.com/patchmgr/findPatch.portal
Documentation:
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2148194
- References
Source: http://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2016-0023.html
